Editing Subartu (section)

{{Short description|Bronze age city-state mentioned in the Armana Letters}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
[[File:Empire akkad.svg|thumb|The [[Akkadian Empire]] under [[Naram-Sin of Akkad|Naram-Sin]], Subartu is shown north.]]
The land of '''Subartu''' ({{langx|akk|Šubartum/Subartum/ina Šú-ba-ri}}, Assyrian:{{Clarify|reason=Which Assyrian language?|date=November 2024}} ''[[Kur|mât]] Šubarri'') or '''Subar''' ({{langx|sux|Su-bir<sub>4</sub>/Subar/Šubur}}, {{langx|uga|𐎘𐎁𐎗 ṯbr}}) is mentioned in [[Bronze Age literature]]. The name also appears as ''Subari'' in the [[Amarna letters]], and, in the form ''Šbr'', in [[Ugarit]].

Subartu was apparently a kingdom in [[Upper Mesopotamia]], at the upper [[Tigris]] and later it referred to a region of Mesopotamia. Most scholars suggest that ''Subartu'' is an early name for people of upper Mesopotamia proper on the Tigris and westward, although there are various other theories placing it sometimes a little farther to the east and/or north. Its precise location has not been identified. 
From the point of view of the [[Akkadian Empire]], Subartu marked the northern geographical horizon, just as [[Amurru kingdom|Amurru]], [[Elam]] and [[Sumer]] marked "west", "east" and "south", respectively, functioning as a term to mean 'north'.<ref>{{Citation |last=McMahon |first=Augusta |title=North Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203096604-37/north-mesopotamia-third-millennium-bc-augusta-mcmahon |work=The Sumerian World |year=2013 |pages=486–501 |doi=10.4324/9780203096604-37 |isbn=9780203096604 |access-date=2023-03-01|url-access=subscription }}</ref>