Editing Subartu

{{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>

== History ==
[[File: Near_East_topographic_map_with_toponyms_3000bc-en.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Another possible location of Subartu.]]
The earliest references to the "four-quarters" by the kings of Akkad name Subartu as one of these quarters around Akkad, along with Martu, [[Elam]], and Sumer.  Subartu in the earliest texts seem to have been farming mountain dwellers, frequently raided for slaves.

[[Eannatum]] of [[Lagash]] was said to have smitten Subartu or Shubur, and it was listed as a province of the empire of [[Lugal-Anne-Mundu]]; in a later era [[Sargon of Akkad]] campaigned against Subar, and his grandson [[Naram-Sin of Akkad|Naram-Sin]] listed Subar along with [[Armani (kingdom)|Armani]], which has been identified with [[Aleppo]],<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=P8fl8BXpR0MC&dq=ebla+arman&pg=PA82 Wayne Horowitz, "Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography", Eisenbrauns 1998] {{ISBN|0-931464-99-4}}</ref> among the lands under his control. [[Ishbi-Erra]] of [[Isin]] and [[Hammurabi]] also claimed victories over Subar.

Three of the 14th-century BC [[Amarna letters]] – Akkadian cuneiform correspondence found in Egypt – mention ''Subari'' as a toponym.  All are addressed to [[Akhenaten]]; in two (EA 108 and 109), [[Rib-Hadda]], king of [[Byblos]], complains that [[Abdi-Ashirta]], ruler of Amurru, had sold captives to Subari, while another (EA 100), from the city of [[Arqa|Irqata]], also alludes to having transferred captured goods to Subari.

There is also a mention of "Subartu" in the 8th century BC ''Poem of [[Erra (god)|Erra]]'' (IV, 132), along with other lands that have harassed Babylonia<ref>BOTTERO Jean, KRAMER Samuel Noah, ''Lorsque les dieux faisaient l'homme'', Gallimard, Paris, 1989, p.704.</ref> in [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Neo-Babylonian]] times (under [[Nabopolassar]], [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] and [[Nabonidus]]).

Subartu may have been in the general sphere of influence of the [[Hurrians]].<ref>Finkelstein J.J., "Subartu and Subarians in Old Babylonian Sources", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol 9, no. 1, 1955</ref>

==Language==
{{Infobox language
| name             = Subarian
| altname          = Subarean, Subaraean
| states           = Subartu
| region           = [[Near East]]
| extinct          = 1st millenium BC
| familycolor      = Caucasian
| fam1             = [[Hurro-Urartian languages|Hurro-Urartian]]
| fam2             = [[Hurrian language|Hurrian]]?
| iso3             = none
| glotto           = none
| ethnicity        = Subarians
}}
The Sumerian mythological epic ''[[Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta]]'' lists the countries where the "languages are confused" as Subartu, [[Hamazi]], [[Sumer]], Uri-ki ([[Akkadian Empire|Akkad]]), and the Martu land (the [[Amorites]]). The terms referring to the language used in Subartu are known as Subarean, Subaraean or Subarian.<ref name="Gelb"/> To this day it is uncertain what the Akkadian and Sumerian terms for Subartu refer to and it is believed it could refer to [[Hurrian language|Hurrian]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Streck, Michael P|title="Subaräisch."|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/subarean-e1124790#}}</ref> It was also generally believed early on by experts such as [[Ephraim Avigdor Speiser]] and [[:fr:Arthur Ungnad|Arthur Ungnad]] that Subarean referred to Hurrian, but [[Ignace Gelb]] believes they were both independent of each other.<ref name="Gelb"/> Ignace also mentioned there wasn't enough evidence about Subarian.<ref name="Gelb"/> The evidence we have for the language are Subarian names and possibly some words that late [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] syllabaries said were used in Subartu.<ref name="Gelb">{{cite book|title=Hurrians and Subarians|author=[[Ignace Gelb]]|access-date=2025-03-23|date=1944|url=https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/saoc22.pdf}}</ref> 

It was also believed at the time that the Subarian language concealed languages like [[Gutian language|Gutian]] and [[Lullubi#Language|Lullubian]].<ref name="Wegner"/> But, in the modern day, the Hurrian language is described by the Sumerians and Babylonians as Subarian<ref name="Wegner">{{cite book|title=Introduction to the Hurrian Language|author=[[:de:Ilse Wegner|Ilse Wegner]]|access-date=2025-04-09|page=6|date=2000|url=https://webpages.uidaho.edu/mhedman/translation/Hurrian_122608_2.pdf}}</ref> and for modern historians, it is considered an obsolete tern similar to Mitannian.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor|author=Roger D. Woodard|access-date=2025-04-15|page=82|date=10 April 2008|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-1-139-46933-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J-f_jwCgmeUC|quote=Other terms for the language are obsolete – Mitanni (based on the name of a country in Upper Mesopotamia); Subarian (based on the geographical term Subir, Subartu).}}</ref> There is also a belief that Subarian was one of the [[Hurro-Urartian languages]] that was different from Hurrian as the Subarians established themselves earlier into [[Anatolia]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Indo-European issue: 4. The Age of the Subarians|author=Sören G Lindgren|access-date=2025-04-09|date=2018-09-23|url=https://hypertexter.se/IE_issue_4.htm}}</ref>

==Amarna letters corpus==
Subartu (''Subaru'' of the letters) is a toponym mentioned in the [[Amarna letters]] (14th century BC); the letters were written in the short period approximately from [[1350 BC|1350]]–[[1335 BC]]. It is commonly accepted that the region referenced was Subartu.

Subartu is only referenced in three of the Amarna letters: EA 100, 108, and EA 109. All three letters state that people, or 'items' are needed to be sold in Subaru, for money.

===The letters referencing region ''Subartu''===

''Subaru'' of the letters is only referenced in three Amarna letters, and with no links to any rulers of Subaru.

The following are the letters referencing Subartu:
:EA 100—Title: "The city of Irqata to the king" -See [[Arqa]], Amarna letters ''Irqata''
:EA 108—Title: "Unheard-of deeds" -letter of [[Rib-Hadda]]
:EA 109—Title: "Then and now" -letter of Rib-Hadda

====EA 108, "Unheard-of deeds"====
:"[[Rib-Hadda]] writes to his lord, king of all countries, [[Great King]], [[King of Battle]]: May the [[Ba‘alat Gebal|Lady of Gubla]] grant power to the king, my lord. I fall at the feet of my lord, my Sun, 7 times and 7 times. Moreover, is it pleasing in the sight of the king, who is like [[Baal]] and [[Shamash|Šamaš]] in the sky, that the sons of [[Abdi-Ashirta|'Abdi-Aširta]] do as they please? They have taken the king's horses and [[chariot]]s, and they have sold ''into captivity, charioteers: ši-x-y(?)'' and soldiers to ((to))-(emphasis?) the land of ''Su(ba)ru''. In whose lifetime has such a deed been done? False words are now being spoken in the presence of the king, the Sun. I am your loyal servant, and whatever I know or have heard I write to the king, my lord. Wh[o] are they, the [[Dog (Amarna letters appellation)|dogs]], that they could ''res[ist]'' the [[Pítati|archers]] of the king, the Sun? I wrote t[o] ((to))-(emphasis?) your father-(i.e. [[Amenhotep III]]), and he he[eded] my wor[d]s, and he sent ar[ch]ers. Did he not take 'Abdi-Aširta for ''h[imself]''? Moreover, since the mayors have not oppo[sed] th[em], they are stron[g]. The army furnishes whatever they ne[ed], and so they are not afra[id] of the magnate. Because they have taken the hors[es], they are bold. Because we know that they are strong, we have ''to(ld)'' the king, "They are strong," Truly, they will not prevail. When I sent 2 [[Courier|messengers]] to [[Zemar|Sumur]]-([[Zemar]]), I retained this man in order to report to the king. Moreover, why do you listen to other men? The king's messengers must bring (news) by night and bring (it) back by night because of the [[Dog (Amarna letters appellation)|dog]]. If the king, the Sun, desires, they will be taken in a day. Moreover, has he [n]o[t] ''plotted'' evils [''upon evils a]gainst'' you, and ''rev[olted?'' A]nd as for the man of [''my''] ''god'', [[Habiru|'Apiru]] came from Sumur to take him prisoner, but I did not give him up. May the [k]ing he[ed] the words of his servant. Send me [2]0 men from [[Meluhha]] and 20 men from Egypt-(named 'Mizri'-see [[Mizraim]]), to guard the city for the king, the Sun, my lord. (I am)-''Your loyal se[rvan]t''.  -EA 108, lines 1-69 (complete)

==See also==
*[[Saparda]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Arthur Ungnad, "Die ältesten Völkerwanderungen Vorderasiens. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte und Kultur der Semiten, Arier, Hethiter und Subaräer", Kulturfragen 1, 4–8, 1923
* Arthur Ungnad, "Subartu, Beiträge zur Kulturgeschichte und Völkerkunde Vorderasiens", Berlin/Leipzig, 1936
*[[William L. Moran|Moran, William L.]] ''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, {{ISBN|0-8018-6715-0}})
*{{cite journal |last=Wuerthrich|first=Bernice|date=19 May 2000 |title=Peering into the Past, With Words |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=288 |issue=5469 |page=1158 |url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/288/5469/1158 |doi=10.1126/science.288.5469.1158|s2cid=82205296 |ref=refWueth00|url-access=subscription }}

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[[Category:States and territories established in the 3rd millennium BC]]
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[[Category:Amarna letters locations]]
[[Category:Hurrian cities]]
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