Kishsassu

Kishsassu or Kishassu (Akkadian: Kiššaššu) was a city in ancient Assyria. It is mentioned tablets found in Nineveh, dating from the 7th-century BCE.^[1]

The city was subject to invasion by the Median chieftain, Kashtariti.^[2]

Some scholars suggest Kishsassu can be identified as the city of Kishisim (or Kishisu). Sargon II subdued this town, calling it Kar-Nergal or Kar-Ninib.^[3]

Gaston Maspero believes the city was located in the Gavê-Rud basin, while Adolf Billerbeck identifies Kishsassu as the ruins of Siama in the "upper valley of Lesser Zab".^[4]

References[edit]

^ Kuhrt 2007, p. 28: "[...] All come from Nineveh (Kouyundjik) and belong to the category of 'oracle requests' addressed to the Mesopotamian sun god, Shamash.
^ Jastrow 1898, p. 334: "Will within this period, Kashtariti, together with his soldiery, will the army of the Gimirrites, the army of the Medes, will the army of the Man-neans, or will any enemy whatsoever succeed in carrying out their plan, whether by strategy (?) or by main force, whether by the force of weapons of war and fight or by the ax, whether by a breach made with machines of war and battering rams or by hunger, whether by the power residing in the name of a god or goddess, whether in a friendly way or by friendly grace, or by any strategic device, will these aforementioned, as many as are required to take a city, actually capture the city Kishsassu, penetrate into the interior of that same city Kishsassu, will their hands lay hold of that same duty Kishsassu, so that it falls into their power? Thy great divine power knows it."
^ Maspero 1900, p. 353: "Kishshashshu is very probably the same as Kishisim or Kishisu, the town which Sargon subdued, and which he called Kar-nergal or Kar-ninib (Inscription des Fastes 11. 59, 60, Inscription of the Pavement of the Gates, iv. 1. 16, Stele of Larnaka, col. i. 1. 30, cf. Winckler, Die Keilschrifttexte Sargons, vol. i. pp. 108, 109, 146, 147, 176, 177), and which is mentioned in the neighbourhood of Farsuasb, Karalla, Kharkhar, Media, and Ellipi (cf. the illustration above p. 241 of the present work)
^ Maspero 1900, p. 353: "I think that it would be in the basin of the Gavê-Rud; Billerbeck places it at the ruins of Siama in the upper valley of the Lesser Zab (Das Sandschak Suleimania, pp. 97, 98).

Sources[edit]

Kuhrt, Amélie (2007), The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period, Abingdon-on-Thames, UK: Routledge, ISBN 9781136016943, retrieved 8 June 2015
Jastrow, Morris (1898), The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, Boston: Ginn & Co., retrieved 8 June 2015
Maspero, Gaston (1900), Sayce, Archibald Henry (ed.), The Passing of the Empires: 850 B.C. to 330 B.C., London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, retrieved 8 June 2015

[Kuhrt-OracleRequests-1] Kuhrt 2007, p. 28: "[...] All come from Nineveh (Kouyundjik) and belong to the category of 'oracle requests' addressed to the Mesopotamian sun god, Shamash.

[Jastrow-Kashtariti-2] Jastrow 1898, p. 334: "Will within this period, Kashtariti, together with his soldiery, will the army of the Gimirrites, the army of the Medes, will the army of the Man-neans, or will any enemy whatsoever succeed in carrying out their plan, whether by strategy (?) or by main force, whether by the force of weapons of war and fight or by the ax, whether by a breach made with machines of war and battering rams or by hunger, whether by the power residing in the name of a god or goddess, whether in a friendly way or by friendly grace, or by any strategic device, will these aforementioned, as many as are required to take a city, actually capture the city Kishsassu, penetrate into the interior of that same city Kishsassu, will their hands lay hold of that same duty Kishsassu, so that it falls into their power? Thy great divine power knows it."

[Maspero-Kishsassu-3] Maspero 1900, p. 353: "Kishshashshu is very probably the same as Kishisim or Kishisu, the town which Sargon subdued, and which he called Kar-nergal or Kar-ninib (Inscription des Fastes 11. 59, 60, Inscription of the Pavement of the Gates, iv. 1. 16, Stele of Larnaka, col. i. 1. 30, cf. Winckler, Die Keilschrifttexte Sargons, vol. i. pp. 108, 109, 146, 147, 176, 177), and which is mentioned in the neighbourhood of Farsuasb, Karalla, Kharkhar, Media, and Ellipi (cf. the illustration above p. 241 of the present work)

[Maspero-Billerbeck-4] Maspero 1900, p. 353: "I think that it would be in the basin of the Gavê-Rud; Billerbeck places it at the ruins of Siama in the upper valley of the Lesser Zab (Das Sandschak Suleimania, pp. 97, 98).

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]