Mut-bisir

Mut-bisir
Mut-bisir
Allegiance	Assyria
Service years	c. 1790 BC

Mut-bisir or Mutu-bisir (in Akkadian Cuneiform: mu-ut-bi-si-ir, in transliterated Amorite: mut-biśir, "man of Biśri";¹ fl. c. 1790 BC) was a senior military official to the Assyrian king Shamshi-Adad I.² His name appears repeatedly in the Mari letters, and means "man of Biśir", referring to the desert region around the Jebel Bishri.³ In these letters, Anson Rainey describes him as "frequently mentioned in connection with troops located near the 'Euphrates."⁴

In one such letter, from Mut-bisir to Shamshi-Adad I, he was the first recorded individual to refer to Canaanites by name (Akkadian, ki-na-aḫ-nu(m)).⁵⁶ In this letter, Mut-bisir describes his soldiers and opposing Canaanite forces as tensely watching one another.⁴

His residence in Mari seems to have eventually been given to Shibti, the daughter of Shamshi-Adad I, and this household became a major supplier of foods to the royal palace.²

References

Buck, Mary E. (2020). "Appendix A: Western Amorite Corpus". The Amorite Dynasty of Ugarit. Brill. p. 308. ISBN 978-90-04-41511-9.
Nele Ziegler (12 September 2016). "Economic Activities of Women According to Mari Texts (18th century BC)". In Brigitte Lion; Cécile Michel (eds.). The Role of Women in Work and Society in the Ancient Near East. De Gruyter. p. 302. ISBN 978-1-61451-908-9.
Cinzia Pappi (2006). "The Jebel Bishri in the Physical and Cultural Landscape of the Ancient Near East". Kaskal, Volume 3. p. 248.
Anson F. Rainey (1979). "Toponymic Problems (cont.)", Tel Aviv, 6:3-4, 158-162, DOI: 10.1179/033443579788441172. p. 158.
Nadav Na'aman; Nadav Naʼaman (2005). Canaan in the Second Millennium B.C.E. Eisenbrauns. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-57506-113-9.
Dossin, Georges (1973). "Une mention de Cananéens dans une lettre de Mari". Syria. Archéologie, Art et histoire. 50 (3): 277–282. doi:10.3406/syria.1973.6403. hdl:2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/275963.

[1] Buck, Mary E. (2020). "Appendix A: Western Amorite Corpus". The Amorite Dynasty of Ugarit. Brill. p. 308. ISBN 978-90-04-41511-9.

[LionMichel2016p302-2] Nele Ziegler (12 September 2016). "Economic Activities of Women According to Mari Texts (18th century BC)". In Brigitte Lion; Cécile Michel (eds.). The Role of Women in Work and Society in the Ancient Near East. De Gruyter. p. 302. ISBN 978-1-61451-908-9.

[3] Cinzia Pappi (2006). "The Jebel Bishri in the Physical and Cultural Landscape of the Ancient Near East". Kaskal, Volume 3. p. 248.

[rainey_158-4] Anson F. Rainey (1979). "Toponymic Problems (cont.)", Tel Aviv, 6:3-4, 158-162, DOI: 10.1179/033443579788441172. p. 158.

[naaman_111-5] Nadav Na'aman; Nadav Naʼaman (2005). Canaan in the Second Millennium B.C.E. Eisenbrauns. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-57506-113-9.

[6] Dossin, Georges (1973). "Une mention de Cananéens dans une lettre de Mari". Syria. Archéologie, Art et histoire. 50 (3): 277–282. doi:10.3406/syria.1973.6403. hdl:2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/275963.

1

2

3

4

5

6