Iter-pisha
King of Isin
Iter-pisha, inscribed in cuneiform as i-te-er-pi/pi4-ša and meaning "Her command is surpassing", (died c. 1829 BC) was the 12th king of Isin during the Old Babylonian period. The Sumerian King List tells us that "the divine Iter-pisha ruled for 4 years." The Ur-Isin King List which was written in the 4th year of the reign of Damiq-ilishu gives a reign of just 3 years. His relationships with his predecessor and successor are uncertain and his reign falls during a period of general decline in the fortunes of the dynasty.
01Biography
He was a contemporary of Warad-Sin, the king of Larsa, whose brother and successor, Rim-Sin I would eventually come to overthrow the dynasty, ending the cities' bitter rivalry around 40 years later. He is only known from King lists and year-name date formulae in several contemporary legal and administrative texts. Two of his year-names refer to his provision of a copper Lilis for Utu and Inanna respectively, where Lilissu is a kettledrum used in temple rituals.
He is perhaps best known for the literary work generally known as the letter from Nabi-Enlil to Iter-pisha formerly designated letter from Iter-pisha to a deity, when its contents were less well understood. It is extant in seven fragmentary manuscripts and seems to be a petition to the king from a subject who has fallen on hard times. It is a 24-line composition that had become a belle letter used in scribal education during the subsequent Old Babylonian period.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Iter-pisha”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Tavoletta con la Lista dei re di Ur e Isin (MS 1686).jpg by Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
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