Teumman
Elamite King
Teumman was a king of the ancient kingdom of Elam, ruling it from 664 to 653 BCE, contemporary with the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (668, c. 627). In various sources, the name may be found spelled as Te’umman, Teumann, or Te-Umman. For a time, "many scholars, beginning with G.G. Cameron," believed him to have been the Tepti-Huban-Inshushinak mentioned in inscriptions, although this view has since fallen from favor.
01Succession
Teumman succeeded Urtak. The relationship between Urtak and Teumman is a matter of disagreement. On the one hand, D. T. Potts (2015) refers to Teumann as "apparently unrelated to either Urtak or Hubanhaltash II." Likewise, Boederman's Cambridge Ancient History refers to the accession of Teumman as a "dynastic upset." On the other hand, M. Rahim Shayegan claims that "Te'umman seems to have been the brother of two of his royal predecessors (Huban-Haltaš II and Urtak)." In any event, upon the accession of Teumman, Urtak's sons escaped to Assyria, after which Teumman unsuccessfully demanded that Assyria return Urtak's sons to his custody.
02Battle of Ulai (653 BCE)
Ashurbanipal launched a devastating attack on Elam in 653. A text, written in 649, among the annals of Ashurbanipal, records Ashurbanipal's justifications for the war and its conclusion. Ashurbanipal's reasons for the war included "Teumman's insolent messages, his boasting, his evil plots, a lunar eclipse that foretold Teumman's downfall, a seizure inflicted on Teumman by the gods as a warning, and Teumman's declaration of war on Asshurbanipal." The text records that Ashurbanipal had Teumman beheaded, and that Teumman was replaced as king by Ummanigash.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Teumman”, 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:
- King Teumman wounded at the Battle of Ulai.jpg by Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Assyrian Relief of the Banquet of Ashurbanipal From Nineveh Gypsum N Palace British Museum 01.jpg by Allan Gluck, CC BY 4.0
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