The Gutian dynasty was a line of kings, originating among the Gutian people. Originally thought to be a horde that swept in and brought down Akkadian and Sumerian rule in Mesopotamia, the Gutians are now known to have been in the area for at least a century by then. By the end of the Akkadian period, the Sumerian city of Adab was occupied by the Gutians, who made it their capital. The Gutian dynasty came to power in Mesopotamia near the end of the 3rd millennium BC, after the decline and fall of the Akkadian Empire. How long Gutian kings held rulership over Mesopotamia is uncertain, with estimates ranging from a few years up to a century. The end of the Gutian dynasty is marked by the accession of Uruk ruler Utu-hengal, marking the short-lived "Fifth dynasty of Uruk", followed by Ur ruler Ur-Nammu, founder of the Third Dynasty of Ur.
The Gutian dynasty (Sumerian: 𒄖𒋾𒌝𒆠, gu-ti-umKI) was a line of kings, originating among the Gutian people. Originally thought to be a horde that swept in and brought down Akkadian and Sumerian rule in Mesopotamia, the Gutians are now known to have been in the area for at least a century by then. By the end of the Akkadian period, the Sumerian city of Adab was occupied by the Gutians, who made it their capital. The Gutian dynasty came to power in Mesopotamia near the end of the 3rd millennium BC, after the decline and fall of the Akkadian Empire. How long Gutian kings held rulership over Mesopotamia is uncertain, with estimates ranging from a few years up to a century. The end of the Gutian dynasty is marked by the accession of Uruk ruler Utu-hengal (c. 2119 - 2112 BC), marking the short-lived "Fifth dynasty of Uruk", followed by Ur ruler Ur-Nammu (c. 2112 – 2094 BC), founder of the Third Dynasty of Ur.
There are very few hard facts available regarding the rulers of the Gutian dynasty, still fewer about the Gutian people; even their homeland is not known. We have a few royal inscriptions from one ruler, Erridu-pizir, an inscribed macehead from another, La-erabum, a handful of passing mentions from contemporary Mesopotamian rulers, and one long inscription by Uruk ruler Utu-hengal. And there are the many versions of the Sumerian King List, most recensions of which were written long after the time of the Gutian dynasty and give different, sometimes contradictory accounts. The earliest version of the Sumerian King List, written in the Ur III period, not long afterward in time, does not mention the Gutians and lists a Gutian ruler, Tirigan, as a king of Adab. Yet the Sumerian King List remains the only historical source that mentions most Gutian kings.
Still, clearly the Gutian rulers had a huge impact on late 3rd millennium BC Mesopotamia, reflected in the vast array of literary compositions featuring them, continuing for almost two millennia.
History
At one time it was believed that Gutium was known from the 24th century BC, well before the time of the Gutian dynasty. This was based on a tablet purportedly from the Early Dynastic ruler of Adab Lugal-Anne-Mundu. The inscription included Gutium in the area paying tribute to the ruler. This inscription is now understood to be an Old Babylonian period literary composition written many centuries after the time of Lugal-Anne-Mundu. The first attestation of Gutium came from early in the Sargonic period when the Gutians are mentioned in year names of Akkadian rulers and established a capital at the prominent Early Dynastic Sumerian city of Adab.
The full history of the Gutian dynasty is not known. It is known that it lies roughly between two major empires of the late 3rd millennium BC, the Akkadian Empire and the later Ur III Empire. Towards the end of the reign of the last notable Akkadian ruler, Shar-Kali-Sharri (c. 2218-2193 BC), the Akkadian Empire went on to a period of disarray under several weak rulers beginning a tumultuous time in Mesopotamia as Early Dynastic city-states such as Lagash and Uruk began to re-assert themselves. The Gutian newcomers in Adab also asserted their claim to rulership. This contentious time ended with the rise of Ur III under Ur-Nammu (c. 2112 - 2094 BC).
The end point of the Gutian dynasty is felt to be certain based on a long inscription of Utu-hengal (c. 2119 – 2112 BC) who was ruler of Uruk (and thought to be the brother of the first Ur II ruler Ur-Nammu) which described the destruction of the Gutians under their king Tirigan. For what happened up to then our only sources are the many conflicting recensions of the Sumerian King List (SKL) and the various literary compositions that were produced in the following centuries and millennia. Neither are historically reliable sources but can be mined for insights into the events of the Gutian period.
Contemporary sources
Shar-kali-sharri Year Names
In the period before the Gutian dynasty gained rulership over Mesopotamia the Akkadian Empire controlled the region. Two year names of Akkadian ruler Shar-kali-sharri (the last before the empire began to unravel) reflect of interaction with Gutium.
"In the year in which Szarkaliszarri laid the foundations of the temples of the goddess Annunitum and of the god Aba in Babylon and when he defeated Szarlak, king of Gutium"
"Year in which the yoke was imposed on Gutium".
Ur-Nammu Year Name
One year name of Ur ruler Ur-Nammu mentions Gutium. It is uncertain if the year name was from the time when he was only governor at Ur, leaving the possibility it was a reflected year name of Utu-hengal, or was later after he had assumed rulership over Mesopotamia.
"Year Gutium was destroyed"
Tablet of Lugalannatum
The tablet marks the building of a temple, E-gidru, in Umma. In passing it mentions the name of a Gutian ruler.
"Lugal-ana-tuma, governor of Umma — 35 years having past since (the territory of) Umma was divided up — built the E-gidru at Umma, drove into the earth its foundation pegs, (and) saw after everything that was necessary therein. At that time, Si'um was king of Gutium."
Cylindrical Tablet of Nammahni
The Umma ruler Nammahni, marking the construction of a temple to the goddess Ninura, mentioned in passing the name of a Gutian ruler.
"For the goddess Ninura, mother of Umma, Namahni, governor of Umma, built her E-ula temple (and) restored it. At that time Iarlagan was king of Gutium."
Tablet of Išarum
A tablet from Umma, dating to the waning days of the Akkadian empire, mentions a Gutian governor.
"Thus says Išarum to Me-sag “As to the fact that Lugal-ĝiš and? Ka-Utu ... How can my loyal servant, who has held my feet, become hostile? (By) Ištar and Ilaba I swear that he shall approach me. I will not set the weapon of blood against him. Henceforth, I shall appoint him anew as the Gutian ensi. ..."
Tablet of Utu-hengal
An inscription of the Uruk ruler Utu-hengal, known from 3 Old Babylonian copies, commemorated the defeat of Gutian (and its king Tirigan) and the return of rulership to Sumer. Note the Mesopotamian names of Tirigan's generals.
"The god Enlil — (as for) Gu[tium], the fanged serpent of the mountain, who acted with violence against the gods, who carried off the kingship of the land of Sumer to the mountain land, who fi[ll]ed the land of Sumer with wickedness, who took away the wife from the one who had a wife, who took away the child from the one who had a child, who put wickedness and evil in the land (of Sumer) — the god Enlil, lord of the foreign lands, commissioned Utu-hegal, the mighty man, king of Uruk, king of the four quarters, the king whose utterance cannot be countermanded, to destroy their name. (Thereupon) he (Utu-hegal) went to the goddess Inanna, his lady (and) prayed to her,(saying) 'My lady, lioness of battle, who butts the foreign lands, the god Enlil has com[missioned me]to bring back the kingship of the land of Sumer. [May you be my] a[lly] The enemy hordes had trampled(everything). Tiri[gan], the king of Gutium, had ..., (but) no one set out against him. He had seized both banks of the Tigris River. In the south, in Sumer, he had blocked (water from) the fields. In the north, he had closed off the roads (and) caused tall grass to grow up along the highway(s) of the land. (But), the king granted power by the god Enlil, the one chosen in the heart of the goddess Inanna — Utu-hegal — the mighty man, went forth from Uruk (and) set up ... in the temple of the god Iškur. He called out to the citizens of his city,(saying): 'The god Enlil has given Gutium to me. My lady, the goddess Inanna, is my ally. The god Dumuzi-ama-ušumgal-ana has declared 'It is a matter for me'. The god Gilgameš, son of the goddess Ninsun, has assigned him (Dumuzi) to me as bailiff. He made the citizens of Uruk (and) Kullab happy. His city followed him as if they were (just) one person. He (Utu-hegal) arranged in correct array his select elite troops. After he (Utu-hegal) departed (from) the temple of the god Iškur, on the fourth day he set up... in the city of Nagsu on the Iturungal canal. On the fifth day he set up ... in the shrine Ili-tappe. He captured Ur-Ninazu (and) Nabi-Enlil, generals whom he (Tirigan) had sent as envoys to the land of Sumer, (and) put handcuffs on them. After he departed (from) the shrine Ili-tappe, on the sixth day he set up ... at Karkar. He proceeded to the god Iskur (and) prayed to him, (saying) 'O god Iškur! The god Enlil has given me (his) weapon. May you be my ally'. In the middle of that night he [got up], and at day break [proceeded] (to a point) upstream from Adab. He [prayed] to him (Utu), (saying) 'O god Utu! The god Enlil has given Gutium to me. May you be my ally' In that place, against the Gutians, he laid a trap (and) led (his) troops against them. Utu-hegal, the mighty man, defeated their generals. Then Tirigan, king of Gutium, fled alone on foot. In the place where he (tried) to save his life — Dabrum — he (at first) was safe. (But) since the citizens of Dabrum realized that Utu-hegal was the king to whom the god Enlil had granted power, they did not let Tirigan go. The envoys of Utu-hegal captured Tirigan along with his wife (and) children at Dabrum. They put handcuffs and a blindfold on him. Utu-hegal made him lie at the feet of the god U[tu] and placed his foot on his neck. Gutium, the fanged serpent of the mountain — ... drank water (from[?]) the watercourses.... (Utu-hegal) removed ... He brought back the kingship of the land of Sumer."
Gutian ruler inscriptions
On a clay cone of uncertain provenance it reads "Shamash-bâni, lofty one of God, king of Guti, to Ningurra, the mother of Umma, his lofty one, the ruler of Umma, her old temple he built, and restored to its place." though no other reference to such a Gutian ruler is known.
In an Old Babylonian copy, found in Nippur, of an earlier inscription from a monument dedicated by Erridupizir to the god Enlil in Nippur it read "... Erridu-(pi]zir, the migh[ty], king of Gutium and the four quarters took (him, i. e. his opponent, the ruler of Magda) away by force through the gate of the god of Gutium, struck him, and killed him, the king (of Magda). Thus (says) Erridu-pizir, the mighty, king of Gutium [and] of the [f] our [qua]rters: >At that day I fashioned a statue of myself and placed my foot at his neck ...". The
colophon read "inscribed tablet: 3 statues of Erridu-pizir".
In later literature
Great Revolt against Naram-Sin
This source lives on the borderline between history and literary composition. Some elements of it are from Old Babylonian copies of Naram-Sin royal inscriptions. That core was transformed into a wide variety of literary efforts with names like "Naram-Sin and the Enemy Hordes". A relevant one is "Gula-AN and the Seventeen Kings against Naram-Sin". The narrative is that Gutian king Gula-AN, leading 17 other kings, attacks Akkad and is defeated, captured, and then paroled by Naram-Sin, only to attack again resulting in a huge battle the results of which are unknown.
"... Gula-AN, king of Gut(i)um, [. . .], whom I [defeated] in my strong battle [. . .], and whom I had released to return to his land (but) PN [he joined], he who is not ̆flesh nor blood, verily he is [. . .]. In the Amanus the cedar mountain his oracles [he consulted]. Before the great divides of the [silver(?)] mountains, its gate he captured and stealthily in the night he attacked and my a[rmed forces] he did kill, he did decimate and he did [trample down]. [He made] a confusing mass of their corpses. The depressions and the wadis were [filled] with their blood. Until the sunrise, for six double hours he [made a forced march]. They did not let (me?) rest [. . .]. He pursued me, he [attacked] me frontally fu[riously]. 90,000 of my troops, who were under the command of [PN], he did kill, he did decimate and he did tra[mple down]. In my 360,000 troops I [had confidence]. Son of a nobody [. . .], He encircled me. For the sake(?) of life of Sargon [my fore(father)] ..." (BM 79987)
Geographical Treatise on Sargon of Akkad's Empire
Another source of uncertain historicity or dating. It is known from a single tablet, findspot thought to be Qalat Sherqat, which was translated in 1925, in the early days of cuneiform studies. Gutium is listed among the area in Sargon's domain.
"... From Sinu (?) to [ ] the land of Armani. From [ ]izzat to Abul-Adad, the land of Gutium. From Abul-Adad to Hallab, the land of Akkad. ... From Hisat to Sippar, the land of Akkad. From Tirqan of Gutium to Uzarilulu, the land of Edamarus. From Uzarilulu to Bit-Sin, the land of Mari. ..." (KAV 092)
Weidner Chronicle
The Weidner Chronicle is a literary composition, known from 7 mostly fragmentary Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian (1st Millennium BC) recensions purportedly a copy of a damaged Old Babylonian Period (1894 - 1595 BC) original which described events of centuries earlier. In the case of the Gutians the premise is that the Gutians destroyed the Akkadian Empire because Naram-Sin was mean to the city of Babylon. There are scholars who state that the description of the Gutian rule over parts of Mesopotamia was fiction or that it at least gave undue importance to the Guti horde. This is believed to be perpetuated by the chroniclers of Uruk to turn Utu-hegal's minor victory into an event of universal significance for the purpose of solidifying support for his emergent regime. This view is based on the varying accounts of the surviving manuscripts, with many of them in total disagreement as to the length of the king's reign and even the identities of the Guti kings. The Weidner Chronicle accounts for the Gutian period as follows: