Amorites

The Amorites were an ancient group of people who spoke a language called Northwest Semitic. They lived during a time called the Bronze Age. They came from western Mesopotamia and first appeared in records around 2500 BC.

Over time, the Amorites grew more powerful. They ruled much of the Levant and Mesopotamia, and also parts of Egypt, from the 21st century BC until the 16th century BC.

The Amorites built many important cities, such as Isin, Kurda, Larsa, Mari, and Ebla. They later founded the city of Babylon and the Old Babylonian Empire. Some Amorite rulers were even part of the Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt when the country was divided. Their names, like Yakbim Sekhaenre, show their influence there.

The word Amurru was used in old texts to talk about the Amorites, their main god, and their kingdom. The Amorites are also mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as people who lived in Canaan, both before and after the time when Joshua led others to settle that land.

History

Third millennium BC

People called the Amorites first appeared in old records from around 2500 BC. Old stories mention a place called “the land of the mar.tu,” which might have been where the Amorites lived. We don’t really know if these stories are true.

There are a few mentions of the Amorites in old tablets from a place called Ebla, dating back to between 2500 BC and 2250 BC. To the people of Ebla, the Amorites were a group of people living around the Euphrates River in northern Syria. For the leaders of Akkad, a big empire nearby, the Amorites were one of the groups around their land.

By the time the old empire of Ur was ending, the Amorites had become strong enough that leaders built a long wall to try to keep them out. The Amorites were often described as people who moved around with their animals and lived in tents. As Ur’s power faded, many smaller cities began to grow independent again, and the Amorites became more powerful in some of these areas.

2nd millennium BC

After Ur’s power ended, Amorite leaders took control of many cities in Mesopotamia. In the north, a leader named Shamshi-Adad I ruled a big area around Assur. In the south, Babylon became very important under leaders like Sumu-la-El and Hammurabi. Nearby, the city of Mari also became a strong kingdom, but it was later destroyed by Hammurabi. Babylon itself was later taken over by the Hittites, and the Kassites took control.

There may have been Amorite leaders in Egypt as early as the 19th century BC. Some rulers in Egypt had names that suggest they were Amorite, and later groups called the Hyksos, who ruled part of Egypt, may have included Amorites from Syria.

Fall

In the 16th century BC, the time of the Amorites ended in Mesopotamia as Babylon and other cities they ruled lost power. The Kassites took over Babylon and formed a new empire there. In northern Mesopotamia, new groups like the Mitanni began to rise to power. By around 1200 BC, the Amorites largely disappeared from history, though their name appeared later in old Jewish writings.

Language

Main article: Amorite language

The Amorite language was first found in old records from the 21st–20th centuries BC. It was closely related to the Canaanite, Aramaic, and Sam'alian languages. In the 18th century BC, Amorite writers in Mari used a special form of the East Semitic Akkadian language. Because of these special words and ways of speaking, scholars think Amorite was part of the Northwest Semitic group. We know very little about the Amorite language. Most of what we know comes from special names and words in old texts. These Amorite names appeared in many places, from across Mesopotamia to Alalakh in Turkey and Dilmun (modern-day Bahrain). Egyptian records also mention these names.

Ugaritic is another Northwest Semitic language that might have been a dialect of Amorite.

Religion

The Amorites believed in many gods and goddesses. Some of their gods had names like those of people nearby. One important god was Amurru, and his partner was the goddess Ašratum. They also honored a moon god named Yaraḫum and other gods like Dagan and Rašapum.

This list does not include all the gods the Amorites may have worshiped, such as gods of the sun and weather.

Biblical Amorites

The Bible talks about the Amorites. They lived in a land called Canaan. The stories say they were strong and tall, like the height of cedars. The Amorites lived west of the Dead Sea, near places like Hebron, Gilead, and Bashan.

Two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og, fought against the Israelites but lost. The Book of Joshua says Joshua defeated five Amorite kings in battles. Later, there was peace between the Amorites and the Israelites when Samuel lived. Some think the Gibeonites, who made a promise with the Hebrews, were from the Amorites.

Origin

There are different ideas about where the Amorites came from. Some think they lived between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean Sea, including the Arabian Peninsula. Most believe their homeland was in central Syria, near the Jebel Bishri mountains. The Amorites were one of the ancient Semitic-speaking peoples.

In the past, some people thought the Amorites were strong warriors from a group called "Aryans." This idea is no longer believed.

Amorite states

The Amorites were an ancient group of people who lived long ago in western Mesopotamia. They first appeared in records around 2500 BC. Over time, they grew and spread out, ruling many areas including places now called the Levant and Mesopotamia, and even some parts of Egypt, from about the 21st century BC until the 16th century BC.

They built important cities such as Isin, Kurda, Larsa, Mari, and Ebla. Later, they founded the city of Babylon and created what is called the Old Babylonian Empire. Some of their leaders also ruled part of Egypt during a time when that land was divided.