Amorites

(noun)

An ancient Semitic-speaking people from ancient Syria who also occupied large parts of Mesopotamia in the 21st Century BCE.

Related Terms

  • Code of Hammurabi
  • Hammurabi
  • Marduk
  • Hammurabi Code

Examples of Amorites in the following topics:

  • Babylon

    • Conflicts between the Amorites (Western Semitic nomads) and the Assyrians continued until Sargon I (1920-1881 BCE) succeeded as king in Assyria and withdrew Assyria from the region, leaving the Amorites in control (the Amorite period).
    • One of these Amorite dynasties founded the city-state of Babylon circa 1894 BCE, which would ultimately take over the others and form the short-lived first Babylonian empire, also called the Old Babylonian Period.
    • Babylon remained a minor territory for a century after it was founded, until the reign of its sixth Amorite ruler, Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE).
    • Both the Babylonians and their Amorite rulers were driven from Assyria to the north by an Assyrian-Akkadian governor named Puzur-Sin, c. 1740 BCE.
    • Amorite rule survived in a much-reduced Babylon, Samshu-iluna's successor, Abi-Eshuh, made a vain attempt to recapture the Sealand Dynasty for Babylon, but met defeat at the hands of king Damqi-ilishu II.
  • Babylon

    • Archaeological evidence suggests that around the nineteenth century BCE, much of Mesopotamia was occupied by Amorites, nomadic tribes from the northern Levant.
    • Over time, Amorite grain merchants rose to prominence and established independent dynasties in several south Mesopotamian city-states, including Babylon.
    • The First Babylonian Dynasty was established by an Amorite chieftain named Sumu-abum in 1894 BCE, when he declared independence from the neighbouring city-state of Kazallu.
    • The Amorites, unlike the Sumerians and Akkadian Semites, were not native to Mesopotamia, but were semi-nomadic Semitic invaders from the lands to the west.
  • The Sumerians

    • The Sumerian Renaissance ended with invasion by the Amorites, whose dynasty of Isin continued until 1700 BCE, at which point Mespotamia came under Babylonian rule.
  • Akkadian Government, Culture, and Economy

    • Nomadic Amorites from the northwest would pasture their flocks of sheep and goats to graze on the stubble watered from the river and irrigation canals.
Subjects
  • Accounting
  • Algebra
  • Art History
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Calculus
  • Chemistry
  • Communications
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Microbiology
  • Physics
  • Physiology
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Statistics
  • U.S. History
  • World History
  • Writing

Except where noted, content and user contributions on this site are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 with attribution required.