Qaṭṭunān was a city and area in the ancient Near East which is still unlocated though it is known to have been on the Habur River, a tributary of the Euphrates in Syria. It was mostly given over to pasture with some agriculture near the city and parts of the lower valley, primarily in barley and sesame. In the Hana period of control it was named Qaṭṭunā and it has been suggested that in the Middle Assyria period it was called Qaṭni and in the Neo-Assyrian period Qaṭnu (also Qaṭinê).Michel, C., "Qaṭṭunān", Reallexikon der Assyriologie 11, pp. 171-2, 2007Fales, Frederick Mario, "Production and consumption at Dūr-Katlimmu: a survey of the evidence", Dūr-Katlimmu 2008 and Beyond, pp. 67-86, 2010 A Neo-Assyrian governor Nergal-ēreš c. 800 BC was in charge of "Dūr-Katlimmu, Kār-Aššūr-nāṣir-apli, Sirqu, the lands Laqê, Ḫindānu, the city Anat, the land Suḫu (and) the city (Ana)-Aššūr-(utēr)-aṣbat".Niederreiter, Z., "Cylinder Seals of Eleven Eunuchs (ša rēši Officials): A Study on Glyptics Dated to the Reign of Adad-nērārī III", SAAB 21, p. 117–156, 2015
History
Initially, the area of Mari, including Qaṭṭunān, came under the control of the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia ruled by Shamshi-Adad I of Ekallatum. Shamshi-Adad I assigned control of Mari to his second son Yasmah-Adad who placed Qaṭṭunān under a governor, Haqba-ahum. Little is known about the history or condition of Qaṭṭunān under Yasmah-Adad but the first representative of Zimri-Lim at the city reported that "I have to cope with a ruined palace". Sasson, Jack M., "Treatment of Criminals at Mari: A Survey", Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 90–113, 1977
After the collapse of the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia Mari, including Qaṭṭunān, came under the control of the Lim dynasty of Suprum beginning with Yaggid-Lim. The Old Babylonian period kingdom of Mari was made up of several parts, the central district of Mari, Terqa and Saggarâtum, Qaṭṭunān, and possibly Tuttul. Known towns in Qaṭṭunān during the Mari period were Magrisâ (possibly Tell Tnenir), Jâbatum, Zilhân, Tehrân, Dûr-sâbim, Latihum, Bît-Kapân (possibly Tell Fiden), and Râhatum (possibly Tell Abu Ha'it) all like Qaṭṭunān on the left bank of the Habur and were connected by a road. It is thought that Tâbatum (Tell Taban) was part of the province in the north. On taking power, Zimri-Lim launched a program to expand agriculture at Qaṭṭunān. There were 100 acres under cultivation in Zimri-Lim 1 but by Zimri-Lim 10 that had expanded to 1000 acres. As the population in Qaṭṭunān was largely nomadic with a relatively small sedentary population after the first few years reserve troops were sent in to help with the harvest. In Zimri-Lim years 4 and 8 there was no harvest due to an invasion of locusts.Heimpel, W., "Moroccan locusts in Qaṭṭunan", RA 90, pp. 101-120, 1996Reculeau, H., "The Lower Ḫābūr before the Assyrians", in H. Kühne ed., Dūr-Katlimmu 2008 and Beyond, Studia Chaburensia 1, Wiesbaden, pp. 187-216, 2010Van Koppen, Frans, "The organisation of institutional agriculture in Mari", Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient/Journal de l'histoire economique et sociale de l'Orient, pp. 451-504, 2001 Troops from Hana were part of the Mari military and are reported in a text as being deployed from Tâbatum to Qaṭṭunān. Heimpel, Wolfgang, "Observations on the Royal Letters from Mari", Orientalia, vol. 69, no. 1, pp. 88–104, 2000
A governor of Qaṭṭunān under Zimri-Lim is known, Zakira-Ḫammû. Other known governors were Akîn-urubam, Iddin-Annu, Akšak-magir, Ilušu-naṣir, and Zimri-Addu (Zikri-Addu).Lewy, Hildegard, "Šubat-Šamaš and Tuttul", Orientalia, vol. 27, no. 1, 1958, pp. 1–18, 1958 In one text Zakira-Ḫammû refuses to give up a beautiful servant woman to a representative of the ruler.
Zimri-Lim was known to make unannounced visits to his various palaces. In one text Zimri-Addu complains "I have heard from my own sources about my lord's travel to Qattnunâ. If my lord is coming here, a note from my lord should promptly reach me so that I can prepare in advance of my lord."Sasson, Jack M., "'It is for this reason that i have not come down to my lord...' : visit obligations and vassal pretexts in the Mari archives", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 107, pp. 119–29, 2013
After a long and successful reign which included an alliance with Babylon the kingdom of Mari, minus Mari itself which had been destroyed, fell under the control of Babylon during its expansionist phase under Hammurabi whose 33rd year name included "... overthrew in battle the army of Mari and Malgium and caused Mari and its territory and the various cities of Subartu to dwell under his authority in friendship ...".Yamada, Shigeo, "The City of Ṭābatum and its Surroundings: The Organization of Power in the Post-Hammurabi Period", Organization, Representation, and Symbols of Power in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 54th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Würzburg 20–25 Jul, edited by Gernot Wilhelm, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 591-604, 2012
After the fall of Babylon c. 1600 BC Qaṭṭunān along with Saggarâtum, became part of the Kingdom of Ḫana, with Terqa usually considered to be its capitol. This continued until c. 1400 BC when Hana became a vassal of the Mitanni Empire. At that point the capital of Hana became Qaṭṭunān.Tenu, Aline, "From Karkemiš to Rapiqu: The Assyrians in the Euphrates Valley in the 13th century", Res antiquitatis 2, pp. 132-160, 2020 After that there are no records of Qaṭṭunān though it has been suggested that it existed under other names.Chavalas, Mark, "Terqa and the Kingdom of Khana", The Biblical Archaeologist, vol. 59, no. 2, pp. 90–103, 1996Podany, Amanda H., "Hana and the Low Chronology", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 73, no. 1, pp. 49–71, 2014Buccellati, Giorgio, "The Kingdom and Period of Khana", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 270, pp. 43–61, 1988 Yamada, Shigeo, "An adoption contract from Tell Taban, the kings of the land of Hana, and the Hana-style scribal tradition", Revue d’assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale 105.1, pp. 61-84, 2011
Location Saggarâtum is known to have been on the Habur River, a tributary of the Euphrates river south of Tell Taban and north of the unlocated city of Saggarâtum. The site of Tall Fadġamī (Tell Fagdami), 50 kilometers south of Tell Taban, has been suggested for Qaṭṭunān as has the 10 hectare site of Tell Ašamsâni which is about 5 kilometers from Tall Fadġamī.Ziegler, Nele, "La province de Qaṭṭunân à l'époque de Zimrî-Lîm", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 105, pp. 5–16, 2011
Shamshi-Adad I of Ekallatum wrote to Yasmah-Adad about a planned visit to Mari from his capitol in Shubat-Enlil saying
It is known that Qaṭṭunān was upstream of Saggarātum on the Habur river. On its southern border the unlocated town of Bīt-Kapān on the Habur a days march north of Saggarātum acted as a way station between the two provinces and appeared to be under joint control of the two governors. In a text the governor of Saggarātum complained, after a flood occurred:
See also Chronology of the ancient Near East Cities of the Ancient Near East List of Mesopotamian dynasties List of Mesopotamian deities
References
Further reading Birot, Maurice, "Correspondance des gouverneurs de Qaṭṭunân", ARM 27, Paris: Éditions Recherche sur les Civilisations, 1993 Durand, J.-M, "Administrateurs de Qaṭṭunân", in D. Charpin/J.-M. Durand (eds.), Florilegium Marianum II. Recueil d’études à la mémoire de Maurice Birot. Mémoires de NABU 3, Paris, pp. 83–114, 1994 Finet, André, "Une affaire de disette dans un district du royaume de Mari", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 57–69, 1959 Guillot, Isabelle, "Les gouverneurs de Qaṭṭunân. Nouveaux textes (Textes no. 130 à 138)", in Charpin, D., Durand J.-M. (edd.), Recueil d’étudesà la mémoire de Marie-Thérèse Barrelet. = FM 3, (Paris: SEPOA), pp. 271–290, 1997 Guichard, Michaël, and I. Paris, "Šuduhum, un royaume d'IdaMaraṣ et ses rois Yatârmalik, Ham mīkūn et AmudpāEl", Berliner Beiträge zum Vorderen Orient, pp. 75-120, 2009 Potts, Daniel T., "On the history of madder (Rubia peregrina L., and Rubia tinctorum L.) in pre-modern Iran and the Caucasus", Asiatische Studien - Études Asiatiques, vol. 76, no. 4, pp. 785-819, 2022 Safren, Jonathan D., "New Evidence for the Title of the Provincial Governor at Mari", Hebrew Union College Annual, vol. 50, pp. 1–15, 1979 Shibata, Daisuke, "The Toponyms, 'the Land of Māri', in the Late Second Millennium B.C.", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 105, pp. 95–108, 2011 Streck, M. P, "Sibilants in the Old Babylonian texts of Hammurapi and of the governors in Qaṭṭunān", in G. Deutscher/N. J. C. Kouwenberg (ed.), The Akkadian language in its Semitic context. Studies in the Akkadian of the third and second millennium BC. PIHANS 106. Leiden, pp. 215–251, 2006