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Ahmad Shah Durrani | Rebellions in Afghanistan (1760—1762) | Rebellions in Afghanistan (1760—1762)
While Ahmad Shah campaigned, numerous incidents occurred throughout Afghanistan. When the Marathas occupied Delhi, an uprising triggered under Hajji Jamal Khan Zargarani, who followed off reports that Ahmad Shah had been killed, and proclaimed himself king of Afghanistan. At Kandahar, he struck coins. However, as news of Ahmad Shah's victories trickled in from India, he renounced his claim and fled for his life to a remote area of the country.
Another revolt that had began was under Darwish Ali Khan Hazara, who avoided Shah Pasand's forces, before eventually being allowed to return to Herat between 1761 and 1762. While in early 1761, Abd al-Khaliq Khan, alongside Dilawar Khan Ishaqzai and Zal Beg Popalzai, who were among Ahmad Shah's tribal council, rebelled. They first went toward the fortress of Grishk, falsely proclaiming that Ahmad Shah had been defeated in India, and declared Abd al-Khaliq as king. The combined forces from Griskh marched to Kandahar, making Ahmad Shah's son, Sulaiman Mirza abandon the capital.
Shah Pasand Khan was dispatched to crush the revolt, and he arrived before the city, elaborating that Ahmad Shah was alive. The rebellion's support thus dissipated and the leaders of the rebellion went to Shah Pasand's camp for mercy. Lesser involved individuals were spared, while Zal Beg Popalzai and other significant leaders were executed. Dilawar Khan fled to Herat where Timur Shah allowed him to become the commander of his personal bodyguard, while Abd al-Khaliq was imprisoned. |
Ahmad Shah Durrani | Sixth invasion of India (1762) | Sixth invasion of India (1762)
thumb|right|Sikh forces under Jassa Singh Ahluwalia triumphantly enter Lahore in November 1761|alt=Depiction of the fall of Lahore in November 1761 to Sikh armies
As Ahmad Shah retired to Afghanistan from his fifth invasion of India, the Sikhs defeated numerous of his governors, including a decisive battle at Gujranwala that resulted in the fall of Lahore in November 1761. Enraged at the defeat of his deputies, Ahmad Shah prepared for his sixth invasion of India, beginning it in February 1762.
With a light cavalry force, he dashed through the Punjab in a rapid march, with the news of which reaching the Sikhs who were engaged in a siege at Jandiala. The Sikhs raised the siege and withdrew, until their position was compromised by the Afghan governor of Malerkotla. Ahmad Shah led his forces including Zain Khan Sirhindi, catching the Sikhs at the village of Kup. The Sikhs, under Jassa Singh and Charat Singh, were completely defeated and massacred in an event known as the Vadda Ghalughara. Ahmad Shah had ordered that nobody wearing Indian clothes was to be left alive, with mostly camp followers including women and children being killed.
Following the battle of Kup, Ahmad Shah invaded through the domains of Patiala State, ruled by Ala Singh. Ahmad Shah stormed the fortress of Barnala, before Ala Singh produced himself before the Shah, submitting tribute. With this, Ahmad Shah returned to Lahore on 3 March after camping at Sirhind.
thumb|right|Depiction of the Golden Temple. Afghan forces had razed it and polluted the lake|alt=19th century watercolor painting of the Golden Temple
At Lahore, he assembled his forces and attacked Amritsar, arriving at the city on 10 April, a day before the Vaisakhi festival. The city was sacked and a massacre ensued where the Golden Temple was razed, being blown with gunpowder and the blood of men and cows polluting the lake surrounding it. While the temple was blown with gunpowder, a piece of shrapnel hit Ahmad Shah on the nose, causing an open wound that would plague him for the rest of his life.
Following this, Ahmad Shah rested at Lahore, intending to settle the affairs of India. He firstly sent an expedition toward Kashmir which had declared its independence under Sukh Jiwan Mal, which was successful and Kashmir was re-conquered. Other political settlements also occurred, with peace negotiations ensuing with the Marathas, while also calling upon Indian princes to recognize Shah Alam II as the Mughal emperor.
Between April–May 1762, Zain Khan was defeated by the Sikhs at Harnaulgarh. During the summer months, Ahmad Shah moved his camp to Kalanaur. The Sikhs capitalized off of this, with Jassa Singh alongside Tara Singh invading the Jalandhar Doab, while Charat Singh plundered the regions north of Lahore.
In October 1762, Ahmad Shah possibly fought a battle at Amritsar, which is not accepted by all historians. The possible battle was fought under a complete solar eclipse that raged until the night, where Ahmad Shah withdrew to Lahore before returning to see the Sikhs had also withdrawn.
Afterward, Ahmad Shah placed a Hindu, Kabuli Mal, as the Durrani governor of the Punjab, believing it would bring stability. Ahmad Shah began withdrawing back to Afghanistan on 12 December after news of an uprising in Kandahar arrived, where while proceeding, he routed a Sikh army on the banks of the Ravi river. His health was significantly affected during the invasion as a result of the summer heat, adding to his wounded nose. |
Ahmad Shah Durrani | Encounters with the Qing (1763—1764, 1768—1769) | Encounters with the Qing (1763—1764, 1768—1769)
thumb|Map of the route the Afghan embassy undertook to the Qing dynasty in 1763|alt=Route of the Afghan embassy to Beijing
Fazil Biy, the ruler of Kokand, and other Kyrgyz chieftains pleaded to Ahmad Shah to aid them against Qing expansionism. Ahmad Shah, delighted to use a casus belli in the name of Islam, accepted, sending men to occupy the regions between Tashkent and Kokand, though these men later withdrew by 1764 as any alliance failed to be forged.
In 1763, Ahmad Shah had dispatched an embassy to the Qing. His aims in this are unknown, however, an embassy allowed Ahmad Shah to establish himself as an emperor. The letter he sent to the Qing emperor Qianlong is missing, but from the Qing reply, the letter was likely dedicated to his conquests and victory at Panipat, alongside Qing expansion.
The letter positioned Ahmad Shah's expansions as bringing order and stability to areas overrun with rebels and lawlessness (in reference to his campaigns in Iran and India). The battle of Panipat was strongly detailed in the letter, in what was likely a fath-nama, meaning a victory letter or declaration to celebrate ones victory. The Qing emperor ignored the effective threat and downplayed the Afghan victory.
In the second part of the letter, the Qianlong appeared much more defensive, in need of justifying the Qing conquest of the Dzungars and the Altishahr Khojas. He accused them of causing devastation and laying false accusations against him. A report also suggested that Ahmad Shah considered the territories the Qing claimed belonged to the Muslims. In reality, Ahmad Shah possibly wanted to establish spheres of influence, which was similarly done with the Ottomans which divided Iran between them, and a treaty with Bukhara that had established the Amu Darya as the border.
When the Afghan embassy had arrived in Beijing, the chief envoy, Khwaja Mirhan, had refused to kowtow before the Qing emperor. The Qing officials, in shock, demanded he kowtow, to which Mirhan acquiesced. This incident damaged the Qing-Afghan relations and Qianlong cut ties with the Afghans following this. No immediate consequence occurred, and the envoy was given favor.
Mirhan's refusal possibly came out of religious reasons, but the Qing received it as Ahmad Shah declaring himself equal to Qianlong. Qianlong, however, was reconciliatory and instead shifted blame on their escort. From Qianlong's view, he saw the Afghans as a significant power and attempted to impress the envoy and in contrast, Ahmad Shah, of the Qing empire. This was especially done in motivation of Altishahr's recent conquest and concerns over stability in the region.
Ahmad Shah's gifts to the Qing emperor included four horses, which were painted by the Qing court painter, Giuseppe Castiglione. Nonetheless, by the time of the envoy's return journey to Afghanistan, Qianlong made preparations to secure Qing territories.
In 1759, as the revolt of the Altishahr Khojas crumbled, two descendants of the Afaqi Sufi lineage crossed into Badakhshan, being pursued by the Qing forces. Fude, the Qing general of the expedition, demanded that Sultan Shah, the ruler of Badakhshan, to arrest the brothers. Sultan Shah accepted, likely wishing to have Qing military aid, especially against the Durrani Empire. Distrust occurred between the Qing and Sultan Shah due to the Afaqi descendants residing in Badakhshan for months, including Sultan Shah's possible initial refusal to hand them over, possibly intending to send them to Bukhara. Qianlong threatened invasion, which did not occur as one of the descendant's remains were sent to Yarkand.
The death of the Afaqi brothers spurned relations with the Afghans, causing Sultan Shah to plead to the Qing, claiming that Ahmad Shah intended to exact revenge for their deaths. No immediate Afghan invasion occurred. The Qing however, faced numerous frustrations with their tributaries in Central Asia, alongside a major insurrection in Uch-Turfan that required tremendous effort to defeat.
As a result, Qianlong adopted a policy of strict non-interference, realizing that Qing troops in Altishahr were significantly stretched and spread thin. The Afghans, however, seen as a threat, would show the weakness of Qing control in the region.
In August 1768, Qianlong was informed of the Afghan invasion of Badakhshan led by Shah Wali Khan in May, with Afghan forces seizing Sultan Shah's capital, Fayzabad, who fled north. A Qing agent, Yunggui, held the position that the Qing should interfere in the conflict. Qianlong, however, affirmed that military intervention would irrational, and strictly forbade any military interference. Historians see this as surprising, as the invasion by the Afghans threatened the Qing Empire itself.
thumb|right|Delegates from Badakhshan in Peking, 1761
Qing sources affirm that the Afghans established Sarimsaq, a child of the Afaqi's who escaped to Badakhshan, in Kunduz. Qianlong was distraught, as another possible revolt could revolve around Sarimsaq, with reports of Muslim travelers and funds being sent to Sarimsaq. This still did not convince Qianlong to act, and he refused to send any message negatively to Ahmad Shah at all. During this, Sultan Shah defeated the Afghan governor and reoccupied his capital, but feared another Afghan invasion, sending desperate letters to the Qing in the winter of 1768 to ask for help, claiming that Ahmad Shah would invade next year.
Qianlong harshly rebutted, blaming Sultan Shah for provoking the conflict with the Afghans and affirmed that he would only fight the Afghans if they actually invaded Qing territory. Sultan Shah wrote a letter to Emin Khoja in response in August 1769, expecting aid as he was a vassal, only to find himself totally abandoned. In December 1769, Sultan Shah wrote another letter which Qianlong received that accused him of failing to uphold his duties. Qianlong rebuked him, and stated that under no circumstances would the Qing aid him.
Qianlong had initially considered the Afghans tributaries, but after the former incident, he no longer even sought the prospect of any form of Durrani submission. His reply to Sultan Shah effectively saw the Qing recognize the Afghans as a rival power to them, with Qianlong recognizing that the Afghans were unable to be treated like tributaries. Rather than aiding the ruler of Badakhshan as his initial policy had implicated him to, Qianlong instead justified the Afghan invasion, prompted to by overextended armies, the distance, and stability. Instead, gambling on the difficult terrain between the Afghan and Qing realms for safety.
Within the year, Ahmad Shah occupied Badakhshan and Sultan Shah was executed. |
Ahmad Shah Durrani | Seventh invasion of India (1764–1765) | Seventh invasion of India (1764–1765)
After returning to Afghanistan following his sixth invasion, the Sikhs reoccupied Lahore, chasing off the Shah's governor, and sacking Kasur. The Sikhs followed up the victory by overrunning the Jalandhar Doab, while inflicting a crushing defeat to Jahan Khan at Sialkot in November 1763. The Sikhs continued their attacks, sacking the cities of Malerkotla and Morinda, and defeating another Afghan army at Sirhind, killing Zain Khan Sirhindi. The victories subsequently allowed the Sikhs to seize Rohtas, and to even plunder Multan, advancing as far as into the Derajat by the end of their campaigns.
Learning of the catastrophe, Ahmad Shah called a jihad, inviting his vassal Nasir Khan to march with him on the Punjab. Beginning the campaign in October 1764, Ahmad Shah reached Eminabad in December with 18,000 men, further being reinforced by Nasir Khan with 12,000. |
Ahmad Shah Durrani | Death and legacy | Death and legacy
thumb|250px|The tomb of Ahmad Shah Durrani in Kandahar City, which also serves as the Congregational Mosque and contains the sacred cloak that the Islamic Prophet Muhammad wore.
thumb|200px|Son and Successor to Ahmad Shah, Timur Shah Durrani
Ahmad Shah may have suffered an injury due to a flying brick striking his nose when the Harimandir Sahib was destroyed with gunpowder. Other sources state that he suffered from what Afghan sources described as a "gangrenous ulcer", which may attribute to numerous illnesses, such as Leprosy, Syphilis, or a tumor.
Lee writes: "Ahmad Shah gained poor health as a result of all his campaigns. Despite all attempts to treat it, a wound in his nose remained. The ulcer in his later years began eating into his brain". Following the advice of his physicians, he spent part of the summer in the cooler climate of the Margha plain in the Toba Achakzai range during the last few years of his life. He died of his illness on 4 June 1772 (2 Rabi' al-Awwal 1186) in Maruf, Toba Achakzai, east of Kandahar. Some other sources state that he died on 16 October 1772.
Ahmad Shah was buried in the city of Kandahar adjacent to the Shrine of the Cloak, where a large mausoleum was built. It has been described in the following way:
In his tomb his epitaph is written:
Durrani's victory over the Marathas influenced the history of the subcontinent and, in particular, the policies of the East India Company in the region. His refusal to continue his campaigns deeper into India prevented a clash with the company and allowed them to continue to acquire power and influence after they established complete control over the former Mughal province of Bengal in 1793. Fear of another Afghan invasion influenced company policy-makers for almost half a century after the Battle of Panipat. The acknowledgment of Durrani's military accomplishments is reflected in an intelligence report made by Company officials on the Battle of Panipat, which referred to Ahmad Shah as the 'King of Kings'. This fear led in 1798 to a Company envoy being sent to the Persian court in part to instigate the Persians in their claims on Herat to forestall a possible Afghan invasion of India that might have halted Company expansion. Mountstuart Elphinstone wrote of Ahmad Shah:
His successors, beginning with his son Timur Shah and ending with Shuja Shah Durrani, proved largely incapable of governing the last Afghan empire and faced with advancing enemies on all sides. Much of the territory conquered by Ahmad Shah fell to others by the end of the 19th century. Timur Shah consolidated the holdings of the Durrani Empire, quashed civil war and rebellion throughout his reign and led multiple campaigns into Punjab to try and repeat his fathers success. After the death of Timur Shah, his son, Zaman Shah Durrani ascended to the throne; throughout his reign he lost the outlying territories, alienated some Pashtun tribes and those of other Durrani lineages. Zaman Shah led campaigns into Punjab, capturing Lahore. Due to internal strife, he withdrew on all attempts. He was later deposed by Mahmud Shah Durrani, his brother, and the Durrani Realm continued to disintegrate in the following years from progressive succession crises, usually between Timur Shah's sons, with Mahmud Shah Durrani, Zaman Shah Durrani, and Shah Shuja Durrani. Afghanistan remained disunited until Dost Mohammad Khan's ascendancy in 1826. Chaos had effectively reigned and it ceased to exist as a single entity, disintegrating into a fragmented collection of small countries or units. Throughout his reign, the khan focused on reuniting it and somewhat did so with the Herat Campaign of 1862-63, which retook Herat, and the eventual conquest of the Principality of Qandahar.
In Pakistan, a short-range ballistic missile Abdali-I, is named in the honour of Ahmad Shah Abdali. |
Ahmad Shah Durrani | Poetry | Poetry
Durrani wrote a collection of odes in his native Pashto. He was also the author of several poems in Persian. One of his most famous Pashto poems was Love of a Nation: |
Ahmad Shah Durrani | In popular culture | In popular culture
In the 1994 television series The Great Maratha, the character of Ahmad Shah Durrani is portrayed by Bob Christo.
In the 2019 Bollywood war drama Panipat film, Ahmad Shah Durrani appears as the main antagonist who invades the Maratha Empire, and is portrayed by Sanjay Dutt. |
Ahmad Shah Durrani | See also | See also
List of monarchs of Afghanistan |
Ahmad Shah Durrani | References | References |
Ahmad Shah Durrani | Notes | Notes |
Ahmad Shah Durrani | Citations | Citations |
Ahmad Shah Durrani | Bibliography | Bibliography
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Category:1720s births
Category:1772 deaths
Category:18th-century Afghan monarchs
Category:Emirs of Afghanistan
Ahmad Shah
Category:18th-century Afghan poets
Category:Afsharid generals
Category:Pashtun people
Category:Pashto-language poets
Category:People from Herat
Category:People from Kandahar
Category:People from Multan
Category:Afghan Muslims
Category:18th-century monarchs in Asia |
Ahmad Shah Durrani | Table of Content | Short description, Name and title, Early life, Death of Nader Shah, Return to Kandahar, Accession and coronation, Reign as Shah (1747–1772), Administration, Objectives, Military campaigns, Campaign to Kabul (1747), First invasion of India (1747–1748), Second invasion of India (1748), First Khorasan campaign (1749–1751), Third invasion of India (1751–1752), Turkestan (1751–1768), Second Khorasan campaign (1754–1755), Fourth invasion of India (1756–1757), Durrani administration of the Punjab (1757–1758), Kalat Rebellion (1758—1759), Fifth invasion of India (1759–1761), Rebellions in Afghanistan (1760—1762), Sixth invasion of India (1762), Encounters with the Qing (1763—1764, 1768—1769), Seventh invasion of India (1764–1765), Death and legacy, Poetry, In popular culture, See also, References, Notes, Citations, Bibliography |
Arthur Aikin | Short description | Arthur Aikin (19 May 177315 April 1854) was an English chemist, mineralogist and scientific writer, and was a founding member of the Chemical Society (now the Royal Society of Chemistry). He first became its treasurer in 1841, and later became the society's second president. |
Arthur Aikin | Life | Life
He was born at Warrington, Lancashire into a distinguished literary family of prominent Unitarians. The best known of these was his paternal aunt, Anna Laetitia Barbauld, a woman of letters who wrote poetry and essays as well as early children's literature. His father, Dr John Aikin, was a medical doctor, historian, and author. His grandfather, also called John (1713–1780), was a Unitarian scholar and theological tutor, closely associated with Warrington Academy. His sister Lucy (1781–1864) was a historical writer. Their brother Charles Rochemont Aikin was adopted by their famous aunt and brought up as their cousin.
Arthur Aikin studied chemistry under Joseph Priestley in the New College at Hackney, and gave attention to the practical applications of the science. In early life, he was a Unitarian minister for a short time. Aikin lectured on chemistry at Guy's Hospital for thirty-two years. He became the President of the British Mineralogical Society in 1801 for five years up until 1806 when the Society merged with the Askesian Society. From 1803 to 1808 he was editor of the Annual Review. In 1805 Aiken also became a proprietor of the London Institution, which was officially founded in 1806. He was one of the founders of the Geological Society of London in 1807 and was its honorary secretary in 1812–1817. He also gave lectures in 1813 and 1814. He contributed papers on the Wrekin and the Shropshire coalfield, among others, to the transactions of that society. His Manual of Mineralogy was published in 1814. Later he became the paid secretary of the Society of Arts and later was elected as a fellow. He was founder of the Chemical Society of London in 1841, being its first treasurer and, between 1843 and 1845, second president.
In order to support himself, outside of his work with the British Mineralogical Society, the London Institution and the Geological Society, Aiken worked as a writer, translator and lecturer to the public and to medical students at Guy's Hospital. His writing and journalism were useful for publicising foreign scientific news to the wider British public. He was also a member of the Linnean Society and in 1820 joined the Institution of Civil Engineers.
He was highly esteemed as a man of sound judgement and wide knowledge. Aikin never married, and died at Hoxton in London in 1854. |
Arthur Aikin | Publications | Publications
The natural history of the year; being an enlargement of Dr. Aikin's Calendar of nature, 1798
Journal of a Tour through North Wales and Part of Shropshire with Observations in Mineralogy and Other Branches of Natural History (London, 1797)
Syllabus of a course of lectures on chemistry, by A. and C.R. Aikin, 1799
The Annual review and history of literature; for 1807, 1808
A Manual of Mineralogy (1814; ed. 2, 1815)
dictionary of chemistry and mineralogy, with an account of the processes employed in many of the most important chemical manufactures. To which are added a description of chemical apparatus, and various useful tables of weights and measures, chemical instruments, &c. &c. Vol. I; Vol. II (with his brother C. R. Aikin), 2 vols. (London, 1807, 1814).
An account of the most important recent discoveries and improvements in chemistry and mineralogy, to the present time : being an appendix to their Dictionary of chemistry and mineralogy, 1814
For Rees's Cyclopædia he wrote articles about chemistry, geology and mineralogy, but the topics are not known. |
Arthur Aikin | References | References |
Arthur Aikin | External links | External links
The Aikin Family Papers, D.190, at Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester.
Category:1773 births
Category:1854 deaths
Category:English mineralogists
Category:19th-century English chemists
Category:People from Warrington
Category:Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
Category:People from Hoxton
Category:English Unitarians
Category:Anna Laetitia Barbauld
Category:18th-century English writers
Category:18th-century English male writers
Category:19th-century English writers |
Arthur Aikin | Table of Content | Short description, Life, Publications, References, External links |
Ailanthus | Short description | Ailanthus (;Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607 derived from ailanto, an Ambonese word probably meaning "tree of the gods" or "tree of heaven") is a genus of trees belonging to the family Simaroubaceae, in the order Sapindales (formerly Rutales or Geraniales). The genus is native from east Asia south to northern Australasia. One species, the Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) is considered a weed in some parts of the world. |
Ailanthus | Selected species | Selected species
thumb|Ailanthus altissima, male flowers
The number of living species is disputed, with some authorities accepting up to ten species, while others accept six or fewer. Species include:
Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven, syn. A. vilmoriniana ) – northern and central mainland China, Taiwan. Invasive in North America, Europe, Britain, and Australia. Serves as central metaphor in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
Ailanthus excelsa – India and Sri Lanka
Ailanthus fordii – China
Ailanthus integrifolia – New Guinea and Queensland, Australia
Ailanthus triphysa (white siris syn. A. malabarica) – India, South-east Asia and Australia
Ailanthus vietnamensis – Vietnam
There is a good fossil record of Ailanthus with many species names based on their geographic occurrence, but almost all of these have very similar morphology and have been grouped as a single species among the three species recognized:
Ailanthus tardensis – from a single locality in Hungary
Ailanthus confucii – Tertiary period, Europe, Asia, and North America
Ailanthus gigas – from a single locality in Slovenia
Ailanthus pythii – known from the Miocene of Iceland, Styria in Austria and the Gavdos island in Greece
Ailanthus kurzii – endemic to the Andaman Islands, India
Ailanthus maximus – known from the latest Paleocene to late Oligocene in the Tibetan Plateau |
Ailanthus | Ailanthus silk moth | Ailanthus silk moth
A silk spinning moth, the ailanthus silkmoth (Samia cynthia), lives on Ailanthus leaves, and yields a silk more durable and cheaper than mulberry silk, but inferior to it in fineness and gloss. This moth has been introduced to the eastern United States and is common near many towns; it is about 12 cm across, with angulated wings, and in color olive brown, with white markings. Other Lepidoptera whose larvae feed on Ailanthus include Endoclita malabaricus, and Atteva aurea (commonly known as the Ailanthus webworm moth). |
Ailanthus | See also | See also
Spotted lanternfly |
Ailanthus | References | References
Germplasm Resources Information Network: Ailanthus
Plant Conservation Alliance's Alien Plant Working Group: Least Wanted
Category:Sapindales genera |
Ailanthus | Table of Content | Short description, Selected species, Ailanthus silk moth, See also, References |
Aimoin of Fleury | short description | Aimoin of Fleury (; ) was a medieval French monk and chronicler active in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. He was born at Villefranche-de-Longchat, in Southwestern France, about 960. Early in his life he entered the monastery of Fleury, where he became a monk and then passed the greater part of his life. Between c. 980 and 985 Aimoin wrote about Saint Benedict in the Abbey of Fleury-sur-Loire. His chief work is the Historia Francorum, or Libri V. de Gestis Francorum, which deals with the history of the Franks from the earliest times to 653, and was continued by other writers until the middle of the 12th century. It was much in vogue during the Middle Ages, but its historical value is now regarded as slight. It was edited in the 19th century by G. Waitz and published in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores, Band xxvi (Hanover and Berlin, 1826–1892). Endote: See Histoire littéraire de la France, tome vii. (Paris, 1865–1869).
In 1004 Aimoin also wrote Vita Abbonis, abbatis Floriacensis, the last of a series of lives of the abbots of Fleury, all of which, except the life of Abbo, have been lost. This was published by J. Mabillon in the Acta sanctorum ordinis sancti Benedicti (Paris, 1668–1701).
Aimoin's third work was the composition of books ii and iii of the Miracula sancti Benedicti, the first book of which was written by another monk of Fleury named Adrevald ( – 878). This also appears in the Acta sanctorum. |
Aimoin of Fleury | References | References |
Aimoin of Fleury | External links | External links
Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indices
Category:960s births
Category:Year of birth unknown
Category:1010s deaths
Category:Year of death unknown
Category:French chroniclers
Category:French Christian monks
Category:11th-century French historians
Category:11th-century writers in Latin |
Aimoin of Fleury | Table of Content | short description, References, External links |
Akkadian Empire | Short description | The Akkadian Empire () was the first known empire, succeeding the long-lived city-states of Sumer. Centered on the city of Akkad ( or ) and its surrounding region, the empire united Akkadian and Sumerian speakers under one rule and exercised significant influence across Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Anatolia, sending military expeditions as far south as Dilmun and Magan (modern United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman) in the Arabian Peninsula.Mish, Frederick C., Editor in Chief. "Akkad" Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. ninth ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster 1985. ).
The Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests by its founder Sargon of Akkad. Under Sargon and his successors, the Akkadian language was briefly imposed on neighboring conquered states such as Elam and Gutium. Akkad is sometimes regarded as the first empire in history, though the meaning of this term is not precise, and there are earlier Sumerian claimants.F Leo Oppenhiem – Ancient MesopotamiaLiverani (1993), p. 3. "The factual criticism is that empires existed even before Akkad: or more properly that the term and concept of 'empire' has been recently applied (on not worse grounds than in the case of Akkad) to other older cases, from the Uruk of the late-Uruk period to the Ebla of the royal archives, to the very state formations of the Sumerian south in the period called in fact 'proto-imperial'. In no case is the Akkad empire an absolute novelty [...] 'Akkad the first empire' is therefore subject to criticism not only as for the adjective 'first' but especially as for the noun 'empire'. |
Akkadian Empire | Contemporary epigraphic sources | Contemporary epigraphic sources
Epigraphic sources from the Sargonic (Akkadian Empire) period are in relatively short supply, partly because the capital Akkad, like the capitals of the later Mitanni and Sealand, has not yet been located, though there has been much speculation. Some cuneiform tablets have been excavated at cities under Akkadian Empire control such as Eshnunna and Tell Agrab. I.J. Gelb, "Sargon Texts from the Diyala Region", Materials for the Assyrian Dictionary, vol. 1, Chicago, 1961
Other tablets have become available on the antiquities market and are held in museums and private collections such as those from the Akkadian governor in Adab.M. Molina, "Sargonic Cuneiform Tablets in the Real Academia de la Historia : The Carl L. Lippmann Collection", Real Academia de la Historia, 2014 Internal evidence allows their dating to the Sargonic period and sometimes to the original location. Archives are especially important to historians and only a few have become available. The Me-sag Archive, which commenced publication in 1958, is considered one of the most significant collections. The tablets, about 500 in number with about half published, are held primarily at the Babylonian Collection of the Yale University and Baghdad Museum with a few others scattered about. The tablets date to the period of late in the reign of Naram-Sin to early in the reign of Shar-kali-shari. They are believed to be from a town between Umma and Lagash and Me-sag to be the governor of Umma.Markina, Ekaterina, "Akkadian of the Me-ság Archive", in Babel und Bibel 6, edited by Leonid E. Kogan, N. Koslova, S. Loesov and S. Tishchenko, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 169–188, 2012Susan Jane Bridges, The Mesag Archive: A Study of Sargonic Society and Economy, Yale University Dissertation, 1981Robson, Eleanor, and Gábor Zólyomi, "Mesag reports a murder: cuneiform tablets in the collections of Norwich Castle Museum and Cambridge University Library", Iraq 76, pp. 189–203, 2014 An archive of 47 tablets was found at the excavation of Tell el-Suleimah in the Hamrin Basin.Visicato, Giuseppe, "The Sargonic Archive of Tell El-Suleimah", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 51, pp. 17–30, 1999
Various royal inscriptions by the Akkadian rulers have also been found. Most of the original examples are short, or very fragmentary like the Victory Stele of Naram-Sin and the Sargonic victory stele from Telloh.Foster, Benjamin R., "The Sargonic Victory Stele from Telloh", Iraq, vol. 47, pp. 15–30, 1985 A few longer ones are known because of later copies made, often from the much later Old Babylonian period. While these are assumed to be mostly accurate, it is difficult to know if they had been edited to reflect current political conditions.Douglas R. Frayne, The Sargonic and Gutian Periods (2334–2113), University of Toronto Press, 1993, One of the longer surviving examples is the Bassetki Statue, the copper base of a Narim-Sin statue:
A number of fragments of royal statues of Manishtushu all bearing portions of a "standard inscription". Aside from a few minor short inscriptions this is the only known contemporary source for this ruler.Eppihimer, Melissa, "Assembling King and State: The Statues of Manishtushu and the Consolidation of Akkadian Kingship", American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 114, no. 3, pp. 365–80, 2010 An excerpt:
Before the Akkadian Empire, calendar years were marked by Regnal Numbers. During Sargonic times, a system of year-names was used. This practice continued until the end of the Old Babylonian period, for example, "Year in which the divine Hammu[rabi] the king Esznunna destroyed by a flood.”Ebeling, E. and Meissner, B., "Reallexikon der Assyriologie (RIA-2), Berlin, 1938 Afterwards, Regnal Numbers were used by all succeeding kingdoms.Horsnell, Malcolm J. A., "Why Year-Names? An Exploration into the Reasons for Their Use", Orientalia, vol. 72, no. 2, pp. 196–203, 2003 During the Akkadian Empire 3 of the presumed 40 Sargon year-names are known, 1 (presumed 9) of Rimush, 20 (presumed 56) of Naram-Sin, and 18 (presumed 18) of Shar-kali-shari.Marcel Sigrist and Peter Damerow, "Mesopotamian Year Names", Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative, 2001 Recently, a single year-name had been found "In the year that Dūr-Maništusu was established.”Alkhafaji, Nashat Ali Omran, "A Double Date Formula of the Old Akkadian King Manishtusu", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 71, pp. 3–9, 2019 There are also, perhaps, a dozen more known, which cannot be firmly linked to a ruler. Especially with the paucity of other inscriptions, year-names are extremely important in determining the history of the Akkadian Empire. As an example, from one year-name, we know that the empire was in conflict with the Gutians long before its end. It attests the name of a Gutian ruler and marks the construction of two temples in Babylon as recognition of Akkadian victory.
The final contemporary source are seals and their sealing dates. These are especially important here, as markers, with the shortage of other Akkadian Empire epigraphics and very useful to historians. As an example, two seals and one sealing were found in the Royal Cemetery at Ur which contained the name of Sargons's daughter En-hedu-ana. This provided confirmation of her existence. The seals read "En-hedu-ana, daughter of Sargon: Ilum-pal[il] (is) her coiffeur" and "Adda, estate supervisor/majordomo of En-hedu-ana". At Tell Mozan (ancient Urkesh) brought to light a clay sealing of Tar'am-Agade (Akkad loves <her>), a previously unknown daughter of Naram-Sin, who was possibly married to an unidentified local endan (ruler). |
Akkadian Empire | Later copies and literary compositions | Later copies and literary compositions
So great was the Akkadian Empire, especially Sargon and Narim-Sin, that its history was passed down for millennia. This ranged on one end to purported copies of still existing Sargonic period inscriptions to literary tales made up from the whole cloth at the other.Westenholz, Joan Goodnick, "Heroes of Akkad", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 103, no. 1, pp. 327–36, 1983 A few examples:
Great Rebellion Against Naram-Sin – At one point in his reign much of the Empire, especially in the old mainly Sumerian city-states, rose up against Naram-Sin. The revolt was crushed but the echoes of the event were passed down in history. Some of the tales, like "Naram-Sin and the Enemy Hordes" (Old Babylonian – purported to be a copy of an inscription at the temple of Nergal in Cutha) and "Gula-AN and the Seventeen Kings against Naram-Sin" were literary compositions which further developed and changed the themes. The earliest examplar, from the Old Babylonian period, is found in several incomplete tablets and fragments, which differ somewhat, purporting to be copies of an inscription on a statue of Naram-Sin standing in the Ekur temple of Enlil at Nippur. Because it aligns with known contemporary inscriptions and year name it is considered authentic, which the usual Mesopotamian slant that something going wrong means you displeased the gods.Tinney, Steve, "A New Look at Naram-Sin and the ‘Great Rebellion’", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 47, pp. 1–14, 1995Michalowski, Piotr, "New Sources Concerning the Reign of Naram-Sin", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 233–46, 1980Westenholz, Joan Goodnick, "Naram-Sin and the Enemy Hordes": The “Cuthean Legend” of Naram-Sin", Legends of the Kings of Akkade: The Texts, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 263–368, 1997
Cursing of Agade – A purely literary composition which was handed down for millennia in Mesopotamia. Composed in the Ur III period, a century or at most two after the events, it is essentially artistic propaganda. After a long period of Akkadian dominance the Sumerians from the south are back in ascendancy. The Ur rule is sometimes called the Neo-Sumerian Empire. This composition lays all the troubles before the rise of Ur at the feet of the Akkadian Empire (because Naram-Sin leveled the Ekur temple of Enlil while rebuilding it causing the eight chief deities of Mesopotamia to withdraw their support and protection from Akkad). While basically fiction, it is still useful to historians.
There were a number of these, passed down as part of scribel tradition including The Birth Legend of Sargon (Neo-Assyrian), Weidner Chronicle, and the Geographical Treatise on Sargon of Akkad's Empire.Lenzi, Alan, "Legends of Akkadian Kings", in An Introduction to Akkadian Literature: Contexts and Content, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 123–132, 2019E. A. Speiver, "Akkadian Myths and Epics", in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament with Supplement, edited by James B. Pritchard, Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 60–119, 1955Albright, W. F., "A Babylonian Geographical Treatise on Sargon of Akkad's Empire", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 45, pp. 193–245, 1925Al-Rawi, F. N. H. “Tablets from the Sippar Library. I. The ‘Weidner Chronicle’: A Supposititious Royal Letter Concerning a Vision.” Iraq, vol. 52, pp. 1–13, 1990 |
Akkadian Empire | Archaeology | Archaeology
Identifying architectural remains is hindered by the fact that there are sometimes no clear distinctions between features thought to stem from the preceding Early Dynastic period, and those thought to be Akkadian. Likewise, material that is thought to be Akkadian continues to be in use into the Ur III period. Augusta McMahon, "Nippur V. The Early Dynastic to Akkadian Transition: The Area WF Sounding at Nippur", Oriental Institute Publications 129, Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 2006 There is a similar issue with cuneiform tablets. In the early Akkadian Empire tablets and the signs on them are much like those from earlier periods, before developing into the much different Classical Sargonic style.Foster, Benjamin R., "Archives and Record-keeping in Sargonic Mesopotamia", ZAVA, vol. 72, no. 1, pp. 1–27, 1982
With the capital, Akkad, still unlocated, archaeological remains of the empire are still to be found, mainly at the cities where they established regional governors. An example is Adab where Naram-Sin established direct imperial control after Adab joined the "great revolt". M. Molina, "The palace of Adab during the Sargonic period", D. Wicke (ed.), Der Palast im antiken und islamischen Orient, Colloquien der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 9, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, pp. 151–20, 2019 After destroying the city of Mari the Akkadian Empire rebuilt it as an administrative center with an imperial governor.Margueron, Jean-Claude, "The Kingdom of Mari", In Crawford, Harriet (ed.). The Sumerian World. Translated by Crawford, Harriet. Routledge, 2013 The city of Nuzi was established by the Akkadians and a number of economic and administrative texts were found there.Freedman, Nadezhda, "The Nuzi Ebla", The Biblical Archaeologist, 40 (1), pp. 32–33, 1977 Similarly, there are Marad, Nippur, Tutub and Ebla.Archi, Alfonso, "Ebla and Its Archives: Texts, History, and Society", Walter de Gruyter, 2015 Gibson, McGuire, "A Re-Evaluation of the Akkad Period in the Diyala Region on the Basis of Recent Excavations at Nippur and in the Hamrin", American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 86, no. 4, pp. 531–38, 1982
Excavation at the modern site of Tell Brak has suggested that the Akkadians rebuilt a city ("Brak" or "Nagar") on this site, for use as an administrative center. The city included two large buildings including a complex with temple, offices, courtyard, and large ovens.J. Oates (2004), pp. 5–8. "Following the destruction of the city sometime in the twenty-third century BC, Nagar was rebuilt by officials of the Akkadian Dynasty as a major centre of their provincial administration, a fact clearly attested in the cuneiform documents from this site." |
Akkadian Empire | Dating and periodization | Dating and periodization
The Akkadian period is generally dated to 2334–2154 BC (according to the middle chronology). The short-chronology dates of 2270–2083 BC are now considered less likely. It was preceded by the Early Dynastic Period of Mesopotamia (ED) and succeeded by the Ur III Period, although both transitions are blurry. For example, it is likely that the rise of Sargon of Akkad coincided with the late ED Period and that the final Akkadian kings ruled simultaneously with the Gutian kings alongside rulers at the city-states of both Uruk and Lagash. The Akkadian Period is contemporary with EB IV (in Israel), EB IVA and EJ IV (in Syria), and EB IIIB (in Turkey). |
Akkadian Empire | Timeline of rulers | Timeline of rulers
The relative order of Akkadian kings is clear, while noting that the Ur III version of the Sumerian King List inverts the order of Rimush and Manishtushu.Steinkeller, P., "An Ur III manuscript of the Sumerian King List", in: W. Sallaberger [e.a.] (ed.), Literatur, Politik und Recht in Mesopotamien. Festschrift fü r Claus Wilcke. OBC 14. Wiesbaden, 267–29, 2003Thomas, Ariane. "The Akkadian Royal Image: On a Seated Statue of Manishtushu" Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 105, no. 1-2, 2015, pp. 86–117 The absolute dates of their reigns are approximate (as with all dates prior to the Late Bronze Age collapse c. 1200 BC).
Ruler Middle chronologyAll dates BCFamily treeSargon30px 2334–2279400pxRimush30px 2278–2270Manishtushu30px 2269–2255Naram-Sin30px 2254–2218Shar-Kali-Sharri30px 2217–2193Dudu30px|Alabaster vase of Dudu of Akkad Louvre Museum AO 31549 2189–2169Shu-turul30px|Votive_hammer_of_Shu-turul 2168–2154 |
Akkadian Empire | History and development of the empire | History and development of the empire |
Akkadian Empire | Pre-Sargonic Akkad | Pre-Sargonic Akkad
thumb|Akkad before expansion (in green). The territory of Sumer under its last king Lugal-Zage-Si appears in orange. Circa 2350 BC
thumb|Sargon on his victory stele, with a royal hair bun, holding a mace and wearing a flounced royal coat on his left shoulder with a large belt (left), followed by an attendant holding a royal umbrella. The name of Sargon in cuneiform ("King Sargon") appears faintly in front of his face. Louvre Museum.
thumb|Akkadian official in the retinue of Sargon of Akkad, holding an axe
The Akkadian Empire takes its name from the region and the city of Akkad, both of which were localized in the general confluence area of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Although the city of Akkad has not yet been identified on the ground, it is known from various textual sources. Among these is at least one text predating the reign of Sargon. Together with the fact that the name Akkad is of non-Akkadian origin, this suggests that the city of Akkad may have already been occupied in pre-Sargonic times. |
Akkadian Empire | Sargon of Akkad | Sargon of Akkad
The earliest records in the Akkadian language date to the time of Sargon of Akkad, who defeated the Sumerian king Lugal-zage-si at the Battle of Uruk and conquered his former territory, establishing the Akkadian Empire. Sargon was claimed to be the son of a gardener in the Sumerian King List. Later legends named his father as La'ibum or Itti-Bel and his birth mother as a priestess (or possibly even a hierodule) of Ishtar, the Akkadian equivalent of the Sumerian goddess Inanna. One legend of Sargon from Neo-Assyrian times quotes him as saying
Later claims made on behalf of Sargon were that his mother was an "entu" priestess (high priestess). The claims might have been made to ensure a pedigree of nobility, since only a highly placed family could achieve such a position.
Originally a cupbearer (Rabshakeh) to a king of Kish with a Semitic name, Ur-Zababa, Sargon thus became a gardener, responsible for the task of clearing out irrigation canals. The royal cupbearer at this time was in fact a prominent political position, close to the king and with various high level responsibilities not suggested by the title of the position itself. This gave him access to a disciplined corps of workers, who also may have served as his first soldiers. Displacing Ur-Zababa, Sargon was crowned king, and he entered upon a career of foreign conquest.Samuel Noah Kramer, The Sumerians, Chicago University Press, 1971, Four times he invaded Syria and Canaan, and he spent three years thoroughly subduing the countries of "the west" to unite them with Mesopotamia "into a single empire".
However, Sargon took this process further, conquering many of the surrounding regions to create an empire that reached westward as far as the Mediterranean Sea and perhaps Cyprus (Kaptara); northward as far as the mountains (a later Hittite text asserts he fought the Hattian king Nurdaggal of Burushanda, well into Anatolia); eastward over Elam; and as far south as Magan (Oman) — a region over which he reigned for purportedly 56 years, though only four "year-names" survive. He consolidated his dominion over his territories by replacing the earlier opposing rulers with noble citizens of Akkad, his native city where loyalty was thus ensured.
thumb|left|Prisoners escorted by a soldier, on a victory stele of Sargon of Akkad, circa 2300 BC. The hairstyle of the prisoners (curly hair on top and short hair on the sides) is characteristic of Sumerians, as also seen on the Standard of Ur. Louvre Museum.
Trade extended from the silver mines of Anatolia to the lapis lazuli mines in modern Afghanistan, the cedars of Lebanon and the copper of Magan. This consolidation of the city-states of Sumer and Akkad reflected the growing economic and political power of Mesopotamia. The empire's breadbasket was the rain-fed agricultural system and a chain of fortresses was built to control the imperial wheat production.
Images of Sargon were erected on the shores of the Mediterranean, in token of his victories, and cities and palaces were built at home with the spoils of the conquered lands. Elam and the northern part of Mesopotamia were also subjugated, and rebellions in Sumer were put down. Contract tablets have been found dated in the years of the campaigns against Canaan and against Sarlak, king of Gutium. He also boasted of having subjugated the "four-quarters" — the lands surrounding Akkad to the north, the south (Sumer), the east (Elam), and the west (Martu). Some of the earliest historiographic texts (ABC 19, 20) suggest he rebuilt the city of Babylon (Bab-ilu) in its new location near Akkad.Dalley proposes that these sources may have originally referred to Sargon II of the Assyria rather than Sargon of Akkad. Stephanie Dalley, "Babylon as a Name for Other Cities Including Nineveh", in Proceedings of the 51st Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Oriental Institute SAOC 62, pp. 25–33, 2005
Sargon, throughout his long life, showed special deference to the Sumerian deities, particularly Inanna (Ishtar), his patroness, and Zababa, the warrior god of Kish. He called himself "The anointed priest of Anu" and "the great ensi of Enlil" and his daughter, Enheduanna, was installed as priestess to Nanna at the temple in Ur.
Troubles multiplied toward the end of his reign. A later Babylonian text states:
It refers to his campaign in "Elam", where he defeated a coalition army led by the King of Awan and forced the vanquished to become his vassals.
Also shortly after, another revolt took place:
The Bible refers to the city of Akkad in the Book of Genesis, which states:
Nimrod's historical inspiration remains uncertain, but he has been identified with Sargon of Akkad by some scholars who also propose that the name of Sargon's grandson and successor Naram-Sin is the root of Nimrod's, while others have noted similarities between Nimrod and the legendary Gilgamesh, king of Uruk (Erech). |
Akkadian Empire | Rimush and Manishtushu | Rimush and Manishtushu
thumb|upright=1.2|Akkadian soldiers slaying enemies, circa 2300 BC, possibly from a Victory Stele of Rimush.
Sargon had crushed opposition even at old age. These difficulties broke out again in the reign of his sons, where revolts broke out during the nine-year reign of Rimush (2278–2270 BC), who fought hard to retain the empire, and was successful until he was assassinated by some of his own courtiers. According to his inscriptions, he faced widespread revolts, and had to reconquer the cities of Ur, Umma, Adab, Lagash, Der, and Kazallu from rebellious ensis: Rimush introduced mass slaughter and large scale destruction of the Sumerian city-states, and maintained meticulous records of his destructions. Most of the major Sumerian cities were destroyed, and Sumerian human losses were enormous:
Sumerian casualties from the campaigns of RimushDestroyed cities:Adab and ZabalaUmma and KI.ANUr and LagashKazallu(Three battles in Sumer)TOTAL Killed15,7188,9008,04912,05211,32256,041 Captured and enslaved14,5763,5405,4605,862_29,438 "Expelled and annihilated"_5,6005,985_14,10025,685
Rimush's elder brother, Manishtushu (2269–2255 BC) succeeded him. The latter seems to have fought a sea battle against 32 kings who had gathered against him and took control over their pre-Arab country, consisting of modern-day United Arab Emirates and Oman. Despite the success, like his brother he seems to have been assassinated in a palace conspiracy. |
Akkadian Empire | Naram-Sin | Naram-Sin
thumb|Portrait of Naram-Sin, with inscription in his name.
Manishtushu's son and successor, Naram-Sin (2254–2218 BC), due to vast military conquests, assumed the imperial title "King Naram-Sin, king of the four-quarters" (Lugal Naram-Sîn, Šar kibrat 'arbaim), the four-quarters as a reference to the entire world. He was also for the first time in Sumerian culture, addressed as "the god (Sumerian = DINGIR, Akkadian = ilu) of Agade" (Akkad), in opposition to the previous religious belief that kings were only representatives of the people towards the gods. Piotr Michalowski, "The Mortal Kings of Ur: A Short Century of Divine Rule in Ancient Mesopotamia", in Religion and Power: Divine Kingship in the Ancient World and Beyond – Nicole Brisch ed., pp. 33–45, Oriental Institute Seminars 4, Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 2012
He also faced revolts at the start of his reign, but quickly crushed them.
thumb|Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, celebrating victory against the Lullubi from Zagros 2260 BC. He is wearing a horned helmet, a symbol of divinity, and is also portrayed in a larger scale in comparison to others to emphasize his superiority. Brought back from Sippar to Susa as war prize in the 12th century BC.
Naram-Sin also recorded the Akkadian conquest of Ebla as well as Armanum and its king.
thumb|Palace of Naram-Sin at Tell Brak.
To better police Syria, he built a royal residence at Tell Brak, a crossroads at the heart of the Khabur River basin of the Jezirah. Naram-Sin campaigned against Magan which also revolted; Naram-Sin "marched against Magan and personally caught Mandannu, its king", where he instated garrisons to protect the main roads. The chief threat seemed to be coming from the northern Zagros Mountains, the Lulubis and the Gutians. A campaign against the Lullubi led to the carving of the "Victory Stele of Naram-Suen", now in the Louvre. Hittite sources claim Naram-Sin of Akkad even ventured into Anatolia, battling the Hittite and Hurrian kings Pamba of Hatti, Zipani of Kanesh, and 15 others.
The economy was highly planned. Grain was cleaned, and rations of grain and oil were distributed in standardized vessels made by the city's potters. Taxes were paid in produce and labour on public walls, including city walls, temples, irrigation canals and waterways, producing huge agricultural surpluses. This newfound Akkadian wealth may have been based upon benign climatic conditions, huge agricultural surpluses and the confiscation of the wealth of other peoples.
In later Assyrian and Babylonian texts, the name Akkad, together with Sumer, appears as part of the royal title, as in the Sumerian LUGAL KI-EN-GI KI-URI or Akkadian Šar māt Šumeri u Akkadi, translating to "king of Sumer and Akkad".Ulanowski, Krzysztof, "The Rituals of Power: The Akkadian Tradition in Neo-Assyrian Policy", Tradition and Innovation in the Ancient Near East. Ed. by A. Arch, Winona Lake, Indiana Eisenbrauns, pp. 237-250, 2015 This title was assumed by the king who seized control of Nippur, the intellectual and religious center of southern Mesopotamia.
During the Akkadian period, the Akkadian language became the lingua franca of the Middle East, and was officially used for administration, although the Sumerian language remained as a spoken and literary language. The spread of Akkadian stretched from Syria to Elam, and even the Elamite language was temporarily written in Mesopotamian cuneiform. Akkadian texts later found their way to far-off places, from Egypt (in the Amarna Period) and Anatolia, to Persia (Behistun). |
Akkadian Empire | Submission of Sumerian kings | Submission of Sumerian kings
The submission of some Sumerian rulers to the Akkadian Empire, is recorded in the seal inscriptions of Sumerian rulers such as Lugal-ushumgal, governor (ensi) of Lagash ("Shirpula"), circa 2230–2210 BC. Several inscriptions of Lugal-ushumgal are known, particularly seal impressions, which refer to him as governor of Lagash and at the time a vassal (, arad, "servant" or "slave") of Naram-Sin, as well as his successor Shar-kali-sharri. One of these seals proclaims:
It can be considered that Lugal-ushumgal was a collaborator of the Akkadian Empire, as was Meskigal, ruler of Adab. Later however, Lugal-ushumgal was succeeded by Puzer-Mama who, as Akkadian power waned, achieved independence from Shar-Kali-Sharri, assuming the title of "King of Lagash" and starting the illustrious Second Dynasty of Lagash. |
Akkadian Empire | Collapse | Collapse
thumb|The Gutians capturing a Babylonian city, as the Akkadians are making a stand outside of their city. 19th century illustration.
The empire of Akkad likely fell in the 22nd century BC, within 180 years of its founding, ushering in a "Dark Age" with no prominent imperial authority until the Third Dynasty of Ur. The region's political structure may have reverted to the status quo ante of local governance by city-states.Zettler (2003), pp. 24–25.
By the end of Sharkalisharri's reign, the empire had begun to unravel.
Nicholas Kraus, The Weapon of Blood: Politics and Intrigue at the Decline of Akkad, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie & Vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 108, iss. 1, pp. 1–9, June 2018
After several years of chaos (and four kings), Shu-turul and Dudu appear to have restored some centralized authority for several decades; however, they were unable to prevent the empire from eventually collapsing outright, eventually ceding power to Gutians, based in Adab, who had been conquered by Akkad during the reign of Sharkalisharri.Kraus, Nicholas. "The Weapon of Blood: Politics and Intrigue at the Decline of Akkad" Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 108, no. 1, 2018, pp. 1–9.
Little is known about the Gutian period, or how long it endured. Cuneiform sources suggest that the Gutians' administration showed little concern for maintaining agriculture, written records, or public safety; they reputedly released all farm animals to roam about Mesopotamia freely and soon brought about famine and rocketing grain prices. The Sumerian king Ur-Nammu (2112–2095 BC) cleared the Gutians from Mesopotamia during his reign.
The Sumerian King List, describing the Akkadian Empire after the death of Shar-kali-shari, states:
However, there are no known year-names or other archaeological evidence verifying any of these later kings of Akkad or Uruk, apart from several artefact referencing king Dudu of Akkad and Shu-turul. The named kings of Uruk may have been contemporaries of the last kings of Akkad, but in any event could not have been very prominent.
upright|thumb|"Cylinder Seal with King or God and Vanquished Lion" (Old Akkadian). The Walters Art Museum.
The period between BC and 2004 BC is known as the Ur III period. Documents again began to be written in Sumerian, although Sumerian was becoming a purely literary or liturgical language, much as Latin later became in Medieval Europe.Georges Roux (1996), Ancient Iraq (3rd Edition)(Penguin Harmondsworth)
One explanation for the end of the Akkadian empire is simply that the Akkadian dynasty could not maintain its political supremacy over other independently powerful city-states.Norman Yoffee, "The Collapse of Ancient Mesopotamian States and Civilization", in The Collapse of Ancient States and Civilizations, ed. Norman Yoffee and George L. Cowgill, University of Arizona Press, 1991 |
Akkadian Empire | Natural causes: drought, seasonal weather patterns | Natural causes: drought, seasonal weather patterns
One theory, which remains controversial, associates regional decline at the end of the Akkadian period (and of the First Intermediary Period following the Old Kingdom in Ancient Egypt) with rapidly increasing aridity, and failing rainfall in the region of the Ancient Near East, caused by a global centennial-scale drought, sometimes called the 4.2 kiloyear event. Harvey Weiss has shown that Peter B. de Menocal has shown "there was an influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation on the streamflow of the Tigris and Euphrates at this time, which led to the collapse of the Akkadian Empire". More recent analysis of simulations from the HadCM3 climate model indicate that there was a shift to a more arid climate on a timescale that is consistent with the collapse of the empire.
thumb|upright=1.5|Impression of a cylinder seal of the time of Akkadian King Sharkalisharri (c. 2200 BC), with central inscription: "The Divine Sharkalisharri Prince of Akkad, Ibni-Sharrum the Scribe his servant". The long-horned buffalo is thought to have come from the Indus Valley, and testifies to exchanges with Meluhha (the Indus Valley civilization) in a case of Indus-Mesopotamia relations. Circa 2217–2193 BC. Louvre Museum.
Excavation at Tell Leilan suggests that this site was abandoned soon after the city's massive walls were constructed, its temple rebuilt and its grain production reorganized. The debris, dust, and sand that followed show no trace of human activity. Soil samples show fine wind-blown sand, no trace of earthworm activity, reduced rainfall and indications of a drier and windier climate. Evidence shows that skeleton-thin sheep and cattle died of drought, and up to 28,000 people abandoned the site, presumably seeking wetter areas elsewhere. Tell Brak shrank in size by 75%. Trade collapsed. Nomadic herders such as the Amorites moved herds closer to reliable water suppliers, bringing them into conflict with Akkadian populations. This climate-induced collapse seems to have affected the whole of the Middle East, and to have coincided with the collapse of the Egyptian Old Kingdom.
This collapse of rain-fed agriculture in the Upper Country meant the loss to southern Mesopotamia of the agrarian subsidies which had kept the Akkadian Empire solvent. Water levels within the Tigris and Euphrates fell 1.5 meters beneath the level of 2600 BC, and although they stabilized for a time during the following Ur III period, rivalries between pastoralists and farmers increased. Attempts were undertaken to prevent the former from herding their flocks in agricultural lands, such as the building of a wall known as the "Repeller of the Amorites" between the Tigris and Euphrates under the Ur III ruler Shu-Sin. Such attempts led to increased political instability; meanwhile, severe depression occurred to re-establish demographic equilibrium with the less favorable climatic conditions.Christie, Peter (2008) The Curse of Akkad: Climate upheavals that rocked human history, Annick Press, pp. 31–48"Climate change and the collapse of the Akkadian empire: Evidence from the deep sea" Geology 28(4), April 2000.
Richard Zettler has critiqued the drought theory, observing that the chronology of the Akkadian empire is very uncertain and that available evidence is not sufficient to show its economic dependence on the northern areas excavated by Weiss and others. He also criticizes Weiss for taking Akkadian writings literally to describe certain catastrophic events.Zettler (2003), pp. 18–21.
According to Joan Oates, at Tell Brak, the soil "signal" associated with the drought lies below the level of Naram-Sin's palace. However, evidence may suggest a tightening of Akkadian control following the Brak 'event', for example, the construction of the heavily fortified 'palace' itself and the apparent introduction of greater numbers of Akkadian as opposed to local officials, perhaps a reflection of unrest in the countryside of the type that often follows some natural catastrophe. Furthermore, Brak remained occupied and functional after the fall of the Akkadians.J. Oates (2004), p. 11–13. "A French soil-micromorphologist, Marie-Agnès Courty, a leading figure in assessing the evidence for this 'event', has now identified at Brak the earliest clearly dated Near Eastern soil 'signal' in a level unquestionably preceding the construction of Naram-Sin's Palace, that is, well before the collapse of the Akkadian Empire (see Courty 2001 and associated bibliography)."
In 2019, a study by Hokkaido University on fossil corals in Oman provides an evidence that prolonged winter shamal seasons led to the salinization of the irrigated fields; hence, a dramatic decrease in crop production triggered a widespread famine and eventually the collapse of the ancient Akkadian Empire. |
Akkadian Empire | Government | Government
thumb|Akkadian Empire soldiers on the Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, circa 2250 BC
The Akkadian government formed a "classical standard" with which all future Mesopotamian states compared themselves. Traditionally, the ensi was the highest functionary of the Sumerian city-states. In later traditions, one became an ensi by marrying the goddess Inanna, legitimising the rulership through divine consent.
Initially, the monarchical lugal (lu = man, gal =Great) was subordinate to the priestly ensi, and was appointed at times of troubles, but by later dynastic times, it was the lugal who had emerged as the preeminent role, having his own "é" (= house) or "palace", independent from the temple establishment. By the time of Mesalim, whichever dynasty controlled the city of Kish was recognised as šar kiššati (= king of Kish), and was considered preeminent in Sumer, possibly because this was where the two rivers approached, and whoever controlled Kish ultimately controlled the irrigation systems of the other cities downstream.
As Sargon extended his conquest from the "Lower Sea" (Persian Gulf), to the "Upper Sea" (Mediterranean), it was felt that he ruled "the totality of the lands under heaven", or "from sunrise to sunset", as contemporary texts put it. Under Sargon, the ensis generally retained their positions, but were seen more as provincial governors. The title šar kiššati became recognised as meaning "lord of the universe". Sargon is even recorded as having organised naval expeditions to Dilmun (Bahrain) and Magan, amongst the first organised military naval expeditions in history. Whether he also did in the case of the Mediterranean with the kingdom of Kaptara (possibly Cyprus), as claimed in later documents, is more questionable.
With Naram-Sin, Sargon's grandson, this went further than with Sargon, with the king not only being called "Lord of the Four-Quarters (of the Earth)", but also elevated to the ranks of the dingir (= gods), with his own temple establishment. Previously a ruler could, like Gilgamesh, become divine after death but the Akkadian kings, from Naram-Sin onward, were considered gods on earth in their lifetimes. Their portraits showed them of larger size than mere mortals and at some distance from their retainers.Leick, Gwendolyn (2001) "Mesopotamia: Invention of the City" (Penguin Books)
One strategy adopted by both Sargon and Naram-Sin, to maintain control of the country, was to install their daughters, Enheduanna and Emmenanna respectively, as high priestess to Sin, the Akkadian version of the Sumerian moon deity, Nanna, at Ur, in the extreme south of Sumer; to install sons as provincial ensi governors in strategic locations; and to marry their daughters to rulers of peripheral parts of the Empire (Urkesh and Marhashe). A well documented case of the latter is that of Naram-Sin's daughter Tar'am-Agade at Urkesh. Tar'am-Agade, Daughter of Naram-Sin, at Urkesh, Buccellati, Giorgio and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati, in of Pots and Plans. Papers on the Archaeology and History of Mesopotamia and Syria presented to David Oates in Honour of his 75th Birthday, London: Nabu Publications, 2002
Records at the Brak administrative complex suggest that the Akkadians appointed locals as tax collectors.J. Oates (2004), p. 10. |
Akkadian Empire | Economy | Economy
thumb|upright=1.5|Cylinder seal of the scribe Kalki, showing Prince Ubil-Eshtar, probable brother of Sargon, with dignitaries (an archer in front, the scribe holding a tablet following the Prince, and two dignitaries with weapons).
The population of Akkad, like nearly all pre-modern states, was entirely dependent upon the agricultural systems of the region, which seem to have had two principal centres: the irrigated farmlands of southern Iraq that traditionally had a yield of 30 grains returned for each grain sown and the rain-fed agriculture of northern Iraq, known as the "Upper Country."
Southern Iraq during Akkadian period seems to have been approaching its modern rainfall level of less than per year, with the result that agriculture was totally dependent upon irrigation. Before the Akkadian period, the progressive salinisation of the soils, produced by poorly drained irrigation, had been reducing yields of wheat in the southern part of the country, leading to the conversion to more salt-tolerant barley growing. Urban populations there had peaked already by 2,600 BC, and demographic pressures were high, contributing to the rise of militarism apparent immediately before the Akkadian period (as seen in the Stele of the Vultures of Eannatum). Warfare between city states had led to a population decline, from which Akkad provided a temporary respite.Thompson, William J. (2003), "Complexity, Diminishing Marginal Returns and Serial Mesopotamian Fragmentation," Journal of World Systems Research It was this high degree of agricultural productivity in the south that enabled the growth of the highest population densities in the world at this time, giving Akkad its military advantage.
thumb|left|Sea shell of a murex bearing the name of Rimush, king of Kish, BC, Louvre, traded from the Mediterranean coast where it was used by Canaanites to make a purple dye.
The water table in this region was very high and replenished regularly—by winter storms in the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates from October to March and from snow-melt from March to July. Flood levels, that had been stable from about 3,000 to 2,600 BC, had started falling, and by the Akkadian period were a half-meter to a meter lower than recorded previously. Even so, the flat country and weather uncertainties made flooding much more unpredictable than in the case of the Nile; serious deluges seem to have been a regular occurrence, requiring constant maintenance of irrigation ditches and drainage systems. Farmers were recruited into regiments for this work from August to October—a period of food shortage—under the control of city temple authorities, thus acting as a form of unemployment relief. Gwendolyn Leick hasLeick Gwendolyn (2003), "Mesopotamia: The invention of the city" (Penguin) suggested that this was Sargon's original employment for the king of Kish, giving him experience in effectively organising large groups of men; a tablet reads, "Sargon, the king, to whom Enlil permitted no rival—5,400 warriors ate bread daily before him".Kramer 1963:324, quoted in Charles Keith Maisels, The Emergence of Civilization ch. "The institutions of urbanism", 1990:179.
Harvest was in the late spring and during the dry summer months. Nomadic Amorites from the northwest pastured their flocks of sheep and goats to graze on the crop residue and were watered from the river and irrigation canals. For this privilege, they had to pay a tax in wool, meat, milk, and cheese to the temples, who distributed these products to the bureaucracy and priesthood. In good years, all went well, but in bad years, wild winter pastures were in short supply, nomads sought to pasture their flocks in the grain fields, resulting in conflicts with farmers. It appeared that the subsidizing of southern populations by the import of wheat from the north of the Empire temporarily overcame this problem, and it seems to have allowed economic recovery and a growing population within this region. |
Akkadian Empire | Foreign trade | Foreign trade
thumb|upright=1.5|Location of foreign lands for the Mesopotamians, including Elam, Magan, Dilmun, Marhashi and Meluhha.
As a result, Sumer and Akkad had a surplus of agricultural products but was short of almost everything else, particularly metal ores, timber and building stone, all of which had to be imported. The spread of the Akkadian state as far as the "silver mountain" (possibly the Taurus Mountains), the "cedars" of Lebanon, and the copper deposits of Magan, was largely motivated by the goal of securing control over these imports. One tablet, an Old Babylonian Period copy of an original inscription, reads:
International trade developed during the Akkadian period. Indus–Mesopotamia relations also seem to have expanded: Sargon of Akkad (circa 2300 or 2250 BC), was the first Mesopotamian ruler to make an explicit reference to the region of Meluhha, which is generally understood as being the Balochistan or the Indus area. |
Akkadian Empire | Culture | Culture |
Akkadian Empire | Akkadian art | Akkadian art
In art, there was a great emphasis on the kings of the dynasty, alongside much that continued earlier Sumerian art. Little architecture remains. In large works and small ones such as seals, the degree of realism was considerably increased, but the seals show a "grim world of cruel conflict, of danger and uncertainty, a world in which man is subjected without appeal to the incomprehensible acts of distant and fearful divinities who he must serve but cannot love. This sombre mood ... remained characteristic of Mesopotamian art..."
Akkadian sculpture is remarkable for its fineness and realism, which shows a clear advancement compared to the previous period of Sumerian art. |
Akkadian Empire | Seals | Seals
The Akkadians used visual arts as a vehicle of ideology. They developed a new style for cylinder seals by reusing traditional animal decorations but organizing them around inscriptions, which often became central parts of the layout. The figures also became more sculptural and naturalistic. New elements were also included, especially in relation to the rich Akkadian mythology. |
Akkadian Empire | Language | Language
During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism. The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian (and vice versa) is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a massive scale, to syntactic, morphological, and phonological convergence. This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the third millennium as a sprachbund.
Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere around 2000 BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate),, Christopher Woods, "Bilingualism, Scribal Learning, and the Death of Sumerian", in S.L. Sanders (ed) Margins of Writing, Origins of Culture, pp. 91–120, Oriental Institute Seminars 2, Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 2007 but Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary, and scientific language in Mesopotamia until the 1st century AD.Cooper, J. S., "Sumerian and Akkadian in Sumer and Akkad", Orientalia, n.s., 42, pp. 239–46, 1973, Piotr Michalowski, "The Lives of the Sumerian Language", in S.L. Sanders (ed) Margins of Writing, Origins of Culture, pp. 163–190, Oriental Institute Seminars 2, Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 2007 |
Akkadian Empire | Poet–priestess Enheduanna | Poet–priestess Enheduanna
thumb|upright|Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon of Akkad, circa 2300 BC
Sumerian literature continued in rich development during the Akkadian period. Enheduanna, the "wife (Sumerian dam = high priestess) of Nanna [the Sumerian moon god] and daughter of Sargon"Winter, Irene J. (1987), "Women in Public: The Disk of Enheduanna, The Beginning of the Office of En-Priestess, the Weight of the Visual Evidence". La Femme dans le Proche-Orient Antique. (Paris: Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations) of the temple of Sin at Ur, who lived –2250 BC, is the first poet in history whose name is known. Her known works include hymns to the goddess Inanna, the Exaltation of Inanna and In-nin sa-gur-ra. A third work, the Temple Hymns, a collection of specific hymns, addresses the temples and their occupants, the deities to whom they were consecrated. The works of this poet are significant, because although they start out using the third person, they shift to the first person voice of the poet herself, and they mark a significant development in the use of cuneiform. As poet, princess, and priestess, she was a person who, according to William W. Hallo, "set standards in all three of her roles for many succeeding centuries"Enheduanna, The Exaltation of Inanna. Translated by William W. Hallo and J. J. A. Van Dijk,
Ams Pr Inc, 1979,
In the Exultation of Inanna,
thumb|Goddess Ishtar on an Akkadian seal, 2350–2150 BC
The kings of Akkad were legendary among later Mesopotamian civilizations, with Sargon understood as the prototype of a strong and wise leader, and his grandson Naram-Sin considered the wicked and impious leader (Unheilsherrscher in the analysis of Hans Gustav Güterbock) who brought ruin upon his kingdom.Jerrold S. Cooper, "Paradigm and Propaganda: The Dynasty of Akkade in the 21st Century", in Liverani, Mario, ed. Akkad: The First World Empire: Structure, Ideology Traditions, Padova: Sargon srl, 1993 Bill T. Arnold, "The Weidner Chronicle and the Idea of History in Israel and Mesopotamia"; in Faith, Tradition, and History: Old Testament Historiography in Its Near Eastern Context; Millard, Hoffmeier & Baker, eds.; Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1994; ; p. 138. |
Akkadian Empire | Technology | Technology
A tablet from the periods reads, "(From the earliest days) no-one had made a statue of lead, (but) Rimush king of Kish, had a statue of himself made of lead. It stood before Enlil; and it recited his (Rimush's) virtues to the idu of the gods". The copper Bassetki Statue, cast with the lost wax method, testifies to the high level of skill that craftsmen achieved during the Akkadian period. |
Akkadian Empire | See also | See also
List of cities of the ancient Near East
List of Mesopotamian deities
History of Mesopotamia
List of Mesopotamian dynasties |
Akkadian Empire | Notes | Notes |
Akkadian Empire | Bibliography | Bibliography
Liverani, Mario, ed. (1993). Akkad: The First World Empire: Structure, Ideology Traditions. Padova: Sargon srl.
Oates, Joan (2004). "Archaeology in Mesopotamia: Digging Deeper at Tell Brak". 2004 Albert Reckitt Archaeological Lecture. In Proceedings of the British Academy: 2004 Lectures; Oxford University Press, 2005. .
|
Akkadian Empire | Further reading | Further reading
Gough, M.A, Historical Perception in the Sargonic Literary Tradition. The Implication of Copied Texts, Rosetta 1, pp 1–9, 2006
Paszke, Marcin Z, "From Sargon To Narām-Sîn: some remarks on Akkadian military activity in the II nd half of the III rd millennium bc. The example of eastern campaigns", Acta Archaeologica Lodziensia 68, pp. 75–83, 2022
E. A. Speiser, "Some Factors in the Collapse of Akkad", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 72, no. 3, pp. 97–101, (Jul. - Sep. 1952) |
Akkadian Empire | External links | External links
Iraq's Ancient Past – Penn Museum
Year Names of Narim-Sin – CDLI
Year Named of Shar-kali-Sharri – CDLI
Site on Enheduanna at Virginia Tech University (archived 12 December 2009)
Category:States and territories established in the 3rd millennium BC
Category:States and territories disestablished in the 3rd millennium BC
Category:Ancient Mesopotamia
Category:Ancient Upper Mesopotamia
Category:Ancient Levant
Category:24th-century BC establishments
Category:3rd-millennium BC disestablishments
Category:Former monarchies of Asia
Category:Nimrod
Category:Former empires |
Akkadian Empire | Table of Content | Short description, Contemporary epigraphic sources, Later copies and literary compositions, Archaeology, Dating and periodization, Timeline of rulers, History and development of the empire, Pre-Sargonic Akkad, Sargon of Akkad, Rimush and Manishtushu, Naram-Sin, Submission of Sumerian kings, Collapse, Natural causes: drought, seasonal weather patterns, Government, Economy, Foreign trade, Culture, Akkadian art, Seals, Language, Poet–priestess Enheduanna, Technology, See also, Notes, Bibliography, Further reading, External links |
Ajax the Lesser | short description | thumb|Ajax the Lesser by Francesco Sabatelli, 1829
thumb|Scene from the Trojan War: Cassandra clings to the Palladium, the wooden cult image of Athene, while Ajax the Lesser is about to drag her away in front of her father Priam (standing on the left). Fresco from the atrium of the Casa del Menandro (I 10, 4) in Pompeii.
thumb|Ajax, 1820 painting by Henri Serrur
Ajax ( Aias "of the earth") was a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris. He was called the "Ajax the Less", the "lesser" or "Locrian" Ajax,Homer, Iliad 2.527 to distinguish him from Ajax the Great, son of Telamon. He was the leader of the Locrian contingent during the Trojan War. He is a significant figure in Homer's Iliad and is also mentioned in the Odyssey, in Virgil's Aeneid and in Euripides' The Trojan Women. In Etruscan legend, he was known as Aivas Vilates. |
Ajax the Lesser | Description | Description
In the account of Dares the Phrygian, Ajax was described as "stocky, powerfully built, swarthy, a pleasant person, and brave."Dares Phrygius, History of the Fall of Troy 13 |
Ajax the Lesser | Mythology | Mythology |
Ajax the Lesser | Life | Life
thumb|left|Ajax the Lesser and Cassandra
Ajax's mother's name was Eriopis. According to Strabo, he was born in Naryx in Locris,Strabo, 9. p. 425 where Ovid calls him Narycius heros.Ovid, Metamorphoses 14.468 According to the Iliad,Homer, Iliad 2.527 he led his Locrians in forty ships against Troy.Hyginus, Fabulae 97 gives the number of ships as twenty He is described as one of the great heroes among the Greeks. In battle, he wore a linen cuirass (, ), was brave and intrepid, especially skilled in throwing the spear and, next to Achilles, the swiftest of all the Greeks.Homer, Iliad 14.520 & 23.789 The chronicler Malalas portrayed him as "tall, strong, tawny, squinting, good nose, curly hair, black hair, thick beard, long face, daring warrior, magnanimous, a womanizer."Malalas, Chronography 5.104
In the funeral games at the pyre of Patroclus, Ajax contended with Odysseus and Antilochus for the prize in the footrace; but Athena, who was hostile towards him and favored Odysseus, made him stumble and fall, so that he won only the second prize.Homer, Iliad 23.754
In later traditions, this Ajax is called a son of Oileus and the nymph Rhene, and is also mentioned among the suitors of Helen.Apollodorus, 3.10.8; Hyginus, Fabulae 81 & 97 After the taking of Troy, he rushed into the temple of Athena, where Cassandra had taken refuge, and was embracing the statue of the goddess in supplication. Ajax violently dragged her away to the other captives.Euripides, Tro. 70; Virgil, Aeneid 2.403; Hyginus, Fabulae 116; Dictys Cretensis, 5.12 According to some writers, he raped Cassandra inside the temple.Tryphiodorus, 635; Quintus Smyrnaeus, 13.422; Lycophron, 360 with the Scholion Odysseus called for Ajax's death by stoning for this crime, but Ajax saved himself by claiming innocence with an oath to Athena, clutching her statue in supplication.Pausanias, 10.26.1 & 10.31.1 |
Ajax the Lesser | Death | Death
Since Ajax dragged the supplicant from her temple, Athena had cause to be indignant. According to the Bibliotheca, no one was aware that Ajax had raped Cassandra until Calchas, the Greek seer, warned the Greeks that Athena was furious at the treatment of her priestess and she would destroy the Greek ships if they did not kill him immediately. Despite this, Ajax managed to hide at the altar of a deity where the Greeks, fearing divine retribution should they kill him and destroy the altar, allowed him to live. When the Greeks left without killing Ajax, despite their sacrifices, Athena became so angry that she persuaded Zeus to send a storm that sank many of their ships.
thumb|Poseidon killing Ajax the Lesser, drawing by Bonaventura Genelli
As Ajax was returning from Troy, Athena hit his ship with a thunderbolt and the vessel was wrecked on the Whirling Rocks (). But he escaped with some of his men, managing to cling onto a rock through the assistance of Poseidon. He would have been saved in spite of Athena, but he then audaciously declared that he would escape the dangers of the sea in defiance of the immortals. Offended by this presumption, Poseidon split the rock with his trident and Ajax was swallowed up by the sea.Homer, Odyssey 4.499 Thetis buried him when the corpse washed up on Mykonos.Apollodore, R. Scott Smith, Stephen Trzaskoma, and Hygin. Apollodorus' Library and Hyginus' Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 2007. 84–85. "5.24–6.6." Other versions depict a different death for Ajax, showing him dying when on his voyage home. In these versions, when Ajax came to the Capharean Rocks on the coast of Euboea, his ship was wrecked in a fierce storm, he himself was lifted up in a whirlwind and impaled with a flash of rapid fire from Athena in his chest, and his body thrust upon sharp rocks, which afterwards were called the rocks of Ajax.Virgil, Aeneid 1.40 & 11.260; Hyginus, Fabulae 116
After Ajax's death, his spirit dwelt in the island of Leuce.Pausanias, 3.19.13 The Opuntian Locrians worshipped Ajax as their national hero, and so great was their faith in him that when they drew up their army in battle, they always left one place open for him, believing that, although invisible to them, he was fighting for and among them.Conon, Narrations 18; Pausanias, 3.19.13 The story of Ajax was frequently made use of by ancient poets and artists, and the hero who appears on some Locrian coins with the helmet, shield, and sword is probably this Ajax.Théodore Edme Mionnet, No. 570, &c.
Other accounts of Ajax's death are offered by Philostratus, Euripides, and the scholiast on Lycophron.Philostratus, Her. 31.6–9; Euripides, Tro. 90; Scholiast on Lycophron |
Ajax the Lesser | Art | Art
thumb|upright|Ajax and Cassandra by Solomon Joseph Solomon (1886)
The abduction of Cassandra by Ajax was frequently represented in Greek works of art, such as the chest of Cypselus described by Pausanias and in extant works.Pausanias, 5.17 |
Ajax the Lesser | Notes | Notes |
Ajax the Lesser | References | References
Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
Conon, Fifty Narrations, surviving as one-paragraph summaries in the Bibliotheca (Library) of Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople translated from the Greek by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Dictys Cretensis, from The Trojan War. The Chronicles of Dictys of Crete and Dares the Phrygian translated by Richard McIlwaine Frazer Jr. Indiana University Press. 1966. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Graves, Robert, The Greek Myths, Harmondsworth, London, England, Penguin Books, 1960.
Graves, Robert, The Greek Myths: The Complete and Definitive Edition. Penguin Books Limited. 2017.
Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. . Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Homer, The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
Lycophron, The Alexandra translated by Alexander William Mair. Loeb Classical Library Volume 129. London: William Heinemann, 1921. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Lycophron, Alexandra translated by A.W. Mair. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1921. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More. Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneid. Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Publius Vergilius Maro, Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy translated by Way. A. S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 19. London: William Heinemann, 1913. Online version at theio.com
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy. Arthur S. Way. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1913. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Strabo, The Geography of Strabo. Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Strabo, Geographica edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Tryphiodorus, Capture of Troy translated by Mair, A. W. Loeb Classical Library Volume 219. London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1928. Online version at theoi.com
Tryphiodorus, Capture of Troy with an English Translation by A.W. Mair. London, William Heinemann, Ltd.; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1928. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Tzetzes, John, Allegories of the Iliad translated by Goldwyn, Adam J. and Kokkini, Dimitra. Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, Harvard University Press, 2015. |
Ajax the Lesser | External links | External links
Category:Suitors of Helen
Category:Achaean Leaders
Category:Mythological rapists
Category:Metamorphoses characters
Category:Characters in the Aeneid
Category:Locrians
Category:Deeds of Poseidon
Category:Greek mythological heroes
Category:Cassandra |
Ajax the Lesser | Table of Content | short description, Description, Mythology, Life, Death, Art, Notes, References, External links |
Ajax the Great | short description | Ajax () or Aias (; , Aíantos; archaic ) is a Greek mythological hero, the son of King Telamon and Periboea, and the half-brother of Teucer."Salamis The Island" Salamis The IslandSalamina MunicipalityGreek Island He plays an important role in the Trojan War, and is portrayed as a towering figure and a warrior of great courage in Homer's Iliad and in the Epic Cycle, a series of epic poems about the Trojan War, being second only to Achilles among Greek heroes of the war. He is also referred to as "Telamonian Ajax" (, in Etruscan recorded as Aivas Tlamunus), "Greater Ajax", or "Ajax the Great", which distinguishes him from Ajax, son of Oileus, also known as Ajax the Lesser. |
Ajax the Great | Family | Family
Ajax is the son of Telamon. Telamon was the son of Aeacus and grandson of Zeus, and his first wife Periboea. By Telamon, he is also the elder half-brother of Teucer. Through his uncle Peleus (Telamon's brother), he is the cousin of Achilles.
The etymology of his given name is uncertain. By folk etymology, his name was said to come from the root of aiazō which means "to lament", translating to "one who laments; mourner". Hesiod provided a different folk etymology in a story in his "The Great Eoiae", where Ajax the great receives his name when Heracles prays to Zeus that a son might be born to Telemon and Eriboea: Zeus sends an eagle (aetos αετός) as a sign, and Heracles then bids the parents call their son Ajax after the eagle.
Many illustrious Athenians, including Cimon, Miltiades, Alcibiades and the historian Thucydides, traced their descent from Ajax. On an Etruscan tomb dedicated to Racvi Satlnei in Bologna (5th century BC), there is an inscription that says aivastelmunsl, which means "[family] of Telamonian Ajax".Papachristos, Maria. Miti e Leggende. Volume 5 of Miti e Leggende dell'antica Grecia. Edizioni R.E.I. (2015). |
Ajax the Great | Mythology | Mythology |
Ajax the Great | Description | Description
In the account of Dares the Phrygian, Ajax was illustrated as ". . .powerful. His voice was clear, his hair black and curly. He was perfectly single-minded and unrelenting in the onslaught of battle."Dares Phrygius, History of the Fall of Troy 13 Meanwhile, In Homer's Iliad he is described as of great stature, colossal frame, and strongest of all the Achaeans. Known as the "bulwark of the Achaeans",Homer, Iliad 6.5. he was trained by the centaur Chiron (who had trained Ajax's father Telamon and Achilles' father Peleus and later died of an accidental wound inflicted by a poison arrow belonging to Heracles). He was described as fearless, strong, and powerful but also with a very high level of combat intelligence. Ajax commands his army wielding a huge shield made of seven cowhides with a layer of bronze. Most notably, Ajax is not wounded in any of the battles described in the Iliad, and he is the only principal character on either side who does not receive substantial assistance from any of the gods (except for Agamemnon) who take part in the battles, although, in book 13, Poseidon strikes Ajax with his staff, renewing his strength. Unlike Diomedes, Agamemnon, and Achilles, Ajax appears as a mainly defensive warrior, instrumental in the defense of the Greek camp and ships and that of Patroclus' body. When the Trojans are on the offensive, he is often seen covering the retreat of the Achaeans. Significantly, while one of the deadliest heroes in the whole poem, Ajax has no aristeia depicting him on the offensive.thumb|The Belvedere Torso, a marble sculpture carved in the first century BC depicting Ajax. |
Ajax the Great | Trojan War | Trojan War
In the Iliad, Ajax is notable for his abundant strength and courage, seen particularly in two fights with Hector. In Book 7, Ajax is chosen by lot to meet Hector in a duel which lasts most of a whole day. Ajax at first gets the better of the encounter, wounding Hector with his spear and knocking him down with a large stone,Iliad, 7.268–272. but Hector battles on until the heralds, acting at the direction of Zeus, call a draw, with the two combatants exchanging gifts, Ajax giving Hector his "war-belt, glistening purple" and Hector giving Ajax his "silver-studded sword"Iliad, 7.349–351.
The second fight between Ajax and Hector occurs when the latter breaks into the Mycenaean camp, and battles with the Greeks among the ships. In Book 14, Ajax throws a giant rock at Hector which almost kills him.Iliad, 14.408–417. In Book 15, Hector is restored to his strength by Apollo and returns to attack the ships. Ajax, wielding an enormous spear as a weapon and leaping from ship to ship, holds off the Trojan armies virtually single-handedly. In Book 16, Hector and Ajax duel once again. Hector then disarms Ajax (although Ajax is not hurt) and Ajax is forced to retreat, seeing that Zeus is clearly favoring Hector. Hector and the Trojans succeed in burning one Greek ship, the culmination of an assault that almost finishes the war. Ajax is responsible for the death of many Trojan lords, including Phorcys.
Ajax often fought in tandem with his brother Teucer, known for his skill with the bow. Ajax would wield his magnificent shield, as Teucer stood behind picking off enemy Trojans.
Achilles was absent during these encounters because of his feud with Agamemnon. In Book 9, Agamemnon and the other Mycenaean chiefs send Ajax, Odysseus and Phoenix to the tent of Achilles in an attempt to reconcile with the great warrior and induce him to return to the fight. Although Ajax speaks earnestly and is well received, he does not succeed in convincing Achilles.
When Patroclus is killed, Hector tries to steal his body. Ajax, assisted by Menelaus, succeeds in fighting off the Trojans and taking the body back with his chariot; however, the Trojans have already stripped Patroclus of Achilles' armor. Ajax's prayer to Zeus to remove the fog that has descended on the battle to allow them to fight or die in the light of day has become proverbial. According to Hyginus, in total, Ajax killed 28 people at Troy.Hyginus, Fabulae 114.
thumb|A copy of the 4th century BC fresco from the François Tomb, showing the sacrifice of Trojan slaves. Ajax the Great is the second from the right |
Ajax the Great | Death | Death
thumb|The Argument between Ajax and Odysseus over Achilles' armour, by Agostino Masucci
thumb|Sorrowful Ajax (Asmus Jacob Carstens, c. 1791)
As the Iliad comes to a close, Ajax and the majority of other Greek warriors are alive and well. When Achilles dies, killed by Paris (with help from Apollo), Ajax and Odysseus are the heroes who fight against the Trojans to get the body and bury it with his companion, Patroclus.Homer, Odyssey. Ajax, with his great shield and spear, manages to recover the body and carry it to the ships, while Odysseus fights off the Trojans.Arctinus Miletus, "Aethiopis" After the burial, each claims Achilles' magical armor, which had been forged on Mount Olympus by the smith-god Hephaestus, for himself as recognition for his heroic efforts. A competition is held to determine who deserves the armor. Ajax argues that because of his strength and the fighting he has done for the Greeks, including saving the ships from Hector, and driving him off with a massive rock, he deserves this magical protection.Ovid, Metamorphoses, translated by Rolfe Humphries (Indianapolis: Indiana University, 1955), Book XIII, pp. 305–309 However, Odysseus proves to be more eloquent, and with the aid of Athena, the council gives him the armor. Ajax, distraught by this result and "conquered by his own grief", plunges his sword into his own chest, killing himself.Metamorphoses, trans. Humphries, p. 318 In the Little Iliad, Ajax goes mad with rage at Odysseus' victory and slaughters the cattle of the Greeks. After returning to his senses, he kills himself out of shame.Lesches of Mitylene, "The Little Iliad (Ilias Mikra)"
The Belvedere Torso, a marble torso now in the Vatican Museums, is considered to depict Ajax "in the act of contemplating his suicide".
In Sophocles' play Ajax, a famous retelling of Ajax's demise, after the armor is awarded to Odysseus, Ajax feels so insulted that he wants to kill Agamemnon and Menelaus. Athena intervenes and clouds his mind and vision, and he goes to a flock of sheep and slaughters them, imagining they are the Achaean leaders, including Odysseus and Agamemnon. When he comes to his senses, covered in blood, he realizes that what he has done has diminished his honor, and decides that he prefers to kill himself rather than live in shame. He does so with the same sword which Hector gave him when they exchanged presents.Iliad, 7.303 From his blood sprang a red flower, as at the death of Hyacinthus, which bore on its leaves the initial letters of his name Ai, also expressive of lament.Pausanias 1.35.4 His ashes were deposited in a golden urn on the Rhoetean promontory at the entrance of the Hellespont.
Ajax's half-brother Teucer stood trial before his father for not bringing Ajax's body or famous weapons back. Teucer was acquitted for responsibility but found guilty of negligence. He was disowned by his father and was not allowed to return to his home, the island of Salamis off the coast of Athens.
Homer is somewhat vague about the precise manner of Ajax's death but does ascribe it to his loss in the dispute over Achilles' armor; when Odysseus visits Hades, he begs the soul of Ajax to speak to him, but Ajax, still resentful over the old quarrel, refuses and descends silently back into Erebus.
Like Achilles, he is represented (although not by Homer) as living after his death on the island of Leuke at the mouth of the Danube.Pausanias, Description of Greece iii. 19. § 13 Ajax, who in the post-Homeric legend is described as the grandson of Aeacus and the great-grandson of Zeus, was the tutelary hero of the island of Salamis, where he had a temple and an image, and where a festival called Aianteia was celebrated in his honour.Pausanias 1.35 At this festival a couch was set up, on which the panoply of the hero was placed, a practice which recalls the Roman Lectisternium. The identification of Ajax with the family of Aeacus was chiefly a matter which concerned the Athenians, after Salamis had come into their possession, on which occasion Solon is said to have inserted a line in the Iliad (2.557–558),Homer, Iliad 2.557–258. for the purpose of supporting the Athenian claim to the island. Ajax then became an Attic hero; he was worshipped at Athens, where he had a statue in the market-place, and the tribe Aiantis was named after him. Pausanias also relates that a gigantic skeleton, its kneecap in diameter, appeared on the beach near Sigeion, on the Trojan coast; these bones were identified as those of Ajax. |
Ajax the Great | Gallery | Gallery |
Ajax the Great | Palace | Palace
In 2001, Yannis Lolos began excavating a Mycenaean palace near the village of Kanakia on the island of Salamis which he theorized to be the home of the mythological Aiacid dynasty. The multi-story structure covers and had perhaps 30 rooms. The palace appears to have been abandoned at the height of the Mycenaean civilization, roughly the same time the Trojan War may have occurred. |
Ajax the Great | See also | See also
Corpus vasorum antiquorum
Troy VII |
Ajax the Great | Notes | Notes |
Ajax the Great | References | References |
Ajax the Great | Bibliography | Bibliography
Homer. Iliad, 7.181–312.
Homer, Odyssey 11.543–67.
Bibliotheca. Epitome III, 11-V, 7.
Graves, Robert, The Greek Myths, Harmondsworth, London, England, Penguin Books, 1960.
Graves, Robert, The Greek Myths: The Complete and Definitive Edition. Penguin Books Limited. 2017.
Ovid. Metamorphoses 12.620–13.398.
Friedrich Schiller, Das Siegerfest.
Pindar's Nemeans, 7, 8; Isthmian 4
Tzetzes, John, Allegories of the Iliad translated by Goldwyn, Adam J. and Kokkini, Dimitra. Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, Harvard University Press, 2015. |
Ajax the Great | External links | External links
A translation of the debate and Ajax's death. http://classics.mit.edu/Ovid/metam.13.thirteenth.html
Category:Suitors of Helen
Category:Achaean Leaders
Category:Kings of Argos
Category:Characters in the Odyssey
Category:Suicides in Greek mythology
Category:Tutelary gods
Category:Metamorphoses characters
Category:Mythological Salaminians
Category:Metamorphoses into flowers in Greek mythology
Category:Greek mythological heroes |
Ajax the Great | Table of Content | short description, Family, Mythology, Description, Trojan War, Death, Gallery, Palace, See also, Notes, References, Bibliography, External links |
Ajax | Wiktionary | Ajax may refer to: |
Ajax | Greek mythology and tragedy | Greek mythology and tragedy
Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
Ajax (play), by the ancient Greek tragedian Sophocles, about Ajax the Great |
Ajax | Arts and entertainment | Arts and entertainment |
Ajax | Fictional characters | Fictional characters
Ajax Duckman, in the animated television series Duckman
Marvel Comics:
Ajax the Greater, another name for Ajak, one of the Eternals from Marvel Comics
Ajax the Lesser, another name for Arex, one of the Eternals from Marvel Comics
Ajax, a member of the Pantheon appearing in Marvel Comics
Ajax (Francis Freeman), a fictional supervillain first appearing in Deadpool #14
Martian Manhunter, a DC Comics superhero called Ajax in Brazil and Portugal
Ajax, a Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 operative
Ajax, the real name of Tartaglia, a character in 2020 video game Genshin Impact |
Ajax | Music | Music
A-Jax (band), a South Korean boy band
Ajax (band), an electronic music band from New York City
Ajax (opera), by the French composer Toussaint Bertin de la Doué
DJ Ajax (1971–2013; born Adrian Thomas), an Australian electro mashup DJ
Lisa Ajax (born 1998), Swedish singer
"Ajax" (song), a song by Tante Leen, 1969
Ajax Records, a former North American record company |
Ajax | Other arts and entertainment | Other arts and entertainment
Ajax (painting), a painting by John Steuart Curry
Ajax (Disney), a fictional company (the Disney equivalent of Looney Tunes' Acme Corporation)
A-Jax (video game), a 1987 Konami arcade game |
Ajax | Computing | Computing
Ajax (floppy disk controller), a floppy disk controller fitted to the Atari STE
Ajax (programming), Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, a method used in web application development, and a software framework for it |
Ajax | Places | Places |
Ajax | Canada | Canada
Ajax (federal electoral district), in the Durham Region of Ontario
Ajax (provincial electoral district), in Ontario
Ajax, Ontario, a town in the Greater Toronto Area |
Ajax | United States | United States
Ajax, Louisiana, an unincorporated community
Ajax, Missouri, a ghost town
Ajax Peak, a summit near Telluride, Colorado
Ajax, South Dakota, an unincorporated community
Ajax, Utah, a ghost town
Ajax, Virginia, an unincorporated community
Ajax, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Aspen Mountain (Colorado), also known as Ajax Mountain |
Ajax | Elsewhere | Elsewhere
Mount Ajax, part of the Admiralty Mountains, Victoria Land, Antarctic
1404 Ajax, an asteroid |
Ajax | People | People
Ajax (missionary), Arian missionary who converted the Suevi to Christianity ( 466)
Ajax, pen name of Sidney William Jackson (1873–1946), Australian naturalist and ornithologist
Ajax, nickname of Heinrich Bleichrodt (1909–1977), German World War II U-boat commander |
Ajax | Sport | Sport |
Ajax | Association football (soccer) | Association football (soccer)
AFC Ajax, a football club in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Ajax Cape Town F.C., a South African football club
Ajax Futebol Clube, a Brazilian football club
Ajax de Ouenzé, a Congolese football club
FC Ajax Lasnamäe, an Estonian football club
Ajax Orlando Prospects, American soccer team from Orlando, Florida, a.k.a. Ajax America
Ajax America Women, American women's soccer team from California
Aias Salamina F.C., a football club in Salamina, Greece
Ajax Sportsman Combinatie, a cricket and football club in Leiden, Netherlands
Rabat Ajax F.C., a Maltese football club
Unión Ájax, a football club in Trujillo, Honduras
V.V. Ajax, a Surinamese football club |
Ajax | Other sports | Other sports
Aias Evosmou, a Greek sports club
Ajax Kenitra, a Moroccan futsal (indoor football) club
Ajax København, a Danish handball team
Ajax (horse) (born 1901), a French Champion racehorse
Ajax II (born 1934), an Australian Champion racehorse |
Ajax | Military | Military
, several ships of the Royal Navy
, several ships of the US Navy
General Dynamics Ajax, a family of armoured fighting vehicles for the British Army
Operation Ajax, the 1953 Iranian coup d'état |
Ajax | Transport | Transport
Ajax (1906 automobile), a Swiss automobile
Ajax (1913 automobile), a French automobile by the American Briscoe brothers
Ajax (1914 automobile), an American automobile by Ajax Motors Co. of Seattle, Washington
Ajax (1921 automobile), an American prototype that was not produced
Ajax (Nash Motors), an automobile brand of Nash Motors, 1925–1926
Ajax (locomotive), several train locomotives
Ajax (motorcycle), manufactured in England between 1923 and 1924
Ajax (crane barge), a floating crane used to install the Panama Canal locks
Ajax (ship), various ships
Ajax GO Station, a train and bus station in Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Ajax Motors Co., an American carmaker, manufacturer of the Ajax (1914 automobile) |
Ajax | Other uses | Other uses
Ajax (cleaning product), a brand of household cleaning products
AFC Ajax N.V., a sports company associated with AFC Ajax
Kanichee Mine, Temagami, Ontario, also known as Ajax Mine
Ajax High School, a public high school in Ajax, Ontario, Canada
AJAX furnace, a type of open hearth furnace
Ajax, a taxonomic synonym for the plant genus Narcissus |
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