Larsa

Who were these kings? What civilizations were behind this conflict? And most intriguingly, who were these giants? Where did they come from? And what happened to them after this battle? Now, I invite you to dive into this enigmatic reading of Genesis chapter fourteen, where the details of this war are revealed.

"And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of nations, that they made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Birsha, king of Gomorrah, with Shinab, king of Admah, and with Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.

All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the Salt Sea.

Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

And they returned, and came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites that dwelt in Hazezon-tamar.

And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, the same is Zoar.

And they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim against Chedorlaomer, king of Elam; and Tidal, king of nations; and Amraphel, king of Shinar; and Arioch, king of Ellasar; four kings with five.

And the vale of Siddim was full of slime pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.

Of special interest to the biblical students are the discoveries made by Mr. Pinchas among some of the Babylonian tablets which have recently been acquired by the British Museum.

Four of them relate to no less a personage than Kudur-Laghamar, or Cheddar-Loamar, king of Elam, as well as to Eri-Aku, or Eriak, king of Larsa, and his son Dur-Mak-Ilani, to Tug-Hula, or Tidal, the son of Gazani, and to their war against Babylon in the time of Kham-Nurabi.

In one of the texts the question is asked, Who is the son of a king's daughter who has sat on the throne of royalty? Dur-Mak-Ilani, the son of Eri-Aku, the son of the lady Kur, has sat on the throne of royalty, from which it may perhaps be inferred that Eri-Aku was the son of Kudur-Laghamar's daughter, and in another we read, Who is Kudur-Laghamar, the doer of mischief? He has gathered together the Umam-Manda, has devastated the land of Beal, Babylonia, and has marched at their side.

The Umam-Manda were the barbarian hordes of the Kurdish mountains, on the northern frontier of Elam, and the name corresponds with that of the Goyim or nations in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis.

Unfortunately all four tablets are in a shockingly broken condition, and it is therefore difficult to discover in them a continuous sense or to determine their precise nature.

They have, however, been supplemented by further discoveries made by Dr. Scheel at Constantinople.

Among the tablets preserved there, he has found letters from Khan-Murabi to his vassal Sin-Idinam of Larsa, from which we learn that Sin-Idinam had been dethroned by the Elamites Kudur-Mabag and Eri-Aku, and had fled for refuge to the court of Khan-Murabi at Babylon.

In the war which subsequently broke out between Khan-Murabi and Kudur-Laghamar, the king of Elam, who it would seem exercised suzerainty over Babylonia for seven years, Sin-Idinam gave material assistance to the Babylonian monarch, and Khan-Murabi accordingly bestowed presents upon him as a recompense for his valor on the day of the overthrow of Kudur-Laghamar.

"About this time war broke out in the region.

King Amraphel of Babylonia, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim..." Goiim?

Stop it.

It's Goi, dude.

Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (now called Kadesh) and conquered all the territory of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites living in Hazazon-tamar.

Then the rebel kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (also called Zoar) prepared for battle in the Valley of the Dead Sea." We're gonna, we're gonna catch up here in a minute.

"They fought against King Kedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Babylonia, and King Arioch of Ellasar, four kings against five.

As it happened, the Valley of the Dead Sea was filled with tar pits.

Of special interest to the biblical students are the discoveries made by Mr. Pinchas among some of the Babylonian tablets which have recently been acquired by the British Museum.

Four of them relate to no less a personage than Kudur Laghamar, or Cheddar Loamur, king of Elam, as well as to Eri-Aku, or Eriak, king of Larsa, and his son Dur-Mak-Ilani, to Tug-Hula, or Tidal, the son of Gazani, and to their war against Babylon in the time of Kham-Nurabi.

In one of the texts the question is asked, Who is the son of a king's daughter who has sat on the throne of royalty? Dur-Mak-Ilani, the son of Eri-Aku, the son of the lady Kur, has sat on the throne of royalty, from which it may perhaps be inferred that Eri-Aku was the son of Kudur Laghamar's daughter, and in another we read, Who is Kudur Laghamar, the doer of mischief? He has gathered together the Umam-Manda, has devastated the land of Beal, Babylonia, and has marched at their side.

The Umam-Manda were the barbarian hordes of the Kurdish mountains, on the northern frontier of Elam, and the name corresponds with that of the Goyim, or nations, in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis.

Unfortunately all four tablets are in a shockingly broken condition, and it is therefore difficult to discover in them a continuous sense, or to determine their precise nature.

They have, however, been supplemented by further discoveries made by Dr. Scheel at Constantinople.

Among the tablets preserved there, he has found letters from Khan Murabi to his vassal Sin-Idinam of Larsa, from which we learn that Sin-Idinam had been dethroned by the Elamites Kudur Mabag and Eriaku, and had fled for refuge to the court of Khan Murabi at Babylon.

In the war which subsequently broke out between Khan Murabi and Kudur Laghamar, the king of Elam, who, it would seem, exercised suzerainty over Babylonia for seven years, Sin-Idinam gave material assistance to the Babylonian monarch, and Khan Murabi accordingly bestowed presents upon him as a recompense for his valor on the day of the overthrow of Kudur Laghamar.

Of special interest to the biblical students are the discoveries made by Mr. Pinch's among some of the Babylonian tablets which have recently been acquired by the British Museum.

Four of them relate to no less a personage than Kudur Laghamar, or Cheddar Loamer, king of Elam, as well as to Eri-Aku, or Eriok, king of Larsa, and his son Dur-Mak-Ilani, to Tug-Hula, or Tidal, the son of Ghazani, and to their war against Babylon in the time of Kham-Nurabi.

In one of the texts the question is asked, who is the son of a king's daughter who has sat on the throne of royalty? Dur-Mak-Ilani, the son of Eri-Aku, the son of the lady Kur, has sat on the throne of royalty, from which it may perhaps be inferred that Eri-Aku was the son of Kudur Laghamar's daughter, and in another we read, who is Kudur Laghamar, the doer of mischief? He has gathered together the Umam-Manda, has devastated the land of Beal, Babylonia, and has marched at their side.

The Umam-Manda were the barbarian hordes of the Kurdish mountains, on the northern frontier of Elam, and the name corresponds with that of the Goyim or nations in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis.

Unfortunately all four tablets are in a shockingly broken condition, and it is therefore difficult to discover in them a continuous sense or to determine their precise nature.

They have, however, been supplemented by further discoveries made by Dr. Scheel at Constantinople.

Among the tablets preserved there, he has found letters from Khan Murabi to his vassal Sin-Idinam of Larsa, from which we learn that Sin-Idinam had been dethroned by the Elamites Kudur Mabag and Eri-Aku, and had fled for refuge to the court of Khan Murabi at Babylon.

In the war which subsequently broke out between Khan Murabi and Kudur Laghamar, the king of Elam, who it would seem exercised suzerainty over Babylonia for seven years, Sin-Idinam gave material assistance to the Babylonian monarch, and Khan Murabi accordingly bestowed presents upon him as a recompense for his valor on the day of the overthrow of Kudur Laghamar.

They're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're kind of local chieftains of their towns.

And these ones are Amraphel, king of Shinar, which is roughly Babylon off to the east, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer, king of Elam, Tidal, king of Roy.

We don't-- We know next to nothing about these, um, but these four local warlords.

And it becomes apparent that Kedorlaomer is the leader.

Along with their own city, their kings had dominance over Ur, Uruk, Nippur, and Eridu.

They also held some nominal control over Lagash, Girsu, and Larsa, the southern cult center of the sun god Utu.

They gave themselves important titles and staffed important priesthoods.

They issued king lists and codes of law.

Either way, over three years of relentless campaigns, Gungunum records his ruination of Anshan and his destruction of the Elamite Shamashki dynasty.

He apparently returned back home with mountains of plunder.

Back in Sumer, Gungunum transferred his court from Girsu to Larsa, elevated himself to independent king of Larsa, and retroactively gave the same role to his deceased brother and father.

He also retroactively elevated two earlier officials as founding kings of Larsa, which is how the Amorite chief Gungunum of Girsu instantly became the fifth Amorite king of Larsa.

Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord.

And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.

All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.

Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their mount Seir, unto El-paran, which is by the wilderness.

And they returned, and came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, which dwelt in Hazezontamar.

And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela the same is Zoar; and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim; With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.

And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.

Sargon the Elder is credited with having subdued Ilum.

The kings and vicegerents of Lagash, as well as those of Uru and Larsam, had measured forces with Ansan, but with no decisive issue.

From time to time they obtained an advantage, and we find recorded in the annals victories gained by Gudea, Inasin, or Bersin, but to be followed only by fresh reverses.

At the close of such campaigns, and in order to seal the ensuing peace, a princess of Susa would be sent as a bride to one of the Chaldean cities, or a Chaldean lady of royal birth would enter the harem of a king of Anshan.