Aziru was a petty king of the Land of Amurru, a vassal of Suppiluliuma I, Arnuwanda II and Mursili II. He changed his allegiance to Suppiluliuma I around 1350-1345 BCE, and was still alive in Year 7 of Mursili II (c. 1315 BCE), when neigboring provinces rebelled.
Relations with Egypt -zi-
ru''', servant-yours" (Individual (1.) + 3 cuneiform characters,
A, zi,
ru.) The dealings of Aziru are well-known from the
Amarna letters. While being a formal vassal of Egypt, he tried to expand his kingdom towards the Mediterranean coast and captured the city of
Sumur (Simyrra). This was seen with alarm by his neighbouring states, particularly
Rib-Hadda, the king of Gubla, (
Byblos), who pleaded for Egyptian troops to be sent for their protection. Rib-Hadda was ultimately exiled—and probably not long afterwards killed—at the behest of Aziru. Rib-Hadda had left his city of Byblos for four months to conclude a treaty with the king of Beirut,
Ammunira, but when he returned home, he learned that a palace coup led by his brother
Ilirabih had unseated him from power. He temporarily sought refuge with Ammunira and unsuccessfully appealed for support from Egypt to restore him to the throne. (EA 136-138; EA 141 & EA 142) When this failed, Rib-Hadda was forced to ignominiously appeal to his sworn enemy, Aziru, to place him back on the throne of his city. Aziru promptly betrayed him and dispatched Rib-Hadda into the hands of the rulers of
Sidon where Rib-Hadda almost certainly met his death. Aziru was detained in Egypt for at least a year before being released when the advancing
Hittites conquered the important city of
Amki thereby threatening Amurru (EA 170). Aziru was allowed to leave Egypt and return to his kingdom.
Relations with Hatti Aziru made secret contacts with the Hittite king
Suppiluliuma I, and sometime upon his return to Amurru, he permanently switched his allegiance to the Hittites to whom he remained loyal until his death. Hittite-Amurru text: • Treaty of Suppiluliuma I with Aziru of Amurru (CTH 49) • Treaty of Niqmaddu II of Ugarit and Aziru of Amurru (CTH 54) In Year 7 of Mursili II (c. 1315 BCE), the "Second Syrian Rebellion" by Tette of Nuhasse and Kinza (supported by Horemheb by Egypt) saw Aziru and DU-Tessup remain loyal to Mursili II (CTH 62). Amurru remained firmly in Hittite hands until the reign of the 19th Dynasty Pharaohs
Seti I and
Ramesses II. ==See also==