25th to 23rd centuries BCE of
Lullubi, holding an axe and a bow, trampling a foe.
Anubanini rock relief, circa 2300-2000 BC.
Sar-I Pul,
Iran. The Gutians "were close neighbours, hardly to be distinguished" from the Lullubi. The Guti appear in texts from c. 17th century BC purported copies of inscriptions proposed to be of
Lugal-Anne-Mundu (
fl. ) of
Adab as among the nations providing his empire tribute. These inscriptions locate them between
Subartu and
Assyria in the north, and
Marhashi and
Elam in the south. This fragmentary text has been described as a "pseudoautobiographical literary composition".
Prominence during the early 22nd century BCE According to the later literary composition
Great Revolt against Naram-Sin,
Naram-Sin of Akkad's army of 360,000 soldiers defeated the Gutian king Gula'an, despite having 90,000 slain by the Gutians. The much later Sumerian literary composition
Cuthean Legend of Naram-Sin claims
Gutium among the lands raided by
Annubanini of
Lulubum during the reign of
Naram-Sin (). Contemporary year-names for
Shar-kali-sharri of Akkad indicate that in one unknown year of his reign, Shar-kali-sharri captured
Sharlag king of Gutium, while in another year, "the yoke was imposed on Gutium". During the Akkadian Empire period, the Gutians slowly grew in strength and then established a capital at the Early Dynastic city of
Adab. The Gutians eventually overran Akkad, and as the King List tells us, their army also subdued
Uruk for hegemony of Sumer, in about However, it seems that autonomous rulers soon arose again in a number of city-states, notably
Gudea of
Lagash, and
Upper Mesopotamia and
Assyria appear not to have been overrun by the Gutians. The Gutians seem also to have briefly overrun
Elam at around the same time, towards the close of
Kutik-Inshushinak's reign (). On a statue of the Gutian king
Erridupizir at
Nippur, an inscription imitates his Akkadian predecessors, styling him "King of Gutium, King of the Four Quarters". The
Weidner Chronicle (written ), portrays the Gutian kings as uncultured and uncouth:
Decline from the late 22nd century BCE onwards The Sumerian ruler
Utu-hengal, Prince of the Sumerian city of Uruk is similarly credited on the King List with defeating the Gutian ruler
Tirigan, and removing the Guti from the country in (
short chronology). In his Victory Stele, Utu-hengal wrote about the Gutians: 's victory stele, where he describes the Gutians he vanquished as "the fanged snake of the mountain ranges".
Louvre Museum, AO 6018. Following this,
Ur-Nammu of
Ur ordered the destruction of Gutium. The year 11 of king
Ur-Nammu also mentions the "year Gutium was destroyed". However, according to a Sumerian epic, Ur-Nammu died in battle with the Gutians, after having been abandoned by his own army. A Babylonian text from the early 2nd millennium refers to the Guti as having "human face[s], dogs’ cunning, [and] monkeys' build". Some
biblical scholars believe that the Guti may be the
Qoa, named with the
Shoa and
Pekod as enemies of Jerusalem in
Ezekiel 23:23, which was probably written in the == References ==