The earliest attestation of a person with a Kassite name in Babylonia is from
Rīm-Sīn I’s 53rd year (1770 BCE). About 100 Kassite tablets were found at Dur-Kurigalzu. A few inscribed building materials of Kurigalzu I were found at Kish. Several tablets dated to the reign of Agum III were found at the
Dilmun site of
Qal'at al-Bahrain. In total, about 12,000 Kassite period documents have been recovered, of which only around 10% have been published. There are also a number of building inscriptions, all but one written in Sumerian unlike the Akkadian typically used by the Kassites. A number of seals have also been found.
Kudurrus, stone stele used to record land grants and related documents, provide another source for Kassite history. This practice continued for several centuries after the end of the Kassite Dynasty. Often situated on the surface, many were found early and made their way to museums around the world. (c. 1332–1308 BC). Louvre Museum AOD 105 The ancient city of
Nippur was a major focus for the Kassites. Early on, refurbishments were conducted of the various religious and administrative buildings, the first of these datable to Kurigalzu I. Major construction occurred under Kadashman-Enlil, Kudur-Enlil, and Shagarakti-Shuriash, with lesser levels of repair work under Adad-shuma-usur and Meli-Shipak. Other important centers during the Kassite period were
Larsa,
Sippar and
Susa. The Kassites were very active at
Ur. At the site of
Isin, which had been abandoned after the time of Samsu-iluna, major rebuilding work occurred on the religious district including the temple of
Gula. The work at Isin was initiated by Kurigalzu I and continued by Kadashman-Enlil I, and after a lapse, by Adad-shuma-usur and Meli-Shipak II. After the Kassite dynasty was overthrown in 1155 BC, the system of provincial administration continued and the country remained united under the succeeding rule, the Second Dynasty of Isin.
Origins The origin of the Kassites is uncertain, though a number of theories have been advanced. Several suspected Kassite names are recorded in economic documents from the
Ur III period (c. 2112–2004 BC) in southern
Babylon, but their origin is ambiguous. It has been suggested they originated from the
Zagros Mountains region. Kassites were first reported in
Babylonia in the 18th century BC, especially around the area of
Sippar. The 9th year name of king
Samsu-iluna (c. 1749–1712 BC) of
Babylon, the son of
Hammurabi mentions them ie. ("Year in which Samsu-iluna the king (defeated) the totality of the strength of the army / the troops of the Kassites").
Middle Bronze Age As the Babylonian empire weakened in the following years the Kassites became a part of the landscape, even at times supplying troops for Babylon. The Babylonians divided those into kingdom resident Kassites (referred to as such) and Kassites from peripheral areas termed Samḫarû and Bimatü. It is known that a contingent of Bimatü were stationed at
Dūr-Abī-ešuḫ. The idol of the god
Marduk had been carried off from Babylon, possibly by the Hittites, but the Kassite rulers regained possession, returned Marduk to Babylon, and made him the equal of the Kassite Shuqamuna. Babylon under Kassite rulers, who renamed the city
Karanduniash, re-emerged as a political and military power in Mesopotamia.
Late Bronze Age stele of Kassite king
Marduk-apla-iddina I.
Louvre Museum. The fall of the
First Sealand dynasty in 1460 BC created a power vacuum which the Kassites filled. After the destruction of the
Mitanni by the Hittites in the early 14th century BC, Assyria rose in power creating a three-way power structure in the region between the Kassites, Hittites, and Assyrians, with Elam exerting influence from the east and Egypt from the south. A number of the
Amarna Letters are correspondence between the respective rulers (including 14 between the Pharaoh and the Kassite ruler). An international system came into place between these parties connected by widespread trade, treaties, and intermarriage between the ruling classes (especially between the Kassites and Elamites). A typical treaties include the
Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty (c.1259 BC) and the treaty between the Kassite ruler Karaindash and the Assyrian ruler Ashur-bel-nisheshu (c. 1410 BC). At the peak of their power the Kassites, under Kurigalzu I in the mid 14th century BC, conquered Elam and sacked the capital of
Susa. That ruler initiated significant building efforts in Ur and other southern Mesopotamia cities. The most notable of these efforts was the construction of a new city, Dur-Kurigalzu. It contained a number of palaces and also temples to many Babylonia gods including Enlil, Ninlil, and Ninurta. The Kassites also extended their power into the Persian Gulf, including at
Qal'at al-Bahrain. Being in close proximity the Assyrians and Kassites often came into political and military conflict over the next few centuries. For a time in the early reign of Tukulti-Ninurta I, Assyria gained ascendancy, until the Elamites under Kidin-Hutran III intervened. This period is marked by a building hiatus at Babylon, similar to the one after the fall of the
First Babylonian dynasty.
Iron Age The
Elamites of the
Shutrukid dynasty conquered Babylonia, carrying away the
Statue of Marduk, in the 12th century BC, thus ending the Kassite state. According to the Assyrian
Synchronistic Chronicle, which is not considered reliable, the last Kassite king,
Enlil-nadin-ahi, was taken to
Susa and imprisoned there in 1155 BC, where he also died. The annals of the Assyrian king
Sennacherib detail that on his second, eastern, campaign of 702 BC he campaigned against the land of the Kassites, that being along the
Diyala River between the
Jebel Hamrin and the
Darband-i-Khan. The Kassites took refuge in the mountains but were brought down and resettled, in standard Assyrian practice, in Hardispi and Bit Kubatti, which were made part of the Arrapha district.
Achaemenid through Hellenistic period The history of the Kassites/
Cossaei after 600 BC is reconstructed principally from sources written in Greek or Latin; they had a reputation for
brigandage, preying on travelers passing through the mountains and exacting tribute for passage even from
Persian rulers. They did not submit to the
Achaemenids, but may have sent soldiers to fight with the forces of
Darius III against
Alexander the Great near
Arbela in 331 BC. They were the object of the last winter campaign of Alexander in 324/323 BC, and some of them were included in a military contingent of Persians and
Tapurians brought to Babylon by
Peucestas. Later
Antigonus refused to pay the Cossaei for safe passage through the mountains, and his army suffered heavy casualties on a march to
Ecbatana. According to
classical accounts, the Cossaei were expert
bowmen, lived in caves, and ate a strange diet (acorns, mushrooms, and smoked flesh of wild animals); their mountainous land was small and barren, though it had a relatively good supply of timber. on a kudurru land grant presenting his daughter Ḫunnubat-Nanaya to the goddess
Nanaya (pictured enthroned). The eight-pointed star seen above was Inanna-Ishtar's most common symbol. Here it is shown alongside the
solar disk of her brother
Shamash (Sumerian Utu) and the
crescent moon of her father
Sin (Sumerian Nanna) on a
boundary stone of Meli-Shipak II, dating to the twelfth century BC.The
Κοσσαῖοι (Kassaioi) appear on Ptolemy's 5th map of Asia in the
Geography. ==Kassite language==