EARLY BRONZE AGE DAGGERS IN CENTRAL ... - Bilkent University

If this is taken as a starting point, the Assyrian chronology can be linked with
the Babylonian chronology since Samsi-Adad’s death occurred in 1776 B.C., the 18 th
year of Hammurabi of Babylon, the 4 th year of Ibal-pi-El II of Eshunna (Veenhof,
2008: 29). This formulation, therefore, places the accession of Erisum I to 1974 B.C.
(Veenhof, 2008: 29).
Based on the current evidence, it is suggested that the Assyrian presence at
Kanesh started during the reign of Erisum I. It is, however, probable that the well-
organized trading ventures first started by Erisum I’s father, Ilusuma (Veenhof, 2008:
32). Therefore, it is very reasonable to assign the years between 2000-1950 B.C. as a
terminating point of EBA in Anatolia.
The contacts between Anatolia, North Syria and Mesopotamia do not start with
Ilusuma but rather date to much earlier era. Kültepe, once again, plays an important
role in the interpretation of these contacts by the finds which are contemporary with
the Early Dynastic III, Akkadian and the post-Akkadian (Özgüç, 1986: 31). These
materials, however, will be discussed in detail in the following chapter.
3.4 Royal Tombs of Ur
The chronological framework of the third millennium Ur, especially the Royal
Graves/Tombs plays an important role in the conventional chronology of Anatolia in
the third millennium B.C. The traditional date given for the end of Early Dynastic
(ED) period is 2350 B.C., and the Royal Tombs of Ur are dated somewhere around
2500 B.C. (Reade, 2001: 14). This date given for the Royal Tombs of Ur fits well the
long third millennium sequence from ED I-III through Akkadian (Reade, 2001: 14).
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