The Kassites (; Neo-Assyrian: 𒂵𒅆𒄿, ka₃-ši-i, kašši)𒀯𒇻𒅂𒀸𒅎𒆳𒊏𒁺𒍣𒌓𒋢𒂔𒆠𒌋𒂵𒅆𒄿 "(If) a planet stands in the east: attack of Subartu and the Kassites.", from the Enuma Anu Enlil at the Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (Q002575). were a people of the ancient Near East, originating from the Zagros Mountains. They controlled Babylonia under the Kassite Dynasty after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire from until (short chronology).
The Kassites gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon in 1531 BC, and established a dynasty generally assumed to have been based first in that city, after a hiatus. Later rule shifted to the new city of Dur-Kurigalzu.Brinkman, J. A.. "1. Babylonia under the Kassites: Some Aspects for Consideration". Volume 1 Karduniaš. Babylonia under the Kassites 1, edited by Alexa Bartelmus and Katja Sternitzke, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2017, pp. 1-44 By the time of Babylon's fall, the Kassites had already been part of the region for a century and a half, acting sometimes with Babylon's interests and sometimes against.van Koppen, Frans, "The Old to Middle Babylonian Transition: History and Chronology of the Mesopotamian Dark Age", Ägypten Und Levante / Egypt and the Levant, vol. 20, pp. 453–63, 2010 There are records of Kassite and Babylonian interactions, in the context of military employment, during the reigns of Babylonian kings Samsu-iluna (1686 to 1648 BC), Abī-ešuh, and Ammī-ditāna.Koppen, Frans van. "2. The Early Kassite Period". Volume 1 Karduniaš. Babylonia under the Kassites 1, edited by Alexa Bartelmus and Katja Sternitzke, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2017, pp. 45-92
The Elamites of the Shutrukid dynasty conquered Babylonia, carrying away the Statue of Marduk, in the 12th century BC, thus ending the Kassite Dynasty. In Hellenistic times they were known as the Kossaioi and may have given their name to the modern Khuzestan.
The origin and classification of the Kassite language, like the Sumerian language and Hurrian language, is uncertain, and, also like the two latter languages, has generated a wide array of speculation over the years, even to the point of linking it to Sanskrit. However, like these other languages, it is regarded as a language isolate and is not accepted to be Semitic or Indo-European.Pinches, T. G. “The Question of the Kassite Language.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1907, pp. 685–685 The Kassite religion is also poorly understood, though the names of some Kassite deities are known.Malko, Helen. "The Kassites of Babylonia: A Re-examination of an Ethnic Identity". Babylonia under the Sealand and Kassite Dynasties, edited by Susanne Paulus and Tim Clayden, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2020, pp. 177-189 The chief gods, titular gods of the kings, were Shuqamuna and Shumaliya, which are distinct from Sumerian, Semitic and Indo-European gods.Krebernik, M., and Seidl, U. (2012). "Šuqamuna und Šu/imalija." [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol 13, p. 323-325 As was typical in the region, there was some cross-pollination with other religions. After Babylon came within the Kassite sphere of control its city-god, Marduk, was absorbed into the Kassite pantheon.Tenney, J. S. (2016). The elevation of Marduk revisited: Festivals and sacrifices at Nippur during the High Kassite period. Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 68(1), 153-180. Pg 154 note 4.
Etymology The Neo-Assyrian (Akkadian) exonym 𒂵𒅆𒄿 (ka₃-ši-i, kašši) is a phonetic rendering of the Kassite *g/kalž- (𒃲𒍪 gal-zu or 𒆗𒍪 kal-zu) which appears as galzu in personal names from the Old Babylonian period (ca. 2000–1500 BC) onwards.Old Babylonian Model Contracts at the Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus Middle Babylonian documents from Nuzi have the form Ku-uš-šu (-hé), i.e., with the Hurrian adjectival ending -ḫḫe.
The Akkadian Kaššû can be inflected for gender (m.: kaššû / f.: kaššītu) and often for case (kaššû, kaššî, kaššâ). The term can appear independently as a proper noun, “a Kassite”, where it is often marked as a personal name (IKaššû), but more often the word appears as a gentilic adjective, e.g., “Šimdi-Saḫ, the Kassite” (IŠim-di-Saḫ kaš-šu-ú).
Beekes suggests that the demonym for the Kassites may be responsible for the etymology of the mineral Cassiterite. They may have traded tin with the ancient Greeks via the island of κασσίτερα (Kassitera) mentioned by Dionysius in the Bassarika and quoted by Stephanos of Byzantium.
History The earliest attestation of a person with a Kassite name in Babylonia is from Rīm-Sīn I’s 53rd year (1770 BCE).
Documentation of the Kassite period depends heavily on the scattered and disarticulated tablets from Nippur, where thousands of tablets and fragments have been excavated. They include administrative and legal texts, letters, seal inscriptions, private votive inscriptions, and even a literary text (usually identified as a fragment of a historical epic). Many of those tablets have not yet been published, including hundreds held in the Ottoman Museum in Istanbul. Veldhuis, Niek. "Kassite Exercises: Literary and Lexical Extracts." Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 52, 2000, pp. 67–94Biggs, Robert D. “A Letter from Kassite Nippur.” Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 19, no. 4, 1965, pp. 95–102
About 100 Kassite tablets were found at Dur-Kurigalzu.O. R. Gurney, Texts from Dur-Kurigalzu, Iraq, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 131–149, 1949O. R. Gurney, Further Texts from Dur-Kurigalzu, Sumer, vol. 9, pp. 21–34, 1953 A few inscribed building materials of Kurigalzu I were found at Kish.T. Clayden. “Kish in the Kassite Period (c. 1650-1150 B.C.).” Iraq, vol. 54, 1992, pp. 141–55 Several tablets dated to the reign of Agum III were found at the Dilmun site of Qal'at al-Bahrain.Højlund, Flemming. Qala'at al-Bahrain/2 The central monumental buildings. Aarhus Univ. Press, 1997 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. Brinkman, J.A. 1976. Materials and Studies for Kassite History. Vol. 1, pt. A, Catalogue of Cuneiform Sources Pertaining to Specific Monarchs of the Kassite Dynasty. Chicago: Chicago University Press. A number of seals have also been found. Donalds M Matthews, The Kassite Glyptic of Nippur, Freiburg, Switzerland / Göttingen, Germany: Universitätsverlag / Vandenhoeck Ruprecht, 1992Kjaerum, F. “SEALS OF ‘DILMUN-TYPE’ FROM FAILAKA, KUWAIT.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, vol. 10, 1980, pp. 45–53 Kudurrus, stone stele used to record land grants and related documents, provide another source for Kassite history.Paulus, Susanne, "The Babylonian Kudurru Inscriptions and their Legal and Sociohistorical Implications", Volume 1 Karduniaš. Babylonia under the Kassites 1, edited by Alexa Bartelmus and Katja Sternitzke, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 229-244, 2017 This practice continued for several centuries after the end of the Kassite Dynasty.Brinkman, J. A. “Babylonian Royal Land Grants, Memorials of Financial Interest, and Invocation of the Divine.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, vol. 49, no. 1, 2006, pp. 1–47 Often situated on the surface, many were found early and made their way to museums around the world.Lambert, W. G. “The Warwick Kudurru.” Syria, vol. 58, no. 1/2, 1981, pp. 173–85
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.Schneider, Bernhard. "Studies Concerning the Kassite Period Ekur of Nippur: Construction History and Finds". Babylonia under the Sealand and Kassite Dynasties, edited by Susanne Paulus and Tim Clayden, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2020, pp. 146-164 Other important centers during the Kassite period were Larsa, Sippar and Susa. The Kassites were very active at Ur.Brinkman, John Anthony. "Ur:" The Kassite Period and the Period of the Assyrian Kings"." (1969): 310-348 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.Kaniuth, Kai. "18. Isin in the Kassite Period". Volume 2 Karduniaš. Babylonia under the Kassites 2, edited by Alexa Bartelmus and Katja Sternitzke, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2017, pp. 492-507 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.Brinkman, J. A. “Provincial Administration in Babylonia under the Second Dynasty of Isin.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, vol. 6, no. 3, 1963, pp. 233–42
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.J. A. Brinkman, “Kassiten (Kassû),” RLA, vol. 5 (1976–80 According to a number of historians today, their original homeland was located in the Zagros Mountains. One theory has suggested that the Kassites were originally a Caucasian people akin to the Hurrians, with an Indo-European ruling element. Another theory suggests that the Kassites were perhaps an Indo-European people who originated in the region of the Caspian sea, but this theory is disputed. 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").Year Names at CDLI
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. Claudia Glatz, et al., Babylonian Encounters in the Upper Diyala River Valley: Contextualizing the Results of Regional Survey and the 2016–2017 Excavations at Khani Masi, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 123, No. 3 (July 2019), pp. 439-471 Clayden, Tim, "Sngr/Samḫarû/Sanḫara/Šinʿār and the Implications for Early Kassite History", Kaskal, vol. 1, Nuova serie, 2024 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