Yasmah-Adad

Yasmah-Adad (Yasmah-Addu, Yasmakh-Adad, Ismah-Adad, Iasmakh-Adad; from Akkadian Ia-aš-ma-aḫ-dIM, in Amorite Yaśmaʿ-haddu) was the younger son of the Amorite king of Upper Mesopotamia, Shamshi-Adad I. He was put on throne of Mari by his father after a successful military attack following the assassination of Yahdun-Lim of Mari in 1796 B.C.E. He was responsible for the southwestern section of his father's kingdom (of which Mari was the capital), including the Balikh River, Habur River, and Euphrates River. Yasmah-Adad's administrative district bordered the state of Yamḫad and the Syrian steppe (inhabited by semi-nomadic peoples). His father controlled the northern part of the kingdom from Shubat-Enlil, and his older brother, Ishme-Dagan, ruled over the southeast area from Ekallatum. Yasmah-Adad's leadership of Mari and the surrounding districts around the Euphrates ended when his father died, and the Amorite Zimri-Lim and his army chased him out of Mari and took his throne in 1775 B.C. The sources do not fully agree, but he was either chased out of his borders or killed before being allowed to flee.

== Political marriage == Shamshi-Adad I played a major role in his son's life and frequently micromanaged his son's affairs. In one instance, to facilitate a military alliance with the western Syrian city-state of Qatna, an ally in the fight against the enemy state of Yamkhad, Shamshi-Adad I arranged for his son's marriage to Princess Beltum, the daughter of the king of Qatna, Ishi-Adad. Shamshi-Adad I and Beltum's father both wished her to have a leading role in the palace, but Yasmah-Adad was already married to the daughter of Yahdun-Lim, who was Yasmah-Adad's leading wife at Mari. As a result, he relegated Beltum, his second wife, to a secondary position in the palace. Shamshi-Adad I was angry with Yasmah-Adad for his refusal to follow orders, and forced him to keep Beltum by his side in the palace.