kingdom · Mesopotamia and Iran

Kingdom of Karana

1780 BCE – 1761 BCE (approx.) · capital Karana

A northern Mesopotamian kingdom of the Mari age, centred on Tell al-Rimah, whose queen Iltani left a remarkable archive of letters.

Origins

Karana lay south of Jebel Sinjar in northern Iraq. The site of Tell al-Rimah, excavated by David Oates in the 1960s, is usually identified as Karana or its twin city Qattara. After the death of Shamshi-Adad around 1776 BCE, Karana became an independent kingdom under Asqur-Addu, son of its earlier king Samu-Addu, and later under Aqba-hammu.

Rule and society

Karana's kings competed with Andarig and Kurda and swore alliances with Zimri-Lim of Mari and other powers. The temple and palace at Tell al-Rimah contained tablets of Queen Iltani, wife of King Aqba-hammu, who managed textile production, grain and personnel and corresponded with her family, a rare view of a royal woman's administration. The kingdom rested on dry-farmed barley and sheep.

Decline and legacy

Aqba-hammu became a vassal of Hammurabi of Babylon after the fall of Mari in 1761 BCE, and Karana lost its independence. Tell al-Rimah continued to be occupied in later periods.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (2)

More states of Mesopotamia and Iran →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Karana. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-karana
MLA
“Kingdom of Karana.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-karana. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Karana.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-karana.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Karana’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-karana (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻