tribal confederation · Mesopotamia and Iran
Lullubi
Origins
The Lullubi lived in the mountains around the Shahrizor plain and the upper Diyala, on the borders of modern Iraq and Iran. They first appear in the late third millennium BCE as opponents of the Akkadian Empire, whose king Naram-Sin defeated their ruler Satuni around 2250 BCE.
Rule and society
The Lullubi were organised in highland chiefdoms that at times united under kings. Naram-Sin's stele, later carried off to Susa and now in the Louvre, shows him trampling Lullubi warriors on a mountain slope. At Sar-e Pol-e Zahab a Lullubi king, Anubanini, carved his own relief with the goddess Inanna, imitating Akkadian royal art. Lowland rulers prized their lands for livestock and slaves.
Decline and legacy
The Lullubi remained a frontier people for over a millennium, campaigned against by Shulgi, Hurrian rulers and the Assyrian Empire. By the 9th century BCE their land was called Zamua, and they fade from the record by the 7th century, absorbed into Assyrian provinces and later the Median world.
Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Lullubi was conquered by Akkadian Empire2250 BCE
- Lullubi paid tribute to Assyrian Empire880 BCE – 650 BCE
More states of Mesopotamia and Iran →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Lullubi. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lullubi
- MLA
- “Lullubi.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lullubi. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Lullubi.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lullubi.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Lullubi’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lullubi (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻