kingdom · Anatolia and the Levant

Sam'al

920 BCE – 680 BCE (approx.) · capital Sam'al

Sam'al, a small Aramaean-Luwian kingdom at Zincirli whose kings left some of the most vivid inscriptions of the Iron Age.

Origins

Sam'al arose in the 10th century BCE in a valley east of the Amanus mountains, near modern Islahiye. According to its own inscriptions, a ruler named Gabbar founded the dynasty, and the land was also called Ya'diya. Its capital at Zincirli was a circular walled city.

Rule and society

King Kilamuwa's inscription boasts that he hired the king of Assyria against his enemies and improved the lot of his poor subjects. Later kings wrote in a local Aramaic dialect; Bar-Rakib built palaces as a loyal vassal of Tiglath-Pileser III. The Kuttamuwa stele, found in 2008, shows a belief in a soul dwelling in the stone.

Decline and legacy

Sam'al became an Assyrian province by c. 680 BCE; Esarhaddon set up a victory stele in the city in 671 BCE. German excavations from 1888 and University of Chicago excavations from 2006 uncovered its gates and palaces.

Connections (2)

More states of Anatolia and the Levant →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Sam'al. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/samal
MLA
“Sam'al.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/samal. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Sam'al.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/samal.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Sam'al’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/samal (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻