kingdom · Mesopotamia and Iran

Simurrum

2300 BCE – 1750 BCE (approx.) · capital Simurrum

A Bronze Age kingdom in the Zagros foothills east of the Tigris, repeatedly attacked by the kings of Akkad and Ur and known from its rulers' rock reliefs.

Origins

Simurrum lay on the routes between Mesopotamia and the Iranian highlands, probably near the Lesser Zab or the Sirwan (upper Diyala); its capital has not been securely located. It appears in year names and inscriptions of the Akkadian Empire, whose kings Sargon and Naram-Sin campaigned against it.

Rule and society

Little is known of its internal life. It was a Hurrian-influenced hill kingdom with fortified towns controlling trade in metals, timber and horses. Shulgi of the Neo-Sumerian Empire boasted of destroying Simurrum several times. A local king, Iddin-Sin, and his son Zabazuna left Akkadian inscriptions and a rock relief celebrating their victories, revealing a brief period of independent power around 2000 BCE.

Decline and legacy

Simurrum disappears from the record in the 18th century BCE, when the region fell under Eshnunna and the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia of Shamshi-Adad.

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). Simurrum. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/simurrum
MLA
“Simurrum.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/simurrum. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Simurrum.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/simurrum.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Simurrum’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/simurrum (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻