tribal confederation · Mesopotamia and Iran

Zamua

900 BCE – 800 BCE (approx.)

The Assyrian name for the hill lands around the Shahrizor plain, whose chiefs resisted Ashurnasirpal II before becoming an Assyrian province.

Origins

Zamua, or Mazamua, covered the plain of Shahrizor and the valleys around modern Sulaymaniyah, the old homeland of the Lullubi. In the 9th century BCE it was divided among local rulers who controlled the passes between the Tigris lowlands and the Iranian plateau.

Rule and society

Zamua is known almost entirely from Assyrian royal annals. Ashurnasirpal II campaigned there in the 880s BCE against a coalition led by Nur-Adad, a chief of Dagara, and later against Ameka and Arashtua, destroying fortified towns and imposing tribute of horses, cattle and wine. Its lands were valued for livestock and as a route east.

Decline and legacy

By the late 9th century Assyria had turned Mazamua into a province, governed from Assyrian forts. It remained part of the Assyrian Empire until the empire collapsed in 612 to 609 BCE.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻