Apil-kin (𒀀𒉈𒄀a-pil-gin6),[1] was a ruler of the city of Mari, northern Mesopotamia, after the fall of the Akkadian Empire c. 2126-2091 BCE.[2] He was a son of Ishgum-Addu, and ruled 35 years, according to the Shakkanakku Dynasty List.[3][4] He had two sons, who succeeded him in turn: Ili-Ishar and Tura-Dagan.[5]
He held the title of Shakkanakku (military governor), which was borne by all the princes of a dynasty who reigned at Mari in the late third millennium and early second millennium BCE. These kings were the descendants of the military governors appointed by the kings of Akkad.[6] He was contemporary of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and probably their vassal.[7]
He was a contemporary of Ur-Nammu.[8] He had a daughter named Taram-Uram, who became the First Queen of king Shulgi of Ur III.[9][10] In a dedication, she called herself "daughter-in-law of Ur-Nammu", and "daughter of Apil-kin, Lugal ("King") of Mari", suggesting for Apil-kin a position as a supreme ruler, and pointing to a marital alliance between Mari and Ur.[11][12]
On some of his inscriptions, Apil-kin uses the title dannum' ("the Great") in front of his function Shakkanakku ("Military Governor"), a practice for which he is the first to be attested at Mari, and which was initially introduced by Naram-Sin of the Akkadian Empire.[13] Apil-kin and his successors generally used the Akkadian style of royal inscriptions and titulature.[14] It is considered that the Shakkanakkus gained some form of independence and came to be considered as "Kings" from the time of Apil-kin.[15]
One of the inscriptions of Apil-kin, inscribed on a bronze plaque, reads:
Apil-kin inscription (reconstitution, in standard Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform).[16]
𒀀𒉈𒄀 𒁕𒈝 𒄊𒀴 𒈠𒌷𒆠 𒁶 𒊓𒄷𒌷
a-pil-kin, da-num Shakkanakku ma-ri ki, DIM sa-ḫu-ri
"Apil-kin, the Great Shakkanakku of Mari, built the Sahuri"
^Loisel, Anne-Caroline Rendu. "Ilum-Isar et Apil-Kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari/Tell Hariri". In L. Feliu / J. Llop / A. Millet Alba / J. Sanmartin (Ed), Time and History in the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 56, Barcelone, Juillet 2010, Pp.633-643: 650.
^CIVIL, Michel (1962). "Un nouveau synchronisme Mari-III e dynastie d'Ur". Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale. 56 (4): 213. ISSN0373-6032. JSTOR23295098.
^Loisel, Anne-Caroline Rendu. "Ilum-Isar et Apil-kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari/Tell Hariri". In L. Feliu / J. Llop / A. Millet Alba / J. Sanmartin (Ed), Time and History in the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 56, Barcelone, Juillet 2010, Pp.633-643: 649.
^Loisel, Anne-Caroline Rendu. "Ilum-Isar et Apil-Kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari/Tell Hariri". In L. Feliu / J. Llop / A. Millet Alba / J. Sanmartin (Ed), Time and History in the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 56, Barcelone, Juillet 2010, Pp.633-643: 650.
^Loisel, Anne-Caroline Rendu. "Ilum-Isar et Apil-Kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari/Tell Hariri". In L. Feliu / J. Llop / A. Millet Alba / J. Sanmartin (Ed), Time and History in the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 56, Barcelone, Juillet 2010, Pp.633-643: 650.
^Loisel, Anne-Caroline Rendu. "Ilum-Isar et Apil-Kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari/Tell Hariri". In L. Feliu / J. Llop / A. Millet Alba / J. Sanmartin (Ed), Time and History in the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 56, Barcelone, Juillet 2010, Pp.633-643: 650.
^Loisel, Anne-Caroline Rendu. "Ilum-Isar et Apil-Kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari/Tell Hariri". In L. Feliu / J. Llop / A. Millet Alba / J. Sanmartin (Ed), Time and History in the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 56, Barcelone, Juillet 2010, Pp.633-643: 650.
