Idrimi was the king of Alalakh c. 1490–1465 BC, or around 1450 BC. He is known, mainly, from an inscription on his statue found at Alalakh by Leonard Woolley in 1939. According to that inscription, he was a son of Ilim-Ilimma I the king of Halab, now Aleppo, who would have been deposed by the new regional master, Barattarna, king of Mitanni. Idrimi would have succeeded in gaining the throne of Alalakh with the assistance of a group known as the Habiru, founding the kingdom of Mukish as a vassal to the Mitanni state. He also invaded the Hittite territories to the north, resulting in a treaty with the country Kizzuwatna.
Statue of Idrimi in the British Museum.
Tablet with the seal of King Idrimi.
A slave exchange treaty between Idrimi and Pilliya of Kizzuwatna.
Alalakh is an ancient archaeological site approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) northeast of Antakya in what is now Turkey's Hatay Province. It flourished, as an urban settlement, in the Middle and Late Bronze Age, c. 2000-1200 BC. The city contained palaces, temples, private houses and fortifications. The remains of Alalakh have formed an extensive mound covering around 22 hectares. In Late Bronze Age, Alalakh was the capital of the local kingdom of Mukiš.
Archaeological site of Alalakh (Tell Açana)
Fugitive slave treaty between Idrimi of Alalakh (now Tell Atchana) and Pillia of Kizzuwatna (now Cilicia)
Three jars from Alalakh, Level VII, British Museum
Atchana-Nuzi ware bowl found in Alalakh. From Levels III-II, Late Bronze Age, circa 1370-1270 BC. According to the excavator L. Woolley, this represents a locally produced variant of Nuzi ware, first recognized at the site of Nuzi in Iraq. Characteristic of the Atchana ware are the floral designs, not found in the Nuzi ware. British Museum
