Karkashshi

Karkashshi (Karkašši) was a city in ancient Media.

Karkashshi was first mentioned as Garkasia, a Median settlement paying tribute to Assyrian king Shalmaneser II (1030–1019 BCE).^[1] Karkashshi was later mentioned in tablets found in Nineveh, dating from the 7th-century BCE. During the 670s BCE, it was in the possession of Median chieftain, Kashtariti.^[2]

In an article for the Journal asiatique in 1880, Joseph Halévy proposed that Karkashshi was located in Karkathiokertha (Karkasiokertha) in Armenia. However, he later withdrew his interpretation.^[3] It is now generally believed that Karkashshi was located in Media, within the Central Zagros Mountains (present-day Iran). Karkashshi may have been presumably located near modern-day Karkasheh.

References edit

^ Halévy 1889, p. 178: "Les expressions textuelles ne disent pas comme je l'ai cru que Kashtaritu était un chef gimirrien, ni que la ville de Karkashshi se trouvait sur le territoire des Gimir. J'ai trouvé dernièrement la vraie position de cette ville. Elle est mentionnée, sous la forme peu différente de Garkasia, dans la liste des villes médiques qui ont payé tribut à Salmanassar II. Ce fait explique très naturellement le caractère visiblement iranien du chef.
^ Dandamayev: "KASHTARITI (kaš-ta-ri-ti, the Old Iranian Khshathrita), a city lord of Karkashshi which was located in the Central Zagros mountains."
^ Maspero 1900, p. 353: "Karkashshi had been identified with Karkathiokertha or Karkasiokertha in Armenia, by Halévy (Journal Asiatique, vol. xv. 1880, pp. 530, 531), who later on withdrew this interpretation (Recherches Bibliques, pp. 321, 325): the site is unknown, but the list of Median princes subdued by Sargon (Winckler, Die Keilschrifttexte Sargons, vol. ii. pl. 44 B) shows that it was situated in Media"

Sources edit

Halévy, Joseph (1889), "Recherches Biblique" [Biblical Research], Revue des Études Juives (in French), 18, Paris, retrieved 8 June 2015
Dandamayev, M., Kashtariti, Encyclopædia Iranica, retrieved 7 June 2015
Maspero, Gaston (1900), Sayce, Archibald Henry (ed.), The Passing of the Empires: 850 B.C. to 330 B.C., London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, retrieved 7 June 2015

[Halévy-Garkasia-1] Halévy 1889, p. 178: "Les expressions textuelles ne disent pas comme je l'ai cru que Kashtaritu était un chef gimirrien, ni que la ville de Karkashshi se trouvait sur le territoire des Gimir. J'ai trouvé dernièrement la vraie position de cette ville. Elle est mentionnée, sous la forme peu différente de Garkasia, dans la liste des villes médiques qui ont payé tribut à Salmanassar II. Ce fait explique très naturellement le caractère visiblement iranien du chef.

[Iranica-Karkashshi-2] Dandamayev: "KASHTARITI (kaš-ta-ri-ti, the Old Iranian Khshathrita), a city lord of Karkashshi which was located in the Central Zagros mountains."

[Maspero-Karkashshi-3] Maspero 1900, p. 353: "Karkashshi had been identified with Karkathiokertha or Karkasiokertha in Armenia, by Halévy (Journal Asiatique, vol. xv. 1880, pp. 530, 531), who later on withdrew this interpretation (Recherches Bibliques, pp. 321, 325): the site is unknown, but the list of Median princes subdued by Sargon (Winckler, Die Keilschrifttexte Sargons, vol. ii. pl. 44 B) shows that it was situated in Media"

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