{{Infobox royalty | name = Aplahanda | succession = [[List of kings of Carchemish|King of Carchemish]] | reign = c. 1786 – c. 1765 BC | predecessor = | successor = [[Yatar-Ami]] | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = c. 1765 BC | death_place = | issue = {{plainlist| *[[Yatar-Ami]] *[[Yahdul-Lim]] *[[Matrunna]] }} }} '''Aplahanda''' (died {{circa}} 1765 BC) was a king of [[Carchemish]] proposed to have reigned between 1786 and 1765 BC,<ref name="Hamblin2006">{{cite book|first=W.J. |last=Hamblin|title=Warfare in Ancient Near East|url={{GBurl|h5IQQir5eFEC|p=267}}<!--|accessdate=4 October 2012-->|date=2006|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-25588-2|pages=267–}}</ref> during the early Middle Bronze IIA (c. 1820-1750 BC).
==Family== [[File:Image from page 35 of "Ancient seals of the Near East" (1940).jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|A seal dedicated to goddess [[Kubaba (goddess)|Kubaba]] by Matrunna, daughter of Aplahanda, 18th century BC]] His daughter called [[Matrunna]] is also known; she had a non-Semitic, possibly [[Hurrian]] name. His other son was [[Yahdul-Lim]].
==Reign== Aplahanda had a long reign spanning several decades.
=== Relations with Anatolian city-states === In Anatolia, Aplahanda conducted trade throught the Assyrian Trade Network with Kanesh (Level Ib). At [[Acemhöyük]] (Anatolia), bullae the Sarıkaya Palace yielded 15 impressions of two seals belonging to Aplahanda of Carchemish.<ref name="Integrated Tree-Ring-Radiocarbon Hi"/>
=== Relations with Shamshi-Adad I === He was allied with [[Shamshi-Adad I]] in a war against [[Sumu-Epuh]] of [[Aleppo]] ([[Yamhad]]) that was unsuccessful.<ref name="Hamblin2006"/> Around 1776 BC (REL 197),<ref name="journals.plos.org">Manning et al. (2016) Integrated Tree-Ring-Radiocarbon High-Resolution Timeframe to Resolve Earlier Second Millennium BCE Mesopotamian Chronology [https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0157144]</ref> the Death of Shamshi-Adad I occurred in Year 18 of [[Hammurabi]] of [[Old Babylonian Empire|Babylon]]. This significantly changed the power dynamics in the region.
=== Relations with Yasmah-Adad of Mari === The Fall of Mari saw Shamshi-Adad I install his son Yasmah-Adad on the throne of Mari. Aplahanda corresponded with Yasmah-Adad.
Mari Archive (ARM V (Archives Royales de Mari, Volume 5):<ref>Dossin, G. (1952). Archives Royales de Mari V: Correspondance de Iasmah-Addu. (This is the primary French translation and transcription of these tablets)</ref><ref>Heimpel, W. (2003). Letters to the King of Mari.</ref> * ARM V, 1: A report from Apla-handa informing Yasmah-Adad about the movements of Sumu-Epuh (the King of Yamhad). This letter highlights the tension between the Assyrian-Carchemish alliance and the hostile Aleppo dynasty. * ARM V, 17: Concerns the movement of messengers. Apla-handa warns Yasmah-Adad that messengers from a foreign power (likely from the west or Anatolia) are heading toward Mari and should be monitored. * ARM V, 20: Apla-handa discusses a dispute over territory or borders and suggests a diplomatic way to resolve it without escalating to a full-blown conflict that would require Shamshi-Adad’s intervention. * ARM V, 5: Apla-handa confirms the dispatch of wine and honey. This letter is famous for its polite but firm tone regarding the quality of the jars used for transport. * ARM V, 6: Apla-handa mentions sending garments and specifically "mountain goods" (likely items from the Taurus or Amanus mountains) to Yasmah-Adad as tokens of their "brotherhood." * ARM V, 7: Apla-handa writes to Yasmah-Adad regarding a physician (asū). He mentions that he is sending a specialist to Mari and requests that Yasmah-Adad treat him well and eventually send him back. * ARM V, 11: Concerns a leatherworker. Apla-handa asks for a specific craftsman to be sent to Carchemish to assist with the production of military or luxury equipment.
=== Relations with Zimri-Lim of Mari === Around 1775 BC, following the death of Shamshi-Adad I, Aplahanda established close relations with [[Zimri-Lim]] of Mari, addressing each other's as "brothers" (ahu; equal status, peers). This enabled trade to flourish from Carchemish downstream the Euphrates to Mari.
===Death=== He is known to have died based on a letter of [[Ishtaran-Nasir]] a high official from Tell Leilan.<ref name="LerbergheVoet1999"/><ref name="Hamblin2006"/><ref name="Klengel1992">{{cite book|first=Horst |last=Klengel|title=Syria, 3000 to 300 B.C.: a handbook of political history|url={{GBurl|5GptAAAAMAAJ}}<!--|accessdate=4 October 2012-->|year=1992|publisher=Akademie Verlag|isbn=978-3-05-001820-1}}</ref> Aplahanda was succeeded by his son, [[Yatar-Ami]], who ruled for only two years.
Dendrochronology indicate that Aplahanda died around REL 208 (c. 1765 BC).<ref name="journals.plos.org"/>
===Reconstruction=== {| class="wikitable" |+ Regnal Years ! Year !! REL<ref name="Integrated Tree-Ring-Radiocarbon Hi">{{cite journal |vauthors=Manning SW, Griggs CB, Lorentzen B, Barjamovic G, Ramsey CB, Kromer B, Wild EM |title=Integrated Tree-Ring-Radiocarbon High-Resolution Timeframe to Resolve Earlier Second Millennium BCE Mesopotamian Chronology |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=11 |issue=7 |article-number=e0157144 |date=2016 |pmid=27409585 |pmc=4943651 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0157144 |bibcode=2016PLoSO..1157144M |doi-access=free}}</ref> !! Event |- | 178x || REL XXX || Alliance with Shamshi-Adad I against Sumu-Epuh of Yamhad |- | 17xx || REL XXX || |- | c. 1784 BC || REL 188 || |- | c. 1783 BC || REL 189 || |- | c. 1782 BC || REL 190 || |- | c. 1781 BC || REL 191 || |- | c. 1780 BC || REL 192 || Yarim-Lim of Yamhad succeeds Sumu-Epuh around this time |- | c. 1779 BC || REL 193 || |- | c. 1778 BC || REL 194 || |- | c. 1777 BC || REL 195 || |- | c. 1776 BC || REL 196 || Shamshi-Adad I dies; Year 18 of Hammurabi of Babylon (synchronization) |- | c. 1775 BC || REL 197 || Zimri-Lim begins to rule Mari |- | c. 1774 BC || REL 198 || |- | c. 1773 BC || REL 199 || |- | c. 1772 BC || REL 200 || |- | c. 1771 BC || REL 201 || |- | c. 1770 BC || REL 202 || |- | c. 1769 BC || REL 203 || |- | c. 1768 BC || REL 204 || |- | c. 1767 BC || REL 205 || |- | c. 1766 BC || REL 206 || |- | c. 1765 BC || REL 207 ||Aplahanda dies around this time, Yatar-Ami succeeds Aplahanda |- | c. 1764 BC || REL 208 || |- | c. 1763 BC || REL 209 || |- | c. 1762 BC || REL 210 || |}
==Attestations== He was first known from a [[cylinder seal]] translated by [[Rene Dussaud]] in 1929. The seal was found at the base of the mound of [[Ugarit]] before excavations began.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Charles |last=Virolleaud |title=Les Inscriptions Cunéiformes de Ras Shamra |journal=Syria |volume=10 |pages=304–310 |date=1929 |issue=4 |doi=10.3406/syria.1929.3411 |jstor=4236960}}<br/>{{cite book |first=Claude F.A. |last=Schaeffer |title=The Cuneiform Texts of Ras Shamra-Ugarit |series=The Schweich Lectures of the British Academy |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1939 |oclc=1484767216 |url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/2336158.html}}</ref><ref name="LerbergheVoet1999">{{cite book|editor-first=Karel |editor-last=Van Lerberghe|editor2-first=Gabriela |editor2-last=Voet |title=Languages and Cultures in Contact: At the Crossroads of Civilizations in the Syro-Mesopotamian Realm; Proceedings of the 42th RAI (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 96 |last=Collon |first=D. |chapter=Seals naming Aplahanda of Carchemish |pages=49–59 | chapter-url={{GBurl|JgA-ez-BLbEC|p=49}}<!--|accessdate=4 October 2012-->|year=1999|publisher=Peeters |isbn=978-90-429-0719-5}}</ref>
At least 6 seals naming Aplahanda have been published. They are skilfully produced, and show mostly Babylonian influence, although some Syrian and Egyptian motifs are also present.<ref name="LerbergheVoet1999"/>
He is also found mentioned in the [[Mari, Syria|Mari]] tablets, reigning at the same time as [[Yasmah-Adad]] and [[Zimri-Lim]], by whom he is addressed as a ''brother''. His name was suggested to be [[Amorite]] by I. J. Gelb and the hypothesis of a [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] origin was supported by [[Wilfred G. Lambert|Wilfred Lambert]].<ref>{{cite book |first=I.J. |last=Gelb |title=Computer-aided Analysis of Amorite |publisher=The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago |oclc=6683407 |series=Assyriological studies |volume=21 |date=1980 |isbn=0-918986-21-4 |url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/6683407.html}}</ref><ref name="LerbergheVoet1999"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{succession box | title = [[List of kings of Carchemish|King of Carchemish]] | before = | after = [[Yatar-Ami]] | years = c. 1786 – c. 1765 BC }} {{s-end}}
[[Category:18th-century BC monarchs]] [[Category:Kings of Carchemish]] [[Category:2nd-millennium BC births]] [[Category:18th-century BC deaths]]