Ili-padâ or Ili-i?addâ, the reading of the name (m)DINGIR.PA.DA being uncertain, was a member of a side-branch of the Assyrian royal family who served as grand vizier, or sukkallu rabiu, of Assyria, and also as king, or ar, of the dependent state of ?anigalbat around 1200 BC. He was a contemporary of the Assyrian king Aur-nirari III, ca. 1203 -1198 BC (short chronology).
Biography
His family traced their descent from Eriba-Adad I.[1] His father was Aur-iddin and grandfather Qibi-Aur, both of whom had served as grand viziers and kings of ?anigalbat.[2] He served his limmu year around the twenty fifth year of Tukulti-Ninurta Is reign.[3] His brothers were Qarrad-Aur and Ninu'ayu, both of whom, like Ili-padâ, served their limmu years during this period.
He seems to have fallen sick in his youth as a text found at Tell e? ?amad in eastern Syria close to the border with Iraq relates:
My lord wrote me on account of Ili-ipadda, your servant, as follows: "Is he a dead man?" The God of my lord seized his hand [saved him]. He has recovered well; he has gotten himself up and is into his house. He does not go outside the gate. Pus and...will come; above . his pus; he gave; I will for the second time.[4]
Unknown Official to Tukulti-Ninurta?, Tablet from Tell e? ?amad (ancient Dur-katlimmu)
Together with Aur-nirari III, he was the recipient of Kassite king Adad-uma-u?urs derogatory letter,[5] where he is addressed alongside his superior under a single title: [(x)] [x] LUGAL.ME a mat Aur, the x-x-kings of Assyria.[6] They are castigated for their lack of sense in most impolite terms, leading the letter to be interpreted as a sign of Babylonian ascendancy.
Middle Assyrian texts from Tell Sabi Abyad shed further light on his career. The site is in the Balikh valley, in the very north of Syria close to the Turkish border and has been excavated in a series of digs since 1986 conducted under the auspices of Leiden University. He sent provisions to the king of Karkami, when the latter was under pressure from the Aramean tribesmen from Suhu.[2] The dunnu, or fortified settlement at Tell Sabi-Abyad, served as Ili-padâs, and before him, Aur-idinnas rural estate, while he was the Assyrian viceroy of ?anigalbat, as well as the dunnu being a regional administrative center. It was constructed during Tukulti-Ninurtas reign, remained a center for ceramic production until around 1185 BC when, during the reign of Enlil-kudurri-usur, Ili-padâ died,[7] and it was burnt down during that of Ninurta-apil-Ekurs around 1180 BC.[8]
Two of his sons were to follow him in attaining high office. Mardukija became governor of Katmu?i and served his term as limmu early, during the reign of Aur-dan I, his nephew and Ili-padâs grandson. Ninurta-apal-Ekur, after a period stationed in Babylonia, presumably on official business, was to triumph in his campaign to succeed Enlil-kudurri-usur as Assyrian King, thereby establishing a royal line that endured until at least the eighth century. His inscriptions refer to him as a son of Eriba-Adad, rather than Ili-padâ, as this was his last forefather who had been an Assyrian King, rather than an official
Kind(er):