Sam'al

Sam'al (Hittite: Yadiya) originally founded as a Hittite colony from 1725-1200 BC. It then emerged as post Hittite, Aramaean Principality, following the collapse of the Hittite Empire in 1200 BC. In 940 BC it became a Kingdom until 680 BC when the state came under control of the Assyrian Empire. It is located at Zincirli Höyük in the Anti-Taurus Mountains of modern Turkey's Gaziantep Province.

History

The site of Sam'al was originally occupied in the Early Bronze Age and later became part of the kingdom of Yamhad (Aleppo) early in the second millennium. It was absorbed into the Hittite empire during the middle of that millennium. After the fall of the Hittites, it was controlled by the Neo-Hittites until the arrival of the Aramaeans established the city as the center of a kingdom called Sam'al. With the rise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Sam'al became a vassal state and later a province of that empire. This ended in the 7th century BC with the fall of the Assyrian Empire.

Kingdom of Sam'al