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Concept
Suteans
Summary
The Suteans (Akkadian: Sutī’ū, possibly from Amorite: Šetī’u) were a nomadic Semitic people who lived throughout the Levant, Canaan and Mesopotamia, specifically in the region of Suhum, during the Old Babylonian period. They were famous in Semitic epic poetry for being fierce nomadic warriors, and like the Habiru, traditionally worked as mercenaries. Unlike Amorites, the Suteans were not governed by a king. They may have been part of the Ahlamu. Hypotheses regarding their identity variously identify them as Arameans, proto-Arabs or a unique Semitic people.
During the reign of Zimri-Lim (c. 1775–1761), they inhabited the vicinity of Terqa (modern-day Tell Ashara, Syria). They are mentioned in eight of the 382 Amarna letters. They are listed in documents from the Middle Assyrian Empire (1395-1075 BC) as being extant in the Amorite city of Emar, in what is now northeast Syria. Together with the Chaldeans and Arameans, they overran swaths of southern Mesopotamia c. 1100–900 BC.
One of the earliest instances of Suteans comes from a report of a Sutean attack on Qatna and Tadmor at the time of Shamshi-Adad I's reign (c. 1808–1776 BC). They frequently attacked Mari's domains as a reprisal against what they saw as unjust Mariote hegemony over their territories in Suhum. Nevertheless, the Sutean leader, Hammi-Talu, seems to have rendered services for Mari during the reign of Zimri-Lim (c. 1775–1761).
The Suteans were also utilized as couriers by Hammurabi of Babylon.
Around 1350 BC, the Suteans are mentioned in the Amarna letters. One letter mentioning the Suteans is entitled "Waiting for the Pharaoh's words", from Biryawaza of Dimasqu-(Damascus) to pharaoh:
I am indeed, together with my troops and chariots, together with my brothers, my 'Apiru and my Suteans, at the disposition of the archers, wheresoever the king, my lord, shall order (me to go).
This usage is somewhat atypical of the usage of Habiru and external mercenary forces in the Amarna letters, since this letter quotes them as being necessary and beneficial to the efforts of Biryawaza.
Official source
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