ZIMRILIM

(reigned C. 1775–1761 B.C.)

King of Mari in the Old Babylonian period. When Shamshi-Addu I conquered Mari, Zimri-Lim, then a child, went into exile to the kingdom of Yamhad, the daughter of whose king he later married. After the death of Shamshi-Addu, he returned to claim the throne. He was skillful at us- ing his contacts with Yamhad and other Syrian polities to extend his influence in Middle Babylonia and formed alliances with other rulers, such as Hammurabi of Babylon. He maintained good rela- tions with the nomadic tribes around Mari and established a prof- itable network of tradealong the Euphratesand beyond. The wealth thus generated he invested in building a vast and sumptuously ap- pointed palace. The reign of Zimri-Lim is unusually well docu- mented, thanks to a surviving archive in the palace that details his diplomatic and military activities. He was defeated by Hammurabi when the latter attacked and sacked the palace in c. 1761 B.C.