ABDADĀNA, region in western Media, mentioned in Neo-Assyrian royal inscriptions and annals (for references see S. Parpola, Neo-Assyrian Toponyms, Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1970, p. 2). The Assyrians received horses and other tribute from it. In the inscription of Shalmaneser III, it is placed southeast of Parsua and northeast of Bīt-Hamban (see D. Schroeder, Keilschrifttexte aus Assur historischen Inhalts, Heft 2, Leipzig, 1922, no. 113, col. IV, line 14). The Assyrian king Adad-nirari III (810-783 B.C.) claims that he conquered it; according to his inscription Abdadāna was situated between Allabria (q.v.) and Nairi (see The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, ed. H. Rawlinson, I, London, 1861, pl. 35, no. 1, line 8). His campaign against it and neighboring countries took place in 802 B.C. In the Assyrian texts of the second part of the 8th century B.C., this region is always called Bīt-Abdadāni. In 744 B.C. Tiglath-pileser III conquered Kitpattia, a town belonging to Bīt-Abdadāni where a prince with the Akkadian name Mannu-kīma-ṣābē ruled (see P. Rost, Die Keilschrifttexte Tiglath-Pilesers III, Leipzig, 1893, no. 6, line 27). In the inscription of Tiglath-pileser III, compiled in 728 B.C., Bīt-Abdadāni is mentioned as a province of the Assyrian empire together with Namar, Bīt-Hamban, Parsua, Bīt-Zatti (q.v.), etc. (see Rost, Keilschrifttexte, no. 8, line 35). In 716 B.C. Sargon II during his eighth campaign received tribute from Bīt-Abdadāni, Namar, Sangibutu, and the country of the “mighty Medes” (see F. Thureau-Dangin, Une relation de la huitième campagne de Sargon, Paris, 1973, line 39). Abdadāna is mentioned in a bronze tablet from Hamadān published by E. Herzfeld (see bibliog.). Herzfeld dated the tablet to the end of the 13th century B.C., but I. M. Dyakonov believes that it should be dated in the 10th or 9th century (see M. Dandamayev in OLZ 1972, no. 9/10, col. 477, n. 2; for more details s.v. Shilisru). In all probability, Abdadāna was a Kassite name and its population in the 9-8th century B.C. of Kassite origin.
Bibliography:
I. M. Dyakonov, Istoriya Midii, Moscow, 1956, see index.
E. Ebeling, “Abdadana,” RIA I, p. 4.
E. A. Grantovskiĭ, Rann yaya istoriya iranskikh plemen Peredneĭ Azii, Moscow, 1970, p. 177.
E. Herzfeld, The Persian Empire, Wiesbaden, 1968, pp. 241-43.
(M. Dandamayev)
Originally Published: December 15, 1982
Last Updated: July 15, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 2, p. 172
M. Dandamayev, “Abdadana,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/2, p. 172; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bdadana-region-in-western-media (accessed on 17 January 2014).
