The City Mari and its World

On Shamshi-Adad I, Babylon, Elam and society in Mari.

The location of Mari on the Euphrates, downstream of the Kabur River basin, on the border between Mesopotamia and Syria, allows researchers to reconstruct not only the historical reality of the city and its immediate surroundings, but also of almost all cities in Mesopotamia from its archives. Due to the fact that the cities of the Western Near East belonged to a single politically integrated system, consisting of smaller city-states to larger territorial states, the archives of Mari contain information about events throughout the Near East.

Mari was politically independent of Ur III, but diplomatic relations were established between the two states, and there seems to have been no mutual conflicts. However, with the fall of Ur III, Mari lost the economic dominance over the region that it had held in the third millennium. This led to a decline in the importance of the city itself, and the old dynasty was overthrown for unknown reasons. In the mid-19th century BC, a new dynasty came to turn the tables. Very little is known about the founder of this new dynasty, Yagid-Lim. Yahdun-Lim called himself his son - in Yahdun-Lim's only letter, addressed to the god Nergal, there is a mention of a vow made by Yagid-Lim to Ila-kabkab, the father of Shamshi-Adad I. However, according to the letter, Yagid-Lim did not keep this vow, and he came into conflict with Ila-kabkab. In a letter from the period of Shamshi-Adad I, which was addressed to him after he conquered Mari, Yagid-Lim is again mentioned in the context of Ila-kabkab, and a parallel is drawn between Shamshi-Adad and Yagid-Lim's successor, Yahdun-Lim. It seems that, judging by the inscription, Yagid-Lim did not rule in the city of Mari, since he is mentioned as ruling "in the Euphrates Valley". Accordingly, there is a thesis that he ruled in Suprum. Although he most likely did not rule in the city of Mari, there was dynastic continuity between Yagid-Lim and his successors.

The rise of Mari occurs during the reign of Yahdun-Lim (1810–1794). He entered Mari and overthrew the previous Shakkanakku dynasty established by the Akkadians. He consolidated his rule around the middle Euphrates Valley and over the cities of Mari, Terka (or Tell Ashara) and Tutul. He then conquered the city of Khabur, which allowed the herds of Mari to graze freely in Qahat. His authority in western Mesopotamia was recognized, and the conquest of Zalpah allowed him to extend the territorial control of Mari from Ida-Marai to Balih. However, his rule over Khabur was opposed by the king of Upper Mesopotamia, Shamshi-Adad, with whom he fought several times. The first battle between the two took place at Tell Brak, and ended with the victory of Yahdun-Lim, with which the city itself became part of his territory. The following year he returned again to conquer the city of Pahudar, which he succeeded in doing, in order to consolidate his strategic position in the area between Khabur and Balih. However, after a few years of mutual plundering and incursions into the territories of the other, Shamshi-Adad managed to defeat the combined forces of twelve kings, including Yahdun-Lim. From that moment on, Shamshi-Adad exerted great pressure on the king of Mari and his allies. One of these allies was Abi-Samar, whose city (it is not known exactly which one) was under the protection of Jahdun-Lim. His letters indicate that Shamshi-Adad, after this victory, set out to overthrow the allies of the city of Mari one by one.

Because of this development of events, Jahdun-Lim concluded an alliance with the king of Eshnune. Although it was an alliance, the balance of power was clearly in favor of Eshnune - in this alliance, Mari was under the "protection" of Eshnune, which speaks of its position in relation to the "kingdom of Tispak". This alliance had an impact on Mari - the city adopted a new writing system, replacing the old Akkadian with the new, Old Babylonian from Eshnune. In addition to the alliance with Eshnune, it concluded an alliance with Yamhad to the west. However, at this time, there was a rebellion of the Benjaminites – three tribes rose up against Jahdun-Lima, under the leadership of the kings La'fun, Bahlu-kulim and Ayalum. Despite the aid given to the rebels by the king of Aleppo (for the king of Aleppo was not pleased that Mari and Eshnuna had formed an alliance), this uprising was suppressed. It is mentioned in the inscriptions that after these victories, he traveled all the way to the Mediterranean coast (Lebanon) to consolidate his victory over the tribes that had rebelled; he marked this feat by building a temple dedicated to Shamash at Mari. On the other hand, his expedition all the way to Lebanon had both ideological and economic connotations – ideological, because he reached the "end of the world" with the expedition, economic because he recovered the cedars at Mari. This was certainly the peak of the Mari kingdom. The prosperity of the period can be seen in the various sealed chests of the palace, marked with the name "Hayamalik", which were so attractive to the eventual conqueror, Shamshi-Adad, that he attempted to open the tomb of Jahdun-Lima and appropriate the wealth it contained.

The end of Jahdun-Lima's reign is shrouded in darkness. It is likely that he was overthrown by his son, Sumu-Yamam (1793–1792). During his short reign, he attempted to re-establish the dialogue with Aleppo that his father had neglected, but this ended without a clear resolution. He was eventually assassinated in a conspiracy and Shamshi-Adad I triumphantly entered Mari.

It is not known exactly what happened in his early years. He seems to have belonged to a family of Amorite tribal leaders; his family participated in the conflicts against Yagid-Lima and Ipik-Adad of Eshnuna around the upper Khabur. Around 1833 BC he inherited the rule of Akkad from his father, Ila-kabkabue, when Shamshi-Adad I was 18 years old. He ruled for about ten years until he was forced to leave the city and flee to Babylon amid pressure from Naram-Sin of Eshnuna. After the death of the ruler of Eshnu, Shamshi-Adad returned to Ekalatum, and three years later conquered Ashur. After conquering Ashur, he included his ancestors in the Assyrian king list, which began his reign in Ashur around 1808 BC. He was later called the first great king of Assyria because of the conquest of Ashur and his reign, which is not entirely correct, considering that his origin was Amorite. However, Assyria was the center of his kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia, and he himself had a long-lasting influence on the development of Assyrian ideology and state.

A key moment in his reign that enabled the rise of his kingdom was the conquest of the city of Mari. He first established a stronghold on Mount Shinar and then led military campaigns in Habur. While fighting there, he settled in a city that he named Subat-Enlil. In this region, the first battle between Shamshi-Adad and Jahdun-Lima took place at Nagar, Tel Brak. However, Mari was not victorious in this conflict, and was conquered in 1792 BC. After this successful campaign, Shamshi-Adad returned to upper Mesopotamia and conquered it all; celebrating this feat, he called himself "the one who united all the lands between the Tigris and the Euphrates". At the same time, Rim-Sin conquered Isin (1794 BC), thus subjugating all of southern Mesopotamia. All years in the calendar from this point onwards, southern Mesopotamia and northern Mesopotamia were subject to Amorite rulers - and between them lay Babylon and Eshnunah. In Babylon, Hammurabi succeeded his father in 1792 BC, and in Eshnu was ruled by Dadush, an ambitious king who wanted to conquer the Khabur and the middle Euphrates. To the west of his kingdom lay Jamhad and Qatna.

After his conquest of Mari, Shamshi-Adad seems to have made little change in his administration. The administrators did the same as they had done during the reign of Jahdun-Lim; the only change was in the dating, since an eponym was introduced. Around 1785 BC, he divided his state into territories that he personally governed and territories that his sons separately controlled. Ishme-Dagan received Ekalatum, and Yasmah-Adad received Mari, while Shamshi-Adad's main residence continued to be Subat-Enlil. Ishma-Dagan was responsible for the area between the Tigris and Zagros, and Yasmah-Adadi for the area around the Euphrates, Balikh, and Khabur rivers. He and his brother were kings, while their father, Shamshi-Adad, held the title of Great King. Despite holding the title of king, they did not have much authority in their respective areas. Shamshi-Adad often complained that he had to intervene in their affairs, especially Yasmah-Adad. The administration and staff of the Mari palace were responsible to Shamshi-Adad, not Yasmah-Adad, and he determined its foreign policy. The resources of the kingdom were spent on Shamshi-Adad's building projects and financing the army, which harmed the Mari economy. Although Shamshi-Adad made little structural change, the city of Mari under Yasmah-Adad's "rule" had no autonomy.

Shamshi-Adad managed to maintain the borders of his state against the onslaught of Eshnuna, but Dadusha managed to conquer Rapikum and Sukhum, thereby directly threatening Ekalatam. Shamshi-Adad signed a peace treaty with Dadusha, which lasted until his death. However, he had problems in the north with the Turuku tribe, who were a constant threat to Shushar (Tel Shemshara). This city, located on the northeastern border of the state, was a link of economic interaction, but also military caution, with the Turuku tribe. Shamshi-Adad managed to restore relations with this group and activate trade in Cappadocia, but the threat of Jamhad lurked in the west. Sumu-epuh had already attacked Shamshi-Adad several times, and in order to counterbalance the kingdom of Yamhada, which was a political and military rival to his kingdom, he made an alliance with Katna, a state located south of Yamhada. On the other hand, Sumu-epuh made an alliance with the king of Babylon, Hammurabi. The alliance between Shamshi-Adad and Katna was solidified by the marriage of the daughter of the king of Katna to Yasmah-Adad. With this alliance, he proclaimed that, like Yasmah-Adad and Yahdun-Lim before him, he had reached Lebanon and the Mediterranean coast. However, in his last years, the political scene around him changed significantly. First, he attacked the Turuki tribe, with whom he had previously managed to make an agreement. There was a rebellion in the upper Balikh, and with the death of King Eshnuna, who had been Shamshi-Adad's ally after the war, Ibal-pi-El, even more ambitious than Dadush, came to the throne of the kingdom. Changes also occurred in the west. Sumu-epih died, and Yarim-Lim came to his throne. As a result, the kingdom of Shampi-Adad, which controlled northern Mesopotamia, was surrounded by enemies. Shamshi-Adad, now old, began to restore autonomy to his sons and transferred greater responsibility to them. However, his death in 1781 BC left the kingdom in a very precarious position. It was obvious that the kingdom could not survive without someone capable on the throne - as evidenced by the fact that immediately after his death, Yasmah-Adad was deposed from the throne of Mari in favor of Zimri-Lim, son of Jahdun-Lim. Ishme-Dagan failed to preserve the kingdom his father had left him – of all the territories, only Assyria remained. The other regions previously under Shamshi-Adad's control were divided into small kingdoms. This was an opportunity for Ishme-Dagan and the new ruler of Mari, Zimri-Lim, son of Jahdun-Lim, to establish hegemony in the region by subordinating these smaller states to themselves as vassal states.

In their mutual rivalry, Zimri-Lim won a victory, thus cutting off Ishme-Dagan's path and preventing him from re-establishing trade in Anatolia. The small kingdoms that had emerged from the ruins of Shamshi-Adad's state were now loyal to the Lim dynasty in Mara. These alliances were further cemented by the change in local dynasties loyal to Zimri-Lim, by establishing marriages between his daughters and the new kings. Many of these marriages did not last due to cultural differences between the spouses. However, new political players entered the conflict between Mara and Ashura: Eshnuna, Elam, and Babylon. The new king of Eshnuna, Ibal-pi-el, wanted to establish his own kingdom in Upper Mesopotamia. At the same time, Eshnuna was the most powerful state in Mesopotamia after the empire of Shamshi-Adad had been divided into smaller states. He conquered the Euphrates region from Rapikum to Sukhum and provoked the Benjamites, who were located around Mara, to rebel against the palace. Ibal-pi-el managed to reach Ekalatum and Ashur, where he overthrew Ishme-Dagan from power. He fled to Babylon, and Ibal-pi-el II conquered Habur and Shinar. Zimri-lim entered into an alliance with the kingdom of Yamhad, which again, as during the time of Shamshi-Adad, was opposed to the establishment of a strong kingdom in upper Mesopotamia, either by the successors of Shamshi-Adad or by the king of Eshnuna. Yamhad was at this time the most powerful state in the western Near East, and its position could have been threatened if the new kingdom of upper Mesopotamia had been established, which already had a significant foothold in central Mesopotamia. Zimri-lim also entered into an alliance with Elam. Eshnuna blocked the Elamite route to the west, which was led by Siwe-palar-hupak. To cement the alliance, Zimri-Lim gave them gifts of gold, silver, and wine, and in return, the Elamites gave him tin, which was of great importance to the city of Mari, which depended on bronze production. After three years of warfare, Zimri-Lim managed to suppress the rebellion and force Ibal-pi-el to retreat.

After the war with Eshnun, Eshnun was conquered by the Elamites. This again made the political situation in Mesopotamia fragile - Hammurabi used this as an opportunity to gain control of the areas around the Tigris previously held by his grandfather, Apil-Sin, and which had been under Eshnun's control until it was conquered. At the same time, Ishme-Dagan intended to restore his father's kingdom and expand his kingdom to the left of the Tigris. Zimri-Lim again needed allies - the only state that could intervene was Yamhad. Between the ninth and tenth years of his reign, King Mari traveled to Ugarit, which was within the territory of Yamhad. At the same time, there seems to have been a rebellion in Yamhad, for before Zimri-Lim left Mari, he learned that Jarim-Lim of Aleppo (Yamhad) had defeated Hamitibal, king of Azara. Despite this, Zimri-Lim set out with an army of 4,145 soldiers to assist the king of Aleppo. He set out from Habur, stayed at Zilhan, recruited more troops at Ida Marai, and headed west. His first encounter with a foreign king was at Ilansura, with King Haya-Sumu. He was married to two of Zimri-Lim's daughters, and Zimri-Lim seems to have spent his time there divorcing Haya-Sumu and one of his daughters, Kirum. He met with Yarim-Lim before entering Aleppo. Zimri-Lim received gifts along the way from local rulers we only know about from his expedition – such as the king of Byblos, Yantim-Hamu. Their expedition ended when they reached Ugarit, a port city on the Mediterranean coast, where they stayed for about a month.

While Zimri-Lim was still in the west, one of his allied kings, Kami-um, was deposed from his throne in Andarig. He tried to find refuge in Mari, but was killed on the way, and Andarig fell into enemy hands. From Eshnuna, under Elamite control, an army set out, led by the Elamite ruler Siwe-palar-hupak, and Athamrum, who conquered Andarig and then entered the territories of Mari, which was unprotected without an army, due to the king's expedition. This led to confusion within the political system that Zimri-Lim imposed on the smaller states in Upper Mesopotamia, which nevertheless remained on the king's side, after Athamrum offered them to switch to his. The Elamites also moved against Hammurabi, who held territories previously controlled by Eshnuna, which the Elamites wanted to regain. An ultimatum in which Siwe-palar-hupak demanded that Hammurabi return the cities was rejected. Thus began the second invasion; The Elamites first conquered Mankisum, which opened the way to the Tigris. Hammurabi, in order to protect himself, sent messengers to Larsa to make an alliance with Rim-Sin. Rim-Sin's answers were not clear - in the first answer he was open to the offer, but in the second answer he did not agree to the alliance under the pretext that the Elamites planned to leave Babylonia. What actually happened was that the Elamites temporarily withdrew to encourage the rebellion of Mutiabal against Hammurabi. Hammurabi managed to suppress the rebellion, but was forced to withdraw from other territories that were under Elamite pressure. Babylon was threatened - all the cities on the road to Babylon were conquered. The Elamites did not stop there, but moved north and took control of Ekalatum, Habur, and even Subut-Enlil. Their offensive in the north directly threatened Zimri-Lim's hegemony in upper Mesopotamia. Despite the fact that the Elamites and Zimri-Lim had good relations as a result of their alliance against Eshnuna, this decision jeopardized their relationship with each other.

With Babylon threatened to be conquered, Hammurabi found an ally in Zimri-Lim after Larsa showed reluctance to intervene. Zimri-Lim, having returned from the west, headed for Athamrum, who was located in Razama. Athamrum, aware of the king's return, unsuccessfully asked the Elamites for reinforcements, as they were busy in Babylonia. In this, D. Sharpan sees the conflicting interests of the Elamites and Athamrum – in addition to the Elamites not wanting to help him, Kunam, who was appointed by the Elamites to govern Subat-Enlil, did not allow Athamrum's troops to pass through his territories, and Zimri-Lim's campaign against Athamrum could therefore be considered a campaign against the usurper, not against the Elamites. Nevertheless, Zimri-Lim remained loyal to Hammurabi, an exchange of troops took place, and later a formal alliance was sealed by an oath between King Mari and the King of Babylon in the tenth year of Zimri-Lim's reign. Due to the fear of the Mari population that Zimri-Lim would lose his life in the campaign, a huge oath-taking ceremony was organized by the population to swear allegiance to their ruler.

The areas around the Khabur River, the so-called Khabur Triangle, were under enormous pressure from the Elamite armies. The entire region was divided into two camps – those who had joined the Elamites, and those who continued to resist Elamite control. With the parties thus divided, the kings took this as an opportunity to "resolve" some of their disputes that they had not been able to resolve with the kings of other states before. A list of rulers who disagreed with the Elamites and were loyal to Zimri-Lim was drawn up, and each was then killed and replaced with an Elamite loyalist. Peace was established in this region, by an agreement between Zimri-Lim and the kings of Ida-Marai. In the north, Ishme-Dagan lost his position in the midst of the Elamite invasion, was imprisoned in Eshnuna and then released, paying a large sum of money for his freedom. Before returning to Ekalatum, he went to Babylon – as his father had been in Babylon before him while waiting for the right moment to return to power. Ishme-Dagan soon returned to Ekalatum.

After this reversal, a counteroffensive was launched by the Amorite kings. Zimri-Lim sent additional troops to Hammurabi, and Hammurabi made sure that the mutual conflicts between Yamhad and Katna, which had existed since Shamshi-Adad, did not escalate into an even greater conflict, in which the Elamites would intervene on one of the two sides. Although they failed to convince the king of Katna to join Hammurabi and Zimri-Lim against the Elamites, Katna did not use the Elamite invasion as an opportunity to attack Yamhad. Zimri-Lim managed to create an alliance against the Elamites, in which the kings of Yamhad, Zalmakum, and even Ishme-Dagan participated. The alliance succeeded in pushing the sukkulmah of Elam out of Mesopotamia, and Hammurabi was largely responsible for this. He managed to defeat an army of 30,000 Elamites attempting to capture Hiritum, while the rest of Hammurabi's troops moved towards Eshnuna, and the Elamites were forced to retreat. This retreat was also due to the reluctance of the Elamite generals to continue the fight against Hammurabi, some of whom even offered to help him against their own countrymen. A good example is Athamrum, who, after the Elamites had left Babylonia, had sided with Zimri-Lim. The loss of northern Mesopotamia and Babylonia forced the Elamites to abandon any further campaign. The victory over the Elamites, and the subsequent conquest of Eshnuna, Larsa, and Assyria, were the steps taken by Hammurabi that brought Babylon to the height of its power. Babylon eclipsed all other Mesopotamian states, including Mari. The alliance between Zimri-Lim and Hammurabi had dissolved. It had only survived on the mutual need to maintain a balance of power in Mesopotamia, but Hammurabi's expansionism had upset that balance. All that was needed was an excuse; the city of Hittite was located between Mari and Babylon, and was important to both rulers, and it fell to Zimri-Lim after the Elamites withdrew. War ensued, and in the 32nd year of his reign Hammurabi conquered Mari (1762), and two years later he destroyed it. Despite this destruction, archives survived, without which the reconstruction of these events would not have been possible.

The best example illustrating the involvement of nomads in the social and economic sphere of Mesopotamian cities and their inhabitants, at the beginning of the second millennium, is the city of Mari. The city was located on the Euphrates River, south of its confluence with the Kabur River, at the site of Tell Haririyya. Since it was located between the Euphrates Valley and the Syrian Steppe, which was used by shepherds in the winter, the interaction between the city of Mari and the shepherds was great. The city benefited from this, and a key influencing factor was its geographical position, as it was located between two areas that were arid. The land in southern Mesopotamia was alluvial, which allowed the construction of an irrigation system. Agriculture in the north depended on the amount of rainfall. Around the lower Kabur basin, the irrigation system could function on a very narrow strip of land that the Akkadians called ah Purratim. The city of Mari, located on the periphery of this area, only had access to the southern riverbed. Because of this geographical specificity, agriculture was not developed as in the cities of central Mesopotamia, nor did it benefit from rainfall on the same scale as in upper Mesopotamia. This turned the inhabitants of the city of Mari towards a greater extent of interaction with the nomads who lived in the steppe. Thanks to this economic orientation, it is possible to reconstruct the social organization of the pastoral nomads who were located in the vicinity of the city on the eve of the second millennium BC, based on the city archives.

The social organization of the Syrian shepherds whose villages were located near the city of Mari was tribal. The tribes, mostly Amorites at this time, who lived in the villages around Mari were divided into two groups: the Benjamites and the Banu-Sim'alites. Politically, the nomads had their own leaders, who exercised a supreme military role, and were the representatives of the tribe before the palace. In recognition of their position, the tribes often exchanged gifts with the palace. It is known from the archives that the villages were directly subordinate to the central administration. The nomads were forced to participate in the census, to participate in the army and to work, and intermediaries were appointed between these groups and the palace to regulate their relationship. The needs of the palace and the tribes were complementary and both economies were focused on production. On the other hand, the palace depended on the infrastructure that enabled trade, communication, and the transportation of armed forces. The construction of new palaces required a systematic change in this structure in order to adapt to political changes and accumulate the necessary amount of land for further use. With tribes that did not accept this system, such as the Suti, Mari used propaganda to portray such tribes as thieves and criminals.

Along the Euphrates and Khabur rivers was a network of fortified cities with their palaces and temples, all of which were part of a politically integrated system. This system was hierarchical, with some cities governed by rulers, others by local officials. This hierarchy, however, changed - most often, hegemony in this area during this period alternated between Mari and Subat-Enlil. Palaces, as in Mesopotamia, were the link between the political life of the city. Scribes were palace administrators, and officials were appointed by the rulers to manage the provincial palaces. Some of these palaces that were within the Mari sphere of influence were Terka, Sagaratum, and Tutul. These palaces, unlike the central one, had a limited bureaucratic structure. Thus, the structure of the states that were within the Amorite cultural-political system was twofold – on the one hand, there was the palace with a developed agriculture, and on the other hand, semi-nomadic tribes that were centered around the city and whose main industry was cattle breeding.

The palace economy could only partially rely on agriculture. This was not enough to meet the needs of the central administration, but in this way the smaller palaces on the periphery were financed. Thanks to the tribes were under the jurisdiction of the central government, it was possible to tax them and profit from their livestock. This compensated for the fact that the amount of land controlled by the palaces in this area was not equal in size to the lands administered by the palaces in central and southern Mesopotamia. Despite having access to a large expanse of land towards Syria through which nomads passed, the palaces could not exert direct influence over that area. However, due to its proximity to Syria and Anatolia, Mari had access to nearby sources of raw materials, with the help of which its production competed in quality with that of the cities of Mesopotamia. For this reason, a large part of the income came from taxation of the villages and tribes in the vicinity of the city, as well as from trade. Mari, like other palaces in this area, suffered from a shortage of specialized labor. Therefore, several attempts were made to reorganize the personnel in individual palaces to meet administrative needs. However, this method of organization was overthrown by Shamshi-Adad I, whose residence in Subat-Enlil was draining all the labor force. Constant wars and conflicts, as well as the changes of rulers, did not alleviate these existing difficulties. From Yahdun-Lim to Hammurabi, rulers relied on tribal troops. This means that the cities of western Mesopotamia, including Mari, were militarily and economically dependent on the tribal societies in their immediate surroundings. These data largely negate the traditional picture that the arrival of tribes in the vicinity of the cities was unwelcome by the central administration and the urban elite.

Wars in the vicinity of Mari could only be fought during the summer, because only then were the roads accessible and food available. Urban agriculture and tribal pastoralism complemented each other seasonally, underpinning the coexistence of these two socio-economic systems. However, their strategies were different. Nomads relied on traditional techniques and large expanses, on slower but dispersed economic dynamics. In contrast to this extensive economy, the urban economy was intensive because it was based on the efficient use of land, which was limited in quantity, and the concentration of wealth in the palaces, and in case of need, on the use of technical and administrative powers to forcibly recruit labor for urban and military enterprises. In order to maintain political authority from within and without, the palace was dedicated to accumulating income to finance court culture, the production of luxury goods, and the exchange of gifts. For these reasons, the economic system of Mari was fragile – the city did not have a large economic base, as it depended on the relations between the palace and the surrounding tribes. The tribes were already divided among themselves, considering that the political leadership between the Benjamites and the Banu-Sim'alites belonged to the latter. Wars, or worse, changes of rulers, could only introduce further confusion into this system. This eventually happened – the palaces demanded as much as they could from the surrounding territories, which was acceptable in times of peace, but intolerable in times of instability. The introduction of summer cultivation further worsened the situation, as it effectively took over fields that had previously been used as pastures, threatening the nomadic economy. This did not harm the nomadic economy in the long run, but the economies of the palaces located on the middle Euphrates collapsed. Although the palaces were conquered for other reasons, one of the causes of the fall of Subat-Enlil, Mari, Terke, and Tutul under Hammurabi was the internal cracks that appeared, partly caused by the fact that their economic systems were overburdened. As a result, by the 17th century BC the middle Euphrates valley and the lower Khabur basin were almost completely de-urbanized, and the gaps left by the palaces were filled by pastoral groups.

One significant aspect of life in Mesopotamia that is relevant to Mari was the legal process known as the "river trial", which was held in the city of Hit. It was a way within the legal process by which guilt could be established in cases where there was no evidence on either side. First, the king was part of this process, as he ordered the procedure to be carried out and received the report of the trial. The accused had to spend the night before the trial at a designated place after washing his hands and feet, and at dawn he had to utter the words the king had ordered him to say, emphasizing the seriousness of the accusation. The procedure was initiated by two parties, who presented and refuted the accusations of the other. Because of the seriousness of the accusation and the possible punishment, the trial of innocence was often undertaken by the deputies of the accused, and in the case of a nobleman, by the inhabitants of his town or village. In the case of a queen, a lady of the court took her place, and in the case of a young girl, her mother represented her. The accused, or their representatives, then jumped into the river; they had to dive and swim underwater for a very long time in order to be exonerated. This trial was taken up by Hammurabi and added to his code, which was supposed to represent a way of resolving certain cases, about which little is still known in science. The great importance of this city to Mari was the cause of the conflict between Hammurabi and Mari, which was ultimately resolved in Hammurabi's favor.