Gutians in Ancient Near Eastern History

Providing information about the origin of the Gutians, the mad that have survived to the present day are very limited. Therefore, many different opinions have been made about the origin of this tribe. The strongest of these views is that Gutians are a Turk tribe. Many scientists who have been studying the Gutian king names mentioned in the Sumerian Kings List argue that this tribe is of Turk origin. The life styles, management approaches and geography of the Gutians strengthens this claim. This tribe, which came to Mesopotamian lands with migrations at the end of the third millennium, has an important place in the history of Ancient Near East. Gutians, which is one of the most important factors in the destruction of the Akkadians, the first empire of history, reigned in Ancient Mesopotamia for nearly a hundred years. This process, which can be called an interim period in terms of Mesopotamian history, ended with the establishment of the Neo Sumerian State. Gutians, who had to return from the Mesopotamia to the Zagros Mountains, preserved their effectiveness in the Near Eastern territory until the 1st millennium BC. The aim of this study, which was prepared by using cuneiform sources and modern literature, is to make inferences by combining the scattered information about the origins of the Gutians and the effects in the Ancient Near East.

Keywords

Ancient History, Gutians, Akkadians, Neo Sumerian State, Mesopotamia.