Sumu-abum

Sūmû-abum (also Su-abu or Sūmabum; died 1881 BC) was an Amorite, and the first King of the First Dynasty of Babylon (the Amorite Dynasty). He reigned c. 1894–1881 BC (MC). He freed a small area of land previously ruled by the fellow Amorite city state of Kazallu which included Babylon, then a minor administrative center in southern Mesopotamia. Sumu-abum (and the three Amorite kings succeeding him) makes no claim to be King of Babylon, suggesting that the town was at this time still of little importance. He is known to have become king of Kisurra. An alternative view is that the Sumu-abum controlling Kisurra was actually a ruler in the 6th Dynasty of Uruk, preceding Sîn-kāšid. He controlled the city of Dilbat 25 kilometers south of Babylon, recording the building of its city wall in his 9th year of rule. In his 3rd year of rule he claimed to have conquered the city of Elip, a major city of the Manana Dynasty. By year 10 of his reign, Sumu-abum had gained control of Kish, 12 kilometers east of Babylon, which had been controlled by the Manana dynasty for some time. It was then briefly lost to Larsa but recovered by Sūmû-abum in his 13th reigning year. While Kish was no longer a powerful city, it maintained its outsized symbolic importance.

He should not be confused with Isi-sümü-abum of the same period who ruled a city as yet unknown. On a tablet found at Sippar, BM 80328, there is a list of rulers of Babylon with 19 unknown rulers before Sūmû-abum.