# Mati'ilu of Arpad
**Mati'ilu of Arpad** (also written Mati'-ilu, Mati'-El, or Matiel) was king of Arpad, the Aramean kingdom of [Bit Agusi](https://www.edgepedia.org/bit-agusi) in northern Syria, and flourished from about 754 to 740 BC. He is known almost entirely from treaty texts and Assyrian royal inscriptions: an Aramaic treaty from Sefire names him as Mati'el son of 'Atar-samak, a treaty with the Assyrian king [Ashur-nirari V](https://www.edgepedia.org/ashur-nirari-v) records his submission in 754 BC, and the annals of Tiglath-pileser III describe how he rebelled, was besieged, and lost his kingdom, which became an Assyrian province in 740 BC.[1](https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1958_num_102_2_10890) • [2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/arpad) • [3](https://ancientworldpodcast.com/2023/10/episode-c25-arpad/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Subject | Mati'ilu (Mati'el), king of Arpad (Bit Agusi), son of 'Atar-samak ('Attarshumki)[1](https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1958_num_102_2_10890) • [3](https://ancientworldpodcast.com/2023/10/episode-c25-arpad/) |
| Capital | Arpad (Assyrian Ar-padda), today Tell-Rifa'at north of Aleppo[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/arpad) |
| 754 BC | Treaty with Ashur-nirari V after Assyrian war; Mati'ilu accepted Assyrian suzerainty[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/arpad) |
| Sefire stelae | Aramaic vassal treaty between Mati'el and Bar-ga'ayah of KTK, mid-8th century BC[1](https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1958_num_102_2_10890) |
| 743-740 BC | Coalition with Sarduri of Urartu, Sulumal of Malatya, and Tarhulara of Gurgum; Tiglath-pileser campaigned for four years[3](https://ancientworldpodcast.com/2023/10/episode-c25-arpad/) • [4](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/orient/49/0/49_31/_pdf) |
| 740 BC | Arpad conquered and made an Assyrian province[5](https://www.academia.edu/404085/The_Kingdom_of_Arpad_B_i_t_Ag_u_si_and_All_Aram_International_Relations_in_Northern_Syria_in_the_Ninth_and_Eighth_Centuries_BCE) |
| Later echoes | Arpad joined a revolt against Sargon II in 720 BC; its fall is echoed in 2 Kings, Isaiah, and Jeremiah[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/arpad) |
## Mati'ilu, king of Arpad
Arpad was the capital of the Aramean kingdom Bît-Aguši, at the site of modern Tell-Rifa'at north of Aleppo; the city is first mentioned in ninth-century sources under the name Ar-padda.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/arpad) The dynasty's dealings with Assyria began early: the kingdom's second king, [Arame](https://www.edgepedia.org/arame-king-of-arpad), submitted freely to Assyria in 858 BC, and after the capital moved from Arne to Arpad the names 'Bit Agusi' and 'Kingdom of Arpad' became interchangeable.[5](https://www.academia.edu/404085/The_Kingdom_of_Arpad_B_i_t_Ag_u_si_and_All_Aram_International_Relations_in_Northern_Syria_in_the_Ninth_and_Eighth_Centuries_BCE)
Mati'ilu belongs to the last generation of that kingdom's independence. The Sefire treaty names him as Mati'el son of 'Atar-samak, and the annals of Tiglath-pileser III give the same patronymic in Assyrian form, Matti'el son of [Attar-shumki](https://www.edgepedia.org/atarshumki-i).[1](https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1958_num_102_2_10890) • [3](https://ancientworldpodcast.com/2023/10/episode-c25-arpad/)
Dan'el Kahn, whose study of Bit Agusi organizes the kingdom's history into seven stages, places Mati'ilu in stage 6 (754-744 BC), when Arpad rose to prominence and probably controlled Hamath, forming the entity the sources call 'all Aram'.[5](https://www.academia.edu/404085/The_Kingdom_of_Arpad_B_i_t_Ag_u_si_and_All_Aram_International_Relations_in_Northern_Syria_in_the_Ninth_and_Eighth_Centuries_BCE)
## Primary evidence
Four bodies of contemporary material bear on Mati'ilu.
**The Sefire stelae.** Three stelae from Sefire carry an Aramaic treaty in which Bar-ga'ayah, king of KTK, imposes vassal terms on Mati'el, king of Arpad. Stele I opens with mutual pacts between Bar-ga'ayah and Mati'el son of 'Atar-samak, extended to their sons, grandsons, and citizens, and reaches beyond Arpad to 'all Aram'.[1](https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1958_num_102_2_10890) The stelae entered the Damascus Museum after 1931 but remained inaccessible until 1948; a fragment of a third stela was acquired by the Beirut Museum in 1956, and the first proper edition of stelae I and II, by André Dupont-Sommer and J. Starcky, followed in 1958.[1](https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1958_num_102_2_10890) • [6](https://www.persee.fr/doc/syria_0039-7946_1983_num_60_3_6824_t1_0353_0000_2)
**The Assyrian treaty of 754 BC.** A treaty between Ashur-nirari V and Mati'ilu survives, concluded after Ashur-nirari waged war against Arpad; it is composed in terms close to those of the Sefire text.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/arpad) • [6](https://www.persee.fr/doc/syria_0039-7946_1983_num_60_3_6824_t1_0353_0000_2)
**Tiglath-pileser III's annals.** The campaigns against Arpad are narrated in the annalistic and summary inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III (744-727 BC), now edited critically in RINAP 1 by Hayim Tadmor and Shigeo Yamada.[7](https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/119667/1/Tadmor_Yamada_RINAP_1.pdf) The annals name Mati'ilu directly: 'Matti'el the son of Attar-shumki (II) fomented a rebellion against Assyria and violated his loyalty oath. To the kings of Hatti and Urartu he sent hostile messages against Assyria and made the lands hostile.'[3](https://ancientworldpodcast.com/2023/10/episode-c25-arpad/)
**Chronographic texts.** The Assyrian eponym (limmu) list and the [Eponym Chronicle](https://www.edgepedia.org/eponym-chronicle) fix the years of the campaigns, and supply one earlier anchor: the year 805 BC is entered under the eponym Ashut-taklak, chamberlain, with the note 'to Arpad', marking an Assyrian campaign against the city in that year.[8](https://www.caeno.org/pdf/Millard_Eponym%20List_English.pdf)
## Chronology, c. 754-740 BC
The dates rest on the eponym chronicle, read against Tiglath-pileser III's annals by regnal year. Tiglath-pileser acceded in 745 BC (the chronicle notes he 'sat upon his throne' on the 13th of Iyar).[9](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/tiglath-pileser-iideg) Thereafter the chronicle runs: 743, defeat of Ararat in the land of Arpad; 742, against Arpad; 741, against Arpad, 'conquered after three years'; 740, against Arpad.[9](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/tiglath-pileser-iideg) The annals match this: in year 2 (743) Urartu under Sarduri was defeated in the city of Arpad; years 3 and 4 (742, 741) record campaigns against the city and its siege; the annals state 'within three years it was conquered', and the fall and annexation are dated to year 5 (740).[4](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/orient/49/0/49_31/_pdf)
The length of the war and siege is given variously: the Encyclopaedia Judaica entry sums up 'after four years of war and siege, Arpad fell',[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/arpad) the Eponym Chronicle's 741 entry says 'conquered after three years' and still carries an 'against Arpad' entry for 740,[9](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/tiglath-pileser-iideg) and Kahn likewise writes that Tiglath-pileser campaigned four years against Arpad (743-740) until it was conquered and reduced to a province.[5](https://www.academia.edu/404085/The_Kingdom_of_Arpad_B_i_t_Ag_u_si_and_All_Aram_International_Relations_in_Northern_Syria_in_the_Ninth_and_Eighth_Centuries_BCE)
## The treaties: Sefire and Ashur-nirari V
Mati'ilu's career is bracketed by two treaties that show Arpad dealing from strength, then submitting.
The Sefire treaty binds Mati'el to Bar-ga'ayah, king of KTK, an abbreviated and much-debated geographic name. Dupont-Sommer thought KTK might designate Urartu.[1](https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1958_num_102_2_10890) The Encyclopaedia Judaica dates the treaty to 745 BC and reads Mati'ilu as probably representing all the Syrian states from the [Euphrates](https://www.edgepedia.org/euphrates) to Damascus.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/arpad) A very different reading was proposed by André Lemaire and Jean-Marie Durand: they identify Bar-ga'ayah with the Assyrian field marshal (turtanu) [Shamshi-ilu](https://www.edgepedia.org/shamshi-ilu) acting as representative of Assyrian power, read KTK as the old, possibly Luwian name of Bit-Adini, and note that the Sefire pantheon is headed by Assur before Marduk and Zarpanitu, which suits an Assyrian overlord. On their view stelae I and II record treaties made on changes of Assyrian reign, perhaps at the accessions of [Shalmaneser IV](https://www.edgepedia.org/shalmaneser-iv) (783 BC) and Ashur-dan III (772 BC).[6](https://www.persee.fr/doc/syria_0039-7946_1983_num_60_3_6824_t1_0353_0000_2) The two identifications have not been settled between them.
The treaty with Ashur-nirari V of 754 BC followed an Assyrian war against Arpad and ended with Mati'ilu agreeing to Assyrian suzerainty.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/arpad) Kahn's chronology treats 754-744 as the stage in which Arpad, though tied by this oath, rose to dominate northern Syria.[5](https://www.academia.edu/404085/The_Kingdom_of_Arpad_B_i_t_Ag_u_si_and_All_Aram_International_Relations_in_Northern_Syria_in_the_Ninth_and_Eighth_Centuries_BCE)
## Rebellion and the fall of Arpad, 743-740 BC
In 743 BC Mati'ilu broke the loyalty oath sworn to Assyria. The annals state that he 'fomented a rebellion against Assyria and violated his loyalty oath', sent hostile messages to the kings of Hatti and Urartu, and drew three allies to his side: Sarduri of Urartu, Sulumal of Malatya, and Tarhulara of Gurgum.[3](https://ancientworldpodcast.com/2023/10/episode-c25-arpad/) In the same year Tiglath-pileser defeated the Urartian force in the land (or city) of Arpad itself.[4](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/orient/49/0/49_31/_pdf) • [9](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/tiglath-pileser-iideg)
The city then endured repeated campaigns and siege through 742 and 741 until, in the annals' phrasing, 'within three years it was conquered'; 740 marks the final entry 'against Arpad' and the annexation.[4](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/orient/49/0/49_31/_pdf) • [9](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/tiglath-pileser-iideg) Arpad became an Assyrian province, ending the kingdom's independence.[5](https://www.academia.edu/404085/The_Kingdom_of_Arpad_B_i_t_Ag_u_si_and_All_Aram_International_Relations_in_Northern_Syria_in_the_Ninth_and_Eighth_Centuries_BCE)
The conquest had a long afterlife. Arpad later joined the abortive revolt against [Sargon II](https://www.edgepedia.org/sargon-ii) in 720 BC, and its fall became proverbial: it is echoed in 2 Kings 18:34 and 19:13, Isaiah 10:9, 36:19 and 37:13, and Jeremiah 49:23, where the prophets invoke Arpad alongside Hamath as proof that no Syrian city could resist Assyria.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/arpad)
## Mati'ilu among his contemporaries
Two features set Mati'ilu apart among eighth-century Syrian rulers. First, the scale of his standing: the Sefire treaty apparently treats him as speaking for Syrian states reaching from the Euphrates to Damascus,[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/arpad) and Kahn infers from it that Arpad stood in confederation with Hamath as the entity called 'all Aram'.[5](https://www.academia.edu/404085/The_Kingdom_of_Arpad_B_i_t_Ag_u_si_and_All_Aram_International_Relations_in_Northern_Syria_in_the_Ninth_and_Eighth_Centuries_BCE) Second, the terms he could obtain: a treaty of suzerainty concluded after open war with Ashur-nirari V in 754 BC, followed by rebel alliance with Urartu, Malatya, and Gurgum, shows an Arpad that negotiated and resisted as a major power, not as a routine tribute-payer.[2](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/arpad) • [3](https://ancientworldpodcast.com/2023/10/episode-c25-arpad/)
## References
1. A. Dupont-Sommer, "Un traité araméen du VIIIe siècle av. J.-C.", *CRAI* 102 (1958). https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1958_num_102_2_10890
2. "Arpad", Encyclopaedia Judaica (via Encyclopedia.com). https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/arpad
3. "Episode C25 – Arpad", The Ancient World (quoting the Annals of Tiglath-pileser III), 2023. https://ancientworldpodcast.com/2023/10/episode-c25-arpad/
4. "Inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III: Chronographic-Literary Styles and the King's Portrait", *ORIENT* 49. https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/orient/49/0/49_31/_pdf
5. Dan'el Kahn, "The Kingdom of Arpad (Bīt-Agūsi) and 'All Aram'", *ANES* 44 (2007). https://www.academia.edu/404085/The_Kingdom_of_Arpad_B_i_t_Ag_u_si_and_All_Aram_International_Relations_in_Northern_Syria_in_the_Ninth_and_Eighth_Centuries_BCE
6. Review of A. Lemaire and J.-M. Durand, *Les inscriptions araméennes de Sfiré et l'Assyrie de Shamshi-Ilu*, *Syria* 60 (1983). https://www.persee.fr/doc/syria_0039-7946_1983_num_60_3_6824_t1_0353_0000_2
7. H. Tadmor and S. Yamada, *The Royal Inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III and Shalmaneser V* (RINAP 1). https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/119667/1/Tadmor_Yamada_RINAP_1.pdf
8. A. R. Millard (ed.), The Eponym List. https://www.caeno.org/pdf/Millard_Eponym%20List_English.pdf
9. "Tiglath-Pileser III" (quoting the Eponym Chronicle), Encyclopedia.com. https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/tiglath-pileser-iideg
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