Ansan in Elam, and of Mer'ash in northern Syria. His grandson,
Gimil-Sin, marched to the ranges of the Lebanon and overran the land of
Zamzali, which seems to be the Zamzummim of Scripture.

But with Gimil-Sin the strength of the dynasty seems to have come to an
end. Babylonia was given over to the stranger, and a dynasty of kings
from southern Arabia fixed its seat at Babylon. The language they spoke
and the names they bore were common to Canaan and the south of Arabia,
and sounded strangely in Babylonian ears. The founder of the dynasty was
Sumu-abi, "Shem is my father," a name in which we cannot fail to
recognise the Shem of the Old Testament. His descendants, however, had
some difficulty in extending and maintaining their authority. The native
princes of southern Babylonia resisted it, and the Elamites harried the
country with fire and sword. In B.C. 2280 Kudur-Nankhundi, the Elamite
king, sacked Erech and carried away the image of its goddess, and not
long afterwards we find another Elamite king, Kudur-Laghghamar or
Chedor-laomer, claiming lordship over the whole of Chaldsea. The western
provinces of Babylonia shared in the fate of the sovereign power, and an
Elamite prince, Kudur-Mabug by name, was made "Father" or "Governor of
the land of the Amorites." His son Eri-Aku, the Arioch of Genesis, was
given the title of king in southern Babylonia, with Larsa as his
capital. Larsa had been taken by storm by the Elamite forces, and its
native king, Sin-idinnam, driven out. He fled for refuge to the court of
the King of Babylon, who still preserved a semblance of authority.

Khammurabi or Amraphel, the fifth successor of Sumu-abi, was now on the
throne of Babylon. His long reign of fifty-five years marked an epoch in
Babylonian history. At first he was the vassal of Kudur-Laghghamar, and
along with his brother vassals, Eri-Aku of Larsa and Tudghula or Tidal
of Kurdistan, had to serve in the campaigns of his suzerain lord in
Canaan. But an opportunity came at last for revolt, it may be in
consequence of the disaster which had befallen the army of the invaders
in Syria at the hands of Abram and his Amorite allies. The war lasted
long, and at the beginning went against the King of Babylon. Babylon
itself was captured by the enemy, and its great temple laid in ruins.
But soon afterwards the tide turned. Eri-Aku and his Elamite supporters
were defeated in a decisive battle. Larsa was retaken, and Khammurabi
ruled once more o