Sumur (Levant)

Sumur (Biblical Hebrew: צְמָרִי‎ [collective noun denoting the city inhabitants]; Egyptian: Smr; Akkadian: Sumuru; Assyrian: Simirra) was a Phoenician city in what is now Syria. It was a major trade center. The city has also been referred to in English publications as Simyra,^[1] Ṣimirra, Ṣumra,^[2] Sumura,^[3] Ṣimura,^[4] Zemar,^[5] and Zimyra.^[6]

Sumur

The location of Zimyra/Sumur (in the north)
Shown within Syria
Alternative name	Sumura, Zemar, etc.
Location	Syria
Region	Tartus Governorate
Coordinates	!34.7081°N 35.9861°E / 34.7081; 35.9861

An ancient Phoenician coin of Simyra

Sumur (or "Sumura") appears in the Amarna letters (mid-14th century BCE); Ahribta is named as its ruler. It was under the guardianship of Rib-Addi, king of Byblos, but was conquered by Abdi-Ashirta's expanding kingdom of Amurru. Pro-Egyptian factions may have seized the city again, but Abdi-Ashirta's son, Aziru, recaptured Sumur. Sumur became the capital of Amurru.^[7]

It is likely, although not completely certain, that the "Sumur" of the Amarna letters is the same city later known as "Simirra."^[8] Simirra was claimed as part of the Assyrian empire by Tiglath-Pileser III in 738 BCE, but rebelled against Assyria in 721 at the beginning of the reign of Sargon II.^[9]

It has been linked by Maurice Dunand and N. Salisby to the archaeological site of Tell Kazel in 1957.^[10]