Suteans

The Suteans (Akkadian: Sutī’ū, possibly from Amorite: Šetī’u ) were a nomadic Semitic people who lived throughout the Levant, Canaan and Mesopotamia, specifically in the region of Suhum, during the Old Babylonian period. They were famous in Semitic epic poetry for being fierce nomadic warriors, and like the ʿApiru, traditionally worked as mercenaries. Unlike Amorites, the Suteans were not governed by a king. They may have been part of the Ahlamu. Hypotheses regarding their identity variously identify them as Arameans, proto-Arabs or a unique Semitic people.

During the reign of Zimri-Lim (c. 1775–1761), they inhabited the vicinity of Terqa (modern-day Tell Ashara, Syria). They are mentioned in eight of the 382 Amarna letters. They are listed in documents from the Middle Assyrian Empire (1395-1075 BC) as being extant in the Amorite city of Emar, in what is now northeast Syria. Together with the Chaldeans and Arameans, they overran swaths of southern Mesopotamia c. 1100–900 BC.

Bronze Age
One of the earliest instances of Suteans comes from a report of a Sutean attack on Qatna and Tadmor (Palmyra) at the time of Shamshi-Adad I's reign (c. 1808–1776 BC). They frequently attacked Mari's domains as a reprisal against what they saw as unjust Mariote hegemony over their territories in Suhum. Nevertheless, the Sutean leader, Hammi-Talu, seems to have rendered services for Mari during the reign of Zimri-Lim (c. 1775–1761).

The Suteans were also utilized as couriers by Hammurabi during the Old Babylonian Empire.

Amarna letters
Around 1350 BCE, the Suteans are mentioned in the Amarna letters. One letter mentioning the Suteans is entitled "Waiting for the Pharaoh's words", from Biryawaza of Dimasqu-(Damascus) to pharaoh: "I am indeed, together with my troops and chariots, together with my brothers, my ʿApiru and my Suteans, at the disposition of the archers, wheresoever the king, my lord, shall order (me to go)."

This usage is somewhat atypical of the use of ʿApiru and external mercenary forces in the Amarna documents since this letter quotes them as necessary and beneficial to Biryawaza's efforts.

Iron Age
During the Iron Age, some Suteans settled in southern Mesopotamia along with Chaldean, Aramean and Arab tribes. They reportedly occupied the region of Yadburu bordering Elam and the Persian Gulf, and many served as auxiliaries for Elamite king Humban-nikash.

During the Assyrian conquest of Babylonia and Bit-Yakin, the Suteans are mentioned as allies of the Aramaeans in an inscription of Sargon II: "The Suteans, his allies who took his side and came to his aid, I slaughtered along with the Maršānū like sheep"

In 613 BCE, Nabopolassar led an expedition against the inhabitants of Suhum who rebelled against Babylon.

Language
The Sutean language has not been attested in any written texts, but appears to have been Semitic. This is known through individual names and tribal onomastics, most of which appear to be Akkadian and Amorite, while a small percentage appear to be neither but still belonging to a Semitic language. Such onomastics include the name of a tribe, "Almutu", and the Sutean warrior featured in 13th century BC Ugaritic texts, "Yatpan". Wolfgang Heimpel hypothesizes Suteans may have spoken a language close to the later Aramaic or even Arabic.

According to Diakonoff Suteans and the biblical name Seth ( "placed, appointed") derive from the same root.