thumb|Record of the sale of land during the reign of Samsu-Iluna
Samsu-iluna (Amorite: Samsu-iluna or Samsu-ilūna, "The Sun (is) our god"; 1793 BC - 1712 BC) was the 17th king of the founding Amorite dynasty of Babylon. His reign is estimated from 1749 BC to 1712 BC (middle chronology), or from 1686 to 1648 BC (short chronology). He was the son and successor of Hammurabi. His reign was marked by the violent uprisings of areas conquered by his father and the abandonment of several important cities primarily in Sumer.
A number of letters sent by Samsu-iluna have been found of which 20 have been published. One is addressed to
Abban the king of Aleppo. No received letters have been found due to the modern high water table at Babylon.
Circumstances of Samsu-iluna's reign
When Hammurabi rose to power in the city of Babylon, he controlled a small region directly around that city, and was surrounded by vastly more powerful opponents on all sides. By the time he died, he had conquered Sumer, Eshnunna, and Mari, and vassalised Assyria, making himself master of Mesopotamia. He had also significantly weakened and humiliated Elam and the
While defeated, however, these states were not destroyed; if Hammurabi had a plan for welding them to Babylon he did not live long enough to see it through. Within a few years after his death, Elam and Assyria had left from Babylon's orbit and revolutions had started in all the conquered territories. The task of dealing with these troubles—and others—fell to Samsu-iluna. Though he campaigned tirelessly and seems to have won frequently, the king proved unable to stop the empire's unwinding. Through it all, however, he did manage to keep the core of his kingdom intact, and this allowed the city of Babylon to cement its position in history.
Fragmentation of the Empire
thumb|300px|Map showing the Babylonian territory upon Hammurabi's ascension in and upon his death in
In the 9th year of Samsu-iluna's reign a man calling himself Rim-sin (known in the literature as Rim-Sîn II, and thought to perhaps be a nephew of the Rim-sin who opposed raised a rebellion against Babylonian authority in Larsa which spread to include some 26 cities, among them Uruk, Ur, Isin, and Kisurra in the south, and in the north. There is a statue inscription of Samsu-iluna which describes some of this conflict.
Samsu-iluna seems to have had the upper-hand militarily. Within a year he dealt the coalition a shattering blow which took the northern cities out of the fight. In the aftermath, the king of Eshnunna, Iluni, was dragged to Babylon and executed by Finally, Larsa itself was defeated and Rim-sin II was killed, thus ending the which would remain in control of Sumer for the next 300 years. Samsu-iluna seems to have taken a defensive approach after this; in the 18th year of his reign, he saw to the rebuilding of 6 fortresses in the vicinity of which might have been intended to keep that city under Babylonian control. Ultimately, this proved fruitless; by the time of Samsu-iluna's death, Nippur recognized Ilum-ma-ili as