Manda Forces

	Manda Forces "ummān Manda" in Cuneiform Sources
Athar al-rafedain
Volume 10, Issue 2, June 2025, Pages 5-24 PDF (1.08 M)
Document Type: Research Paper
DOI: 10.33899/aa.2025.150544.1084
Author
Farouk Ismail^*
Freie Universität Berlin .
Abstract
“Ummān-Manda” is a name that means “Manda’s forces” in Akkadian Language. It was mentioned in cuneiform written sources since the beginning of the second millennium BC, and it indicated a group of people moving in many and distant geographical areas, within the framework of northern and eastern Mesopotamia, that is, the regions of Kurdistan, Zagros, and what is related to them. It also had a presence in the northern Syrian coast. The texts portrayed it as the source of violence, evil, and constant danger that could befall the centres of civilization in the countries of Babylon, Assyria, and elsewhere, and described it with the Akkadian phrase, “the offspring of destruction zēr ḫalqati” This research aims to provide a comprehensive picture of the group’s historical role over the long period of time documented by the texts and seeks to define the features of its identity based on the approach of distinguishing the geographical frameworks of its existence and spread, then linking that presence to historical events, and explaining the nature of its relationship with the peoples of the region.
Keywords
Ancient East; cuneiform writings; Hurrians; Ummān- Manda

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Manda Forces "ummān Manda" in Cuneiform Sources