Reign fl. c. 2030 BC Predecessor Azarah Grandchild Hale | Successor Apiashal Children Apiashal Great grandchild Samani | |
Ushpia was an early Assyrian king who ruled Assyria (fl. c. 2030 BC), as the second last within the section "kings who lived in tents” of the Assyrian King List (AKL), however; Ushpia has yet to be confirmed by contemporary artifacts. According to the Cambridge Ancient History, the conclusion of this section, "marked the end of the nomadic period of the Assyrian people," and, "visualized Ushpia as the actual founder of the Semitic city of Aššur." Ushpia is alleged to have founded the temple for the god Aššur within the city-state of Aššur, according to the much later inscriptions of both of these Assyrian kings: Shulmanu-asharedu I (fl. c. 1274 BC) and Aššur-ahu-iddin (fl. 681 BC). Ushpia is succeeded on the AKL by Apiashal. Arthur Ungnad interpreted both Ushpia's and Kikkia's (fl. c. 2000 BC) names as being that of the Hurrian language (as opposed to the Assyrian dialect of the Semitic Akkadian language), but; Arno Poebel was not convinced by this interpretation and more recent research no longer holds Ungnad's thesis as tenable.