Ishqi-Mari
king of Mari
Ishqi-Mari or Ishgi-Mari (𒅖𒄄𒈠𒌷 iš11-gi4-ma-rí; died c. 2330 BC), previously read Lamgi-Mari, was a King of the second Mariote kingdom. He is one of three Mari kings known from archaeology, Ikun-Shamash probably being the oldest one. The third king is Iku-Shamagan, also known from an inscribed statue.
In their inscriptions, these Mari kings used a dialect of the Akkadian language, whereas their Sumerian contemporaries to the south used the Sumerian language.
It is thought that Ishqi-Mari was the last king of Mari before the conquest and the destruction of Mari by Akkad under Sargon c. 2330 BC.
Inscriptions
Ishqi-Mari is known from a statue with inscription. The statue is in the Aleppo National Museum. The inscription on the back of the statue reads:
𒅖𒄄𒈠𒌷 / 𒈗𒈠𒌷 / 𒑐𒋼𒋛𒃲 / 𒀭𒂗𒆤 / 𒊨𒋤 / 𒀀𒈾 / 𒀭𒈹𒀴 / 𒊕𒄸𒁺
ish11-gi4-ma-ri2 / lugal ma-ri2 / ensi2 gal / Den-lil2 / dul3-su3 / a-na / Dinanna-nita / sa12-rig9
"Ishqi-Mari, king of Mari, great ensi of Enlil, dedicated his statue to Inanna"
This inscription was instrumental in identifying Tell Hariri with the Mari of antiquity.
Several cylinder seals with intricate designs in the name of "Ishqi-Mari, King of Mari" are also known.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Ishqi-Mari” as king of Mari. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as king of Mari. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3826457. VIAF identifies the subject as 3916170101367212500001. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Ishqi-Mari” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.