| Eriba-Adad II | |
| King of Assyria | |
| Reign: | 1056–1054 BC |
| Predecessor: | Ashur-bel-kala |
| Successor: | Shamshi-Adad IV |
| Father: | Ashur-bel-kala |
| Mother: | Babylonian princess, daughter of Adad-apla-iddina (?)[1] |
| Succession: | King of the Middle Assyrian Empire |
Erība-Adad II, inscribed mSU-dIM, “Adad has replaced,” was the king of Assyria 1056/55–1054 BC, the 94th to appear on the Assyrian Kinglist.[2] [3] He was the son of Aššur-bēl-kala whom he briefly succeeded and was deposed by his uncle Šamši-Adad IV.[4]
The Khorsabad kinglist[5] mistakenly gives him as a son of Ilu-kabkabi, i.e. the father of the 18th century BC king Shamshi-Adad I. Despite his short two-year reign, there are fragmentary inscriptions[6] [7] where he claims his rule extended to the Aramaeans and lists conquests far and wide in intense military campaigns, imitating those of Tiglath-Pileser I, for which he styled himself “king of the four quarters.”[8] He would have appeared on a destroyed section of the eponym list designated as Cc.[9]
The Synchronistic Kinglist gives his name, but the Babylonian counterpart is illegible, possibly having been Simbar-shipak based on the sequence of kings before and after. This chronicle seems quite fanciful in its chronology during the Assyrian dark-age. In any case, the king Adad-apla-iddina would have been his contemporary, sheltering his uncle, Šamši-Adad IV in political exile while he regrouped and planned his putsch. Although Aššur-bēl-kala had married Adad-apla-iddina’s daughter, it seems unlikely that Adad-apla-iddina would have then participated in an effort to depose his own grandson, so it seems likely that Erība-Adad was the issue of another queen and the Babylonian king’s change of attitude due to earlier political events in Assyria.[10]
An Assur monumental stele (number 27) from the Stelenreihe, "row of stelae", has been attributed to him and is inscribed laconically: "Erība-adad, king of the universe".[11] He was one of the restorers of the é.ḫur.sağ.kur.kur.ra, "House, Mountain of the Lands", or the cella of the temple of the god Aššur,[12] as commemorated in one of his inscriptions.[13] A fragmentary literary text is dated to his reign.[14]
From Babylon, his rule came to an end when his exiled uncle Šamši-Adad “went up Karduniaš]] He drove Erība-Adad,, from the throne.”[15]