Gutian people
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The Gutians were a tribe that overran southern Mesopotamia when the Akkadian empire collapsed ca. 2083 BC (short chronology). Sumerian sources portray them as a barbarous, ravenous people from the mountains.[1] The Sumerian king list represents them as ruling over Sumer for a time, and paints a picture of chaos within the Gutian administration.[2] They are also called Guteans, Guti, Gutium, or Qutium. Nothing is known of their language except those Sumerian king names and that is was distinct from other major languages of the region (such as Akkadian, Hurrian, and Elamite).
The Sumerian ruler Utu-hengal is credited with defeating the Gutian ruler Tirigan and removing the Guti from the country (ca. 2050 BC (short)).[3]
Next to nothing is known about the group or their origins, as no "Gutian" artifacts have surfaced from that time; all we have are the tribe's name and a list of rulers from contemporary sources.[4]
According to the Sumerian kings list, "In the army of Gutium, at first no king was famous; they were their own kings and ruled thus for 3 years." Indeed the listed reign durations throughout the Gutian period are comparatively short and uniform (6,6,6,6,5,6,3,3,3,1,3,2,2,1,2,7,7, and 7 years, from Inkishush to Si-um).
[edit] As a geographic term
In the first millennium BC, the term "Gutium" was used to refer to the region between the Zagros and the Tigris, also known as western Media. All the tribes inhabiting that region, who often had hostile relations with the peoples of lowland Mesopotamia, were referred to as Gutian.[5]
A significant Gutian from this period was Gobryas.
