Mut-bisir

Mut-bisir or Mutu-bisir (in Akkadian Cuneiform: mu-ut-bi-si-ir, in transliterated Amorite: mut-biśir, "man of Biśri";^[1] fl. 19th century BC) was a senior military official to the Amorite king Shamshi-Adad I.^[2] His name appears repeatedly in the Mari letters, and means "man of Biśir", referring to the desert region around the Jebel Bishri.^[3] In these letters, Anson Rainey describes him as "frequently mentioned in connection with troops located near the 'Euphrates."^[4]

In one such letter, from Mut-biśir to Shamshi-Adad, he was the first recorded individual to refer to Canaanites by name (Akkadian, ki-na-aḫ-nu(m)).^[5][6] In this letter, Mut-biśir describes his soldiers and opposing Canaanite forces as tensely watching one another.^[4]

His residence in Mari seems to have eventually been given to Shibti, the daughter of Shamshi-Adad, and this household became a major supplier of foods to the royal palace.^[2]