Guti

A 3rd millennium BC tribe of the Zagros Mountains which invaded Mesopotamia c 2230 BC and brought the downfall of the Akkadian empire. Their original home was probably Luristan or Hammadan. The Gutian, or post-Akkadian, period in Mesopotamia was a time of political fragmentation (there is evidence of independent rulers in various parts of Babylonia, such as Gudea at Lagash) and it only lasted for about 40 years (till c 2130 BC) before the people of Ur-Nammu (Uruk) took over the region. The Guti, from their home in the Zagros, continued to menace the subsequent dynasties and kingdoms, but they were never able to take control of southern Mesopotamia again.

The Guti tribe came from the Zagros Mountains, probably in the area of Luristan, western Iran. They invaded and overran the homeland of the Akkadians in the reign of Shar-gali-sharri (later 3rd millennium bc), bringing to an end the Akkadian empire. Gutian kings are listed as having ruled Akkad for about a hundred years, but little is known about them beyond their personal names and a few words in texts.