Gutians

The Guti (/ˈɡuːti/), also known by the derived exonyms Gutians or Guteans, were a people of the ancient Near East who both appeared and disappeared during the Bronze Age. Their homeland was known as Gutium (Sumerian: 𒄖𒌅𒌝𒆠, Gutūm^KI or 𒄖𒋾𒌝𒆠, Gutium^KI). Conflict between people from Gutium and the Akkadian Empire has been linked to the collapse of the empire, towards the end of the 3rd millennium BCE, although economic factors, climate change and internal strife also played a part. The Guti subsequently overran southern Mesopotamia and formed the short-lived Gutian dynasty of Sumer, overseeing a period of economic and cultural decline. The Sumerian king list suggests that the Guti ruled over Sumer for several generations following the fall of the Akkadian Empire.

By the mid 2nd millennium BCE, use of the name "Gutium", by the Assyrians and Babylonians of Mesopotamia, was extended to include all foreigners from northwestern Ancient Iran, between the Zagros Mountains and the Tigris River. Various tribes and places to the east and northeast, regardless of ethnicity, were often referred to as Gutians or Gutium, and the name no longer referred to one specific people or ethno-linguistic group. For example, Assyrian royal annals use the term Gutians in relation to populations known to have actually been Hurrians, Medes or Mannaeans. As late as the reign of Cyrus the Great of Persia, the famous general Gubaru (Gobryas) was described as the "governor of Gutium" after which the name disappeared from history.