Little of Aleppo has been excavated by archaeologists and knowledge about Yamhad and its kings mainly comes from tablets discovered at Alalakh and Mari.

His existence is confirmed by a seal inscription discovered at Alalakh, where he designates himself as son of Abba-El I and "beloved of the god Hadad".

[4] The identity of this king is under dispute: Abba-El I had a brother called Yarim-Lim to whom he gave the kingdom of Alalakh.

He believes that the seal which mentions that Yarim-Lim was a son of Abba-El belonged to Yarim-Lim, son of Hammurabi I, and that the reason for mentioning that Yarim-Lim is the son of Abba-El I in the seal inscription is that Abba-El adopted his brother in order to create the legal base for installing him as king.

This theory is hard to prove as there is no textual reference to any adoption and the fact that Yarim-lim's (the son of Hammurabi) installation on the throne of Alalakh happened long before the assumed adoption took place beside.