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| Language: | Akkadian | |
| Medium: | clay tablet | |
| Length: | 25 lines of writing | |
| Genre: | Letter | |
| Sender: | Pharoah of Egypt (perhaps Amenophis III) |
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| Recipient: | Endaruta of Akshapa | |
| Date: | 14th cent. BCE | |
| Place of Discovery: | Tel el-Amarna, Egypt (ancient Akhetaten) |
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| Date of Discovery: | c. 1920? |
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| Discoverer: | ? | |
| Current Location: | Louvre Museum (Paris, France) |
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| Tablet Number: | EA 367 | |
| Inventory Number: | AO 7095 | |
| Original Publication: | Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale 19 (1922) 105 | |
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(from Mercer 1939:2:612, 614) |
(adapted from Mercer 1939:2:613, 615 Albright 1969:484; and Moran 1992:365) |
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| a-namEn-dar-ú-ta amêlu al Ak-Šá-pa | 1 | To Endaruta, the ruler of Akshapa, |
| ki-bi-ma um-ma Šarru-ma | 2 | say: Thus says the king: |
| a-nu-ma tup-pa an-na-a uŠ-te-bi-la-ku ga-bi-e | 3 | He sends this tablet to you, saying |
| a-na ka-a-Šá ù us -sur lu-ú na-sa-ra-ta | 4 | to you, Be on your guard; guard the place |
| áŠ-ru Šarri Šá it-ti-ka | 5 | of the king where you are. |
| a-nu-um-ma Šarruumte-e Š-se-ra-ku | 6 | Behold, the king sends you |
| mHa-an-ni mârmMa-i-ri-ia | 7 | Hanni, the son of Maireya, |
| amêlrabisŠá Šarri i-na mâtu Ki-na-ah- h i | 8 | the deputy of the king in Canaan. |
| ù Šá i-qab-pa-ku Š i-ma-áŠ-Š ú | 9 | Pay close attention to what he tells you |
| damqi-iŠ dan-niŠ
la-a i-kaŠ-Šá-dak-ku Šarru ar-na a-wa-ta gab-pa |
10-11 | so that the king does not find fault in you. Everything |
| Šá i-qab-pa-ku Š i-ma-áŠ-Šú damqi-i Š dan-niŠ | 12 | he tells you, pay careful attention |
| ù e-pu-uŠ damqi-i Š dan-iŠ | 13 | and carefully carry it out. |
| ù us-sur us-sur la-a da-mi-ik-ki | 14 | And be on guard! Be on guard! Do not be negligent. |
| ù lu-ú Šú- Šú-ra-da a-na pa-ni | 15 | And prepare |
| Šêpê bi-da-ti Š arri akâlu ma-a-ad | 16 | for the archers a great deal of food, |
| karânu gab-bu mi-im-ma ma-a-ad | 17 | and wine, and a great deal of everything else. |
| a-nu-um-ma i-kaŠ-Š á-dak-ku | 18 | Indeed, he will reach you |
| ar-hi-iŠ ar-hi-i Š | 19 | very quickly, |
| ù i-na-ak-ki-iŠ qaqqad | 20 | and he will behead |
| a-ia-bi-e Šá Š arri | 21 | the enemies of the king. |
| ù lu-ú ti-i-ti i-nu-ma | 22 | And know that |
| Šá-lim Šarru ki-ma dŠamaŠá Š | 23 | the king is strong like the sun |
| i-naansa-me-e Šêpê- Šúisnarkabâti- Š ú | 24 | in the sky. For his soldiers and his chariots |
| ma-a-du danniŠŠ ul-mu | 25 | are numerous and in good condition. |
NOTES Endaruta wrote EA 223 to Pharaoh, and that may be an answer to this letter. He is also mentioned in EA 366 as one of the rulers who, along with the rulers of Acco and Jerusalem, came to the aid of Shuwardata of Qiltu. Akshapa is biblical Achshaph, near Acco, in western Galilee. Some identify it with modern Tel Keisan. It is mentioned in Joshua 11:1 as one of the city-states that joined Jabin's coalition against Joshua's troops. Hanni is mentioned in four other Amarna letters: 142, 161, 162, and 227. Deputy: Moran reads this as "stable overseer" (akil tarba si). The king finding fault/no fault is a motif found in the Bible at 1 Samuel 29:3 and 2 Samuel 3:8 (see also Daniel 6:4). Archers played a key role in ancient Near Eastern warfare. For biblical examples, see Genesis 49:23; 1 Samuel 31:3; 2 Samuel 11:24; 2 Chronicles 35:23; Jeremiah 50:29; 1 Maccabees 9:11. Beheading is found in the Bible at: 2 Samuel 4:7; Mark 6:27; Revelation 20:4; as well as the Septuagint Psalm 151:7. Sun: In the Bible, Yahweh is compared to the sun in Psalm 84:11. |
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| DISCUSSION QUESTIONS |
1. What is Pharaoh's intention in writing this letter? 2. Why do the Amarna letters single out the importance of archers? 3. What is the symbolic function of beheading as a means of execution? What other forms of capital punishment were used in the ancient Mediterranean world? 4. How were chariots used in ancient Mediterranean warfare? 5. What were the advantages and disadvantages of writing on clay tablets? |
| SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY |
| Albright,
W. F. "Akkadian Letters." In Ancient Near Eastern Text Relating
to the Old Testament, edited by J. B. Pritchard, 482-90. 3rd ed. Princeton:
Princeton Univ. Press, 1969.
Albright, W. F. "The Amarna Letters from Palestine." In Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. II.2: History of the Middle East and the Aegean Region 1380-1000 B.C., 98-116. 3d edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975. Aldred, Cyril. "Egypt: The Amarna Period and the End of the Eighteenth Dynasty." In Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. II.2: History of the Middle East and the Aegean Region 1380-1000 B.C., 49-97. 3d edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975. Benjamin, Paul. "Achshaph." In Anchor Bible Dictionary, edited by D. N. Freedman, 1.57. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Campbell, Edward A. "The Amarna Letters and the Amarna Period." In Biblical Archaeologist Reader vol. 3, 54-75. New York: Doubleday, 1970. Liverani, Mario. "Political Lexicon and Political Ideologies in the Amarna Letters." Berytus 31 (1982) 42. Mercer, Samuel A. B. The Tell El-Amarna Tablets. 2 vols. Toronto: Macmillan, 1939. Miller, R., E. McEwen, and C. Bergman. "Experimental Approaches to Ancient Near Eastern Archery." World Archaeology 18 (1986) 178-95. Moran, Willam L. The Amarna Letters. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1992. Na'aman, Nadav. "Amarna Letters." In Anchor Bible Dictionary, edited by D. N. Freedman, 1.174-81. New York: Doubleday, 1992. |
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