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| Language: | Akkadian | |
| Medium: | clay tablet | |
| Length: | 33 lines of writing | |
| Genre: | Letter | |
| Sender: | Yapahu of Gazru | |
| Recipient: | Pharaoh | |
| Date: | 14th cent. BCE | |
| Place of Discovery: | Tel el-Amarna, Egypt (ancient Akhetaten) |
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| Date of Discovery: | 1887 |
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| Discoverer: | peasant woman | |
| Current Location: | British Museum (London, England) |
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| Inventory Number: | BM 29833 | |
| Tablet Number: | EA 298 Knudtzon 1907–1915 |
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| BB 50 Bezold & Budge 1892 |
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(from Mercer 1939:2:736, 738) |
(adapted from Mercer 1939:2:737, 739 Albright 1969:490; and Moran 1992:340) |
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| a-namŠarri bêli-ia ilâni-ia | 1 | To the king, my lord, my god, |
| dŠamŠi-iad ŠamaŠŠá | 2 | my sun, the sun |
| iŠ-tuansa-me-i | 3 | in the sky. |
| um-mamYa-pa-hu amêlu Šá | 4 | Thus says Yapahu, the ruler of |
| alGa-az-riki | 5 | Gazru, |
| ardu-ka ip-ri Šá | 6 | your servant, the dust of |
| 2 Šêpê-ka amêl qar-tab-bi | 7 | your two feet, the stable-man |
| Šá sisî-ka | 8 | of your horse: |
| a-na 2 Šêpê Šarri bêli-ia | 9 | At the two feet of the king, my lord, |
| dŠamaŠá i Š -tu sa-me-i | 10 | the sun in the sky, |
| 7 Šú u 7 ta-a-an | 11 | seven times and seven times I prostrate myself |
| lu-ú iŠ-ta-ha-hi-in | 12 | both upon |
| ka-bat-tum-ma u | 13 | the belly and |
| si-ru-ma u me-ma | 14 | back. And to all |
| Šá i-qa-ab-bi Šarru bêli-ia a-na ia-Š i |
15-16 | that the king, my lord, has told me |
| iŠ-ti-me danniŠ danni Š | 17 | I have paid close attention. |
| arad Šarri a-na-ku | 18 | I am the king's servant |
| u ip-ri Šá 2 Š êpê | 19 | and the dust of your two feet. |
| li-il-ma-ad Šarru bêli-ia i-nu-ma |
20-21 | Let the king, my lord, be aware that |
| amêlahi-ia sihhiru | 22 | my younger brother, |
| na-ka-ar iŠ-tu | 23 | has rebeled against |
| is-Ši u i-ru-ub | 24 | me and has entered |
| a-naalMu-uh-ha-zi | 25 | Muhhazu, |
| u na-da-an 2 qa-Šú | 26 | and he has given over his two hands |
| a-naamêlSA.GAZ.KI | 27 | to the leader of the 'Apiru. |
| u a-nu-mamât[Ti-]an-na | 28 | And since [Ti]anna |
| nu-gur-tum muhhi-ia | 29 | is at war with me, |
| u mi-lik a-na mâti-ka | 30 | take care of your land. |
| li-iŠ-pu-ra bêli-ia | 31 | May my lord write |
| a-naamêlra-bi-zi-Š ú | 32 | to his deputy |
| muhhi ip an-nu-ú | 33 | about this matter. |
| NOTES My god is Moran's reading. Mercer reads it as a plural "my gods," which corresponds to Albright's "my pantheon." Yapahu is also the sender of EA 297, 299, 300, and 378. Ruler (amêlu) is literally "man," "person." But connected with a city, it indicates the ruler. Gazru is biblical Gezer, located in the Judean foothills, approximately 21 miles west of Jerusalem. In the Amarna correspondence, it is also mentioned in EA 253, 254, 287, 290, 292, 299, 300, 369, and 378. For biblical references, see Joshua 10:33; 16:10; Judges 1:29; 1 Kings 9:15-17. See Ross (1967) and Dever (1992). Seven times is a common Semitic expression for "repeatedly." Note some biblical examples: Psalm 12:6; 119:164; Proverbs 24:16; Matthew 18:21-22; Luke 17:4. Muhhazu is the name of a town, but its location is unknown. This is the only mention of it in the Amarna correspondence. He has given over his two hands appears to be an idiom for making a pledge (Moran). Tianna is a reconstructed reading by Moran, following Na'aman. It seems to be a town near Muhhazu. It may also be mentioned in EA 284 and 306, but those are both reconstructed readings as well. Deputy (rabitsu) refers to a palace official, who would report to the king. |
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| DISCUSSION QUESTIONS |
1. Who are the 'Apiru (see Astour [1976], Gottwald [1979:401-26], Greenberg [1955], Lemche [1992], and Moran [1967]? What role do they play here? 2. What are some of the reasons that a younger brother (such as that of Yapahu's) might rebel against his older brother. Note the biblical stories of Cain & Abel, Jacob & Esau, Joseph & his brothers, Amnon & Absalom, Adonijah & Solomon. 3. What does Yapahu expect the Pharaoh to do in this situation? |
| 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. Astour, Michael C. "Habiru." In Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Supplementary Volume, edited by K. Crim, 382-85. Nashville: Abingdon, 1976. Bezold, Carl, and E. A. Wallis Budge. The Tell el-Amarna Tablets in the British Museum. London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1892. Campbell, Edward A. "The Amarna Letters and the Amarna Period." In Biblical Archaeologist Reader vol. 3, 54-75. New York: Doubleday, 1970. Chaney, Marvin L. "Ancient Palestinian Peasant Movements and the Formation of Premonarchic Israel." In Palestine in Transition: The Emergence of Ancient Israel, edited by D. N. Freedman and D. F. Graf, 39-90. Social World of Biblical Antiquity Series 2. Sheffield: Almond, 1983. Dever, William G. 1992. In Anchor Bible Dictionary, edited by D. N. Freedman, 2.998-1003. New York: Doubleday, 1992. Gottwald, Norman K. The Tribes of Yahweh: A Sociology of the Religion of Liberated Israel 1250-1050 B.C.E. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1979. Greenberg, Moshe. Hab/piru. American Oriental Series 39. New Haven, Conn.: American Oriental Society, 1955. Knudtzon, J. A. Die El-Amarna-Tafeln. Vorderasiatische Bibliotek, vol. 2. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1907–1915 (repr. Aalen: O. Zeller, 1964). Lemche, Niels Peter. "Habiru / Hapiru." In Anchor Bible Dictionary, edited by David Noel Freedman, 3:6-10. New York: Doubleday, 1992. Mercer, Samuel A. B. The Tell El-Amarna Tablets. 2 vols. Toronto: Macmillan, 1939. Moran, Willam L. The Amarna Letters. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1992. Moran, William L. "Habiru (Habiri)." In The New Catholic Encyclopedia, 6.878b-80b. Washington, D.C.: Catholic Univ. Press, 1967. Na'aman, Nadav. "Amarna Letters." In Anchor Bible Dictionary, edited by David Noel Freedman, 1:174-81. New York: Doubleday, 1992. Na'aman, Nadav. "Habiru and Hebrews: The Transfer of a Social Term to the Literary Sphere." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 45 (1986) 271ff. Oppenheim, A. Leo. Letters from Mesopotamia. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1967. Ross, J. F. "Gezer in the Tell el-Amarna Letters." Biblical Archaeologist 30 (1967) 62-70. Winckler, Hugo. The Tell-el-Amarna Letters. Translated by J. Metcalf. New York and London: Lemcke & Buechner, 1896. |
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