Amarna Tablet 79

Amarna Tablet 79
Letter from Rib-Hadda to the King of Egypt

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	*Language:*	Akkadian
	Medium:	clay tablet
	*Length:*	47 lines of writing
	*Genre:*	Letter Requesting Assistance
	*Date:*	14th cent. BCE
	*Place of Discovery:*	Tel el-Amarna, Egypt (ancient Akhetaten)
	*Date of Discovery:*	1887
	*Discoverer:*	peasant woman
	*Current Location:*	Vorderasiatisches Museum (Berlin, Germany)
	*Inventory Number:*	VAT 1634
	*Tablet Number:*	EA 79 Knudtzon 1907–1915

TEXT
TRANSLITERATION (from Mercer 1939:1:286, 288)		TRANSLATION (adapted from Mercer 1939:1:287, 289 and Moran 1992:149-50)
^mRi-ib-Addi iq-bi	1	Rib-Hadda says
a-na beli-Šu Šàr mâtâti Šarri rabî	2	to his lord, the King of Lands, the Great King,
Šàr ta-am-ha-ra ^ilatBêlit	3	the King of Battle: May the Lady
Šá ^alGub-la ti-di-en	4	of Gubla grant
dunna a-na Šarri^ri bêli-ia	5	power to the king, my lord.
a-na Šêpê bêli-ia ^dŠamŠi-ia	6	At the feet of my lord, my Sun,
7-Šú 7-a-an am-ku-ut li-ma-ad	7	I fall down seven times and seven times. Be informed
i-nu-ma iŠ-tu ka-Šá-ad	8	that since
^mA-ma-an-ap-pa a-na mu-hi-ia	9	Amanappa's arrival to me,
ka-li ^amêlûtGAZ.MEŠ na-ad-nu	10	*all the 'Apiru* have turned**
pa-ni-Šú-nu a-na ia- Ši a-na	11	their face against me
ka bi-i ^mAbdi-AŠi-ir-ta	12	at the instigation of Abdi-AŠirta.
ú yi-eŠ-me bêli^li	13	Let my lord listen to
a-wa-te^meŠ ardi-Šú ù uŠ-Ši-ra-ni	14	the words of his servant, and let him send me
amêlûta ma-sa-ar-ta a-na	15	a garrison to
na-sa-ar àl Šarri a-di	16	defend the city of the king, until
a-sa sâbê bi-ta-ti ù	17	the archers come out. And
Šum-ma ia-nu sâbê bi-bi-ta-ti	18	if there are no archers,
ù en-ni-ip-Šú ka-li	19	then all the lands will unite
mâtâti a-na ^amêlûtGAZ.MEŠ Ši-me	20	*with the 'Apiru. Listen,*
eŠ-tu sa-ba-at ^alBît-Ar-ha	21	since the conquest of Bit-Arha
a-na bi-i ^mAbdi-A-Ši-ir-ta	22	in accordance with the demand of Abdi-AŠ irta,
ù ki-na-na tu-ba-ú-na	23	they seek in the same way
i-bi-Šá ^alGub-la ù	24	to unite Gubla and
^alBat-ru-na^ki ù en-ni-ip-Šú	25	Batruna; and thus all lands would be united
ka-li mâtâti a-na ^amêlûtGAZ.MEŠ	26	*with the 'Apiru.*
2 alâni Šá ir-ti-hu a-na ia- Ši	27	Two cities remain with me,
ù tu-ba-ú-na la-qa-Šú-nu	28	and they are also attempting to take
eŠ-tu qa-at Šarri^ri yu-wa-Ši-ra	29	them from the king's hand. Let my lord send
bêli^li amêlûta ma-sa-ar-ta	30	a garrison
a-na 2 ala-ni-Šú a-di a-zi sâbê	31	to his two cities until the arrival
bi-ta-ti ù mi-im-ma	32	of the archers, and give me something
yi-da-na-ni a-na a-ka-li-Šú-nu	33	to feed them.
ia-nu mi-im-ma a-na ia-Ši	34	I have nothing.
ki-ma issuri Šá i-na libbi^bi	35	Like a bird that lies in
hu-ha-ri ki-lu-bi Šá-ak-na-at	36	*a net, a kilubi/cage,*
ki-Šú-ma a-na-ku i-na	37	so I am in
^alGub-la^ki Šá-ni-tú	38	Gubla. Furthermore,
Šum-ma la-a i-li-e	39	if the king is not able
Šarru^ru la-qa-ia eŠ-tu	40	to rescue me from
qa-at na-ak-ri-Šú	41	the hand of his enemy,
ù en-ni-ip-Šá-at	42	then all lands
ka-li mâtâti	43	will unite
a-na ^mAbdi-A-Ši-ir-ta	44	with Abdi-AŠirta.
mi-nu Šú-tú kalbu ù	45	What is he, the dog, that
íl-ti-ku mâtâ Šarri^ri a-na	46	he takes the king's lands for
Šá-a-Šú	47	himself?
NOTES Great King was the ancient Semitic phrase describing an emperor (for biblical examples, see: 2 Kings 18:19; Psalm 48:2; 95:3; Isaiah 36:4; Jeremiah 27:7; Matthew 5:35). Gubla is biblical Gebel, later called Byblos, on the Phoenician coast (in modern Lebanon). 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. Amanappa is the name of a an Egyptian official mentioned in ten of the Amarna letters. Bit-Arha is an unknown location. Batruna is the name of a Phoenician coastal town located north of Beirut (in modern Lebanon). Dog is a common Semitic metaphor of either derision or self-deprecation (for biblical examples, see: 1 Samuel 17:43; 2 Samuel 9:8; 16:9; 2 Kings 8:13).

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. The author of this letter, Rib-Addi, is the "mayor" of Gubla. What is his relationship to the recipient of the letter, the Pharaoh of Egypt? Why would Rib-Addi describe himself as bowing 7 times and 7 times before the Pharaoh?

2. Who is Abdi-AŠirta? What role does he play in this drama? What is his strategy? Why does he draw Rib-Addi's disdain?

3. Who are the 'Apiru (see Astour 1976, Buccellati 1977, Gottwald 1979:401-26, Greenberg 1955, Hallock 1939, Lemche 1992, and Moran 1967? What role do they play here?

4. Rib-Addi's comparison of himself in lines 35-38 to a bird in a snare is a common one in the ancient Mediterranean (see Psalm 124:7; Ecclesiastes 9:11-12; Amos 3:5). Compare Rib-Addi's self-description to Sennacherib's portrayal of his siege of Hezekiah in Jerusalem ( Sennacherib Prism 3:18-43).

5. Who is the Lady (Bêlit) of Gubla? What is her role in this letter?

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

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. 3rd 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 Keith Crim, 382-85. Nashville: Abingdon, 1976.

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 David Noel Freedman and David F. Graf, 39-90. Social World of Biblical Antiquity Series 2. Sheffield: Almond, 1983.

Gonen, Rivka. "Urban Canaan in the Late Bronze Age." Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 253 (1981) 61-73.

Gottwald, Norman K. The Tribes of Yahweh: A Sociology of the Religion of Liberated Israel 1250-1050 B.C.E. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1979.

Greenberg, Moshe. Hab/piru. American Oriental Series 39. New Haven, CN: American Oriental Society, 1955.

Hallock, F. H. "The Habiru and the SA.GAZ in the Tell El-Amarna Tablets." In Mercer 1939:2:838-45.

Knudtzon, J. A. Die El-Amarna-Tafeln. Vorderasiatische Bibliotek, vol. 2. Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1907–1915. Reprinted, Aalen: 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, DC: Catholic Univ. Press, 1967.