The Amarna letters are an archive, written on clay tablets, primarily consisting of diplomatic correspondence between the Egyptian administration and its representatives in Canaan and Amurru, or neighboring kingdom leaders, during the New Kingdom, spanning a period of no more than thirty years between c. 1360–1332 BC. The letters were found in Upper Egypt at el-Amarna, the modern name for the ancient Egyptian capital of Akhetaten, founded by pharaoh Akhenaten (1350s–1330s BC) during the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt.
Pirissi and Tulubri are a pair of messengers of the 1350–1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. Pirissi and Tulubri are the messengers of King Tushratta of Mitanni, and are referenced in Amarna letters EA 27, 28, and EA 29,.
The cuneiform dan sign is a multi-use sign found in both the 14th century BC Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh. Besides dan,, the following are its uses :
Amarna letter EA 161, titled An Absence Explained, is a tall clay tablet letter of 8 paragraphs, with single paragraphing lines. The surface is somewhat degraded, but most cuneiform signs that remain, allow for a relative complete translation context for the letter, and the eight paragraphs. The clay tablet is no. BM 29818 at the British Museum; the number is visible at the top of the tablet, above Para I-(in black ink, the top half of the number visible).
Amarna letter EA 9 is a tall, compact 38 line clay tablet letter of 3 paragraphs, in pristine condition, with few flaws on the clay. The photo of the reverse (pictured) shows half of Paragraph III, and some of the signs.
The cuneiform Ne sign, is found in both the 14th century BC Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh. In the Amarna letters, it is especially used in the opening, and introductory paragraph of the clay tablet letter, when addressing the Pharaoh (King), or when sent to another individual who is part of the Pharaoh's correspondence, for the alternate syllabic usage of "bil",. In the Amarna letters, it is used as Bil (cuneiform), for the spelling of speaks, or "says", in the opening statement; the Akkadian language word is "qabû", for to say, tell.
The cuneiform Ri sign, or Re, is found in both the 14th-century BC Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh; it is in the top 25 most used cuneiform signs for ri, or re, but has other syllabic or alphabetic uses, as well as the Sumerogram usage for RI.
The cuneiform U sign is found in both the 14th century BC Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh. It can be used for the alphabetic u, instead of the more common 2nd u, (ú). It has two other uses, commonly. It can be used for the number 10, but its probable greater use is for the conjunction, u, with any of the conjunction meanings: and, but, else, etc.
Amarna letter EA 252, titled: Sparing One's Enemies, is a square, mostly flat clay tablet letter written on both sides, and the bottom edge. Each text line was written with a horizontal line scribed below the text line, as well as a vertical left margin-line, scribe line on the obverse of the tablet. The letter contains 14 (15) lines on the obverse, continuing on the bottom tablet edge to conclude at line 31 on the reverse, leaving a small space before the final tablet edge. At least 4 lines from the obverse intrude into the text of the reverse, actually dividing the reverse into a top half and bottom half, and even creating a natural spacing segue to the reverse's text, and the story.
The cuneiform ia sign 𒅀, is a combined sign, containing i (cuneiform) ligatured with a (cuneiform); it has the common meaning in the suffix form -ia, for the meaning of "-mine". In the Amarna letters, the letters written to the Pharaoh of Egypt, the Pharaoh is often referenced as "Lord-mine", or especially: King-Lord-mine: "My King, My Lord". In Akkadian, the form is "Šarru-Bēlu-ia"-(King-Lord-mine), since the spelling in some Amarna letters is sometimes ŠÁR-RI for Šarru,.
The cuneiform DAGAL sign, which is a capital letter (majuscule) Sumerogram with the Akkadian language meaning of to be wide, or extensive; also "many", Akkadian "rapāšu", is a minor usage cuneiform sign used in the Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh. An equivalent usage sign for DAGAL is used in the Amarna letters, gáb, for Akkadian language "gabbu", and is found in such letters as EA 362, EA 367, and others. Gáb has other syllabic values, which are used for separate Akkadian word components.
The cuneiform ù sign, is found in both the 14th century BC Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh. Its use is as a conjunction,, but rarely it is substituted for alphabetic u, but that vowel u is typically represented by 'u, no. 2',, ú; occasionally 'u, no. 1',, ,, is also substituted for the "alphabetic u".
The cuneiform na sign is a common, multi-use sign, a syllabic for na, and an alphabetic sign used for n, or a; it is common in both the Epic of Gilgamesh over hundreds of years, and the 1350 BC Amarna letters. In the Epic of Gilgamesh it also has sumerogramic usage for NA. An example usage for NA in the Epic is for the spelling of NA.GAD,, for Akkadian language "nāqidu", "herdsman". The usage for NA in herdsman is only for 3 spellings.
Amarna letter EA 367, titled From the Pharaoh to a Vassal, is a medium-small, square clay tablet Amarna letter to Endaruta of Achshaph,, one of only about 10 letters of the el-Amarna corpus, that is from the Pharaoh of Egypt to his correspondent.
The cuneiform bad, bat, be, etc. sign is a common multi-use sign in the mid 14th-century BC Amarna letters, and the Epic of Gilgamesh. In the Epic it also has 5 sumerogram uses. From Giorgio Buccellati 'comparative graphemic analysis', of 5 categories of letters, the usage numbers of the bad sign are as follows: Old Babylonian Royal letters (71), OB non-Royal letters (392), Mari letters (2108), Amarna letters (334), Ugarit letters (39).
Amarna letter EA 26, titled To the Queen Mother: Some Missing Gold Statues, is a shorter-length clay tablet Amarna letter from Tushratta of Mittani. Unlike the next letter EA 27 from Tushratta, which is more than twice as tall, and about twice as wide-(XXVII paragraphs), EA 26 is topical and synoptic about recent events about the desire for 'gold statues'. The letter is addressed to the Pharaoh's wife, Teye, and its dimensions are approximately: 6.0 inches (15 cm) tall, 3.5 inches (9 cm) wide, and 1.0 inch (3 cm) thick.
The cuneiform ta sign is a common, multi-use sign of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the 1350 BC Amarna letters, and other cuneiform texts. It also has a sumerogrammic usage for TA, for example in the Epic of Gilgamesh, for Akkadian language "ultu", English language for from, or since, but in only (1) location in the 12 tablet Epic of Gilgamesh. Sumerogram TA is used elsewhere in the Epic, (7) more times.
Amarna letter EA 23, titled: "A Goddess Travels to Egypt", is a short letter to Pharaoh from Tushratta. Due to the ill health of Pharaoh, a statue of Goddess Šauška is being sent to Egypt, to aid in the health of Pharaoh.
Amarna letter EA 39, titled: "Duty-Free", is a fairly short letter from the King of Alashiya. Almost half the letter, Para I, is a shortened greeting formula. The letter is requesting the Pharaoh to let messengers pass freely, as they are also being represented as merchants; this also applies to their shipping.
Amarna letter EA 34, titled: "The Pharaoh's Reproach Answered", is a moderately tall clay tablet Amarna letter from the King of Alashiya.
