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. The Amarna letters are unusual in Egyptological research, because they are written not in the language of ancient Egypt, but in cuneiform, the writing system of ancient Mesopotamia. Most are in a variety of Akkadian sometimes characterised as a mixed language, Canaanite-Akkadian; one especially long letter—abbreviated EA 24—was written in a late dialect of Hurrian, and is the longest contiguous text known to survive in that language.
Labaya was a 14th-century BCE ruler or warlord in the central hill country of southern Canaan. He lived contemporaneously with Pharaoh Akhenaten. Labaya is mentioned in several of the Amarna Letters. He is the author of letters EA 252–54.
Abdi-Heba was a local chieftain of Jerusalem during the Amarna period. Abdi-Heba's name can be translated as "servant of Hebat", a Hurrian goddess. Whether Abdi-Heba was himself of Hurrian descent is unknown, as is the relationship between the general populace of pre-Israelite Jerusalem and the Hurrians. Egyptian documents have him deny he was a mayor (ḫazānu) and assert he is a soldier (we'w), the implication being he was the son of a local chief sent to Egypt to receive military training there.
Mutbaal was a Canaanite king of the Amarna Period. He is identified in the Amarna letters as a son of Labaya, the ruler of the hill country north of Jerusalem, including the territory in the vicinity of the city of Shachmu.
Addaya was an Egyptian commissioner during the period of the Amarna letters correspondence. The majority of the Amarna letters were written to the pharaoh of Egypt during a 15-20 year(?) time period.
Rubutu was a city, or city-state located in ancient northern Israel, between the city of Gazru-(modern Gezer), and Jerusalem during the time of the Amarna letters correspondence, a 15-20 year period at about 1350-1335 BC. Some scholars place Rubutu near present-day Arrabah in the northern West Bank.
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.
Amarna letter EA 364, titled Justified War, is a clay tablet letter from Ayyab, ruler of Aštartu, to Pharaoh Akhenaten.
Amarna letter EA 271, titled: "The Power of the 'Apiru," is a moderately short, tallish, rectangular clay tablet letter, approximately 3 in wide x 4 in tall, from Milkilu the mayor/ruler of Gazru (Gezer), of the mid 14th century BC Amarna letters.
Amarna letter EA 270, titled: "Extortion," is an ovate-shaped, medium-sized, tall letter, approximately 3 in wide x 4 in tall, from Milkilu the mayor/ruler of Gazru (Gezer), of the mid 14th century BC Amarna letters.
Amarna letter EA 287, titled: "A Very Serious Crime," is a tall, finely-inscribed clay tablet letter, approximately 8 in tall, from Abdi-Heba the mayor/ruler of Jerusalem, of the mid 14th century BC Amarna letters. The scribe of his six letters to Egypt were penned by the "Jerusalem scribe"; EA 287 is a moderately long, and involved letter. The Amarna letters, about 300, numbered up to EA 382, are a mid 14th century BC, about 1350 BC and 20–25 years later, correspondence. The initial corpus of letters were found at Akhenaten's city Akhetaten, in the floor of the Bureau of Correspondence of Pharaoh; others were later found, adding to the body of letters.
Amarna letter EA 289, titled: "A Reckoning Demanded," is a moderately tall, finely-inscribed clay tablet letter, approximately 6.5 in tall, from Abdi-Heba the mayor/ruler of Jerusalem, of the mid 14th century BC Amarna letters. The scribe of his six letters to Egypt were penned by the "Jerusalem scribe"; EA 289 is a moderately long, and involved letter, mentioning ten named individuals, some more than three times. A total of nine locations are referenced, as well as men of the "Hapiru"-("LÚ-MEŠ-Hapiru-ki"), and men of "Qilyi-ki".
Amarna letter EA 362, titled: "A Commissioner Murdered," is a finely-inscribed clay tablet letter from Rib-Haddi, the mayor/'man' of the city of Byblos,. Byblos, being a large coastal seaport Mediterranean city, was a city that was aligned with Egypt (Miṣri), and housed an Egyptian community. Rib-Haddi, as the city-state leader wrote the largest number of letters to the Pharaoh, in a sub-corpus of the 1350 BC Amarna letters.
Amarna letter EA 100, titled: "The City of Irqata to the King" is a short-, to moderate-length clay tablet Amarna letter from the city-state of Irqata,, written to the Pharaoh of Egypt. Only one other city sent a clay tablet Amarna letter to the Pharaoh, namely Tunip, letter EA 59, titled: "From the Citizens of Tunip".
Amarna letter EA 323, titled: A Royal Order for Glass, is a smaller, square, mostly flat clay tablet letter written on both sides, but only half of the reverse; it is also written on the bottom, and is a letter from 'governor' Yidya, and is a short letter like many of his other Amarna letters, numbered EA 320 to EA 326.
Amarna letter EA 254, titled: "Neither Rebel nor Delinquent (2)", is a moderate length, tall, and mostly flat rectangular clay tablet Amarna letter,. The letter is from Labaya of city-state Šakmu . It is an undamaged letter, in pristine condition, with cuneiform script on almost all surfaces: Obverse, Bottom, Reverse, and Left Side. Letter EA 254 is numbered VAT 335, from the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin.
Amarna letter EA 288, titled Benign Neglect, is a tall, finely-inscribed clay tablet letter, approximately 7.5 in tall x 4.5 in wide, broken into two pieces, from Abdi-Heba the mayor/ruler of Jerusalem, of the mid 14th century BC Amarna letters. The scribe of his six letters to Egypt were penned by the "Jerusalem scribe"; EA 288 is a moderately long, and involved letter.
Amarna letter EA 290, titled: "Three Against One," is one of the two shorter letters, of six, from Abdi-Heba the governing man of Jerusalem. In the Jerusalem letters, Jerusalem is "Uru-Salem" ("City-Peace").
Amarna letter EA 299, titled: "A Plea for Help", is a fairly short clay tablet Amarna letter from "governor" Yapahu of city-state Gazru. The clay tablet surface has been partially eroded, but the cuneiform is still mostly legible.
Amarna letter EA 75, titled: "Political Chaos", is a short to moderate length letter from Rib-Hadda, who wrote the largest number of Amarna letters in a sub-corpus, from the city-state of Byblos; Byblos contained an Ancient Egyptian colony, and was aligned with a few neighboring townsites.
