Akhenaten, also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton, was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning c. 1353–1336 or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Before the fifth year of his reign, he was known as Amenhotep IV.
A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to the era of the Egyptian, Hittite and Mitanni conflict, as well as ancient China. The use of vassal states continued through the Middle Ages, with the last empire to use such states being the Ottoman Empire.
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.
The land of Subartu or Subar is mentioned in Bronze Age literature. The name also appears as Subari in the Amarna letters, and, in the form Šbr, in Ugarit.
The Amarna Period was an era of Egyptian history during the later half of the Eighteenth Dynasty when the royal residence of the pharaoh and his queen was shifted to Akhetaten in what is now Amarna. It was marked by the reign of Amenhotep IV, who changed his name to Akhenaten in order to reflect the dramatic change of Egypt's polytheistic religion into one where the sun disc Aten was worshipped over all other gods. The Egyptian pantheon was restored under Akhenaten's successor, Tutankhamun.
Rib-Hadda was king of Byblos during the mid fourteenth century BCE. He is the author of some sixty of the Amarna letters all to Akhenaten. His name is Akkadian in form and may invoke the Northwest Semitic god Hadad, though his letters invoke only Ba'alat Gubla, the "Lady of Byblos".
Abdi-Ashirta (Akkadian: 𒀵𒀀𒅆𒅕𒋫 Warad-Ašîrta [ARAD2-A-ši-ir-ta]; fl. 14th century BC) was the ruler of Amurru who was in conflict with King Rib-Hadda of Byblos.
Pahura, and also spelled Pihur/Pihuru, Pihura, and Pihuru/Pihure was a commissioner of the 1350 BC Amarna letters correspondence. Pahura's name means in Egyptian, ' the Syrian ' , and he was commissioner to the Egyptian pharaoh.
Tunip was a city-state in western Syria in 1350–1335 BC, the period of the Amarna letters. The name "Syria" did not yet exist, though this was already the time of ancient Assyria. The regions were: Amurru, Nuhašše, the Amqu, Nii, etc.
Yapa-Hadda, also Yapah-Hadda, was the mayor/ruler of Biruta-(Beirut) of the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence.
Amanmašša is the name of an Egyptian official, but probably two separate officials (?), in the 1350–1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. The Egyptian form of his name is Amenmose, which means "Amun-born".
Haapi, also Haip and Ha'ip was a commissioner of the 1350–1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. The name "Hapi" in Egyptian is the name for the Nile god Hapi.
Ili-Rapih was the follow-on mayor in Gubla-(modern Byblos), and the brother of Rib-Hadda, the former mayor of Gubla, ; Ili-Rapih is in the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence, and wrote 2 follow-on letters to the Pharaoh after the death of Rib-Haddi.
The Salhi is a region/city-state in the vicinity of Ugarit during the 15-20 year Amarna letters correspondence of 1350–1335 BC.
Amurru was an Amorite kingdom established c. 2000 BC, in a region spanning present-day western and north-western Syria and northern Lebanon.
The cuneiform ru sign is found in both the 14th century BC Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh. As ru it is used for syllabic ru, and alphabetic 'r', or 'u'. In the I-XII Tablets of the Epic of Gilgamesh, it has specific uses showing alternate renderings besides ru; as sign no. 068, ru, 250 times, šub, 6, šup, 3, and as Sumerogram ŠUB, 1 time. In the Amarna letters, the sign is mostly used for ru, r, and u in the spelling of various words. Notably, for "bird", Akkadian language "iṣṣūru", in Amarna letter EA 28,, titled "Messengers Detained and a Protest"; the messengers are referenced as "uncaged" birds, and "aren't they free to come and go as birds do?".
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 156, titled: "Aziru of Amurru", is a very short letter from Aziru, the leader of the region of Amurru. EA 156 is the first letter in a series of 16 letters regarding Aziru.
Amarna letter EA 158, titled: "Father and Son", is a moderate length letter from Aziru, the leader of the region of Amurru. The letter is written to the Egyptian official, Tutu/ (Dudu). EA 158 is the third letter in a series of 16 letters regarding Aziru.
Amarna letter EA 170, titled: "To Aziru in Egypt", is a moderate length letter, from Aziru, the leader of the region of Amurru. EA 170 is the fifteenth letter in a series of 16 letters regarding Aziru.
