Biridiya

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Amarna letter EA 245. Letter from Biridiya, King of Megiddo, to the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III or his son Akhenaten. 14th century BCE. From Tell el-Amarna, Egypt. British Museum Amarna letters. Letter from Biridiya, King of Megiddo, to the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III or his son Akhenaten. 14th century BCE. From Tell el-Amarna, Egypt. British Museum.jpg
Amarna letter EA 245. Letter from Biridiya, King of Megiddo, to the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III or his son Akhenaten. 14th century BCE. From Tell el-Amarna, Egypt. British Museum

Biridiya was the ruler of Megiddo, northern part of the southern Levant, in the 14th century BC. At the time Megiddo was a city-state submitting to the Egyptian Empire. He is part of the intrigues surrounding the rebel Labaya of Shechem.

Contents

History

Biridiya was the ruler of Magidda (Megiddo). At the time, Labaya of Shechem tried to expand his territory and power. Labaya attacked Megiddo (EA 244) forcing the people to flee inside the city walls and making it impossible to harvest fields. Both Biridiya and Yashdata (EA 248/EA 245) attacked Labaya, apparently with the support of Suruata of Akko. At one point Suruata took Labaya away from Megiddo to send him by boat to the Pharaoh, but he received a randsom and released Labaya (EA 245).

Archaeological evidence

In Egypt, the Amarna Archive (c. 1350 BC) contained letters authored by Biridya. The archive covers diplimatic correspondence from the time of Amenhotep III, Akhenaten and Tutankhamen, referred to as "the Pharaoh". He is also mentioned in other letters. Turmoil emerge in Canaan in the late part of the reign of Akhenaten and into the reign of Tutankhamen who was to young to rule himself and was represented by commissioners.

At Kumudi (modern Kamid al lawz) the name Biridiya is mentioned in a Letter KL 72:600. [1] However, the origin of the letter has not been identified, and the content of the letter (request for return of personal property) makes it unlikely it was sent by the King of Megiddo. [2]

See also

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References

  1. The treasury of Kamid el-Loz and the Late Bronze Age settlement history of Kumidi, Elisabeth Wagner-Durand, 2012
  2. למלך אדוני: מכתבי אל-עמראנה, כמד, תענך, ומכתבים נוספים מהמאה הארבע-עשרה לפסה"נ (in Hebrew)