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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 during the New Kingdom, 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 mostly written in a script known as Akkadian cuneiform, the writing system of ancient Mesopotamia, rather than that of ancient Egypt, and the language used has sometimes been characterised as a mixed language, Canaanite-Akkadian. The written correspondence spans a period of at most thirty years.
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, which is practically all scholars know about him. He is the author of letters EA 252–54.
Zimredda , also Zimr-Edda or Zimr-Eddi was the mayor of Siduna, in the mid 14th century BC. His name means, "Protection/Protector" Hadad, "(My) protector (is) Hadad", "The protector is Hadad", "Protector-Hadad", etc. He is mentioned in several of the Amarna letters, in the late Rib-Hadda series, and later. He authored letters EA 144–45.
Šuwardata, also Šuardatu, (Shuwardata) is understood by most scholars to be the king of the Canaanite city of Gath, although some have suggested that he was the 'mayor' of Qiltu, during the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. Šuwardata was the author of 8 letters to the Egyptian pharaoh.
Milkilu, and more properly Milk-ilu, or Milku-ilu, with an alternate version of Ili-Milku, was the mayor/ruler of Gazru (Gezer) of the 1350–1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. Adda-danu, and Yapahu were also mayors of Gazru.
Abimilku around 1347 BC held the rank of Prince of Tyre, during the period of the Amarna letters correspondence. He is the author of ten letters to the Egyptian pharaoh, EA 146–155. In letter EA 147, Pharaoh Akhenaten confirmed him as ruler of Tyre upon the death of his father, and in EA 149, referred to him with the rank of rabisu (general).
In the 1350 BC correspondence of 382–letters, called the Amarna letters, the Prostration formula is usually the opening subservient remarks to the addressee, the Egyptian pharaoh. The formula is based on prostration, namely reverence and submissiveness. Often the letters are from vassal rulers or vassal city-states, especially in Canaan but also in other localities.
Satatna, or Sitatna, and also Šutatna/Shutatna-(of a Babylonian letter of Burna-Buriash), was a 'Mayor'/Ruler of Akka, or Acco, modern Acre, Israel, during the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence.
Karduniaš, also transcribed Karduniash, Karaduniyaš or Karaduniše), is a Kassite term used for the kingdom centered on Babylonia and founded by the Kassite dynasty. It is used in the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence, and is also used frequently in Middle-Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian texts to refer to the kingdom of Babylon. The name Karaduniyaš is mainly used in the letters written between Kadashman-Enlil I, or Burna-Buriash, the Kings of Babylon, and the Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt-(called: Mizri), letters EA 1-EA 11, a subcorpus of letters,. Much later, a version of the name was used in the Babylonian Talmud as Kardunya referring to similar locations.
ERIM is the capital letter-(majuscule) Sumerogram for the Akkadian language word army, or "troops". The akkadian language word for army is ; consequently the cuneiform character for ERIM is also equivalent to sab, zab, etc.-(also using s-dot).
Tel Hanaton is a Bronze Age tel situated at the Western edge of the Beit Netofa Valley, in the western Lower Galilee region of Israel, 2 km South of the Town of Kfar Manda and 1 km ENE of the modern settlement which took its name, Kibbutz Hanaton.
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.
Amarna letter EA 282, is a relatively short ovate clay tablet Amarna letter, located in the British Museum, no. 29851.
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 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 245, titled: "Assignment of Guilt," is a medium length clay tablet Amarna letter from Biridiya the governor-'mayor' of Magidda. It is letter number four of five from Biridiya.
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 149, titled: "Neither Water nor Wood" is a moderate- to extended-length clay tablet Amarna letter from Abimilku of Tyre-(called Ṣurru in the letters), written to the Pharaoh of Egypt.
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 147, titled: "A Hymn to the Pharaoh" is a moderate length clay tablet Amarna letter from Abimilku of Tyre-(called Ṣurru in the Abimilku letters, and an island, until the time of Alexander the Great, 330 BC). The letter is a twin letter to EA 149, which is identical in length, and complexity, and EA 147 appears to precede EA 149.
References
- Moran, William L. The Amarna Letters. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, ISBN 0-8018-6715-0)