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.
Abdi-Ḫeba was a local chieftain of Jerusalem during the Amarna period. Abdi-Ḫeba's name can be translated as "servant of Ḫebat", a Hurrian goddess. Whether Abdi-Ḫeba 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.
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.
The Pitati were a contingent of Nubian archers of ancient Egypt that were often requested and dispatched to support Egyptian vassals in Canaan. They are recorded in the correspondence of the 1350 BC Amarna letters, and were often requested to defend against the Habiru, also rogue vassal-kings and foreign troops of neighboring kingdoms, who were on the attack.
NIN-UR.MAH.MEŠ, or the "Lady" of the Lions, was the author of two letters to the pharaoh, the King of Ancient Egypt, in the 1350–1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. Her name is a representation of the original written script characters of Babylonian 'Sumerograms' , "NIN- + UR.MAH + (plural:MEŠ)", and means, "woman–lion–plural", namely: "Lady Lions".. The Amarna letters are mostly written in Akkadian cuneiform, with local words/phrases/etc due to various city-states or countries.
Adda-danu was the 'mayor' of the city/city-state of Gazru-(modern Gezer, Israel) of the Amarna letters period, 1350-1335 BC. 'Adda' is the name of the Northwest Semitic god Hadad, and Adda-danu translates as: "Hadad Judge". Adda-danu is one of the three mayors who ruled Gazru in the 20–year Amarna letters correspondence, the others being Milkilu, and Yapahu.
Ayyab was a ruler of Aštartu south of Damascus. According to the Amarna letters, cities/city-states and their kings in the region — just like countries to the north, such as Hatti of the Hittites, fell prey to a wave of attacks by Habiru raiders. The Amarna correspondence corpus covers a period from 1350–1335 BC.
Pawura, and also: Pauru, Piwure, Puuru/Puwuru was an Egyptian official of the 1350–1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. As mentioned in letter no. 171, he was also an Egyptian "archer–commander". In letter no. 289 he is called an "irpi–official". In Egyptian his name means 'the Great One', (Pa-wr/Pa-ur)(letter EA 287:45-"1.-Pa-Ú-Ru")
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.
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.
Yanhamu, also Yenhamu, and Enhamu, was an Egyptian commissioner of the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence.
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.
Nuribta, also Nuribda, was a city, or city-state, located in the vicinity of Magiddo in Israel, in historical Canaan during the time of the Amarna letter correspondence, a 15 to 20 year period from about 1350 to 1335 BC.
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.
Hannathon, and of the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters, Hinnatuna, or Hinnatuni/Hinnatunu, is the Biblical city/city-state of Hannathon, ; in the Amarna letters correspondence as Hinnatuna, it is a site in southern Canaan, site uncertain. Ancient settlement of Tel Hanaton in Lower Galilee has been suggested as a candidate.
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 369 is a letter written on a clay tablet from the pharaoh to Milkilu of Gezer. The tablet is now housed in the Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, in Brussels.
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 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").
