Achshaph (
Hebrew: אַכְשָׁף; in
LXXAncient Greek: Άξείφ or Άκσάφ)[1] was a royal city of the
Canaanites, in the north of
Canaan (Josh. 11:1; 12:20; 19:25). The name means "sorcery".[2]
Location
Achshaph was in the eastern boundary of the
tribe of Asher. There are several opinions as to its exact location, including
Tell Keisan, Tell Regev,[3] Tell Harbaj and Tell an-Nakhl.[4] In the Greek
Septuagint, in various manuscripts, depending on the passage, its name is given in the forms Azeiph,Achsaph,Achas,Keaph,Achiph,Acheib, and Chasaph.[5]
Only one extremely short letter–EA 223 (
EA-el Amarna) is written from Endaruta of Akšapa, and it is a one sentence topic: [following a short 3-sentence formal-
formulaic introduction] ... "Whatever the king (i.e.
pharaoh), my
lord, orders, I shall prepare."
But one perfectly preserved letter from Pharaoh, to Endaruta of Akšapa is known,
EA 367. Its topic is to guard (and defend) Akšapa and to prepare for "troop arrivals"-(the
archer-forces).
The third and only other reference in the Amarna letters
corpus is from letter EA 366 (from Šuwardata of Qiltu (?)), and the letter states:
"...only '
Abdi-Heba and I have been at war with that
'Apiru.
Surata, the ruler of
Akka, and Endaruta, the ruler of Akšapa, these two also came to my aid, ..."