Amarna letter EA 26, titled To the Queen Mother: Some Missing Gold Statues,[1] is a shorter-length
clay tabletAmarna letter from
Tushratta of
Mittani.[2] Unlike the next letter
EA 27 from Tushratta, which is more than twice as tall, and about twice as wide-(XXVII paragraphs), EA 26 is topical and synoptic about recent events about the desire for 'gold statues' (VII paragraphs). The letter is addressed to the Pharaoh's wife,
Teye, and its dimensions are approximately: 6.0 inches (15 cm) tall, 3.5 inches (9 cm) wide, and 1.0 inch (3 cm) thick.
EA 26 has missing edges, left and right. The piece pictured is the
Oriental Institute of Chicago's piece which is part of the obverse, lower-left corner, at the beginning of lines of text. The entire obverse of EA 26 can be seen
here, with its missing edges and scuffed/eroded surfaces on the edges. The Oriental Institute piece shows the high quality of inscribed
cuneiform, as visible in undamaged sections of EA 26.
The letter
EA 26: To the Queen Mother: Some Missing Gold Statues
EA 26, letter ten of thirteen from Tushratta. (Not a linear, line-by-line translation.)[3]
(Lines 1-6)--[Say] t[o
Teye ], the mistrisss of Egy[pt]: T[hus
Tuš]ratta, the king of [
Mittani. For me] all goes well. For you may all go w[ell. For your household, for] your sons, may all go well. For
Tadu-Heba, [my daughter], your daughter-in-law, may all go well. For your countries, fo[r your troops,] and for whatever else belongs to you, may all go very, very [well].
(7-18)--You are the one that knows that I [myself] always showed love [to]
Mimmureya, your husband, and that
Mimmureya, [your] husba[nd], on the other hand, always showed love to me. A[nd the things] that I wou[ld write and] say [t]o
Mimmureya, your husband, and the things that
Mimmureya, your husband, [would alwa]ys write and say to me, you, [Keli]ya, and Mane know. But you are the on[e, on the other ha]nd, who knows much better than all others the things [that] we said [to one an]other. No one [el]se knows them (as well).
(19-29)--[And n]ow, you yourself [sai]d to Keliya, "Say to your lord: '
Mi[m]mureya,1my husband, always showed love to yo[ur] father, and maintained (it) for you;2he did not forge[t]3his love for your father, and he did not cut o[ff]4the [em]bassies that he had been accustomed to sending, one after the other. And now you are the one that must not forget your [l]ove5for
Mimmu[reya], your brother. Increase (it) f[or] Naphurre[y]a and maintiain (it) for hi[m]. You must keep on send[ing] embassies of joy,6one after the other. Do not cut [them] off.' "
(30-39)--I will [not] fo[rget]8 the love for
Mimmureya, your husband. More than ever be[fo]re,9 at this very moment, I show 10 times — much, much — more love to
Naphurreya, your son. [Your are the one who knows] the words of
Mimmureya, [your] husb[and, but] you did not s[end]10 all of my
greeting-gift11 that [your husband ordered] to [be sent]. I had asked12 [your husband] for [statues] of sol[id] cast [gold], saying, "[May my brother send me] a[s my greeting gift,13statues of solid cast gold and ... ... of gold] and genuine
lapis lazuli."
(lines 40-48)—But now
Nap[hurreya, your son], has plated [statues] of wood. With gold being the dirt [in your son's country, w]hy have they been a source of such dis[tress] to your son that he has not given them to me?14 Furthermore, I asked ... [... t]o give th[is].15 Is this love? I had sa[id], "
Naphurre[ya,my brother],is going to treat me
10 times better that his father did." But now he has not [given me] even what his father was accustomed to give.
(49-57)—Wh[y] have you [no]t exposed before
Naph[urreya] the words t[hat you your]self, and with your own mouth, said to [me]? If [you] do not expose them before him, and y[ou keep silent],16can anyone [el]se know? Let
[Nap]hurreya give me statues of sol[id] gold! He must cause me no [dis]tress whasover, nor [ ... ]. Let him treat m[e]
10 times better [th]an his father did, [wi]th love and evidence of es[teem].
(58-63)—May your own
messengers g[o] regularly with the messen[gers o]f
Naphurreya, with 5 [... t]o
Yuni, my wife, and may the
messen[gers o]f
Yuni, my wife, [g]o regula[rly] to [you].
(64-66)–I [her]ewith [send] as your
Greeting-gift [x] scent containers17 [filled] with "sweet oil," (and) 1 set of stones [set in gold].—(complete EA 26, lines 1-66, with various major & minor
lacunae)
Note:The last line of Para III, uses cuneiform:
La, for "not" ("no"), Akkadian "lā", but of course, it is obvious, that the verb is spread across the entire last line, 29, as an embellishment, and an "exclamation", to the topic of Paragraph III. (The fractured piece has only the first two cuneiform characters,
ta &
pa, for
Akkadianparāsu, meaning: "to separate, cut, decide".,[5] and using English "interrupt". The rest of the verb is on the main letter piece, (See here:
[5]; or Here:
[6]).
^Moran, William L. 1987, 1992. The Amarna Letters. EA 245, "To the Queen Mother: Some Missing Gold Statues", pp. 84-86.
^[1]Archived 2015-05-04 at the
Wayback Machine Line Drawing, cuneiform, and Akkadian, Sumerograms, etc, EA 26: Obverse & Reverse, CDLI no. P270897 (Chicago Digital Library Initiative)