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Amarna letter EA 362 (Titled: A Commissioner Murdered)
Amarna letter EA 362, titled: "A Commissioner Murdered,"[1] is a finely-inscribed
clay tablet letter from
Rib-Haddi, the mayor/'man' of the city of
Byblos, (Gubla of the letters). Byblos, being a large coastal seaport Mediterranean city, was a city that was aligned with Egypt (Miṣri), and housed an Egyptian community. Rib-Haddi, as the
city-state leader wrote the largest number of letters to the Pharaoh, in a sub-corpus of the 1350 BC
Amarna letters (about 70 letters).
Near the end of his rule, Rib-Haddi penned two large diplomatic letters summarizing conditions of his hostilities with peoples like the
Hapiru, but also other city-state rulers, vying for regional ascendency. Letter EA 362 relates the hostilities, but also talks of disease, upon his land. The letter ends addressing the fate of Egypt's commissioner
Pawura.
Letter EA 362 is numbered AO 7093, from the
Louvre, in France.
The letter
EA 362: "A Reckoning Demanded"
EA 362, a letter by Rib-Haddi to Pharaoh, 1 of approximately 70 letters in the Rib-Haddi sub-corpus of the Amarna letters. (Not a linear, line-by-line translation, and
English from French.)[2]
(Lines 1-4)--Rib-Haddi. Say to the king, my lord: I fall beneath the feet of my lord 7 times and 7 times.1
(5-11)--I have indeed heard the words of the king, my lord, and my heart is overjoyed. May my lord hasten the sending of the
archers with all speed. If the king, my lord, does not send archers, then we ourselves must die and
(12-20)--Gubla2 will be taken.He was distraughtrecently:he isalsodistraughtnow.3Recently they were saying,"There will be no archers,"but I wrote with the result that archers came out and took their father. (fatherlands?).
(21-30)--Now indeed they are saying,"Let him not write or we will certainly be taken."4They seek to capture Gubla, and they say,"If we capture Gubla, we will be strong;"5there will not be a man left, (and) they (the archers) will certainly be too few for them.6
(31-39)--I for my part have guarded Gubla, the city of the king, "night (and) day".
Reverse:
Should I move to the (outlying) territory, then the men will desert in order to take territory for themselves,7and there will be no men to guard Gubla, the city of the king, my lord.
(40-50)--So may my lord hasten the archers or we must die. Because my lord has written to me, they know indeed that they are going to die, and so they seek to commit a crime.8As to his having said9before the king,"There is a pestilence in the lands,"the king, my lord, should not listen to the words of other men. There is no pestilence in the lands. It has been over for a long t(i)me.10
(51-59)--My lord knows that I do not write lies to my lord. All the mayors are not in favor of the archers' coming out, for they have peace. I am the one who wants them to come out, for I have distress (i.e. discord).
(60-65)--May the king, my lord, come out, for I have distress. Look, the day you come out, all the lands will be (re)joined to the king, my lord. Who will resist the troops of the king?
Side:
(66-69)--May the king, my lord, notleave this year free for the sons of
Abdi-Aširta, foryou knowall theiracts of hatred11against the lands of the king. Who are they that they have committed a crime and killed the commissioner:sú-
ki-
na,(
Prefect)-
Pewure?--(complete Obverse & Reverse, EA 362)
Akkadian text
The
Akkadian language text:[3]Note; the Akkadian language text, is mostly a running sequential text (with many exceptions for clarity), from Rainey, 1970.[4] But comparison with the Moran, and French, modern times translation, will show the variety, and stressing of different translations.
Akkadian:
Tablet Obverse: see here:
[2]Note: -///- represents, a pause,
segue, or change in topic.
(49)–
amatu(pl) amēlu amēlu
šanūB(ša-nu-ti7)
jänu(
jā-
nu-
mi)–.–.–( (the)Words(Stories/Reports) (of)Other Men! -///- There is no)
(50)–mūtu
ana mātu(
KÚRmeš) -///-
šalāmu(ša-lim)
ištupānānu–.–(Epidemic(Death) in (the)Territories! -///- (It is Peaceful(Tranquility) since "a long time" !! -///-)
(51)–- ///-
Ù bēlu
iduinūma–.–.–.–.–(And (The)King knows, Now (at this time) )
(52)–
lāšapāruamatu(a-ma-at) bēlu-
ia–.–.–( (I) not write words(Reports) Lord-mine)
(53)–kazbūtu
ana bēlu-
ia–.–.–.–.–.–( (of)Falsehood to Lord-mine !! )
(54)–
ùgabbu awiluti (
LÚ-
meš) hazzanu–.–.–( And all "City-Rulers" )
^Moran, William L. 1987, 1992. The Amarna Letters. EA 289, A Commissioner Murdered, p. 359-361.
^Moran, William L. 1987, 1992. The Amarna Letters. EA 289, A Commissioner Murdered, p. 359-361.
^Rainey, 1970. El Amarna Tablets, 359-379,Anson F. Rainey, Glossary:Vocabulary, Personal Names, etc, pp. 55-94. (AOAT 8, Alter Orient Altes Testament 8)
^Rainey, 1970. El Amarna Tablets, 359-379,Anson F. Rainey, Glossary:Vocabulary, Personal Names, etc, pp. 55-94. (AOAT 8, Alter Orient Altes Testament 8)