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diff --git a/26145-8.txt b/26145-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d90baf --- /dev/null +++ b/26145-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1843 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tell El Amarna Period by Carl Niebuhr + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: The Tell El Amarna Period + +Author: Carl Niebuhr + +Release Date: July 29, 2008 [Ebook #26145] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO 8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TELL EL AMARNA PERIOD*** + + + + + + The Ancient East + + No. II. + + THE TELL EL AMARNA PERIOD + + The Relations of Egypt and Western + + Asia in the Fifteenth Century B.C. + + According to + + The Tell El Amarna Tablets + + by + + Carl Niebuhr + + Translated by J. Hutchinson + + London: David Nutt + + 57-59 Long Acre + + 1903 + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +The Ancient East +I. The Tablets, and How they were Found. +II. The Egyptian Court and Administration. +III. Letters from Asiatic Kings. +IV. Letters from Asiatic Vassals. +V. Political Conditions in the Tell el Amarna Period. +Bibliographical Appendix + + + + + + +THE ANCIENT EAST + + +Under this title is being issued a series of short, popular, but +thoroughly scientific studies, by the leading scholars of Germany, setting +forth the recent discoveries and investigations in Babylonian, Assyrian +and Egyptian History, Religion, and Archæology, especially as they bear +upon the traditional views of early Eastern History. The German originals +have been appearing during the last eighteen months. The English +translations made by Miss Jane Hutchison have been submitted in each case +to the Authors, and embody their latest views. Short, helpful +bibliographies are added. Each study consists of some 64 to 80 pages, +crown 8vo, and costs *1s.* sewed, or *1s. 6d.* cloth. + +The following are issued: + +THE REALMS OF THE EGYPTIAN DEAD. +By Professor ALFRED WIEDEMANN. + +THE TELL EL AMARNA PERIOD. By Dr. C. NIEBUHR. + +THE BABYLONIAN AND THE HEBREW GENESIS. +By Professor H. ZIMMERN. + +THE BABYLONIAN CONCEPTION OF HEAVEN AND HELL. +By Dr. ALFRED JEREMIAS. + +POPULAR LITERATURE IN ANCIENT EGYPT. +By Professor ALFRED WIEDEMANN. + + + + + +I. THE TABLETS, AND HOW THEY WERE FOUND. + + +As early as 1820 it was known in Europe that in Middle Egypt, on the east +bank of the Nile, in the district between Minieh and Siut, there lay the +remains of a great city of Ancient Egypt. The Prussian exploration +expedition of 1842-45 gave special attention to this site, where indeed +were found, about sixty miles south of Minieh, extensive ruins, beginning +at the village of Haggi Kandil and covering the floor of a rock-bound +valley named after the fellahin village, El Amarna. At that time the +ground-plan of the city was still easy to distinguish; the regular lines +of the streets could be traced, and enough could be seen of the great +design of the principal temple to excite the admiration of the +discoverers. This example of the laying out of an ancient Egyptian town +still remains almost unique, for of old, as now, private buildings were +constructed of flimsy material. That the Tell el Amarna remains have +escaped rapid destruction is due entirely to the sudden and violent +downfall of the original splendour of the city and the complete desolation +which succeeded. The importance of the place was revealed on examination +of the surrounding cliffs. Here were found, sculptured and inscribed in a +new and peculiar style, the rock-cut tombs of the most distinguished +inhabitants of Akhet-haten, the royal city built for himself about 1380 +B.C. by Amenophis IV., and destroyed soon after his early death. + +In the beginning of 1888 some fellahìn digging for marl not far from the +ruins came upon a number of crumbling wooden chests, filled with clay +tablets closely covered on both sides with writing. The dusky fellows must +have been not a little delighted at finding themselves owners of hundreds +of these marketable antiquities, for which a European purchaser would +doubtless give plenty of good gold coins. To multiply their gains they +broke up the largest tablets into three or four separate pieces, often to +the grievous hindrance of the future decipherer. But very soon the matter +was fruited abroad; the Government at once intervened, almost all the find +was in due time secured, and a stop was put to any further dispersal of +separate tablets and of fragments. The political situation in Egypt is +pretty accurately indicated by the fact that about eighty of the best +preserved of the Tell el Amarna tablets at once found their way to the +British Museum. Some sixty were left in the museum at Boulak, and about +one hundred and eighty were secured for the Berlin Museum, many of them +tiny fragments, but mostly containing important records. Few have remained +in private hands. + +Some alabaster slabs came to light at Tell el Amarna bearing the +hieroglyphic names of King Amenophis IV. and his father, Amenophis III. +These had evidently served as lids to the chests. Some tablets also were +inscribed with notes in hieratic, written in red ink. But in spite of +these exceptions, it was at once recognised that all the documents were +written in Babylonian cuneiform. The reading of the introductory lines on +various tablets served to show that the find consisted of part of the +Egyptian state archives in the times of the two kings Amenophis III. and +IV. Thus the first of the many startling discoveries that were to follow +in such rapid succession was made in the recognition that about 1400 B.C. +the Semitic speech of Babylon served as the language of diplomacy in the +East. + +Apart from a few tablets dealing with mythological subjects and written in +Babylonian, and two which contain inventories, all the tablets were +letters. Most of them were from Egyptian officials in Syria and Canaan, +and usually they were addressed to the king. Among them were found many +long letters from Asiatic kings to the Egyptian monarch, and also a few +communications from the Foreign Office of "Pharaoh" himself. We must note, +however, that this title of Egyptian kings, so commonly used in the Old +Testament, is apparently never once employed in the Tell el Amarna +documents. It is interesting to observe how difficulties of the script and +of a language not entirely familiar to most of the scribes were overcome. +Even the learned scribes of the royal "House of the Sun" in Egypt had +obviously their own troubles in the matter, and made use of the Babylonian +mythological texts already mentioned as a means of improving their +fluency. Of this we have evidence in the thin red lines by which, on these +tablets alone, the words have been separated from each other. The +governors and officials must not be classified as educated or uneducated +on the evidence of their letters; all alike employed professional scribes, +of whom one might be skilful and the next a bungler whose communications +must be guessed at rather than read. Occasionally a Babylonian word is +followed by the corresponding Canaanite word, also in cuneiform, but +marked as a translation. Like the Egyptian kings, so the Asiatic +sovereigns had each his staff of scribes. One of the petty chiefs, +Tarkhundarash of Arsapi, was evidently so unhappy as to have none in his +Court who could read or write a letter in Babylonian, for letters to him +were written in his own tongue. The scribe of the Hittite king produced +only a species of dog Latin, while the scribe of the king of Alashia trots +out his whole vocabulary unhampered by grammar. On the other hand, the +letters of the king of Mitani are drawn up in the characters known as +Assyrian; and it is probable that the Assyrian system of cuneiform may +have originated in Mitani. If so, for the Mitani scribe there could be no +question of any special difficulty in using the acknowledged language of +diplomacy in the Ancient East. + +It is evident that the Babylonian royal scribes at length showed some +consideration for their unfortunate Egyptian correspondents by writing as +a rule in phonograms which could be easily spelt out, since strange +ideograms might have brought the reader to a standstill. The sources of +the letters may be distinguished also by the colour and consistency of the +material of the tablets, which are of all shades of clay, from pale yellow +to red or dark brown. Side by side, too, with hard and legible pieces, lie +broken and crumbling fragments which have suffered sadly during the few +years that have elapsed since they were again exposed to the air. + + + + + +II. THE EGYPTIAN COURT AND ADMINISTRATION. + + +The two Pharaohs of the Tell el Amarna Period belong to the XVIIIth +Dynasty, which about 1560 B.C. had freed the land from the yoke of certain +Asiatic invaders known as the Shasu. The new dynasty soon began to +encroach upon Asia. King Thutmosis III. (1503 to 1449 B.C.) after many +chequered campaigns conquered Syria as far as the Gulf of Iskanderun. On +the African side he extended the bounds of his kingdom to the confluence +of the Nile and the Atbara, so that the greater part of Nubia owned his +sway. The terror of his name did not die with him, but for long did good +service to his successors, the first of whom, Amenophis II., seems +moreover himself to have maintained energetically the fame of Egyptian +arms. To this influence our clay tablets bear witness by twice making +emphatic reference to the days of the powerful "Manakhbiria"--the prenomen +of King Thutmosis III. With the accession of Amenophis III. the warlike +spirit ceased to prevail at the Court of Thebes. Nothing more was to be +gained by Egypt in Western Asia, and the tastes of the new king lay in +other directions than war. The two celebrated Colossi of Memnon (statues +of himself), many great buildings, the important part played by his +favourite wife Teye, the well-filled harem, the cultivation of "wisdom" +(which practically, no doubt, was tantamount to what we should call +"preciosity"); last, but not least, the solemn adoration of his own divine +image--all these facts combine to indicate the altered condition of things +which came about under Amenophis III. He reigned thirty-six years, long +enough to allow the movement introduced by him to run its course. His son, +Amenophis IV., was, however, just as little inclined as his father to walk +in the steps of his warlike ancestors. Hampered apparently by bodily +defects, this Son of the Sun tried his strength in a field often far more +dangerous than the battlefield. He began a reform of the Egyptian +religion, apparently in the direction of a kind of monotheism in which the +chief worship was reserved for the disk of the sun, the symbol under which +the god Ra was adored at Heliopolis in the Delta. + +Nothing being known of the life of this king as heir-apparent, probably we +shall never understand what led him to take this new departure. From his +conduct during the early years of his reign it may be concluded that he +intended to proceed gradually, but was roused to more aggressive measures +by the resistance of the powerful priests of Amon in Thebes. These men +acted, of course, for their own interests in promptly resisting even mild +attempts at reform. Perhaps also the king's aim had been from the outset +to weaken the influence of the Theban hierarchy by new doctrines and to +strengthen the royal power by steady secularisation. Open strife between +the adherents of Amon and those of the Sun's Disk, the "Aten," broke out +in the second or third year of Amenophis IV., that is, about 1380 B.C. The +immediate removal of the Court from Thebes to Tell el Amarna points to a +failure of the royal efforts, for the command to build the new city had +not long been issued, and the place was still altogether unfinished. The +official world promptly broke with the old religion. The king altered his +throne-name, "Amen-hetep," to "Akhen-Aten," "The glory of the Sun's Disk"; +his young daughters received names compounded with "Aten," whilst the +courtiers found it advisable to strike out "Amen," if this chanced to form +part of their own names, and to substitute for it "Ra," as having more or +less the same significance as "Aten." "The doctrine," as the new dogmas +were called in inscriptions at Tell el Amarna, was regarded as so entirely +a matter of home politics in Egypt, that the officials of Syria and +Palestine--all foreigners--do not seem to have received any formal +information regarding it. Most of them continue to refer to Amon in +perfect innocence, and only a few who were better informed began rather +later to take the change into account. Thus Yitia of Ashkelon, Pu-Adda of +Wurza, and a certain Addudaian correct the name of the Egyptian +commissioner "Amanappa" into "Rianappa." Abimilki of Tyre apparently even +tried to give himself out as one initiated into "the doctrine," and to +represent his city as a servant of Aten. If this were the case he must +have received a severe rebuff, for after his one attempt he falls back +into the old style. Neither the royal nor the national pride of Egypt +would suffer any such familiarities. + +The new capital received the significant name of "Akhet-Aten" ("Horizon of +the Sun") and was solemnly consecrated long before it was half finished. +The widow of Amenophis III., the queen-mother Teye, came occasionally to +visit the new capital, and was received with all honour; evidently she had +paid timely respect to her son's opinions. How far the Aten dogma +represented real progress in religious thought can be gathered only from +the contents of a few hymns remaining on the walls of some of the tombs. +In these the expression of devout feeling seems to have become richer and +more spontaneous, and the monotheistic tendency is evident. This +characteristic, however, may often be observed by a sympathetic reader in +the hymns to Amon, and even to less important deities: the deity adopted +as a special object of worship by any individual is always favourably +represented by him. The Aten dogma, being based on natural phenomena and +not on mythology, was, of course, heretical. + +Those of his officials who had accepted "the doctrine" were regarded by +Akhenaten as deserving men, and on this ground alone, Ai, called Haya in +the Amarna letters, received golden honours to the full. This Haya, who +was entitled "beloved royal scribe," was probably a secretary of state, +and was once sent as a special ambassador to Babylonia. Dudu occupied +another important post; Amanappa, who has already been mentioned, seems +from a letter written by him to Rib-Addi of Gebal, to have been a +commander-in-chief. Hani, Salma, Paura, Pahamnata, Hatib Maya, Shuta, +Hamashni, and Zitana all appear as the bearers of royal commissions in +Syrian territory. An official named Shakhshi receives instruction as to +the conducting of a royal caravan. But to the Asiatic vassals the most +important office of all was the governorship of Lower Egypt, the country +called "Yarimuta," an office filled at this time by Yanhamu. The letters +afford abundant evidence that any vassal who had incurred Yanhamu's enmity +must walk warily. The minister of the king of Alashia, though his equal in +rank, sent gifts to this dangerous man, who had harassed merchants of +Alashia by demanding from them illegal dues. Rib-Addi of Gebal lost land +and throne, in spite of the countenance of Amanappa, because such was +Yanhamu's pleasure; and of Milki-El of Gath he made a severe example, to +which we shall refer later. + +On the whole, the Asiatic provinces enjoyed self-government under the +supremacy of Egypt, and the disadvantages of this condition of things are +revealed in numerous letters. These end almost invariably with a request +to the king to come in person to the aid of his distressed vassals, or at +least to send troops. Sometimes this was done, but usually such +expeditions seem to have been undertaken with inadequate forces and seldom +resulted in permanent peace. The native princes, chiefs, and village +headmen were perpetually struggling with each other. They made alliances +among themselves, or they entered into secret treaties with neighbouring +states and afterwards brazenly denied them. This wretched state of affairs +may be traced to two principal causes--the tribute question and the +immigration of Bedawìn tribes. + +The king was not to be trifled with when tribute was overdue. The most +valid excuses--loss of territory, war, failure of the harvest--were received +with a suspicion doubtless justified in general but which must have caused +much hardship in individual cases. The ordinary tribute was fixed, as well +as the regular subsidy for royal troops and the force which had to be +raised in emergencies. But the gifts--such as female slaves--which must +needs be sent not only to the courtiers but even to the king himself, +added enormously to the burden, so much so that to the poorer chiefs a +summons from Egypt to appear in person meant little less than ruin. +Resistance to it was so surely to be counted on that such a summons was +often kept in the background more as a threat than anything else. Now and +then petty chiefs in Palestine and Syria withheld their bushels of corn, +their three oxen or their twenty sheep; or perhaps they were so sparing of +bakshìsh that the tribute itself was swallowed up and vanished entirely +from the accounts. It was scarcely possible to take costly measures to +punish such delinquents, so the business was turned over to some kind +neighbour of the recalcitrant chief, and a little war was soon fairly +ablaze. But when direct commands of royal ambassadors were treated as of +doubtful authenticity, it was hardly likely that the authority placed in +the hands of an equal would meet with much respect. Both leaders received +reinforcements; a third intervened at a moment favourable to himself; many +and often very remote quarrels broke out, and when at length the royal +commissioners hurried upon the scene it was hard for them to say whether +or not the original sentence had been executed. Certainly most of the +property of the original offenders had been largely lost or destroyed, but +the plunder had crumbled away in passing through countless hands, and the +royal official might seek it from Dan to Beersheba, or farther, but in +vain. Out of the first difficulty a dozen others had arisen, till the +suzerain seized upon his dues by force, yet without leaving peace behind +him. The tablets are full of references to these complicated struggles, +which it is not always possible to follow in detail. + +Additional confusion was caused by the immigration of Bedawìn tribes. In +the north the nomadic Sutu, in the south the Habiri pressed forward and +encroached upon Egyptian territory. It is evident that this further +pressure was calculated to bring matters to a crisis, for, like the +tribute, it affected pre-eminently the vassal chiefs and tribes. We find +the Habiri especially in the very act of ruining some of these petty +princes, others of whom preferred to make treaties with their unwelcome +guests, though this indeed was apparently in secret only. But the Sutu +reached the domains of more powerful vassals, and by two of these, Aziru +and Namjauza, were openly taken into pay. Obviously such alliances with +land-seeking plunderers could only prolong and embitter the strife. In +Palestine, no doubt, peace as regards Egypt would soon have been restored +had not the Habiri proceeded to seize certain strongholds, which they used +as centres for further expeditions, thus involving the settled inhabitants +in wider quarrels. What with the help of the Bedawîn, and the universal +unrest any ambitious vassal of Egypt must at length have seen a tempting +prospect of establishing an independent kingdom, if only he could deceive +the Egyptian Government long enough as to his intentions, and delay or +thwart any measures that might be taken against him. + +Certainly the government of Pharaoh did not lack for watchfulness and was +well, if not too well, served in the matter of information. But in the +face of perpetual complaints and counter-complaints, entreaties for help +and what were for the most part incredible assurances of everlasting +fidelity, there was no course for the king and his councillors to take but +either to order a military expedition on a large scale, or to turn a +sceptical ear to all alike and confine their attention simply to the +tribute. Pride and weakness combined led them to take the dangerous middle +course and send inadequate bodies of men singly into the disturbed +districts. A certain amount of success attended the policy; the king's +Nubian "Pidati" were dreaded from of old, and his mercenaries, the +Shirtani, were looked upon as invincible. When it was a mere question of +hundreds in the field against hundreds, the appearance of a company, or of +a few troops, restored peace for a time, but serious and aggravated +hostilities between masses of rebels could not always be checked by such +small numbers, and it was a severe blow to the prestige of the Shirtani +when they were defeated at Gebal by the Sutu. + +The knowledge that Egypt was far away, and that the Son of the Sun was +highly exalted, led the chiefs and officials in Syria and Canaan to deeds +of open defiance of their suzerain. Ambassadors from foreign states were +robbed in passing on their journey to Egypt, caravans were plundered, and +gifts sent to Pharaoh were intercepted. All this notwithstanding, still +the stream of rhetorical devotion flowed on in the letters. + + + + + +III. LETTERS FROM ASIATIC KINGS. + + +Akhenaten had taken with him to the new capital part of the archives of +his father. With few exceptions, it is not from the letters of vassals +that we learn this, for these, as a rule, are addressed simply "To the +King." The foreign sovereigns, however, almost always addressed the +Pharaoh by his prenomen. Thus neither "Amenhetep" nor "Akhenaten" appears +in the Tell el Amarna letters, but always "Nimmuria" (_i.e._, Neb-maat-Ra) +for Amenophis III. and "Napkhuria" (_i.e._, Nefer-khepru-Ra) for +Akhenaten. Dating there was none in correspondence of that time and hence +these addresses are of great chronological importance. + +Four communications to "Nimmuria" from the Babylonian ruler Kadashman-Bel +(at first incorrectly read Kallima-Sin) are among the most important in +this respect. The writer calls his land Karduniash, a name for Babylonia +used by the Assyrians after the native employment of it had long ceased. +Kadashman-Bel himself belonged to the house of the Kassite chiefs, who, +about two hundred and fifty years previously, had invaded and conquered +Babylonia, but who afterwards fully adopted Babylonian manners and +customs. It is at once apparent that Nimmuria and Kadashman-Bel approach +each other as equals. The Egyptian, however, was supposed to possess one +very precious thing in superfluity, namely, gold; for at that time the +gold mines of Nubia were in good working. The Babylonian letters, +therefore, seldom failed to contain a hint that the king desired some of +the precious metal, sometimes as a return gift for rich presents he had +given the Egyptian, sometimes as temple-offerings, or as a dowry. +Matrimonial alliances were the principal means by which a ruler kept on +good terms with neighbouring princes, and Oriental polygamy allowed a +great deal to be done in that line. It is noticeable that the claim made +by the Egyptian king to divine honours soon began to cause little +difficulties in diplomatic intercourse. Not that "the Son of the Sun" +claimed adoration from his royal compeers: that was expected from his +subjects only. But he showed the greatest reluctance to give away a +daughter to any foreign king. Moreover, the fact must not be overlooked +that it was precisely in the XVIIIth Dynasty that brothers and sisters of +the royal house so frequently intermarried, a custom afterwards affected +by the Ptolemies and implying simply that the royal race of the Pharaohs +being emphatically divine was therefore essentially exalted above the +world in general. According to this flattering fiction there could be no +equal union for a king of Egypt except with his own sister. No such +marriage seems to have been made by Nimmuria, but, as if in amends for +that, he worshipped, as above stated, his own divine image. We need not +wonder, then, that he regarded his children as divine manifestations and +hesitated to bestow them in marriage. + +Kadashman-Bel seems to have thoroughly appreciated this little weakness, +and no doubt the mortal gods on the Nile were a subject for mockery at the +Courts of Western Asia, even in those days. Thus, a remark of Nimmuria's +to the effect that no princess had ever been given away from Egypt is +answered with delightful dryness: + + + "Why so? A king art thou, and canst do according to thy will. If + thou give her, who shall say anything against it? I wrote before, + 'Send, at least, a beautiful woman.' Who is there to say that she + is not a king's daughter? If thou wilt not do this, thou hast no + regard for our brotherhood and friendship." + + +Kadashman-Bel threatened that he in his turn would hesitate to give his +daughter in marriage, and would make similar evasive excuses. At last, +however, the negotiations came to the desired conclusion, and for a time +gifts flowed more freely on both sides. + +Valuable, though in many respects puzzling, is a large tablet containing a +letter of Nimmuria to Kadashman-Bel. Possibly it may have been kept as a +copy, and in that case it must belong to the early part of the +correspondence. More probably however, the letter is an original which +came back "undelivered" to Egypt, the addressee having died in the +meantime. Kadashman-Bel had complained that his sister, who had been given +by his father in marriage to the Egyptian, had subsequently never once +been seen by any Babylonian ambassadors. Certainly a woman in royal garb +had been pointed out, but not one of them had recognised her as their own +princess. "Who knows that it was not some beggar's daughter, a Gagaian, or +a maiden of Hanirabbat or Ugarit whom my messengers saw?" Then Nimmuria +took up the tale, and complained that Kadashman-Bel sent only ambassadors +who had never frequented his father's Court, and were moreover of adverse +bias. "Send a _kamiru_" (evidently a eunuch is meant) "who knows thy +sister." Further misunderstandings come under discussion, from which it is +evident that the general situation between the two princes was very much +strained. + +King Tushratta of Mitani was a phenomenon in his way. In Egyptian +inscriptions his kingdom is called Naharina--_i.e._, "Mesopotamia." One of +his tablets bears the following official memorandum, written in red ink +and in hieratic: + + + "[Received] in the two-[and-thirtieth year of the reign of + Nimmuria], in the first winter month, on the tenth day, the Court + being at the southern residence (Thebes), in the Residence + Ka-em-Ekhut. Duplicate of the Naharina letter brought by the + messenger Pirizzi and (another)." + + +Tushratta's dominion was wide, extending from south-eastern Cappadocia to +beyond the later Assyrian capital, Nineveh. But the kingdom of Mitani, +occasionally called after the northern fatherland of its people, +Hanirabbat, was nearing its fall. In the south it had a dangerous enemy +in Babylonia; in the north and west the Hittites were hostile and all the +more to be dreaded since Mitani-Hanirabbat was inhabited by a people +related to the Hittite stock. The kings of Mitani soon realised that their +existence was best secured by a steady alliance with Egypt. To this end +Artatama and Shutarna, the two predecessors of Tushratta, had sent their +daughters to the harem of the Pharaohs. The so-called "marriage scarab" of +Nimmuria bears witness to this, and reference to the bond is often made by +Tushratta. Before he could ascend the throne he had various difficulties +to contend against, of which a faithful account is sent to Egypt: + + + "When I ascended my father's throne I was still young, for Pirhi + did evil to my land and had slain its lord. Therefore he did evil + to me also and to all my friends. But I quailed not before the + crimes that were committed in my land, but slew the murderers of + Artashumara my brother, with all their adherents. Know also, oh, + my royal brother! that the whole army of the Hittites marched + against my land. But the God Teshup, the lord, delivered them into + my hand and I destroyed them. Not one man from their midst + returned to his own land. And now I have sent to thee a chariot + and two horses, a youth and a maiden, the booty of the land of the + Hittites." + + +This letter betrays itself as one of the earliest written for Tushratta by +the fact that it makes no request for gold. All his later letters are +filled with greedy entreaties, completely giving the lie to the immediate +pretext under which they were professedly written. One of them, more than +a yard long and proportionately broad, still keeps its charms to itself, +since for some unknown reason, though written in cuneiform character like +the rest, the language is that of Hanirabbat and this we are still unable +to read. Nimmuria indeed, seems to have had a weakness for this worthy +brother-in-law and his ingenuous manner of approaching him, and spared +neither presents nor promises; at his death, however, some of the latter +remained unfulfilled. Evidently neighbouring kings heard at length of +Tushratta's financial success and were naturally envious. An extract will +give the reader a more definite notion of this royal correspondence with +its stylisms and turns of thought. The following is taken from Letter +VIII. in the British Museum edition. The long-winded introduction was +already a fixed convention, and occurs in all the letters from whatever +country, but the declaration of affection is peculiar to Tushratta: + + + "To Nimmuria, the great king, the king of Egypt, my brother, my + brother-in-law; who loves me and whom I love: Tushratta, the great + king, thy (future) father-in-law, king of Mitani; who loves thee + and is thy brother. It is well with me; may it be well with thee, + with thy house, with my sister and thy other wives, with thy sons, + thy chariots, thy horses, thy nobles, thy land, and all that is + thine, may it be well with them indeed! Whereas thy fathers in + their time kept fast friendship with my fathers, thou hast + increased the friendship. Now, therefore, that thou and I are + friends thou hast made it ten times closer than with my father. + May the gods cause our friendship to prosper! May Teshup, the + lord, and Amon ordain it eternally as it now is! I write this to + my brother that he may show me even more love than he showed my + father. Now I ask gold from my brother, and it behoves me to ask + this gold for two causes: in the first place for war equipment (to + be provided later), and secondly, for the dowry (likewise to be + provided). So, then, let my brother send me much gold, without + measure, more than to my father. For in my brother's land gold is + as the dust of the earth. May the gods grant that in the land of + my brother, where already so much gold is, there may be ten times + more in times to come! Certainly the gold that I require will not + trouble my brother's heart, but let him also not grieve my heart. + Therefore let my brother send gold without measure, in great + quantity. And I also will grant all the gifts that my brother + asks. For this land is my brother's land, and this my house is his + house." + + +All Tushratta's letters are written in this tone with the exception of the +last. Nimmuria felt his end approaching, and entreated the aid of "Our +Lady of Nineveh." Such an expedient was not foreign to Egyptian thought. A +late inscription professes to tell how a certain divine image was sent +from Thebes to a distant land for the healing of a foreign princess. From +Tushratta's answer also it appears that the statue of the goddess Ishtar +had once before been taken from Nineveh to Thebes. + +This letter begins solemnly: + + + "The words of Ishtar of Nineveh, mistress of all lands. 'To Egypt, + to the land that I love will I go, and there will I sojourn.' Now + I send her and she goes. Let my brother worship her and then let + her go in gladness that she may return. May Ishtar protect my + brother and me for a hundred thousand years. May she grant unto us + both great gladness; may we know nothing but happiness." + + +All this notwithstanding, Nimmuria must die, and later Tushratta describes +his own grief on the occasion: + + + "And on that day I wept, I sat in sorrow. Food and drink I touched + not on that day; grieved was my heart. I said, 'Oh, that it had + been I who died !' " + + +When he wrote thus the feelings expressed were probably genuine, for times +had changed sadly for him and men of his type. + +We have now come to the accession of the reforming king Napkhuria--_i.e._, +Akhenaten. This zealot succeeded in bringing into the foreign relations of +Egypt some of the unrest caused by his measures in home politics. To begin +with, he sought for new political alliances and sacrificed those already +existing, not by breaking off the connections, but by turning a deaf ear +to requests, or by adopting an insolent tone in his answers. On one +occasion he showered on the old beggar Tushratta derision which was no +doubt well deserved, but which it was most impolitic to express so +plainly. He gives one the impression of an inexperienced prince, brought +up in Oriental seclusion, who persists at all hazards in playing the part +of a shrewd and worldly-wise ruler. He strained after novelty at the +expense of his own security, and attempted to demonstrate the strength of +the supports of his throne by sawing them through. + +About the time of Nimmuria's death Kadashman-Bel of Babylonia also died, +and Burnaburiash, probably his brother or cousin, was prepared on his +accession to maintain the traditional friendship with Egypt. But at the +very beginning Napkhuria was guilty of a breach of etiquette in neglecting +to send any expression of sympathy during a long illness of Burnaburiash. +In spite of many fine words, the usual matrimonial negotiations did not +run smoothly; moreover, attacks were made on travelling messengers, and at +length Napkhuria's avarice forced the Babylonian to measures of +retaliation, and he writes: + + + "Since ambassadors from thy fathers came to my fathers, they also + have lived on friendly terms. We should continue in the same. + Messengers have now come from thee thrice, but thou hast sent with + them no gift worthy the name. I also shall desist in the same way. + If nothing is denied me I shall deny thee nothing." + + +Meanwhile, the dear brother in Egypt was continually finding opportunities +to annoy the Babylonian. Assyria was then a small state on the middle +Tigris, in exactly the same relation to the suzerainty of Babylonia as +Canaan was to that of Egypt. Disregarding this fact, Napkhuria sent a very +large quantity of gold to the prince Assurnadinakhi and ostentatiously +received an Assyrian embassy. Burnaburiash, in remonstrating, referred to +the loyal conduct of his father, Kurigalzu, who had answered the +Canaanites with threats when, in an attempted rising against Nimmuria, +they offered to do homage to Kurigalzu. + + + "Now there are the Assyrians, my vassals. Have not I already + written to thee in regard to them? If thou lovest me they will + gain nothing from thee. Let them depart unsuccessful." + + +This exhortation seems to have been vain, for a letter of the next +Assyrian king, Assuruballit, speaks of a regular exchange of messengers, +and indicates that the Sutu of the desert--doubtless at the instigation of +the Babylonians--were about to kill every Egyptian who showed himself in +their territory. + +A prince of Alashia, who never mentions either his own name or that of the +Egyptian king, wrote short letters, for the most part of a business +character. Alashia probably lay on the Cilician coast. Gold did not tempt +him; he asked modestly for silver in return for copper, for oil, textiles +and manufactured articles in return for wood for building. Thus the +tablets from Alashia are rich in information regarding commercial matters +and questions of public rights. They are of special interest for us, owing +to the fact that one of them contains the first historic mention of the +plague. + + + "Behold! my brother, I have sent thee five hundred talents of + copper as a gift. Let it not grieve my brother's heart that it is + too little. For in my land the hand of Nergal (the god of + pestilence) has slain all the workers, and copper cannot be + produced. And, my brother, take it not to heart that thy messenger + stayed three years in my land. For the hand of Nergal is in it, + and in my house my young wife died." + + +Yet this ruler also had to guard himself against embassies unworthy of a +king sent by Napkhuria. Another prince, in a letter unfortunately much +damaged, made the complaint that Napkhuria had once caused his own name to +be written first in a letter. This was, indeed, unparalleled; the title of +the recipient stands first even in a severe reprimand sent to the Egyptian +vassal Aziru. As if to equalise matters, in royal letters the greetings +that follow the address begin with a mention of the welfare of the writer. +"It is well with me. May it be well with thee," &c. There is, however, one +tablet addressed to Napkhuria that committed the offence complained of, +and it was perhaps for this reason that the introductory address was +scratched through anciently. It is fairly certain that this letter, as +well as the one complaining of Napkhuria's breach of etiquette, came from +the Hittite king. The tone throughout is very decided, and complaints of +neglect of proper consideration are not wanting. + +A short time before his death Nimmuria had married another daughter of +Tushratta, Tadukhipa, the long inventory of whose dowry was found at Tell +el Amarna. On receiving the news--for which he was already prepared--of the +death of his hoary-headed son-in-law, Tushratta at once sent Pirizzi and +Bubri "with lamentations" to Napkhuria. He managed to suppress his +personal wishes up to the third message, but prepared the way for them by +calling Teye, the chief wife of Nimmuria, as a witness. "And all the +matters that I negotiated with thy father, Teye, thy mother, knoweth them; +none other besides knoweth of them." Immediately after this came the +request that Napkhuria should send him the "golden images" (statuettes) +that Nimmuria had promised him. And Napkhuria wasted no words, but sent by +the messenger Hamashi--the wooden models! He seems to have thought he was +acting as a good son and a shrewd man of business in fulfilling his +father's promises at so cheap a rate. + +But Tushratta was not easily shaken off. His next move was to send Teye +and her son each a letter at the same time. He gave polite greetings from +his wife Yuni to the widow, whose influence was evidently still strong, +sent her presents, and entreated her intercession. This remarkable letter +runs as follows: + + + "To Teye, Queen of Egypt, Tushratta, King of Mitani. May it be + well with thee, may it be well with thy son, may it be well with + Tadukhipa, my daughter, thy young companion in widowhood. Thou + knowest that I was in friendship with Nimmuria, thy husband, and + that Nimmuria was in friendship with me. What I wrote to him and + negotiated with him, and likewise what Nimmuria thy husband wrote + to me and negotiated with me, thou and Gilia and Mani (Tushratta's + messengers), ye know it. But thou knowest it better than all + others. And none other knows it. Now thou hast said to Gilia: 'Say + to thy lord, Nimmuria my husband was in friendship with thy father + and sent him the military standards, which he kept. The embassies + between them were never interrupted. But now, forget not thou + thine old friendship with thy brother Nimmuria and extend it to + his son Napkhuria. Send joyful embassies; let them not be + omitted.' Lo, I will not forget the friendship with Nimmuria! + More, tenfold more, words of friendship will I exchange with + Napkhuria thy son and keep up right good friendship. But the + promise of Nimmuria, the gift that thy husband ordered to be + brought to me, thou hast not sent. I asked for golden statuettes. + But now Napkhuria thy son has had them made of wood, though gold + is as dust in thy land. Why does this happen just now? Should not + Napkhuria deliver that to me which his father gave me? And he + wishes to increase our friendship tenfold! Wherefore then dost + thou not bring this matter before thy son Napkhuria? Even though + thou do it not he ought nevertheless to deliver unto me statuettes + of gold and in no way to slight me. Thus friendship will reign + between us tenfold. Let thy messengers to Yuni my wife depart with + Napkhuria's ambassador, and Yuni's messenger shall come to thee. + Lo, I send gifts for thee; boxes filled with good oil (perfume)," + &c. &c. + + +To Napkhuria also Tushratta insists on his rights in detail. The +messengers from Mitani were said to have been present at the casting of +the images, and even to have started on their journey home when Nimmuria +died. It may thus be assumed that Napkhuria at once ordered the transport +to be brought back. Queen Teye evidently showed no desire to be mixed up +in so unpleasant a business, but Napkhuria demanded that the messenger +Gilia should be sent to him. + +Most probably this often-mentioned Gilia was the witness present at the +casting and despatching of the images. Tushratta gave evasive answers, and +his last letter (more than two hundred lines in length) is something in +the nature of an ultimatum. On both sides fresh complaints are brought +forward, and the settlement of each one of them was made dependent on the +settlement of the principal question. Napkhuria threatened to close his +land against all subjects of Mitani, and, as no later document has been +found, it is probable that at this point all intercourse ceased. A much +mutilated letter from Gebal to Egypt announces the departure of the king +of Mitani with an armed force; but it is doubtful whether this can be +quoted in the present connection. + +The characters of the two irreconcilable monarchs, who show each other up +so admirably for our edification, make any question as to which had right +on his side seem comparatively trifling. Tushratta was evidently much +distressed that he dared not venture to send his Gilia back again and that +none of the later letters which he had from Nimmuria contained any word of +the golden images. It is evident also that Napkhuria, supported by Teye, +had actually recalled embassies that his father had already sent out. The +old king, who had called Ishtar of Nineveh to his help, may have been +brought by the approach of death into a generous state of mind not +uncommon in such cases. Even now we say, "He must be near his end," when a +man shows unexpected and unusual gentleness. It is quite possible that +Nimmuria had ordered the images in question to be made for his worthy +friend without giving any formal promise to send them, and that as soon as +Tushratta learned what had happened, he promptly interposed with a lie, in +hope of appealing to Napkhuria's sense of the fitness of things. That, +however, was expecting too much. + + + + + +IV. LETTERS FROM ASIATIC VASSALS. + + +Four-fifths of the number of letters consist of reports and communications +from Egyptian governors, military commanders, magistrates, and other +officials in Western Asia. The form of address from these subordinates to +the Pharaoh is naturally very different from "Royal Brother," and in +hurried announcements it is often contracted. Written in full the long +formula runs: + + + "To the king, my lord, my gods, my sun, the sun of heaven; Yitia, + prefect of Askelon is thy servant, the dust at thy feet, the + servant of thy horses. At the feet of the king my lord seven times + and again seven times I prostrate myself upon my back and upon my + breast." + + +The importance of these letters, however, consists in the substance of +what they report and in what they tell us as to the doings of the writers. +They are the data by reason of which the Tell el Amarna archives +constitute a unique store of historical material for the study of the +history of civilisation. + +Warlike expeditions among the vassal chiefs were the order of the day. +Most dangerous of all the chiefs was Aziru, prefect of the land of the +Amorites, whose territory included the district north of Damascus and part +of the valley of the Orontes. In the hope of founding an independent +kingdom, Aziru had swiftly seized on the dominions of all the chiefs on +his northern boundary, and in this action his admirable understanding with +the Egyptian officials afforded him invaluable help. The town of Tunip +sent a truly pathetic letter to Pharaoh from which we learn that Aziru had +already taken Nii, was besieging Simyra in Phoenicia, and at the same time, +by the aid of his creatures at Court, had succeeded in preventing the king +from reinstating a prince of Tunip who had been sent into Egypt as a +hostage. This prince, a certain Yadi Addu, had already been released and +was on his way home when the allies of Aziru caused him to be recalled. + + + "If, however, we have to mourn," so the complaint proceeds, "the + king himself will soon have to mourn over those things which Aziru + has committed against us, for next he will turn his hand against + his lord. But Tunip, thy city, weeps; her tears flow; nowhere is + there help for us." + + +The most bitter complaints against Aziru and his father Abd-Ashera come +from Rib-Addi of Gebal. His utterances rival the Lamentations of Jeremiah +both in volume and in monotonous pathos. One of these many letters, the +contents of which are often stereotyped enough, is also noticeable for its +revelation of the connection of Rib-Addi, who must already have been an +elderly man, with Amanappa: + + + "To Amanappa, my father; Rib-Addi, thy son! At my father's feet I + fall. Again and again I asked thee, 'Canst thou not rescue me from + the hand of Abd-Ashera? All the Habiri are on his side; the + princes will hear no remonstrances, but are in alliance with him; + thereby is he become mighty.' But thou hast answered me, 'Send thy + messenger with me to Court, and then will I, if nothing be said + against it (_i.e._, by the king), send him again and again with + royal troops to thee till the Pidati march forth to secure thy + life.' Then I answered thee, 'I will not delay to send the man, + but nothing of this must come to the ears of Abd-Ashera, for + [Yanhamu has] taken [silver] from his hand.' (As much as to say + that if Abd-Ashera gives Yanhamu a hint, the messenger will never + get beyond Lower Egypt.) But thou hast said, 'Fear not, but send a + ship to the Yarimuta, and money and garments will come to thee + thence.' Now, behold, the troops which thou hast given me have + fled, because thou hast neglected me, while I have obeyed thee. He + hath spoken with the official (Yanhamu?) nine times [in vain]. + Behold, thou art delaying with regard to this offence as with the + others. What then can save me? If I receive no troops I shall + forsake my city, and flee, doing that which seems good to me to + preserve my life." + + +Yanhamu's bias against Rib-Addi is made evident in many other letters +which the poor wretch addressed to the Court: + + + "If I should make a treaty with Abd-Ashera as did Yap-Addi and + Zimrida, then I should be safe. Furthermore, since Simyra is + indeed lost to me, and Yanhamu hath received Bit-Arti, he ought to + send me provision of grain that I may defend the king's city for + him. Thou, oh king, speak to Yanhamu; 'Behold, Rib-Addi is in thy + hand, and all injury done to him falls on thee.' " + + +This desire was not complied with, for the Phoenician vassal was at length +robbed of all his cities and possessions, so that even the callous +Egyptian Government felt obliged at last to send a threatening embassy to +Aziru, the son of Abd-Ashera, and the real author of the difficulties in +Gebal. At the same time the surrender was demanded of certain "enemies of +the king," who were in all probability principal adherents of Aziru. When +the messenger Hani arrived with this note, Aziru, evidently warned in good +time, had promptly vanished over the hills, and none of the royal commands +could be carried out. He pretends to have settled down in Tunip, which he +must previously have seized, but at once returned home on hearing of +Hani's arrival. Unfortunately it was too late. The cunning Amorite brought +forward one excuse after another. "Even if thy actions be just, yet if +thou dissemble in thy letters at thy pleasure, the king must at length +come to think that thou liest in every case," is a passage in the letter +brought by Hani. Aziru replies in a tone of injured innocence: + + + "To the great king, my lord, my god, my sun; Aziru, thy servant. + Seven times and again seven times, &c. Oh, lord, I am indeed thy + servant; and only when prostrate on the ground before the king, my + lord, can I speak what I have to say. But hearken not, O lord, to + the foes who slander me before thee. I remain thy servant for + ever." + + +This trusty vassal added to his other known faults the peculiarity of +conspiring readily with the Hittite foes of the Court. His insolence +helped him successfully out of these awkward difficulties also whenever +the matter came under discussion. When preparing fresh raids he did not +hesitate to invent news of Hittite invasions which he was bound to resist, +and all territory which he then took from his co-vassals would, according +to his own account, otherwise certainly have fallen into the hands of the +enemy. But as the result was always the same--_i.e._, to the advantage of +Aziru alone--the opinion began to prevail in Egyptian councils that this +restless vassal should be summoned to Court and tried. For many years +Aziru succeeded in evading these fatal and dangerous, or at best very +costly orders. But finally he was forced to obey, and with heavy heart and +well-filled treasure chests set off for Egypt. Apparently he relied on his +principal ally Dudu, whom in his letters he always addresses as "father"; +but this pleasant alliance did not avail to protect the disturber of the +peace from provisional arrest. The last letter in the Aziru series, which +had obviously been confiscated and subsequently found its way back into +the archives, is a letter of condolence from the adherents or sons of +Aziru to their imprisoned chief. Nevertheless, the political activity of +the Amorite chief seemed to many Syrian, and especially to Phoenician +princes as on the whole for the good of the land, and, therefore, to be +supported. His appearance put the longed-for end to a far less endurable +condition of things. Two communications from Akizzi, the headman of the +city of Katna, near Damascus, exhibit the difference clearly. When Akizzi +sent his first communication to Nimmuria every petty chief went raiding on +his own account: Teuwatta of Lapana, Dasha, Arzawia and all the rest of +them. These vanished with the entrance of Aziru upon the scene, though the +change was by no means welcome to Akizzi. In the Lebanon things were no +better. Here Namyauza was struggling with the headmen of Puzruna and +Khalunni. "They began hostilities together with Biridashwi against me and +said: 'Come, let us kill Namyauza.' But I escaped." This promiscuous +warfare raged most fiercely in the south. Here a certain Labaya tried to +play the part taken by Aziru in the north. But fortune was less favourable +to Labaya. Probably he failed to induce his undisciplined officers to act +in unison, and the unhappy man's sole achievement seems to have been the +welding of his foes into a compact body against himself. He lost his +territory, kept up the struggle a little longer as a freebooter, was taken +captive at Megiddo, escaped again on the eve of being shipped to Egypt, +and fell in battle or died a natural death after at length meeting +apparently with some success in Judæa. + +Jerusalem was under a royal "Uweu," a term perhaps best rendered +"captain," named Abdikheba. A neighbouring prefect, Shuwardata, asserted +occasionally that he had entered into conspiracies with Labaya, and +Abdikheba in fact complained of hostilities on all sides. Milki-El and his +father-in-law Tagi, chiefs in the Philistian plain near Gath, were his +principal opponents. They recruited troops from among the Habiri in the +hope that Abdikheba, finding himself practically blockaded, would weary of +the struggle and abandon the field. He was evidently very nearly driven to +this when he wrote: + + + "Infamous things have been wrought against me. To see it would + draw tears from the eyes of the king, so do my foes press me. + Shall the royal cities fall a prey to the Habiri? If the Pidati do + not come in the course of this year, let the king send messengers + to fetch me and all my brethren that we may die in the presence of + the king, our lord." + + +By the Habiri we must here understand no other than the Hebrews, who were +therefore already to be found in the "Promised Land," but had not yet +firmly established themselves there. They swarmed in the Lebanon, where +Namyauza had formally enlisted one of their hordes; and yet it seems as if +they already held Shechem and Mount Ephraim as free tribal property. At +any rate, no letter thence to the king has been discovered, although there +is one mention of the city Shakmi (Shechem). The genuinely ancient +passages in the scriptural accounts of the conquest in the Book of Joshua, +and still more the valuable fragments in the first chapter of Judges, are +fairly in accordance with what we here learn from the tablets. + +Abdikheba's letters may be considered along with those of Milki-El and +Tagi, of whom Yanhamu, the powerful official, had just made an example. +Their voices take up the chorus of complaint: + + + ABDIKHEBA. "Lo! Milki-El and Tagi have done as follows.... Thus, + as the king liveth, hath Milki-El committed treachery against me. + Send Yanhamu that he may see what is done in the king's land." + + + MILKI-EL. "The king, my lord, shall know the deed done by Yanhamu + after I had been dismissed by the king. Lo, he took three thousand + talents from me and said to me, 'Give me thy wife and thy sons + that I may slay them.' May my lord, the king, remember this deed + and send us chariots to bring us away." + + + TAGI. "Am I not a servant of the king? But my brother is full of + wounds so that I can send no message by him to the king. Ask the + _rabisu_ (a title of Yanhamu) whether my brother is not full of + wounds. But we turn our eyes to thee, to know whether we may rise + to heaven or creep into the earth; our heads remain in thy hand. + Behold, I shall try to make my way to the king by the hand of the + surgeons." + + + MILKI-EL. "I have received the king's message. Let him send the + Pidati to protect his servant, and grains of myrrh gum for + healing." + + +As already pointed out, the blame for such occurrences belongs in the +first place to the Egyptian system of government. How little the petty +princes could expect, whether of good or evil, from their suzerain is +shown by glaring examples. King Burnaburiash complained that a Babylonian +trading company established by his ambassador in the Canaanite city of +Khinaton had, immediately after the ambassador's departure, been attacked +and utterly plundered. The principals were killed, and the rest--some of +them mutilated--were sent into slavery. "Canaan is thy land; thou art king +of it," continues Burnaburiash. "It was in thy land that I suffered this +injury; therefore restrain the doers of it. Replace the stolen gold, and +slay the murderers of my subjects to avenge their blood." Whether this was +done was extremely doubtful, for part of the plunder had in all +probability already sufficed to secure a safe retreat for the brigands, +who, furthermore, were officials from some of whom letters have been +found. The natural consequence was that the ambassadors themselves were +attacked. Their caravan with gifts for Napkhuria was robbed twice in +succession, and they themselves were held to ransom. The Egyptian +Government nevertheless remained outrageously slack as ever, as we may see +from the following safe conduct granted on behalf of the Canaanite +miscreants: "To the princes in the land of Canaan, the vassals of my +brother. Akiya, my messenger, I send to the King of Egypt my brother. +Bring him safe and quickly to Egypt. Let no violence befall him." + +Prefects of Canaanite ports were naturally in most active communication +with Egypt. On some of the shrewder minds among these men it had dawned +that it pleased and amused the king to have immediate news of messages by +sea and land from far and near communicated in their letters. Abi-milki of +Tyre had carried this practice farthest, and he was also admirably skilful +in lodging complaints by the way. We owe to this worthy one of the +choicest pieces in the whole collection, the elegant pæan of a +place-hunter of more than three thousand years ago. It will be noticed +that some of his rhetorical expressions repeatedly recall those of the +Hebrew Psalter in the same way as do phrases in the letter of Tagi already +quoted. In fact, the Bible critic has much to learn from the tablets as a +whole. After the formal beginning, Abi-milki launches out as follows: + + + "My lord the king is the Sun-God, rising each day over the earth + according to the will of his gracious father, the heavenly Sun-God + (Aten). His words give life and prosperity. To all lands his might + giveth peace. Like the (Phoenician) god Ram-man, so he thunders + down from heaven, and the earth trembles before him. Behold, thy + servant writeth as soon as he has good news to send the king. And + the fear of my lord, the king, fell upon the whole land till the + messenger made known the good news from the king my lord. When I + heard through him the command of the king to me, 'Be at the + disposal of my high officials,' then thy servant answered his + lord, 'It is already done.' On my breast and on my back write I + down for myself the commands of the king. Verily, he who + hearkeneth to the king his lord, and serveth him with love, the + Sun-God riseth over him, and a good word from the mouth of his + lord giveth him life. If he heed not the commands of his lord his + city will fall, his house will perish, and his name will be known + no more for ever in all lands. But he who followeth his lord as a + faithful servant, his city is prosperous, his house is secure, and + his name shall endure for ever." + + +The letter continues for some time in the same strain, but at the end the +courtier bethinks him of his office of informer, and adds hastily: + + + "Furthermore, Zimrida, the prefect of Sidon, sends a report every + day to Aziru, Abd-Ashera's son. Every word that comes from Egypt + he telleth to him. I, however, tell it to my lord, that it may + serve thee, oh my lord!" + + +Two princes, Adad-nirari of Nukhashi and another whose name is now +illegible, apparently take a higher rank than their neighbours. Nukhashi +is often named in these tablets as well as in Egyptian inscriptions, and +it must have been situated on the north-east slope of the Lebanon range. +We have also letters from the towns of Biruta (Beyrout), Hashab, Hazi, +Kumidi, Kadesh on the Orontes, Sidon, Akko, Rubiza, Megiddo, Hazor, Gezer, +Gaza, Lachish, Shamhuna, Mushihuma, Dubu, and others, while there are many +more so mutilated that their origin can no longer be determined. + +These letters, though by no means all of them containing important +contributions to the history of political intrigue, are often of interest +from the light they throw on manners and customs. A few further extracts +are therefore given here. + + + "To the king my lord, my gods, my sun; Yabitiri is thy servant, + the dust of thy feet, &c. And a faithful servant of the king am I. + I look hither, and I look thither, but it is not light; then I + look to the king my lord, then there is light. A brick may be + removed from its firm bed, but I move not away from the king's + feet. Let my lord the king ask Yanhamu, his _rabisu_. While I was + still young he brought me to Egypt, and I served my lord the king + and stood at the gate of the palace (as page). And to-day, let my + lord the king ask his _rabisu_, I guard the gates of Gaza and of + Joppa. I am also attached to the Pidati of my lord the king; + whither they go thither do I go with them, as even now. On my neck + rests the yoke of my lord the king, and I bear it." + + +The following tablet from the neighbourhood of the Jordan promises good +results as the reward of future research for geographical details: + + + "To Yanhamu, my lord: Mut-Addi is thy servant at thy feet. I told + thee before, and it is so indeed; Ayab hath fled in secret, as did + also previously the king of Bihishi before the commissioners of + the king his lord. Is Ayab now in Bihishi? [He is there] truly as + the lord king liveth, truly as he liveth. For two months he has + been there. Behold, Benenima is present, Tadua is present, Yashua + is present; ask them whether he hath fled from Shadi-Marduk, from + Astarti. When all the cities in the land of Gari were in + rebellion, Adma (Udumu), Aduri, Araru, Mishtu, Migdal, Ain-anab + and Sarki were taken, then later Hawani and Yabesh. Behold, + moreover, as soon as thou hadst written a letter to me I wrote to + him (Ayab) that thou hadst returned from thy journey (to + Palestine?). And behold he came to Bihishi and heard the command." + + +The names Ayab and Yashua recall Job and Joshua to our minds. + +The great alacrity shown in this letter was, as we already know, most +acceptable to Yanhamu. Another Syrian chief, whose name has been +obliterated, complained bitterly that Yanhamu had refused him a passage +through his territories, although he showed the royal summons to Court. +This, indeed, may have been an indirect favour to his correspondent. Very +amusing is a group of three synoptic letters, written by one scribe for +Biri ... (the name is imperfect) of Hashab, Ildaya ... of Hazi, and +another. These vassals had evidently taken the field together. They recite +their tale like a chorus of schoolboys repeating a lesson. + + + "Behold, we were besieging the cities of the king my lord in the + land of Amki (_i.e._, cities that had fallen away and had ceased + to pay tribute). Then came Itakama, the Prince of Kinza (Kadesh), + at the head of Hittites. Let my lord the king write to Itakama, + and cause him to turn aside and give us troops that we may win the + cities of my lord the king, and thenceforth dwell in them." + + +Itakama was specially unpopular with his neighbours. Apparently he was one +of the more powerful allies of Aziru, and as such his special task was to +press as hard as possible on the foes of the Amorites in southern +Coele-Syria. Perhaps, however, Aziru and Itakama did not come together till +each for a time had fought his battles alone. The Hittites in Itakama's +force were, of course, prominently mentioned to alarm Pharaoh. They may +have been Hittite spearmen enrolled by the prince of Kadesh, much as the +Habiri and Sutu had been enlisted by his chief rival Namyauza. It is even +possible that the soldiers of Kadesh had always been armed in Hittite +fashion; perhaps the town was already inhabited by people of Hittite +stock. Later the Hittites actually seized Kadesh, and it is questionable +whether it was for the first time. Itakama himself, however, scouts any +thought of defection; nay, he writes: + + + "To the king my lord, &c. I am thy servant, but Namyauza hath + slandered me to thee, oh my master. And while he was doing that he + occupied all the inheritance of my fathers in the land of Kadesh, + and my villages hath he set on fire. Do not the officers of my + lord the king and his subjects know my faithfulness? I serve thee + with all my brethren, and where there is rebellion against my lord + the king, thither I march with my warriors, my chariots, and all + my brethren. Behold, now Namyauza hath delivered up to the Habiri + all the king's cities in the land of Kadesh and in Ube. But I will + march forth, and if thy gods and thy sun go before me I will + restore these places from the Habiri to the king that I may show + myself subject to him. I will drive out these Habiri, and my lord + the king shall rejoice in his servant Itakama. I will serve the + king my lord, and all my brethren, and all lands shall serve him. + But Namyauza will I destroy, for I am for ever a servant of the + king my lord." + + +The land of Ube here named corresponds to the Hobah of the Bible, +mentioned in Genesis xiv. 15, as the place to which Abram pursued the +conquerors of Sodom, who had carried Lot away. According to the margin of +the Revised Version, Hobah lay "north of Damascus." In a letter from +Akizzi of Katna (see p. 44), we read, however, "Oh, my lord the king, as +Damascus in the land of Ube stretches out her hand to thy feet, so Katna +stretches out her hand to thy feet." The statements may be reconciled by +the hypothesis that in the Old Testament the position of the town after +which the district is named is more exactly indicated. Other lands named +in the tablets are more difficult to identify. To mitigate a famine in +Gebal, Rib-Addi intended to send for grain from Zalukhi in Ugarit, but his +enemies detained his ships and frustrated his intentions. Zalukhi does not +seem to be mentioned again, and Rib-Addi in a later letter compares Ugarit +with the region round Tyre as regards its administrative relation to +Egypt. Abi-milki, the Tyrian prefect, once informs the king, "Fire hath +devoured the city of Ugarit; one half of it hath it destroyed and not the +other." Finally, a certain Yapakhi-Addi, after an unsuccessful attempt to +get provisions into Rib-Addi's city Simyra, reproachfully informs Yanhamu +that Aziru has extended his dominions from Gebal to Ugarit. Ugarit must +thus have been the most northerly of the Egyptian possessions in Asia, and +therefore not far from the site of the modern Alexandretta. This outlying +position made the little state a somewhat insecure jewel in the crown of +Egypt. King Kadashman-Bel seems to have been of this opinion when (see p. +27) he included in his little list of ladies impossible for a royal harem +"a maiden from Ugarit." Evidently he meant to enumerate superciliously +petty foreign "princesses" only. + +Of a certain land of Danuna (considered a part of Canaan) we learn further +that its king died, and that his brother succeeded to the throne +unopposed. One of the two may be identical with the king of Tana; who, as +Rib-Addi briefly mentions, was about to march to Gebal, but was forced by +scarcity of water to return home. + +A few letters from women are among the tablets. Two probably came from the +wife of Milki-El, who was hard pressed by the Habiri when her husband was +called to Egypt. Two others are addressed, "The handmaid to my mistress"; +perhaps they were sent along with Tushratta's letters to his daughter in +Egypt and were from one of her playfellows or relatives. Finally, the +daughter of Napkhuria, married to Burnaburiash, sent a small tablet to her +father by a special envoy named Kidin-Ramman. "Before the face of my lord +let him come" indicates that the letter was "to be delivered in person." +It is a pity that this dainty little letter is for the most part +illegible. + + + + + +V. POLITICAL CONDITIONS IN THE TELL EL AMARNA PERIOD. + + +However favourably the religious reform of King Napkhuria may be estimated +on its own merits, it by no means strengthened the authority of Egypt in +Asia. Of course it could have in no way been the cause of the state of +affairs in Syria and Canaan; perhaps Amenophis III., whatever his own +great slackness, simply inherited the confusion in this part of his +empire. The heaviest blows could not in the long run prevent the Habiri +from returning to the attack again and again at brief intervals. Their +need of expansion was greater than their fear, and, after all, it mattered +little to Pharaoh whether the Habirite or the Canaanite paid tribute in +Palestine as soon as the intruder was prepared to acknowledge his rights. +Napkhuria's great weakness was his obvious partiality for those of his +officials who had become Aten worshippers, and the eagerness of these men +to exploit the royal favour was in proportion to their disbelief in the +permanence of the movement for reform. + +In their Babylonian form the Tell el Amarna tablets are in the first place +the product of the diplomatic custom of the time, but in many details of +their contents they show that the civilisation of Western Asia had for +centuries been based on a Babylonian foundation. With the lack of exact +information so frequently to be deplored in Egyptian accounts, the wordy +narratives of the campaigns of Thutmosis III. scarcely enable us to +determine exactly from which of the greater powers he had succeeded in +wresting districts of Syria and Palestine. As regards the political +situation there, even at the beginning of the Kassite Dynasty--a change +probably attended by long internecine struggles--Babylonia seems to have +lost its western possessions on the Mediterranean, and we may rather +suppose that it was the kings of Mitani who ruled these territories in the +time of Thutmosis III. + +Mitani, though still an extensive power, had seen its best days at any +rate when Tushratta with difficulty ascended the throne of his fathers. +The name "Hanirabbat" by which it was known to all its neighbours, must be +the older name, and also that of the original province to which later +acquisitions had been united. It is an established fact that Eastern +Cappadocia, the mountainous province of Melitene on the Upper Euphrates, +was still known as Hanirabbat about 690 B.C., and that, on the other hand, +Mitani, in the narrower sense of the term, must have corresponded to the +later Macedonian province of Mygdonia, _i.e._, Mesopotamia proper. We have +seen, however, that Ninua, afterwards the Assyrian capital Nineveh, was +part of the dominion of Tushratta, otherwise he could hardly have sent +Ishtar, the goddess of that city, to Egypt. The subsequent capital of +Assyria may have been the most easterly possession of the kingdom of +Hanirabbat-Mitani, the centre of gravity of which lay farther westward. In +the letters there is a remark of the king of Alashia recommending Pharaoh +to exchange no more gifts with "the kings of the Hittites and of +Shankhar." Mitani is, perhaps, here named Shankhar from its dependencies +in Asia Minor, or we may suppose it to have been the name of Tushratta's +residence. + +In contrast to the Hittite empire, which was pressing forward from the +neck of Asia Minor through the passes of Issus into Syria, and was rapidly +increasing in power, Mitani stood on the eve of its fall. Babylonians and +Hittites were alike watching to pluck the ripe fruit, and perhaps it +lacked little to decide Tushratta, instead of fighting once more for the +crown, to capitulate to the invading Hittites and see the end of the +kingdom of Mitani. The great "love" of this king for Egypt was not, +therefore, called forth merely by the glitter of gold, but also by dire +political necessity. The catastrophe occurred some few decades after the +correspondence comes to an end for us. Mitani vanished from the states of +Western Asia and gave place to small Aramaic kingdoms, while the eastern +boundary, together with Ninua, was seized by Assyria as the first step to +her subsequent suzerainty in the East. + +But still more swiftly overtaken of fate was the XVIIIth Dynasty in Egypt. +Napkhuria did not even see the completion of his city at Tell el Amarna, +for he died in 1370 B.C. His reform followed him, and the victorious +champions of Amon could raze to the ground the hated City of the Sun's +Disk. They must already have been on the march when in a happy moment it +occurred to a keeper of the royal archives to conceal the clay tablets in +the earth and thus save them for remote posterity. + + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX + + +The best translation of the Tell el Amarna tablets available for English +readers is that from the German of H. Winckler, published by Luzac, +London, 1896. + +Professor Flinders Petrie's _Syria and Egypt from the Tell el Amarna +Letters_ (Methuen, 1898) is a synopsis of the letters as far as they +belong to the relations of Egypt and Syria, with the addition of +geographical and historical notes. In the Introduction Professor Petrie +gives a harrowing account of the casual way in which the tablets were +found and of the criminal carelessness with which these priceless records +were subsequently handled. + +Some years afterwards, in 1891-2, Professor Petrie himself excavated what +was left of the ruins of the royal city of Amenhetep IV. An account of his +discoveries on that site and of his deductions from them may be found in +his finely illustrated memoir _Tell el Amarna_ (Methuen, 1894). He +particularly emphasises the skill and originality displayed in the remains +of the arts and crafts of the Tell el Amarna period, and emphatically +points out the evidence of active connection between Egypt and Ægean +(Mykenæan) civilisation at that time. His appreciation of the character of +Akhenaten differs considerably from that formed by the author of the +present pamphlet, and should be compared with it. In vol. ii. p. 205 _et +seqq._ of his _History of Egypt_, Professor Petrie maintains the same +views. The same volume also contains his earlier synopsis of the Tell el +Amarna tablets. + +Professor Maspero's account of the historical bearing of these tablets is +worked into the second volume of his great _Histoire Ancienne des Peuples +de l'Orient_, which is entitled _Les Premières Mélées des Peuples_. A +translation of that work has been issued by the Society for the +Propagation of Christian Knowledge, but in any parts relating to Biblical +history the student will do well to consult the original. + +The bearings of the tablets on Biblical history, and particularly the +evidence they have supplied as to the early date at which the art of +writing was practised in Syria and Palestine, have been favourite themes +of Professor Sayce. His arguments and conclusions on these points may be +found in _The Higher Criticism and the Verdict of the Monuments_ (S.P.C.K. +1894); _Patriarchal Palestine_ (S.P.C.K. 1895); _The Egypt of the Hebrews +and Herodotus_ (Rivington, Percival & Co., 1896), and elsewhere. + +Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO +London & Edinburgh + + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TELL EL AMARNA PERIOD*** + + + +CREDITS + + +July 29, 2008 + + Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1 + Produced by Gerard Arthus, David King, and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. 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