But I cause Betili to send against this (foe). Thus we wage war against them. And my trusty messenger I cause to be sent to your presence, as said; for you to return an order whether we shall do so or whether not. To Raban and Abdbaal, to Rabana and Rabziddu thus: behold to all of you be peace indeed, and will not you harden your hearts, and will not you settle all in your hearts, and do what is fitting from your places? Much peace; and to (the people?) peace be increased.”
91 B.—“To the King my Lord thus (says) the city Gebal[1] (and) thus Rabikhar (‘the Lord of Phœnicia’) thy servant. At the feet of my Lord the Sun seven times I bow. Do not be angry, O King my Lord, with the city of Gebal (Gubla) thy handmaid—a city of the King from of old, obeying what the King commands as to Aziru, and it did as he wished. Behold Aziru slew Adunu, Lord of the land of Ammia,[2] and the King of the land of Ardata,[3] and has slain the great men, and has taken their cities for himself. The city Simyra is his. Of the cities of the King only the city Gebal escapes for the King. Behold the city Simyra is subjected. He has smitten the city Ullaza.[4] The captains of both have gone into exile. Behold this sin Aziru wrought. Sinful are his strivings against her . . . he has smitten all the lands of Ham (Am), lands of the King; and now he has despatched his men to destroy all the lands of Ham; and the King of the land of the Hittites, and the king of the land of Nereb (Nariba)[5] (have made?) the land conquered land.”
From these letters we learn clearly that the Mongol kings near the Euphrates (and, as appears later, in Armenia) were leagued with the Hittites of Mer’ash in the extreme north of Syria, and of Kadesh on the Orontes, and were supported by the Amorites of the northern Lebanon and by some of the Phœnicians; that the enemy marched south, a distance of 300 miles, taking all the towns in the Baalbek Valley, reaching Damascus by the gorge of the Barada River, and advancing into the land of Ham—in Bashan—where all the chief towns
- ↑ This letter belongs to a late period in the war, since Ullaza has been taken. It is given here as referring to the land of Ham. It may very well have been written after Ribadda, the King of Gebal, left the city (see 71 B.)
- ↑ “Ammia,” mentioned again, appears to be Amyun, south of Simyra.
- ↑ “Ardata” is Ardi, near the last.
- ↑ Kefr Khullis, north of Gebal, agrees with the required position for Ullaza, which is mentioned often.
- ↑ Nariba is Nereb, on the Euphrates, in the Hittite country.
