this rebel son of a dog, and I have been troubled. Now he has sent a message from the Western land—the land of my Lord: they will both march together, and I have been afraid for my Lord’s land.”
33 B., much broken at the top, refers to the existing promise or treaty, and continues: “I cause the land of my Lord to be guarded, and my countenance is toward the men who are servants of the King my Lord in peace. My Lord now I and Khatib are made friends,[1] and let my Lord know behold I have . . . in haste. The King of the land of the Hittites dwells . . . and I have been afraid . . . have armed . . . of the land . . . my Lord I remain quietly . . . in the West land . . . King my Lord to defend his land . . . and now behold in the land of Marhasse he dwells—two swift marches from the city of Tunip; and I fear his wastings. Let the city of Tunip be defended: my Lord is a shield to men who serve him; mayst thou hear what is said and my sons will . . . forever.”
39 B., broken at the top. “I have strengthened this . . . I have strengthened this wall in front of the mouth of the great pass,[2] and my Lord’s fortress. And let my Lord hear as to the servants of his servant—thy servant Aziru: they will keep watch: strife surrounds us: I trust there will be an expedition; and let us watch the lands of the King our Lord. Moreover to Dudu my Lord. Hear the message of the King of the land of Marhasse to me. They said: ‘Your father[3] what gold has this King of Egypt given him, and what has his Lord promised him out of the Land of Egypt; and all the lands, and all the soldier slaves they have fought against?’ (thus) they said . . . to Aziru . . . out of the Land of Egypt, and behold the slaves come round from the Land of . . . Ni[4]: they have rebelled; and I repeat that thirty chiefs push on against me . . . land of Egypt he remains . . . my Lord to Aziru . . . soldiers . . . Marhasse.”
- ↑ We cannot rely on Aziru’s protestations. If Khatib was a Hittite King, it is certain that both were intriguing against Egypt.
- ↑ Probably the pass in the valley of the ’Afrin River, near Kyrrhus, twenty miles north of Tunip, is meant, being on the direct road to Mer’ash.
- ↑ “Abuca” (“your father”) might be understood in the sense in which it is used every day in the East, where abûc means, “God curse your father!”
- ↑ Ni was to the east of Aziru’s country near Tunip.
