the (bitati) Egyptian soldiers are sent he will not be mastered, (nor) any of the men of blood, and the city of Sigata and the city of Ambi[1] are both taken, and thus . . .”
17 B. M.—“Ribadda speaks to . . . (Amenophis IV??[2]) the King of many Lands: at the feet of . . . my Sun-God. And I repeat as to . . . (the expedition?) against the city of Kappa[3] . . . and against the city Amma . . . Cities faithful to the King my Lord. Who is this Abdasherah?—a slave, a dog, and shall he . . . in the midst in the lands of my Lord? . . . the King my Lord has asked as to his servant, and . . . I send my messenger. Lo . . . my cities, and with the letter . . . my messages. And now behold he is marching to the city Batruna[4] and he will cut it off from my rule. They have seized the city of Kalbi[5]—the great pass of the city of Gebal. Truly the confederates are pushing on secretly from the great pass, and they have not made an end—mightily contumacious. For they have promised to take the city of Gebal . . . And let the King my Lord hear . . . this day . . . they have hastened chariots and . . . I trust and . . . and the fate of the city of Gebal . . . by them, and all the lands . . . as far as the land of Egypt have been filled with men of blood. My Lord has sent no news as to this decree as I hoped by letter. And we desire that the city be saved, and the villages of the city, from him, for my inhabiting. I have been hard pushed. Help speedily O King my Lord . . . soldiers and chariots, and you will strengthen the chief city of the King my Lord. Behold the city of Gebal: there is not, as is said, of chief cities (like) the city Gebal a chief city with the King my Lord from of old. The messenger of the King of the city of Acca[6] (Accho) honor thou with (my)
- ↑ Ambi (’Aba) was close to the last.
- ↑ Only —rari is left, which Dr. Bezold thinks refers to Amenophis IV; but it is doubtful if this letter can be placed so late.
- ↑ “Kappa” is Keffa. The plain of Keffa is close to Amyun, north of the great pass of Theouprosopon (Shakka). Amyun follows at once.
- ↑ “Batruna” is the well-known town Batrûn, the “Botrys” of classical writers, which lies south of the wild pass of Râs Shakkah, where apparently one of the battles of the war occurred (22 B. M.). When the pass was taken, Batrûn seems still to have held out with Gebal, being no doubt provisioned by sea.
- ↑ “Kalbi” is Kelbata, in the heart of the great pass. I visited all these places in 1881.
- ↑ In this case the modern name “Akka” is nearer to the spelling of these letters than is the Hebrew. This is the case with Shiloh and other important towns, showing the Canaanite extraction of the modern peasantry in Palestine. The Hebrews hardly ever re-
the great pass between Batriin and Tripoli.
