messenger. And we have given cavalry at his pleasure . . . and a division of horse . . . because of pleasuring him[1] . . .”
60 B.—After salutation: “The King my Lord shall know: behold Benmabenat[2] son of Abdasherah strives for the city Gatza.[3] They have subdued the city of Ardata, the city Yahlia, the city Ambi, the city Sigata,[4] all the cities are theirs; and the King shall order the cutting off of the city Simyra, so that the King may rule his land. Who is this Abdasherah?—a slave, a dog. O King it is thy land, and they have joined the King of the land of Mitani. But come to us to the King’s land to . . . before the cities of your rulers are destroyed; and lo! this has been said . . . thy Paka, and not . . . his cities to them. Now they have taken the city of Ullaza[5] for it is as has been said, until you shall march to this city of Simyra. And they have slain for us the Paka and the Egyptian (bitati) soldiers who (were) in the city of Simyra . . . they have done to us, and shall not I go up . . . to the city of Simyra? The cities Ambi, Sigata, Ullaza, (Caphar?) Yazu[6] have fought for me. Their destruction for us by them, will be pleaded against the city of Simyra, these cities . . . and the sons of Abdasherah . . . Alas! and the city of Gebal demands of the men of blood as to the city Tikhedi.[7] I marched; but there befell an entering-in to spoil by the men of blood.”
23 B. M.—The usual salutation is absent, and it seems to be written to an official: “To . . . as a letter thus Ribadda. I bow at thy feet. Baalath of Gebal the God of the King my Lord may (she?) strengthen thy power in the presence of the King thy Lord—the Sun of the lands. You know behold that a (covenant?) has been engraved. But why was it sent? And lo! this thou shalt announce: I am left in fear that an end will
- ↑ “Patzil” I understand to be equivalent to the Arabic “Fadl,” meaning to do pleasure or honor to a person.
- ↑ The Amorite chief had more than one son, as is clear in some cases. Benmabenat (or Bumabuat) was Aziru’s brother.
- ↑ Perhaps the name survives in that of the river Kadisha, near Tripoli.
- ↑ Ardata (Ardi), Ambi (’Aba) and Sigata (Shakkah) were north of the pass; Yahlia, representing I’al, rather farther north than the others.
- ↑ Ullaza (Kefr Khullis) was close to Batrûn, on the south.
- ↑ “Caphar Yazu,” or Alu-yazu, seems to be Kefr Yashit, near the others.
- ↑ Perhaps “Takheda” of another letter (58 B.).
named towns, and the nomenclature preserves the ancient Canaanite forms found in the lists of Thothmes III a century earlier than these letters. Many towns were named from Canaanite and Philistine gods (Shamash, Dagon, etc.), and the forms of the names in the Karnak lists are Aramaic, and not Hebrew.
