Aziru the son of Abdasherah is marching with his brethren from[1] the city Gebal: and despatch Egyptian soldiers (bitati), and thou shalt march against him and smite him—the land is the King’s land; and since one has talked thus and you have not moved, the city of Simyra has been lost. The King my Lord shall hear the news of his faithful servant. There is no money to buy me horses, all is finished, we have been spoiled. Give me thirty (companies—tapal?) of horse with chariots . . . men . . . there is none of this with me . . . not a horse . . .”
22 B. M.—“To Amanabba[2] . . . as a letter, thus says this Ribadda thy servant. I bow at my Lord’s feet. The God Amen and Baalath of Gebal have established your power in the presence of the King my Lord. To what purpose is thy messenger with me to go to the King your Lord? And may I indeed expect horses and chariots to be ordered of thee? Will not you fortify the city? And this is heard by your message, and I am sincere, but the covenant is mocked and no soldiers are heard of with it. And they have routed the . . . The city of Batruna (Batrûn) is his; and bloody soldiers and chariots have established themselves in the midst of the city, and I had lain in wait for them outside the great pass of the city of Gebal[3] . . . to the King my Lord . . . with thee the soldiers of the prefect . . . chariots and here with . . .”
45 B. begins with the usual salutation, and continues: “The King my Lord will be sad. Why will you not send him to me? Behold I have no ruler over my fugitives. The city of Simyra they have (shut up?); all have turned on me: and two chiefs of the land of Egypt, who travelled from the palace, went not forth. No man has travelled to the King who might carry my letter to the palace. Now these two chiefs brought us letters
- ↑ Zimridi of Sidon is mentioned as a fugitive, while Gebal still held out. Aziru marched from (ina) Gebal, no doubt, to attack the south. In later ages the shore cities often held out while invaders from the North marched on Egypt.
- ↑ Amanabba was not really his father; it is a title of courtesy. His father was Rabzabi (81 B., 82 B.), and Amanappa is an Egyptian name. A certain captain Amenemhib has left an account of his pass his services in North Syria, at Aleppo, Carchemish, Kadesh, and at Ni, where he hunted elephants; but this is supposed to have been a century earlier. The site of Ni is settled by these letters and by the Karnak lists as being in Mesopotamia, and there is a picture of an elephant among the Asiatic spoils of Thothmes III. It is very curious to find elephants so far west in Asia at this period.
- ↑ Probably “outside” means north of the pass, and Ribadda made the serious military mistake of defending his pass from outside instead of inside.
