What is the minimal number of canaanite citystates located in the shephelah in the amarna period. Ea 41 a letter from suppiluliuma, king of hatti, to. While much of this bears more particularly upon general history of the ancient orient, there is scarcely any part of it which does not directly or indirectly supply information which parallels some phase of biblical history. They are the correspondence found between the kings of egypt and those of foreign nations as well as official documents from the period.
The amarna period was an era of egyptian history during the later half of the eighteenth dynasty when the royal residence of the pharaoh and his queen was shifted to akhetaten horizon of the aten in what is now amarna. In a series of papers published in the 50s, 60s and in the. Gaz, the term also has turned up in a number of cuneiform texts from different parts of mesopotamia, syria, egypt, and asia minor in a timespan dating from the end of the. Full text of selections from the tell elamarna letters. Oct 26, 2012 the amarna letters are a collection of cuneiform tablets discovered in the ruins of ancient akhetaten the horizon of the sun. The amarna letters are a group of several hundred clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform wedgeshaped writing that date to the fourteenth century b. A compilation of resources drawn from dictionaries the amarna letters a nineteenth century musical chronicle events, 18001899, charles j.
The site is renowned for its frescoed palaces and for the royal sculpture workshop in which were found moving portraits. The amarna letters also known as the amarna tablets are diplomatic correspondence to amenhotep iii and iv written on clay tablets, most of which were discovered in 1887 by a fellaheen peasant woman at a site known as elamarna in central egypt. This book is a gold mine for anyone interested in amarna. Introduction sively with letters from subordinate rulers or vassals to the king or high egyptian officials. O king, i did not reject anything your father asked for, and your father never neglected none of the wishes i expressed.
A name used to describe a mound of ruins in egypt, halfway between memphis and luxor. Amarna letters list chronology despite a long history of inquiry, the chronology of the amarna letters, both relative and absolute, presents many problems, some of bewildering complexity, that still elude. The shephelah according to the amarna letters, in i. The amarna letters are a body of 14thcentury bce correspondence exchanged between the rulers of the ancient near east and egypt.
Amarna letter ea5 is a correspondence between kadasmanenlil i and amenhotep iii the letter exists as two artifacts, one at the british museum bm29787 and one in the cairo museum c12195 the letter is part of a series of correspondences from babylonia to egypt, which run from ea2 to ea4 and ea6 to ea14. Berlin, vorderasiatisches museum an old site but it offers access to highresolution photographs of the approximately 200. Five years later, morans original english version was published by the johns hopkins press. Rainey tel aviv introduction the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the amarna tablets was marked by the appearance of the french version of morans new translation moran 1987. The amarna letters provide invaluable insight into the nature of diplomatic relations among the great nations and petty states of the 14th century bce, as well as an incomplete and tantalizing hint of the strategic maneuvering that. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. The amarna letters were discovered in 1887 by a village woman digging ancient mudbrick for use as fertilizer. Barry kemp includes a wealth of information about the construction of the city, the various finds, and a general history of the site and the people who lived there.
For the main article of the 50 to 35 bc text corpus see. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. Ea 41 a letter from suppiluliuma, king of hatti, to akhenaten. The amarna letters are a group of inscribed clay tablets discovered around 1887 at amarna, a site in egypt on the east bank of the nile about 190 miles south of cairo. Find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Amarna letter ea5 is a correspondence between kadasmanenlil i and amenhotep iii. Amarna letters, cache of clay tablets discovered at tell elamarna in egypt and dating to the reigns of kings amenhotep iii and akhenaton of the 18th dynasty.
Pdf petrographic investigation of the amarna tablets. Moranthe johns hopkins university press baltimore and london. Lachish the amarna letters lachish, located at the site of tell edduweir between the coastal plain and the highlands of judah, was a canaanite and then an israelite city spanning over 1,000 years. The amarna letters are cuneiform tablets discovered at akhetaten in 1887 ce by a local woman who was digging for fertilizer. Discovered there, in about 1887, were nearly four hundred cuneiform tablets containing correspondence of the egyptian court with rulers of neighboring states in the midfourteenth century b.
Linguistic features of the elamarna tablets from akko, megiddo and shechem. The majority of these letters demonstrate that akhenaten was an able administrator. The letters show elements of the canaanoakkadian that is so prevalent in the amarna letters from canaan. They can be securely dated because the city of amarna was. The haroah and the kings of babylon, mittany and the way egyptian diplomacy worked are contained in thse letters written in cuniform on clay tablets which gives the reader an insight. Since the discovery of the amarna letters, where the appellation ohabiruo4 usually is written by the use of the sumerian logogram sa. This site, located 200 miles south of cairo, was later named elamarna, and the tablets became known as the amarna tablets or amarna letters. We know of 382 tablets, but many others were probably destroyed, or may even be a part of unknown private. Among them were letters written in babylonian cuneiform script to these pharaohs of egypt by various kings dwelling.
Aug 07, 2015 this time around we take a look at a few select cuneiform tablets from a collection known as the amarna letters. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. His enemies, however, were closing around him, and one of the tablets shows that the city was eventually captured and its king slain. The tell elamarna letters furnish an amount of historical material about equal in bulk to onehalf of the pentateuch. Its use in a vassals letter is a crafty attempt to exploit the diplomatic conventions of the late bronze age. In this study moran presented for the first time a thorough and detailed penetrating description of the syntax of the largest canaanite subcorpus of the amarna letters, namely that of ribhaddi of byblos. They are perhaps the earliest examples of international diplomacy while their most common subjects are negotiations of diplomatic marriage, friendship statements, and exchanged materials. Bedouin excavated more than 300 of the cuneiform tablets from the site but could not interest scholars in purchasing them. There were three long streets which ran the length of the city, parallel to the nile. Studies in the archaeology and history of israel in the late bronze age, iron age, and persian period in honor of david ussishkin winona lake, in. Pdf the representatives of power in the amarna letters. Whereas tell means hill in arabic and often refers to stratified cultures embedded in the earth, that is not its meaning here. Pdf the amarna letters are generally accepted as the most illustrative.
It was marked by the reign of amenhotep iv, who changed his name to akhenaten 5336 bc in order to reflect the dramatic change of egypts polytheistic religion into. To establish this we must rst set the criteria for estimation see na. The name is built upon the name of the village eltill and the name elamarna. Ea1 and ea5 are from egypt to babylonia the inscription translated reads.
The 380 tablets were written from the foreign rulers of citystates, as well as correspondence from the more powerful kingdoms to the north and east. Sutherland amarna letters also known as amarna tablets are mostly diplomatic letters with a few myths and epics dated to an interesting, historical period in ancient egypt, related the reigns of pharaoh akhenaten of the 18th dynasty of egypt and his wife nefertiti, and amenhotep iii 140264. Discovered in amarna, egypt, these letters are a rare insight into the communication between the pharaoh and the rulers of many cities around the bronze age world. A total of 382 tablets have been recovered, but many more were probably been lost or destroyed. This time around we take a look at a few select cuneiform tablets from a collection known as the amarna letters. Regarding canaanite intrusions, taanach letters 1 and 2 are somewhat different from taanach letters 5 and 6. The amarna letters represent the diplomatic correspondence between the pharaohs of the amarna period and their contemporaries in canaan, mesopotamia, anatolia and the aegean. Amarna letters mynarova major reference works wiley. It is the modern name for the ancient capital of amenhotep iv c. They are an important record of egypt during a period of 15 to 30 years during the later part of amenophis iiis 9153 bc rule and the rule of akhenaten 5336 bc.
In 1988 there were about 400 cuneiform tablets discovered at this site which were part of the royal archives of amenhotep iii and amenhotep iv akhenaten who reigned about 1400 bc. Since egypt is outside the area where cuneiform writing. The amarna letters consist of diplomatic correspondence of canaanite and other rulers with the egyptian pharaoh. The amarna letters essay the metropolitan museum of art. The city was abandoned shortly after the king died. The city is mentioned in some of the amarna letters, but these did not aid in its precise identification.
She had been digging there to use the dust of ancient buildings to fertilize her garden. Tell elamarna letters sent my man before my lord, and his two horses were taken, while in regard to another man, the man himself 1 was taken and the kings tablet was not given into the hand of my man. A letter has been found that was written by a man named abdiheba, governor of jerusalem, to an unnamed pharaoh, requesting aid from egypt in fighting the approaching hebrews. Side by side, too, with hard and legible pieces, lie broken and crumbling fragments which have suffered sadly during the few years that have elapsed since they were again exposed to the air. The site is renowned for its frescoed palaces and for the royal sculpture workshop in which were found moving portraits of the pharaoh, his children, and his beautiful wife nefertiti. Akhetaten 2738 n 3053e the capital city of king akhenaten about 5134 bc, founded in his 6th year.
The amarna tablets 2 not waste the good farm land, yet kept the city reasonably close to the necessary water supply. A few are of miniscule size, but also in pristine, or undamaged condition due to their size. Oct 31, 2011 a read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. This edition of the tell elamarna cuneiform tablets in the. The amarna letters are cuneiform tablets discovered in the new capital built by amenophis iv, who called himself akhenaton 6549 bc. Seven times is a common semitic expression for repeatedly. A new english translation of the amarna letters by a. The earliest of the letters date from late in the reign of amenhotep iii, and the latest date from the reign of ay, spanning a period from c. How do the amarna letters affect our understanding of the. Theamarna letters edited and translated by william l. According to the bible, after entering canaan, joshua had to go to war with the inhabitants of the land there is an amazing piece of evidence to support this. Hall, 1989, music, 374 pages how to grow more vegetables. The city was founded by the egyptian king pharaoh amenhotep iv, who later became known as akhenaten. The amarna letters are a collection of cuneiform tablets discovered in the ruins of ancient akhetaten the horizon of the sun.
However, both sets of letters share old babylonian characteristics like the amarna. The letter exists as two artifacts, one at the british museum bm29787 and one in the cairo museum c12195. William morans book is the most comprehensive and thorough analysis of the amarna letters. The amarna letters were from various canaanite petty kings who ruled cities across palestine and addressed to the egyptian pharaoh, whom they accepted as their overlord and absolute master. They are history in its rawest sense primary documents from the 14th century bce, primarily diplomatic letters from 19th dynasty pharohs to other rulers in the near east, with a smattering of other official corrospondence.
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