The Old Testament In the Light of The Historical Records and Legends Part 26

"When Aur-nadin-a?i, my father, sent to the land of Egypt, they caused to be sent to him 20 talents of gold.

"When the ?anigalbatian king sent to Egypt to thy father, he caused 20 talents of go(ld) to be brought to him.

"(Behold), thou hast caused to be brought ... gold to the ?ani(gal)ba(tian) king ... and to me, (but f)or the going and returning it suffices (?) not for wages for my messengers.

"If friends.h.i.+p be desirable unto thee, cause much gold to be brought; and as it will be thy house, send, and let them take what thou desirest.

"We are distant countries-in this wise let our messengers go about.

"Those who delayed thy messengers were the Sut.i.tes, their persecutors; dead (was I) until I had sent, and they had taken the persecuting Sut.i.tes.

Their bands (?) shall verily not delay my messengers.

"As for messengers abroad, why should they be detained and die there? If they stay abroad, the king will have the advantage, so let him stay and let him die abroad-let the king then have the advantage. And if not, why should the messengers whom we send die abroad? ... attack the messengers and cause them to die abroad."

The last paragraph is difficult to understand on account of its being so mutilated, but the sense of the whole seems now to be fairly clear.

Aur-uballi? desires to be on friendly terms with Egypt, but he is anxious to get, above all, the precious metal which was said to be so plentiful there, and for which all the rulers of Western Asia seem to have hungered.

And this leads to the interesting statement in the fifth paragraph, in which gold in Egypt is said to have been as dust; and there is the question, "Why should it go round into thine eyes?" (_Ammini ina ene-ka isa??ur?_) implying that, being dust, it behaved as dust, and was in that respect undesirable, and therefore to be got rid of. He would like to have some for the decoration of his palace-his father, and the king of ?anigalbat had been favoured in this way. Let it not be as little (apparently), as that sent to the ?anigalbatian king, for that would not suffice to pay his messengers. The interchange of things needed as presents made good friends. It was a lawless band of Sut.i.tes who had detained the Egyptian king's messengers, and he was as one dead until his people had stopped their depredations. It was useful to a king that his amba.s.sadors lived and died abroad, but not that they should be attacked and killed there.

The relations of Egypt with another cla.s.s of ruler is well ill.u.s.trated by the following letter from a prince or governor brought up in Egypt-

Yabitiri a.s.serts His Faithfulness, And Touches Upon His Early Life.

"To the king my lord, my G.o.ds, my Sun-G.o.ds, say also thus: '(it is) Yabitiri thy servant, the dust of thy feet. At the feet of the king my lord, my G.o.ds, my Sun-G.o.ds, seven times, and twice seven times I fall.

Furthermore, behold, I am a faithful servant(61) of the king my lord. I look here, and I look there,(62) and it is not clear; then I look upon the king my lord, and it is clear. And the brick-foundation may give way from beneath its wall, but I will not give way from beneath the feet of the king my lord. And the king my lord may ask Yan?ama, his official, (concerning) when I was young, and they sent me down to Egypt, where I served the king my lord, and stood in the city-gate of the king my lord.

And the king my lord may ask his official when I guard the city-gate of Azzati (Gaza) and the city-gate of Yapu (Jaffa). And I am with the hired troops of the king my lord, where they go, I am with them, and I am also, therefore, with them now. The yoke of the king my lord is on my neck, and I bear it.' "

Apparently there had been spread abroad some statement reflecting on the faithfulness of the writer, who seeks to justify himself by appealing to his former services to the Egyptian king. His letter has a ring of sincerity in it which is wanting in many of the communications of this nature.

Reference has already been made to the caravans which pa.s.sed through the territory of the various rulers, and the protection which those rulers were supposed to extend to them. Burra-buria, in his letter translated above, complains that Babylonian caravans had been attacked in the land of Canaan, and asks for the punishment of the persons involved. To all appearance the protection of the caravans was entrusted to certain chiefs, owing allegiance to the Egyptian king, who always held themselves ready to perform this duty. The following translation shows how one of the chiefs or governors of a Canaanitish district looked after the caravans, as his father did before him-

Letter From Mut-Zu'u To The King Of Egypt.

"To the king, my lord and my sun, say thus: 'It is Mut-zu'u(63) thy servant, the dust of thy feet, the earth for thee to tread upon. Seven times, twice seven times, I fall down at the feet of the king my lord.'

"The king my lord has sent by ?aya to speak of the ?ana-galbat(64) caravan. This I have dispatched and have directed it. Who am I, that I should not dispatch the caravans of the king my lord? Behold, (Lab)'aya, my father, (who was faithful) to the king his lord, used to send (a caravan, and give directions concerning it. The cara)vans (which) the king (di)rected to the land of ?ana-galbat (and) to the land of Kara-dunia let the king my lord send. (As to) the caravan, I will bring it so that it is safe."

As will be seen from this, Mut-zu'u was one of the humble va.s.sals of "the king his lord," who at that time-evidently the peaceful days of Amenophis III.-was the happy possessor of many such. As examples of the relations between the smaller rulers and their suzerain, may be quoted two of the numerous letters of Yidia of Askelon, who provided the necessaries for the Egyptian army in Palestine.

Yidia, The Askelonite, Concerning The King's Representative.

"To the king, my lord, my Sun, the Sun who (cometh) from the heavens, (say also) thus: '(It is) Yidia, the Askelonite, thy servant, the dust of thy feet, thy charioteer.(65) I fall down before the feet of the king my lord seven times and twice seven times, back and breast.'

"Now (for) my (lord), (for) the G.o.ds of the king my lord, my G.o.d, my Sun, I guard this city, and again ... let me protect all his land.

"I have heard the words of the king my lord to his representative, when he is not able to protect the country of the king my lord. So now the king my lord has appointed Rianappa, the representative of the king my lord, to whom(66) I will bring (?) good fortune for the king.

"Whatever cometh out of the mouth of the king my lord, lo, that will I keep day and night."

Yidia Concerning The Commissariat.

"To the king my lord, my Sun, my G.o.d, the Sun who (cometh) from the heavens, (say also) thus: '(it is) Yidia thy servant, the dust of thy feet, thy charioteer. I fall down at the feet of the king my lord seven times and twice seven times, back and breast. Behold, I am keeping the commands of the king my lord, the son of the Sun, and behold, I have provided the food, drink, oil, grain, oxen, (and) sheep, for the soldiers of the king my lord-provisions, every kind, for the soldiers of the king my lord. Who would be a va.s.sal, and not obey the words of the king my lord, the son of the Sun?' "

Letters similar to the above are numerous, and show that Egyptian rule was not regarded as burthensome-indeed, it may have been even welcome, tending in all probability to the preservation of peace. It must have been difficult, however, for the Egyptian king to hold the scales of justice always even, for among the governors were always men who professed faithfulness, but who aimed at throwing off the Egyptian yoke, light as it was.

In all probability the trouble began in the north, that district being farthest from the Egyptian marches, and what was going on there was on that account longer in reaching the knowledge of the king. Judging from a letter from Ili-rabi?, written from Gebal, Etakama, of Kinza and Kadesh, smote the whole of the lands of Amki, "the territory of the king." "And now," the inscription continues, "he has sent his people to seize the lands of Amki and the places. Further, the king of the land of ?atta (Heth), and the king of the land of Narima (Naharaim), have been unsuccessful (?), and" (here the writer breaks off the narrative).

Another account of this affair is as follows-

Beri (Or Bieri) To The King About The Attack On Amki.

"To the king, my lord, (my G.o.d, my sunG.o.d), say then thus: 'It is Beri, (thy servant), the ?aabite.' Down to the dust of the feet of the king my lord 7 (times) and 7 (times) I fall. Behold, we occupy, in Amki, the cities of the king, my lord, and Edagama, the Kinzite, has gone to meet the soldiers of ?atta (Heth), and set (the cities) of the king my lord on fire. And may the king my lord know, and may the king (my) lord give field-soldiers. And we will occupy the cities of the king my lord, and we will dwell in the cities of the king my lord, my G.o.d, my sunG.o.d."

This and two other accounts, one of which is from "Ilu-daya, the ?azite,"

all agree, and show that three officials were occupying cities in the territory known as Amki (identified with _'Amq_, a plain by Antioch, or _'Amqa_, N.E. of Akka), when Edagama (whose name also appears as Etagama, Etakkama, Itatkama, Itakama, Ai?ugama, and Aidaggama) joined the Hitt.i.te troops who were hostile to Egypt. It was in consequence of this, in all probability, that the three officials decided to write to the king of Egypt to let him know how things were going, and this they did in identical terms, with the same expressions, and the same peculiarities of spelling, pointing to the probability that the same scribe wrote all three communications. In the letter of Ili-rabi?, from which a quotation is given on p. 288, Amki is called "the king's territory," implying that it was a tract acknowledging Egyptian supremacy, which Etagama was trying to wrest from the Pharaoh's grasp. It was the king's friends who were occupying the king's cities (as Beri, Ilu-daya, and the unknown writer call them), because they desired to hold them against this active enemy.

With help from the Egyptian king, they thought that they would be able to do this without difficulty. There seems to be (as far as can at present be judged) no reason to suppose that the beginning of the expulsion of the Egyptians from Palestine was due to the over-zeal of the supporters of Egyptian rule in that country, who, striving to extend the influence and the dominions of their suzerain, drew down upon him, and upon themselves, the hostility of all the independent states of Western Asia, as well as of those which wished to throw off the Egyptian yoke. The Egyptian kings would surely have warned their va.s.sals in Palestine against the danger of such action on their part.

As an additional light upon the events here referred to, the following extract from a letter from Akizzi of Qa?na to Amenophis III. may be of interest:-

"O lord, Teu(w)atti of the city L(apa)n(a) and Arzauia of the city Ru?izzu are setting themselves with Ai?ugama (Etagama) and the land of (U)be. He is burning the territory of my lord with fire.

"O lord, as I love the king my lord, and likewise the king of the land Nu?ae, the king of the land of Ni, the king of the land of Zinzar, and the king of the land of Tunanat; and all these kings are for the king my lord serviceable.

"If the king my lord will, then he will go forth. (But they say) thus: 'The king my lord will not go forth.' Then let my lord send out field-troops, and let them come, since this land, as also, my lord, these kings, is well disposed towards him. (They are) my lord's great ones, and whatever their gifts (contributions), let him speak, and they will give (them).

"O lord, if this land is to be off the mind of my lord, then let my lord send forth field-troops, and let them come. The messengers of my lord have arrived.

"O lord, if Arzauia of the city of Ru?izzu and Teuwatti of the city Lapana remain in the land of Ube, and Daa remain in the land of Amki, then may my lord know concerning them, that the land of Ube is not my lord's. They send to Ai?ugama every day saying thus: 'Come and take the land of Ube completely.'

"O lord, as the city Timagi in the land of Ube is at thy feet, so also is the city Qa?na at thy feet. And, my lord, with regard to my messenger, I ask for life, (and a)s I do not fear with regard to the field-troops of my lord, that the field-troops of my lord will come, as he will send (them) forth to me, I shall re(tire) into the city Qa?na."

Thus the trouble spread, and the Hitt.i.tes and their allies took possession of the territories south of the tracts referred to, trying, at the same time, to win over to their side the governors who were faithful. All this time posing as a friend of the Pharaoh, Etagama complained of the others, particularly Namya-waza, one of Egypt's most trustworthy allies, who, in a letter couched in the usual humble style of the period, announces his readiness to serve "with his horses and chariots, and with his brothers, and with his SA-GAS, and with his Sut.i.tes, along with the hired soldiers, whithersoever the king his lord should command him."

Now in this letter there is one noteworthy fact, and that is, that the SA-GAS and the Sut.i.tes are mentioned together as the allies of an important va.s.sal of the Egyptian king, the latter being apparently wandering hordes of plunderers (see above, p. 283), whom Kadaman-Muru, king of Babylonia, sent from east to west "until there were no more." This took place at a somewhat later date, so that they still roamed about the eastern portion of the country, between Palestine and Babylonia, apparently giving their services to any power which might desire to make use of them.

The question of the identification of the troops or bands of warriors designated by the Akkadian compound SA-GAS is, however, of still greater importance. Most a.s.syriologists regard them as being identical with the ?abiri, mentioned in the letters of Abdi-tabu or Ebed-tob. This, of course, is possible, but it is unfortunate that no direct confirmation of this identification exists. In the bilingual lists of Babylonia and a.s.syria, the expression SA-GAS, duly provided with the determinative prefix indicating a man or a cla.s.s of men, occurs, and is always translated by the word _?abbatu_, the probable meaning of which is "robber," from the root _?abatu_, "to plunder". It is also noteworthy that there is a star called SA-GAS, and this is likewise rendered by the same word, namely, _?abbatu_. The fact that it is once provided with the determinative _ki_ ("place") does not help us, for this may be simply an oversight or a mannerism of the scribe. Moreover, the difficulty of identifying the SA-GAS with the _?abiri_ of the inscriptions of Abdi-?aba is increased by the word occurring in these texts (Winckler's No. 216, l.

11), followed by the explanation (_ameluti ?abati_), an arrangement which we find in others of these letters, when an ideograph has to be explained; and when they are, as here, Akkadian ideographs and Babylonian words, the second is always the p.r.o.nunciation of the first-never the alternative reading. Indeed, in the present case, such an explanation would be misleading instead of helpful (were the word SA-GAS to be read _?abiri_), for the scribe tells you to read it _?abati_-the same word as is given in the bilingual lists, but spelled with one _b_ instead of two.

In all probability, therefore, the _?abati_ were wandering hordes differing from the Sut.i.tes in not having any special nationality, and being composed of the offscourings of many peoples of the ancient East.

They were probably included in the _?abiri_, together with the nations with which they were afterwards a.s.sociated. The _?abiri_ were not the Hebrews, neither the word nor the date being what we should expect for that nationality, who were still in Egypt. The best identification as yet published is that of Jastrow, who connects it with the Hebrew Heber, the patronymic of various persons. Better still, however, would be the Heb.

_?aber_, pl. _haberim_, "companions," also used of tribes joined together to form a nation. Whether an advance guard of the Hebrews is to be included in this term or not, must be left to the judgment of the student.

The gradual loss of the districts south of Damascus in all probability followed. A letter from Mut-Addu (the only one from him) to Yan?amu speaks of the cities of the land of Garu (identified-though the identification is not quite satisfactory-with the Heb. Gur), namely Udumu (identified by Petrie with Adamah, though the form does not agree so well as might be wished, and Udumu is the usual way of rendering the word Edom, which is referred to in the cuneiform inscriptions both as a land and a city), Aduri (Petrie: et-Tireh), Araru (Petrie: Arareh), Metu (Petrie: Mushtah), Magdali (Magdala), ?ini-anabi (Ain-anab, if rightly identified-there is a certain difficulty in the word possessing a guttural at the beginning and not likewise as the first letter of the second component-probably 'Anab, south-west of Hebron, the Anab of Josh. xi. 21), and Sarki. At this time, according to the tablet, Hawani and Yabii (Jabesh) had been captured. It is probably on account of the occupation of the country by so many hostile tribes that the protest of Burra-buria of Babylonia (see p. 281) was sent, but it was in all probability exceedingly difficult for the Egyptian king to afford any protection whatever to the caravans which pa.s.sed through the disaffected area.

One of the things which the Tel-el-Amarna letters show very clearly is, that it must have been very difficult for the Pharaoh to know who were his friends and who were his enemies among the rulers of the Philistines. The Amorite Abdi-Airta and his allies were from the first desirous to throw off the Egyptian yoke, but this prince at the same time constantly sent letters to Amenophis IV. protesting his fidelity. Other chiefs who were hostile to Egypt are Etakama, the sons of Lab'aya, Milkili, Yapa-Addu, Zimreda of Sidon, Aziru, and others. On the king's side were Namyawaza, who held k.u.midi (Petrie: Kamid-el-Lauz), Rib-Addi, whose chief cities were Gebal, Beyrout, and Simyra, Zimreda of Lachish, and Abdi-?aba of Jerusalem. Numbers of chiefs, at first faithful, went over to the enemy when they saw the success of the league against the foreign power.

It is impossible to suppose that the letters now known (about three hundred in number) represent all the correspondence which pa.s.sed between Palestine and Egypt concerning the state of the country during the reigns of Amenophis III. and IV., and from the time the troubles there commenced, complaints and applications for help must have claimed the attention of the Egyptian translator literally in shoals. One of the most remarkable of these is the letter from the people of Dunip, who say that, in consequence of the state of things in Palestine, they belong no longer to the king of Egypt, to whom they had been sending for twenty years, but their messengers had been retained. Their prince (to all appearance) had been taken back to Egypt by the king's orders, after he had allowed him to return to his country, so that they had not seen him again. "And now Dunip, thy city, weeps, and its tears flow, and there is no one to take our hands (_i.e._ help us). We have sent to the king, the lord, the king of Egypt, and not a single word from our lord hath reached us."

Were they really sorry to be no longer under Egyptian rule? or were they merely desirous that their prince should be restored to them?