It has been feeble. And my lord in presence of my messenger the master shall ordain our fate. As has been said, have not I served in the presence of the bitati soldiers of my lord? Behold, as said, my lord has promised soldiers to this my land, and they shall . . . in the city Katna."

142 B.-"To the King my lord, thus saith this thy servant. At the feet of my lord my Sun, seven times on my face, seven times I bow. My lord, I am thy servant, and they will devour me - Neboyapiza: we abide before thy face, my lord, and lo! they will devour me in your sight. Behold every fortress of my fathers is taken, by the people out of the city Gidisi.13 And my fortresses say, 'Speed us avengers." I make ready, and because that the Pakas 14 of the King my lord, and the chiefs of his land have known my faithfulness, behold I complain to the ruler being one approved; let the ruler consider that Neboyapiza has given proof. . . for now they have cast thee out. As for me I have gathered all my brethren, and we have made the place strong for the King my lord. I have caused them to march with my soldiers and with my chariots, and with all my people. And behold Neboyapiza has sped to all the fortresses of the King my lord. Part of the men of blood are from the land Ammusi, and part from the land of Hubi, and it is won (or reached). But march fast, thou who art a God 15 and a Sun in my sight, and restore the strongholds to the King my lord from the men of blood. For they have cast him out; and the men of blood have rebelled, and are invaders of the King my lord. We were obedient to thy yoke, and they have cast out the King my lord, and all my brethren."

[189 B. is much broken. It is from Arzana, chief of the city Khazi.16 He speaks of an attack on Tusulti, by bloody

-

now

13 Gidisi, or Cidisi, is apparently Kadesh of the HittitesKades on the Orontes - north of the city of Neboyapiza. 14 Paka is one of the words used to designate Egyptian residents or generals.

15 Elohim is in the plural, as several scholars have remarked. It often applies to the King of Egypt.

16 Khazi is evidently Ghazzeh, near the south end of the Baalbek plain, south of the Damascus road.

4

soldiers fighting against the place, and perhaps of the city Bel Gidda (Baal Gad), and mentions a Paka, or Egyptian official, called Aman Khatbi, named after the Egyptian god Amen. The foes are spoiling the valley of Baalbek in sight of the Egyptian general, and are attacking Khazi, his city. They had already taken Maguzi, and are spoiling Baal Gad. It seems that he asks the King not to blame his general, and speaks finally of friendly and faithful men.]

[43 B. M., broken at the top, reads thus:]

"... his horses and his chariots . to men of blood and not ... As for me, I declare myself for the King my lord, and a servant to preserve these to the King entirely. Biridasia perceives this, and has betrayed it, and he has secretly passed beyond my city Maramma; 17 and the great pass is open behind me. And he is marching chariots from the city Astarti, and commands them for the men of blood, and does not command them for the King my lord. Friendly to him is the King of the city Buzruna; and the King of the city of Khalavunni 18 has made promises to him: both have fought with Biridasia against me. Wickedly they vex us. I have marched our kinsmen the people of Neboyapiza

but his success never fails and he rebels. As for me from... and he sends out from. . . the city Dimasca (Damascus) behold. . . they complain . . . they afflict. I am complaining to the King of Egypt as a servant; and Arzaiaia is marching to the city Gizza, 19 and Aziru takes soldiers. . . . The lord of the city Saddu 20 declares for the men

17 May be read "Yanuamma." It seems to be M'araba, north of Damascus, which agrees with the context. The great pass mentioned here in connection with Damascus was apparently that by which the main road from the west came down the Barada at Abila. This is the "entering in" to Damascus, which (Gen. xiv. 15) was in the land of Hobah.

18 Khalavunni, or Halabunni, is the Helbon of the Bible (Ezek. xxvii. 18), now Helbon, north of Damascus, and five miles north of the middle of the pass.

19 Gizza is perhaps the important town Jezzin, in the Lebanon, southwest of Kamid, unless it be Jizeh, in Bashan, between Edrei and Bozrah.

20 Saddu is perhaps Nebi Shit, south of Baalbek, or possibly, though

of blood, and her chief does not declare for the King my lord; and as far as this tribe marches it has afflicted the land of Gizza. Arzaiaia with Biridasia afflicts the land, which is wretched (or Abitu), and the King witnesses the division of his land. Let not men who have been hired disturb her. Lo! my brethren have fought for me. As for me, I will guard the town of Cumidi (Kamid), the city of the King my lord. But truly the King forgets his servant . . . his servant, O King. . . have arrayed kings. . . the men of the wretched land (Abitu).”

152 B.-"... thus Ara, chief of the city Cumidi 21 (Kamid) at the feet of the King my lord seven times seven times I bow. Behold as to me I am thy faithful servant: let the King my lord ask of his Pakas (chiefs) as to me, a faithful servant of the King my lord, one whom they have ruined. Truly I am a faithful servant of the King my lord, and let the King my lord excuse this dog, and let him bear me in remembrance. But never a horse and never a chariot is mine, and let this be considered in sight of the King my lord; and closely allied 22 is his servant; and to explain this I am dispatching my son to the land of the King my lord, and let the King my lord deign to hear me."

46 B. M.-"At the feet of the King my lord seven and seven times I bow. Behold what this our saying tells, as to the land Am (Ham) the fortresses of the King my lord. A man named Eda . . . has arisen, a chief of the land Cinza, east of the land of the Hittites, to take the fortresses of the King my lord . . . and we made the fortresses for the King my lord, my God, my Sun, and we have lived in the fortresses of the King my lord."

125 B.-" To the King my lord thus Arzaiaia, chief of the city Mikhiza.23 At the feet of my lord I bow. King my less probably, Sh'ait, south of Kamid, on the southwest slope of Hermon.

21 Cumidi, or Kamid, was important as a central station between Damascus and the coast cities of Sidon and Beirut.

22 Or, perhaps, “hard-pressed."

23 Mikhiza, perhaps the same as Maguzi, written by another scribe

lord, I have heard as to going to meet the Egyptian bitati soldiers of the King my lord who are with us, to meet the general (Paka) with all the infantry. all who have marched to overthrow the King my lord. Truly a great strength to the people are the Egyptian bitati soldiers of the King my lord, and his commander (Paka). As for me, do I not order all to . . . after them? Behold they have been speedy, O King my lord, and his foes are delayed by them by the hand of the King my lord."

171 B.-" A message and information from the servant of the King my lord, my God. . . . And behold what the chief of Simyra has done to my brethren of the city of Tubakhi;24 and he marches to waste the fortresses of the King my lord, my God, my Sun . . . the land of the Amorites. He has wearied out our chiefs. The fortresses of the King my lord, my God, are for men of blood. And now strong is the god of the King, my lord, my God, my Sun; and the city of Tubakhi goes forth to war, and I have stirred up my brethren, and I guard the city of Tubakhi for the King my lord, my God, my Sun. And behold this city of Tubakhi is the city of the plains of my fathers."

132 B." To the King my lord by letter, thus says Artabania, chief of the city Ziribasani 25 thy servant. At the feet of the King my lord seven times, on my face, seven times I bow. Behold a message to me to speed to meet the Egyptian bitati soldiers. And who am I but a dog only, and shall I not march? Behold me, with my soldiers and my chariots, meeting the Egyptian soldiers at the place of which the King my lord speaks."

the modern Mekseh, as given above. “Maguzi” might be otherwise transliterated as "Mukhzi."

24 Tubakhi is the Tabukhai of the “Travels of an Egyptian," in the reign of Ramses II. (Chabas, p. 313), mentioned with Kadesh on Orontes, and is the Tibhath of the Bible (1 Chron. xviii. 8), otherwise Berothai.

25 Dr. Sayce calls this "the fields of Bashan "; probably, when taken with the next letters, we may place the site at Zora, in Bashan, now Ezra. De Rougé and Mariette showed that Thothmes III. conquered Bashan.

78 B. M.-"To the King my lord, thus the chief of the city Gubbu,26 thy servant. At the feet of the King my lord, my Sun, permit that seven times, on my face, seven times I bow. Thou hast sent as to going to meet the Egyptian soldiers, and now I with my soldiers and my chariots meet the soldiers of the King my lord, at the place you march to."

64 B. M.-" To Yankhamu 27 my lord by letter, thus Muutaddu, thy servant. I bow at my lord's feet as this says, announcing that the enemy is hastening speedily as-my lord was announced to the King of the city Bikhisi 28 from friends 29 of his lord. Let the King my lord speed: let the King my lord fly: for the foe is wasting in the city Bikhisi this two months, there is none .. On account of Bibelu having told me this one has asked them . . . until by the arrival of Anamarut (Amenophis IV.) 30 the city of Ashtoreth is occupied.31 Behold they have destroyed all the fortresses of neighboring lands: the city Udumu,32 the city

26 Gubbu is perhaps Jubbata, on the south side of Hermon, near the places mentioned in the next letter.

27 Yankhamu, an Egyptian commander, appears in these letters in all parts of the country, from the extreme south to the north, and in Phenicia as well as in Bashan. His name does not seem to be Semitic. 28 This letter does not say who the enemies were or in which direction they advanced. Perhaps Bikhisi may be regarded as the present 'Abbaseh (by inversion of the guttural), which is fifteen miles southwest of Damascus, near the main road to the town of Jabesh, whence the letter comes.

29 The word rabizi, which is here made equivalent to zukini, gives great difficulty. In Hebrew the root means "to rest," and the word is still applied in Palestine to resting of flocks. Zukini appears, as Dr. Bezold points out, to be the same as the Phenician word Soken (which has exactly the required letters); but the meaning of this also is doubtful. Renan translates it either "inhabitant" or "senator." The word occurs in the Bible (1 Kings i. 2, 4; Ezek. xxviii. 14), with the meaning also doubtful, but the root means to cherish." Perhaps "friends" suits best the various recurrences.

66

30 This word seems to mean "glory of the sun," the Egyptian “Khuen-Aten." The explanation throws light on a difficult passage in a letter from Elishah (B. M. 5). If Khu-en-Aten (Amenophis IV.) is intended, he may have been commander while still only a prince, since the events seems to belong to the reign of Amenophis III.

31 Astarti seems here to be Ashtoreth Carnaim, the present TelAshterah.

32 Udumu, now Dameh, the Dametha of Maccabean times.