Part 29 (2/2)

68 B. M.-Perhaps earlier than the preceding; reads: ”To the King my Lord my G.o.d my Sun thus (says) _Suyardata_ thy servant: seven and seven times this soul and this body bow. Let the King my Lord learn. I am one (put to shame?). There shall be Egyptian soldiers (_pitati_) despatched of the King my Lord. I am hard pressed; and consider thou me (come out to me?) and I shall be established by the King my Lord.”

101 B.-With the usual salutation is from _Suyardata_, and, though broken, appears to read: ”It is my desire to approach, as taking refuge with the King my Lord. Who am I to regard (being seen?)? Let me approach the King my Lord with these things (articles) of silver-and the silver is pure. O King my Lord _Yankhamu_ (is) thy right hand; and I am mourning for him, since, wholly having gone away, no Egyptian soldiers (_bitati_) will come back to me from the King my Lord. Let the King my Lord learn how thirty temples of the G.o.ds he has put to shame-he who fights against me. I am left alone. Mightily he has fought against.... Give me rest O King my Lord from his hand. The King my Lord shall send Egyptian soldiers (_bitati_).

Now _Yankhamu_ also has returned to the house of the King my Lord. He shall come back-soldiers of the King my Lord with him. Mighty is he who has fought against _Suyardata_ and (men) fail.”

The enemy must have been of another race to destroy the temples. The letter is valuable because it shows that _Yankhamu_ was a contemporary of _Suyardata_, who was a contemporary with _Adonizedek_, for _Yankhamu_ was also contemporary with _Aziru_, who was living about twenty years after the death of Thothmes IV.

LETTERS OF THE LADY BASMATH

137 B.-”To the King my Lord my G.o.d my Sun by letter thus (says) the Lady whose name is _Basmatu_,(361) thy handmaid. At the feet of the King my Lord my G.o.d my Sun, seven times seven times, I bow. Know O King my Lord behold! there has been war in the land, and the land of the King my Lord has been wearied by rebels, by men of blood. And know O King as to his land, and know my foolishness (or disgrace). Behold the men (or chiefs) of blood have sent to the city of _Ajalon_, and to the city of _Zar'a_ (Zorah),(362) and (this is) to show that there is no place of refuge for the two sons of _Milcilu_; and know O King my Lord this request.”

138 B.-”To the King my Lord my G.o.d my Sun by letter thus (says) the Lady whose name is _Basmatu_, thy handmaid, the dust of thy feet, and at the feet of the King my Lord my G.o.d my Sun seven times seven times I bow. Let the King my Lord pluck his land from the hands of the men of blood. Am not I tired marching to the town of _Zabuba_; and because of not resting O King my Lord?”

There is only one place in Palestine called Zabuba; it is the Sububa of the fourteenth century, the modern Ezbuba, south of Taanach, west of the plain of Esdraelon. Poor Basmath had to go some sixty miles by road to reach it from her home. This interesting little letter, which shows she was not one of the ladies sent to Egypt, though probably a person of importance, seems perhaps to indicate that the central part of the country, from which no appeals for help occur in the letters, was undisturbed. The Amorite-Hitt.i.te league came down to Bashan and to Tyre, but not apparently as far as Accho. The Hebrews, on the other hand, coming from Seir, are said to have gone as far north as Rimmon and s.h.i.+loh, but were mainly fighting southward from Ajalon. Between the two theatres of war lay the whole of Samaria and lower Galilee, in which Basmath found a refuge.

OTHER LETTERS FROM THE SOUTH OF PALESTINE

136 B.-”To the King my Lord (my G.o.d?), the Sun from heaven, by letter thus (says) _Yamirdagan_ thy servant: at the feet of the King my Lord seven times seven times I bow. I hear the message of the King my Lord to me, and now I will guard the city of the King my Lord till the coming of a message of the King my Lord for me.”

Comparing the name with that of Dagontacala of Ascalon, it appears that this writer was probably a Philistine.

151 B.-A letter from the ”Chief of the town _n.a.z.iba_” to say he goes with his chariots and horses to meet the King's soldiers. This place must, therefore, have been in or near the plains. It may be the Nezib of the Bible (Josh. xv. 43), now _Beit Nusib_, eight miles northwest of Hebron, close to Keilah. The chariots could easily reach this vicinity from the plain, by the broad flat highway of the Valley of Elah.

55 B. M.-With the usual salutation, _Ben Addu_, captain of the King's horse, says: ”Now they watch the land of the King my Lord exceedingly. And who am I-a dog.... He will hear the messages of the King my Lord and of the _Ka-pa_ (for _Paka?_) of the King my Lord. To (_Sagusi Khasi?_) ...

thus (says) _Ben Addu_: I bow at thy feet. All is failing. So now those who are our friends are fleeing to the King; will not he despatch ... the road.... Now they guard the road: it is cleared for thee.”

56 B. M.-The usual salutation from _Ben Addu_, of the city of _Pitazza_; continues: ”Now they guard the city, and land of the King my Lord, the Sun from heaven: all that the King has said they watch-the allies. And the decree of the message of the King my Lord _Bel Anapa_ (Baal Anubis) the _Paka_ of the King my Lord has uttered. The King my Lord is mighty as the Sun in heaven. Whom I but a dog, and shall such a one not mind the message of the King my Lord the Sun from heaven?”

153 B.-From the same _Ben Addu_, of _Pitazza_, with the usual salutation, and to the same effect as the preceding, but too broken to read.

The only site which seems to be suggested by Pitazza is the important ruin of _Futeis_, southeast of Gaza. It is near the road to Egypt and in the plains. The letters probably refer to arrangements for the flight of the kings of Jerusalem and Gezer, or of their wives.

77 B. M.-A short broken letter by _Satiya_, who was apparently chief of the city (or chief town) of _Eni-Saam_(_si_), which is perhaps En-Shemesh, close to Zorah, in the Valley of Sorek, now _'Ain Shems_. It is the Ir-Shemesh of the Bible (Josh. xix. 41), otherwise Beth-Shemesh (Josh. xv.

10). Here, again, we find an Egyptian station in an open valley, on one of the main roads to Jerusalem.

133 B.-”To the King my Lord by letter thus (says) the chief of _Kanu_ thy servant: at the feet of the King my Lord seven times and seven times I bow. Thou thyself hast sent to me, to muster to meet the Egyptian soldiers (_bitati_); and now I with my soldiers and with my chariots (am) in sight of the soldiers of the King my Lord, as far as the place you will march to.”

This town cannot well be any of the Kanahs of Palestine, since the word would then be ”_Kanatu_.” It is more probably the important ruin _Kanya_, close to Rabbath of Judah, immediately west of the Valley of Elah; chariots would be possible in this vicinity.

LETTERS FROM UNCERTAIN SITES

33 B. M.-”To the King my Lord by letter thus (says) _Abd Istar_(?)(363) the King's servant. At the feet of the King my Lord I bow, seven times at the feet of the King my Lord, and seven more, both heart and body. And this is to show the King my Lord how mightily he fights against me, and destroys the rulers from the presence of the King my Lord; and the great King shall give orders for my defenders. Moreover, it sends messages to the King my Lord as to me, and I shall hear all the messages of the King my Lord. I will listen. Now ten women (concubines?) I am retaining.”

Perhaps these were some of the ladies on their way to Egypt: ”_tumiki_”

seems to come from the root ”_wamak_,” an Arabic root meaning ”to love.”

The Amorite words with an initial ”_vau_” are nearer to Arabic than to Hebrew or Aramaic. One of the commonest is ”_uras_,” ”to desire” or ”ask,”

whence one of the names of Istar, the G.o.ddess of desire.

34 B. M.-Is a short letter broken at the end; it merely acknowledges a message, and is from _Abd Astati_. There was a deity _As_, or _Ast_, apparently of Egyptian origin.

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