Abimilki ( ''Amorite'': , '' ^LÚa-bi-mil-ki'', ) around 1347 BC held the rank of Prince of Tyre (called "Surru" in the letters), during the period of the

Amarna letters The Amarna letters (; sometimes referred to as the Amarna correspondence or Amarna tablets, and cited with the abbreviation EA, for "El Amarna") are an archive, written on clay tablets, primarily consisting of diplomatic correspondence between t ...

correspondence (1350–1335 BC). He is the author of ten letters to the Egyptian

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...

, EA 146–155 ( EA for 'el

Amarna Amarna (; ar, العمارنة, al-ʿamārnah) is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site containing the remains of what was the capital city of the late Eighteenth Dynasty. The city was established in 1346 BC, built at the direction of the Ph ...

'). In letter EA 147, Pharaoh

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dy ...

confirmed him as ruler of Tyre upon the death of his father, and in EA 149, referred to him with the rank of ''

rabisu In Akkadian mythology the Rabisu ("the lurker"; Sumerian Maškim, "deputy, attorney"), or possibly Rabasa, are vampiric spirits, daimons, or demons. The Rabisu are associated in mythology with the Curse of Akkad. A consistent translation of "R ...

'' (general). Abimilki is not referenced by name in any other letters of the 382-letter corpus. His name has been linked with the biblical

Abimelech Abimelech (also spelled Abimelek or Avimelech; ) was the generic name given to all Philistine kings in the Hebrew Bible from the time of Abraham through King David. In the Book of Judges, Abimelech, son of Gideon, of the Tribe of Manasseh, is ...

. His name means "My father (is) king."

Historical background

Following the request of Akhenaten to disseminate his political updates in Kinaha, some other city states rebelled against this decision. The background was the vacancy in the position of ''rabisu'' in the garrison of Tyre, which Akhenaten staffed with non-Egyptians for organizational reasons. Eventually, as in letter EA 149, Akhenaten conferred the status of ''rabisu'' of Tyre upon Abimilki. Zimredda of Sidon, and Aziru of Amurru, previously allied with Abimilki, responded by conquering

Sumuru Sumuru is a female supervillain created by Sax Rohmer, author of the Fu Manchu series of novels. She first appeared in a 1945-1946 BBC radio serial, which was rewritten as a novel in 1950. Four more novels were published between 1951 and 1956. T ...

and occupying the territories around Tyre. Abimilki advised Amenhotep of the dangerous situation in several letters. In letter EA 151 (see her

, Abimilki mentions the Danunans: "Behold, dangerous enemies are besieging Tyre. The king of Danuna is meanwhile dead; his brother now reigns. He behaves peacefully toward me." Later in the letter, Abimilki warns of the rebels: "Behold, the fort of Tyre is running out of fresh water and wood. I will send you Ilu-milku as a messenger. At present there are no Hittite troops, but Aitakama of Kadesh is together with Aziru in battle against Biryawaza of Damascus. Meanwhile, Zimredda has been reinforced with troops and ships from Aziru; he has besieged me, and it is very dangerous.

Abimilki's letters

The titles of Abimilki's letters are as follows: :EA 146: "Abimilki of Tyre" :EA 147: "A Hymn to the

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...

" :EA 148: "The Need of Mainland Tyre" : EA 149: "Neither Water nor Wood" (See '' Haapi'') :EA 150: "Needed: Just One Soldier" :EA 151: "A Report on

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

" (See external links:letter and '' Sea Peoples'') :EA 152: "A Demand for Recognition" : EA 153: "Ships on Hold" :EA 154: "Orders Carried Out" (See ''

Zimredda (Sidon mayor) Zimredda, also Zimr-Edda or Zimr-Eddi ( ''Amorite'': ) was the mayor of Sidon, (i.e. the "King of Sidon") in the mid 14th century BC. He is mentioned in several of the Amarna letters, in the late Rib-Hadda series, and later. He authored letters EA ...

'') :EA 155: "Servant of Mayati" ("Mayati" is a

hypocoristicon A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek: (), from (), 'to call by pet names', sometimes also ''hypocoristic'') or pet name is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for I ...

for Meritaten,

's daughter)

Example letters of Abimilki

EA 147, "A Hymn to the Pharaoh"

The topic of "A Hymn to the Pharaoh" is not Zimredda; however, the war of Aziru son or Abdi-Ashirta, the constant lookout, and reporting by Zimredda is addressed at the very end of this letter. The photo of the external links shows the condition of EA 147, (minus a corner). See: phrases and quotations. Instead of "seven times and seb times", in 147 the

scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...

goes far deeper, using "one half of seven times". A partial reference to the

prostration formula In the 1350 BC correspondence of 382–letters, called the Amarna letters, the prostration formula is usually the opening subservient remarks to the addressee, the Egyptian pharaoh. The formula is based on prostration, namely reverence and s ...

may be used in the letter middle, when he uses "on my front and on my back". Zimredda of Sidon is the topic of five of Abimilki's ten letters.

EA 148, "The Need of Mainland Tyre"

Abimilki of Tyre has sent his tribute to Pharaoh who appointed him, and he requests of Pharaoh ten foot soldiers for protection, since his own men have been taken by the king of Sidon. He also mentions that the king of Hazor has gone over to the enemy, the

Habiru Habiru (sometimes written as Hapiru, and more accurately as ʿApiru, meaning "dusty, dirty"; Sumerian: 𒊓𒄤, ''sagaz''; Akkadian: 𒄩𒁉𒊒, ''ḫabiru'' or ''ʿaperu'') is a term used in 2nd-millennium BCE texts throughout the Fertile C ...

who are taking over Canaan.

EA 149, "Neither Water nor Wood"

See:

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

commissioner Haapi.

EA 151, "A Report on Canaan"

See: external link article/write-up.

EA 154, "Orders Carried Out"

Five of Abimilki's letters concern his neighbor and conflict enemy Zimredda of Sidon. See:

EA 153, "Ships on Hold"

See picture
EA 153 (Obverse)

References

* Moran, William L. ''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, )

External links

Amarna letters (photos)

King of Babylon:
EA 9-(Obverse)
see: Karaduniyaš

Tushratta Tushratta (Akkadian: and ) was a king of Mitanni, c. 1358–1335 BCE, at the end of the reign of Amenhotep III and throughout the reign of Akhenaten. He was the son of Shuttarna II. Tushratta stated that he was the grandson of Artatama I. His si ...

:
EA 19-(Obverse)
Tushratta

with '' ''Black''

Hieratic Hieratic (; grc, ἱερατικά, hieratiká, priestly) is the name given to a cursive writing system used for Ancient Egyptian and the principal script used to write that language from its development in the third millennium BC until the ris ...

''
Article
(

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

); see: Shaushka
EA 28-(Obverse)
see:

Pirissi and Tulubri Pirissi and Tulubri are a pair of messengers of the 1350– 1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. Pirissi and Tulubri are the messengers of King Tushratta of Mitanni, and are referenced in Amarna letters EA 27, 28, and EA 29, ( EA for 'el Amarna') ...

" Alashiya kingdom" letters:
EA 34-(Obverse)
see: EA 34 Rib-Hadda letters:
EA 126-(Obverse)

; See:

Salhi (region) The Salhi is a region/city-state in the vicinity of Ugarit during the 15-20 year Amarna letters correspondence of 1350–1335 BC. The region of ''Salhi'' is referenced in only one letter of the Amarna letters corpus, that of EA 126, (EA for 'e ...

Abimilki:
#1: EA 153-(Obverse)#2: EA 153-(Obverse)-2nd
see: Abimilki Abdi-Tirši:
EA 228-(Obverse)//(228,330,299,245,252)
(EA 330, for Šipti-Ba'lu)
ArticlePic writeup
Biridiya:
EA 245-(Obverse)EA 245-(Reverse)

Hannathon Hannathon, and of the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters, Hinnatuna, or Hinnatuni/Hinnatunu, is the Biblical city/city-state of Hannathon, (meaning: ''"the Gift of Grace"''); in the Amarna letters correspondence as ''Hinnatuna'', it is a site in southern ...

/''

Hinnatuna Hannathon, and of the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters, Hinnatuna, or Hinnatuni/Hinnatunu, is the Biblical city/city-state of Hannathon, (meaning: ''"the Gift of Grace"''); in the Amarna letters correspondence as ''Hinnatuna'', it is a site in southern ...

'' Labaya:
EA 252-(Obverse)
see Labaya Others:
EA 299-(High Res.)(Obverse)
see Yapahu
EA 369-Front/Back-(Click on each)
see: Milkilu

Letters

*Letter: EA 147
EA 147-(Obverse)
*Letter: EA 153
#1: EA 153-(Obverse)#2: EA 153-(Obverse)-2nd

Articles

( Sea peoples, Abimilki letter) *
British Museum photo of obverse, (obverse, reverse, & sides are scribed)

Views of all sides, British Museum site
*

Amarna letter EA 34 Amarna letter EA 34, titled: ''"The Pharaoh's Reproach Answered"'', is a moderately tall clay tablet Amarna letter from the King of Alashiya. ((Obverse)-See here Besides a complicated story line to EA 34, the letter is shown to be in ''Very G ...

CDLI entry for letter 34, showing first line stating: ''Message King Land A-La-Ši-iya''. (''Umma Lugal Kur Alashiya'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Abimilki Amarna letters writers Kings of Tyre 14th-century BC rulers 14th-century BC Phoenician people Phoenicians in the Amarna letters