Amarna letter EA 149, titled: ''"Neither Water nor Wood"'' is a moderate- to extended-length
clay tablet
In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets (Akkadian ) were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age.
Cuneiform characters were imprinted on a wet clay tablet with a stylu ...
Amarna letter
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 ...
(mid 14th century BC) from
Abimilku
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 correspondence (1350–1335 BC). He is the author of ten letters to the Egypt ...
of Tyre-(called ''Ṣurru'' in the letters), written to the Pharaoh of Egypt.
The letter concerns the intrigues of neighboring
city-state
A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
s and their rulers, and the loss of the neighboring city of '' Usu'', from where the island of Tyre obtained supplies, for example, water, wood, etc. and a place for burying their deceased.
EA 149 is located at the
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 ...
, no BM 29811. Tablet letter EA 149 can be viewed here: Reverse Obverse
The letter
EA 149: ''"Neither Water nor Wood"''
EA 149, letter four of ten from the
Abimilku
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 correspondence (1350–1335 BC). He is the author of ten letters to the Egypt ...
. (Not a linear, line-by-line translation.)
''Obverse'' (Image
:(Lines 1-5)--To the king, my lord, my Sun, my god: Message of Abimilku, Abi-Milku, or servant. I fall at the feet of the king, lo d 7 times and 7 times. I am the dirt under the feet and sandals of the king, my lord.
:(6-20)--((O)) King, my lord, you are like the Sun, like
Baal
Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during Ancient Near East, antiquity. From its use among people, it cam ...
,1 in the sky. May the king give thought to his servant. The king, my lord, charged me with guarding Tyre, the maidservant of the king, but after I wrote an ''express'' tablet to the king, my lord, he has not replied to him. I am a commissioner of the king, my lord, and I am one that brings good news and ''also'' bad (news) to the king, my lord. May the king send 20 ''palace attendants'' to guard his city in order that I may go in to the king, my lord, and see his face .e. presence
:(21-27--What is the life of a ''palace attendant'' when breath does not come forth from the mouth of the king, his lord? But he lives if the king writes his servant, and he lives orver.
:(28-40)--For my part, ice last year y intention has beento go in nd behod the face((presence)) of the king, my lord, '' Zimredda,''_the_p.html" ;"title="Zimredda_(Sidon_mayor).html" ;"title="ut Zimredda,''_the_p">Zimredda_(Sidon_mayor).html"_;"title="ut_Zimredda_(Sidon_mayor)">Zimredda,''_the_pince,_''[heard_about_m.html" ;"title="Zimredda (Sidon mayor)">Zimredda,'' the p">Zimredda_(Sidon_mayor).html" ;"title="ut Zimredda (Sidon mayor)">Zimredda,'' the pince, ''[heard about m">Zimredda (Sidon mayor)">Zimredda,'' the p">Zimredda_(Sidon_mayor).html" ;"title="ut Zimredda (Sidon mayor)">Zimredda,'' the pince, ''[heard about m.'' He made ''[my caravan]'' turn back ''[fro]m'' the king, my lord, ''[saying, "Who c]an get you in [to the king?" Hea]r,''2 my lord!
Aziru
Aziru was the Canaanite ruler of Amurru kingdom, Amurru, modern Lebanon, in the 14th century BC. He was the son of Abdi-Ashirta, the previous Egyptian vassal of Amurru and a direct contemporary of Akhenaten.
The dealings of Aziru are well-known ...
, [the son of Abdi-Ashirta, 'Abdi]-Ashirta, [the re]bel against the king, '' Sumu.html" ;"title="Zemar.html" ;"title="as taken possession of Zemar">Sumu">Zemar.html" ;"title="as taken possession of Zemar">Sumu.''
''Reverse'' (Image
:(38-40)--.. Haapi [ ... ] ... [g]ave Sumur
Aziru
Aziru was the Canaanite ruler of Amurru kingdom, Amurru, modern Lebanon, in the 14th century BC. He was the son of Abdi-Ashirta, the previous Egyptian vassal of Amurru and a direct contemporary of Akhenaten.
The dealings of Aziru are well-known ...
.
:(40-54)--May the king not neglect hs city and his land. When I hear the name of the king and the name of his army, they will be very afraid, and all the land will be afraid, that is, he who does not follow the king, my lord. The king knows whether you installed me as commissioner in Tyre. ((Still)), Zimredda seized Usu from (his) servant. I abandoned it, and so we have neither water nor wood. Nor is there a place where we can put the dead. So may the king, my lord, give thought to his servant.
:(54-63)--The king, my lord, wrote to me on a tablet, ''"Write whatever you hear to the king."'' ''((1))-'' Zimredda of Si-Du-Na-(Sidon), ''((2))-'' and
Aziru
Aziru was the Canaanite ruler of Amurru kingdom, Amurru, modern Lebanon, in the 14th century BC. He was the son of Abdi-Ashirta, the previous Egyptian vassal of Amurru and a direct contemporary of Akhenaten.
The dealings of Aziru are well-known ...
, rebel against the king, ''((3))-'' and the men of
Arwad
Arwad, the classical Aradus ( ar, أرواد), is a town in Syria on an eponymous island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative center of the Arwad Subdistrict (''nahiyah''), of which it is the only locality.MÁ- MEŠ'')
:(62)--chariots, and infantry,4
:(63-63) to capture Tyre, the maidservant of the king.
:(64-73)--If the powerful hand of the king comes, it will defeat them. They will not be able to capture Tyre. They captured Sumur through the instructions of Zimredda, who brings the word-("matters") of the king to
Aziru
Aziru was the Canaanite ruler of Amurru kingdom, Amurru, modern Lebanon, in the 14th century BC. He was the son of Abdi-Ashirta, the previous Egyptian vassal of Amurru and a direct contemporary of Akhenaten.
The dealings of Aziru are well-known ...
. I sent-(wrote) a tablet to the king, my lord, but he has not replied to his servant.
:(74-84)-- ice last year there has been wa aainst me. There is no water, hre is no wood. May he send a tablet-(a request tablet) to his servant so he may go in and see his face-(presence).
''Left side''
:(78-84)--May the king ive thoughtto his servant and to his city, and may he not '' bandon' his city and his land. Why should '' commissioner'' ofthe king, our lord, move awa from the land? Zimredda''.html" ;"title="' Zimredda''">' Zimredda''knows, and the ''traitor'' knows-(traitors? know), that the arm5 of the king is absent. Now a ''palace attendant s bringing' my tablet to the king, the Sun, ylord, and may the king reply to his servant. --(EA 149, Obv. & Reverse complete except a large obverse flake (see photo), and missing bottom of obverse-(top of reverse ~5 lines damaged).)
See also
*
Abimilku
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 correspondence (1350–1335 BC). He is the author of ten letters to the Egypt ...
*
Amarna letters–phrases and quotations
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 ...