Amarna letter EA 256, in short EA 256, catalogued under the title ''Oaths and Denials'', is one of a total of about 350 so-called Amarna letters, belonging to an official correspondence dating to the mid-14th century BC (about

1350 BC Events and trends * c. 1356 BC – Amenhotep IV begins the worship of Aten in Ancient Egypt, changing his name to Akhenaten and moving the capital to Akhetaten, starting the Amarna Period. * c. 1352 BC – Amenhotep III ( Eighteenth D ...

till 20–25 years later). The initial corpus of letters were found at

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 D ...

's city Akhetaten, on the floor of the

Bureau of Correspondence of Pharaoh The building known as the Bureau of Correspondence of Pharaoh (also known as the Records Office) is located in the 'Central City' area of the ancient Egyptian city of Akhetaten, known as Amarna in modern times. The city was the short-lived capit ...

; others were later found, adding to the body of letters.

Description

EA 256 is a square, mostly flat

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 sty ...

letter written on both sides; it is also written on the bottom, top (=bottom of ''reverse'' side), and the last 3 lines are written on the left edge (

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

), where the start of lines on the obverse form a 'straight' margin. The reverse of the letter (see Rohl), has a list of towns in, or associated with the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

. The surface of the letter is rough (partially eroded?), or photos of the reverse especially, do not easily highlight the

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sh ...

characters. The topic of the letter is the whereabouts of

Ayyab Ayyab was a ruler of Aštartu (present day Tell Ashtara) south of Damascus. According to the Amarna letters, cities/city-states and their kings in the region — just like countries to the north, such as Hatti of the Hittites, fell prey to a w ...

, supposedly in

Pella, Jordan Pella ( gr, Πέλλα, ) was an ancient city in what is now northwest Jordan, containing ruins from the Neolithic, Chalcolithic,Bronze Age, Iron Age, Canaanite, Hellenistic and Islamic periods. It is located in a rich water source within the ea ...

(Pihilu of the letters). Each text line was written with a horizontal line scribed below the text line, as well as a vertical left margin-line, (beginning of text at left) scribe line on the obverse of the tablet. The letter contains 14 (15) lines on the obverse, continuing on the bottom tablet edge to conclude at line 31 on the reverse, leaving a small space before the final tablet edge. At least 4 lines from the obverse intrude into the text of the reverse (appearing as upside-down cuneiform into the text of the reverse), actually dividing the reverse into a top half and bottom half, and even creating a natural spacing

segue A segue (; ) is a smooth transition from one topic or section to the next. The term is derived from Italian ''segue'', which literally means "follows". In music In music, ''segue'' is a direction to the performer. It means ''continue (the next ...

to the reverse's text, and the story.

Brief letter summary

Letter EA 256 is authored by

Mutbaal Mutbaal ( Akk. "man of Baal") was a Canaanite king of the Amarna Period. He is identified in the Amarna letters as a son of Labaya, the ruler of the hill country north of Jerusalem, including the territory in the vicinity of the city of Shachmu (b ...

, the son of

Labaya Labaya (also transliterated as Labayu or Lib'ayu) was a 14th-century BCE ruler or warlord in the central hill country of southern Canaan. He lived contemporaneously with Pharaoh Akhenaten. Labaya is mentioned in several of the Amarna Letters (abbr ...

, and written 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 ...

The letter

Translation

EA 252, letter two of two. (Not a linear, line-by-line translation, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

from French.) ''Obverse:'' :(Lines 1-4)--Say to

Yanhamu Yanhamu, also Yenhamu, and Enhamu, was an Egyptian commissioner of the 1350- 1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. Yanhamu is referenced in 16 of the 60–letter ''"Rib-Hadda of Gubla"''-(Byblos) sub-corpus, and also 12 additional letters. ...

, my lord: Message of

Mut-Bahlu Mutbaal ( Akk. "man of Baal") was a Canaanite king of the Amarna Period. He is identified in the Amarna letters as a son of Labaya, the ruler of the hill country north of Jerusalem, including the territory in the vicinity of the city of Shachmu (b ...

, your servant. I fall at the feet of my lord. :(4.3-10)--How can it have been said in your presence,¹ ''"Mut-Bahlu has fled. He has hidden

?"'' How can the king of Pihilu flee from the commissioner: '' sú- ki- ni'' of the king, his lord? :(10)--(As)-The King, Lord, Him – Lives! ("The Living) :(11)--(As)-The King, Lord, Mine – Lives! ("The Living) :(12)--The King, Lord, Mine – "If 'to come to shame', .." :(10-19)--As the king, my lord, lives, as the king, my lord, lives, I swear Ayyab is not in Pihilu. In fact, he ''h

s been in the fie S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. Histor ...

d''² for two months. Just ask Ben-Elima. Just ask Tadua. ''Reverse:'' (starts at lines 18–19) :(19-28)--Just ask Yišuya whether, after ''he obed'' Šulum-Marduk, I went to the aid of Aštartu, when all the cities of Garu(

) had become hostile: Udumu, Aduru, Araru, Mešta, Magdalu, Heni-anabi, Sarqu.³ ( Hayyanu, along with Yabiluma, has been captured.)⁴ :(29-35)--Moreover, seeing that, after you sent me a tablet, I wrote to him — before you arrive from your journey, he will surely have arrived in Pihilu. And – I do obey

our Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulato ...

orders.⁵--(''complete, Obverse & Reverse, lines 1-35'')

Akkadian text

The

Akkadian language Akkadian (, Akkadian: )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages''. Ed. Roger D. Woodard (2004, Cambridge) Pages 218-280 is an extinct East Semitic language th ...

text: ''Obverse'': :(Line 1)-- A- na 1.-^diš iYa- Na- Ha- Me,.. EN- ia,..--(To

,..Lord-mine,.. ) :(2)-- qí- bí- ma,.. um- ma 1.-^diš Mu- uT-Bahlu --(..'speaking',.. "Message" 1.-

-(1.-Mut-^dIŠKUR)) :(3)-- ARAD- ka,.. a na 2.-^dišGÌR. MEŠ,.. EN- ia,.. --(..Servant-yours,.. at 2-feet(pl),.. Lord-mine,.. ) :(4)-- am-

qut Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the Urban area, urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Poin ...

!... --(..I bow-(down)!... ) :

:(4.3)-- Ki- i qa- bi- ma, --(..How "can (it) be said", ) :(5)-- i- na pa- ni- ka:.. ^Quote 1.-^diš Mu- uT-Bahlu-

mì ''Mì'' or ''mi'' is a Vietnamese term for yellow wheat noodles. It can also refer to egg noodles. They were brought over to Vietnam as wonton noodles by Chinese immigrants. The Vietnamese version of wonton noodles is ''mì hoành thánh''. The n ...

,--(.."in your presence":.. ^Quote 1.-

, ) :(6)-- in-

né A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth reg ...

- bi- it 1.-^diš A- iYa- aB(

)?...^Unquote --(.."has hidden",..

?...^Unquote ) :(7)--:-Gloss: hi- ih- bé- e ki- i in₄-

- bi- tu :(8)--

LUGAL Lugal ( Sumerian: ) is the Sumerian term for "king, ruler". Literally, the term means "big man." In Sumerian, ''lu'' "𒇽" is "man" and ''gal'' " 𒃲" is "great," or "big." It was one of several Sumerian titles that a ruler of a city-state coul ...

,.. ^{URU
Uru or URU may refer to:

Language
* Uru dialect of Central Kilimanjaro, a Bantu language of Tanzania
* Uru language, the extinct language of the Uros, an Amerindian people
* Uru of Ch'imu, an extinct language of the Uros, an Amerindian people
...} Pí- Hi- Lì,.. iš tu,..--(..King,.. ^City Pihilu,.. from,.. ) :(9)-- pa- ni LÚ. MEŠ,.. ra- bi- ṣí,.. :-Gloss: sú- ki- ni--(..Before men(pl),.. commissioner(s),.. :-Gloss: The Prefect"... ) :

:(10)--

- EN-

šu The cuneiform šu sign is a common, multi-use syllabic and alphabetic sign for ''šu'', ''š'', and ''u''; it has a subsidiary usage for syllabic ''qat''; it also has a majuscule-(capital letter) Sumerogram usage for ŠU, for Akkadian language ...

,.. li- ib- lu- ut--(..King-Lord-Him!.. "The Living"!... ) :(11)--

- EN- ia,.. li- ib- lu- ut--(..King-Lord-Mine!.. "The Living"!... ) :(12)--

- EN- ia,.. šum- ma I₁₅- ba- ši--(..King-Lord-Mine!.. If,.. "to come To Shame"!... ) :(Line 1)--(Ana

,.. ^ENBēlu-ia,.. ) :(2)--(qabû,.. umma

,.. ) :(3)--(..ardu-ka,.. ana 2.-šēpu,.. ^ENBēlu-ia,.. ) :(4)--(maqātu!... ) :

:(4.3)--(kî "qabû," ) :(5)--(.."ina pānu":.. ^Quote1.-

, ) :(6)--(in-né-bi-it 1.-

?...^Unquote ) :(7)--(:-Gloss: hi-ih-bé-e kî in₄-né-bi-tu ) :(8)--(...King,.. ^City Pihilu,.. from,.. ) :(9)--(..pānu Men(pl),.. Rābiṣu,.. :-Gloss: Sakānu!... ) :

:(10)--(..LUGAL-ri(ŠÀR-ri/(Šarru)) ^ENBēlu-šu balāṭu!.. ) :(11)--(..LUGAL-ru((ŠÀR-ru)) ^ENBēlu-ia balāṭu!.. ) :(12)--(..LUGAL-ru((Šarru)) ^ENBēlu-ia!... Šumma,.. bâšu!.. ... )

References

External links

Line Drawing, cuneiform, and Akkadian, EA 256: Obverse & Reverse
CDLI no. P270949 (''Chicago Digital Library Initiative'') Amarna letters Canaan