Amarna letter EA 282 is a relatively short ovate

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 ...

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 ...

, located in 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. 29851. The letter contains only 16 lines of

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 ...

text, in Akkadian, with lines 12 to 16 covering half of the tablet's reverse. Of note, the scribe, though the tablet is unparagraphed, inscribed a line along the bottom of the front side below line 11; and likewise, at the start of the letter, a line is inscribed above the top of line 1, on the obverse. (See photo, Obverse

Letter EA 282 is from

Šuwardata Šuwardata, also Šuardatu, (''Shuwardata'') is understood by most scholars to be the king of the Canaanite city of Gath (Tell es-Safi), although some have suggested that he was the 'mayor' of ''Qiltu'', (Keilah?, or Qi'iltu) during the 1350- 1335 ...

, of Qiltu (typical in the Amarna letters: the "Man-( LÚ), URU-Qiltu-( ki), the "Govern-or" or 'Man of the (URU)-City-(his)'), to the Pharaoh of Egypt, and is from one of the vassal states in Canaan. Visually, the tablet is ovate, with even the inscribed cuneiform signs having ovate form, almost over the entire letter. Consequently, though EA 282 is topical, and tells a story, its first appearance is more like a piece of art, rather than a "diplomatic letter" (correspondence). The identified older photo (pictured), also shows an art-like appearance. Most Amarna letters are much more standard, and like a text, though the many styles of letters, as well as clay-types, leads to dramatic differences in Amarna letter's visual appearances. The Amarna letters, about 300, numbered up to EA 382, are a 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 ...

and 20 years later, correspondence. 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, in 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.

The letter

Notes on the EA 282

Typically an Amarna letter states the individual addressee (PN, personal name), addressor (PN), and the town/region they are from. Qiltu, the city/region of Šuwardata is not mentioned. In formulaic introductions, EA 282 has a very short formula, (with the addition of "over-flowing", "7 and 7 (times) over-flowing", rare in the Amarna letters). A number of letters also use the "on the front, and on the back", making this letter 2 extra lines in length. Otherwise, EA 282 is approximately the shortest letter possible, stating: Persons, formulaic introduction, statement of position, and need for continued Archer-troop aid/Pharaonic support.

EA 282: ''"Alone"''

One of eight letters from Šuwardata A translation from 1982, ''Biblical Archaeologist'' magazine: :(Line 1) "To (the) king, my lord, :(2) (my) god, and my sun. :(3) thus (says-(speaks)) Šuwardata, '' ''your'' -ARDU-ma, "The Servant"Servant :(4) 7 and 7 (times), ''"over-flowing", '' I have fallen :(5) at the feet-(s), 1. "King-Lord-mine", :(6) (and)="Both" on (my) stomach ''-(Upon Arriving!)'' :(7) And (on my back!) ''-(Upon Departing!)'' :(8) May the "King- :(9) -Lord-mine" be aware, (that) I, (am) alone!. :(10) Let (the) "King- :(11) -Lord-mine" send (me)

Archers (Egyptian pitati) Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

:(12-Reverse) :(12-Reverse) (in) great number :(13) and, save me! :(14) : (– gl–) "let him save me!" ("get me out") :(15) and, (=So), may 1. "King- :(16) -Lord-mine" know. -EA 282, Obverse and Reverse, lines 1-16, complete The cuneiform signs, (with some Akkadian words): :(Line 1) a- na, 1 LUGAL-(=Šarru)- ri, EN-(="bēlu", Lord)- ia, :(2) dingir- meš- nu ù dingir-

UTU Utu (dUD "Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. ...

-(Sun God)- ia :(3) um- ma Yi- Šu- Ar- Da- Ta (Šuwardata) ARDU-(=Servant)-ma-(The) :(4) 7 ù 7 (times), mi- la, ma-aq-ta- ti (maqātu) :(5) a-na GÌR-(šēpu, foot)- meš 1. "LUGAL-ri- EN-ia" :(6) ù ka- ba- tu- ma :(7) ù ṣú- ú- ru- ma :(8) le-el- ma- ad "LUGAL- ri :(9) - EN- ia" a- na- ku 1.- EN ba- ša-ti :(10) u-(=pi)yu-uš-ši- ra "LUGAL- ri- :(11) - EN- ia" ERIM-(army)- meš- pí- ta- ti :(12-Reverse) :(12-Reverse) ma- a'- ad ma- gal :(13) ù pi).html"_;"title="pi_(cuneiform).html"_;"title="i-(=pi_(cuneiform)">pi)">pi_(cuneiform).html"_;"title="i-(=pi_(cuneiform)">pi)yi-_ki-im-ni_(cuneiform).html" ;"title="pi_(cuneiform)">pi).html" ;"title="pi_(cuneiform).html" ;"title="i-(=pi (cuneiform)">pi)">pi_(cuneiform).html" ;"title="i-(=pi (cuneiform)">pi)yi- ki-im-ni (cuneiform)">ni :(14) : (– gl–) [ya-(= ia)] ya-ṣí- mi :(15) [yi-(=pi)] yi-[il]- ma- ad "

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 ...

- ri- :(16) - EN- ia"

List of Šuwardata's 8-letters

:#EA 278—title: ''"As ordered (4)"'' :#EA 279—title: ''"A wasteland"'' :#EA 280—title: ''" Lab'ayu redevivus"'' :#EA 281—title: ''"Rebellion"'' :#EA 282—title: ''"Alone"'' :#EA 283—title: ''"Oh! to see the king.'' :#EA 284—title: ''"The powerful hand of the king"'' and from the later corpus: :# EA 366—title: ''"A rescue operation"''

External links

Photo, EA 282: ObverseArticle, with Amarna letter EA 282 (in Spanish)

References

*Biblical Archaeologist, summer 1982, pp. 146–147. Includes line art of

showing cuneiform sign layout. * Moran, William L. ''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, {{ISBN, 0-8018-6715-0) * Parpola, 1971. ''The Standard Babylonian

Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with ...