Amarna letter EA 38, titled ''A Brotherly Quarrel'', Moran, William L. 1987, 1992. ''The Amarna Letters.'' EA 38, ''"A Brotherly Quarrel"'', pp. 111-112. is a letter from the King of

Alashiya Alashiya ( akk, 𒀀𒆷𒅆𒅀 ''Alašiya'' -la-ši-ia uga, 𐎀𐎍𐎘𐎊 ''ẢLṮY''; Linear B: 𐀀𐀨𐀯𐀍 ''Alasios'' -ra-si-jo, also spelled Alasiya, also known as the Kingdom of Alashiya, was a state which existed in the Middle ...

(modern

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

). One identifier of many 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 ...

, is the use of

paragraph A paragraph () is a self-contained unit of discourse in writing dealing with a particular point or idea. Though not required by the orthographic conventions of any language with a writing system, paragraphs are a conventional means of organizing e ...

ing. Six paragraphs are in this letter, with much of the letter's reverse – uninscribed. The

, 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 ...

and 20–25 years later, correspondence. The initial

corpus Corpus is Latin for "body". It may refer to: Linguistics * Text corpus, in linguistics, a large and structured set of texts * Speech corpus, in linguistics, a large set of speech audio files * Corpus linguistics, a branch of linguistics Music * ...

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 Dy ...

'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

EA 38: ''A Brotherly Quarrel''

EA 38, letter number five of seven, from

. (Not a linear, line-by-line translation.) ''Obverse'' :(Lines 1-6)–Say to the king of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

-( Mizri), my brother: Message of the king of

, your brother. For me all goes well, and for you may all go well. For your household, your chief wives,¹ your sons, your horses, your chariots, among your numerous troops, in your country, among your magnates, may all go very well. :(7-12)–Why, my brother, do you say such a thing to me, ''"Does my brother not know this?"'' As far as I am concerned, I have done nothing of the sort. Indeed,² men of Lukki, year by year, seize villages in my own country. :(13-18)–My brother, you say to me, ''"Men from your country were with them."'' My brother, I myself do not know that they were with them. If men from my country were (with them), send (them back) and I will act as I see fit. :(19-22)–You yourself do not know men from my country. ''They'' would not do such a thing.³ But if men from my country did do this, then you yourself do as you see fit. :(23-26)–Now, my brother, since you have not sent back my messenger, for this tablet it is the king's brother (as messenger). L thim write. Your messengers must tell me what I am to do.⁴ ''bottom'' :(26)–''"to do"''⁴ ''Reverse'' :(lines: 27-30)–Furthermore, which ancestors of yours did such a thin to my ancestors: So no, my brother, do not be concerned. –(complete EA 38, with virtually no lacunae, lines 1-30)

External links

Line drawing of EA 38, Obverse & ReverseLine Drawing, cuneiform, and Akkadian, EA 205: Obverse & Reverse
CDLI no. P271039 (''Chicago Digital Library Initiative'')
CDLI listing of all EA Amarna letters, 1-382

References

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

The letter

EA 38: ''A Brotherly Quarrel''

See also

External links

References