Amarna Letter EA 86

Amarna letter EA 86 (see her

, titled: ''Complaint to an Official,'' is a somewhat moderate length clay tablet letter from Rib-Hadda of city-state Byblos (named ''Gubla'' in the letter) to Amanappa, an official at the court of the Pharaoh.

The letter has a degraded surface of the clay; it also has missing corners and part of a side. The tablet's obverse fails to yield an easy translation for the last lines of the front and bottom, lines 18-22 (ten percent of the 50-line text). And other lacunae are found throughout the translation.

EA 86 is an extremely ovate, pillow-shaped (thick) clay tablet. It is located in the British Museum, no. 29804.

EA 86

Moran's non-linear letter English language translation (translated from the French language):

Obverse:
:(Lines 1-5)--'' ay to' Amaappa Message of Rib-Had a I fall t your feet May Aman, he god of the king your lord, establish yo rhonor n the presenceof the king, your lord-( ŠÀR. RI- EN- ia).
:(5)--Listen to m !¹
:(5-12)--The war s severe, and so come w tharchers-('' ERIM. MEŠ- pí- ta- ti'') that you may take the land of Amurru. Day and ni ht it has ''crid''² to you '' ''and'' they sy (that) what is taken f om tem to Mittana is very much.
:(13-17)-- now you '' ''yourself'' must not '' ''say'' 'Why should ... ..come out?'³ You have said '' nd' eed, 'Yanhamu sent yo grain.'⁴ Have you not heard? A servant ... ..''
:(18-22)-- ...⁵
Reverse:
:(23-30)-- '' ''And'' be inorm d ''that'' Umah u—along with her husband, Milkuu—the ma dservant of the Ladyof GUB LA ...] ... '' '' speak to the king '' ''that'' '' ''it'' may be presented to the Lady.⁶ Do t hold ''anthing' back.
:(31-40)--Moreover, speak to '' ''the king'' so that rain the product of the land of Ya '' ''rmuta'' be given t his servant just as it was ormerlygiven to Sumur, so we may keep (i.e. stay) alive until the king ''g ves thought' to his city. For 3 years I have been constantly pl nderedof our grain; there is no hingto pay for h rses⁷
:(41-50)--Why should the king ''gant' 30 pairs of orsesand you ''yourelf' take 10 pairs? If ''you t ke''⁸ take al ''of them'' but from the land of Y rimuta let grain be given for '' ''us'' to eat. '' ''Or'' senships so I myself'' ] ''can get'' [ ''out'' ].--(obverse, and reverse, with lacunae mostly restored, except lines 18-22)

Akkadian text

Text: Akkadian language, sumerograms, Egyptianisms, etc.

Akkadian:

Obverse:
Paragraph I
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