Adda-danu was the '

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

' of the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

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 ...

of Gazru-(modern

Gezer Gezer, or Tel Gezer ( he, גֶּזֶר), in ar, تل الجزر – Tell Jezar or Tell el-Jezari is an archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (eithe ...

, Israel) 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 ...

period, 1350-1335 BC. 'Adda' is the name of the

Northwest Semitic Northwest Semitic is a division of the Semitic languages comprising the indigenous languages of the Levant. It emerged from Proto-Semitic language, Proto-Semitic in the Early Bronze Age. It is first attested in proper names identified as Amorite ...

god

Hadad Hadad ( uga, ), Haddad, Adad (Akkadian: 𒀭𒅎 '' DIM'', pronounced as ''Adād''), or Iškur ( Sumerian) was the storm and rain god in the Canaanite and ancient Mesopotamian religions. He was attested in Ebla as "Hadda" in c. 2500 BCE. ...

, and Adda-danu translates as: ''"Hadad (is the) Judge"''. Adda-danu is one of the three mayors who ruled Gazru in the 20–year Amarna letters correspondence, the others being

Milkilu Milkilu, and more properly Milk-ilu, or Milku-ilu, with an alternate version of Ili-Milku (letter 286, by Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem), was the mayor/ruler of ''Gazru'' ( Gezer) of the 1350–1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. Adda-danu, and Ya ...

, and

Yapahu Yapahu was a mayor/ruler of the city/city-state of ''Gazru'' (modern Gezer) of the 1350- 1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. Two other mayors of Gazru during the Amarna letters period, were Adda-danu and Milkilu. Yapahu is the author of five ...

. Adda-danu is the author of one letter, EA 292, ( EA for 'el

Amarna Amarna (; ar, العمارنة, al-ʿamārnah) is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site containing the remains of what was the capital city of the late Eighteenth Dynasty. The city was established in 1346 BC, built at the direction of the Ph ...

'). The letter is entitled: ''"Like a pot held in pledge"''. It is of note that some of the 382 Amarna letters contain phrases, quotes, or parables and the title refers to, ''The Pot of a Debt''.

Amarna letter--no. 292

Adda-danu's letter to pharaoh Akhenaten

Title: ''"Like a pot held in pledge"'' :Say to the king-(pharaoh), my lord, ygo my Sun: Message of ''Adda-danu'', your servant, the dirt at your feet. I fall at the feet of the king, my lord, my god, my Sun, 7 times and 7 times. I looked this way, and looked that way, and there was no light. Then I looked towards the king, my lord and there was light. A

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

may move from under its "partner-(brick)", still I will not move from under the feet of the king, my lord. I have heard the orders that the king, my lord, wrote to his servant, "Guard your

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

, and guard the cities of the king, your lord." I do indeed guard, and I do indeed obey the orders of the king, my lord, day and night. May the king, my lord, be informed about his servant. There being war against me from the mountains, I built: ''b n t ' –(banû:'' Parpola, Simo'', with Mikko Luuko, and Kalle Fabritius, The Standard Babylonian, Epic of Gilgamesh. to create, build, generate) a house—its (the village's) name is Manhatu—to make preparations before the arrival of the

archers 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 ...

of the king, my lord, and

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

has just taken it away from me and placed his commissioner in it. Enjoin

Reanap Reanap, also Reanapa (cuneiform: ''ri-a-na-pa'') was an ancient Egyptian commissioner, of the 1350–1335 BC Amarna letters, written from a 15–20 year time period. Of the 382 El-Amarna letters correspondence, Reanapa is referenced in three: :* ...

, my commissioner, to restore my village to me, as I am making preparations before the arrival of the archers of the king, my lord. Moreover, consider the deed of ''Peya, the son of Gulatu'', against Gazru, the maidservant of the king, my lord. How long has he gone on plundering it so that it has become, thanks to him, like ''a pot held in pledge.'' People are ransomed from the mountains for 30–

shekel Shekel or sheqel ( akk, 𒅆𒅗𒇻 ''šiqlu'' or ''siqlu,'' he, שקל, plural he, שקלים or shekels, Phoenician: ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly —and became c ...

s of

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

, but from Peya for 100–shekels. Be informed of these affairs of your servant. -EA 292, lines 1-52 (complete) Letter no. 1 of 5 from

-(of ''Gazru''), also has the subject of: ''The pot of a debt.'' It is a short, 21-line, undamaged letter, entitled: ''"The sweet breath of the king"''. See:

Three quotes in letter no. 292

A list of quotes from the letter: :#''7 times and 7 times'' :#''A brick may move from under its partner, still I will not move from under the feet of the king, my lord.'' Used in letters EA 266, 292, and 296. :#''a pot held in pledge'' :#''

Day and night Day and Night and its variants may refer to: Books *''Day and Night'', poems 1924-1934 by New Zealand poet Ursula Bethell *''Day and Night'', children's book by Teddy Newton based on Pixar's '' Day & Night'' *''Day and Night'', children's book by ...

'', or ''"Night and Day"'' is used repeatedly. It is also used to refer to having to escape detection, and only enter into the cities ''at night''.

References

Resources

*'' Parpola, Simo'', with Mikko Luuko, and Kalle Fabritius, The Standard Babylonian, Epic of Gilgamesh, The

Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project is an international scholarly project aimed at collecting and publishing ancient Assyrian texts and studies based on them. Its headquarters are in Helsinki in Finland. State Archives of Assyria State Archives ...

,1997, (softcover, ); (Volume 1) in the original Akkadian cuneiform and transliteration; commentary and glossary are in English.

Bibliography