NIN-UR.MAH.MEŠ, named the ''"Lady" of the Lions'', was the author of two letters 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 an ...

, the King of Ancient Egypt, in the 1350–1335 BC

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 ...

correspondence. Her name is a representation of the original written script characters of Babylonian '' '

Sumerogram A Sumerogram is the use of a Sumerian cuneiform character or group of characters as an ideogram or logogram rather than a syllabogram in the graphic representation of a language other than Sumerian, such as Akkadian or Hittite. Sumerograms are no ...

s' '', " NIN- + UR.MAH + (plural: MEŠ)", and means, "woman–lion–plural", namely: ''"Lady (of the) Lions".'' (See: NIN for "lady"). The Amarna letters are mostly written in

Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...

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-sha ...

, with local words/phrases/etc due to various

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 ...

s or countries. The name, and location of her city/city-state is unknown(?). It is today assumed to be

Beit Shemesh Beit Shemesh ( he, בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ ) is a city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District, with a population of in . History Tel Beit Shemesh The small archaeological tell northeast of the modern city wa ...

The two Amarna letters

The two letters by the 'Queen Mother', (of her unnamed location), are both minimally short and concise EA letters (26 lines and 19 lines) and are topically about the takeover of regional cities, by the attacking bands of people: the

Hapiru Habiru (sometimes written as Hapiru, and more accurately as ʿApiru, meaning "dusty, dirty"; Sumerian: 𒊓𒄤, ''sagaz''; Akkadian: 𒄩𒁉𒊒, ''ḫabiru'' or ''ʿaperu'') is a term used in 2nd-millennium BCE texts throughout the Fertile C ...

, ( 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 ...

').

EA 273: ''"From a queen mother"''

:Say to the king-(i.e.

), my lord, my god, my Sun: Message of ^fNIN-UR.MAH.MEŠ, your handmaid. I fall at the feet of the king, my lord, 7 times and 7 times. May the king, my lord, know that war has been waged in the land, and gone is the land of the king, my lord, by desertion ''to'' the

'Apiru Habiru (sometimes written as Hapiru, and more accurately as ʿApiru, meaning "dusty, dirty"; Sumerian: 𒊓𒄤, ''sagaz''; Akkadian: 𒄩𒁉𒊒, ''ḫabiru'' or ''ʿaperu'') is a term used in 2nd-millennium BCE texts throughout the Fertile ...

. May the king, my lord, take cognizance of his land, and may the ng, my lord, kn wtha the 'Apiru wrote to Ayyaluna and to Sarha, and the two sons of

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 Yapahu ...

barely escaped being killed. May the king, my lord, know of this deed. —EA 273, lines 1–26 (complete)

EA 274: ''"Another city lost"''

:Say to the king, my lord, my god, my Sun: Message of ^fNIN-UR.MAH.MEŠ, your handmaid, the dirt at your feet. I fall at the feet of the king, my lord, 7 times and 7 times. May the king, my lord, save his land from the power of the

..–lest it be lost. Sapuma has been take For the information of the king, my lord. —EA 274, lines 1–19 (complete)

EA 273, Obverse, lines 1–9 (Akkadian language and English)

From the photo of Amarna letter EA 273, 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 ...

of some of the important words, line-by-line: (Obverse, first 2/3rds, lines 1–9+) Akkadian: :(Line 1) " A na, 1

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 could ...

-(=Šarru), EN-(="bēlu", Lord)- ia, :(2) ^D- MEŠ- ia ^D-

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. ...

- ia :(3) qí-

bil BIL or Bil may refer to: Mythology * Bil, a Norse goddess * Bil (Mandaeism), the Mandaean name for Jupiter People * Bil Baird (1904–1987), American puppeteer * Bil Dwyer (1907-1987), American cartoonist and humorist * Bil Dwyer (born 1962), A ...

- ma (''qabû'') :(4) um ma MÍ-(DAM=NIN?)-NIN. UR.MAH.MEŠ :(5) ARAD- ka a na GÌR-MEŠ Lugal- :(6) - EN- ia ^D- MEŠ- ia ^D-

- ia :(7) 7-

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 ...

- 7, ta- a- an, am-

qut Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The unive ...

-! (''maqātu!'') :(8) ( pi)/yi- di-! (Akkadian: ''idû'', "know") Lugal-be-li :(9) i- nu- ma nu- KÚR- tu,Parpola, 1971. ''The Standard Babylonian

Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, 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 ...

'', Glossary, pp. 119-145, nukurtu, "hostility", p. 135. ...." English: :(Line 1) "To, "KING-(Pharaoh)-Lord-mine", :(2) (of)-My God(s), My Sun, :(3) Speaking :(4) Message-(Quote) ^F-DAM (=NIN), ^F-NIN.UR.MAH.MEŠ :(5) Servant (Handmaid)-yours at (the) feet "King- :(6) -Lord-mine", My God, My Sun, :(7) '7-and-7-times, again', I bow down! :(8) Know-!, "King-Lord", :(9) Now ("now at this time") 'hostilities' ...."

References

* Moran, William L. ''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, ) * Parpola, 1971. ''The Standard Babylonian

'', Parpola, Simo,

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 ...

, c 1997, Tablet I thru Tablet XII, Index of Names, Sign List, and Glossary-(pp. 119–145), 165 pages.

External links