Ili-Rapih was the follow-on mayor in Gubla-(modern

Byblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 8 ...

), and the brother of

Rib-Hadda Rib-Hadda (also rendered Rib-Addi, Rib-Addu, Rib-Adda) was king of Byblos during the mid fourteenth century BCE. He is the author of some sixty of the Amarna letters all to Akhenaten. His name is Akkadian in form and may invoke the Northwest Semiti ...

, the ''former'' mayor of Gubla, (who was the prolific author of letters to

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 th ...

); Ili-Rapih is 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 ...

correspondence, and wrote 2 follow-on letters to the Pharaoh after the death of Rib-Haddi. Of note, Ili-Rapih's name is referenced in only one letter in the entire Amarna letters

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 * ...

, besides his own 2 authored letters of EA 139, and 140, ( EA is 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 ...

'), that being letter EA 128, (Rib-Haddi letter no. 57 of 68).

The letters of ''Ili-Rapih''

EA 139, title: ''"A new voice, an old story"''

:To the king, ylo d, my Sun Message of ''Ili-ra ih'', your servant message of Gu(b)la, fall_atthe_feet.html" ;"title="Prostration_formula.html" ;"title="our maidservant. I fall_atthe_feet">Prostration_formula.html"_;"title="our_maidservant._I_Prostration_formula">fall_atthe_feet_of_the_lord,_the_Sun,_7_times_and_[7_times.html" ;"title="Prostration formula">fall atthe feet">Prostration_formula.html" ;"title="our maidservant. I Prostration formula">fall atthe feet of the lord, the Sun, 7 times and [7 times">Prostration formula">fall atthe feet">Prostration_formula.html" ;"title="our maidservant. I Prostration formula">fall atthe feet of the lord, the Sun, 7 times and [7 times Do not neglec[t Gu-la, your city and the city of [your] ancesto[rs] from most ancient times. Moreover, behold Gu-la! Just as ''Hikuptah'', so is Gu-la to the king, my lord. Do not neglect ''the delicts'' of ''a serva[nt]'', for he acted as he pleased in the lands of the king-(i.e. the "king's" brother:

). Here is the crime that

Aziru Aziru was the Canaanite ruler of Amurru, modern Lebanon, in the 14th century BC. He was the son of Abdi-Ashirta, the previous Egyptian vassal of Amurru and a direct contemporary of Akhenaten. The dealings of Aziru are well-known from the Amarn ...

... against the king: e killd the king of

Ammiya The varieties (or dialects or vernacular languages) of Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family originating in the Arabian Peninsula, are the linguistic systems that Arabic speakers speak natively. There are considerable variatio ...

, and Edata.html"_;"title="Ardata.html"_;"title="he_king_of_Ardata">Edata">Ardata.html"_;"title="he_king_of_Ardata">Edata-(''Ardata''),_and_the_king_of_ Edata.html"_;"title="Ardata.html"_;"title="he_king_of_Ardata">Edata">Ardata.html"_;"title="he_king_of_Ardata">Edata-(''Ardata''),_and_the_king_of_Arqa">Ir(qata)-(="King_ Edata.html"_;"title="Ardata.html"_;"title="he_king_of_Ardata">Edata">Ardata.html"_;"title="he_king_of_Ardata">Edata-(''Ardata''),_and_the_king_of_Arqa">Ir(qata)-(="King_Aduna_(Irqata_mayor)">Aduna"),_[and_a_commissioner.html" ;"title="Aduna_(Irqata_mayor).html" ;"title="Arqa.html" ;"title="Ardata">Edata.html" ;"title="Ardata.html" ;"title="he king of Ardata">Edata">Ardata.html" ;"title="he king of Ardata">Edata-(''Ardata''), and the king of Arqa">Ir(qata)-(="King Aduna (Irqata mayor)">Aduna"), [and a commissioner">co]commissioner, mmissioner of the king, my lord. He also broke into Sumur. :[And indeed] he is now intent on [''committing''] a cri(me) against the king. Moreover, ... ...May the king (my) lord, know am his loyal servant. And so let him send a

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mili ...

to his city—30 to 50 men— as far as Gubla. The king is to take (n)o account of whatever Aziru sends him. ''Where'' were the things that he sends ''coveted?'' It is

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

belonging to a royal whom he has killed that he sends to you. Look, Aziru is a reb(el) against the king, my lord. -EA 139, lines 1- 40 (complete, but major lacuna: lines 20-28) Note that Gubla's name is abbreviated in this letter, (''Gu-la''), except for one usage.

EA 140, title: ''"Again, the crimes of Aziru"''; letter Part 1 of 2-(lost)

: othe king, the lord, my Sun: Message of Gubla), your maidservant; message of ''Ili-rapih'', your servant. I fall at the feet of my lord, the Sun, 7 times and 7 times. The king, my lord, shall not neglect Gubla, his maidservant, a city of the king from most ancient times. Moreover why did the king communicate through

? He does as he pleases. Aziru killed Aduna, and a magnate. He took their cities. To him belongs Sumur-(

Zemar Sumur (Biblical Hebrew: ollective noun denoting the city inhabitants Egyptian: ''Smr''; Akkadian: ''Sumuru''; Assyrian: ''Simirra'') was a Phoenician city in what is now Syria. It was a major trade center. The city has also been referred to in ...

); to him belong the cities of the king. Gubla alone is a ... of the king. Moreover, he broke into Sumur and Ullassa. Moreover, Aziru even omitted a crime hn he was brought no you-(i.e. ''over-to you, (in Egypt)''). The crime 'was against''us. He sent 'his''men '' '' Itakkama ndhe smote all the land of

Amqu The Amqu (also Amka, Amki, Amq) is a region (now in eastern Lebanon), equivalent to the Beqaa Valley region, named in the 1350–1335 BC Amarna letters corpus. In the Amarna letters, two other associated regions appear to be east(?) and north(?), ...

and (their) territories. Moreover, is not the king of Hatta active, and the king of Narima-(

Mittani Mitanni (; Hittite cuneiform ; ''Mittani'' '), c. 1550–1260 BC, earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, c. 1600 BC; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat (''Hanikalbat'', ''Khanigalbat'', cuneiform ') in Assyrian records, or '' Naharin'' i ...

) and..? ( lacuna-- continuation to 2nd letter, (Letter 2 lost) -EA 140, lines 1-33 (complete)—(Letter: Part 1 of 2 parts)

EA 128, title: No title, since badly damaged

Letter EA 128, no. 57 of 68, by Rib-Hadda-(?) of Gubla/Byblos. A

postscript PostScript (PS) is a page description language in the electronic publishing and desktop publishing realm. It is a dynamically typed, concatenative programming language. It was created at Adobe Systems by John Warnock, Charles Geschke, Do ...

ending on letter no. 128 exists: :...Message of ''Ili-rapih'': I fall 7 times and 7 times beneath the feet of the king, my lord. And may the king, my lord, hear about the deed of (that) criminal-(

(?)) ... -EA 128, ending, (these are postscript lines on the damaged letter)

References

Moran, William L. William Lambert Moran (August 11, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American Assyriologist. He was born in Chicago, United States. In 1939, Moran joined the Jesuit order. He then attended Loyola University in Chicago, where he received hi ...

''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, {{ISBN, 0-8018-6715-0) Amarna letters writers 14th-century BC Phoenician people 14th-century BC rulers Phoenicians in the Amarna letters

The letters of ''Ili-Rapih''

EA 139, title: ''"A new voice, an old story"''

EA 140, title: ''"Again, the crimes of Aziru"''; letter Part 1 of 2-(lost)

EA 128, title: No title, since badly damaged

See also

References