Tjaru ( egy, ṯꜣrw) was an
ancient Egyptian fortress on the ''
Way of Horus'' or ''
Horus military road'', the major road leading out 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 Medit ...
into
Canaan
Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
. It was known in Greek as Selē ( grc, Σελη), in Latin as Sile or Sele, and in Coptic as Selē or Slē ( cop, Ⲥⲉⲗⲏ or Ⲥⲗⲏ).
[ It has been suggested that its remains form the Tel el-Habua near Qantarah.][Ian Shaw, ''The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt'', Oxford University Press 2000, , p.200][ Barry J. Kemp, ''Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization'', Routledge 2005, , p.25]
History
The Horus of Mesen was worshipped at Tjaru in the form of a lion, and because of its close theological connections to Edfu
Edfu ( egy, bḥdt, ar, إدفو , ; also spelt Idfu, or in modern French as Edfou) is an Egyptian city, located on the west bank of the Nile River between Esna and Aswan, with a population of approximately sixty thousand people. Edfu is the site ...
, it is sometimes referred to as the Edfu of Lower Egypt.
Tjaru, being a frontier town in an inhospitable desert region, was a place of banishment for criminals. Horemheb
Horemheb, also spelled Horemhab or Haremhab ( egy, ḥr-m-ḥb, meaning " Horus is in Jubilation") was the last pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1550–1295 BC). He ruled for at least 14 years between 1319 BC and 1292 BC. ...
in his Great Edict threatens as punishment for various crimes by officials disfigurement and banishment to Tjaru.
References in the Amarna letters
Silu is referenced twice in one letter of the 382– Amarna letters correspondence of 1350
Year 1350 ( MCCCL) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* January 9 – Giovanni II Valente becomes Doge of Genoa.
* May 23 (possible date) ...
- 1335 BC. The letter refers to Turbazu, the presumed 'mayor'/ruler of Silu, who is ''"..slain in the city gate of Silu."'' Two other mayors are also slain at the city gate of Silu. Turbazu's death is also reported in one additional letter of the Amarna letters, EA 335, (EA for 'el Amarna').
Part of EA 288, letter of Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem
Abdi-Heba's letters, to the Egyptian 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 ...
, are of moderate length, and topically discuss the intrigues of the cities, that are adjacent to Jerusalem.
A section of letter 288, title: ''"Benign neglect"'', (starting at line 17):
:" ..''
:".... I gave over o ''his'' chare 10 slaves, Šuta
Šuta, (''"Shuta"''), was an Egyptian commissioner of the 1350– 1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. The name ''Šuta'' is a hypocoristicon-(nickname/petname) for the Ancient Egyptian god Seth, (Seth being the "God of the Desert", and an ' ...
, the commissioner of the king, ca e t me; I gave over to Šuta's charge 21 girls, prisoners, as a gift for the king, my lord. May the king give thought to his land; the land of the king is lost. ''All of it has attacked'' me. I am at war as far as the land of Šeru and as far as Ginti-kirmil. All the mayors are at peace, but I am at war. I am treated like an 'Apiru, and I do not visit the king, my lord, since I am at war. I am situated like a ship
A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...
in the midst of the sea. The strong hand (arm) of the king took the land of Nahrima-(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 the land of ''Kasi
KASI (1430 AM, "News Talk 1430") is a radio station licensed to serve Ames, Iowa. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and licensed to iHM Licenses, LLC. It airs a News/Talk radio format.
The station was assigned the KASI call letters b ...
'', but now the 'Apiru have taken the very cities of the king. Not a single mayor remains to the king, my lord; all are lost. Behold, Turbazu was slain in the city gate of ''Silu''-(Tjaru). The king did nothing. Behold, servants who were joined to the 'Api ''smote'' Zimredda of Lakisu, and Yaptih-Hadda was slain in the "city gate" of ''Silu''. The king did nothing. '' h'' has he not called them to account? May the king roide for is land
In linguistics, a copula (plural: copulas or copulae; list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word or phrase that links the subject (grammar), subject of a sentence (linguistics), sentence to a subject complement, such as the word '' ...
and may he e to it tha 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 ...
ome ou to h sland. If there are no archers this year, all the lands of the king, my lord, are lost."
:"...." -end of line 53 (lines 54-66(End), omitted)
Identification as Tell Heboua
There has been historical argument over which archaeological site should be identified as Tjaru. Throughout the 20th century, Tjaru has been identified as Tel Abu-Seifa, 4 km east of Qantarah. After excavations in the late 20th and early 21st century, the current consensus is that Tell Heboua, near Qantarah, is the most likely site of the fortress.[ Tell Heboua is upon a ridge, giving it the strategic advantage of high ground.]
ridge, giving it the strategic advantage of high ground.
Excavations by the Supreme Council of Antiquities at Tell Heboua began in 1988. Archaeologists first proposed that Tell Heboua, not Tel Abu-Seifa, was the Pharaonic-era fortress of Tjaru around 2000.
In July 2007, the confirmation of the ancient fortress at Tell Heboua as Tjaru was announced, with graves of soldiers and horses, mud-brick walls, and a moat. Further discoveries were announced in 2008, including reliefs depicting Pharaohs Thutmose II, Seti I and Ramesses II. In January 2015, new discoveries at the site were announced that confirmed its identification as the fort of Tjaru.
''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, )