Amarna letter EA 205, titled: ''"Ready for Marching Orders (5)"'' is a short letter from the ''Ruler'' of city Ṭubu. The title references that six mostly identical, very short, letters were scribed by the same scribe, from small regional towns; the scribe also is the writer of Amarna letter EA 195. It is not known if each letter was written at the location of each town, or from an alternative site, or sites. The six towns are: :Ṣiribašani, Message of Artamanya :town 2, Message of Amawaše :Šashimi, Message of Abdi-Milki : Qanu, Message of the Ruler : Ṭubu, Message of the Ruler : Naziba, Message of the Ruler The Amarna letters, about 300, numbered up to EA 382, are a mid 14th century BC, about

1350 BC Events and trends * c. 1352 BC – Amenhotep III (Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt) dies and is succeeded as Pharaoh by Amenhotep IV. * 1350 BC – Yin becomes the new capital of Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as ...

and 20–25 years later, correspondence. The initial

corpus Corpus (plural ''corpora'') 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 ...

of letters were found at

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eig ...

's city Akhetaten, in the floor of the

Bureau of Correspondence of Pharaoh The building known as the Bureau of Correspondence of Pharaoh (also known as the Records Office) is located in the 'Central City' area of the ancient Egyptian city of Akhetaten, known as Amarna in modern times. The city was the short-lived capita ...

; others were later found, adding to the body of letters.

The letter

EA 205: ''"Ready for Marching Orders (5)"''

EA 205, letter number one of one, from the small town of Tubu (Biblical

Tob Tob was the name of a place in Transjordan, mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Hebrew Bible Jephthah flees from his brothers to the "land of Tob". In Tob, Jephtha gatheres some men until his brothers want him back to fight against the Ammonites (). ...

). (Not a linear, line-by-line translation.) ''Obverse'' :(Lines 1-8)--Say to the king, my lord: Message of the ruler of Tubu, your servant. I fall at the feet of the king, my lord, the Sun of (all) peoples,¹ 7 times plus 7 times. ''Reverse'' :(lines 9-18)You have written to me to make preparations before the arrival of the

archers Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

. I am herewith, along with my troops and my chariots, at the disposition of the troops of the king, my lord, wherever they go.² (complete EA 205, with no lacunae, lines 1-18)

Cuneiform score, Akkadian,
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Cuneiform score (per CDLI, ''Chicago Digital Library Initiative''), and Akkadian, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. -------- ''Obverse'' ''Paragraph I'', (lines 1-8) 1. A- na ^{1=diš

Diš is a cuneiform sign represented by 𒁹 or . It has many uses in cuneiform texts, including in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''.
Description
𒁹 is a cuneiform sign. In Unicode, it is represented by U+12079 (DISH)
Use of the vertical sign
In t ...}

lugal ( Sumerian: ) is the Sumerian term for "king, ruler". Literally, the term means "big man." In Sumerian, ''lú'' " 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 ...

_ EN_- ia ___ A na ^{1=diš

Diš is a cuneiform sign represented by 𒁹 or . It has many uses in cuneiform texts, including in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''.
Description
𒁹 is a cuneiform sign. In Unicode, it is represented by U+12079 (DISH)
Use of the vertical sign
In t ...} ŠÀR(ru)

Bēlu Bêl (; from ) is a title signifying 'lord' or 'master' applied to various gods in the Mesopotamian religion of Akkad, Assyria, and Babylonia. The feminine form is ''Bêlit'' ('Lady, Mistress') in Akkadian. ''Bel'' is represented in Greek as ...

- ia ___To ^{m=male=diš

Diš is a cuneiform sign represented by 𒁹 or . It has many uses in cuneiform texts, including in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''.
Description
𒁹 is a cuneiform sign. In Unicode, it is represented by U+12079 (DISH)
Use of the vertical sign
In t ...
, 1}

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

2. qí— ——- bil— ——- ma ___qabû — ! ___ Speaking — ! 3. um- ma

diš Diš is a cuneiform sign represented by 𒁹 or . It has many uses in cuneiform texts, including in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''. Description 𒁹 is a cuneiform sign. In Unicode, it is represented by U+12079 (DISH) Use of the vertical sign In t ...

- LÚ _

iri IRI or I.R.I. refers to: Businesses and organizations * Iringa Airport, an airport in Tanzania serving Iringa and the surrounding Iringa Region by IATA airport code * India Rejuvenation Initiative, an Indian anti-corruption organization form ...

_ Ṭù- bu ___ um ma

-amēlu

/URU Ṭù- bu ___ Message ^{m=male=diš

Diš is a cuneiform sign represented by 𒁹 or . It has many uses in cuneiform texts, including in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''.
Description
𒁹 is a cuneiform sign. In Unicode, it is represented by U+12079 (DISH)
Use of the vertical sign
In t ...
, 1}Man, city(town)(

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 throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

) Ṭubu (Biblical

) 4. _ARÁD_- ka a- na _ gìri-

meš The cuneiform MEŠ, or meš is a plural form attached at the end of Mesopotamian cuneiform words as a suffix. As part of a name (PN, personal name, or other), or major class being referenced, in capital letters (a Sumerogram form), it is typical ...

_ ___ ARÁD- ka, – a na gìri-

___ Servant- yours, – at (the) feet^pl. 5. 1=

ŠÀR-(ru) be- li- ia ___ 1=m=male=

Šàrru bēlu- ia ___ ^{m=male=diš

Diš is a cuneiform sign represented by 𒁹 or . It has many uses in cuneiform texts, including in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''.
Description
𒁹 is a cuneiform sign. In Unicode, it is represented by U+12079 (DISH)
Use of the vertical sign
In t ...
, 1}

''Obverse'' 11. a- na pa- ni ___ a na

pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...

nu ___"Before" 12. _erín-

-_ pí- ṭá- te ___ erín-

pí- ṭá- te ___ army^pl. pitati

References

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

External links

Line Drawing, cuneiform, and Akkadian, EA 205: Obverse & Reverse
CDLI no. P270963 (''Chicago Digital Library Initiative'') Amarna letters Ancient Syria

The letter

EA 205: ''"Ready for Marching Orders (5)"''

Cuneiform score, Akkadian, English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

See also

References

External links

Cuneiform score, Akkadian,
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...