The Pitati (

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

: ,

Cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

: ) were a contingent of Nubian

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 ...

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

that were often requested and dispatched to support Egyptian

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

s in

Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...

. They are recorded in the correspondence of the

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 ...

Amarna letters, and were often requested to defend against the Habiru, also rogue vassal-kings and foreign troops of neighboring kingdoms (for example, Hatti), who were on the attack. The vassal cities and "

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, ...

s" were constantly requesting the services (protection) of the Pharaoh's armies, by means of this "archer-army" force, basically

garrison A garrison 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 military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

forces. A request for lodging, and preparations of

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

drink A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothie ...

straw Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry wikt:stalk, stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the crop yield, yield by weight of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, ry ...

, and other supplies required,Moran, William L., 1992. ''The Amarna Letters,'' p. 352-353. ''EA 325'': Title: (from, Man of the City: Yidya): ''Preparations completed, (2)'',
"...indeed prepared absolutely everything—food, strong drink, oxen, 'sheep and goats', grain, straw, absolutely everything that the king, my lord, commanded." is often demanded by the pharaoh, for a small, or a large contingent. The pitati archer force were

mercenaries A mercenary is a private individual who joins an War, armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rath ...

from the southern Egyptian "land of

Kush KUSH 1600 AM is a radio station licensed to Cushing, Oklahoma. The station broadcasts a Full service format, consisting of local and national talk, sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, tha ...

" (named ''Kaša'', or ''Kaši'' in the letters). The first use of Nubian

was by Weni of the

Sixth Dynasty of Egypt The Sixth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty VI), along with the Third Dynasty of Egypt, Third, Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, Fourth and Fifth Dynasty of Egypt, Fifth Dynasty, constitutes the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom of Dynastic Egyp ...

during the

Old Kingdom of Egypt In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning –2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth Dynasty ...

, about 2300 BC.

A letter example--no. 337

A vassal–state letter example from Hiziru, a "mayor", often referred to as the "Man (

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 ...

) of the City", in ancient Palestine is EA 337, entitled "Abundant supplies ready". The letter is short and undamaged:

"Archers and myrrh"

Letter no. 3 of 5 by

Milkilu Milki-ilu of Gezer (Milkilu, Milk-ilu, Ili-Milku), was the mayor/ruler of the Land of ''Gazru'' (Gezer) around 1350 BC. He is known as the son-in-law of Tagi of Ginti-Kirmil and cooperating with Labaya of Shechem, during a period of turmoil among ...

of Gazru (modern

Gezer Gezer, or Tel Gezer (), in – Tell Jezar or Tell el-Jezari is an archaeological site in the foothills of the Judaean Mountains at the border of the Shfela region roughly midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It is now an List of national parks ...

Analysis

Part of the debate in analyzing the army-archer-force is whether the army just annually accompanied the pharaoh's commissioner or

envoy Envoy or Envoys may refer to: Diplomacy * Diplomacy, in general * Envoy (title) * Special envoy, a type of Diplomatic rank#Special envoy, diplomatic rank Brands *Airspeed Envoy, a 1930s British light transport aircraft *Envoy (automobile), an au ...

and were then extracting

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...

, or whether the archer-force duty was strictly military, and in support of the Egyptian borderlands control and influence. The short time period of the Amarna letters, 15–20 years, (17?), may give an answer to the influence of the archer-forces.

References

* Moran, William L., 1992. ''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, {{ISBN, 0-8018-6715-0) Canaan Amarna letters History of archery Egyptian archers

A letter example--no. 337

"Archers and myrrh"

Analysis

See also

References