Amurru Akkadian: A Linguistic Study [2] 1555406343, 9781555406349

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AMURRU AKKADIAN: A LINGUISTIC STUDY VOLUME II

Shlomo Izre'el - 978-90-04-36963-4 Downloaded from Brill.com01/16/2021 01:20:22PM via Hebrew University of Jerusalem

HAR,VAR,D SEMITIC MUSEUM

HAR,VAR,D SEMITIC STUDIES Frank Moore Cross, editor Syriac Manuscripts: A Catalogue

Moshe H. Goshen-Gottstein

Introduction to Classical Ethiopic

Thomas O. Lambdin Joan C. Biella

Dictionary of Old South Arabic The Poet and the Historian: Essays in Literary and Historical Biblical Criticism

Richard Elliot Friedman, Editor

The Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice Non-Canonical Psalms from Qumran: A Pseudepigraphic Collection The Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Carol Newsom Eileen M. Schuller Elisha Qimron

An Exodus Scroll from Qumran

Judith E. Sanderson

You Shall Have No Other Gods

Jeffrey H. Tigay

Ugaritic Vocabulary in Syllabic Transcription The Scholarship of William Foxwell Albright The Akkadian of Ugarit Features of the Eschatology of N Ezra Studies in Neo-Aramaic

John Huehnergard Gus Van Beek John Huehnergard Michael E. Stone Wolfhart Heinrichs, Editor

Lingering over Words: Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Tzvi Abusch, John Huehnergard, Literature in Honor of William L. Moran Piotr Steinkeller, Editors A Grammar of the Palestinian Targum Fragments from the Cairo Genizah

Steven E. Fassberg

The Origins and Development of the Waw-Consecutive: Northwest Semitic Evidence from Ugaritic to Qumran

Mark S. Smith

Amurru Akkadian: A Linguistic Study, Volume I

Shlomo Izre'el

Amurru Akkadian: A Linguistic Study, Volume II

Shlomo Izre'el

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AMURRU AKKADIAN: A LINGUISTIC STUDY by

Shlomo Izre'el

With an Appendix on the History of Amurru by

Itamar Singer

VOLUME II

Scholars Press Atlanta, Georgia

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AMURRU AKKADIAN: A LINGUISTIC STUDY by

Shlomo Izre'el

©1991 The President and Fellows of Harvard University

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Izre'el, Shlomo. Amurru Akkadian : a linguistic study / by Shlomo lzre'el ; with an appendix on the history of Amurru by ltamar Singer. p. cm. - (Harvard Semitic studies ; no. 40-41) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-55540-633-5 (acid-free paper : v. 1). - ISBN 1-55540-634-3 (acid-free paper : v. 2) 1. Akkadian language-Dialects-Amurru (Ancient kingdom) 2. Amurru (Ancient kingdom)-History. I. Simzer. Itamar. II. Title. III. Series. PJ3595.A48I98 1991 91-28525 492'.l-dc20

CIP

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

(§

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INTRODUCTION

This text edition includes all the texts which were used as the corpn, base for the linguistic research presented in this study. As already mentioned in section 0.2 of this book, the texts included in our corpus were unearthed in three different archaeological sites: Tell El-Amarna in Egypt. Boghazkoy in Anatolia and Ugarit in Northwest Syria. The standard editions for these text are: for the EI-Amarna letters, Knudtzon 1915 and Rainey 1978; for the texts from Ugarit, mainly PRU Ill, PRU JV and Ugaritica V (Nougayrol 1955, 1956 and 1968 respectively); for an additional text published by Fales, OA 23 (Fales 1984). The texts from Boghazkoy have been transliterated and translated here from their cuneiform edition in KBo 28 (Kiimmel 1985). Museum numbers (whenever these were available to me) and primary publications of each text are indicated in a subtitle to each of the respective texts. For abbreviations. see the abbreviation list, pp. 203-209 below. Museum numbers for the Amama texts are given in hoth Knudtzon and Rainey's editiotLs. as weU ats in Moran 1987 for each of the respective texts. Museum numbers of the texts found at Ugarit were taken from ~an Soldt 1986: Appendix I, where other important archaeological data are also offered Findspols for the Boghazkoy texts are listed in Kiimmcl's edition, KBo 28: XU. 111c Amur.ru texts from Boghazki\y have now been published in trarLsliteration with trarLslation by llagenbuchner ( I 989: II: 370-379, nos. 260-264). See postscripl at the end of0.2 (vol. I, pp. 24-25).

The texts are designated according to accepted abbreviations: EA for the ElAmarna texts; RS and the excavation number for the Ugarit texts; Bo and their inventory number for the Boghazkoy texts. The grounds and reasonings for the inclusion or omission of texts from the corpus have been discussed in detail in section 0.2. All the texts have been transliterated and translated anew on the bases of the existing cuneiform copies, published and unpublished photographs, former

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Introduction

transljterations, translations and textual observations of scholars who have dealt with these texts, certain collations, and conclusions from the results of the linguistic investigation. The edition presented here of the Amurru letters from Amama has benefitted much from the new standard translation recently published by William L. Moran (Moran 1987). Moran has provided many new readings. Many of them have been based upon collations of the texts both by Moran himself and by Edmund 1. Gordon (Moran 1987: 11). The notes following each Amarna Amurru text in this edition lay stress on Moran's significant contributions to the understanding of these texts. In addition, deviations between his renderings and my own are indicated. The reasonings for these deviations between the two translations will be best appreciated upon studying the grammar of these texts, where occasional references to previous translations may also be found. Fragmentary signs are marked by brackets or half-brackets. Mmor blemishing of signs, wherever the reading was beyond doubt, have not been marked. For other indication marks please refer to the sigla list given on pp. 211-212 below. I have endeavored to transliterate the texts as closely as possible to the underlying phonemic structure as one can get. For example, I transliterated

ta rather than da, dci

rather than ta and the like, wherever etymological considerations required such a rendering. In Chapter 1 of this book I have tried to stipulate the interrelationship between

graphics and phonology. The main point to be stressed when discussing this issue is that spelling traditions should be treated together with phonological features when investigating P(eripheral) A(kkadian) texts in general, and Amurru Akkadian as a representative of PA traditional systems in particular. The main reason for this would be that writing habits and traditional spellings from different schools may obscure observation of the phonemics of the language under investigation. Hence, one should strive at an accurate representation of the underlying phonological system of the described language in srite of significant spelling variations found in the texts.

2

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Introduction

In a way which may prima facie seem contradictory to this, I have not made any

effort to translate into Akkadian the Sumerograms occurring within a sequence of a text. A quick glance at the Signlist (Appendix I, pp. 111-132 below), will highlight this reluctance on my side, since many of the attested logograms may be open to several interpretations with regard to their actual readings. This is especially manifest in the inventory list RS 16.146+. Admittance of wrong interpretations may lead to wrong values, which may in themselves be destructive for linguistic analysis. (This claim will be repeated later on, seen from a different angle, from a different aspect of text editing, i.e., restorations.) The Signlist should be consulted whenever an interested reader may seek the author's view for a specific rendering, or whenever be may seek the author's view for an alleged Akkadian reading for this or that logogram. A comprehensive list of both the syllabic sign values and the logograms attested in the texts is supplied in the Signlist. Comments on new readings and renderings of Sumerograms wilJ be found in most cases also in the Signlist. A list of rare values is supplied in Appendix II (p. 133 below). I have not endeavored to list all changes and differences in reading and interpretation from previous existing editions of these texts. Some of the more important deviations from the accepted readings are, nevertheless, listed in the notes which follow each of the newly edited texts. It is only the most conspicuous changes and some critical comments that will be found in these notes. Notations of O(bverse), E(dge), R(everse), L(eft side) are indicated only wherever I bad access to such information. Various abbreviations used in the text edition are listed in the general abbreviations list (pp. 203-209 below). I should like to refer the interested reader to the grammatical analyses offered in volume I in order to get a better understanding of the new translations and the overall interpretation of all the other texts in this volume as well. I do believe that linguistic analyses of various features, and through these the understanding of the overall structure of the language of the corpus dealt with in this study, will prove to be the most important basis for the correct rendering of each of its individual texts. 3

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Introduction

Text restorations may also be found throughout. Some are old, being the result of the work of other scholars; some are new. I have tended not to restore a text, and especially not to repeat existing, sometimes even widely accepted restorations, where I found them too speculative. I find speculative restoration rather destructive for cultural and historical analyses, since scholars sometimes tend to forget the nature of the evidence supplied by such restorations. As far as grammatical or linguistic analyses are concerned, there is no need to stress the uselessness of any restorations. Apart from a few texts and text extracts which have appeared sporadically in English translation, this is the first time that a modem English translation of the Amurru corpus appears (as noted by Moran [1987:17 n. 17J, Mercer's El-Amarna edition [1939J "ne fut pas reussie"; the English translation of Winckler's edition of the Amarna tablets [1896bJ is too old). A few comments on the English translation of the texts are hence in order. Unfortunately, the task of translating Akkadian texts into English is not an easy task. This is especially true in translating PA texts, not only because of their diversity of dialects and intrinsic variation (cf. Moran 1987: 27-28; also Izre'el forthcoming b}, but also because their formulaic expressions and habit_ual idioms. These formulas are as difficult to decode as are proverbs, which are heavily culturally oriented. To his splendid essay on translating Akkadian texts in his Letters from

Mesopotamia, Oppenheim gave the title "Can these Bones live?" (Oppenheim 1967: Part II, pp. 54-67). Well, can they? Can one bridge the linguistic and cultural gap in order to make understandable Akkadian literature to contemporary peoples? Oppenheim did his best in translating with the guidance of a motto by St. Jerome:

Non verbum e verbo, sed sensum exprimere de sensu (ibid., p. 67). Similarly, one might repeat this rule, adapted from the words of a translator of contemporary children's books into Israeli Hebrew, Uriel Ofek: Which is the best English translation? It is that which renders the Akkadian original text as if its author would have written it himself in contemporary English (cf. Offik 1975: 27). This approach to translating Akkadian texts is sufficient for the general public's interest or for scholars whose main interest is history and related matters. However,

4

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Introduction

this methodology is not applicable to a text edition which is to serve as a corpus for linguistic analysis or for other scholarly investigations. A related problem is what register of the translator's tongue should be used in translating these ancient texts. Some scholars tend to use archaic diction or a higher register when translating ancient texts. While there can be some justification for the translation of ancient poetry in higher or older registers, I, myself, am a strong opponent of translating into registers of language higher in level or older in time than the actual language found in any of the text to be translated. As noted above, a good English translation is that which renders the Akkadian original text as if its author would have written it himself in contemporary English. This is especially true for letters or other administrative texts, which form the corpus for this study. To confom1 with everything that has hitherto been said, I have tried to translate the texts presented here into plain contemporary English. Consequently, one may note differences in translation among various occurrences of the same Akkadian word whenever the immediate linguistic environment demands it. For example, an etymon such as aldku can be translated by the English equivalents "go", "go forth", "arrive", and the like. Literal or close to literal rendering of the Akkadian coloring of idiomatic expressions and proverbs, which in themselves may sometimes show structural traits of the substrata (cf. section 6.2 in the granimatical study; also 0.1 in the introductory chapter), may be used in order to yield accuracy in translation. Special notice should be given to sentence constituent order ("word order"). In accordance with the methodology explained above, the sentence constituent order should reflect the expected contemporary English order within the constraints of each of the occurring linguistic environments. The simplex, i.e., the unmarked sentence constituent order, is an SPO (i.e., subject-predicate-object) order, as it is in plain contemporary English. Any change in this order should always mark a change in meaning. In other words, a change in the expected unmarked English sentence constituent order always denotes an emphasis of some kind in the original Akkadian text. An apparent exception is found at letter openings. In the originals, the core, i.e.,

standard Akkadian order has always been retained as a scribal practice also in the

5

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Introduction

periphery. Thus, I have translated these letter openings according to their SOP order. In the body of the letter, the Ak.kadian letters from Amurru exhibit an SPO order even if the simplex is assumed to be either PSO (in the earliest letters) or SOP (in the later letters) (see section 5.2.l in the grammatical study). Hence, when an Amurrite scribe chooses to use an SOP order for the opening section of his letter, he is using a formulaic order by rote. My translations of the opening formulas of all the letters in the corpus uses this very Akkadianized word order, thus imitating the Ak.kadianized formulaic word order used by the ancient scribe of Amurru. A word of apology may be in place here. l know that some of the explanations and comments given above may seem to many readers superfluous. To some they may even look offensive. My intention was not to instruct, but to explain plainly my arguments for this or that tendency in my translation, and to communicate my deliberations over the selection of words and structures. If the outcome is deficient or inadequate, I accept all responsibility.

6

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EA60 VAT 343; WA 91; W 38; Sch 21

0

1 [a-naJ 1LUGAL dlJTUx EN-ia

2 um-ma 1iR-das-ra-tum

3 iR-ka, ep-ri sa GiR.ljA.-'ka,' 4 a-na GiR.ljA LUGAL EN-ia

5 7-su

u 7-su am-qut

6 a-mur a-na-ku iR LUGAL

7 UR.GI,

u

sa E-su u

8 KUR a-mur-ri gab-ba-su 9 a-na LUGAL EN-ia a-na-$a-ar-su

10 aq-bi as-ta-ni a-na 1pa-ba-na-te

11 LU.MASKIM-ia le-qa-mi 12 ERIN.MES til-la-tim a-na na-$a-ri

13 KUR. 11jA 1 LUGAL a-tm-ma gab-bi 14 [L]UGAL.ljA

sa LUGAL ERIN.MES [lur-ri

15 tu-'ba'-u-nim KUR.ljA 16 a-na ba-'ba'-lim is-t[uJ 17 [ SjU 1-ia u SU ,tia 1,[-za-nu-te.MES(?)I E 18

l sJa7 LUGAL EN-Lia u'1J

19 [ a-n Ja-$a-ar-s[ u1-,m 1 a 1-nu 1-ma1J 20 [1paJ-lia-na-'te 1 L[U.MASKJM-iaJ

R 21 yi-is-al-su LUGAL d[lJTJUx

22 sum-ma la a-na-$a-ar 23 URU.$u-mu-ri URU.ul-la-sa 24 i-nu-ma LU.MASKIM-ia

25 i-na si-pir,-ti LUGAL dlJTUx 26 ,, a-na-ku SE.KIN.TAR SE.ljA

21

sa URU.$u-mur ugab-bi

28 KUR.ljA a-na LUGAL dUTUx-ia

29 EN-ia a-na-$a-ar-su

7

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EA60

30 ii LUGAL EN-[i]a lu-u yi-da-an-ni 31 ii yi-ip-[q]f-id-ni i-na SU 32 1pa-!Ja-na-te LU.MASKIM-ia

0

1 [To) the king, my Sun-God, my lord:

2 Message of Abdia§irta, 3 your servant, the dust under your feet: 4 At the feet of the king, my lord, 5 7 times and 7 times 1 fall. 6 Look, I am the king's servant and 7 a dog of his house, and 8 all the land of Amurru 9 I guard for the king, my lord. 10 I said repeatedly to PalJannate,

11 my com.missioner: "Bring 12 auxiliary troops to guard 13 the lands of the king". Now, all 14 the kings under the (command of the) Hurrian king 15 wish to plunder 16 the lands from 17 my hand? and from the hand 7 of the m[ayors 7J E 18 [oJf the king, [myJ lord, [and] 19 [I gjuard t[hem. Now 7,] 20 [(as to) Pa]hannate, [my] c[om.missioner,] R 21 may the king, the Sun-God, ask him 22 whether I do not guard 23 $umur (and) Ullassa 24 when my com.missioner 25 is on mission of the king, the Sun-God. 26 I also guard the barley harvest 27 of $umur and of all 28 the lands for the king, my Sun-God,

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EA 61

29 my lord. 30 So may the king, my lord, recognize me, 31 and may he commit me into the hand 32 of Pabannate, my commissioner.

Comments: ll. 13-14: Lit. "all the kings of the king of the Hurrian troops". Cf. Carruba 1971: 212-3; Moran 1987: 234 n. 4. l. 16: Moran, however, (1987: 234 n. 5) noted the possibility of the existence of two more signs at the end of this line, which he read as 'lib'-[b]i. My transliteration is based on the copy of Schroeder, where no sign is expected at the end of l. 16.

As for the first sign on l. 17, he noted that the space was seemingly too large for the SU sign. Note, however, that this line is found at the bottom of the tablet, for which cf. also the following line. lUJbiili "to plunder" may retlect a semantic borrowing from a West Semitic dialect. Cf. for BH J:,a!Jol lo /:Iii/Jal ugzelii lo giizal "he never robs"; lit. "a plunder he has not plundered and a robbery he has not robbed" (Ezekiel 18: 16).

I. 30: Moran (1987: 234-5 n. 8) suggests to translate the occurrence of idil in this context by "avoir souci de", "prendre interet pour".

EA61 A~h 1893.1--41: 410; Sayce 1894: pl. XXXI no. UI

[a-na 1LUJGAL dUTU EN-ia

0

2 [um-Ima 1iR-a-si-ir-te iR[-ka,J

3 4

lu 7Jfi-id G[IR.if]A.-ka, URI.GI,) [s)a E LUGAL EN-ia a-n[a

5 [GiR 1.MES1 LUJG[AL1 EN1-i]a 1 nu1-[

R

traces

2

]LU[

3 [URU].uf?-la 1-as-se?.KJ a-n[a 4

]URU.~u-mu-ri[

9

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EA 62

5 [ ga]b 1-ba KUR MAR.T[U

6 l 7

] LUGAL dUTU EN-i[a ] LUGAL dUTU EN-ia [

8

] ,, a-wa-tam li-te[-ra

9

] a-na iR-su [

[To the k.i]ng, the Sun-God, my lord:

0

2 [Mess[age of Abdiasirta, [your] servant,

3 [and?] the mud of your f[ee)t, a d[ogl 4 [o]f the house of the king, my lord. At[ 5 [the feet of the kJi[ng, m]y[ lord I,

R

.. [

l )(man)[

2 3 Ullassa t[o 4 5

6 7

8

9

} ~umur[ al ]l the land of Amurr[ u

J the king, the Sun-God, m[y] lord[ ] the king, the Sun-God, my lord I J and may he se[ndJ a reply [ ] to his servant l

Comments: l. 3: Moran (1987: 235 n. I) reads IURU uJl-'la-zi'.Kl. See 3.3.1.4.4 for both possibilities.

EA62 VAT 1680; WA 158; W 126; Sch 28

0

[a-na 1Jpa-lia-n[a]-te be-U-'ia'[ 2 [um-ma )1i[R-]a-Ji-ir-te i[R-ka-ma]

3 [a-na GiR].MES he-U-ia [am-qutl 4

mi-Ji-nu a-wa-te.MES-'ka' b[e1-tt1]

10

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EA 62

5 (.fo? ta 1-daJb-bu-ub-su-nu [iq 1-bJu1-n[im 1 ki-a-am(?)J

6 [ta 1-dab1-bu1 ]-ub be-U [ ar?-tJa 1[

7 [ 8 [

KUR mi-]i$-ri.'Kl' '11' te[.JMES KUR m[i?-i]$?-•ri1'. 1K1? 1 (

9 (u 1 ia 1-nJu LU.MES [i 1-J•na1• 'lib'-bi URU.$11-mu-ri.Kl 10 (a-na na-$Ja-ri-sil u1 i$ 1-Jbat1-su

u

11 (URU.$11-mJu-ri.'K/ 1 ERIN.M(E]S URU.se-el1-'la 1 [-li).Kl 12 [i1-nu?-ma 1 Jia-nu 'UJ'.MES (i-Jna lib-bi-si a-na na-$a-ri-si 13 '11'( in-nJi-ri-ir a-'na'-ku is-tu URU.ir-(qat.K)l 14 11[ a$ 1-ba 1-a]t? a-na-ku URU.$[uJ-mu-ri.Kl

l5

u as-US [E]-ka

i(s-t(u UZU.SU-ti

l 6 ERIN.MES URU.se-e[l1-Jla(-[Ji.'Kl 1 s(ujm-ma ,,-ul as-bti-ku

17 a-na-(kJu [iJ-'na' (URU1.i,-'1-qar?.K]l s[uJm-ma i-na a-sar E ni-ib 18 as(-b)a-'ku'

u [lu 1-,P i1]-sar-ra-pu-nim

19 'i-na' [IZl'-te.MES [URU.$u)-nm-ri.Kl 20

u E.GAL-li[mJ

ERIN.MK~ URU.fr-et,-la-li.Kl

21 ,, 'i'-nu-ma in-ni-ri-ir a-na-ku-m(i1] 22 i.f-tu URU.ir-qat.KI

u ak-su-ud-m(i a-)na-ku

23 i-na URU.$u-mu-ri.K[IJ 11 ia-nu LU.MES E 24 .fo as-bu i-na E-GAL-lim

u a-nu-um-ma

25 LU.MES sa as-bu-nim i-na E.GAL-lim R 26 1Ja-bi-DINGIR 1B1-si-Ta-nu 1ma-a-ia

21 1ar-sa-wa a-nu-um-ma 4 LU.MES 28 sa as-bu-nim i-'na' E.GAL-lim

29 ,, iq-bu-nim su-nu a-na ia-si 30 Je-ez-zi-bti-an-na-si-mi is-tu SU-ti

31 ERIN.MES URU.se-et,-la-li.Kl u u-se-ez-zi(-bti1-sJu-:nu 32 is-tu SU-ti ERIN.MES URU.se-et,-la-li 33 (4 ZJ/.M[EJS 1,-wi-i-mi 25 sa i-du-ku-nim 34 [ERIN.MES URU.se-et,-Jla-li.Kl

35

)'ra'-te.MES

36

Jx-a-nu-te.MES

37

u i-nu-ma x-bi

]x-su-nu is-tu URU.$u-mu-ri.Kl

11

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EA62

38

in 1-na?J-be-t[u-m]a la-a af-ru-ud-'mi 1

39 (am?-n,;?_ni]m 1 'i 1 -[k]a-[aJz-zi-bu-nim 40 [LU.MES J!Ja-za-nu-te.MES a-na pa-ni-ka 41 [u t]e-es-te-nem-me a-na sa-su-nu

42 [u? 1DUJMU-a-ma-a-ia i-nu-ma i-sap-par 43 [a 1-na 1 muJJJ' 1-bi-'ka1• u i-ka-az-zi-ib 44 [a-na pa-n]i-ka

u te-es-te-nem-me

45 [a?-na 1 a 1-wa?-]te.ME.~-Ju 1DUMU-a-ma-a-ia 46

iJt1-ti-[slu .MES URU.se-e!J-la-:li[.KJI

47

-Jnim a-na $a-ha-at

48 [URU.$u-muj-ri.an
GIS< LU.ME.5-ia i-na qa-bal mu-si

7' (u i-ilp-pu-.fo-nim ta-[w-za-am i-na bi-ri-.fo-1111 8'

u i-ib-bu-ku-su-nu LU.ME.5-ia

II

is-pu-ku-su-nu

9' u-nu-te.ME.5-su-nu 11 SAGDU-su-nu i-11a dan-1111-ut-ti-ma

u l-en LU-lum is-tu bi-ri-su-1111 i$-bat-tii-nim u as-ta-na- 71-al-.fo as-sum .Mr KUR mi-i$-ri.Kl um-ma su-ma

lO' us-te-q-$11-nim

11'

12' sar KUR mi-i$-l"i.Kl U-U$-$f-mi II za-ka,-am ll-U$-$f-mi

13' i-na UD.E.~.E.5

sa

i-il-/a-kam u-nu-te.ME.5-su i-nam-mu-su-nim

14' ll sar-n, is-tu EGJR 1,-1111-te.MES U-U$-$a-am-mi

15'

u li-wa-\-ir .Mr-ru ERIN.MES-bu u Gl.5.GIGIR.ME.5 sa i-il-lu-u

16' Dl+DI.~-ti li-is-ra as-surx-ri ya-mu-ut-ta-am

17' .Mr KUR mi-i$-ri.Kl i-kas-sa-ad-mi 11 'e'[-mu-u]q-qa-am 18' la ni-kas-sa-ad-mi as-surx-ri sar KUR mi-i$[-ri].Kl

19' ll-U$-$a-am la u-u$-$a-am 11 ERIN.ME.~ pi-if-(a[-Jat-te.MES-ma s11-11-ut

20' fa II-U$-$a-am

u a-kas-sa-ad e-mu-uq--am 93

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RS 20.33

21'

u li-sa-am-mi-id-mi sar-ru ERIN.MES-bu uGIS.GIGIR.MES

22' ki-i-me-e (ni-Jip-pu-us it-ti-su ta-lw-za-am 23'

1, ni-kas-sa-ad e-mu-uq-qa-am sum-ma i-na-an-na

24' ERIN.MES pi-if-fa-te.ME.5-ma su-11-ut .fo u-u~-~a-am 25' II la-a la-ad-du-uk it-ti-su II lu-11 i-de,-su be-lf-ia 26' i-nu-ma i-na MU.KAM MU.KAM-ti-ma it-ta-na-a~-~a-am 27' i-nu-ma i-na

-mi-sa-am-ma a-na mu-11[1-[1i-ni it-ta-nam-bal

114

28' 11 lu-11 ni-i~-bat i-na-an-na sur-ru-11m-ma si 17 -im-qa-am it-ti-su 29' ki-i-me-e i-mar-ru-ur i-na .fo-ni-fo a-$i-i-su

30' 31'

32'

0

u sum-ma i-11a-a11-di11 DINGIR.MES a-na SU-ti-ni

1, lu-11 ni-ra-a!J-[1i-i~ UZU.DUR-su i-na Kl.BAR 1, i-~am-me-ru-nim l-en ze-ra-ni-ia

I To the king, m(y lo]rd, say: 2 Message of ~umi(t 7--( your servant: At the feet of my lord I fall.

3 What, now, are these [

Js of my lord,

4 that he has been do(i (ng"! Since this last (month of) Sivan

5 I have been writing to my lord: "Send him forth! Three pairs of chariots are to

be maintained, 6 so that they may be settled. May he send'1 .. (

J to t(alba as soon as they are

ready. 7 Until

I

[they wilt'1 stand forth quickly

8

[my? (l[ord'I, be nice." Now.

9

have adm[itted supplies and auxiliary troops

10 11

12

13

the[se I

]. Who, surely now,

]that supplies and auxiliary troops [their I

I arrived. For death

[they (will l]ive! So where am I to go?

14 (Surelly[ now] I shall not (be able to) overpower them by force. 15 [It is for] 5 (mo]nths n(o[w that I have been settled in Amurru, 16 and I guard them day and night. I 7 I guard them thus: their roads and their entrances

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I 8 I guard; half of my chariots are stationed at the coast, 19 and half of my c[hariots) are stationed in front of the Lebanon Mountain.

20 and I. personally, am settled there, on the plain. 21 Rains are falling, the pond('s water) runs.

22 but we do not leave. But if, now, one day 23 the pond overflows. then the guardsmen will leave, 24 and we shall not know whether they will have admjtted 25 supplies and auxiliary troops. My lord, what is. then, 26 my outlet from here? 27 Now. for 5 months the cold has been gnawing me, 28 mly chariots) are broken. my horses are dead, and my troops are lost; 29 [still, II insist on staying lhe)re'!. I wish I had completed 9 months(' term),

30 If? wish

J? had 7 completed'1 a ylear('s term), so that my enemies would be once

and for all anruhllated. flormerJy? always?

31

].. My lord, I said in my heart

32

1-- my lord

33 C. 30 lines missing

R

lin a7 year 7(

I'

Jin a'1 year? ... [

2'

3'

Jmyl fa Ice? (at1) the sea shore -1

4'

]1 1 captured? him. They had admitted

5' l (forces 7) inlto the vicinjty of Ardat. 6' 1Then 7] my men [were atta)cked Lover and over again I in the middle of the night, 7' [and I a battle was lw]aged between them. 8' and my men drove them out. and heaped up 9' their equipment and their property. It was within the fortress that l O' they were fighting; and one man among them was captured, 11' and I interrogated Wm about the king of Egypt. He (said) thus: 12' "The king of Egypt is going forth, but he is going unaccomparued.

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13' In the coming Essesu-day his equipment will be moving, 14' and the king will come after the equipment." 15' So, may the king send troops and chariots that will stand forth, 16' may he send? ...... Heaven forbid that the king of Egypt I 7' should arrive quickly; then we shall not (be able to) overpower (him) 18' by force. Heaven forbid that the king of Egypt 19' should come forth! Should he not come forth, and it is the p(!t-troops 20' that come forth, then I shall (be able to) overpower (them) by force. 21' So, may the king assign troops and chariots, 22' in order that (we] (can) fight against them 23' and (will be able to) overpower (them) by force. If, now, 24' it is the p(!t-troops that come, 25' and I do not fight with them, then be it known to my lord 26' that every year they will come out here, 27' that every day he will keep sending (troops) against us. 28' Hence, we must surely now get in contact with them, 29' (just) as they start their departures again. 30' And if the gods permit us, 31' then we shall smash his belly? in the enemy's'! country'!, 32' and once and for all my enemies will be annihilated.

Comments: *For an extensive treatment of this text, see lzre'el l 988 and especially lzre'el and Singer 1990. where a full commentary is presented. Here I have limited myself to some important comments on the transliteration, and to some new observations since the publication of my l 988 paper. As Izre'el and Singer 1990 is the result of our research following the preparation of this book for publication, the edition of the General's Letter presented here is, in some respects, outdated. Also, some linguistic and orthographic features attested in this text have been reinterpreted and new insights have been introduced. These new ideas could not be incorporated in this study of Amurru Akkadian.

I. 2: 1.fo-mi-i(t?- ): The third syllabic sign can be interpreted as the first half of either JD or/. While in Izre'el 1988 I followed Nougayrol's suggestion in Ugaritica V to

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RS 20.33

read the General's name as a Semitic PN, namely .fomi[yan11 J (cf. Grondahl 1967: 52, 194), I have now changed my mind, and prefer a reading with the sign i[t. This view tends towards a non-Semitic interpretation of this name, and has emerged from my recent awareness that the sender of this letter was despatched to the Amurru region from the north, i.e., from a non-Semitic milieu. II. 21, 23: k11pp11 usually means "pond" rather than "spring" (CAD: K: 550-551 ).

l. 23: The sign# in na-a$-$i-ru-te.MES is confirmed by the cuneiform copy, as well as by the published photographs. Nougayrol's $f is a printing error (copied also by Rainey 1971: 132). l. 25: Even if an n closing a final syllable is attested for some Akkadian particles and pronominals, I would rather regard the last AN sign as superfluous. This may be the result of the abundance of na-an sequences in this text. (Otherwise Nougayrol 1968: 71 n. 13; Berger 1970: 285.) 11. 30, 32': For the transliteration ze-ra-ni-ia, see 1.15.

l. 5': The restoration of ana instead of ina (as in Nougayrol 1968: 72) was suggested by Rainey (1971: 134-5, 139). l. 16': At the beginning of this line (as well as in I. 6, restored) Nougayrol (I 968: 73) read tex-dis-ti (which can now be transliterated te,.-dis-ti, see AS3: no. 266). My arguments against this reading have been stated in lzre'el 1988: 166. 11. 16'-20': The syntactic parsing and interpretation of this passage has been suggested to me by Moran (p. c.). This rendering not only confirms the translation of assurri as "heaven forbid" rather than a negative "perhaps" (4.1.1 ), but also solves the old crux U$$Om Iii U$$Olll. The word-string ll$$Om la 11Ham was formerly translated as an expression denoting "sortant sans sortir" (Nougayrol 1968: 73 n. 7) or "vacillates from coming" (Rainey 1971: 135, 140). The translation given above separates this string into two units, of which the second is conceived as denoting an unmarked conditional protasis. 11. 19'-20'; 24'ff: Note that ERIN.ME.~ "troops" has singular agreement in this text (cf. 3.3.2.l). II. 19', 21 ': For the term "p(jt troops", see the comment on EA 166: 4, p. 46 above.

l. 28': Following Nougayrol (1968: 74 n. 2), I take si 11(Sl)-im-qa-am as if derived from sant1qu (i.e., < sinqam). Another possible rendering for the idiom simqa(m) $Obiitu may be "to put pressure on" or the like (cf. CAD: S: s.v. saniiqu).

L 31': For ralui$U "smash, smite", see Rainey 1979: 159-160; also lzre'el 1988: 174.

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RS 20.162

In the rendering of the complex UZU.DUR-su I have now returned to Nougayrol's suggestion, i.e., to read abunnatu for UZU .DUR (for the meaning, cf. CAD: A,: 89; for the Sumerogram, cf. Labat 1976: 89 no. 108). As for the complex Kl.BAR, in lzre'el 1988: 168 I proposed the rendering "enemy's country" as a second possibility. I now tend to prefer this to any other understanding of this difficult, otherwise unattested expression (cf. Nougayrol 1968: 74 n. 5, who raised tbe possibility of reading Kl.MES '"zone mitoyenne(?) frontiere(?)' d'Amurru"). These signs hence stand for either er:;etu al1itu "foreign country" or er:;et al1f "enemy's country" (cf. CAD: A,: 191a s.v. a[,itu and p. 213a s.v. al1ii respectively).

RS 20.162 D 5334; U garirirn V no. 37, pp. 115- I 16; copy: p. 390: photo: p. 691. fig. 27

0

a-na LUGAL KUR-ti 11-ga5-[rJi-ti

2 EN-ia q{-bi-ma 3 um-ma 1pcir-:;i iRl-ka 4 'a-na' GiR.ME.~ EN-ila am-qutf 5 [/u-1, J'su/ 1 [-mu a-na mul1-l1i-kal 6 IEIN-ia ki-'i' LUGAL KUR.'ME.~ a-mur-ri' 7 1,-lu a-kcin-na a-na pa-ni-ka 8 aq-fix-bi ma-a ki-i 9 fe-ma sa-a LU.KUR DUR.ME.~ 10 tal-te-me

u a-na KUR.ME.~-ia

I I su-pur 1-me? 11 i-na-an-11a

12 EN-Ii am-mi-nim E 13 la-a al-tap-ra 14 a-na mul1-bi-11i R 15 a-na a-ma-te LU.'KUR' DUR.ME,~

16 ki-i tal-te-me 17 sa-ni-tam EN-ia 18 KUR.MES a-mur-ri 11 KUR.MES u-ga-ri-te 19 I xen-ma su-nu 20 stim-ma EN-ia (e-ma tal-te-me

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21 a-na LU.KUR DUR.ME.~,, EN-ia

22 a-na m11[1-[,i-ia /11-1, 23 al-tap-ra EN-l[i 24 a-nu-ma a-na-k11 a({!-tap7-ra'! ma'1-a 7J

E 25 GI.tMA.ME.~ sa-a IGI.ME.~-11[i 7 26 /11 ,,-mas-sar a-na a-ma-r(i-kcf 27

0

1, EN-ia lu-u i-de[,]

To the king of Ugarit, 2 my lord, say:

3 Message of Par~u, (your] servant[: 4 At the feet of m(yl lord [l fall.I 5 (May it be )we[ll with you.I

6 My [lo[rd, has the king of Amurru not 7 said thus unto 8 you: "When

9 you hear anything about the alien 10 enemies, write 11 to my countries"? Now, 12 sir, why E 13 have you not written 14 to us R 15 about the alien enemies

16 that you had heard of!

17 Furthermore, my lord,

18 the lands of Amurru and the lands of Ugarit, 19 they are indeed one.

20 If you hear a word 21 about the alien enemies, then my lord

22 should write to 23 me. Si[r,

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24 now J? (write? thus 7:J E 25 I am indeed sending for [your) use[ (?) 26 the ships which are under o[ur?J responsibility. 27 May my lord kno[w.l

Comments: ll. 9, 15, 21: The possibility of reading DUR (= a[,ii or the like, meaning "hostile, alien") was first noted by Berger ( 1970: 288) (cf. CAD: A,: 189b, and especially 210a, 213a). The sign complex should hence be rendered nakre a[111te or the like. l prefer "alien" to "hostile" in this context, as it seems to form a better collocation with "enemy". It thus seems that the addressee is referred to an enemy from a foreign country, which is located outside of both the Ugarit and Amurru regions.

I. 13: Lit. "has he (sic) not written" (for the person morpheme, see 2.4.1.1). I. 25-26: For IGI.ME.~-ni = ma[,rini, see 4.5 s.v. ma[,ru. ana amiirika meaus lit. "your looking", "your observation".

Bo 65a+282a KBo 28, no. 54

0

I a-na Mi.LUGAL GAL GIAISAN-ia q11-bi-mal

2 um-ma 1ZAG.SES iR-ki

3 a-na GiR.ME.~ GA.~AN-ia 2-s,i 1-slii am-qui]

4 GASAN-ia 1Bi-ba-as-Tu 4 qa[-du? 1PN.1) 5 11 1Zi-nu-u-Bi LU.DUMU[.KIN.ME.~1-ri-k;?[

6 i-na KUR URU.a-mur-ri ik[-ta-sa-ad]

1

u GASAN-ia

8

traces

lu-u i-de4-s(u 1

9 i-na[

10 um-ma-'a'

traces

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Bo 65a+282a

I I ba'! -tum? a-~a-i la-' a'!, I

12 1Pa-!Ja-as-Tu4 •11 71 [ 13 sa-a-si-ma a-na x[

14 um-ma-a is-tu URU.t,a-x( 15 a-na a-~la-]i LUGAL KUR mi-il~-ri 16 a-nae-re-bi LUGAL KUR [ 17

u 1Be-!Ja-as-Tu4 'LUGAL 11 K[UR 1

18 (uJm-ma-a as-sum a-ma-(ti1

19 R

l'

s]a? LU[ traces

2' ZAG.MES sa[

3' ma-an-nu-[me 1-e1 4'

u is-tu I

5' a-bi dUT[U-si

6' it-tall-ka 7' 't;'/•[ 8' x 'ma 1• it-I

9' [?] a-na Kl[ 10' 11-za-ak-kil

Rest of reverse uninscribed

0

I To the great q(uJeen, my lady, s(ay:( 2 Message of Pendisenni, your servant: 3 At the feet of my lady twice seven ti[mes I fall.) 4 My lady, Pbasdu wi[th'1 .... J

5 and Zinubi, [your 7] messenger[s,) 6 [have] ar[rivedJ in Amurru. 7 May my lady know i[t 7.

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8

9 in?I 10 thus: [ 11 without? going out

I

J not(

12 Phasdu and?[ 13 that one to? .. [ 14 thus: "From G[N

I 5 for the departure of the king of Eg[ypt 16 for the entrance of the king of ( 17 and Phasdu (wrote'! to'11the king? of? I 18 (tJhus: "Concerning the matt(er 19 R

otf? .. (

l' 2' the borders? of?

3' who[ever? 4' Since? [ 5' my father, my Sulnl-Godl 6' has com(e

7' .. (

8' ... (

9' ((?)J to .. ( 10' will release?( Rest of reverse uninscri bed

Comments: 11. 4, 12, 17: For the reading of the name as Phasdu, see vol. l, the end of 1.8.

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Bo 141m

Bo 141m KBo 8,no. 16

0

1 'a'-na dlJTU-si LUGAL GAL E[N-ia q(-bi-maJ 2 um-ma 1ZAG .•~ES

[iR-ka

3 a-na GiR.ME.~ EN-ia 2-Sll '1'1-su am-qutl 4 a-nu-ma i-na KUR a-mur-'ri'

5 sa-a dUTU-si 'EN"h-ia

traces

traces

6 EN-If 1Be-ba-as-Du '' 1iR-I

1 U).DUMU.KJN-ri fa dUTU EN-[ia 8 'LU.DUMU.KlN'-ri

10-12

so 'LUGAL KUR' mi-ii'[-r;?

Jx 'i-na'[

9

Ix[

traces

R l' rd UTU-si' LUGAL GAL fa-a 2'

u ki-i EN-ia is-pu-ra

traces

um-ma-a 1m-dul

3' a-lm-ka i-na KUR ar-sa-wa it-tal-ka '1l°11 [ 4' it-ti tanni 14 to ~umur; he intended, according to Rib-Addi, to march on Byblos, but the plan was aborted for lack of water. I have raised doubts about the credibility of this uruque report, which, if true, would carry far-reaching consequences for the international scene. From all that we know, Mitanni and Egypt maintained their political alliance, especially when con-

B As has often occo pointed out, the story of Abdi-Asirta has many points of resemblance with that of Lab'ayu of Shechem. Both leaders carved out for tJ1emselves a sizahle kingdom using shrewd tactics. and both were evelllually eliminated by the Egyptians, only to be followed by equally amhitious sons.

14 The initial Mi- is omitted. In EA 75: 38 the final -ni is omitted, whereas the -II- is reduplicated

(see Moran 1987: 254 n. 8 ).

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fronted with the growing Hittite menace. Most scholars have therefore assumed that the Mitannian "visit" was merely a show of arms to rally support for the common Egyptian-Mitannian cause (Kitchen 1962: 13; Klengel 1969: 233 n. 29; 256). Other evidence for the alleged Mitannian-Amurrite cooperation has been detected in the historical preamble to the Sausgamuwa treaty, where the "Amurru Lands" (sic) are said to have belonged in the past to the Hurrians. TI1is surprising statement, which squarely contradicts the historical data in all the other Amurru treaties, was taken at face value by some scholars, who reconstructed a short (Murnane 1985: I 85f, 235ff) or even a long (Kestemont 1978) period of Mitannian domination in Amurru prior to its submission to Hatti. I have attempted to put forward a different interpretation of this statement in the Sausgamuwa treaty: "Amurru Lands" in this late text should be understood in the broad sense of the term, as referring to Syria in general rather th,m the kingdom of Amurru. Rib-Addi's sensational report on the Mitannian king's campaign or "visit" to ~umur is, to my mind, a figment of Rib-Addi's notorious polemics, 15 which was intended to drum up Egyptian support against the rulers of Amurru. In thfa case the false alarm may.have worked out for him, since the long-awaited Egyptian task force arrived at last in Amurru and removed Abdi-Asirta from the scene. Even less substantial is the evidence for an alleged submission of Abdi-Asirta to the Hittites (Kitchen 1962: 20 n. 8; Waterhouse 1965: 2f; Schulman 1988: 60f). This theory is based on the obscure passage EA 75: 35-42, where Rib-Addi juxtaposes the acts of Abdi-Asirta to those of the king of Hatti, who apparently captured all the lands that had been subject to Mitanni (see Singer l 990: l24ff). This, however, does not prove that there was a cooperation between the two, and even less that AbdiAsirta submitted to Hatti. The founder of the Amurrite dynasty is totally absent from the Hittite historiography, which is strong silent evidence.

15 For Rih-Addi's rather free usage of historical information sec Weber apud Knudtzon 1915: 1207; Klengel 1969: 25 3.

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In conclusion, although Abdi-Asirta may have closely followed the rapidly unfolding international situation and may even have explored the possibility of crossing the political lines, there is nothing to show that such a policy was actively followed by him. An active involvement in international politics was first pursued by his resourceful son Aziru. The chronology of Abdi-Asirta's period is difficult to establish, the only clear synchronism being with Rib-Addi of Byblos. The range of his recorded activities must fall (together with the whole of the Amama correspondence with the Syrian rulers) within the reign of Akhenaton. after the transfer of the capital to Akhetaten in Year 5 (Kitchen 1962: 41; Klengel 1964: 58 n. 6; but cf._ Campbell 1964: 134). The reference to the Hittite victories in Syria in the above-mentioned letter of Rib-Addi (EA 75: 35ff) could refer to a foray of Suppiluliuma. According to the newly suggested chronology for the early Hittite Empire (Wilhelm and Boese 1987; Bryce 1989; see also Gurney 1990: 181) the entire reign of Suppiluliuma falls within the lifetime of Akhenaton, which would conform with the above statement. It should be noted, however, that Abdi-Asirta's activities in Amurru may have started long before his first appearance in Rib-Addi's and in his own letters.

Aziru and his brothers (c. 1345 -1315 B.C.) The Egyptian intervention in ~umur which brought an end to Abdi-Asirta's meteoric career did not curb for long the hectic political activity in Amurru. AbdiAsirta's sons, three (or four) of whom are known to us by name (Aziru, Pu-Baria, Bafluya and perhaps Niqmepa), soon reappeared on the scene and began a concerted effort to restore their father's authority in Amurru. Aziru was perhaps not the eldest, but certainly the most influential of Abdi-Asirta's sons. He is no doubt the best known political figure from the Land of Amurru.1 6 The

16 The major study on Aziru is still Klengel 1964, revised in Klengel 1969: 264-299. For other summaries on Aziru's age see Waterhouse 1965; Heick 1971: 174ff; Krauss 1978: 59-62; Murnane 1985: 186ff

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sources on his age (see Klengel 1969: 191-208) include some fifteen letters of his correspondence with Egypt; numerous other references to him and to his land in other Amarna letters, notably in Rib-Addi's correspondence; an accord with Ugarit; a treaty with Hatti; and references in other Hittite texts. The exact chronology of his reign in the second half of the 14th century depends on several synchronisms discussed in the following. The earliest phases in the reconsolidation of the Amurrite state, which apparently had disintegrated after Abdi-Asirta's disappearance from the scene, are only known from Rib-Addi's reports to Egypt. At this stage, the exact length of which is difficult to establish, Aziru and his brothers apparently refrained from writing to Egypt, cautiously waiting to first consolidate their position. The first places that succumbed to Abdi-Asirta's sons were Ardata, Wabliya, Ambi and Sigata (EA 104), all of which are situated in the southern part of Amurru, in the zone bordering the domain of Byblos. It is of interest to observe that Ardata (Arde) was also one of the first towns to be taken by Abdi-Asirta (EA 75). Could this indicate that the power-base (and origin) of Abdi-Asirta's clan was located in the nearby ranges of the Lebanon Mountain, east of Tripoli? The offensive continued northwards. Pu-Barta entered the important naval-base of Ullasa in the Tripoli region (EA 104; EA 105; EA 109). Irqata (Tell fArqa) was threatened and its elders sent a call for help to Egypt (EA 100). 17 By this stage, all of Amurru except Irqata and ~umur was dominated by Abdi-Asirta's sons (EA 103). With the fall of the former, the belt was tightening on ~umur, the main target of Aziru and his brothers. The siege on the last Egyptian stronghold was laid from both land and sea and lasted for several months (EA 105; EA 114). In the naval blockade Abdi-Asirta's sons were assisted, according to Rib-Addi, by Arwad (EA 104; EA 105; EA 109) and by

17 According to Knudtzon (1915: 1194) the physical features of the tablet and the script are similar to those of Rib-Addi' letters. Perltaps the letter was indeed sent from Byblos and served the purposes of Rib-Addi's propaganda (Klengel 1969: 196).

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other coastal cities south of Byblos (EA 114; EA 118; cf. also EA 149 from Tyre). That Sumur, despite Rib-Addi's rhetoric, was not entirely cut off is shown by the fact that Egyptian officials continued to circulate freely in and out of the city. Perhaps Aziru intentionally left an outlet for the purpose of negotiations with the Egyptian officials of the province. The time was now ripe to write to the Pharaoh and propose submission to Egypt in return for recognition as the official "mayor" ({wza111111) of Amurru. The first letters of Aziru are undoubtedly EA 156-158 and EA 171. 18 In these letters Aziru reassures the Pharaoh and the high official Tuttu (EA 158) that he has long sought to enter into the service of Egypt, but has been prevented by the "greats" of Sumur (EA 157: I If) and by the governor Yanbamu (EA 171: 5). To this end he even sent to Egypt bis messengers (EA 157: 35) and two sons 19 (EA 156: 8ff). Aziru gives his solemn promise to be loyal to Egypt and to send the same tribute as other "mayors". He further warns of a possible Hittite offensive against bis country and asks for military assistance from Egypt to ward off the danger (EA 157: 28). lt is difficult to establish whether these letters were sent before or after the takeover of Sumur. There is nothing in their contents, as far as I can see, which would exclude either possibility. If Aziru had already entered ,Sumur when be wrote these letters his bargaining position would obviously have been much stronger. Tbe actual conquest of Snmur is reported in several letters of Rib-Addi (Klengel 1969: 65 n. 47), the first of which may be EA 116. The city must have suffered considerable damage,2° and in his next letters (EA 159-161) Aziru promises to rebuild it as soon as circumstances would permit. Ironically, Aziru's violent entry into ,Sumur paved the way for his recognition as an official Egyptian vassal. In EA 161

18 For J\7jru a~ the sender of EA 171, see Campbell 1964: 90-91. 19 If indeed "'my sons"' is meant literally, J\7fru must have been at lea~t tn his thirties at lhe time of

~umur·s conquest. ZO The excavation~ at Tell Kv.el have not gone below the rich 13th century level (""Couche V"'). See Dunand, Bounni and Saliby 1964: 12.

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and EA 162, the latter written by the king of Egypt, Azim is recognized as "mayor"

(lwzannu). The chronology of the following phases in Aziru's career depends largely on first establishing the correct order of his remaining correspondence with Egypt. The order first suggested by Knudtzon, i.e. EA 159 successively through EA 171, has so far been followed, with minor changes, by all commentators on Amarna Age history. In this monograph Sh. Izre'el comes to grips with Aziru's letters and offers new translations which are based on his overall examination of the Amurrite dialect of Akkadian. Some crucial passages are analyzed differently than hitherto, notably EA 161: 4-1 0; 24-34. Aziru discusses here his visit to Egypt - in the future according to the traditional interpretation, in the past according to Izre'el's (see Izre'el and Singer 1990: 130ft). This minor change in the interpretation of a verb is of great significance for the historical interpretation of Aziru's biography. With this passage as a starting point Aziru's correspondence has been reexamined, together with the relevant Hittite material, and a different order for Aziru's letters and consequently for his turbulent career has been suggested (ihid.: 128-154). The reader is referred to the detailed argumentation presented there, including a comparison between the traditional and the new interpretations. Here Aziru's dealings with Egypt and with Hatti will be briefly summarized according to the new interpretation. The official appointment of Aziru as "mayor" was made during a visit to the Pharaoh's court which, to my mind, took place immediately after the takeover of ~umur. This journey to Egypt is referred to retrospectively in EA 161, in which Aziru recalls how he defended himself before the Pharaoh against the accusations of his enemies. The same visit is also mentioned by Ili-Rapib of Byblos in EA 140, in which Rib-Addi's follower provides a rare list of Aziru's deeds: political assassinations, the takeover of ~umur and Ullasa, and the trip to Egypt which was used for further plotting with (A)itakama of Kinza (Qedes). While in Egypt Aziru received a letter (EA 170) from his brother Ba~luya and his son(?) Beti'ilu, containing an alarming report about a Hittite offensive in Syria: the Hittite general Lupakki, assisted by Aitakama of Kinza, had captured several cities in Amqi, whereas another contingent, headed by Zita(na), was about to arrive in

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Nubasse. In another letter (EA 169). Aziru's son implores the high official Tutu, Aziru's benefactor. to intervene for the immediate release of his father. Aziru managed to pull the right strings in Egypt and hastened home, having recognized the extraordinary importance of the new developments in Syria. The Egyptians were apparently confident that their newly appointed vassal would loyally defend their interests in Amurru. Soon enough they realized their grave mistake. In close coordination with Aitakama of Kinza. another Hittite surrogate, Aziru attacked his weaker, pro-Egyptian neighbors - Niya, Qatna and Tunip. 21 Another victim of Aziru's expansionism was of course Rib-Addi (Klengel 1969: 276ff). Having already suffered from Abdi-Asirta's aggression, the unfortunate ruler of Byblos had to endure it once again. His renewed efforts to drum up some Egyptian help were equally fruitless, and this time he was forced to abandon his own city. The most prolific correspondent of Amama, to whom we owe much of our info1mation, finished his life in exile (cf. lzre'el and Singer 1990: 14111. I). Aziru's most significant territorial gain was Tunip on the middle Orontes. From days of old this important city had had close ties with the Amurrite coast and clearly belonged to the Egyptian orbit. After the heyday of the early 18th dynasty, however, Tunip lost much of its power and nestled between the Egyptian and the Mitannian spheres of influence. With Aziru at the gates of Tunip, the concerned citizens of the city sent an urgent letter to the Pharaoh (EA 59) reminding him of their bondage to Egypt from the times of 'fbutmose Ill (Manabpiria). Their request to return to them a son of a certain Aki-Tesub, probably to become their king, was of no avail. Aziru took the city and turned it into his headquarters during the following crucial period. His next letters - EA 161, EA 164-168 (possibly also EA 159-160) -- were written from Tunip.

21 The complicated and changing pattern of relationships hctwcen the various t'entral Syrian states and Amurru cannot hc elaborated here. For the contacts with the Land of Uhc (mu! IJanHL~cus) sec llachman I 970: 65ff

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The city was ideally situated near the theater of operations in central Syria. and Aziru immediately opened negotiations with the Hittites who were campaigning in nearby Nubasse. In EA 165: 28ff he openly admits his planned meeting with the king of Hatti. who is staying two days distance from Tunip. This is a most valuable chronological clue which may most probably be related to Suppiluliuma's "One Year" campaign to Syria. dated to c. 1340 B.C. (see Bryce 1989: 23). I assume that in this historical meeting between Suppiluliuma and Azim. the terms of Amurru's submission to Hatti were negotiated (see below). All during this time Aziru maintained a facade of loyalty towards the Egyptians. He was repeatedly summoned to Egypt to explain his increasingly suspicious conduct, but he kept postponing his (next) trip on the pretext that his country was threatened by the Hittites and their surrogates. In his letters to the Pharaoh (EA 159-161; EA 165; EA 168) and to leading Egyptian officials (EA 164; EA 166-167), Aziru emphatically reasserts his loyalty. promises to rebuild ~umur (EA 159-161). and even prepares his tribute consisting of eight ships loaded with wood and oil (EA 160: 33ff; EA 161: 54ff). 22 It appears that Aziru wac; actually paid for his "tribute" to Egypt. A certain l-latip

was supposed to band over gold. silver and other supplies to Aziru. but Aziru maintains that ljatip took the payment for himself (EA 161: 41-46). It is interesting to compare this episode to a reference in EA 126. Rib-Addi. the _last defender of the Egyptian cause, deplores that his ships cannot reach Ugarit and the Sal~i lands to procure wood for the Pharaoh because Aziru's navy blocks his way.23 He further asks the Pharaoh not to listen to his officers who had given all the gold and silver to AbdiAsirta's sons. who in their turn handed it over to the "mighty king". The latter must be the Hittite king (Murnane 1985: 206; Moran 1987: 342 n. 12). whose troops are

22 It is nowhere stated that he actually sent these ships to Egypt. hi fact, he asks for a messenger to

be sent to collect the tribute. (See also next note.)

23 It seems that with Amurru about to cross the political lines. and with most of the territory of Ryblos sacked by Aziru and his brothers, the Egyptians were short of wood and attempted to buy lhe much-needed commodity in the region of U garit.

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mentioned earlier in the letter, 24 rather than the king of Mitanni (Weber apud Knudtzon 1915: 1227; Klengel 1969: 200). Tl1is could very well be a rare reference to Aziru's submission to Suppiluliuma. Could the gold and silver mentioned here by Rib-Addi be the same as that referred to by Aziru in EA 161? If so. and if Rib-Addi's claims are true (rather than Aziru's). it would seem that Aziru paid l1is first tribute to Hatti with money that he received from Egypt! This would not come as a major surprise to anyone who is familiar with Aziru's shrewd tactics. After a while the Egyptians finally realized their grave error. In a strong ultimatum (EA 162) they compiled a list of all of Aziru's misdemeanors and threatened him and his family with capital punishment. But this obviously came too late. Aziru never risked another visit to Egypt. and chose instead to consolidate his ties with the Hittites and to establish regional alliances with other Hittite surrogates in Syria - Aitakama of Kinza and Niqmaddu of Ugarit (see below). The vassal treaty with Suppiluliuma (CTH 49) marks the beginning of the second part of Aziru's long career, as a vassal of the Hittite "Sun" instead of the Egyptian "Sun". The exact date of the treaty cannot be established with certainty. but from several clues of chronological value it may be assumed to fall a short time, perhaps a year. after Aziru's return from Egypt (Singer 1990: 155-159). The meeting with Suppiluliuma and the subsequent signing of the treaty probably occurred in the wakt> of the "One Year" war in Syria (c. 1340 B.C.) or very shortly after. The treaty has been preserved in one Hittite and several Akkadian versions. 25 It opens, unusually. with a concise summary of Aziru's duties as a Hittite vassal: an oath of allegiance. a yearly tribute of 300 shekels of pure gold. and a commitment to present himself yearly before the king of Hatti. The historical review which follows

24 Rih-Addi maintains that Hittite troops arc mohili,,cd against his own land (EA 126: 58ffl, If this is not just another sample of his notorious rhetoric. it recalls the stationing of Generai ~umil- and his troops at the southern hordcr of Amurru. For the military situation in the "General's Leiter" (RS 20.33) sec Singer 1990: I 17ff and further below, 25 For bihliography on the text see Singer I 990: 144 n, 2, A recent transliterati1m and trart~lation of the treaties with Azim, with Duppi-Tesuh arid with Bentesina is found in Del Monte 1986,

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(see Singer 1990: l44ff) duly emphasizes Aziru's voluntary submission to Suppiluliuma at a time when the rest of Syria was still hostile to Hatti. This motif which recurs in the later Amurru treaties was obviously necessary in order to legitimize the annexation of an acknowledged Egyptian dependency to the Hittite Empire. The remainder of the treaty contains the usual stipulations concerning the extradition of fugitives and enemies of His Majesty and the subjection of Amurru's foreign policy to that of Hatti. The list of potential friends or foes includes Jjurri, Egypt, Babylon, Alsi ans Astata; the first and the last names are clear indications of the early date of the treaty. Azim is further required to intervene militarily in case of a revolt in the neighboring lands of Niya, Kinza and Nuhasse. In return, Azim is given guarantees of Hittite military aid in case of a threat to his kingdom. This explicit provision (which is also found in the treaties with Tette of Nuhasse and Niqmepa of Ugaril) was probably put to the test shortly after the signing of the treaty. 111e painful treason of Azim finally put the complacent court of Amarna on the alert. There is cumulative evidence in late Amarna letters that a military expedition to Syria was organized in the last years of Akhenaton (see literature cited in Singer 1990: 162). Whether the vigorous preparations eventually led to a campaign is still a disputed issue (see ibid.: 164ft). Perhaps Akhenaton's death interrupted the plans, and the counteroffensive was postponed until Tutankhamun's reign. In any case, the Hittites and their newly recruited allies had no doubt anticipated a massive Egyptian counterattack and prepared themselves accordingly. As one preemptive step, the Hittites, in coordination with Aziru, sent an army contingent under the command of a certain Sumi(- to the southern border of Amurru (RS 20.33 = Ugaritirn V, no. 20; see above, pp. 92ff; for the dating of the text and its historical setting see lzre'el and Singer 1990). Any Amarna Age Egyptian attempts to recover their lost provinces failed and for the next century and a half Amurru remained (except for a short while) firmly in Hittite hands. With a vigilant eye on his southern border, Aziru could at last rest and organize his kingdom and his court. Amurru's northern flank was secured by an agreement reached with Niqmaddu II of Ugarit (RS 19.68 = PRU JV: 284ff; see above, pp. 88ff). The accord, which on the

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evidence of its physical features was probably written in Amurru (Nougayrol, PRU JV: 282; lzre'el, vol. I, p. 21 ), opens with a solemn renouncement of past enmity

between Amurru, on the one hand, and Ugarit with its client kingdom of Siyannu on the other. Surprisingly, we discover in this section that in the leadership of Amurru, Bafluya and Aziru were preceeded by a certain Niqmepa who was a contemporary of Ammistamru I in Ugarit. This otherwise unknown figure must have been another son of Abdi-Asirta, perhaps the eldest, who for a short while was the foremost among his brethren. On his part Aziru renounced all claims to the client states of Siyanuu and Zinzaru 26 that flanked Ugarit on the southwest and the southeast respectively (for the former see Astour 1979). He further committed hi,nself to bring his army and chariots to the help of Ugarit in case of an enemy attack. ln return Aziru received the considerable sum of 5000 silver shekels. This first accord between the two Levantine kingdoms characterizes the nature of their relationship to come. The rich mercantile kingdom of Ugarit to a certain extent relied for protection on its southern neighbor, which under die leadership of Azim became the "strongman" of the entire Levantine coast (cf. EA 98). The amicable relations were further cemented in the following generations through marriages arranged between the two courts. Concerning the date of the Aziru-Niqmaddu accord in relation to the treaties of Suppiluliuma with Aziru and with Niqmaddu, two sequences have usually been suggested. Nougayrol (PRU JV: 283) dates the accord after the SuppiluliumaNiqmaddu treaty (and before the SuppiluHuma-Aziru treaty). Liverani ( 1962: 36f), followed by Klengel ( 1962: 456; 1969: 284f), regards the Aziru-Niqmaddu accord as the earliest among the three, arguing that if Ugarit were already included within the Hittite imperial system it could probably not sign a separate accord with another

26 Nougayrol (PRU IV: 282) plausihly suggests that the name 7Jzzaruwa must helong to the ruler of the small kingdom of Zinzaru, also known from ,\mama and Egyptian sources (llekk 1971: 299f).

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state. To my mind, the strength of this argument is limited, 27 but one might offer support for this order through another observation. lo their vassal treaties with Hatti the two kingdoms are both mutualJy excluded from the list of potential Syrian enemies, which may show that they had already settled their relations through an accord. Although the correct order of the three treaties remains uncertain, 28 the important point is that the triple agreement endowed the Hittite imperial system with a strong and stable axis. The two Levantioe kingdoms stood at the side of their suzerain in the recurring rebellions of the inner-Syrian states east of the Orontes. The border between the kingdoms of Amurru and Ugarit (and Siyaonu) must have passed somewhere in the latitude of Tartus, at the northern edge of the f Akkar Plain. This raises the question of the political status of the island town of Arwad (Ruad). This important trading post, which later became one of the leading Phoenician citystates, assisted Azim during his naval blockade against $mnur (EA 98; EA l05). Since it is not mentioned in the Aziru-Niqmaddu accord or in the records of the Hittite administration we may assume that it became a client kingdom of Amurru, perhaps with a semi-independent status. In. the east, Amurru seems to have kept its hegemony over Tunip and its region

(cf., however, KJengel 1969: 86f n. 11; 287). Although the inhabitants of Tunip had signed a vassal. treaty with a Hittite king (CTH 135), probably Suppiluliuma (Klengel 1969: 83), in later times the town does not seem to have had independent status under the Hittite administration of Syria. That the traditional ties with Amurru con-

27 In the va~sal treaties prepared by Mursili for the Ar7.awa land~ of Mira, IJapalla and the Seba River Land there is a stipulation stating that the rulers of these states are sworn not only to the Hittite king, but also to each other (see, e.g., CTI/ 67: rev. 9f0. This may indicate that neighboring va~sal states

concluded bilateral treaties between themselves, with the approval of the Hittite su7,crain. However, copies of such treaties have not yet been found in llattusa. A parallel ca~e from another imperial system is the treaty between Niqmepa of Alala\J and lr-Tesub of Tunip (AT 2), both members of the Mitannian confederacy. 28 I would not even exclude the possibility that the Suppiluliuma-Aziru treaty (for which l suggest an early date, see 1990: 155f0 wa~ the earliest of the three.

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tinued under Hittite rule is also hinted at by the appearance of the Storm-god of Tunip in the list of oath gods of the Duppi-Tesub treaty (KBo XXII 39 llI 15'). Tunip is also mentioned in a fragmentary letter of Bentesina (see below). Under the leadership of Azim, Amurru developed from a loosely defined chiefdom, ruled collectively by the sons of a charismatic figure (who was never considered a king), into a (more-or-less) ordinary Syrian kingdom, with a centralized royal court and weU-organized foreign relations. Still, its non-urban origins found expression in the hesitation in locating the capital of the kingdom, the seat of its kings for the next century and a half (see Klengel 1969: 287f; Kestemont 1971; Stieglitz 1991 ). There are a few occurrences of a "City of Amurru", but it is most improbable to see in it a separate place-name (Kestemont); it is rather a designation for one of the known and well-attested cities (cf., e.g., Alalab = "the City of Mukis''). The most obvious choice would be ~umur (Stieglitz), but there may be other candidates, such as lrqata or Tunip. In any case, one can hardly doubt that the kings of Amurru had a permanent court from which they conducted their correspondence 2 itriige zur historischen Theologie. 16.) Tiihingen. 29-63. Edgerton, Wiliam F. and John A. Wilson. 1936. f-listoricaf Records of Ramses Ill. The Texts in Medinet Halm. (Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization. 12.) Chicago. Elayi. Josette. 1986-7. Les importations Grecques perse. AAAS 36-37: 132-135.

a Tell Kazel (Symyra) a l'epm1ue

Fales, Frederick Mario. 1984. An Akkadian Letter from Ugarit Between Sak1111s. OA 23: 163-166; tav. XVII. Fisher. Loren R. (ed.). 1971. The Claremont Ras-Shamrn Tahlets. (Analecta Orientalia. 48.) Roma. Forrer. Emil. 1932. Assyrien. RIA I: 228-297. 190 I

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Gordon, Cyrus H. 196.5. Ugaritic textbook. (Analecta Orientalia, 38). Roma. (Repr. 1967.) Grondahl. Frauke. 1967. Die Per.wnennamen der Texte aus Ugarit. (Studia Pohl, I.) Rom. Gurney. Oliver R: 1990. The Hittites. London. Bachmann. Rolf. 1970. Kamid el-Liiz ~ Kumidi. In: D. 0. Edzard. et al. l