The Tell Amarna Tablets

GIFT OF -!>& THE TELL AMARNA TABLETS After two years' study of the published texts of the tablets found at Tell Amarna, Major Conder has completed a translation of them, which the Com- mittee of the Fund have undertaken to publish. In this, as in all their publications, the Committee beg it to be understood that the author alone is re- sponsible for the opinions put forward. JAMES GLAISHER, Chairman Executive Committee, January^ 1893. TELL AMARNA TABLETS '§xan5laicb C. R. CONDER, Major R.E., D.C.L., LL.D., M.R.A.S. SECOND EDITION, WITH CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS. PUBLISHED FOR THE COMMITTEE OF THE PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND BY A. P. WATT & SON, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND. 1894. [All rights resen<ed'\ Ca^Mi^^^ 3 H/rlhj CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE PREFACE - - - - - - ix I. INTRODUCTORY ----- i II. THE HITTITE INVASION OF DAMASCUS - - II III. THE AMORITE TREACHERY - - -29 IV. THE WAR IN PHCENICIA - - - "44 V. NORTHERN PALESTINE - - - "97 VI. SOUTHERN PALESTINE - - - - I15 iVH. ROYAL LETTERS - - - - - 1 64 APPENDIX - - - - - 225 NOTES ------ 247 GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX - - - - 255 ILLUSTRATIONS GENERAL MAP . _ - - FrouHspiece - MAP OF NORTHERN PALESTINE, HITTITE WAR 1 ' MAP OF SYRIA, AMORITE WAR - - ZZ MAP OF SOUTHERN PALESTINE - - - I16 TABLET OF CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTION FROM TELL EL - - HESY - - . - - 130 5537475 ; ---^'jh PREFACE. The Tell Amarna Tablets were discovered in 1887 by a peasant woman of Egypt, amid the ruins of the palace of Amenophis IV., midway between Thebes and Memphis, at the site of the ancient Antinoe, about 180 miles by river south of Cairo. Those tablets under present consideration date about 1480 B.C., and are written to the King of Egypt and to certain of his officials by Amorites, Phoenicians, Philistines and others. The names of Japhia, King of Gezer ; of Jabin, King of Hazor ; and, probably, of Adonizedek, King of Jerusalem — contemporaries of Joshua — occur among those of the writers. The events recorded include the conquest of Damascus by the Hittites> that of Phoenicia by the Amorites, and that of Judea by the Hebrews. The present translations, from the cuneiforrn characters, are based on the copies pubHshed by Dr. H. Winckler at Berlin, and Dr. C, Bezold of the British Museum, which include the whole of the letters now in Cairo, Berlin^and London. In dealing with inscriptions the interpretation of which is acknowledged by scholars to present many difficulties, I do not presume to suppose that my translations are beyond criticism, or always final but I believe that such criticism, which will no doubt lead to improvements, must be confined to details, X PREFACE and will not affect the general result, or the historical value of these most important texts. I may at least claim that the language in which they are written is the mother-tongue of that Syrian dialect which became known to me by speaking it daily for seven years. In dialectic pronunciation, in idiom, and in the peculiar meaning of many expressions the common speech of the Palestine peasantry is perhaps one of the best possible guides to an understanding of the writings of their Canaanite ancestors. The study of monumental inscriptions is often called a * by-path ' of Biblical knowledge. But in an age of destructive criticism it seems to me to present the most important weapon that can be placed in the hands of those who desire, without seeking to support any particular theory, to arrive at truth concerning the ancient history of Palestine and of the Hebrew people. In the present case we have become possessed of a mass of political correspondence dating about the time when, according to the Bible, the Hebrew invasion under Joshua took place, and which in bulk represents a literature equal to about half the length of the entire Pentateuch. That the Hebrews should be mentioned in such letters as conquering the south of Palestine, and driving out the Amorite kings, will appear natural to those who believe the narrative of the Book of Joshua to represent the history of the Hebrew conquest ; and that the date so determined does not agree with the now fashionable theory, which would place the conquest much later, in the time of Seti II., need not in any way disturb our minds. The date which is conjectured by some Egyptologists does not rest on any monumental evidence at all, for the simple reason that the Hebrews are not mentioned PREFACE xi in any Egyptian record as yet discovered, and appear for the first time in monumental history in the Tell Amarna letters. The speculation which would make their conquest so much later, while it ignores the Biblical data, is founded only on the libels of Manetho, who wrote at least twelve hundred years later, and who makes Amenophis succeed Rameses. I have never been able to understand on what grounds the date given in the Bible is so set aside, or to agree with the dictum of Dr. Brugsch, for which no evidence is brought forward from monuments, that * beyond all doubt ' Minephtah was the Pharaoh of the Exodus. We should rather, I think, agree with Josephus, the critic who exposed the ignorance of Manetho, in dismissing such opinions as 'in- credible fables.' C. R. C. Southampton, Oct. 17, 1892. X PREFACE and will not affect the general result, or the historical value of these most important texts. I may at least claim that the language in which they are written is the mother-tongue of that Syrian dialect which became known to me by speaking it daily for seven years. In dialectic pronunciation, in idiom, and in the peculiar meaning of many expressions the common speech of the Palestine peasantry is perhaps one of the best possible guides to an understanding of the writings of their Canaanite ancestors. The study of monumental inscriptions is often called a * by-path ' of Biblical knowledge. But in an age of destructive criticism it seems to me to present the most important weapon that can be placed in the hands of those who desire, without seeking to support any particular theory, to arrive at truth concerning the ancient history of Palestine and of the Hebrew people. In the present case we have become possessed of a mass of political correspondence dating about the time when, according to the Bible, the Hebrew invasion under Joshua took place, and which in bulk represents a literature equal to about half the length of the entire Pentateuch. That the Hebrews should be mentioned in such letters as conquering the south of Palestine, and driving out the Amorite kings, will appear natural to those who believe the narrative of the Book of Joshua to represent the history of the Hebrew conquest ; and that the date so determined does not agree with the now fashionable theory, which would place the conquest much later, in the time of Seti II., need not in any way disturb our minds. The date which is conjectured by some Egyptologists does not rest on any monumental evidence at all, for the simple reason that the Hebrews are not mentioned PREFACE xi in any Egyptian record as yet discovered, and appear for the first time in monumental history in the Tell Amarna letters. The speculation which would make their conquest so much later, while it ignores the Biblical data, is founded only on the libels of Manetho, who wrote at least twelve hundred years later, and who makes Amenophis succeed Rameses. I have never been able to understand on what grounds the date given in the Bible is so set aside, or to agree with the dictum of Dr. Brugsch, for which no evidence is brought forward from monuments, that * beyond all doubt ' Minephtah was the Pharaoh of the Exodus. We should rather, I think, agree with Josephus, the critic who exposed the ignorance of Manetho, in dismissing such opinions as 'in- credible fables.' C. R. C. Southampton, OcL 17, 1892. PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. The interest taken in the Tell Amarna letters leads to the preparation of a Second Edition of this work within the year of publication. I have carefully revised the whole, and have now added translations of the royal letters which, though not written in Palestine, still cast light on the history of the great rebellion. The total of two hundred and twenty letters represents all that the collection contains, the rest being broken fragments from which no con- secutive readings are possible. In almost every letter occur passages of great difficulty ; and concerning these the various trans- lators—Delattre, Zimmern, Sayce, Bezold, Halevy, and others—who have published selections out of the correspondence, are much at variance. In the present work, which continues to be the only one yet published treating of the letters as a whole, care has been taken to warn the reader of these doubtful passages, by means of queries and notes. It will not, however, be found that, as a rule, these passages have great historic importance. They are generally found in argumentative or supplicating sentences, or in personal explanations. The difficulties in translation are due to gaps in the text and to crabbed writing ; to unusual em- xiv PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION blems and peculiarities of style in writing, which mark the work of the less careful scribes ; to occa- sional doubts as to the division of words, and as to the proper sounds ; and, finally, to doubts as to the meaning of words. On the other hand great care has usually been taken by the scribes to make the meaning clear. The signs preceding the names of persons, cities, countries, etc., are of great value ; and the very complete grammar renders it easy to distinguish the syntax.

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