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Rib-Hadda, Le Roi De Byblos Qui Ne Ment Pas RIB-HADDA, LE ROI DE BYBLOS QUI NE MENT PAS PAR J. ELAYI Chercheur honoraire, UMR 7192, CNRS, Paris « Avec ma bouche, je dis au Roi des paroles qui ne sont que la vérité (pu-iaa-wa-teMEŠ aq-bua-našar-ri ki-ta-ma) », écrit Rib-Hadda, roi de Byblos, au pharaon1. Sur les 382 textes du Bronze récent qui subsistent du corpus d’El-Amarna (Akhetaton) en Égypte, près de 70 lettres ont été envoyées par le roi de Byblos pendant une douzaine d’années, autour de 1350 avant notre ère2. Ses premières lettres sont adressées au pharaon Amenhotep III, puis au pharaon Amenhotep IV / Akhenaton (1353-1336)3, ou à des fonctionnaires égyptiens4. Sa correspondance se divise en gros en trois parties : la première est contemporaine de ‘Abdi-Aširta d’Amurru (EA 68-95), la deuxième correspond à la première partie du règne d’Aziru d’Amurru (EA 101-134 et 362) et la troisième date de l’exil de Rib-Hadda 1 EA 107, 10-11. Ki-ta-ma est un accusatif adverbial selon A.F. Rainey, Canaanitein theAmarnaTablets.ALinguisticAnalysisoftheMixedDialectusedbytheScribesfrom Canaan. Vol. I, Leiden etal., 1996, p. 169 (« truthfully »). Rib-Hadda, « compensation de Haddu », est orthographié de plusieurs manières dans cette correspondance : Rib-Hadda, Rib-Addi, Rib-Addu, Rib-Eddi ; voir R.S. Hess, AmarnaPersonalNames, Winona Lake, 1993, p. 132-134, n° 140, ri-ib-ad-di. 2 J.A. Knudtzon, Die El-Amarna-Tafeln, Leipzig, 1907-1915 (réimprimé : Aalen, 1964) ; R.F. Youngblood, TheAmarnaCorrespondenceofRib-Haddi,PrinceofByblos (EA68-96), Dropsie College, 1961 ; A.S. Rainey, ElAmarnaTablets359-379.Supplement toJ.A.Knudtzon,DieEl-Amarna-Tafeln, Neukirchen-Vluyn, 19782 ; W.L. Moran (trad. fran- çaise de D. Colon et H. Cazelles), Leslettresd’El-Amarna,Correspondancediplomatique dupharaon, Paris, 1987 ; id., TheAmarnaLetters, Baltimore-London, 1992 (avec révision de la traduction française : p. xi) ; A.F. Rainey, « New Lighting on the Amarna Letters : Mainly London, Berlin and Paris », in M.J. Lundberg etal. (ed.), PuzzlingOutthePast. StudiesinNorthwestSemiticLanguagesandLiteraturesinHonorofBruceZuckermann, Leiden-Boston, 2012, p. 155-188. 3 D’après E. Hornung etal., AncientEgyptianChronology, Leiden-Boston, 2006. 4 EA 71 (à Haya), 73, 77, 82, 86, 87, 93 (à Amanappa), 102. JournalAsiatique 302.2 (2014): 377-390 doi: 10.2143/JA.302.2.3055587 997545.indb7545.indb 337777 115/01/155/01/15 114:394:39 378 J. ELAYI (EA 136-138)5. Ses lettres étaient rédigées en médio-babylonien, langue internationale de l’époque, fortement imprégnée par l’ouest-sémitique (paléophénicien ou cananéen) que parlaient les expéditeurs et les scribes6. Les petits États du Proche-Orient étaient les vassaux de l’Égypte depuis que le pharaon Thoutmosis III avait réussi à triompher du royaume du Mitanni au terme de seize campagnes7. Des provinces égyptiennes asia- tiques avaient été créées, peut-être au nombre de trois8. La première était celle d’Amurru, dont la capitale était Sumur (peut-être Tell Kazel)9, la deuxième était Canaan, dont la capitale était peut-être Gaza, et la troisième Upi (capitale Kumidi, aujourd’hui Kamid El-Loz). L’étendue de ces pro- vinces reste assez incertaine, notamment la limite entre celles d’Amurru et de Canaan n’est pas claire. Comme Rib-Hadda met en relation à deux reprises Byblos avec « les pays de Canaan » (EA 131, 57-62 ; EA 137, 75-76), il est vraisemblable que sa cité était située dans la province de Canaan, à sa limite septentrionale. Mais si le Ras Chekka (Théoupro- sopon) servait de limite, il possédait des villes situées au nord de ce cap, comme Šigata (Chekka) et Ampi (Enfé). Rib-Hadda était le « roi » (šarru) de sa cité10 pour ses concitoyens mais, aux yeux de l’administration égyptienne, il en était le hazannu, mot dif- ficile à traduire : « gouverneur », « maire » ou « responsable » local11. 5 EA 135 est perdue. Cf. E.F. Campbell, TheChronologyoftheAmarnaLetters, Bal- timore, 1964 ; Moran, op.cit. (n. 2), p. 47-56. 6 Moran, ibid., p. 21-28 ; E. Lipiński (éd.), Dictionnairedelacivilisationphénicienne etpunique, Turnhout,1992, s.v. écriture, paléophénicien ; A. Gianto, « Amarna Lexicogra- phy: the Glosses in the Byblos Letters », SEL, 1995, n° 12, p. 65-72 ; M. Liverani, « A Canaanite Indefinite Idiom in the Amarna Letters », NABU, 1997/4, n° 127 ; A.F. Rainey, CanaaniteintheAmarnaTablets.ALinguisticAnalysisoftheMixedDialectUsedbythe ScribesfromCanaan, Vols I-IV, Leiden etal., 1996 ; D. Arnaud, « Le médio-babylonien des lettres d’Aziru, roi d’Amurru (XIVe siècle) », AO, 2004, n° 22, p. 5-31. 7 Cf. N. Grimal, Histoiredel’Égypteancienne, Paris, 1988, p. 256-260. 8 Moran, op.cit. (n. 2), p. xxvi et notes 69-70 avec bibliographie ; N. Na῾aman, The PoliticalDispositionandHistoricalDevelopmentofEretz-IsraelaccordingtotheAmarna Letters, Tel Aviv, 1973 (en hébreu), p. 166sqq (d’après Moran, ibid.), en postulait deux et D.B. Redford, Akhenaten,theHereticKing, Princeton, 1984, p. 26, quatre. 9 Voir par exemple Lipiński (éd.), op.cit.(n. 6), s.v. Kazel, Tell. 10 Le même terme désignant le pharaon, je l’ai écrit avec une majuscule (« Roi ») pour ne pas le confondre avec les petits rois du Proche-Orient. 11 Moran, op.cit.(n. 2), p. xxvii, n. 73. C’est un « fonctionnaire périphérique » selon M. Liverani, in P. Garelli (éd.), LePalaisetlaRoyauté, RAI 19, Paris, 1974, p. 346-356. Cf. W.F. Albright, W.L. Moran, « A Re-interpretation of An Amarna Letter from Byblos JournalAsiatique 302.2 (2014): 377-390 997545.indb7545.indb 337878 115/01/155/01/15 114:394:39 RIB-HADDA, LE ROI DE BYBLOS QUI NE MENT PAS 379 C’est presque toujours avec ce titre qu’il se présentait, naturellement, en écrivant à son suzerain. Pour le désigner, le pharaon pouvait aussi employer un vieux mot, awīlu, « homme »12. La correspondance de Rib- Hadda laisse apparaître, entre autres, trois niveaux de lecture. Sur le plan formel, à côté des formules stéréotypées habituelles dans le style épis- tolaire contemporain, le roi de Byblos, fin lettré, utilisait des tournures littéraires13. Toutefois, son style était moins figé que celui des lettres envoyées par les autres vassaux et peut-être volontairement provocateur pour faire réagir le pharaon14. Le deuxième niveau est l’information histo- rique. En raison de la proximité du territoire de Byblos avec celui d’Amurru, Rib-Hadda subissait les contrecoups des événements qui se déroulaient au nord : sur fond de montée en puissance des Hittites et de vicissitudes des Mitanniens, la conquête du pouvoir par ‘Abdi-Aširta et la création du royaume d’Amurru en pleine province égyptienne d’Amurru. Les ambi- tions territoriales des rois d’Amurru menaçaient directement sa cité. En plus de sa mission obligée de renseignement auprès du pharaon, son récit des événements visait à obtenir son aide15. Le troisième niveau de la correspondance de Rib-Hadda est personnel : il se racontait, à travers (EA 82) », in J. Huehnergard, S. Izre᾿el (éd.), AmarnaStudies.CollectedWritingsWilliam L.Moran, Winona Lake, 2003, p. 135 et n. 5. 12 EA 74, 11-12. Cf. CAD et AHw, s.v. : ce mot remonte à la koinè syrienne de l’époque babylonienne ancienne. Son emploi pour désigner un roi est courant dans les textes de l’époque amorrite. C. Virolleaud, « Lettres et documents administratifs de Ras Shamra », Syria, 1940, n° 21, p. 249 : Ammunira, « l’homme » de Beyrouth (EA 141, 4) est appelé « le roi » de Beyrouth dans RS 11.730, l. 1. Cf. G. Buccellati, CitiesandNations ofAncientSyria, Roma, 1967, p. 66 ; H. Reviv, « On urban representative institutions and self-government in Syria-Palestine in the second half of the second millennium B.C. », JESHO, 1969, n° 12, p. 290 ; D. Arnaud, « Les ports de la “Phénicie” à la fin de l’âge du Bronze Récent (XIV-XIII siècles) d’après les textes cunéiformes de Syrie », SMEA, 1992, n° 30, p. 179-194. 13 Certaines formules de réponse étaient aussi attendues par rapport aux formules de demande du pharaon : M. Liverani, « Le lettere del faraone a Rib-Adda », OA, 1971, n° 10, p. 266-268 ; cf. aussi M.J. Mangano, RhetoricalContentintheAmarnaCorres- pondencefromtheLevant, Cincinnati, 1990. 14 Par exemple celui du roi Ammunira de Beyrouth : EA 141 ; cf. D.B. Weisberg, « Rib-Hadda’s Urgent Tone. A Note on EA 74 : 50 », in J. Marzahn, H. Neumann (éd.), AssyriologicaetSemitica,Fs.J.Oelsner, Münster, 2000, p. 541. 15 R. Cohen, « Intelligence in the Amarna Letters », in R. Cohen, R. Westbrook (éd.), AmarnaDiplomacy.TheBeginningsofinternationalRelations, Baltimore-London, 2000, p. 90-97. JournalAsiatique 302.2 (2014): 377-390 997545.indb7545.indb 337979 115/01/155/01/15 114:394:39 380 J. ELAYI l’histoire mouvementée de son temps, dans un récit très égocentrique. Il exprimait dans ses lettres une véritable psychose et un pessimisme grandissant. En même temps, c’était un fin diplomate et un habile mani- pulateur. Rib-Hadda répète avec insistance, sous diverses formes, qu’il dit la vérité et qu’il ne ment pas. Vérité et mensonge étaient déjà alors deux concepts antithétiques indissociables : tel était par exemple le titre d’un conte égyptien allégorique du début de l’époque ramesside16. L’analyse des déclarations du roi de Byblos est délicate en raison du genre de textes où elles figurent. Les lettres retrouvées à El-Amarna sont bien ses lettres réelles, parvenues sinon à leur destinataire, du moins à la chancellerie égyptienne de la nouvelle cité. D’après l’analyse de l’argile, les tablettes proviennent de Byblos, sauf trois (EA 78, 103 et 126) qui contiennent des minéraux volcaniques caractéristiques de la plaine côtière du Akkar, entre Tripoli et Tartous17. Elles ont dû être rédigées lors des déplacements de Rib-Hadda dans cette région, notamment à S umur, voyage mentionné dans EA 10318 ; selon toute vraisemblance, il emmenait son scribe avec lui. Soit il connaissait le médio-babylonien et dictait directement sa lettre au scribe, soit le scribe traduisait en médio-babylonien le message royal en dialecte giblite.
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