The letters Amarna letters

one of amarna letters (from alashiya)

these letters, comprising cuneiform tablets written in akkadian – regional language of diplomacy period – first discovered around 1887 local egyptians secretly dug of them ruined city of amarna, , sold them in antiquities market. had been stored in ancient building archaeologists have since called bureau of correspondence of pharaoh. once location found determined, ruins explored more. first archaeologist recovered more tablets flinders petrie, in 1891 , 1892 uncovered 21 fragments. Émile chassinat, director of french institute oriental archaeology in cairo, acquired 2 more tablets in 1903. since knudtzon s edition, 24 more tablets, or fragments, have been found, either in egypt, or identified in collections of various museums.

the initial group of letters recovered local egyptians have been scattered among museums in germany, england, egypt, france, russia, , united states. either 202 or 203 tablets @ vorderasiatisches museum in berlin; 99 @ british museum in london; 49 or 50 @ egyptian museum in cairo; 7 @ louvre in paris; 3 @ pushkin museum in moscow; , 1 in collection of oriental institute in chicago.

the archive contains wealth of information cultures, kingdoms, events , individuals in period few written sources survive. includes correspondence akhenaten s reign, predecessor amenhotep iii s reign. tablets consist of on 300 diplomatic letters; remainder comprise miscellaneous literary , educational materials. these tablets shed light on egyptian relations babylonia, assyria, syria, canaan, , alashiya (cyprus) relations mitanni, , hittites. letters have been important in establishing both history , chronology of period. letters babylonian king, kadashman-enlil i, anchor timeframe of akhenaten s reign mid-14th century bc. contain first mention of near eastern group known habiru, possible connection hebrews — due similarity of words , geographic location — remains debated. other rulers involved in letters include tushratta of mitanni, lib ayu of shechem, abdi-heba of jerusalem, , quarrelsome king, rib-hadda, of byblos, who, in on 58 letters, continuously pleads egyptian military help. specifically, letters include requests military in north against hittite invaders, , in south fight against habiru.

letter summary

map of ancient near east during amarna period, showing great powers of period: egypt (green), mycenaean greece (orange), hatti (yellow), kassite kingdom of babylon (purple), assyria (grey), , mitanni (red). lighter areas show direct control, darker areas represent spheres of influence.

amarna letters politically arranged in rough counterclockwise fashion:

001–014 babylonia
015–016 assyria
017–030 mitanni
031–032 arzawa
033–040 alashiya
041–044 hatti
045–380+ syria/lebanon/canaan

amarna letters syria/lebanon/canaan distributed roughly:

045–067 syria
068–227 lebanon (where 68–140 gubla aka byblos)
227–380 canaan (written in canaano-akkadian language).




^ moran, p.xv
^ british museum collection
^ moran, pp.xiii-xiv
^ el-amarna tablets, article @ west semitic research project, website of university of southern california accessed 2/8/15.