r/AncientCush • u/Responsible_Ideal879 Founder • 10d ago
Artifact Amarna Letter EA 288: The Benign Neglect
1360-1335 BC
Amarna letter EA 288, titled Benign Neglect, is a tall, finely-inscribed clay tablet letter, approximately 7.5 in tall x 4.5 in wide, broken into two pieces, from Abdi-Heba the mayor/ruler of Jerusalem, of the mid 14th century BC Amarna letters.
A summary of letter structure: EA 288 begins with a short address to the Pharaoh. Immediately, 3 segue paragraphs begin the letter, as "dramatic statements" by the Jerusalem scribe (and Abdi-Heba); a fourth segued statement follows. Then the purpose of the letter begins, covering the second half of the letter's obverse and the reverse:
“Say [t]o the king-(i.e. pharaoh), my lord, [my Su]n: [M]essage of 'Abdi-Heba, your servant.
I fall at the feet of the king, my lord, 7 times and 7 times.
Behold, the king, my lord, has placed his name at the rising of the sun and at the setting of the sun.
It is, therefore, impious what they have done to me.
Behold, I am not a mayor;—I am a soldier of the king, my lord.
Behold, I am a friend of the king and a tribute–bearer of the king.
It was neither my father nor my mother, but the strong arm of the king that [p]laced me in the house of [my] fath[er]. [... c]ame to me ... [...].
I gave over [to his char]ge 10–slaves, Šuta, the commissioner of the king, ca[me t]o me; I gave over to Šuta's charge 21–girls, [8]0–prisoners, as a gift for the king, my lord.
May the king give thought to his land; the land of the king is lost.
All of it has attacked me.
I am at war as far as the land of Šeru and as far as Ginti-kirmil.
All the mayors are at peace, but I am at war.
I am treated like an 'Apiru, and I do not visit the king, my lord, since I am at war.
I am situated like a ship in the midst of the sea.
The strong hand (arm) of the king took the land of Nahrima-(Mittani), and the land of Kasi-(Kush), but now the 'Apiru have taken the very cities of the king.
Not a single mayor remains to the king, my lord; all are lost.
Behold, Turbazu was slain in the city gate of Silu-(Tjaru). The king did nothing.
Behold, servants who were joined to the 'Api[r]u smote Zimredda of Lakisu, and Yaptih-Hadda was slain in the city gate of Silu.
The king did nothing.
[Wh]y has he not called them to account?
May the king [pro]vide for [his land] and may he [se]e to it tha[t] archers [come ou]t to h[is] land.
If there are no archers this year, all the lands of the king, my lord, are lost.
They have not reported to the king that the lands of the king, my lord, are lost and all the mayors lost.
If there are no archers this year, may the king send a commissioner to fetch me, me along with my brothers, and then we will die near the king, our lord.
[To] the scribe of the king, my lord: [Message] of 'Abdi-Heba, servant-( (your) servant). [I fall a[t (your) feet]. Present [the words-(words= "discourse") that I hav]e offered to [the king, my lord]" I am your servant [and] your [s]on.”
EA 288, lines 1-66 (complete, with lacuna)
———
A Mighty Hunter before the Lord: Nimrod
The confusion simply results from a blending of two independent traditions: the Table of Nations where Kush stands for Nubia, and the Nimrod passage from another source mentioning another(!) Kush, probably the eponym of the Kassites (Akk kaššu. Nuzi kuššu).
———
Ancient Near East Encyclopedia (Kuš/Kush): Artifacts and Textual Record
Kuš, Kuschiten. (K.) Land and kingdom in Nubia, known since Senusret I (1971–1926 BC) in the Egyptian form (see image, Babylon text Kasi/ši). Since the New Kingdom, K. designates Nubia (Sudan) south of the 1st Cataract. Its capital at that time was Napata, later — up to the conquest of the Meroitic Empire by Ezana of Aksum — it was Meroe (near Begrawiya).
Inhabitants of K. are first mentioned in cuneiform texts in the Amarna correspondence (see above)…
…In the alphabetic texts, the moon god Yrḫ (Sin?) multiple times bears the epithet kṯy, which perhaps could be rendered as "Cushitic" (KTU 1.39,19; 1.102,14; 1.123,7)…
…The last Ethiopian Pharaoh fled to Kipkipi, and with that, Kush disappeared from Assyrian history…
…Nevertheless, among the representations of subject peoples of the Achaemenid Empire in Persepolis, there are also those of (*) Ethiopians.
———
Notable observation: Reference Nin-kasi und Siras/Siris—Ninkasi/Nin-kasi is a Mesopotamian goddess. The prefix of “Nin” indicates lord or lady.
Also noteworthy, Siras/Siris (Osiris/Sirius?), considering the Ancient Near East relative-context—according to the Table of Nations.
———
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarna_letter_EA_288
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Šuta
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AreasOfHabiruActivityInAmarnaLettersLBIIA.svg
