Amarna letter EA 323, titled: ''A Royal Order for Glass,'' Moran, William L. 1987, 1992. ''The Amarna Letters.'' EA 252, ''"A Royal Order for Glass"'', pp. 321-23. is a smaller, square, mostly flat

clay tablet In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets (Akkadian language, Akkadian ) were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age. Cuneiform characters were imprinted on a wet clay t ...

letter written on both sides, but only half of the ''reverse''; it is also written on the bottom, and is a letter from 'governor'

Yidya Yidya, and also Idiya, was the Canaanite mayor/ruler of ancient Ašqaluna in the 1350- 1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. Yidya is mainly referenced in the Amarna letters corpus, in his own letters: EA 320–326, (EA for 'el Amarna'). H ...

, and is a short letter like many of his other Amarna letters, numbered EA 320 to EA 326. EA 323 is so short that it can be described as: a

prostration formula In the 1350 BC correspondence of 382 letters, called the Amarna letters, the prostration formula is usually the opening subservient remarks to the addressee, the Egyptian pharaoh. The formula is based on prostration, namely reverence and submis ...

to the Pharaoh (the letter is written to the King/Pharaoh), a statement of him guarding his

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

Ascalon Ascalon or Ashkelon was an ancient Near East port city on the Mediterranean coast of the southern Levant of high historical and archaeological significance. Its remains are located in the archaeological site of Tel Ashkelon, within the city limi ...

-(Ašqaluna of the letters), and the subject of delivering ''glass'' to the King of Egypt. The clay tablet letter is located at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, no. BM 29836. (Obverse, see her

The Amarna letters, about 300, numbered up to EA 382, are a mid 14th century BC, about 1350 BC, 1350 BC and 20–25 years later, correspondence. The initial corpus of letters were found at

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eig ...

's city Akhetaten, in the floor of the

Bureau of Correspondence of Pharaoh The building known as the Bureau of Correspondence of Pharaoh (also known as the Records Office) is located in the 'Central City' area of the ancient Egyptian city of Akhetaten, known as Amarna in modern times. The city was the short-lived capita ...

; others were later found, adding to the body of letters.

The letter

EA 323: ''"A Royal Order for Glass"''

EA 323, letter four of seven. (Not a linear, line-by-line translation, and English from French.) ''Obverse:'' :(Lines 1-5)--To the king, my lord, my god, my Sun, the Sun from the sky: Message of

, your servant, the dirt at your feet, the groom of your horses. :(6-13)--I indeed prostrate myself, on the back and on the stomach, at the feet of the king, my lord, 7 times and 7 times. I am indeed guarding the lce of the king, my lord and the city of the king(

Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...

), in accordance with the command of the king, my lord, the Sun from the sky. :(13-16)--As to the king, my lord's having ordered some glass, I erwith send to the k ng my rd, ''30 (pieces)'' of glass. ''Bottom & Reverse:'' :(17-23)--Moreover, who is the dog that would not obey the orders of the king, my lord, the Sun fr the sky, the son of the Sun, hm the Sun loves?--(''complete, Obverse & Reverse, lines 1-23'')

Akkadian text

The

Akkadian language Akkadian ( ; )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages''. Ed. Roger D. Woodard (2004, Cambridge) Pages 218–280 was an East Semitic language that is attested ...

text: ''Obverse'': :(Line 1)-- A- na 1.-^{diš

Diš is a cuneiform sign represented by 𒁹 or . It has many uses in cuneiform texts, including in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''.
Description
𒁹 is a cuneiform sign. In Unicode, it is represented by U+12079 (DISH)
Use of the vertical sign
In t ...}

LUGAL ( Sumerian: ) is the Sumerian term for "king, ruler". Literally, the term means "big man." In Sumerian, ''lú'' " 𒇽" is "man" and ''gal'' " 𒃲" is "great", or "big." It was one of several Sumerian titles that a ruler of a city-state could ...

EN- ia,..

DINGIR ''Dingir'' ⟨⟩, usually transliterated DIĜIR, () is a Sumerian word for 'god' or 'goddess'. Its cuneiform sign is most commonly employed as the determinative for religious names and related concepts, in which case it is not pronounced and ...

. MEŠ. ia,..--(To King-Lord-mine,.. (of) God(s)(pl)-mine,.. ) :(2)--^d"

UTU Shamash ( Akkadian: ''šamaš''), also known as Utu ( Sumerian: dutu " Sun") was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. He was believed to see everything that happened in the world every day, and was therefore responsible for justice and protection ...

"- ia,.. ^d

ša iš- tu--(^God-"SUN-god"-mine,.. ^God-SUN-god,.. which from,.. ) :(3)-- An-ša₁₀- me um ma 1.-^{diš

Diš is a cuneiform sign represented by 𒁹 or . It has many uses in cuneiform texts, including in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''.
Description
𒁹 is a cuneiform sign. In Unicode, it is represented by U+12079 (DISH)
Use of the vertical sign
In t ...} Yi- iD- iYa,.. ("God-Heaven(God-Šamû)",.. "Message" 1.-

,.. ) :(4)-- ARAD- ka,.. " ip- ri",.. " ša" 2.-^{diš

Diš is a cuneiform sign represented by 𒁹 or . It has many uses in cuneiform texts, including in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''.
Description
𒁹 is a cuneiform sign. In Unicode, it is represented by U+12079 (DISH)
Use of the vertical sign
In t ...}GÌR. MEŠ. ka,.. (Servant-yours,.. "Dust",.. "which at" 2.-Feet(pl)-yours,.. ) :(5)-- LÚ qar- tab- bi,.. ša ANŠE.KUR. RA. MEŠ- ka,..--(..(the) Groom,.. "which of" Horses-yours,.. ) :(6)-- a na 2.-^{diš

Diš is a cuneiform sign represented by 𒁹 or . It has many uses in cuneiform texts, including in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''.
Description
𒁹 is a cuneiform sign. In Unicode, it is represented by U+12079 (DISH)
Use of the vertical sign
In t ...}GÌR. MEŠ,..

- EN- ia,.. lu- ú,..(..at 2.-feet(pl),.. King-Lord-mine,.. "May it be",.. ) :(7)--" iš- ta- ha- hi- in",.. 7.-^{diš

Diš is a cuneiform sign represented by 𒁹 or . It has many uses in cuneiform texts, including in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''.
Description
𒁹 is a cuneiform sign. In Unicode, it is represented by U+12079 (DISH)
Use of the vertical sign
In t ...} it- šu,..(.."I prostrate myself",.. 7 times,.. ) :(Line 1)--(Ana 1.LUGAL ^ENBēlu-ia,.. (of) DINGIR.MEŠ(pl))-ia,.. ) :(2)--(^D-"UTU"-ia,.. ^D-UTU,.. ša ištu,.. ) :(3)--("DINGIR-Šamû",.. "Umma" 1.-

,.. ) :(4)--(ARAD-ka,.. "eperu",.. "ša" 2.-šēpu.meš-ka,.. ) :(5)--(..kartappu/(qartabbu),.. ša sīsû(ANŠE.KUR.RA.MEŠ(pl),.. ) :(6)--(..ana 2.-šēpu.meš(pl),.. LUGAL ^ENBēlu-ia,.. "lú",.. ) :(7)--(.."iš-ta-ha-hi-in",.. 7. it-šu,.. )

References

* Moran, William L. ''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, {{ISBN, 0-8018-6715-0) * Parpola, 1971. ''The Standard Babylonian

Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, epic from ancient Mesopotamia. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian language, Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh (formerly read as Sumerian "Bilgames"), king of Uruk, some of ...

'', Parpola, Simo,

Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project is an international scholarly project aimed at collecting and publishing ancient Assyrian texts of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and studies based on them. Its headquarters are in Helsinki in Finland. State Archives ...

, c 1997, Tablet I thru Tablet XII, Index of Names, Sign List, and Glossary-(pp. 119–145), 165 pages. * Rainey, 1970. ''El Amarna Tablets, 359-379,'' Anson F. Rainey, (AOAT 8, ''Alter Orient Altes Testament 8'', Kevelaer and Neukirchen -Vluyen), 1970, 107 pages.

External links

Photo (British Museum article), EA 323: ObverseObverse (photo only)Triplet Photo (British Museum)
EA 324, EA 323, and EA 325: Obverse photos
Line Drawing, cuneiform, and Akkadian, EA 323: Obverse & Reverse
CDLI no. P270938 (''Chicago Digital Library Initiative'') Amarna letters Canaan Ascalon

The letter

EA 323: ''"A Royal Order for Glass"''

Akkadian text

See also

References

External links