Abdi-Heba (Abdi-Kheba, Abdi-Hepat, or Abdi-Hebat) was a local chieftain of
Jerusalem during the
Amarna period
The Amarna Period was an era of History of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian history during the later half of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty when the royal residence of the pharaoh and his queen was shifted to Akhetaten ('Horizon of the ...
(mid-1330s BC). Abdi-Heba's name can be translated as "servant of
Hebat", a
Hurrian goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...
. Whether Abdi-Heba was himself of Hurrian descent is unknown, as is the relationship between the general populace of pre-
Israelite Jerusalem (called
Jebusites in the Bible) and the Hurrians. Egyptian documents have him deny he was a mayor (''ḫazānu'') and assert he is a soldier (''we'w''), the implication being he was the son of a local chief sent to Egypt to receive military training there.
Also unknown is whether he was part of a dynasty that governed Jerusalem or whether he was put on the throne by the
Egyptians
Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...
. Abdi-Heba himself notes that he holds his position not through his parental lineage but by the grace of
Pharaoh, but this might be flattery rather than an accurate representation of the situation. At this time the area he administered from his garrison may have had a population of fifteen hundred people and Jerusalem would have been a 'small highlands stronghold' in the fourteenth century BC with no fortifications or large buildings.
Correspondence with Egypt
During Abdi-Heba's reign the region was under attack from marauding bands of
Habiru
Habiru (sometimes written as Hapiru, and more accurately as ʿApiru, meaning "dusty, dirty"; Sumerian: 𒊓𒄤, ''sagaz''; Akkadian: 𒄩𒁉𒊒, ''ḫabiru'' or ''ʿaperu'') is a term used in 2nd-millennium BCE texts throughout the Fertile C ...
. Abdi-Heba made frequent pleas to the Pharaoh of
Egypt (probably
Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III ( egy, jmn-ḥtp(.w), ''Amānəḥūtpū'' , "Amun is Satisfied"; Hellenized as Amenophis III), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different ...
), for an army or, at least, an officer to command. Abdi-Heba also made other requests for military aid in fighting off his enemies, both
Canaanite
warlords and bands of Apiru:
As a result, conspiracy charges are made against Abdi-Heba, who defended himself strenuously in his correspondence with Pharaoh.
[EA 179.]
In later years Abdi-Heba appears to have reconciled with the Apiru, or at least certain bands of them, and hired
mercenaries
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...
from among their ranks. Indeed, though he earlier complained about the depredations of
Labaya,
Shuwardata, king of the Canaanite town of
Keilah as well as other places in the
Judean highlands, refers to him as a "new Labaya":
Abdi-Heba's ultimate fate is unknown.
List of Abdi-Heba's 6 letters to Pharaoh
Abdi-Heba was the author of letters EA 285–290.
[Moran, op. cit., pp.325–334]
:#
EA 285—title: ''"The soldier-ruler of
Jerusalem"''
:#
EA 286—title: ''"A
throne granted, not inherited"''
:#
EA 287—title: ''"A very serious crime"''
:#
EA 288—title: ''"Benign neglect"''
:#
EA 289—title: ''"A reckoning demanded"''
:#
EA 290—title: ''"Three against one"''
Notes
References
Resources
Sources
Translations adapted from
*
Moran, William (ed. and trans.) ''The Amarna Letters.'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1992.
Other works
*Baikie, James. ''The Amarna Age: A Study of the Crisis of the Ancient World.'' University Press of the Pacific, 2004.
*Cohen, Raymond and Raymond Westbrook (eds.). ''Amarna Diplomacy: The Beginnings of International Relations.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdi-Heba
Amarna letters writers
Ancient history of Jerusalem
Canaanite people
14th-century BC rulers
Jebusites
14th-century BC Near Eastern people