Amarna letter EA 144, titled: ''" Zimreddi of Sidon,"'' is a square-shaped, mostly flat

clay tablet In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets ( 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 tablet with a sty ...

letter written on both sides and the bottom edge. It is from a vassal state in Canaan (

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 since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

Sidon), and is written by the 'mayor' of Sidon, the author of Amarna letter EA 144, and Amarna letter EA 145. Zimreddi is also referred to in a few other Amarna letters. The letter is in a crude

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sh ...

style, but in nearly perfect condition (few lacunas). It is in a similar style of many of the Canaanite city letters showing subservience to the Pharaoh (King). The letter is approximately 4 in wide x 3.5 in tall. The Amarna letters, about 300, numbered up to EA 382, are a mid-14th century BC, about

1350 BC Events and trends * c. 1356 BC – Amenhotep IV begins the worship of Aten in Ancient Egypt, changing his name to Akhenaten and moving the capital to Akhetaten, starting the Amarna Period. * c. 1352 BC – Amenhotep III ( Eighteenth D ...

and 20–25 years later, correspondence. The initial corpus of letters were found at

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth D ...

'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 capit ...

; others were later found, adding to the body of letters. Letter EA 144 (see here
EA 144: Obverse, bottom edge, Reverse
CDLI no. 271185 (''Chicago Digital Library Initiative'')]), is numbered VAT 00323, from the

Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin The Vorderasiatisches Museum (, ''Near East Museum'') is an archaeological museum in Berlin. It is in the basement of the south wing of the Pergamon Museum and has one of the world's largest collections of Southwest Asian art. 14 halls distrib ...

The letter

EA 144: ''" Zimreddi of Sidon"''

EA 144, letter one? of two. (Not a linear, line-by-line translation, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

from French.) (Obverse & Reverse): :(Lines 1-5)--Say to the king, my lord, my god, my Sun, the breath of my life: Thus¹ Zimreddi, the mayor of Sidon. :(6-12)--I fall at the feet of my lord, god, Sun, breath of my life ((at the feet of my lord, my god, my Sun, the breath of my life)) 7 times and 7 times. May the king, my lord, know that Sidon, the maidservant of the king, my lord, which he put in my charge, is safe and sound. :(13-21)--And when I heard the words of the king, my lord, when he wrote to his servant, then my heart rejoiced, and my head went gh, and my eyes shone, at hearing the word of the king, my lord. May the king know that I have made preparations² before the arrival of the

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

s of the king, my lord. I have prepared everything in accordance with the command of the king, my lord. :(22-30)--May the king, my lord, know that the war against me is very severe. All the cit s that the king put in ch re, have been joined to the 'Ap r. May the king put me in the charge of a man that will lead the archers of the king to call to account the cities that have been joined to the 'Apiru, so ''you'' can restore³ them to my charge that I may be able to serve the king, my lord, as our ancestors (did) before.--(complete EA 144, only minor, restored lacunae, lines 1-30)

Akkadian text

The

Akkadian language Akkadian (, 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 is an extinct East Semitic language th ...

text: (through line 12, obverse) Akkadian: :(Line 1)-- a- na

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

- ri EN- ia—(To King-Lord-mine...) :(2)--dingir- meš- ia (d)

utu Utu (dUD "Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. ...

- ia sza- ri til- la- ia—((of) god(pl)-mine, Sun-god-mine (which of) 'breath-of-life') :(3)--qí-bí- ma—(speak(-ing)!...) :(4)-- um- ma 1. Zi- iM- Re- eD- Di—('message thus' 1.- Zimreddi,...) :(5)-- LÚ ha- za- nu ša ^URU Sí- Du- Na-^ki—(man-(mayor-governor) ^city-Siduna), ( Sídōn) :(6)-- a- na GÌR- MEŠ EN- ia, dingir- meš (d)

sza- ri—(at feet(pl), Lord-mine, (which of) gods(pl), Sun-god, King) :(7)-- ša til- la- ia a- na GÌR- MEŠ EN- ia—((which of) breath-of-life, at feet(pl), my Lord) :(8)--dingir- meš- ia (d)

- ia sza- ri til- la- ia—((of) god(pl)-mine, Sun-god-mine, King, 'breath-of-life') :(9)--7-

šu The cuneiform šu sign is a common, multi-use syllabic and alphabetic sign for ''šu'', ''š'', and ''u''; it has a subsidiary usage for syllabic ''qat''; it also has a majuscule-(capital letter) Sumerogram usage for ŠU, for Akkadian language ...

ù 7-ta- a- an am-qú- ut—(7 times and 7 times (again)...--...I bow(-ing))(am bowing) :(10)--lu-ú i- de

EN- ia i- nu- ma—(may it be!..Know! King-Lord-mine...--...''Now''-(''Now, at-this-time'')) :(11)-- šal- ma- at ^URU Sí- Du- Na-^ki geme2- ti—((there is) Peace, ^city-Siduna^his,..."maidservant") :(12)--

EN- ia sza i-din i- na qa- ti- ia

External links

EA 144: Obverse, bottom edge, Reverse (with Photo & line drawings)
CDLI no. 271185 (''Chicago Digital Library Initiative'')
CDLI listing of all EA Amarna letters, 1-382

References

* Moran, William L. ''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, ) * Parpola, 1971. ''The Standard Babylonian

Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with ...

'', Parpola, Simo, Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, c 1997, Tablet I thru Tablet XII, Index of Names, Sign List, and Glossary-(pp. 119–145), 165 pages. Amarna letters History of Sidon

The letter

EA 144: ''" Zimreddi of Sidon"''

Akkadian text

See also

External links

References