HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Abdi-Ḫeba (Abdi-Kheba, Abdi-Ḫepat, or Abdi-Ḫebat) was a local chieftain of
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
during the Amarna period (mid-1330s BC).
Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...
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. Abdi-Ḫeba himself notes that he holds his position not through his parental lineage but by the grace of
Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...
, 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.


Origin

Abdi-Ḫeba's name can be translated as "servant of Ḫebat", a
Hurrian The Hurrians (; ; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri) were a people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. They spoke the Hurro-Urartian language, Hurrian language, and lived throughout northern Syria (region) ...
goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...
. Whether Abdi-Ḫeba was himself of Hurrian descent is unknown. There is a mix of Canaanite and Hurrian influences (cf. Mitanni Empire) in this region.


Correspondence with Egypt

During Abdi-Ḫeba's reign the region was under attack from marauding bands of Habiru. He made frequent pleas to the Pharaoh of Egypt (probably
Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ( , ; "Amun is satisfied"), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great and Hellenization, Hellenized as Amenophis III, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty. According to d ...
), for an army or, at least, an officer to command. He also made other requests for military aid in fighting off his enemies, both
Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...
ite
warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...
s and bands of Apiru: As a result, conspiracy charges are made against Abdi-Ḫeba, who defended himself strenuously in his correspondence with Pharaoh. Abdi-Ḫeba's ultimate fate is unknown.


Letters (6) from Abdi-Ḫeba's to the King of Egypt

Abdi-Ḫeba was the author of letters EA 285–290.Moran, op. cit., pp.325–334 :# EA 285—title: ''"The soldier-ruler of
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
"'' :# EA 286—title: ''"A
throne A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign (or viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory ...
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"''


Letters mentioning Abdi-Heba


Gath

EA 366 by Shuwardata to the King of Egypt. He states he defeated the Habiru. All his brothers (equals) had abandoned him, so that only he and Abdi-Heba were hostile to the Habiru. Surata of Akko and Intaruta of Aksapa, came to assist Suwardata with 50 chariots. He asked for the commissioner Yanḥamu. EA 280 by Shuwardata to the King of Egypt. Šuwardata states that he with the king's permission had retaken Keilah. But Abdi-Heba had sent a message to the Men of Qiltu to follow him. Thus, the city had been captured again. Lab'aya is reported as dead, but Abdi-Heba is considered as a new Lab'aya by Suwardata for capturing his cities. EA 280 should be later than EA 366, when both of them were fighting the Habiru. {{quote, Say to the king, my lord, my god, my
Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
: Message of Shuwardata, your servant, the dirt at your feet. I fall at the feet of the king, my lord, my god, my Sun, 7 times and 7 times. The king, my lord, permitted me to wage war against Qeltu (Keilah). I waged war. It is now at peace with me; my city is restored to me. Why did Abdi-Heba write to the men of Qeltu, "Accept
silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
and follow me?"… Moreover, Labaya, who used to take our towns, is dead, but now another Labaya is Abdi-Heba, and he seizes our town. So, may the king take cognizance of his servant because of this deed… EA 280.Moran, 1992, pp. 321–22


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. Amarna letters writers Ancient history of Jerusalem Canaanite people 14th-century BC mayors