The Amqu (also Amka, Amki, Amq) is a region during the

Late Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, equivalent to the

Beqaa Valley The Beqaa Valley (, ; Bekaa, Biqâ, Becaa) is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon and its most important farming region. Industry, especially the country's agricultural industry, also flourishes in Beqaa. The region broadly corresponds to th ...

region in eastern

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, named in the 1350– 1335 BC Amarna letters

corpus Corpus (plural ''corpora'') is Latin for "body". It may refer to: Linguistics * Text corpus, in linguistics, a large and structured set of texts * Speech corpus, in linguistics, a large set of speech audio files * Corpus linguistics, a branch of ...

Late Bronze

Amarna Archive

In the Amarna letters (c. 1350 BC), two other associated regions appear to be east(?) and north(?), and are often mentioned in association with ''Amqu'', namely

Nuhašše Nuhašše (kurnu-ḫa-áš-še; kurnu-ḫa-šeki), was a region in northwestern Syria that flourished in the 2nd millennium BC. It was east of the Orontes River bordering Aleppo (northwest) and Qatna (south). It was a petty kingdom or federacy of ...

, and Niya-Niye (or Nii). A third hypothetical region, either adjacent or within the region of Amqu, is

Subaru is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first largest aut ...

, as according to the letter corpus possessions or people were sold: "at the land of Subaru". Initially, the northern Levant (Syria) was under the control of the Mitanni Empire. In 1350 BC, Suppiluliuma I of Hatti attacked

Tushratta Tushratta ( Akkadian: and ) was a king of Mitanni, 1358–1335 BCE, at the end of the reign of Amenhotep III and throughout the first half the reign of Akhenaten. He was the son of Shuttarna II. Tushratta stated that he was the grandson of A ...

of Mitanni, starting a massive war in Syria, beginning with the Sack of Washukanni and ending with the Fall of

Carchemish Carchemish ( or ), also spelled Karkemish (), was an important ancient capital in the northern part of the region of Syria. At times during its history the city was independent, but it was also part of the Mitanni, Hittite and Neo-Assyrian ...

some years later. Thus, Suppiluliuma I and his generals moved on former Mitanni vassals west of the Euphrates river, causing turmoil in the region and coming in conflict with the Egyptian Empire in the

southern Levant The Southern Levant is a geographical region that corresponds approximately to present-day Israel, Palestine, and Jordan; some definitions also include southern Lebanon, southern Syria and the Sinai Peninsula. As a strictly geographical descript ...

. Some lords changed their allegiance to the Hittites like Etakkama of Qidšu/Qinsa-(also Kissa)-(i.e. Kadesh).

Abdi-Riša letter-(his only letter)

(The scribe wrote four identical letters-(for four city-state leaders), so who the 'author' is has to be speculative.)

=Amarna Letter EA 363 - "A joint report on Amqu (4)"

Say to the king-(i.e. Pharaoh), my lord, my god, my Sun: Message of ' Abdi-Riša, your servant, the ruler of E(ni)šasi. I fall in the dirt under the feet of the king, my lord, 7 times and 7 times. :Look, we ar(e) in ''Amqu,'' in cities of the king, my lord, and Etakkama, the ruler of Qinsa-(Kadesh), assisted the troops of Hatti and set the cities of the king, my lord, on fire. May the king, my lord, take cognizance, and may the king, my lord, give archers that we may (re)gain the cities of the king, my lord, and dwell in the cities of the king, my lord, my god, my Sun.

:-EA 363, lines 1-23 (complete)

References

* Moran, William L. ''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, ) Amarna letters locations Geography of Phoenicia {{Phoenicia-stub

External links