Ili-Rapih was the follow-on mayor in
Gubla-(modern
Byblos
Byblos ( ; ), also known as Jebeil, Jbeil or Jubayl (, Lebanese Arabic, locally ), is an ancient city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. The area is believed to have been first settled between 8800 and 7000BC and continuously inhabited ...
), and the brother of
Rib-Hadda
Rib-Hadda (also rendered Rib-Addi, Rib-Addu, Rib-Adda) was king of Byblos during the mid fourteenth century BCE. He is the author of some sixty of the Amarna letters all to Akhenaten. His name is Akkadian in form and may invoke the Northwest Se ...
, the ''former'' mayor of Gubla, (who was the prolific author of letters to
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 ( ...
); Ili-Rapih is in the 1350-1335 BC
Amarna letters correspondence, and wrote 2 follow-on letters to the Pharaoh after the death of Rib-Haddi.
Of note, Ili-Rapih's name is referenced in only one letter in the entire 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 ...
, besides his own 2 authored letters of EA 139, and 140, (
EA is for 'el
Amarna
Amarna (; ) is an extensive ancient Egyptian archaeological site containing the ruins of Akhetaten, the capital city during the late Eighteenth Dynasty. The city was established in 1346 BC, built at the direction of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, and a ...
'), that being letter EA 128, (Rib-Haddi letter no. 57 of 68).
The letters of ''Ili-Rapih''
EA 139, title: ''"A new voice, an old story"''
:To the king,
ylo
d, my Sun Message of ''Ili-ra
ih'', your servant message of
Gu(b)la,
fall atthe feet">Prostration_formula.html" ;"title="our maidservant. I Prostration formula">fall atthe feet of the lord, the Sun, 7 times and [7 times]. Do not neglec[t Gu-la, your city and the city of [your] ancesto[rs] from most ancient times. Moreover, behold Gu-la! Just as ''Hikuptah'', so is Gu-la to the king, my lord. Do not neglect ''the delicts'' of ''a serva
t', for he acted as he pleased in the lands of the king-(i.e. the "king's" brother:
Rib-Hadda
Rib-Hadda (also rendered Rib-Addi, Rib-Addu, Rib-Adda) was king of Byblos during the mid fourteenth century BCE. He is the author of some sixty of the Amarna letters all to Akhenaten. His name is Akkadian in form and may invoke the Northwest Se ...
). Here is the crime that
Aziru
Aziru (Akk. ma-zi-ra) was the Canaanite ruler of Amurru, modern Lebanon, in the 14th century BC. He was the son of Abdi-Ashirta, the previous Egyptian vassal of Amurru and a direct contemporary of Akhenaten.
Reign Relations with Egypt
The de ...
... against the king:
e killd the king of
Ammiya, and
Edata">Ardata.html" ;"title="he king of
Edata-(''Ardata''), and the king of
Ir(qata)-(="King
Aduna"),
co">Arqa">Ir(qata)-(="King
Aduna"), [and a commissioner">co[commissioner">mmissioner of the king, my lord. He also broke into Zemar">Sumur.
:[And indeed">Aduna (Irqata mayor)">Aduna"), [and a commissioner">co[commissioner">mmissioner of the king, my lord. He also broke into Zemar">Sumur.
:[And indeedhe is now intent on [''committing''] a cri(me) against the king. Moreover, ... ...May the king (my) lord, know [I] am his loyal servant. And so let him send a garrison to his city—30 to 50 men— as far as Gubla. The king is to take (n)o account of whatever Aziru sends him. ''Where'' were the things that he sends ''coveted?'' It is
property
Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, re ...
belonging to a royal whom he has killed that he sends to you. Look, Aziru is a reb(el) against the king, my lord. -EA 139, lines 1- 40 (complete, but major
lacuna: lines 20-28)
Note that Gubla's name is abbreviated in this letter, (''Gu-la''), except for one usage.
EA 140, title: ''"Again, the crimes of Aziru"''; letter Part 1 of 2-(lost)
:
othe king, the lord, my Sun: Message of
Gubla), your maidservant; message of ''Ili-rapih'', your servant. I
fall at the feet of my lord, the Sun, 7 times and 7 times. The king, my lord, shall not neglect Gubla, his maidservant, a city of the king from most ancient times. Moreover why did the king communicate through
Aziru
Aziru (Akk. ma-zi-ra) was the Canaanite ruler of Amurru, modern Lebanon, in the 14th century BC. He was the son of Abdi-Ashirta, the previous Egyptian vassal of Amurru and a direct contemporary of Akhenaten.
Reign Relations with Egypt
The de ...
? He does as he pleases. Aziru killed
Aduna, and a magnate. He took their cities. To him belongs
Sumur-(
Zemar
Sumur (Biblical Hebrew: ollective noun denoting the city inhabitants Egyptian: ''Smr''; Akkadian: ''Sumuru''; Assyrian: ''Simirra'') was a Phoenician city in what is now Syria. It was a major trade center. The city has also been referred to i ...
); to him belong the cities of the king. Gubla alone is a ... of the king. Moreover, he broke into Sumur and
Ullassa. Moreover, Aziru even
omitted a crime
hn he was brought
no you-(i.e. ''over-to you, (in Egypt)''). The crime
'was against''us. He sent
'his''men ''
''
Itakkama ndhe smote all the land of
Amqu and (their) territories. Moreover, is not the king of
Hatta active, and the king of
Narima-(
Mittani
Mitanni (–1260 BC), earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, ; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat in Assyrian records, or in Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and southeast Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) with In ...
) and..? (
lacuna-- continuation to 2nd letter, (Letter 2 lost) -EA 140, lines 1-33 (complete)—(Letter: Part 1 of 2 parts)
EA 128, title: No title, since badly damaged
Letter EA 128, no. 57 of 68, by Rib-Hadda-(?) of Gubla/Byblos. A
postscript
PostScript (PS) is a page description language and dynamically typed, stack-based programming language. It is most commonly used in the electronic publishing and desktop publishing realm, but as a Turing complete programming language, it c ...
ending on letter no. 128 exists:
:...Message of ''Ili-rapih'': I
fall 7 times and 7 times beneath the feet of the king, my lord. And may the king, my lord, hear about the deed of (that) criminal-(
Aziru
Aziru (Akk. ma-zi-ra) was the Canaanite ruler of Amurru, modern Lebanon, in the 14th century BC. He was the son of Abdi-Ashirta, the previous Egyptian vassal of Amurru and a direct contemporary of Akhenaten.
Reign Relations with Egypt
The de ...
(?)) ... -EA 128, ending, (these are postscript lines on the damaged letter)
See also
*
Rib-Hadda
Rib-Hadda (also rendered Rib-Addi, Rib-Addu, Rib-Adda) was king of Byblos during the mid fourteenth century BCE. He is the author of some sixty of the Amarna letters all to Akhenaten. His name is Akkadian in form and may invoke the Northwest Se ...
*
Gubla/
Byblos
Byblos ( ; ), also known as Jebeil, Jbeil or Jubayl (, Lebanese Arabic, locally ), is an ancient city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. The area is believed to have been first settled between 8800 and 7000BC and continuously inhabited ...
*
Amarna letters
*
Amarna letters–localities and their rulers
References
*
Moran, William L. ''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, {{ISBN, 0-8018-6715-0)
Amarna letters writers
14th-century BC Phoenician people
14th-century BC mayors
Phoenicians in the Amarna letters