Milki-ilu of Gezer (Milkilu, Milk-ilu, Ili-Milku), was the mayor/ruler of the Land of ''Gazru'' (

Gezer Gezer, or Tel Gezer (), in – Tell Jezar or Tell el-Jezari is an archaeological site in the foothills of the Judaean Mountains at the border of the Shfela region roughly midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It is now an List of national parks ...

) around 1350 BC. He is known as the son-in-law of Tagi of Ginti-Kirmil and cooperating with Labaya of Shechem, during a period of turmoil among the vassals of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He is accused of being a rebel, employing mercenaries from the Habiru men (^lu2-meš ḫa-bi-ri). He is known from several letter in that Amarna Archive. There is one letter from the King of Egypt to Milki-ilu (EA 369), there are five letters from Milki-ilu to the King of Egypt (EA 267-271), and several letters from other mayors mentioning Milki-ilu. He is one of several known mayors of Gezer.

Adda-danu Adda-danu was the 'mayor' of the city/city-state of Gazru-(modern Gezer, Israel) of the Amarna letters period, 1350-1335 BC. 'Adda' is the name of the Northwest Semitic god Hadad, and Adda-danu translates as: ''"Hadad (is the) Judge"''. Adda-danu ...

and

Yapahu Yapahu was a mayor/ruler of the city/city-state of ''Gazru'' (modern Gezer) of the 1350 BC, 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters Text corpus, correspondence. Two other mayors of Gazru during the Amarna letters period, were Adda-danu and Milkilu. Yapahu is ...

were also mayors of '' Gazru''. The Amarna Period was characterized by the heretic king

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eig ...

, succeeded by the boy-king Tutankhamen.

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 ...

consisted of smaller city-states and vassals of Egypt. At the same time, 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 ...

Mitanni Mitanni (–1260 BC), earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, ; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat in Assyrian records, or in Ancient Egypt, Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian language, Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria (region), Syria an ...

for control over Syria.

From Egypt

EA 369 from the King of Egypt to Milki-ilu of Gezer

In this letter the King of Egypt addresses his vassal as ^mmil-ki-li LU₂ ^urugaz-ri, meaning "Milki-'ilu, Man of Gezer" - with LU "Man" being a rank below LUGAL "Great Man; King" and LUGAL.GAL (Great King). It is often translated as "ruler, mayor, governor" of a land dominated by a city (Land of Gezer, City of Gezer). :"To ''Milkilu'', the ruler of Gazru: Thus the king. He herewith dispatches to you this tablet (i.e., tablet-letter), saying to you, He herewith sends to you Hanya, the stable (overseer) of the archers, along with everything for the acquisition of beautiful female cupbearers:

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. ...

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

garments: ''ma-al-ba-ši'',

carnelian Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a brownish-red mineral commonly used as a semiprecious stone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker; the difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often used int ...

, all sorts of (precious)

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

s, an

ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also includes the persimmon tree. A few ''Diospyros'' species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is fin ...

chair; all alike, fine things. Total (value): 160 ''diban''. Total: 40 female cupbearers, 40 (

shekel A shekel or sheqel (; , , plural , ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly 11 grams (0.35 ozt)—and became currency in ancient Tyre, Carthage and Hasmonean Judea. Name The wo ...

s of) silver being the price of a female cupbearer. Send extremely beautiful female cupbearers in whom there is no defect (i.e., no guile in their heart), so the king, your lord, will say to you, "this is excellent, in accordance with the order he sent to you." And know that ''the king is hale like the Sun''. For his troops, his ch riot, his horses, all goes very well. Aman has indeed put the Upper Land, the Lower Land, where the sun rises, where the sun sets, under the feet of the king." —EA 369, lines 1–32 (complete) The name of the king is not mentioned. The reference to the god Amun argues against the reign of Akhenaten who removed Amun in favor of Aten. Amun was restored by Tutankhamun, into which reign the Great Syrian Wars (c. 1350-1345 BC) of Suppiluliuma I eventually falls.

From Milki-ilu of Gezer to the king of Egypt

EA 267, title: "Safe and sound"

:" a the king, my lord, my d, my Sun: Message of ''Milkilu'', 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 order the king, my lord, my god, my Sun, dispatched to me—I am indeed carrying out for the king, my lord, the Sun from the sky. May the king, my lord, my god, my Sun, know that the place of the king, my lord where I am is safe and sound." —EA 267, lines 1–20 (complete)

EA 268, title: "A consignment of personnel"

:"Say othe ki , my rd, g , my n: Message of ''Milkilu'', your servant, the at your feet. I fall at the feet of the king, my lord, my god, my Sun, 7 times and 7 times. May the k ng my or, know that he city of the king, my lord that 'he put''i ''mych rge', is safe and sound, 'and''the word ... .. 'I sen n the care o'' Hay 46 female ... ..and 5 male ... ..and 5 ''ašīrūma'' to the king, my lord." —EA 268, lines 1–20, (complete, but with lacunae)

EA 269, title: "Archers and myrrh"

EA 269 – see: Pítati

EA 270, title: "Extortion"

Amarna Letter EA 270 Amarna letter EA 270, titled: ''"Extortion,"'' is an ovate-shaped, medium-sized, tall letter, approximately 3 in wide x 4 in tall, from Milkilu the mayor/ruler of Gazru (Gezer), of the mid 14th century BC Amarna letters. The Canaanite city-stat ...

See

Yanhamu Yanhamu, also Yenhamu, and Enhamu, was an Egyptian commissioner of the 1350- 1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. Biography Amarna Archive Yanhamu is referenced in 16 of the 60–letter ''" Rib-Hadda of Gubla"''-(Byblos) sub-corpus, and ...

EA 271, title "The power of the 'Apiru"

Amarna Letter EA 271 See

Other letters mentioning Milki-ilu of Gezer

Jerusalem

EA 286 by Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem EA 287 The ruler of Jerusalem (Ir3-hebat) states that Milki-ili had given bows and bronze arrows to Tagi and the sons of Labaya. Furthermore, Gezer, Ashkelon, and Lachish had given help to them and the Habiru men. It also mentions Piwuru, the King's Commissioner stationed at Gaza. EA 289 EA 290

Rahabu

EA 249 makes it clear that Milki-ili was the ''son-in-law'' of Tagi (known from Amarna Letters sent from Ginti-Kirmil (EA 264, EA 264, EA 266), Jerusalem (EA 287, EA 289), Rahabu (EA 249, EA 263)). EA 250

Labaya of Shechem

EA 254

References

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

External links

Letter pictures:
EA 369-Front/Back-(Click on it)-to Enlarge Sides
Discussions/Translations: *EA 369: British Museum-('Totally' varied translation(?))

at/ Brit. Mus.

Amarna letters (photos)

King of Babylon:
EA 9 (Obverse)
see: Karaduniyaš

:
EA 19 (Obverse)
Tushratta

with Black

Hieratic Hieratic (; ) is the name given to a cursive writing system used for Ancient Egyptian and the principal script used to write that language from its development in the third millennium BCE until the rise of Demotic in the mid-first millennium BCE ...

Article
– (

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

); see: Shaushka
EA 28 (Obverse)
see: Pirissi and Tulubri " Alashiya kingdom" letters
EA 34 (Obverse)
see: EA 34 Rib-Hadda letters:
EA 126 (Obverse)
See:

Salhi (region) The Salhi is a region/city-state in the vicinity of Ugarit during the 15-20 year Amarna letters Text corpus, correspondence of 1350–1335 BC. The region of ''Salhi'' is referenced in only one letter of the Amarna letters Text corpus, corpus, t ...

Abimilku:
#1: EA 153 (Obverse)#2: EA 153 (Obverse) 2nd
see:

Abimilku Abimilki (Amorite language, ''Amorite'': , ''LÚ, LÚa-bi-mil-ki'', ) around 1347 BC held the rank of Prince of Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre (called "Surru" in the letters), during the period of the Amarna letters Text corpus, correspondence (1360–1332 BC ...

Abdi-Tirši:
EA 228 (Obverse)//(228,330,299,245,252)
(EA 330, for Šipti-Ba'lu)
ArticlePic writeup

Biridiya Biridiya was the ruler of Megiddo, northern part of the southern Levant, in the 14th century BC. At the time Megiddo was a city-state submitting to the Egyptian Empire. He is part of the intrigues surrounding the rebel Labaya of Shechem. History ...

:
EA 245 (Obverse)EA 245 (Reverse)
Hannathon/''

Hinnatuna Hannathon or Hinnatuna was a city-state in Canaan during the Late Bronze Age. It is most likely identical with the archaeological site Tel Hanaton. History In the Late Bronze, Hinnatuna was a city-state in Canaan. It was located near Akko and Megid ...

'' Labaya:
EA 252 (Obverse)
see

Labaya Labaya (Labayu or Lib'ayu) was the ruler of Shechem and warlord in the central hill country of southern Canaan during the Amarna Period (c. 1350 BC). He lived contemporaneously with Pharaoh Akhenaten. Labaya is mentioned in several of the Amarna L ...

Others:
EA 299-(High Res.)(Obverse)
see

EA 369-Front/Back-(Click on each)
see: Milkilu {{div col end Amarna letters writers Canaanite people 14th-century BC mayors Gezer