Rubutu was a city, or

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 throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

located in ancient northern

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, between the city of ''Gazru''-(modern

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 ...

), and

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 time of the Amarna letters correspondence, a 15-20 year

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Period (punctuation) * Era, a length or span of time *Menstruation, commonly referred to as a "period" Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (o ...

at about

1350 Year 1350 ( MCCCL) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January 9 – Giovanni II Valente becomes Doge of Genoa. * May 23 (possible date) – Hook and Cod wars in the Cou ...

1335 BC The 1330s BC is a decade which lasted from 1339 BC to 1330 BC. Events and trends * 1336 BC: Pharaoh Akhenaten of Egypt names Smenkhkare as a co-ruler. * 1336 BC: Tutankhaten becomes Pharaoh of Egypt and marries Ankhesenpaaten, his half sister ...

. Some scholars place Rubutu near present-day Arrabah in the northern

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

.Zertal, Adam; ''Arubboth, Hepher, and the Third Solomonic District'', 1984: 72-76, 112-114, 133-136Na'aman, Nadav;'' Canaan in the second millennium B.C.E.'', 2005: 212. The Amarna letters were mostly written to the

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 ( ...

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

, and three mayors of Gazru:

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 ...

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

, 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 ...

authored 20 letters of the 382–letter, 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 ...

. The reference to Rubutu is found in 2 letters of

Abdi-Heba Abdi-Ḫeba (Abdi-Kheba, Abdi-Ḫepat, or Abdi-Ḫebat) was a local chieftain of History of Jerusalem, Jerusalem during the Amarna period (mid-1330s BC). Ancient Egypt, Egyptian documents have him deny he was a mayor (''ḫazānu'') and assert he ...

of Jerusalem, EA 289, and 290, ( EA 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 ...

'). They mention the war of various cities, the Habiru, and of: ''"the seizure of Rubutu"''.

The 2 letters of city--''Rubutu''

EA 289, title: ''"A reckoning demanded"''

EA 289 is letter no. 5 of 6 to the Pharaoh, by Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem. See: Egyptian official: Pawura.

EA 290, title: ''"Three against one"''

Letter no. 6 of 6 by Abdi-Heba of Urusalim: :" a the king-(i.e.

), my lord: Message of AbdiHeba, your servant. I fall at the feet f the kin, my lord, 7 times and 7 times. Here is the deed ''against the land'' that

and Šuardatu did: against the land of the king, my lord, they ''ordered'' troops from

Gazru 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 Israeli national park ...

, troops from Gimtu, and troops from Qiltu-( Keilah). They seized ''Rubutu''. The land of the king deserted to the Hapiru. And now, besides this, a town belonging to

-(called Urusalim), Bit-^d NIN.URTA by name, a city of the king, has gone over to the side of the men of Qiltu. May the king give heed to Abdi-Heba, your servant, and send

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 modern ...

s to restore the land of the king to the king. If there are no archers, the land of the king will desert to the Hapiru. This deed ''against the land'' was the order of Milki u and a the order of �uardtu, '' ogether wth'' Gint -(i.e. the city). So may the king provide for island." -EA 290, lines 1-30 (complete) The city "Bit-^dNIN.URTA" is linked to

cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

as: city: ''"Home of God–

Ninurta Ninurta (: , possible meaning "Lord fBarley"), also known as Ninĝirsu (: , meaning "Lord fGirsu"), is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with farming, healing, hunting, law, scribes, and war who was f ...

"'', (

Bit The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communication. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represented as ...

-^d NIN.URTA).

Notes

References

* Moran, William L. ''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, {{ISBN, 0-8018-6715-0)

External links

The name of ''Rubutu/Aruboth''Topographic Map
(

Geography of Israel The geography of Israel is very diverse, with desert conditions in the south, and snow-capped mountains in the north. Israel is located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea in West Asia. It is bounded to the north by Lebanon, the northe ...

), showing the valley from Jerusalem to the Mediterranean.

is halfway to the Mediterranean, and Rubutu is between Gezer and Jerusalem. (Click on Map to Enlarge)
Map of Canaan
Shows ''Gazru''/(Gezer) and Jerusalem Ta'anach Letter: by Guli-Adad, mentioning

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 throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...