Amarna letter EA 254

Amarna letter EA 254, titled: "Neither Rebel nor Delinquent (2)"[1] is a moderate length, tall, and mostly flat rectangular clay tablet Amarna letter, (see here ). The letter is from Labaya of city-state Šakmu (Shechem today). It is an undamaged letter, in pristine condition, with cuneiform script on almost all surfaces: Obverse, Bottom, Reverse, and Left Side. Letter EA 254 is numbered VAT 335, from the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin.

EA 15, an approximate equivalent-sized, rectangular letter to Labaya's letter EA 254.
(very high-resolution expandable photo)


The Amarna letters, about 300, numbered up to EA 382, are a mid 14th century BC, about 1360 BC and 30-35 years later, correspondence. The initial corpus of letters were found at Akhenaten's city Akhetaten, in the floor of the Bureau of Correspondence of Pharaoh; others were later found, adding to the body of letters.

The letter

EA 254: "Neither Rebel nor Delinquent (2)"

EA 254, letter three of three. (Not a linear, line-by-line translation, and English from French.)[2]

Obverse: See here; Line drawing,

(Lines 1-5)–To the king, my lord and my Sun: Thus Lab'ayu, your servant and the dirt on which you tread. I fall at the feet of the king, my lord and my Sun, 7 times and 7 times.
(6-10)–I have obeyed (i.e. heard) the orders that the king wrote to me. Who am I that the king should lose his land on account of me?
(10-15)–The fact is that I am a loyal servant of the king! I am not a rebel and I am not delinquent in duty.1 I have not held back my payments of tribute; I have not held back anything requested by my commissioner.
(16-29)–He denounces me unjustly,3 but the king, my lord, does not examine my (alleged) act of rebellion.

Bottom & Reverse: See here; Line drawing,

(Lines 20-29)–Moreover, my act of rebellion is this: when I entered Gazru, I kept on saying, "Everything of mine the king takes, but where is what belongs to Milkilu?" I know the actions3 of Milkilu against me!
(30-37)–Moreover, the king wrote for my son.4 I did not know that my son was consorting with the 'Apiru. I herewith hand him over to Addaya.
(38-46)–Moreover, how, if the king wrote to me, "Put a bronze dagger into your heart and die," how could I not..

Left Side

(46)..execute the order of the king?5–(complete EA 254, with no lacunae, lines 1-46)

The Habiru/'Apiru

The mention of the Habiru shows the conflict of the time, as the takeover of city-states or regions by the Habiru. The map shows various cities and regions, and their respective dealings with the Habiru. (There are only 3 letters from Labaya of Šakmu/Shechem.) The next closest mention of the Habiru is from the Jerusalem letters of Abdi-Heba, directly south at Jerusalem, letters EA 286, 287, 288, 289, and EA 290.

Spellings for Habiru in the Amarna letters


See also

References
  1. Moran, William L. 1987, 1992. The Amarna Letters. EA 254, "Neither Rebel nor Delinquent (2)", pp. 307-308.
  2. Moran 1987, 1992. The Amarna Letters. EA 254, "Neither Rebel nor Delinquent (2)", pp. 307-308.
  • Moran, William L. The Amarna Letters. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, ISBN 0-8018-6715-0)


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