hold they are with you, seize the ships of the men of the city of Arāda which they have made in the land of Egypt. Again behold Khaiya laments . . . for you do not . . . and as for us we . . . by the land of the Amorites.”
45 B. M., a broken letter with passages of interest as follows:
“Moreover, now this city of Gula[1] is afflicted. The region behold of the city of Gula is for the King my Lord. Cannot you do what we desire? But he has done as his heart (desired) with all the lands of the King. Behold this sin which Aziru with the King; (he has slain) the King of the land of Ammiya[2] and (the King of Ar) data: and the King of the Land of Ni . . .(has slain?) a Paka (‘chief’) of the King my Lord . . . and the King knows his faithful servant, and he has despatched a garrison from his city, thirty men and fifty chariots, to the city of Gebal. I have been right. He had turned, O King, his heart from everything that Aziru orders him. For everything that he orders, the messages are unanswered. But every governor of the King he has ordered to be slain. I am forgotten. Behold Aziru has cursed the King my Lord.”
158 B.—The greater part of this letter is too broken to read, but refers to Abdasherah, and appears to be written to Yankhamu. The city of Simyra is mentioned, and the city Arpad,[3] and the palace or fortress of the former, with certain men therein. The soldiers of a city Sekhlali are also noticed, but it is not clear where this place is to be sought.
Ribadda’s Letters from Gebal
47 B.—“Ribadda[4] of the city of Gebal[5] (Gubla) to his Lord the King of many lands, the prosperous King. Baalath of
- ↑ “Gula” is perhaps the town of Jûneh, north of Beirût, on the way to Gebal.
- ↑ “Ammiya” is Amyun, north of Gebal; and “Ardata” is Ardi near the preceding.
- ↑ Arpad is the city close to Tennib, which is mentioned in the Bible in several passages (2 Kings xvii. 34; xix. 13; Isa. x. 9; Jer. xlix. 23, etc.), now Tell Erfûd. It is remarkable that Aleppo is not mentioned in this correspondence, for it is referred to in Egyptian texts.
- ↑ “Ribadda” (as the name is spelled in some of the letters in syllables) may mean “child of Adonis.” Compare the Chaldee “Ribah” for “girl,” in the feminine. That “Adda” was Adonis seems to be derivable from the name “Adoram” (2 Sam. xx. 20), otherwise Adoniram (1 Kings iv. 6).
- ↑ “Gebal,” now “Jubeil,” was apparently the chief city of Phœnicia. Its goddess Baalath is mentioned in the famous inscription of Yehumelec (about 800 b.c.), found in the ruins of Gebal. She is also mentioned in the “Travels of an Egyptian” (Chabas, p. 312).
