=Advance of the Habiri.= The Tell el Amarna letters and those discovered in Palestine reveal precisely this state of affairs. It was under the rule of Amenhotep IV, who was more intent upon religious reforms than on the ruling of his distant provinces, that Egyptian control of Palestine was first relaxed. A stream of letters poured in upon the king from the governors of the cities of Palestine, telling of each other's treachery and of the advance of bands of the Habiri, who at this time, about 1360 B.C., poured into Palestine from the desert. These new invaders possess a unique interest for the student of biblical history, for among them in all probability were Aramean as well as Arabian tribes, the ancestors of the later Hebrews. They seem to have been independent tribes under the leadership of their chiefs. They succeeded in capturing many of the weaker outlying cities. Often they were employed as mercenaries by the rival princes of Canaan, and they readily allied themselves with the native peoples in an endeavor to throw off the yoke of Egypt. The governors of such important cities as Megiddo, Askalon, and Gezer wrote beseeching the Pharaoh to send troops to aid them against these strong invaders. In the ruins of Taanach is found an interesting letter, sent to the governor of the town by an officer at Megiddo. It reads: "To Istar-washur from Aman-hashir. May Adad preserve thy life! Send thy brothers with their chariots, and send a horse, thy tribute, and presents, and all prisoners who are with thee; send them to Megiddo by to-morrow." In the ruins of Lachish was found a similar letter, written in Babylonian by its governor Zimrida, and stating that unless an Egyptian army was sent quickly the city must submit to the invaders. Jerusalem, under its governor, Abdhiba, was one of the last cities to resist the advance of the Habiri. At last, however, these people from the desert prevailed. An Egyptian officer, writing of the native peoples, states: "They have been destroyed, their towns laid waste.... Their countries are starving, they live like goats of the mountain."