Patriarchal PalestineSayce, A. H. (Archibald Henry)
History
Patriarchal Palestine
Sayce, A. H. (Archibald Henry)
Jews -- History -- To 953 B.C.; Palestine -- History
There are three letters in the Tel el-Amarna collection from Sutatna, or
Zid-atna ("the god Zid has given") as he writes his name, in one of
which he compares Akku or Acre with "the city of Migdol in Egypt."
Doubtless satisfaction was given to the Babylonian king for the wrong
that had been done to his subjects, though whether the actual culprits
were punished may be questioned. There is another letter from
Burna-buryas, in which reference is again made to the Canaanites. He
there asserts that in the time of his father, Kurigalzu, they had sent
to the Babylonian sovereign, saying: "Go down against Qannisat and let
us rebel." Kuri-galzu, however, had refused to listen to them, telling
them that if they wanted to break away from the Egyptian king and ally
themselves "with another," they must find some one else to assist them.
Burna-buryas goes on to declare that he was like-minded with his father,
and had accordingly despatched an Assyrian vassal to assure the Pharaoh
that he would carry on no intrigues with disaffected Canaanites. As the
first part of his letter is filled with requests for gold for the
adornment of a temple he was building at Babylon, such an assurance was
very necessary. The despatches of Rib-Hadad and Ebed-Tob, however, go to
show that in spite of his professions of friendship, the Babylonian
monarch was ready to afford secret help to the insurgents in Palestine.
The Babylonians were not likely to forget that they had once been
masters of the country, or to regard the Egyptian empire in Asia with
other than jealous eyes.
The Tel el-Amarna correspondence breaks off suddenly in the midst of a
falling empire, with its governors in Canaan fighting and intriguing one
against the other, and appealing to the Pharaoh for help that never
came. The Egyptian commissioners are vainly endeavouring to restore
peace and order, like General Gordon in the Soudan, while Babylonians
and Mitannians, Hittites and Beduin are assailing the distracted
province. The Asiatic empire of the eighteenth dynasty, however, did not
wholly perish with the death of Khu-n-Aten. A picture in the tomb of
prince Hui at Thebes shows that under the reign of his successor,
Tut-ankh-Amon, the Egyptian supremacy was still acknowledged in some
parts of Syria. The chiefs of the Lotan or Syrians are represented in
their robes of many colours, some with white and others with brown
skins, and coming before the Egyptian monarch with the rich tribute of
their country. Golden trays full of precious stones, vases of gold and
silver, the covers of which are in the form of the heads of gazelles and
other animals, golden rings richly enamelled, horses, lions, and a
leopard's skin--such are the gifts which they offer to the Pharaoh. It
was the last embassy of the kind which was destined to come from Syria
for many a day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account