Ana šarri bêli-ia To the king, my lord, ârad-ka, (A)šaridu. thy servant Ašaridu. Nabû û Marduk ana Nebo and Merodach to šar mâtāti the king of the countries, bêli-ia likrubu. my lord, be favourable. Duppi ša šarru The tablet which the ippušu king makes ...-ṭu û ul-šalim. is bad(?) and incomplete. (A)dū duppi. Now a tablet, (la)biru ša Ammurapi an old one, of sarru. Ammurapi the king (e)pušu-ma alṭaru— I have made and written out— (la?) pani Ammurapi it is of the time šarru. (?) of Ammurapi the king. Kî ašpuru As I have sent (to inform the king), ultu Bâbîli from Babylon attašâ I will bring (it). Šarru nipisu The king (will be able to do) the work [ina] pitti at once. [Here several lines are broken away.] ........................... ............................. ša A-................... which A-....................... qat ....................... the hand of.................... ulla ...................... then (?) ...................... anaku ..................... I ............................. likîpanni. may he trust me. As this is a late reference to Ḫammurabi, it is noteworthy not only on account of the form the name (which agrees excellently with the Biblical Amraphel) had assumed at the time (the hard breathing or aspirate having to all appearance completely disappeared), but also as a testimony to the esteem in which he was held a millennium and a half after his death. How it is that the Hebrew form has _l_ at the end is not known, but the presence of this letter has given rise to numerous theories. One of these is, that Amraphel is for _Ḫammurabi îlu_, “Ḫammurabi the god,” many of the old Babylonian kings having been deified after their death. Another (and perhaps more likely) explanation is, that this additional letter is due to the faulty reading of a variant writing of the name, with a polyphonous character having the value of _pil_ as well as _bi_,—which form may, in fact, still be found. However the presence of the final (and apparently unauthorized) addition to the name be explained, the identification of Amraphel and Ḫammurabi is held to be beyond dispute.