On hearing of the fall of this city the governor of Tunip wrote a pathetic appeal to Akhnaton, asking for help; for he was now quite isolated, and he knew that Aziru was a free-lance who cared not a jot for any but his own welfare.
“To the King of Egypt, my lord,” runs the letter. “The inhabitants of Tunip, thy servant. May it be well with thee, and at the feet of our lord we fall. My lord, Tunip, thy servant, speaks, saying: Who formerly could have plundered Tunip without being plundered by Thothmes III.? The gods ... of the King of Egypt, my lord, dwell in Tunip. May our lord ask his old men [if it be not so.] Now, however, we belong no more to our lord, the King of Egypt.... If his soldiers and chariots come too late, Aziru will make us like the city of Niy. If, however, we have to mourn, then the King of Egypt will mourn over these things which Aziru has done, for he will turn his hand against our lord. And when Aziru enters Simyra Aziru will do to us as he pleases, in the territory of our lord the King, and on account of these things our lord will have to lament. And now Tunip, thy city, weeps, and her tears are flowing, and there is no help for us. For twenty years we have been sending to our lord the King, the King of Egypt, but there has not come to us a word—no, not one.”
Several points become apparent from this letter. One sees that in the more distant cities of Syria the significance of Akhnaton’s new religion was not understood. The governor of Tunip refers to the old gods of Egypt worshipped in that town, and he knows not, or cannot be brought to believe, that Akhnaton has become a monotheist. One sees that the memory of the terrible Thothmes III. and his victorious armies was still in men’s minds, and was probably one of the main causes of the long-continued peace in Syria. Akhnaton’s father, Amonhotep III., had not concerned himself greatly with regard to his foreign dominions, and, as the people of Tunip had been asking for assistance for twenty years, it would seem that the danger which now beset them was already feared before that Pharaoh’s death.
Letter from Ribaddi to the King of Egypt, reporting the progress of the rebellion under Aziru.
(British Museum, No. 29,801.)
How, one asks, could Akhnaton read such a letter as this, and yet refuse to send a relieving army to Syria? Byblos and Simyra were still loyally holding out; and troops disembarked at these ports could speedily be marched inland to Tunip, could crush Hakama at Kadesh, and could frighten Aziru into giving real assistance to Dushratta and other loyal kings in holding the Hittites back behind the Amanus Mountains. But this was Akhnaton’s Gethsemane, if one may say so with reverence; and like that greater Teacher who, thirteen hundred years later, was to preach the self-same doctrine of personal sacrifice, one may suppose that the Pharaoh suffered a very Agony as he realised that his principles were leading him to the loss of all his dearest possessions. His restless generals in Egypt, eager to march into Syria, must have brought every argument to bear upon him; but the boy would not now turn back. “Put up thy sword into his place,” he seems to have said; “for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”
4. THE FIGHTING IN SYRIA BECOMES GENERAL.
At this time the King of Byblos was one named Ribaddi, a fine old soldier who was loyal to Egypt in his every thought and deed. He wrote to Akhnaton urging him to send troops to relieve the garrison of Simyra, upon which Aziru was again pressing close; for if Simyra fell, he knew that Byblos could not for long hold out. Presently we find that Zimrida, the king of the neighbouring port of Sidon, has opened his gates to Aziru, and has marched with him against Tyre. Abimilki, the King of Tyre, at once wrote to Akhnaton asking for assistance; but on receiving no reply he, too, appears to have thrown in his lot with Aziru. Ribaddi was now quite isolated at Byblos; and from the beleaguered city he wrote to the Pharaoh telling him that “Simyra is like a bird in a snare.” Akhnaton made no reply; and in a short time Ribaddi wrote again, saying, “Simyra, your fortress, is now in the power of the Khabiri.”
These Khabiri were the Beduin from behind Palestine, who were being used as mercenaries by Aziru, and who themselves were making small conquest in the south on their own behalf. Thus the southern cities of Megiddo, Askalon, Gezer, and others, write to the Pharaoh asking for aid against them. Exasperated, however, by Akhnaton’s inaction, Askalon and Gezer, together with the city of Lachish, threw off the Egyptian yoke and attacked Jerusalem, which was still loyal to Egypt, being held by an officer named Abdkhiba. This loyal soldier at once sent a despatch to Akhnaton, part of which read as follows:—
The King’s whole land, which has begun hostilities with me, will be lost. Behold the territory of Seir, as far as Carmel, its princes are wholly lost; and hostility prevails against me.... As long as ships were upon the sea the strong arm of the King occupied Naharin and Kash, but now the Khabiri are occupying the King’s cities. There remains not one prince to my lord, the King; every one is ruined.... Let the King take care of his land, and ... let him send troops.... For if no troops come in this year, the whole territory of my lord the King will perish.... If there are no troops in this year, let the King send his officer to fetch me and my brothers, that we may die with our lord, the King.