The question of the identification of the troops or bands of warriors designated by the Akkadian compound SA-GAS is, however, of still greater importance. Most Assyriologists regard them as being identical with the Ḫabiri, mentioned in the letters of Abdi-tâbu or Ebed-tob. This, of course, is possible, but it is unfortunate that no direct confirmation of this identification exists. In the bilingual lists of Babylonia and Assyria, the expression SA-GAS, duly provided with the determinative prefix indicating a man or a class of men, occurs, and is always translated by the word ḳabbatu, the probable meaning of which is “robber,” from the root ḫabātu, “to plunder”. It is also noteworthy that there is a star called SA-GAS, and this is likewise rendered by the same word, namely, ḫabbatu. The fact that it is once provided with the determinative ki (“place”) does not help us, for this may be simply an oversight or a mannerism of the scribe. Moreover, the difficulty of identifying the SA-GAS with the Ḫabiri of the inscriptions of Abdi-ṭâba is increased [pg 292] by the word occurring in these texts (Winckler's No. 216, l. 11), followed by the explanation (amēlūti ḫabati), an arrangement which we find in others of these letters, when an ideograph has to be explained; and when they are, as here, Akkadian ideographs and Babylonian words, the second is always the pronunciation of the first—never the alternative reading. Indeed, in the present case, such an explanation would be misleading instead of helpful (were the word SA-GAS to be read Ḫabiri), for the scribe tells you to read it ḫabati—the same word as is given in the bilingual lists, but spelled with one b instead of two.
In all probability, therefore, the ḫabati were wandering hordes differing from the Sutites in not having any special nationality, and being composed of the offscourings of many peoples of the ancient East. They were probably included in the ḫabiri, together with the nations with which they were afterwards associated. The ḫabiri were not the Hebrews, neither the word nor the date being what we should expect for that nationality, who were still in Egypt. The best identification as yet published is that of Jastrow, who connects it with the Hebrew Heber, the patronymic of various persons. Better still, however, would be the Heb. ḥaber, pl. haberim, “companions,” also used of tribes joined together to form a nation. Whether an advance guard of the Hebrews is to be included in this term or not, must be left to the judgment of the student.
The gradual loss of the districts south of Damascus in all probability followed. A letter from Mut-Addu (the only one from him) to Yanḫamu speaks of the cities of the land of Garu (identified—though the identification is not quite satisfactory—with the Heb. Gur), namely Udumu (identified by Petrie with Adamah, though the form does not agree so well as might be wished, and Udumu is the usual way of rendering the word Edom, which is referred to in the [pg 293] cuneiform inscriptions both as a land and a city), Aduri (Petrie: et-Tireh), Araru (Petrie: Arareh), Meštu (Petrie: Mushtah), Magdali (Magdala), Ḫini-anabi (Ain-anab, if rightly identified—there is a certain difficulty in the word possessing a guttural at the beginning and not likewise as the first letter of the second component—probably 'Anab, south-west of Hebron, the Anab of Josh. xi. 21), and Sarki. At this time, according to the tablet, Hawani and Yabiši (Jabesh) had been captured. It is probably on account of the occupation of the country by so many hostile tribes that the protest of Burra-buriaš of Babylonia (see p. [281]) was sent, but it was in all probability exceedingly difficult for the Egyptian king to afford any protection whatever to the caravans which passed through the disaffected area.
One of the things which the Tel-el-Amarna letters show very clearly is, that it must have been very difficult for the Pharaoh to know who were his friends and who were his enemies among the rulers of the Philistines. The Amorite Abdi-Aširta and his allies were from the first desirous to throw off the Egyptian yoke, but this prince at the same time constantly sent letters to Amenophis IV. protesting his fidelity. Other chiefs who were hostile to Egypt are Etakama, the sons of Lab'aya, Milkîli, Yapa-Addu, Zimrêda of Sidon, Aziru, and others. On the king's side were Namyawaza, who held Kumidi (Petrie: Kamid-el-Lauz), Rib-Addi, whose chief cities were Gebal, Beyrout, and Simyra, Zimrêda of Lachish, and Abdi-ṭâba of Jerusalem. Numbers of chiefs, at first faithful, went over to the enemy when they saw the success of the league against the foreign power.
It is impossible to suppose that the letters now known (about three hundred in number) represent all the correspondence which passed between Palestine and Egypt concerning the state of the country during the reigns of Amenophis III. and IV., and from the [pg 294] time the troubles there commenced, complaints and applications for help must have claimed the attention of the Egyptian translator literally in shoals. One of the most remarkable of these is the letter from the people of Dunip, who say that, in consequence of the state of things in Palestine, they belong no longer to the king of Egypt, to whom they had been sending for twenty years, but their messengers had been retained. Their prince (to all appearance) had been taken back to Egypt by the king's orders, after he had allowed him to return to his country, so that they had not seen him again. “And now Dunip, thy city, weeps, and its tears flow, and there is no one to take our hands (i.e. help us). We have sent to the king, the lord, the king of Egypt, and not a single word from our lord hath reached us.”
Were they really sorry to be no longer under Egyptian rule? or were they merely desirous that their prince should be restored to them?
During this period, naturally enough, recriminations were going on on every side. Those who were faithful very properly made complaints and uttered warnings concerning those who were unfaithful. The waverers, the unfaithful, and the hostile, on the other hand, were continually asserting their fidelity, and accusing those who were really well-disposed towards Egypt of all kinds of hostile acts against the supreme power. This is evident from the correspondence of Abdi-ṭâba of Jerusalem, who, in one of his letters, writes as follows—
“(T)o the king my lord say also thus: ‘It is Abdi-ṭâba, thy servant. At the feet of my lord the king twice seven times and twice seven times I fall. What have I done against the king my lord? They back-bite—they slander[67] me before the king my lord, (saying): “Abdi-ṭâba has fallen away from the king [pg 295] his lord.” Behold, (as for) me, neither my father nor my mother set me in this place—the arm of the mighty king caused me to enter into the house of my father. Why should I commit a sin against the king my lord? As the king my lord lives, I said to the commissioner of the king (my) lord: “Why love ye the Ḫabiri and hate the gover(nors)? it is on account of this that they utter slander before the king my lord.” Then he said: “The countries of the king my lord have rebelled, therefore they utter slander to the king my lord.” ’ ”
The ruler of Jerusalem then seems to say, that the king had placed a garrison in some city or other, but it had been taken, apparently by Yanḫamu—there was no longer a garrison (in that place). The king's cities under Ili-milku had revolted, the whole of the land of the king was lost, so let the king have care for his land. He would like to go to the king, to urge him to take action, but the people in his district were too mighty for him, and he could not leave it. As long as the king lived, and as long as he sent a commissioner, he would continue to give warning. If troops were sent that year, things would be saved, otherwise the king's lands would be lost. Abdi-ṭâba ends with an appeal to the scribe to place the matter clearly before the king.
Another very important letter from Abdi-ṭâba is as follows—