48 B. M.—“To the King my Lord by letter thus says Iebaenu (Jabin) chief of the city Khazura (Hazor) thy servant. At the feet of the King my Lord I bow, who behold am one of the faithful servants of the King my Lord; and all those who guard the city of Hazor[301] with her fortresses belonging to the King my Lord; and let him expect this. Let him recall to the King my Lord all that the city Hazor—thy city, and thy servant is made to suffer.”
47 B. M.—“To the King my Lord thus (says) the King of the city of Hazor: I bow at the feet of my Lord. Lo! I am guarding the fortresses belonging to the King my Lord, until the arrival of my Lord my God; and lo! I hear all these messages, and I am departing O Sun-God my God ... and I am being brought low: the ... that they have taken is increased, and the Gods have nodded to his revolt over me, and now I am causing all to be despatched till the coming of the King my Lord. Behold this, lo! they come ... your envoy ... very much ... my Lord ... safety ... the city of Hazor ... when the land ... [pg 251] and all ... Lo ... Moreover behold ... and my place ... with soldiers.”
Unfortunately King Jabin does not mention the nationality of the enemy. From the Tyre letters he seems to have been an enemy of the Phœnicians, being perhaps on the side of Aziru; but the date of the present letters is not fixed by any reference to persons mentioned in the other letters. It is quite possible that the Hebrews, and not the Hittites, were his foes, since the Hebrew conquest took place in the lifetime of Yankhamu and Suta, who are noticed in the northern letters also. If he was a friend of Aziru's, the enemy, though enemies of Egypt, could not well have been Hittites or Amorites; and the name of the King is that of Joshua's enemy, Jabin of Hazor. It is clear that the Egyptians, though expected, were not in Hazor at the time. The kings of Hazor ruled lower Galilee, where they had a force of chariots a century later. In Joshua's time (Josh. xi.) there were also many chariots in and near Hazor.
It is remarkable that none of the letters from Tell Amarna refer to central Palestine. There is no mention of any town in lower Galilee or in Samaria, except Zabuba and Megiddo. Taanach, Shechem, Jezreel, Dothan, Bethel, and other such places are unnoticed, as well as Heshbon, Medeba, Rabbath-Ammon, Ramoth Gilead, and other places in Moab and Gilead. The Egyptians probably had no stations in these wild mountains, where their chariots could not pass. The Egyptian traveller mentions no town between Megiddo and Joppa in the time of Rameses II, and no towns in the regions of Samaria or Gilead or Moab occur in the list of places taken by Thothmes III; nor were there any stations in the Hebron mountains.[302] On the other hand, many places in Sharon and [pg 252] Philistia, and in the lower hills to the east, and in the Negeb hills south of Hebron, were conquered by the last-mentioned king, and are again mentioned by the traveller of the time of Rameses II, and these occur in the present letters. We are thus at once transported to the south of the country.
Southern Palestine
Letters from Joppa
No. 57 B. M.—“To the King my Lord my God my Lord of Hosts, by letter thus (says) Yabitiri (Abiathar?) thy servant, the dust of the feet of the King my Lord my God my Lord of Hosts. Seven times and seven times I bow. As thou seest I am among the faithful servants of the King my Lord. I am arraying. But if I am arraying has not he been furious? and I am arraying before the King; and he has been furious. Shall the brick (letter) hide it under deceptions? But I will not conceal under deep sayings (emiki) to the King my Lord. And the King my Lord shall ask Yankhamu his Paka. Lo! I am a warrior, and I am casting down the rebellion, O King my Lord, and I am sending out from the pass belonging to the King my Lord. And let the King my Lord ask his Paka (‘head man’). Lo! I am defending the pass (or great gate) of the city of 'Azati (Gaza) and the passage of the city of Yapu (Joppa), and I myself and the soldiers (bitati) of the King my Lord have marched to the lands. I myself (am) with them, and now, and lo! now, I myself (am) with them. The yoke of the King my Lord (is) on my neck and I will bear it.”
71 B. M.—The usual salutation from a servant of the King, whose name is broken, but reads Mus ... ni. “I hear the messages of the King my Lord which he sends to his servant, hearing what is spoken by thy chief (Ka), and (it is) ‘Strengthen thou the fortresses of the King thy Lord which are with thee.’ Now they have minded the message of the King my Lord to me, and the King my Lord learns of his servant. Now Biia the son of the woman Gulata[303] was my [pg 253] ... of my brethren whom I am despatching to go down from the city Yapu (Joppa), and to be the defenders of the messengers returning to the King my Lord; and now Biia is the son of Gulata, he took them; and the King my Lord shall learn this message of his servant. Thus since the King my Lord said to me, ‘Make him leave thy city, on the appearance of Biia.’ He also indeed is made to leave; and both go, and indeed both are sent down O King my Lord day and night till they reach the place.”
Joppa is not mentioned in the history of Joshua's wars in the south, but the “border before (east of) Japho” is noticed in the later topographical charter (Josh. xix. 46).