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Records of the Past, 2nd series, Vol. II

By A. H. Sayce

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No. V

1. [To] the great [king], the king of the world, the king [of Egypt],
2. I present myself, O creator of everything which (is) great,
3. (I) the servant of the mighty lord, to the king
4. my [lord]; at the feet of my lord, the Sun-god,
5. seven times seven I prostrate myself. Verily is
6. the king my lord. Lo, exceedingly powerful
7. is he constituted. Lo, a mouth of judgment 2 in
8. thy presence exists. The men
9. of the city of Tsumura 3 belonging to the king (are) subjects
10. of the king. Lo, the city of Zarak (sends) this report:
11. The four sons of Abd-Asi[rti] 4 have been captured,

12. and there is no one who has brought the news
13. to the king, as well as counsel. Behold
14. the servant of thy justice (am) I, and as for thee
15. what I have heard I have despatched to my lord.
16. A march has been made 1 against the city of Tsumu[ra]
17. which like a bird whose nest on a precipice
18. is laid …
19. is exceedingly strong.
20. And as for the messengers whom
21. from the house of …
22. I sent, into the city of Tsumura
23. I have seen their entrance.
24. And Ya[pa]-Addu the wares (?) 2
25. did not place with me.
26. They took also the men of …
27. his cavalry, and the stone
28. of my justice, … and
29. the divine image, the sceptres (and) the stone of sovereignty,
30. the god of the oracles of the king; 3 and
31. the king spoke to them.
32. And thou didst … the (seats) thou hast selected (?) 4
33. as many as the king created for them.
34. And the son of the servant of the lord and the wife of the father

35. (even) of the god of heaven and earth, the king, have spoken to the men.
36. (I have collected?) all my servants;
37. …… his … to …
38. …… he went up …
39. …… before me, and …
40. This line has been destroyed.
41. (Near) me there was no one at all
42. of them, whether two or three
43 and the god 1 heard
44. the words of the servant of his justice, and the god
45. brought life to his servant;
46. and the action of his servant he enquired after a second time, 2
47. which may he requite (?) unto me, and may the great lady
48. who (is) with thee, and the female domestics of the palace. Verily Aziru and
49. Yapa-Addu have taken up opposition
50. towards me, and have not marched up (the country)
51. any one (of them.) They held a conference
52. with me. That place of observation
53. belonging to me, which my father gave nee,
54. even the king, for ever, [implies]
55. the making of words on the part of me the servant of [thy] justice.
56. And I rejoiced also within myself at
57. these words (which) I have uttered, even I
58. the dust of thy feet, O king!
59. O father, thy father is not Aziru;
60. he has not girdled 3 the world
61. with his governors and his prophesying 4 [and]
62. [his] god and goddesses and the god Ku …
63. [It is] the work of his servant, and …
64. to defend (?) the house of thy father
65. against the country of Tarkumiya marched

66. the sons of Abd-Asirta, and
67. there took the country of the king belonging to them
68. the king of the country of Mitana-nanu 1 and the king
69. of the country of Tarkusi and the king of the country of the Hittites. 2
70. The god who inspires the king, the soldiers of the king
71. along with Yankhan the servant
72. of the king of the country of Yarimuta 3
73. [and] the gate-keeper Milku-mi …
74. [took with them?] …
75. …… they came forth [and]
76. …… he sends them.

Footnotes
67:1 No. XIV in my forthcoming Paper.

67:2 Maspudh, the Heb. mishpâdh.

67:3 The Simyra of classical writers, the Biblical Zemar (Gen. x. 18), at the foot of Lebanon in Phœnicia.

67:4 Abd-Asirti or Abd-Asirta is also called Abd-Asrâti, and according to Dr. Winckler, in one of the Tel el-Amarna tablets, now at Berlin, the word Asrâti is preceded by the determinative of divinity. Asrâti is the p. 68 plural of Asirti, which the cuneiform "syllabaries" explain by the words "high place," "oracle," and "sanctuary." It is the ashêrah of the Old Testament, mistranslated "grove" in the Authorised Version. The Ashêrah was properly the upright post often seen upon Assyrian gems which symbolised the goddess of fertility. The latter bore the name of Ashêrah, like her symbol, among the Southern Canaanites, and corresponded to the Ashtoreth or Astartê of Phœnicia. Abd-Asirti would signify "the servant of Ashêrah."

68:1 Or "counsel has been taken," the Assyrian milik signifying both "march" and "counsel."

68:2 Kinanatu, "female slaves" in Assyrian, but here perhaps (like the Hebrew Chenaanî, "a merchant") derived from the name of Canaan.

68:3 Compare the Hebrew Urim and Thummim in the breastplate of the High Priest.

68:4 The reading and translation of this line are extremely doubtful.

69:1 That is, the Egyptian monarch.

69:2 Such seems to be the meaning of the expression istu sani.

69:3 Igur.

69:4 Sipti.

70:1 Mitana or Mitanni lay on the eastern bank of the Euphrates north of the Belikh according to the annals of Tiglath-pileser I. A docket attached to one of the Tel el-Amarna tablets identifies it with the Egyptian Nahrina, the Aram-Naharaim of the Old Testament of which Chushan-rish-athaim was king (Judges iii. 8). What is meant by the suffix nanu I cannot explain.

70:2 Khata.

70:3 Yarimuta is described in another tablet as situated upon the sea, to the north of Phœnicia.