20 The Fundamentals. the condition of things which prevailed a century or two later, when Joshua took possession of the promised land, and found no resistance except from a number of disorganized tribes then in possession. In this varied correspondence a large number of places are mentioned with which we are familiar in Bible history, among them Damascus, Sidon, Lachish, Asjikelon, Gaza, Joppa, and Jerusalem. Indeed, several of the letters are written from Je rusalem by one Abd-hiba, who complains that some one is slan dering him to the king, charging that he was in revolt against his lord. This, he says, the king ought to know is absurd, from the fact that “neither my father nor my mother appointed me to this place. The strong arm of the king inaugurated me in my father’s territory. Why should I commit an offense against my lord, the king?” The argument being that, as his office is not hereditary, but one which is held by the king’s favor and appointment, his loyalty should be above question. A single one of these Jerusalem letters may. suffice for an illustration: “To My Lord the King:—Abd-hiba, your servant. At the feet of my lord the king, seven and seven times I fall. Behold the deed which Milki-il and Suardata have done against the land of my lord the king—they have hired the soldiers of Gazri, of Gimti and of Kilti, and have taken the territory of Rubuti. The territory of the king is lost to Habiri. And now, indeed, a city of the territory of Jerusalem, called Bit-Ninib, one of the cities of the king, has been lost to the people of Kilti. Let the king listen to Abd-hiba, his servant, and send troops that I may bring back the king’s land to the king. For if there are no troops, the land of the king will be lost to the Habiri. This is the deed of Suardata and Milki-il * * * [defective], and let the king take care of his land.” The discovery of these Tel el-Amarna letters came like a flash of lightning upon the scholarly world. In this case the overturning of a few spadefuls of earth let in a flood of light
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