15
January 1930
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
some clay tablets. It is reported that this woman, the original discoverer, sold her rights for fifty cents. A care ful search resulted in finding other tablets to the number of almost four hundred. Because of the discovery of their value, they were subsequently sold at prices ranging from five dollars to seven hundred and fifty dollars. Most of them are now in the British Museum. Tel El-Amarna was the capital of Egypt built by Amenophis IV , and these clay tablets were found just where the dust of the centuries had covered up his state records. These tablets were found to be a series of interna tional correspondence between Amenophis III and Amen ophis IV of the eighteenth Egyptian dynasty, and their Asiatic vassals, including Palestine, around 1500 B. C. The letters were written in Babylonian cuneiform (wedge- shaped) characters, and deal with political conditions, social affairs, exchange of gifts, slaves, and other things too numerous to mention. The Tel El-Amarna tablets can scarcely be valued too highly because of the light which they throw upon political conditions of Egypt and Asia generally at that time, but students of the Bible have a peculiar interest in them be cause of their reference to no less than twenty cities mentioned in the Old Testament and to Jerusalem and its king, who was a vassal of Egypt. One of the letters written by Ebed-Hepa, king of Jerusalem, to Amenophis IV will be quoted. The date of this letter is set at about 1360 B. C. These letters have a very direct bearing upon Bible history, and for that reason a typical one of them is copied here. According to George A. Barton, the letter reads as follows: To the king, my lord, speak, saying, Ebed-Hepa, thy servant. At the feet o f the king, my lord, seven times and seven times I prostrate myself. Behold the deed which Malkiel and Shuardatu have done against the country of the king, my lord! They have won over the soldiers of Gezer, the soldiers o f Gath, and the soldiers of Keilah; they have seized the country of the city of Rubute. The country of the king is fallen away to the Habiri [italics mine]. And now also a city of the country o f Jerusalem (its name is' Beth-shemesh), a city o f the king, has gone over to the men of Keilah. May the king hearken unto Ebed-Hepa, thy servant, and send mercenaries that the land of the king may remain unto the king. If there are no mercenaries, lost is the laiid of the king to the Habiri. This is the deed which Malkiel and S'huardatu have done. . . , May the king care for his land! This letter discloses the fact that the kingdom of Jeru salem, which appears to have included considerable terri tory, especially to the north, was suffering invasion by a people called the “ Habiri.” Several cities had fallen away, and Ebed-Hepa frantically begs for mercenaries, or sol diers, apart from whose coming the country will certainly be lost to the Habiri. Both Jerusalem and the Habiri are frequently mentioned. There are various theories as to who the Habiri were, the most likely of which is that they were the Hebrews, who, either under the leadership of Joshua or one or the other of the Judges, were conquering the land. This theory is believed by Dr. George A. Barton, Dr. M. G. Kyle, and others. The reader will detect in the word “ Habiri” when pronounced, a similarity to that of our English word “ Hebrews.” This similarity must not be pressed dogmatically, but nevertheless it is worth noting. O f course those who accept a late thirteenth-century date for the Exodus, making Rameses II the pharaoh of the oppression and Merneptah the pharaoh of the Exodus, not only have difficulty in identifying the Habiri with the Hebrews, but in identifying them at all. If the earlier date for the Exodus is accepted, making Thothmes III and Amenophis II of the eighteenth dy nasty, the pharaohs of the Oppression and the Exodus
The Coming Year What shall I wish thee for the coming year? From toil — surcease? A bliss unmingled? From all care and fear A sweet release? No path on earth is but with flowers strewn; No human heart, secure upon its throne, Holds perfect peace. What shall I wish thee fo r the coming days? Friends, loyal and true, Who ne’ er will fail thee in the devious ways . Thou travelest through? On these we may not count, for it may be, With tomorrow’s sun that sets on thee, These vanish too. What shall I wish thee for the coming days? Wealth? Honor? Fame? The tribute, dear to most, o f well-earned praise, A lauded name? Ah! these are fleeting treasures, and their worth Must perish with the perishable earth, From whence they came. What shall I wish thee for the coming year? A spirit strong, A faithful heart, a conscience light, and clear From sense o f wrong, A hope that soars beyond the bounds o f time, That finds its fruitage in a purer clime The ages long. —Frances Ridley Havergal. respectively, the Habiri may well have been the Hebrews who were conquering Canaan and were even threatening Jerusalem itself. Every student of the Old Testament is aware of the fact, however, that Jerusalem was not taken by the Hebrews until'the days of David, at which time it was in the handte of the! Jebusites,' from whom David took it about 1050 B. C. Thus the Tel El-Amarna letters mirror political'con ditions in Palestine exactly like those described in the Old Testament, and if the Habiri were the Hebrew people, they supplement the Biblical record of the conquest o f Canaan by them. T he R esults of . the T rial The Old Testament has been on trial, and witness after witness has appeared— odd-looking enough, indeed, they have been—and each has left his testimony. What is the result of the trial ? The reader may, himself, be the judge. It is only fair to say that the witnesses‘are not ex hausted. There are others too numerous to be heard who would certainly contribute their testimony to the trust worthiness and historical accuracy of the Old Testament. Let it be said in conclusion, however, that in all of the developments of the science of archeology to the present hour, there has not been discovered a single thing which contradicts the Word of God, but there have been-found many things which corroborate the Bible and testify to its historical trustworthiness.— Chapter 3 o f “ Voices from Rocks and Dust Heaps o f Bible Lands.’’
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