Hi, it's Aisha, I had a fall which put me out for a week or so but am all healed now.
While I was working on what information to share with you to compliment my Tutankhamun
Trilogy, I came across a book entitled 'English Translation The Amara Letters' published
by Scriptural Research Institute. For those of you who may not have read
the Trilogy yet you will not appreciate how excited I became at finding this little book.
These letters were found on a collection of clay tablets in the royal archives in El Amara which was the new capital of ancient Egypt, set up by Amenhotep the 1V also known as Akhenaten, Tutankhamun's father, when he banished the worship of Amun and declared
the worship of the Aten as the one god and himself as the only priest of Aten. That is when he changed his name and that of his children from ending in 'amun' to ending in 'aten'.
With one stroke Akhenaten thought he had got rid of the thousand's of priests of Amun.
To get away from the old gods, Akhenaten moved the capital from Memphis which was close to Karnak and the temples of the old gods, to El Amara, which was further up north,
in the desert, and named the new capital after himself, Akhenaten City.
The letters describe a side of ancient life not normally found in books written by Egyptologists, a seedier more marauding side. I plan to refer mainly to the letters that
give a flavour of what was going on in the territories held by Egypt at that time, some
3300 years ago. I will refer to the title of the letters as set out in the English translation mentioned above. How deeply I delve into this wonderful find depends on whether you
enjoy what I am relating to you, so please give feedback when you manage to fine me in the
myriad of people and information out there.
Its worth remembering Tut had to move to El Amara when his father moved the capital and he lived there past his regnal year and moved the capital back to Memphis once he was Pharaoh at about the age of 11.
The letters are between various members of the Egyptian royal court and the leaders of the many cities and nations across the Middle East as configured at that time. The letters were carved on clay tablets which would have been translated on papyrus, once received at Akhenaten's court. Unfortunately, none of the papyrus translations have survived.
These clay tablets were found in the 1880 and the first edition of the English Translation was published in January 2021. The letters were mainly about trade and diplomacy but also included information about what was happening in the various cities and nations, on the ground so to speak, around 3,300 years ago.
Taster - EA 2 is a letter from Amenhotep III, Tut's grandfather, to the king of Babylonia asking for one of his daughters- possibly to marry his son Akhenaten since Akhenaten's wife Nefertiti had only given him daughters.
King Kadashman-Enlil, the then king, replied saying you can have one of my daughters but
only if she will be marrying a king. This leads me to believe Amenhotep had already handed the throne to his son Akhenaten.
There are other letters going to and fro between Amenhotep and the Babylonian king who wanted in return gold and an Egyptian woman, Amenhotep had refused the king one of Amenhotep's daughters. In return for the woman King Kadashman-Enlil promised to send one of his daughters, who may or may not be a princes!!
Ladies I am sure in the higher echelons of life women are still bargaining chips but I sincerely hope they have a say these days but who knows?
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