Amarna letter EA 364


Amarna letter EA 364, titled: Justified War, is a tall narrow clay tablet letter of correspondence. It measures about 4 in x 2.3 in and is in relatively pristine condition. Because of its narrowness, each line averages only c. 4–7 cuneiform characters in the Akkadian language.
Letter EA 364 is one of the Amarna letters, about 300, numbered up to EA 382, mid 14th century BC, about 1386 BC and 45? years later, correspondence. The initial corpus of letters were found at Akhenaten's city Akhetaten, in the floor of the Bureau of Correspondence of Pharaoh; others were later found, adding to the body of letters.
Letter EA 364 is from Ayyab to the Pharaoh, and is a response to the King referring to a letter from the Pharaoh's messenger Tahmassi; Ayyab, the governing-man -Aštartu, is in control of one of the city-states in Canaan, and is stating his continued support of guarding his city,, after 3 regional cities were taken in warfare-hostilities.
Glossenkeils used in letter 364:

Text

The following English language text, and Akkadian is from Rainey, 1970, El Amarna Tablets, 359-379:
Akkadian:

Letter EA 364, Moran translation

Moran's non-linear letter English language translation :
EA 364, Obverse:
EA 364, continued Bottom, Reverse:

Selected cuneiform signs in EA 364

Sign "tah"

Often personal names contain special cuneiform characters, and Tahmassi's name, spelled "Atahmaya"- is an example of such. Sign "tah" can be seen in line 13—IA-TaH-Ma-iYa. The "tah" sign has only one use, as tah, in the Epic of Gilgamesh,.
Because the name Tahmassi's comes from the Egyptian god Ptah, the origion of the spelling and pronunciation of "ptah" can be guessed. "Ptah-mine", Ptah mine, "Mine, My is Ptah", with -iya the suffix for 'my' still used in the languages of present day.

Variants of EN, for "Lord"

The "en" cuneiform sign, is used frequently in the Canaanite city-state letters to the Pharaoh for "Lord",, for Akkadian language bēlu. It is often part of the phrase "King-Lord-mine", LUGAL-EN-ia; a variant often in the letters contains an equivalent for LUGAL, "ŠÀR", for, "ŠÀR-RI, EN-ia". Also, singly "Lord-mine" is used in some letter texts, and often with alphabeltic spellings of "bēlu" instead of using "EN": in EA 364, –line and 4 state: "...at feet 'Lord-mine' ".
In letter EA 364, the common variety of many sub-varieties is used,. It shows distinctly in lines 364:1,4,7, and 11 the two verticals-right, with the angled wedges at their base. The lone vertical at center-left is equally tall, and strikingly visible, and without the angled wedge at the base. Some letters have an additional wedge at the base.

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