Biridašwa


Biridašwa was a mayor of Aštartu,, south of Damascus,, during the time of the Amarna letters correspondence, about 1350–1335 BC. A second mayor of Aštartu, Ayyab, existed in this short 15–20 year time period.

History

Though Biridašwa did not communicate with the Egyptian pharaoh directly in any of the Amarna letters, he, along with the mayors of Busruna and Halunnu were involved with the intrigues of city/city-state takeovers, in the region of Damascus. The region around Dimašqu was named Upu, or Apu, a name going back to at least pharaoh Thutmose III's time,.

Biridašwa of EA letters 196, and EA 197

the king of Dimašqu wrote 4 letters addressed to pharaoh, and letters 3 and 4 are about Biridašwa.

Letter no. 197: title: ''"Biryawaza's plight"''

Biryawaza letter no. 4 of 4:
Letter EA 197-, is the only reference to the locality/capture of: Šaddu. Also the only reference to city Yanuamma.

Letter no. 196: title: ''"Unheard-of deeds"''

Biryawaza's letter 196, is a heavily reconstructed letter with "6 lines of 43", a lacuna. The ending is mostly complete and has the referencing to Biridašwa.
Biryawaza letter no. 3 of 4: