Amarna letter: Royal Letter from Abi-milku of Tyre to the king of Egypt
New Kingdom, Amarna Period
This letter from Abi-milku, the ruler of the Levantine city of Tyre, to the Egyptian king was found in the late 1880s at the site of Amarna, the religious capital of Egypt under Akhenaten. It was likely originally stored in administrative offices that formed part of a palace complex in the central part of the city. It is written in cuneiform script on a clay tablet using a reed stylus. The language is Akkadian, the lingua franca of the time. One of ten missives from Abi-milku that have survived, this letter makes it clear that this vassal ruler expected protection from his Egyptian overlord in return for his loyalty.
For further discussion and translation, see the Curatorial Interpretation below.
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