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Tell El Amarna And The Bible

Charles F. Pfeiffer

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TELL EL AMARNA AND THE BIBLE

TELL EL AMARNA AND THE BIBLE

by Charles F. Pfeiffer BAKER BOOK HOUSE Grand Rapids, Michigan Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 62-20014 Copyright, 1963, by Baker Book House Company ISBN: 0-8010-7002-3 Fourth printing, April 1980 PHOTOLITHOPRINTED BY CUSHING-MALLOY, INC. ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1980...

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PREFACE

PREFACE

The Amarna Age—the fifteenth and fourteenth centuries before Christ—provides the archaeologist rich resources for the study of ancient cultures. The epic and mythological literature from Ras Shamra, ancient Ugarit on the Phoenician coast, dates from this period, as do the Nuzi tablets written by Hurrian scribes in Mitanni. The Ugaritic texts give us an insight into the language and religious thought of ancient Canaan, and the archives from Nuzi offer a wealth of information concerning the social

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The Beginnings

The Beginnings

Egyptian archaeology gained impetus in modern times following Napoleon’s ill-fated Egyptian campaign. The savants who accompanied the army of Napoleon studied Egyptian antiquities and discovered the trilingual inscription known as the Rosetta Stone which provided scholars with the key to the decipherment of hieroglyphic writing. That, in turn, enabled modern students to get a firsthand view of life in ancient Egypt, instead of depending on references to Egypt in classical literature for basic in

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The Amarna Tablets

The Amarna Tablets

It was late in 1887, however, before Amarna yielded its most spectacular treasures, and even then it took some time before their value was recognized. When mud brick walls decompose, they form a nitrous soil which the Egyptians have learned to use as fertilizer. A peasant woman, digging for this fertilizer among the Amarna ruins, came upon a quantity of small baked clay tablets bearing cuneiform inscriptions. Some of the tablets were as small as two and one-eighth by one and eleven-sixteenths in

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Excavations at Amarna

Excavations at Amarna

With the recognition of the nature and value of the Amarna texts, attention naturally turned to the place where they were discovered. In 1891 W. Flinders Petrie, who had already spent a decade in Egypt, began excavating the Amarna ruins. He cleared many of the official buildings in the center of the city, and several houses farther south. Near the village of El Till he discovered the painted pavements of Akhenaton’s palace, and remains of the ornamental decorations of the palace itself. To the e

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The New Kingdom

The New Kingdom

The Hyksos invasion left one lesson: Never again could Egypt adopt a policy of isolation. The best defense is offense. As Asiatic Hyksos rulers had marched upon Egypt, so Egypt would march her armies into Asia. Thutmose I (1525-1494 B.C.) campaigned successfully in Asia, and under Thutmose III (1490-1435 B.C.) western Asia was brought under the control of Egyptian arms. During his seventeen campaigns in Palestine and Syria, Thutmose III took Megiddo in the Valley of Esdraelon and Carchemish on t

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Young Amenhotep IV

Young Amenhotep IV

When Amenhotep III died he was succeeded by his eleven year old son Amenhotep IV (1370-1353 B.C.), and the queen mother Tiy continued to act as regent. In addition to the influence of his mother, young Amenhotep IV was educated by the priest, Eye, who was the husband of his childhood nurse. No doubt Amenhotep was early married to the fair Nofretete who may have been his sister. Brother-sister marriages were common in ancient Egypt, but we cannot be certain concerning the parentage of Nofretete.

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The Break with Amon

The Break with Amon

Amenhotep IV, however, was unable to stop with half-way measures. In his devotion to Aton he felt that his god alone was worthy of worship. The Theban temple area was renamed, “The Brightness of the Great Aton,” and the city itself became, “The City of the Brightness of Aton.” In an obvious break with the past, Amenhotep IV determined to change his own name, which meant “Amon is satisfied” to Akhenaton, meaning, “he who is serviceable to Aton.” From this time on, Akhenaton’s zeal knew no bounds.

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The New Capital

The New Capital

Akhenaton did abandon Thebes. As tensions grew he came to realize that his new faith could not flourish in the city of Amon. There were theological reasons, too, for Aton had no city that was distinctly dedicated to his worship. Akhenaton decided to build a new capital, dedicated to the god Aton, with the name Akhetaton, “the horizon of Aton.” The move to Akhetaton, modern Amarna, three hundred miles north of Thebes, must have been welcome both to Akhenaton’s court and the Theban priesthood. The

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The End of an Era

The End of an Era

The closing years of the lives of Nofretete and Akhenaton are largely a blank. Their third daughter Meritaton married Smenkhkare, a young architect who was much favored by Akhenaton and occupied the throne for a short time after his death. Another daughter Ankhsenpaton, married Tutankhaton, a loyal follower of her father. His brief reign left no impress on Egyptian history. The discovery of his tomb, however, in the Valley of the Kings, has made him the best known of all Pharaohs. A Princess at

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The Boundaries of Akhetaton

The Boundaries of Akhetaton

Akhenaton and his wife Nofretete personally chose the site of Akhetaton and supervised the erection of the stelae which marked its boundaries. In all, fourteen of these markers have been found on the hillsides east and west of the Nile. They contain a longer and a shorter version of the ceremony by which the site was consecrated. The shorter version tells how, on the eighth month of the sixth year of Akhenaton’s reign, he mounted his golden chariot and journeyed northward from the richly ornamen

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The Move to the New Capital

The Move to the New Capital

It probably took at least two years to build Akhetaton. It was during the sixth year of Akhenaton’s reign that he ordered all Egyptians and subject peoples—Nubians and Asiatics—to serve Aton alone. Statues of the old gods were ordered destroyed; their reliefs were to be erased, and their names blotted out. Two years later—Akhenaton’s eighth—the transfer of the capital from Thebes to Akhetaton was complete. There are evidences of great haste in the construction of the buildings. Often naturalisti

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The Plan of the City

The Plan of the City

Paralleling the Nile, the city had three north-south streets which crossed the more numerous east-west streets at right angles. The principal north-south street, the King’s Way, served the city’s more important buildings. At its southern end was the pleasure palace, Meru Aton, with its artificial pools, flower beds, and groves of trees. Meru Aton is thought to have served as a summer palace. It had a reception hall, a small chamber, guard houses, and various other buildings. The inner rooms were

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The Rock Tombs

The Rock Tombs

The third north-south street was the East Road, located nearest to the desert and the rock tombs. As the earlier Pharaohs in Thebes prepared tombs for themselves in the nearby Valley of the Kings, so Akhenaton and his courtiers cut rock tombs into the hillside east of Akhetaton. There are twenty-five of these tombs with decorated walls honoring Aton and his son, Akhenaton. Davies in his Rock Tombs of El Amarna says, The scenes in the tombs of El-’Amarna, though abundant and detailed, yield us ve

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Ancient Egyptian Religion

Ancient Egyptian Religion

The Egyptian religion of historical times represents a fusion of previously independent local gods. Each town was devoted to a particular deity, many of whom were represented in the form of animals. The cat goddess Bast was honored at Bubastis; the cobra-headed Edjo, at Buto; the ibis Thoth, at Hermopolis Magna; and the jackal god Wepwawet, at Lycopolis. Animal deities were frequently given the bodies and limbs of humans. The sun and the Nile River were the two important factors in the life of a

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Aton Worship

Aton Worship

The worship of Aton appears as early as the reign of Thutmose IV ( ca. 1414-1406 B.C.), who issued a commemorative scarab stating that the Pharaoh fought “with the Aton before him,” and that he campaigned abroad, “to make the foreigners to be like the (Egyptian) people, in order to serve the Aton forever.” [8] Aton occupied an important place in the Egyptian pantheon during the reign of Akhenaton’s father, Amenhotep III. A stele of the king’s architects, Hori and Suti, describes the sun god as t

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The Triumph of Aton

The Triumph of Aton

Aton became the only object of worship tolerated by the Pharaoh, and his domain was extended beyond the boundaries of Egypt. Not only was the Egyptian capital moved to a city dedicated to Aton, but other cities were dedicated to him in Nubia and in Asia. The Hymn to the Aton expresses the same type of universalism, envisioning Aton (the sun) as the god who blesses all people everywhere. While the Nile might have served as a god to unite all Egyptians, the sun was a deity who might unite all men

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Moses and Aton

Moses and Aton

Since Akhenaton’s worship of Aton as “sole god” is earlier than the date commonly ascribed to Moses ( ca. 1280 B.C.), historians have puzzled over possible relationships between the monotheism of Akhenaton and the Biblical concept of one God. Sigmund Freud in his Moses and Monotheism sought to trace the Hebrew-Christian faith to the Amarna revolt of Akhenaton. The principal reason for associating Moses with Atonism is the fact of his birth and education in Egypt. The Scriptures assert, however,

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The Death of Aton

The Death of Aton

Within a generation after the death of Akhenaton, Atonism was dead, and its leading exponent was contemptuously called, “that criminal of Akhetaton.” The religion never had a popular base, and that disintegration of the empire might effectively be charged to the displeasure of Amon at his neglect. The government was moved back to Thebes, and Akhenaton’s son-in-law, Tutankhaton (“the living image of Aton”), became Tutankhamon (“the living image of Amon”). The cycle was now complete. Thebes and Am

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The Splendor and Power of Aton

The Splendor and Power of Aton

Thou dawnest beautifully on the horizon of heaven, Oh living Aton, the beginner of life. When thou risest on the eastern horizon Thou fillest every land with thy beauty. Thou art beautiful, great, glittering, and high over every land. Thy rays encompass the lands to the limit of all that thou hast made. Thou art Re, and thou reachest to their end. [12] Thou subjectest them to thy beloved son. [13] Though thou art far away, thy rays are on the earth; Though thou art before men, no one sees thy mo

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Nighttime

Nighttime

When thou settest in the western horizon The earth is in darkness, like death. [14] The night is passed in a bed-chamber with heads covered. One eye sees not the other. All their belongings which are under their heads might be stolen, And they would not know it. Every lion comes forth from his den, [15] and all snakes bite. Darkness broods, the earth is still, While he who made them rests in his horizon....

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Daytime

Daytime

At daybreak, when thou arisest on the horizon, Shining as Aton by day, Thou drivest away the darkness, and givest thy rays. The Two Lands [16] are in festivity every day. Men awaken and stand on their feet, For thou hast lifted them up. When they wash their bodies they put on their clothing, And their arms are raised in praise at thy glorious appearing. The entire land does its work. [17] All cattle are content in their pastures; The trees and plants flourish; The birds fly from their nests, The

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The Creation: Man

The Creation: Man

Who causest semen to grow in women, Who makest water into mankind; Who bringest to life the son in the womb of his mother; Soothing him that he may not weep. Thou nurse, even in the womb; Who givest breath to sustain all that thou hast made. And he comes forth from the womb on the day of his birth. Thou openest his mouth completely; Thou suppliest his necessities....

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The Creation: Animal Life

The Creation: Animal Life

The chick in the egg chirps in the shell. Thou givest him breath within it to make him live. When thou hast made his time in the egg, to break it, He comes forth from the egg to speak of his completion. He walks upon his legs when he comes forth from it....

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Aton’s Glory in Creation

Aton’s Glory in Creation

How manifold are thy works, They are hidden from the face of man, O sole god, like whom there is no other. Thou didst create the world according to thy desire. Whilst thou wast alone. [21] Even all men, herds and flocks; Whatever is on earth; creatures that walk upon their feet, And that soar aloft, flying with their wings. The countries of Syria and Cush, the land of Egypt; Thou settest every man in his place; Thou suppliest their necessities. Everyone has his food and his days are reckoned. [2

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Aton Waters the Earth

Aton Waters the Earth

Thou makest a Nile in the netherworld; Thou bringest it forth at thy pleasure, To give life to the people of Egypt. [23] For thou madest them for thyself, Thou lord of all who travailest with them; Thou lord of every land who shinest for them; The Aton of the day, great in majesty. All distant lands; thou givest them life also, For thou hast set a Nile in the sky. [24] That it may descend for them and make waves upon the mountains, [25] Like the great green sea, To water their fields in their vi

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Aton: Lord of the Seasons

Aton: Lord of the Seasons

How efficacious are thy plans, O lord of eternity. There is a Nile in the sky for the foreign peoples, But the (true) Nile comes from the nether-world for the land of Egypt. And for the animals of every country, that walk upon their feet; Thy rays nourish every garden; When thou shinest forth they live and they grow for thee. Thou makest the seasons in order to prosper all thou hast made: The winter to cool them, and the summer heat that they may taste thee. Thou hast made the distant sky to shi

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Aton’s Providence

Aton’s Providence

The earth came into being by thy hand, even as thou hast made them. When thou dost shine, they live, When thou settest, they die. Thou, thyself, art length of life; For men live only by thee. Eyes are fixed on beauty until thou settest; All work is laid aside when thou settest in the west, But when thou risest again, everything is made to flourish for the king.... Every leg is in motion, since thou didst establish the earth. Thou raisest them up for thy son, who came forth from thy body. The Kin

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The Kings of Mitanni

The Kings of Mitanni

In upper Mesopotamia, Egypt had an ally in Mitanni, a kingdom comprised largely of Hurrians (Biblical Horites), with an Indo-Aryan ruling class. The Mitannian kingdom was established about 1500 B.C. and at the height of its power reached from Nuzi and Arrapkha in Assyria to Alalakh in Syria. Its capital, Wassukkanni, was on the upper Habur River. A major threat both to Mitanni and, ultimately, to Egypt, came from the rising Hittite Empire with its capital at Hatusa (modern Bogazkoy) on the great

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Emerging Assyria

Emerging Assyria

The Mitannian Empire was at an end. Mattiwaza gained Hittite support and took the throne of Mitanni with the aid of Suppiluliumas’ army. He remained a vassal of the Hittites, however, and his marriage to a daughter of Suppiluliumas further strengthened Hittite power in Mitanni. At the same time Ashuruballit of Assyria took advantage of the situation to seize the portion of Mitanni nearest to him. Assyria had been controlled alternately by Mitanni from the west and by Babylon from the south, but

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The Hittite Challenge

The Hittite Challenge

The Egyptians, however, did not give serious attention to their Asian Empire until the reigns of Seti I (1318-1299 B.C.) and Rameses II (1299-1232 B.C.). During the half century following the fall of Mitanni the Hittites met no serious opposition in their desire to control the whole of northern Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean coastal region of Syria. Not only was a daughter of Suppiluliumas married to the ruler of the vassal kingdom of Mitanni, but a son, Telepinus, was installed as ruler of A

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Rib-Addi of Byblos

Rib-Addi of Byblos

Rib-Addi of Byblos was threatened by Abdi-Ashirta and his son Aziru, Amorite rulers who followed the Hittite “party line” in seeking to remove northern Syria from the Egyptian sphere of influence. Gebal, or Gubla, was the ancient name of Byblos, a city which carried on commerce with Egypt as early as 3000 B.C. Excavations have produced a cylinder from the Thinite period of Egyptian history when the earliest Pharaohs occupied the throne. Vases discovered at Byblos bear the names of ancient Pharao

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Lab‘ayu of Shechem

Lab‘ayu of Shechem

The troublemaker in the region around Shechem was a man named Lab‘ayu who, in league with the ‘Apiru people, sought to control the central hill country of Canaan. Like Aziru, farther north, Lab‘ayu sent letters to Egypt affirming his loyalty: Behold, I am a faithful servant of the king, and I have not committed a crime, and I have not sinned, and I do not refuse my tribute, and I do not refuse the demand of my deputy. Behold, I have been slandered and evil entreated but the king, my lord, has no

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Abdi-Khepa of Jerusalem

Abdi-Khepa of Jerusalem

At least seven letters were addressed to the Pharaoh by Abdi-Khepa of Jerusalem, asking help in resisting the encroachments of a people known as ‘Apiru. He notes: As sure as there is a ship in the midst of the sea, the mighty arm of the king conquers. Nahrim and Kapasi, but now the ‘Apiru are taking the cities of the king. There is not a single governor remaining to the king, my lord. All have perished. [42] Abdi-Khepa tends to classify all his enemies as ‘Apiru, a word which in such contexts is

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Amarna Age Palestine

Amarna Age Palestine

The petty kings in Canaan were permitted their own armed forces comprising chariots, owned by the aristocracy, and footmen drawn from the peasant classes. Egypt did not interfere in local rivalries as long as her revenues continued to come and her commissioners were able to carry on the royal projects. When a local ruler had a grievance against his fellows, he could plead his case showing that the interests of Egypt would be best served by enabling him to defeat his rivals. This usually meant a

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The ‘Apiru

The ‘Apiru

The identity of the ‘Apiru (also written in cuneiform SA GAZ) has puzzled scholars since the discovery of the Amarna tablets. Some categorically affirmed that the ‘Apiru are identical with the Biblical Hebrews, or Israelites, and that the Amarna tablets reflect the Canaanite version of events described in the Biblical book of Joshua. [47] Most scholars now agree that the ‘Apiru cannot be identified with the Biblical Hebrews, although many suggest that the peoples are related. A strong argument a

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Minoan Crete

Minoan Crete

The great sea power of the eastern Mediterranean prior to the Amarna Age was Minoan Crete. The Cretans traded with Egypt from the earliest history of the two peoples. In addition to the direct route across the Mediterranean, the Minoans made use of an indirect trade route along the southwestern and southern shores of Asia Minor, and then southward by way of Cyprus to Egypt. The Egyptian word Keftiu (Hebrew Caphtorim , Gen. 10:14; Deut. 2:23; Amos 9:7) may be used of the peoples of southern Asia

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The Phoenicians

The Phoenicians

It was not the Mycenaeans, however, but the Phoenicians who succeeded the Minoans as the seafarers and the traders of the eastern Mediterranean. A tomb painting from Thebes shows Phoenician merchant ships tied up at docks along the Nile with their crews selling merchandise in the Egyptian bazaar. Amarna letters speak of Tyrian sailors and the wealth of their home port. Ships of Arvad also carry merchandise to Egypt. Phoenician control of the eastern Mediterranean was not challenged until Rome fo

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Sunken Relief

Sunken Relief

One change in the Amarna Age art was purely mechanical. Sunken relief replaces the traditional raised relief in the ornamentation of the rock tombs. Davies comments on the technique: The rock in which they are hewn is far from having the uniform good quality which would invite bas-reliefs of the usual kind. Nor was Akhenaton willing, it appears, to employ the flat painting on plastered walls which was so much in vogue, and which the artists of Akhetaton also employed at times with good effect. T

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Realism

Realism

Akhenaton’s chief contribution to art, however, was anything but mechanical. Under his prodding, the artists at Akhetaton developed a realism—and even a distortion—which contrasts with the conservative, stylizing tendencies of earlier Egyptian art. The chief sculptor Bek describes himself on a stele as one “whom his majesty himself taught.” Arthur Weigall suggests that the innovations which Akhenaton brought into the art of his day were, in fact, a self-conscious return to earlier art forms. You

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Caricature

Caricature

Not only informality, but actual caricature tended to mark the art of Akhetaton. The natural deformities of the king were more than faithfully reproduced—they were exaggerated. The elongated skull, long thin neck, pointed chin, obtruding stomach, and abnormally large hips and thighs of the king may have been emphasized by artists who felt that any characteristic of a son of Aton deserves special attention. The way in which people reacted to the king’s wishes may be seen in a child’s toy depicted

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Transitional Art Forms

Transitional Art Forms

The transition from the pre-Amarna art forms to those encouraged by Akhenaton may be observed in the tomb of the vizier Ramose in the Theban necropolis. Ramose first had a portrait of young Akhenaton carved in his tomb in the conventional style, but later he added a second portrait in the new style. The latter depicts Akhenaton standing with Nofretete beneath the rays of the sun, bestowing golden necklets upon their faithful vizier. Officials of the royal harem and a number of servants look on.

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The Development of Amarna Art

The Development of Amarna Art

The most violent break with the older convention came in the early years of Akhenaton’s reign. Before the move to Akhetaton, the Theban hillside was dotted with tombs decorated with the newer art forms and bearing inscriptions praising the Pharaoh. With the move to Amarna, the art conventions matured. Artists developed their own distinctive tastes and at times modified the prevailing tendencies. The painted stucco pavement which Petrie discovered in 1891 expresses the love of nature which the At

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Smenkhkare

Smenkhkare

There is some evidence to suggest that Nofretete lost favor with her husband and moved to a new palace in the northern sector of Akhetaton. The king gave high honor to his eldest daughter Meritaton, whose husband, Smenkhkare became his successor on the throne of Egypt. We have no records indicating events in the earliest years of Smenkhkare’s reign but in the third year he is known to have gone to Thebes. The reason for the visit can only be conjectured, but it may have been a gesture to appease

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Tutankhaton-Tutankhamon

Tutankhaton-Tutankhamon

Smenkhkare’s successor, Tutankhaton, was married to Ankhesenpaton, the third daughter of Akhenaton and Nofretete. Under Tutankhaton the capital was moved back to Thebes, and the Amarna revolt was at an end. His name, meaning “the living image of Aton,” was changed to Tutankhamon, “the living image of Amon,” and Amon was restored to his place as chief deity of Egypt. Ankhesenpaton’s name was changed to Ankhesenpamon for the same reason. Although Tuntankhamon was one of Egypt’s lesser kings, the d

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Eye and Horemhab

Eye and Horemhab

The rule of Egypt fell to the aged vizier Eye, who had been a counselor and friend of Akhenaton. After four years Eye was succeeded by Horemhab ( ca. 1340-1310 B.C.), an energetic ruler who sought to restore Egypt’s fortunes abroad and erase the memory of the Amarna revolt at home. As a young general, Horemhab had espoused the cause of Akhenaton, but as a Pharaoh he sought to obliterate the records of the Amarna kings with as great enthusiasm as Akhenaton had sought to eliminate the name of Amon

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Written Records

Written Records

The Hebrew Scriptures give evidence that Israel made use of written records before the composition of the canonical Bible. References to the Book of the Wars of the Lord , and the Book of Jasher , appear in the Pentateuch and Joshua (Num. 21:14; Josh. 10:13). While the events which they commemorate may have first been passed on by word of mouth, the word “book” ( sepher , inscription, written document) implies that they also were recorded in written documents. By the time of the Judges, a lad wh

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Canaanite Glosses

Canaanite Glosses

Of particular interest to language students is the fact that the Amarna Letters frequently contain Canaanite words or expressions which are inserted to clarify the meaning of the Akkadian text, which was a foreign language to the scribe. These glosses are our earliest examples of the language which became Biblical Hebrew. While the language of Laban, and that branch of Abraham’s family which settled in northern Mesopotamia, was Aramaic (cf. Gen. 31:47 where Laban uses an Aramaic name), the Patri

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Amarna Age Palestine

Amarna Age Palestine

Although the Amarna texts do not name any personage met on the pages of Scripture, they are of value in helping us to visualize life in the Palestinian city states during the middle of the second millenium B.C. Biblical cities mentioned in the correspondence include: Akko, Ashkelon, Arvad, Aroer, Ashtaroth, Gebal (Byblos), Gezer, Gath, Gaza, Jerusalem, Joppa, Keilah, Lachish, Megiddo, Sidon, Tyre, Sharon, Shechem, Taanach, and Zorah. Beth-ninurta is thought to be identical with Biblical Beth-she

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Affairs of Government

Affairs of Government

The presence of a friend at the court was appreciated and cultivated by the rulers of the city states. Several of the Amarna tablets are addressed to an Egyptian official named Yanhamu who bore the title “the king’s fanbearer.” He was evidently a man of considerable power, for the king entrusted him with the issuing of supplies from a place known as Yarimuta. For this reason the local princes in Syria and Canaan frequently wrote to him. After outlining his needs, Rib-Addi indulged in a little ap

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Archaeology

Archaeology

Budge, E. A. W., By Nile and Tigris , I (London: 1920), pp. 133-144 Pendelbury, J. D. S., Tell el-Amarna (London; 1935) Peet, Thomas Eric; Woolley Leonard; Frankfort, Henri; Pendelbury, J. D. S., et al. The City of Akhenaten (Parts I-III), 4 volumes (London; 1923-51)...

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History

History

Aldred, C., “The End of the El ’Amarna Period,” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology XLIII (1957), pp. 30-41 Baikie, James, The Amarna Age (New York: 1926) Bratton, Fred Gladstone, The First Heretic: The Life and Times of Ikhnaton the King (Boston: 1961) Gardiner, A. H., “The So-called Tomb of Queen Tiye,” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology , XLIII (1957), pp. 10-25 Meyer, Eduard, Geschichte des Altertums , II (Stuttgart: 1955), pp. 303-426 Seele, K. C., “King Ay and the Close of the Amarna Age,” Journa

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Art and Tomb Inscriptions

Art and Tomb Inscriptions

Davies, N. deGaris, The Rock Tombs of El Amarna (Archaeological Survey of Egypt), 6 volumes (London: 1903-08) Frankfort, Henri, ed. The Mural Paintings of El ’Amarneh (London: 1929) Sandman, M. Texts from the Time of Akhenaton (Brussels: 1938)...

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Religion

Religion

Anthes, H., “Die Maat des Echnaton von Amarna,” Journal of the American Oriental Society , Supplement 14 (1952)...

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The Amarna Tablets

The Amarna Tablets

Betzold, C., and Budge, E. A. W., The Tell El Amarna Tablets in the British Museum (London: 1892) Winckler, H. and Abel, L., Der Thontafelfund von El Amarna (Berlin: 1889-90) Albright, W. F., and Mendenhall, George, “Akkadian Letters,” in Pritchard, J. B., ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts (2nd edition) (Princeton: 1955), pp. 482-490 Gordon, C. H., “The New Amarna Tablets,” Orientalia XVI (1947), pp. 1-21 Knudtzon, J. A., Die El-Amarna Tafeln (with commentary by O. Webber and glossary by E. Ebelin

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Baker Studies in Biblical Archaeology

Baker Studies in Biblical Archaeology

This new series of monographs describes the findings of archaeology in a form which is intelligible to the nonspecialist as well as to the scholar. It enables the general reader as well as the more serious student of Scripture to read and study the Bible in the illuminating light of archaeological discoveries. Archaeology of the Jordan Valley by Elmer B. Smick Summarizes in popular form the progress made by the modern archaeological movement in the Jordan Valley. Numerous sketches, photographs,

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