Biblical Society Research Articles

VII. The Arzawan Letters and other Hittite Notes

In the new volume of the Vorderasiatische Schriftdenkmäler der königlichen Museen zu Berlin (Heft xii, 1915) Dr. Otto Schroeder has published a revised copy (No. 202) of what is known as the Second Arzawa Tablet found at Tel el-Amarna and now in Berlin. As I was the first to point out many years ago (Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, xi, 1889), the text of the tablet, like that of the First Tablet addressed to the king of Arzawa, is in the Hittite language. The revised copy of the Second Tablet is a great improvement on what has been previously at our disposal, and with the help of the Hittite Vocabularies (for which see JRAS. October, 1914) and various other tablets from Boghaz Keui, it is now possible to present a translation of it. The tablet contains a letter from a Hittite named Labbaya who was employed in escorting the caravans from Khalirabbat or Eastern Cappadocia to Canaan, and who with his two sons was accused of intriguing with the enemies of the Pharaoh and even occupying Canaanitish cities. We hear a good deal about him in the Tel el-Amarna correspondence, which includes two letters from him in Semitic Babylonian, rebutting the accusations that had been brought against him and protesting his fidelity to the Egyptian Government.

Proceedings of the Society of Biblical ArchæologyProceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology. Volume XI., XIXth Session. Eighth Meeting, June 4th, 1889. Society of Biblical Archaeology

Previous articleNext article FreeBook NoticesProceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology. Volume XI., XIXth Session. Eighth Meeting, June 4th, 1889. Society of Biblical ArchaeologyRobert Francis HarperRobert Francis Harper Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 6, Number 1Oct., 1889 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/369075 Views: 107Total views on this site Journal History This article was published in Hebraica (1884-1895), which is continued by The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures (1895-1941). PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The International Numismata Orientalia

THIS goodly quarto of nearly 350 pages, illustrated by 279 woodcuts, forms the second volume of the International Numismata Crientalia, which has been for some time in course of publication under, we believe, the chief editorship of Mr. Edward Thomas. The work now before us may be regarded as being virtually a second edition of Mr. Madden's “History of Jewish Coinage and of Money in the Old and New Testaments,” which was published in 1864; but in many respects the book has I been so much enlarged, and we venture to think improved, that it may almost take rank as a new work. Any summary of the strictly numismatic details of such a publication would be out of place in the pages of NATURE, but the public interest in all modern researches in the Holy Land, such as those carried on under the Palestine Exploration Fund, and the success that has attended the foundation of the Society of Biblical Archæology, prove the strong hold which, in this, and indeed in all Christian countries, the cradle of our religion retains. The International Numismata Orientalia. Vol. ii. Coins of the Jews. By Frederic W. Madden. (London: Trübner and Co., 1881.)

Genesis in Borneo

MR. CAMERON'S paper read at the Society of Biblical Archæology, testifies to the early diffusion of Semitic traditions by the agency, it may be inferred, of Moslem converts.