Product Description

An ancient inscription identified some of the ruins at el Amarna as "The Place of the Letters of the Pharaoh." Discovered there, circa 1887, were nearly four hundred cuneiform tablets containing correspondence of the Egyptian court with rulers of neighboring states in the mid-fourteenth century B.C. Previous translations of these letters were both incomplete and reflected an imperfect understanding of the Babylonian dialects in which they were written. William Moran devoted a lifetime of study to the Amarna letters to prepare this authoritative English translation.

The letters provide a vivid record of high-level diplomatic exchanges that, by modern standards, are often less than diplomatic. An Assyrian ruler complains that the Egyptian king's latest gift of gold was not even sufficient to pay the cost of the messengers who brought it. The king of Babylon refuses to give his daughter in marriage to the pharaoh without first having proof that the king's sister -- already one of the pharaoh's many wives -- is still alive and well. The king of Karaduniyash complains that the Egyptian court has "detained" his messenger -- for the past six years. And Egyptian vassal Rib-Hadda, writing from the besieged port of Byblos, repeatedly demands military assistance for his city or, failing that, an Egyptian ship to permit his own escape.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #349995 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-31
• Original language: French
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Review

"The acknowledged master of these texts is William Moran, who produced a complete re-edition of the tablets, in French, in 1987. The Amarna Letters is a revised version of this, done into English. Open it, and hear these voices from a vanished empire speak after three and a half millennia." -- Times Literary Supplement

"Fascinating... The refined scholarship and mature pedagogy of a distinguished student of the ancient Near East." -- Libraries and Culture

""A superb treatment of the Amarna Letters." -- Zeitschrift für Assyriologie

About the Author

William L. Moran (1921-2000) was Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Humanities, Emeritus, in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University.

Customer Reviews

The Amarna Letters
William Moran has scored a triumph in his book The Amarna Letters. These "letters" were discovered at the end of the 19th century, on the site of Akhenaten's ancient city in a remote part of Egypt. They are simply clay tablets written in cuneiform, and represent correspondences to and from Egyptian Pharaohs and neighbouring rulers. The information in the letters helps in our understanding of the social and political history of Egypt, Syria and Palestine in the fourteenth century BC.

This book sets out the letters in order and gives a literal translation on each one. The reader can instantly see what was sent from Mittani to Egypt, or from Egypt to Qadesh etc. Moran includes notes from authors and academics which gives a broader understanding of the meanings of the letters.

It is of interest to anyone who wants to know more about life at the end of the 18th dynasty of Ancient Egypt, and to scholars who would like to dig more deeply into their understanding of the political situation.

A map of the Near East is included and I would recommend this book as essential reading for anyone interested in the Amarna period.
Amarna... the Missing Evidence