Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1891-02-11
LETTERS OLDER THAN SOLOMON.
MIss1yEs EXCHANGED 400 YEARS BEFORE
Hrs Fathers BIRTH Due UP.

The Smithsonian institution has received
Information Of the discovery at Tell el
Amaria, in upper Egypt, of number of
tablets relating to the history of Jerusalem,
and dating back 600 years earlier than any
records hitherto known. When it is un-
derstood that these tablets of stone are let.
ters passed between tie king Of Jerusalem
and the Pharaoh of Egypt 4OC years before
the birth of David, who was the father Of
Solomon, some notion will be formed of
their extreme interest. These letters were
written, 30 DR.. Cyrus Adler told Wash
ington reporter, about the year 1900 B. G..
aud cast great light upon the relations of
Egypt at that ancient epoch. This, of
course, was long before Jerusalem was cap
tured by the Jews.
of independent cities, each Of which. like
Jerusalem, was governed by ''prefect"-
this word meaning literally "king of q
city," Nevertheless, these towns paid 8
tribute to Pharaoh, and 1t was in relation
to this tribute that several of the letters
found were addressed to the ruler of Egypt
by the king of Jerusalem, Abdi Taba. In
them he tries to explain, with due respect,
that he occupies more Independent posi-
tion than the other projects, and ought to
be treated accordingly. For example, in
one missive he says:
sBehold, this city of Jerusalem neither
my father nor my mother has given unto
me, but the call of mighty king"
This refers to the ancient custom in
Palestine, by which rulers were sometimes
chosen In consequence of supposed divine
call and without any reference to hereditary
law. Having been summoned to his throne
by the Deity, Abdi Taba argued that he
should be treated more leniently with re-
gard to tribute. In another Of the letters
he says
s.Behold, neither my father nor my moth
er has appointed me in this place, but the
call of the mighty king has made me enter
into the house of my fathers"
That the ''mighty king" spoken of was
the. Deity is proven by the fact that to him
as authority is referred an oracle inscribed
upon another tablet, which says that "as
long as a ship sails upon the sea so long
will Mesopotamia and Babylonia conquer. F"
The chief aim of the three other letters
written by Abdi- Taba is to ask the Pharaoh
for military aid against foreign conquerors
invading Palestine, and especially the dis
trict of Jerusalem. These warlike straug
ers he calls people of Hsbiri-in other
words, they were Hebrews. 1t seems
hardly probable that the Hebrews as ma
ton should have invaded Palestine at so
early date, and so it is likely that these
were some advanced tribes of Israel which
settled down west of the Jordan and made
incursions from time to time. In one oi
the letters on this subject Abdi-raba says:
''The Habiri people are conquering the
cities of the king''-i. e., the cities tribu-
tary to the Pharaoh-''therefore the king
may turn his face to his subjects and send
troops. If the troops arrive this year the
countries of the king, my lord, may be saw
ed, but if no troops arrive the countries of
the king, my lord, will exist no longer"
This tremendous "f1nd" at Tell ell Amar.
ia includes 200 tablets, largely of Babylon
ian cuneiform script, which is thus discov-
cred for the firs5 time to have been IN use
at SO early period in Egypt and Palestine.
Many of the other tablets are dispatches of
about the same date from prefects of other
cities of Palestine to the Pharaoh. Some
of the inscriptions are in an unknown Ian
guage, which no one has 80 far been able
to translate. 1t is funny to think that Solo
mon himself would have looked upon these
tablets as remote antiquities. Washinoton
Star.