The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1891-04-09
OLDER THAN SOLOMON.
Ancient Tablets Hxhuned IN ~
Land OK Egypt
1Rlssivcs That Were Passed Betwcen ~
K1nes of Jerusalem and Egypt Fosf
Centuries Before the Birch
Of David.

The Smithsonian institution has tus(
received information Of the recent dis
covery at Tel-el-Amaria, In Upper
Egypt, Of q number of tablets relating
TO the history Of Jerusalem and dating
back six hundred years earlier than any
tecords hitherto known. When II u
understood that these tablets OF stona
are letters passed between the King Of
Jerusalem and the Pharaoh of Egypt
four hundred years before the birth o&
David, who was the father Of Solomon,
some notion will be formed of their e.
treme interest. These letters wore
written, 30 DR.. Cyrus Adler told q writ.
er for the Washington Star, about the
year 1900 d. G., and cast great light
upon the relations Of Egypt at that
ancient epoch. This Of course was long
before Jerusalem was captured by the
Jews.
At that time Palestine was federar
ton OF independent cities, each ol
which, like Jerusalem, was governed by
'prefect"-this word meaning literal
" 'king of city," Nevertheless, thesa
towns paid tribute to the Pharoah,
and it was in relation to this tribute
that several Of tho letters found wera
addressed to the ruler of Egypt by the
king of Jerusalem, AbdiJTaba. In
them he tries to explain, with duo re-
spect, that he occupies more indie
pendent position than the other pre-
fects and ought to be treated according
ly. For example, In one missive he
says:
Behold, this city Of Jerusalem neith-
er 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 some
times chosen IL consequence of a sup
posed divine call and without any ref
erence to hereditary law. Having been
summoned to his throne by the Deity,
Abdi-Taba argued that he should be
treated more leniently with regard 70
tribute. In another of the letters ha
says:
'Behold, neither my father nor my
mother has appointed me to this place,
but the mighty King has made mo
enter into the house of my fathers"
That the mighty King" spoken OF
was the Deity is proved by the fact that
to Him as authority is referred an oracle
inscribed upon another tablet, which
says that: ''As long as o ship sails
upon the sea, so long will Mesopotamia
and Babylonia conquer"
The chief aim Of the three other let
ters written by Abdi-Taba is to ask tho
Pharaoh for military aid against the
foreign conquerors invading Palestine,
and especially the district Of Jerusalem.
These warlilke strangers he calls people
of Habri-in other words, they were
Hebrews It seems hardly probable
that the Hebrews as nation 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 of his letters on this subject Abdi-
Taba says:
''The Habri people are conquering
the cities of the King'ei. O., the cities
tributary to the Pharaoh therefore
the King may turn His face to His sub
jects and send troops. II the troops ar
rive this year the countries Of the
King, my Lord, may be saved, but II
no troops arrive the countries Of thA
King, my Lord, will exist no longsNs
This tremendous ''fndn at Tslsl.
Amaria includes two hundred Tablets
largely Of Babyionian cuneiform sonp%
which is thus discovered for The Arse
time to have been in use at so early .
period in Egypt and Palestine. Many
OF the other tablets are dispatches q
about the same date from pre6scts q
other cities Of Palestine to the Pharaoh
Some Of the inscriptions are Ia an nm
known language which no one has -
far been able to translate. It i funny
70 think that Solomon himself wou0
have looked upon these tablets - -