Amarna letters

E77856

ancient Near Eastern text corpus cuneiform tablets collection diplomatic correspondence

The Amarna letters are a cache of 14th-century BCE clay tablets containing diplomatic correspondence between the Egyptian administration and various Near Eastern rulers and vassal states, providing key insights into the politics, society, and international relations of the Late Bronze Age.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form	Occurrences
Egyptian royal chancery	1

Statements (62)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	ancient Near Eastern text corpus ⓘ cuneiform tablets collection ⓘ diplomatic correspondence ⓘ
approximateDateRange	circa 1350–1330 BCE ⓘ
associatedWithCity	Amarna ⓘ surface form: Akhetaten
associatedWithPharaoh	Akhenaten ⓘ Amenhotep III ⓘ
contains	marriage negotiation texts ⓘ reports from local governors ⓘ royal letters ⓘ vassal petitions ⓘ
correspondenceBetween	Hittite royal court ⓘ surface form: Egyptian royal court and Anatolian rulers Egyptian royal court and Cypriot rulers ⓘ Egyptian royal court and Levantine vassal rulers ⓘ Egyptian royal court and Mesopotamian rulers ⓘ Egyptian royal court and foreign great kings ⓘ
currentLocation	Staatliche Museen zu Berlin ⓘ surface form: Berlin State Museums British Museum ⓘ Egyptian Museum ⓘ surface form: Egyptian Museum Cairo Louvre Museum ⓘ other major museum collections ⓘ
dateOfDiscovery	1887 ⓘ
discoveredAtSite	Amarna ⓘ surface form: Tell el-Amarna
discoveredBy	local Egyptian villagers ⓘ
foundAt	Amarna ⓘ
foundInCountry	Egypt ⓘ
genre	administrative text ⓘ diplomatic letter ⓘ
historicalContext	Late Bronze Age ⓘ New Kingdom of Egypt ⓘ surface form: New Kingdom Egypt
includesCorrespondenceWith	Alashiya ⓘ Assyria ⓘ Babylon ⓘ Canaanite city-states ⓘ Hatti ⓘ Mitanni ⓘ
namedAfter	modern site name Amarna ⓘ
numberOfTabletsApproximate	about 380 ⓘ
preservationState	fragmentary but substantial ⓘ
primaryLanguage	Akkadian ⓘ
relatedTo	New Kingdom of Egypt ⓘ surface form: Amarna Period Egyptian empire in Syria-Palestine ⓘ
scriptDirection	left-to-right horizontal lines ⓘ
secondaryLanguageElements	Canaanites ⓘ surface form: Canaanite Ancient Egyptian ⓘ surface form: Egyptian Hurrian ⓘ
significance	evidence for diplomatic language and protocol ⓘ evidence for political geography of the Levant ⓘ evidence for social and economic conditions in vassal states ⓘ important for study of Akkadian and Canaanite linguistics ⓘ key source for Late Bronze Age international relations ⓘ
subject	administration of Egyptian empire in Levant ⓘ city-state politics ⓘ international diplomacy ⓘ marriage alliances ⓘ military affairs ⓘ royal gift exchange ⓘ vassalage relations ⓘ
timePeriod	14th century BCE ⓘ
usedBy	Amarna letters self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Egyptian royal chancery
writingMaterial	clay tablets ⓘ
writingSystem	Akkadian cuneiform ⓘ

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Megiddo → appearsIn → Amarna letters ⓘ

Shechem → appearsInText → Amarna letters ⓘ

Canaan → mentionedIn → Amarna letters ⓘ

Amarna letters → usedBy → Amarna letters self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Egyptian royal chancery