Rubutu
Encyclopedia
Rubutu was a city, or city-state
located in ancient northern Israel
, between the city of Gazru-(modern Gezer
), and Jerusalem during the time of the Amarna letters
correspondence
, a 15-20 year period at about 1350-1335 BC. Some scholars place Rubutu near present-day Arrabah
in the northern West Bank
.
The Amarna letters were mostly written to the pharaoh
of Ancient Egypt
, and three mayors of Gazru: Abi-Milku
, Milkilu
, and Yapahu
authored 20 letters of the 382–letter, Amarna letters corpus
. The reference to Rubutu is found in 2 letters of Abdi-Heba
of Jerusalem, EA 289, and 290, (EA for 'el Amarna
'). They mention the war of various cities, the Habiru
, and of: "the seizure of Rubutu".
.
The city "Bit-d
NIN.URTA" is linked to cuneiform
as: city: "Home of God–Ninurta
", (Bit
-d
NIN.URTA
).
Ta'anach Letter: by Guli-Adad, mentioning City-state
-city: Rubutu
City-state
A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
located in ancient northern Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, between the city of Gazru-(modern Gezer
Gezer
Gezer was a Canaanite city-state and biblical town in ancient Israel. Tel Gezer , an archaeological site midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, is now an Israeli national park....
), and Jerusalem during the time of the Amarna letters
Amarna letters
The Amarna letters are an archive of correspondence on clay tablets, mostly diplomatic, between the Egyptian administration and its representatives in Canaan and Amurru during the New Kingdom...
correspondence
Text corpus
In linguistics, a corpus or text corpus is a large and structured set of texts...
, a 15-20 year period at about 1350-1335 BC. Some scholars place Rubutu near present-day Arrabah
Arrabah
Arraba, , a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank located 13 kilometers southwest of Jenin. The village is 350 meters above sea level and lies near Sahl Arrabah, a plain that lies between Mount Carmel and Nablus...
in the northern West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
.
The Amarna letters were mostly written to the pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
of Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, and three mayors of Gazru: Abi-Milku
Abi-Milku
Abi-Milku was the only mayor/ruler of Tyre, Lebanon , during the period of the Amarna letters correspondence .He is the author of ten letters , EA 146-155 ....
, Milkilu
Milkilu
Milkilu, and more properly Milk-ilu, or Milku-ilu, with an alternate version of Ili-Milku-, was the mayor/ruler of Gazru- of the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence...
, and Yapahu
Yapahu
Yapahu was a mayor/ruler of the city/city-state of Gazru of the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. Two other mayors of Gazru during the Amarna letters period, were Adda-danu and Milkilu....
authored 20 letters of the 382–letter, Amarna letters corpus
Text corpus
In linguistics, a corpus or text corpus is a large and structured set of texts...
. The reference to Rubutu is found in 2 letters of Abdi-Heba
Abdi-Heba
Abdi-Heba was a local chieftain of Jerusalem during the Amarna period . Abdi-Heba's name can be translated as "servant of Hebat", a Hurrian goddess. Some scholars believe the correct reading is Ebed-Nob...
of Jerusalem, EA 289, and 290, (EA for 'el Amarna
Amarna
Amarna is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city newly–established and built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty , and abandoned shortly afterwards...
'). They mention the war of various cities, the Habiru
Habiru
Habiru or Apiru or ˁpr.w was the name given by various Sumerian, Egyptian, Akkadian, Hittite, Mitanni, and Ugaritic sources to a group of people living as nomadic invaders in areas of the Fertile Crescent from Northeastern Mesopotamia and Iran to the borders of Egypt in Canaan...
, and of: "the seizure of Rubutu".
EA 289, title: "A reckoning demanded"
EA 289 is letter no. 5 of 6 to the Pharaoh, by Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem. See: Egyptian official: PawuraPawura
Pawura, and also: Pauru, Piwure, Puuru/Puwuru was an Egyptian official of the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. As mentioned in letter no. 171, he was also an Egyptian "archer–commander". In letter no. 289 he is called an "irpi–official"...
.
EA 290, title: "Three against one"
Letter no. 6 of 6 by Abdi-Heba of Urusalim:- "[Sa]y [t]o the king-(i.e. pharaohPharaohPharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
), my lord: Message of ['Abdi]-HebaAbdi-HebaAbdi-Heba was a local chieftain of Jerusalem during the Amarna period . Abdi-Heba's name can be translated as "servant of Hebat", a Hurrian goddess. Some scholars believe the correct reading is Ebed-Nob...
, your servant. I fall at the feetProstration formulaIn the 1350 BC correspondence of 382–letters, called the Amarna letters, the Prostration formula is usually the opening subservient remarks to the addressee, the Egyptian pharaoh. The formula is based on Prostration, namely reverence and submissiveness...
[of the kin]g, my lord, 7 times and 7 times. Here is the deed against the land that MilkiluMilkiluMilkilu, and more properly Milk-ilu, or Milku-ilu, with an alternate version of Ili-Milku-, was the mayor/ruler of Gazru- of the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence...
and ŠuardatuŠuwardataŠuwardata, also Šuardatu, was the 'mayor' of Qiltu, during the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence...
did: against the land of the king, my lord, they ordered troops from GazruGezerGezer was a Canaanite city-state and biblical town in ancient Israel. Tel Gezer , an archaeological site midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, is now an Israeli national park....
, troops from Gimtu, and troops from QiltuKeilahKeilah was a city in the lowlands of Judah . In 1 Samuel, David rescued it from the attack of the Philistines but the inhabitants proved unfaithful to him, in that they sought to deliver him up to Saul . He and his men "departed from Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go.” They fled to the...
-(KeilahKeilahKeilah was a city in the lowlands of Judah . In 1 Samuel, David rescued it from the attack of the Philistines but the inhabitants proved unfaithful to him, in that they sought to deliver him up to Saul . He and his men "departed from Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go.” They fled to the...
). They seized Rubutu. The land of the king deserted to the HapiruHabiruHabiru or Apiru or ˁpr.w was the name given by various Sumerian, Egyptian, Akkadian, Hittite, Mitanni, and Ugaritic sources to a group of people living as nomadic invaders in areas of the Fertile Crescent from Northeastern Mesopotamia and Iran to the borders of Egypt in Canaan...
. And now, besides this, a town belonging to Jerusalem-(called Urusalim), Bit-dDingirDingir is a cuneiform sign, most commonly the determinative for "deity" although it has related meanings as well. As a determinative, it is not pronounced, and is conventionally transliterated as a superscript "D" as in e.g. DInanna...
NIN.URTA by name, a city of the king, has gone over to the side of the men of Qiltu. May the king give heed to Abdi-Heba, your servant, and send archerArchers (Egyptian pítati)The Pítati were a contingent of archers in the Egyptian Empire, often requested and dispatched, to support the Egyptian vassalage in Canaan, or northern Canaan...
s to restore the land of the king to the king. If there are no archers, the land of the king will desert to the Hapiru. This deed against the land was [a]t the order of Milki[lu and a]t the order of [Šuard]atu, [together w]ith Gint[i] -(i.e. the city). So may the king provide for [his] land." -EA 290, lines 1-30 (complete)
The city "Bit-d
Dingir
Dingir is a cuneiform sign, most commonly the determinative for "deity" although it has related meanings as well. As a determinative, it is not pronounced, and is conventionally transliterated as a superscript "D" as in e.g. DInanna...
NIN.URTA" is linked to cuneiform
Cuneiform script
Cuneiform script )) is one of the earliest known forms of written expression. Emerging in Sumer around the 30th century BC, with predecessors reaching into the late 4th millennium , cuneiform writing began as a system of pictographs...
as: city: "Home of God–Ninurta
Ninurta
Ninurta in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology was the god of Lagash, identified with Ningirsu with whom he may always have been identical...
", (Bit
É (temple)
É is the Sumerian word or symbol for house or temple, written ideographically with the cuneiform sign .The Sumerian term É.GAL denoted a city's main building....
-d
Dingir
Dingir is a cuneiform sign, most commonly the determinative for "deity" although it has related meanings as well. As a determinative, it is not pronounced, and is conventionally transliterated as a superscript "D" as in e.g. DInanna...
NIN.URTA
Ninurta
Ninurta in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology was the god of Lagash, identified with Ningirsu with whom he may always have been identical...
).
See also
- MilkiluMilkiluMilkilu, and more properly Milk-ilu, or Milku-ilu, with an alternate version of Ili-Milku-, was the mayor/ruler of Gazru- of the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence...
, mayor of Gazru - ŠuwardataŠuwardataŠuwardata, also Šuardatu, was the 'mayor' of Qiltu, during the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence...
, mayor - Amarna lettersAmarna lettersThe Amarna letters are an archive of correspondence on clay tablets, mostly diplomatic, between the Egyptian administration and its representatives in Canaan and Amurru during the New Kingdom...
- Amarna letters–localities and their rulersAmarna letters–localities and their rulersThis is a list of the "Amarna letters" –Text corpus, categorized by: Amarna letters–localities and their rulers. It includes countries, regions, and the cities/or 'city-states' ...
External links
- The name of Rubutu/Aruboth
- http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Israel_topo_en.jpgTopographic Map-(Geography of IsraelGeography of IsraelThe geography of Israel is very diverse, with desert conditions in the south, and snow-capped mountains in the north. Israel is located at at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea in western Asia...
), showing the valley from Jerusalem to the Mediterranean. ] GezerGezerGezer was a Canaanite city-state and biblical town in ancient Israel. Tel Gezer , an archaeological site midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, is now an Israeli national park....
is halfway to the Mediterranean, and Rubutu is between Gezer and Jerusalem. (Click on Map to Enlarge) - Map of Canaan, Shows Gazru/(Gezer) and Jerusalem
Ta'anach Letter: by Guli-Adad, mentioning City-state
City-state
A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
-city: Rubutu