- Museum number
- E29787
- Title
- Series: The Amarna Letters
- Description
-
Clay cuneifom tablet; letter from Nibmuareya of Egypt (Amenhotep III) to Kadasman-Enlil of Babylon; 30 lines; reverse is blank apart from parts of 2 lines which have been continued from the obverse and the oval impression of a steatite scrabaeus?. On the scrabaeus? were inscribed the hawk of Horus wearing the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, a winged uraeus, sun's disc and traces of the letter P,[] are visable; four corners and last 2 lines of the reverse (which appear to have contained the date) are missing.
- Production date
- 14thC BC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 14 centimetres
-
Weight: 0.36 kilograms
-
Width: 9 centimetres
-
Depth: 2 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Published:
C. Bezold and E.W. Budge, ‘The Tell el-Amarna Tablets in the British Museum, (London 1892), 4;
J.A. Knudtzon, ‘Die El-Amarna-Tafeln’ vol. 1, (Leipzig, 1907), pp. 74-77;
W.L. Moran, ‘The Amarna Letters’ (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1992), pp. 10-11.
In this letter from the king of Egypt, called Nibmareya (Amenhotep III) to the king of Babylon, Kadasman-Enlil, the Babylonian king is addressed as ‘my brother’. Amenhotep III sends a collection of rich furniture to the Babylonian king, made with ebony, ivory, gold, and silver, as he awaits the arrival of a Babylonian princess for diplomatic marriage.
This clay tablet was found in the modern city of el-Amarna (ancient Akhetaten) along with over 350 others, the majority being diplomatic letters. They are written in cuneiform script, which served as the language of international relations at the time. The Amarna letters concern diplomatic relations between Egypt and both large rival empires and small vassal city states, and deal with matters such as economic exchange, diplomatic marriages, and military threats.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2011 Jul–Sept, Newcastle, Great North Museum, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2012 Oct–Jan, Dorchester, Dorset County Museum, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2012 Feb–June, Leeds City Museum, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2012 Jul-Oct, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2012 Nov– Feb 2013, Glasgow, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2013 Mar–Aug, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2016 8 Mar–12 Jun, Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2018 7 Jun–16 Sep, Barcelona, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2018-2019 16 Oct–20 Jan, Madrid, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2019 19 Feb–25 Aug, Girona, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2019-2020 24 Sept–12 Jan, Seville, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2020–2021 11 Feb–21 Feb, Tarragona, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2021 25 Mar–15 Aug, Santiago de Compostela, Museo Centro de Gaias, Pharaoh King of Egypt
2021-2022 15 Sep–9 Jan, Zaragoza, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2022 10 Feb–15 May, Palma, La Caixa, Pharaoh King of Egypt
2022-2023 21 Jun–26 Feb, Valencia, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
- Condition
- Incomplete; four corners and last two lines on reverse lost.
- Acquisition date
- 1888
- Acquisition notes
- Purchased by Budge in Egypt.
- Department
- Middle East
- BM/Big number
- E29787
- Registration number
- 1888,1013.21
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: EA 5
