**AMARNA (TELL EL-'AMARNAH)**
A locality on the eastern bank of the Nile in Middle Egypt, where the archive of Amenophis IV (q.v.) was accidentally discovered in 1887. The pharaoh had built his capital there, Ahet-Aton (= the horizon of Aton [the solar disk]) or Iš-Aton (= Aton takes delight), which was abandoned immediately after the death of the religious reformer.
The archive has yielded over 350 letters on cuneiform tablets in the Babylonian language (today over 200 are in the Berlin Museum, about 80 in the British Museum, others in Cairo, the Louvre, and Oxford). They contain the diplomatic correspondence exchanged between the pharaohs Amenophis III and IV and the rulers of Babylon, Assyria, Mitanni, Azawa, Alašia, and Hatti (between 1410 and 1358 B.C.). However, most of the letters, as shown by the accompanying index, are from princes who were more or less allied and dependent on Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine.
Many of the writings are addressed to Egypt; of these, 35 come from independent kings (= brothers) and from kings of Egypt (10 from Babylon, 2 from Assyria, 13 from Mitanni, 1 from Azawa [Cilicia], 7 from Alašia [Cyprus], 2 from Hatti); 1 is sent by the *rabbinu* (prefect?) of Alašia to the prefect of Egypt, his (= brother); 1 by a prince of northern Syria dependent on Egypt without being his subject; nearly 300 are letters from Syrians and Palestinians, subjects (= servants) of the king of Egypt; 5 are from women addressed to the king or to other women called (= ladies). The majority of the letters are addressed to the pharaoh himself.
Only seven letters are sent from Egypt to the regions of the Near East, all written by the pharaoh or in his name. These Egyptian letters are sent: 4 to independent kings, called (= brothers) of the king of Egypt (three to the king of Babylon, one to the king of Azawa partly written in a language other than Babylonian), 3 to subjects of the Near East.
The letters of the sovereigns are of great interest for political history; the letters of the subjects provide abundant information on the customs and manners of the time. These data have been confirmed and supplemented by the texts of Boghaz-Köi (q.v.). They are of special importance for the history of the Old Testament, as they illustrate the political and social conditions of Palestine and the biblical East during a period that may coincide with that of the Exodus (q.v.).
**
Edition of the texts: J. A. Knudtson, *Die El-Amarna-Tafeln* (with translation and commentary), 2 vols., Leipzig 1907 and 1915; F. Thureau-Dangin, *Nouvelles lettres d'el-A.*, in *Revue d'Assyriologie*, 19 (1922), pp. 91-102; S. A. B. Mercer, *The Tell el-Amarna Tablets*, 2 vols., London 1939. — P. H. Schäfer, *Die Religion und Kunst von El-Amarna*, 1923; P. Dhorme, s. V. in *DBs*, 1. cols. 207-25; id., in *Revue Biblique*, 33 (1924), pp. 5-32.
Giustino Boson
---
**AMASA**
(Hebrew: *‘āmāšā’* = burden); Septuagint: *‘Āmēṣaṣaṭ*. — A military commander, son of Abigail, David’s sister, and of Jether (or Jetra) the Ishmaelite (1 Chron. 2:17) or Jezreelite (2 Sam. 17:25). He sided with the rebel Absalom (q.v.), who appointed him commander of his forces. Defeated by Joab (q.v.), he was treated kindly by David, who bound Amasa to himself by appointing him to the high position of army commander, previously held by Joab, Amasa’s cousin (2 Sam. 19:14). When a new revolt broke out led by the Benjaminite Sheba, Amasa was entrusted by the king with its suppression, but he failed to muster the men of Judah within the three days set (2 Sam. 20:4-5). Abishai (q.v.) and Joab therefore went ahead of him. Joab waited for the hated rival to arrive and treacherously killed him, pretending to embrace him, near Gibeon (ibid., 8-13). David was deeply grieved by the murder of his nephew and, on his deathbed, charged Solomon to avenge him (1 Kings 2:5, 32-34).