Some part of the contents of the letter indicates (in addition to
EA11) that the Egyptian pharaoh married his daughters (named
Meritaten and
Ankhesenpaaten) at a time when they were about 11 or 12 years of age.[1]
Within the letter Burna-Buriash II praises the craftsmen of the land of Akhenaten, and requests a model of an animal, either land or aquatic, and he is apparently indifferent to which of the two the pharaoh should choose to have created.[2]
The letter is part of a series of correspondences from
Babylonia to Egypt, which run from EA2 to EA4 and EA6 to EA14. EA1 and EA5 are from
Egypt to Babylonia.[3]
(Lines 1-7)–[Say t]o Naphu]rar[ey]a,1the king of [Egypt: T]hus
Burra-Buriyas, the king of
Karad[uniyaš] . For me all goes wel[l]. For you, for your household, for your wives, fo[r yoursons], for your magnates, for your troops, for your chariots, for your horses, and for your country, may all go very well.
(8-24)–From the time of
Karaindaš, since the messengers2of your ancestors came regularly to my ancestors, up to the present, they (the ancestors) have been friends. Now, though you and I are friends, 3 times have your messengers come to me and you have not sent me a single beautiful
greeting-gift, nor have I for my part sent you a beautiful
greeting-gift. (I am one for whom nothing is scarce, and you are one for whom nothing is scarce.)3As for your messenger whom you sent to me, the 20 minas of gold that were brought here were not all there. When they put it into the kiln, not 5 minas of gold appeared.4[The ... th]at did appear, on cooling off looked likeashes.Wasthe gold ev]er identifi[ed](as gold)?5[ ... ] friends withe[ach other][ ... ] ...
bottom
(25-28)–[ ... ]
reverse
(29-42)–[ ... ] of a wild ox for ... [ ... ]6when your messenger ... [ ... ]7let him bring to to me. There are skilled carpenters8where you are. Let them represent a wild animal, land or aquatic, lifelike,9so that the hide is exactly like that of a live animal. Let your messenger bring it to me. But if there are some old ones already on hand, then as soon as
Šindišugab, my messenger, reaches you, let him immediately, posthaste,borrow chariot[s]10and get here. Let them make some n[e]w ones for future delivery, and then when my messenger comes here with your messenger, let them bring (them) here together.
(43-49)–I send as your
greeting-gift 2 minas of
lapis lazuli, and concerning your daughter Mayati,11having heard (about her), I send to her as her
greeting-gift a necklace ofcricket-(shaped)gems, of
lapis-lazuli, 1048 their number. And when your messengercomesalong with
Šindišugab,I willmake [ ... ] and have {it}brough[t to h]er.12 -- (complete EA 10, with many
lacunae and bottom 3 lines missing on obverse, total lines 1-49)