HKB
myself (am) with them, and now, and lo! now, I myself (am) with them. The yoke of the King my Lord (is) on my neck and I will bear it.”
71 B. M.—The usual salutation from a servant of the King, whose name is broken, but reads Mus ... ni. “I hear the messages of the King my Lord which he sends to his servant, hearing what is spoken by thy chief (Ka), and (it is) ‘Strengthen thou the fortresses of the King thy Lord which are with thee.’ Now they have minded the message of the King my Lord to me, and the King my Lord learns of his servant. Now Biia the son of the woman Gulata(303) was my ... of my brethren whom I am despatching to go down from the city Yapu (Joppa), and to be the defenders of the messengers returning to the King my Lord; and now Biia is the son of Gulata, he took them; and the King my Lord shall learn this message of his servant. Thus since the King my Lord said to me, ‘Make him leave thy city, on the appearance of Biia.’ He also indeed is made to leave; and both go, and indeed both are sent down O King my Lord day and night till they reach the place.”
Joppa is not mentioned in the history of Joshua’s wars in the south, but the “border before (east of) Japho” is noticed in the later topographical charter (Josh. xix. 46).
LETTERS FROM ASCALON
129 B.—“To the Great King my Lord Dagantacala(304) thy servant speaks. Seven times and seven times at the feet of the Great King my Lord I bow. And now behold Dagantacala is thy servant O Great King my Lord. He hears carefully the message of the Great King his Lord ... like my fathers, (and) what my fathers have not done for the Great King I have done for the Great King my Lord. And the Great King my Lord says to me, ‘Listen thou for us to the head man (Ka) thy governor.’(305) I hear this carefully as to the chief governor, and the ruler knows it.”
74 B. M.—This begins with the same salutation from Dagantacala, and continues: “Redeem me from the strong foes, from the hands of men of blood. The chiefs are hiding and the chiefs are flying, and redeem thou me O Great King my Lord. And the son of a dog has ... But thou (art) the Great King my Lord. Come down redeem me, and I shall rejoice because of the Great King my Lord.”
118 B.—From Yadaya of Ascalon, a captain of the horse of the “King—the Sun from Heaven.” The usual salutation is much broken. The letter continues: “Now I shall defend the places of the King that are with me. The strong chiefs who are not foes of the Law (or throne) have cherished greatly the King’s Paka. Now both they and I listen to him very exceedingly—to the Paka of the King my Lord the Son of the Sun from the heavens.”
119 B.—From the same Yadaya, chief of the city of Ascalon, with the usual salutation. He is a captain of the horse and the dust of the King’s feet. He continues: “The trusty adherent—the chief of the King my Lord, who is sent by the King my Lord—the Sun from heaven—to me, I listen exceeding much to his messages; now I will defend the King’s land which is with me.”
121 B.—From the same writer, with the same salutations. “Now the King’s land which is with me is defended, and all that the King has sent to me they hear. The decree is very powerful. Who am I but a dog, and shall such a one not listen to the message of the King his Lord, the Son of the Sun?”