tes in Itakama's
force were, of course, prominently mentioned to alarm Pharaoh. They may
have been Hittite spearmen enrolled by the prince of Kadesh, much as the
Habiri and Sutu had been enlisted by his chief rival Namyauza. It is even
possible that the soldiers of Kadesh had always been armed in Hittite
fashion; perhaps the town was already inhabited by people of Hittite
stock. Later the Hittites actually seized Kadesh, and it is questionable
whether it was for the first time. Itakama himself, however, scouts any
thought of defection; nay, he writes:

"To the king my lord, &c. I am thy servant, but Namyauza hath
slandered me to thee, oh my master. And while he was doing that he
occupied all the inheritance of my fathers in the land of Kadesh,
and my villages hath he set on fire. Do not the officers of my
lord the king and his subjects know my faithfulness? I serve thee
with all my brethren, and where there is rebellion against my lord
the king, thither I march with my warriors, my chariots, and all
my brethren. Behold, now Namyauza hath delivered up to the Habiri
all the king's cities in the land of Kadesh and in Ube. But I will
march forth, and if thy gods and thy sun go before me I will
restore these places from the Habiri to the king that I may show
myself subject to him. I will drive out these Habiri, and my lord
the king shall rejoice in his servant Itakama. I will serve the
king my lord, and all my brethren, and all lands shall serve him.
But Namyauza will I destroy, for I am for ever a servant of the
king my lord."

The land of Ube here named corresponds to the Hobah of the Bible,
mentioned in Genesis xiv. 15, as the place to which Abram pursued the
conquerors of Sodom, who had carried Lot away. According to the margin of
the Revised Version, Hobah lay "north of Damascus." In a letter from
Akizzi of Katna (see p. 44), we read, however, "Oh, my lord the king, as
Damascus in the land of Ube stretches out her hand to thy feet, so Katna
stretches out her hand to thy feet." The statements may be reconciled by
the hypothesis that in the Old Testament the position of the town after
which the district is named is more exactly indicated. Other lands named
in the tablets are more difficult to identify. To mitigate a famine in
Gebal, Rib-Addi intended to send for grain from Zalukhi in Ugarit, but his
enemies detained his ships and frustrated his intention