ces of silver.

The misdeeds of Beya or Baya did not end here. We hear of him again as
attacking and capturing a body of soldiers who had been sent to defend
the royal palace at Joppa, and as occupying that city itself. He was,
however, subsequently expelled from it by the king's orders. Beya, too,
professed to be an Egyptian governor and a faithful servant of the
Pharaoh, to whom he despatched a letter to say that Yankhamu, the High
Commissioner, was not in his district. Probably this was in answer to a
charge brought against him by the Egyptian officer.

The official duties of Yankhamu extended over the whole of Palestine,
and all the governors of its cities were accountable to him. We find him
exercising his authority not only in the south, but also in the north,
at Zemar and Gebal, and even among the Amorites. Amon-apt, to whom the
superintendence of Phoenicia was more particularly entrusted, was
supplied by him with corn, and frequent references are made to him in
the letters of Rib-Hadad. Malchiel complained of his high-handed
proceedings, and the complaint seems to have led to some confidential
inquiries on the part of the home government, since we find a certain
Sibti-Hadad writing in answer to the Pharaoh's questions that Yankhamu
was a faithful servant of the king.

The country east of the Jordan also appears to have been within his
jurisdiction. At all events the following letter was addressed to him by
the governor Mut-Hadad, "the man of Hadad." "To Yankhamu my lord thus
speaks Mut-Hadad thy servant: at the feet of my lord I prostrate myself.
Since Mut-Hadad has declared in thy presence that Ayab has fled, and it
is certified (?) that the king of Bethel has fled from before the
officers of the king his lord, may the king my lord live, may the king
my lord live! I pray thee ask Ben-enima, ask ... tadua, ask Isuya, if
Ayab has been in this city of Bethel for [the last] two months. Ever
since the arrival of [the image of] the god Merodach, the city of
Astarti (Ashtaroth-Karnaim) has been assisted, because all the
fortresses of the foreign land are hostile, namely, the cities of Udumu
(Edom), Aduri (Addar), Araru, Mestu (Mosheh), Magdalim (Migdol),
Khinianabi ('En han-nabi), Zarki-tsabtat, Khaini ('En), and Ibi-limma
(Abel). Again after thou hadst sent a letter to me I sent to him (i.e.
Ayab), [to wait] until thy arrival from thy journey; and he reached the
city of Bethel and [there] they heard the news."

W