rable light on
conditions in Palestine before the Hebrew conquest, namely, the
so-called Tel-el-Amarna tablets.[7] These tablets were discovered by
accident in the winter of 1887-1888 at Tel-el-Amarna, the site of the
ancient capital of Amenophis IV of Egypt, about midway between Memphis
and Thebes. On examination they proved to be a part of the official
archives of Amenophis III (1411-1375) and Amenophis IV (1375-1358),
consisting almost entirely of letters and reports addressed to these
two Pharaohs by their officials in western Asia, and by rulers who
sustained close relations to the Egyptian court. The royal letters,
about forty in number, are chiefly from kings of the Hittites, of the
Mitanni, of Assyria, and of Babylonia. The rest of the correspondence,
about two hundred and fifty letters, is of much greater historical
interest; it consists of letters from Egyptian governors in various
cities of Palestine, Phoenicia, and Syria.

These inscriptions show that about B.C. 1400, {126} about two hundred
years before the Hebrew conquest, Palestine and the neighboring
countries formed an Egyptian province under the rule of Egyptian
governors stationed in all principal towns. At the time the Egyptians
had considerable difficulty in maintaining their authority. Their
power was threatened by the Hittites and other powerful neighbors, by
the dissatisfied native population, by the Habiri, who seem to have
been invaders from the desert, and by the intrigues and rivalries of
the Egyptian governors themselves. Practically all the principal
cities of the land are mentioned in these letters. From the standpoint
of Old Testament study, six letters written by Abdi-hiba, Governor of
Jerusalem, are of special interest. He, like many of the other
governors, is in difficulty. The Habiri are pressing him hard; the
neighboring cities of Gezer, Lachish, and Askelon are aiding the enemy;
he has been slandered before the king and accused of disloyalty. In
the letters he emphatically protests his innocence. One of them reads:
"To the king my lord, say also thus: It is Abdi-hiba, thy servant; at
the feet of my lord the king twice seven times, and twice seven times I
fall. What have I done against the king my lord? They backbite, they
slander me before the king my lord, saying: Abdi-hiba has fallen away
from the king his lord. Behold, as for me, neither my father nor my
{127} mother set me in this place; the arm of the mighty king