Teuwatti

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Teuwatti , also Tiwati (language of the name is unknown, perhaps Anatolian ) was a city prince of Lapana (city not clearly identified, probably in today's Lebanon ) in the Amarna period around 1350 BC. He is known from various Amarna letters . The so-called Amarna letters are the international correspondence of the rulers in the Middle East, which was addressed to the Egyptian royal court. The letters are written on clay tablets in cuneiform in Akkadian . Akkadian was the international language of the time. The letters were found by chance at the end of the 19th century in Amarna , which was the capital of Egypt at the time in question , and were given their name because of the place where they were found.

The letters show that the cities of the Levant were very divided at this time. Various local princes, often vassals of the Egyptians, fought each other. Since the letters are not dated, it is difficult to reconstruct a chronological sequence of events. Teuwatti appears in the letters on the one hand as a warlord who acted against Egyptian interests, on the other hand he is loyal to the Egyptian rulers in the letter he wrote himself.

Teuwatti is mentioned in a letter from Akizzi , who was king of Qatna . The letter is addressed to King Akhenaten and reports that Teuwatti had allied themselves with Arsavuja of Ruhizza and that they placed themselves under Aitakama of Kadesh and burned and captured the land of Upu , which no longer belonged to the Egyptian king. Another letter, possibly with the same content, is poorly preserved, but also mentions Teuwatti.

Teuwatti is also known from his own letter (here called Tiwati) to an ancient Egyptian king who was not mentioned . Here he is extremely submissive: I fall at your feet, my lord, seven times, plus seven times . He confirms that he is in an undisclosed city and that he is on guard. His troops are ready to help when the Egyptian king's archers arrive. In addition, he had oxen, sheep and point ready, certainly to supply troops.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard S. Hess: Amarna Personal Names , Winona Lake, Indiana 1993, ISBN 0-931464-71-4 , p. 158
  2. ^ WL Moran: The Amarna Letters. Baltimore / London 1992, ISBN 0-8018-4251-4 , pp. 125–126 (now British Museum , inventory number 29820).
  3. ↑ Moran: The Amarna Letters. P. 126. ( Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin , Inv. No. 1868, 1869, 1721)
  4. ↑ Moran: The Amarna Letters. P. 272. (Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin Inv. No. 1608)
personal data
SURNAME Teuwatti
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tiwati
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ancient city lord of Lapana
DATE OF BIRTH 14th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 14th century BC Chr.