The Amarna Letters - Rilegato

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0801842514 ISBN 13: 9780801842511

Casa editrice: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr, 1992

Riassunto

An ancient inscription identified a ruin at el Amarna as "the place of the letters of the Pharaoh." Discovered there, in about 1887, were nearly four hundred cuneiform tablets containing correspondence of the Egyptian court with rulers of neighboring states in the mid-fourteenth century B.C. Previous translations of these letters were both incomplete and reflected an imperfect understanding of the Babylonian dialects in which they were written. Now William L. Moran, who has devoted a lifetime of study to the Amarna letters, has prepared an authoritative English translation.
The letters provide a vivid record of high-level diplomatic exchanges that, by modern standards, are often less than diplomatic. An Assyrian ruler complains that the Egyptian king's latest gift of gold was not even sufficient to pay the cost of the messengers who brought it. The king of Babylon refuses to give his daughter in marriage to the Pharaoh without first having proof that the king's sister--already one of the Pharaoh's many wives--is still alive and well. The king of Karaduniyash complains that the Egyptian court has "detained" his messenger--for the past six years. And Egyptian vassal Rib-Hadda, writing from the besieged port of Byblos, repeatedly demands military assistance for his city or, failing that, an Egyptian ship to permit his own escape.

Su questo libro

Recensione:

"The acknowledged master of these texts is William Moran, who produced a complete re-edition of the tablets, in French, in 1987. The Amarna Letters is a revised version of this, done into English. Open it, and hear these voices from a vanished empire speak after three and a half millennia." -- Times Literary Supplement

"Fascinating... The refined scholarship and mature pedagogy of a distinguished student of the ancient Near East." -- Libraries and Culture

""A superb treatment of the Amarna Letters." -- Zeitschrift für Assyriologie

L'autore:

William L. Moran (1921-2000) was Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Humanities, Emeritus, in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0801842514
• ISBN 13: 9780801842511
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 393
• Redattore: Moran William L.