Here is a translation of the letter discovered at Tel el-Hesi:—­

“To ... rabbat (?) [or perhaps:  To the officer Baya] (thus speaks) ... abi.  At thy feet I prostrate myself.  Verily thou knowest that Dan-Hadad and Zimrida have inspected the whole of the city, and Dan-Hadad says to Zimrida:  Send Yisyara to me [and] give me 3 shields (?) and 3 slings and 3 falchions, since I am prefect (?) over the country of the king and it has acted against me; and now I will restore thy possession which the enemy took from thee; and I have sent my ..., and ... rabi-ilu ... has despatched his brother [with] these words.”

(This translation differs in some respects from that previously given by me, as it is based on the copy of the text made from the original at Constantinople by Dr. Scheil (Recueil de Trailaux relatifs a la Philologie et a l’Archeologie egyptiennes et assyriennes, xv. 3, 4, 137).  As I stated at the time, my copy was made from a cast and was therefore uncertain in several places.  I am doubtful whether even now the published text is correct throughout.)

Yisyara was the name of an Amorite, as we learn from one of the Tel el-Amarna tablets, where he is mentioned along with other rebels as being sent in fetters of bronze to the king.  Of Dan-Hadad we know nothing further, but Zimrida’s letter is as follows:—­

“To the king my lord, my god, my Sun-god, the Sun-god who is from heaven, thus (writes) Zimridi, the governor of the city of Lachish.  Thy servant, the dust of thy feet, at the feet of the king my lord, the Sun-god from heaven, bows himself seven times seven.  I have very diligently listened to the words of the messenger whom the king my lord has sent to me, and now I have despatched (a mission) according to his message.”

It was towards the end of Khu-n-Aten’s reign, when the Egyptian empire was falling to pieces, that the murder of Zimrida took place.  Ebed-Tob thus describes it in a letter to the secretary of the Pharaoh:  “The Khabiri (or Confederates) are capturing the fortresses of the king.  Not a single governor remains among them to the king my lord; all are destroyed.  Behold, Turbazu thy officer [has fallen] in the great gate of the city of Zelah.  Behold, the servants who acted against the king have slain Zimrida of Lachish.  They have murdered Jephthah-Hadad thy officer in the gate of the city of Zelah.”

We hear of another governor of Lachish, Yabni-el by name, but he probably held office before Zimrida.  At all events the following despatch of his has been preserved:—­

“To the king my lord, my god, my Sun-god, the Sun-god who is from heaven, thus (writes) Yabni-el, the governor of the city of Lachish, thy servant, the dust of thy feet, the groom of thy horses; at the feet of the king my lord, my god, my Sun-god, the Sun-god who is from heaven, seven times seven I bow myself.  Glorious and supreme [art thou].  I the groom of [the horses] of the king my lord, listen to the [words] of the king my lord.  Now have I heard all the words which Baya the prefect has spoken to me.  Now have I done everything.”