It has been known for decades that the Egyptians of the 18th Dynasty took direct control of a num... more It has been known for decades that the Egyptians of the 18th Dynasty took direct control of a number of centers across the Levant, that each center was governed by an Egyptian commissioner, and that every commissioner interacted with the rulers of the local city-states. However, the precise number of Egyptian centers and their respective areas of control remains debated to this day. This article revisits these issues by analyzing the relationships between centers, commissioners, and rulers as they appear within the Amarna corpus, with a focus on the proposed proximity principle. This principle posits that Levantine rulers would have primarily engaged with the closest Egyptian center and the closest Egyptian commissioner, rather than a farther one. Through this analysis, the article aims to shed new light on the number of the Egyptian centers in the Levant and the extent of land that they controlled.
Alan Gardiner was the first to reconstruct and review the written sources regarding the so-called... more Alan Gardiner was the first to reconstruct and review the written sources regarding the so-called "Ways of Horus", a chain of fortresses established in North Sinai during the New Kingdom. To this day, his 1920 article "The Ancient Military Road between Egypt and Palestine" is the stepping stone and the starting point for every discussion on the argument. The article's enduring importance is connected not only to the fact that Gardiner convincingly connected the 12-forts description contained in Papyrus Anastasi I with the depiction present in the Karnak Reliefs of Seti I; and that he reconstructed the deteriorated (and deteriorating) reliefs on the base of copies made during the 19 th-century. His 11-forts reconstruction of the reliefs has been used by virtually every scholar ever since. However, reconciling the discrepancies between the two documents, particularly regarding the number of forts, has proven to be an unsolvable problem. This article demonstrates that a twelfth fortoriginally present in the Karnak Reliefs-went unnoticed by Gardiner. It shows that Ippolito Rosellini depicted it in a copy of the Reliefs made in 1829, and that he described it in his notes. It highlights that the University of Chicago's Epigraphic Survey of the Reliefs found traces of the name of the fort's accompanying well. It finally reassesses the subject of the so-called "Ways of Horus" and, by recognizing the existence of this " forgotten fort", supports Alan Gardiner's century old argument that the description in Papyrus Anastasi I aligns with the depiction in the Karnak Reliefs.
Much has been written of the events concerning the Egyptian, Mittanian, and Hittite presence in t... more Much has been written of the events concerning the Egyptian, Mittanian, and Hittite presence in the northern Levant during the so-called ʿAmārna Period. Decades of work from excellent scholars have established that the Egyptians elected two cities to be their "capitals" in the region, centres from where they could establish their control over the territory of modern Lebanon: Ṣumur on the ʿAkkār Plain, and Kumidi in the Biqāʿ (Beqaa) Valley. Many points remain relatively unclear, such as the succession of events in the region, the developments of war, and the reasons why the Egyptians decided to create a second centre in Kumidi, when they already controlled Ṣumur. This paper reanalyses the data at our disposal and reconstructs the diachronic succession of events related to the two centres, arguing that Kumidi became an Egyptian centre only after Ṣumur had fallen prey to Abdi-Aširta of Amurru.
Since the first edition of the Amarna Letters, the location of the "land of Yarimuta" mentioned b... more Since the first edition of the Amarna Letters, the location of the "land of Yarimuta" mentioned by the ruler of Byblos Rib-Addi has been a thorny and debated issue. In the last century this fabled territory, from which Rib-Addi expects to receive food and soldiers, has been identified with several locations across both Egypt and the Levant. This study reassesses all pieces of information revealed by Rib-Addi on both Yarimuta and its commissioner Yanhamu. It then re-analyses them, with a focus on the working history of Yanhamu in the Amarna letters, and how it places Yarimuta in the proximity of the Egyptian centre of Gaza. After having countered the locations that have been proposed until now, the article advances a different and more fitting identification: the Yarkon River Valley.
It has been known for decades that the Egyptians of the 18th Dynasty took direct control of a num... more It has been known for decades that the Egyptians of the 18th Dynasty took direct control of a number of centers across the Levant, that each center was governed by an Egyptian commissioner, and that every commissioner interacted with the rulers of the local city-states. However, the precise number of Egyptian centers and their respective areas of control remains debated to this day. This article revisits these issues by analyzing the relationships between centers, commissioners, and rulers as they appear within the Amarna corpus, with a focus on the proposed proximity principle. This principle posits that Levantine rulers would have primarily engaged with the closest Egyptian center and the closest Egyptian commissioner, rather than a farther one. Through this analysis, the article aims to shed new light on the number of the Egyptian centers in the Levant and the extent of land that they controlled.
Alan Gardiner was the first to reconstruct and review the written sources regarding the so-called... more Alan Gardiner was the first to reconstruct and review the written sources regarding the so-called "Ways of Horus", a chain of fortresses established in North Sinai during the New Kingdom. To this day, his 1920 article "The Ancient Military Road between Egypt and Palestine" is the stepping stone and the starting point for every discussion on the argument. The article's enduring importance is connected not only to the fact that Gardiner convincingly connected the 12-forts description contained in Papyrus Anastasi I with the depiction present in the Karnak Reliefs of Seti I; and that he reconstructed the deteriorated (and deteriorating) reliefs on the base of copies made during the 19 th-century. His 11-forts reconstruction of the reliefs has been used by virtually every scholar ever since. However, reconciling the discrepancies between the two documents, particularly regarding the number of forts, has proven to be an unsolvable problem. This article demonstrates that a twelfth fortoriginally present in the Karnak Reliefs-went unnoticed by Gardiner. It shows that Ippolito Rosellini depicted it in a copy of the Reliefs made in 1829, and that he described it in his notes. It highlights that the University of Chicago's Epigraphic Survey of the Reliefs found traces of the name of the fort's accompanying well. It finally reassesses the subject of the so-called "Ways of Horus" and, by recognizing the existence of this " forgotten fort", supports Alan Gardiner's century old argument that the description in Papyrus Anastasi I aligns with the depiction in the Karnak Reliefs.
Much has been written of the events concerning the Egyptian, Mittanian, and Hittite presence in t... more Much has been written of the events concerning the Egyptian, Mittanian, and Hittite presence in the northern Levant during the so-called ʿAmārna Period. Decades of work from excellent scholars have established that the Egyptians elected two cities to be their "capitals" in the region, centres from where they could establish their control over the territory of modern Lebanon: Ṣumur on the ʿAkkār Plain, and Kumidi in the Biqāʿ (Beqaa) Valley. Many points remain relatively unclear, such as the succession of events in the region, the developments of war, and the reasons why the Egyptians decided to create a second centre in Kumidi, when they already controlled Ṣumur. This paper reanalyses the data at our disposal and reconstructs the diachronic succession of events related to the two centres, arguing that Kumidi became an Egyptian centre only after Ṣumur had fallen prey to Abdi-Aširta of Amurru.
Since the first edition of the Amarna Letters, the location of the "land of Yarimuta" mentioned b... more Since the first edition of the Amarna Letters, the location of the "land of Yarimuta" mentioned by the ruler of Byblos Rib-Addi has been a thorny and debated issue. In the last century this fabled territory, from which Rib-Addi expects to receive food and soldiers, has been identified with several locations across both Egypt and the Levant. This study reassesses all pieces of information revealed by Rib-Addi on both Yarimuta and its commissioner Yanhamu. It then re-analyses them, with a focus on the working history of Yanhamu in the Amarna letters, and how it places Yarimuta in the proximity of the Egyptian centre of Gaza. After having countered the locations that have been proposed until now, the article advances a different and more fitting identification: the Yarkon River Valley.
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Papers by Francesco I . De Magistris