Abdi-Ashirta: Bronze Age Hero or Villain?

Abdi-Ashirta is an individual who appears throughout the Amarna Letters - a cache of diplomatic correspondences found at the site of el-Amarna in Egypt and which date to the 14th century. These letters give us information that allow us to piece together the history of this man Abdi-Ashirta and how he united the Habiru / 'apiru bands of the Syrian and Lebanese coasts and formed a polity called Amurru. Beyond an exciting and entertaining story, though, this story offers some important lessons for those who read the Bible. Let's dig in.
#archaeology #bible #digitalarchaeology #biblicalarchaeology #Amarna #AmarnaLetters #ancienthistory #Amurru #habiru #apiru #Akhenaten #abdiashirta
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If you'd like to read more here are just a few of the sources we used in this video:
William L. Moran, ed. trans. The Amarna Letters. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.
Trevor Bryce, Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
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[@angelodcollazo]

This was awesome! Can't wait to hear more about David.

[@Ayusisi]

Wow, I hope this channel will grow😊

[@Dybbouk]

Well done! Texts, always the texts, in their historical context.

[@Ayusisi]

Hi, for sound volume, this video is good, the two narrators have the same volume, but both the intro and autro music is too loud.

[@501Mobius]

You completely left out Abdi-Aširta's son Aziri who carried on the fight to success after his death in EA 101.

[@EternalSearcher]

I wonder if Pharaoh was pissed by the imperative tone of those letters: "Let the king tell the 3 cities ..", "Put a man in each city.." . Who are you to command the Pharaoh?

[@Dybbouk]

Yeah, but the Bible account of David is clearly drawing on earlier writings from the Northern Kingdom. The Deuteronomy history is trying to defend David against charges of disloyalty etc

[@Highspergamy]

I don't believe there was a northern kingdom. The Northern Kingdom was what we generally consider the Southern Kingdom. What is described as the northern kingdom of Israel was Egypt in the twilight of the 18th dynasty... imho