Indo-Aryan names in Palestina

[Bjarte Kaldhol]

Dear listmembers,

I have compiled the following two lists from Tu$ratta's letters to the
Egyptian pharaos. (See W.L. Moran, THE AMARNA LETTERS, Baltimore and
London, 1992.) As we can see, NONE of Tu$ratta's courtiers or envoys have
Indo-Aryan names, and his gods are all Hurrian. In the introduction to the
index, Moran says: "It should be noted that many names classified here with
the remark "language uncertain" have been considered by many scholars to be
of Indo-Aryan origin. The analyses of these names, however, are often so
divergent, and the objections against them so serious, that the option here
is on the side of caution." This is scholarship.

Envoys and courtiers mentioned by Tu$ratta:

Agiya, Tu$ratta's envoy, mentioned in a passport, Hurrian name
Ar-Te$$ub, Tu$ratta's envoy, Hurrian name
Asali, Tu$ratta's scribe, probably Hurrian name, cf. Asalluhi
Keliya, chief minister, a magnate, Hurrian name
Masibadli, Tu$ratta's envoy, Keliya's uncle, Hurrian name
Pirissi (Firissi), Tu$ratta's envoy, Hurrian name
Tulubri, Tu$ratta's envoy, Hurrian name
Tunibewri, courtier?, Hurrian name, accompanies chief minister
UD-hi, Hurrian name? (sumerogram (U4) = "day", Hurrian $uuwa-?)

Gods mentioned by Tu$ratta:

Shaushka of Ninive, "mistress of all lands"
Te$$ub
Shimige, not Surya (!), here: the Egyptian Sun-god
Ea-$arri, Syro-Mesopotamian god popular with the Hurrians
$eri, a Hurrian bull-god

It appears that the twelve or so persons claimed by some to be Indo-Aryans
- at any rate with uncertain names - are almost all associated with towns
in Palestina. Apparently, they have nothing to do with Mittani. They are
Egyptian vassals in a part of the Levant that had for centuries been
considered as belonging to Egypt. How is this to be explained? Were they
Egyptian mercenaries?

Here are their names, as recorded in the index:

Aitukama/Etakkama/Itakkama etc., mayor of Qidsu (Qadesh)
Artamanya, mayor of S.iriba$ani, town east of the sea of Galilee
Birida$wa, mayor of A$tartu, biblical Ashtarot
Biridiya, mayor of Magidda, biblical Megiddo
Biryawaza/Biriyamaza/Biruaza/Birwaza, mayor of Damascus
Endaruta, mayor of Ak$apa, biblical Achshaph, near Akka
Mayarzana, mayor of Hasi, Tell Hizzin?, southwest of Baalbek
Paduzana, mayor in Syria?

There is not much Aryan pride in these people. They all prostrate
themselves "at the feet of the king, my lord and my Sun, seven times and
seven times", some of them "both on the stomach and on the back". Artamanya
even calls himself "a mere dog", and the mayor of Damascus is "the dirt at
your feet and the ground you tread on, the chair you sit on and the
footstool at your feet".

Best wishes,
Bjarte Kaldhol