Abdi-Heba asks for Help

In the nineteenth century an ancient archive was discovered in Egypt containing more than 350 letters sent to the Egyptian pharaoh in the fourteenth century BCE. Among them six were sent to Pharaoh Akhenaton by Abdi-Heba, the king of Jerusalem, who ruled the city under Egypt. The Abdi-Heba letters contain a fascinating description of Canaan at that time, and include requests for help in his struggle against his enemies.

In excavations by Dr. Eilat Mazar in the area of the Ophel at the foot of the Temple Mount, a small fragment of a clay plaque was found bearing remnants of words inscribed in Akkadian. Among them are words “you were,” “after that” and “to do.” The form of the writing and the plaque recall the El Amarna letters.
An examination of the clay from which the plaque was made revealed its source to be Jerusalem. Thus, it may be posited that this is a copy of one of the Abdi-Heba letters, which had been prepared for deposit in the Jerusalem archive, or perhaps a letter that was meant to be sent but due to unknown events, it never was.