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[[File:Amarna Akkadian letter.png|thumb|right|225px|[[Amarna letter EA 161]], [[Aziru]] to Pharaoh, title: ''An Absence Explained''.]]

'''Tunip''' was a [[city-state]] in western Syria in [[1350 BC|1350]]–[[1335 BC]], the period of the [[Amarna letters]]. The name "Syria" did not yet exist, though this was already the time of ancient [[Assyria]]. The regions were: [[Amurru kingdom|Amurru]], Nuhašše, the [[Amqu]] (the [[Beqaa Valley|Beqaa]]), [[Niya (kingdom)|Nii]], etc.

The record of the [[Name|appellation]] '' 'Tunip' '' is mainly from [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] records, ([[Thutmose III]], and [[Ramesses II]]), and especially the Amarna letters. (But a king named [[Tunip-Tessup]] is also known from roughly the same period.)

Tunip is especially mentioned in the Amarna letters of [[Aziru]], residing in [[Amurru kingdom|Amurru]] and in conflict with the king of [[Hittite Empire|Hatti]]. He is often claiming to reside in Tunip, until it is safe to leave, or to try to defend other cities/city-states of his region. The local region in Syria, [[Nuhašše]] is also in conflict, and is mentioned in 7 of Aziru's 13 EA letters, ([[EA (el Amarna)|EA]] for 'el [[Amarna]]').

==Location==
The exact location of Tunip remains uncertain, although there's now increasing evidence that it is at the site of Tell 'Acharneh.

<blockquote>
This important city was sought either in northern Phoenicia (Helck 1973) or in the Middle Orontes. Two prominent sites have been suggested in the latter region: Tell Hama in the modern city of [[Hama]] (Astour 1977) and Tell Asharneh in the southern Ghab Valley northwest of Hama (Klengel 1995<ref>Klengel, H. 1995 Tunip und andere Probleme der historischen Geographie Mittelsyriens. Pp. 125-134 in Immigration and Emigration within the Ancient Near East, edited by K. van Lerberghe and A. Schoors. Leuven: Peeters.</ref>).<ref>[http://archaeology.tau.ac.il/?projection=mineralogical-and-chemical-study-of-the-amarna-tablets Mineralogical and Chemical Study of the Amarna Tablets] Tel Aviv University</ref></blockquote>

The 70 hectare site of Tell Asharneh (also known as Tell 'Acharneh) on the banks of the Orontes River (near [[Tell Salhab]]) in Syria has been widely seen as the likely location of Tunip. The authors of the above study support the identification of Tunip as Tell Asharneh based on petrographic analysis.

A team of Canadian archaeologists have been conducting excavations at the site of Tell 'Acharneh, under the direction of Michel Fortin of [[Laval University]] in [[Quebec city]].<ref>[http://www.acharneh.hst.ulaval.ca/english/frameInter.html Canadian Archaeological Mission to Tell 'Acharneh]</ref>

==Amarna letters regarding ''Tunip''==
Five letters reference 'Tunip' in the Amarna letters [[Text corpus|corpus]], 3 from Aziru's sub-corpus.
:#EA 57–Title: ''"Of kings and Tunip"''-damaged letter
:#EA 59–Title: ''"From the citizens of Tunip"''-
:#[[Amarna letter EA 161|EA 161]]—''"An absence explained"''-[[Aziru]] letter no. 6 of 13
:#EA 165–''"Tunip threatened"''-Aziru letter no. 9 of 13
:#EA 167–''"The constant [[Hittites|Hittite]] menace"''-Aziru letter no. 11 of 13

===EA 59, ''"From the citizens of Tunip" ''===
:'''"To the king of Egypt, our lord: Message of ''the citizens of Tunip'', your servant. For you may all go well. And we [[Prostration formula|fall at the feet]] of my lord.'''
:'''My lord, thus says ''Tunip'', your servant: ''Tunip''—who '''''ruled''''' it in the past? Did not [[Thutmose III|Manakhpirya]]-(i.e. "Men-[[Kheper]]-[[Rê]]-iya"): '''''am-ma-ti-wu-uš (your''''' ancestor) '''''rule''''' it?'''
:'''The gods and the ...: '''''na-ab-ri-il-la-an''''' (=?) of the king of Egypt, our lord, dwell in ''Tunip'', and he should inquire of his ancients: '''''am-ma-ti''''' (ancient) when we did not belong to our lord, the king of Egypt-(named "Mizri"-see: [[Mizraim]]).'''
:'''And now, for 20–years, we have gone on writing to the king, our lord, but our [[Courier|messengers]] have stayed on with the king, our lord. And now, our lord, we ask for the son of [[Aki-Teššup|'Aki-]] [[Teshub|Teššup']] from the king, our lord. May our lord give him.'''
:'''My lord, '''''if''''' the king of Egypt has given the son of [[Aki-Teššup]], why does the king, our lord, call him back from the journey?'''
:'''And now [[Aziru]] is going to hear that in [[Hittites|Hittite]] territory a hostile fate has overtaken your servant, '''''a ruler''''' (and) your gardener.'''
:'''Should his (the king's) troops and his [[chariot]]s be delayed, Aziru will do to us just as he did to [[Niya (kingdom)|Nii]].'''
:'''If we ourselves are negligent and the king of Egypt does nothing about these things that Aziru is doing, then he will '''''surely''''' direct his hand against our lord.'''
:'''When Aziru entered [[Zemar|Sumur]]-([[Zemar]]), he did to them as he pleased, in the house of the king, our lord. But our lord did nothing about the(s)e things.'''
:'''And now ''Tunip'', your city, weeps, and its tears flow,–and there is no grasping of our hand.'''
:'''We have gone on writing to the king, our lord, the king of Egypt, for 20–years, and not a single word of our lord has reached us."''' -EA 59, lines 1-46 (complete)

===EA 161, ''"An absence explained"'', Aziru no. 6 of 13===
Letter EA 161 shows how Aziru claims he was made a 'mayor' of his region (or city), in [[Amurru kingdom|Amurru]].

:'''"To the [[Great King]], my lord, my god, [my Sun]: Message of ''[[Aziru]]'', your servant. I [[Prostration formula|fall at the feet]] of my lord, [m]y god, my Sun, 7 times and 7 times.'''
:'''My lord, I am your servant, and on my arrival in the presence of the king, my lord, I spoke of all my affairs in the presence of the king, my lord. My lord, do not listen to the treacherous men that denounce me in the presence of the king, my lord. I am your servant '''''forever'''''.'''
:'''The king, my lord, has spoken about [[Han'i]]. My lord, I was residing in ''Tunip'', and so I did not know that he had arrived. As soon as I heard, I went up after him, but I did not overtake him. May Han'i arrive safe and sound so that the king, my lord, can ask him how I provided for him. My brothers and [[Bet-ili]] were at his service; they gave [[oxen]], [[sheep]], and [[goat]]s, and [[bird]]s, his food and strong drink.'''
:'''I gave [[horse]]s and [[donkey|asses]], [f]or his journey. May the king, my lord, hear my words. [W]hen I come to the king, my lord, Han'i will go before me; like a mother and like a father he will provide for me. And no(w) my lord says, "You hid yourself from Han'i." –May your gods and [[Rê|the Sun]] be witness: (I swear):–"I was residing in ''Tunip''." '''
:'''The king, my lord, has spoken about the building of [[Zemar|Sumur]]-([[Zemar]]). The kings of [[Nuhašše]] have been at war with me and have taken my cities at the instruction of [[Hatip]]. So I have not built it. Now, in all haste, I am going to build it.'''
:'''And may my lord know that Hatip has taken half of the things that the king, my lord, gave (gave me). All the [[gold]] and [[silver]] that the king, my lord, gave me, Hatip has taken. May my lord know (this).'''
:'''Moreover, the king, my lord, also said, "Why did you provide for the [[Courier|messenger]] of the king of [[Hittite Empire|Hatti]], but did not provide for my messenger?" But this is the land of my lord, and the king, my lord, made '''''me''''' –one of the mayors!'''
:'''Let my lord's messenger come to me so I can give all that I promised in the presence of the king, my lord. I will give food supplies, [[ship]]s, [[oil]], [[Wooden log|logs]], of '''''[[buxus|boxwood]]''''', and (other) woods.''' -EA 161, lines 1-56 (complete)

==See also==
{{commons category|EA 161, obverse|EA 161}}
*[[Tunip-Tessup]]
*[[Aziru]]
*[[Nuhašše]]
*[[Niya (kingdom)]]
*[[Amqu]]
*[[Amurru kingdom|Amurru]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

*[[William L. Moran|Moran, William L.]] ''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, ISBN 0-8018-6715-0)

{{coord missing|Syria}}

[[Category:Amarna letters locations]]
[[Category:Assyrian settlements]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Syria]]

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