“Aten in Amurru?,”
in G.B. Lanfranchi et al. (eds.), Leggo! Studies Presented to Frederick Mario Fales on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 96-98.
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The paper is devoted to a re-analysis of EA (Amarna Letter) 164, written by Aziru, king of Amurru, to the high Egyptian official Tutu at Akhetaten, during the Amarna period (ca. 1353-1336 BC). The focus of the contribution deals with the re-interpretation of the mention of an Egyptian deity, whose name is written in Akkadian as DINGIRA, previously interpreted as a reference to the god Amun (in 1915, by Otto Schroeder).
Conversely, the author proposes, considering the historical and chronological background of the letter, to read the name of the god Aten, who was the tutelary deity of Akhenaten (= Amenhotep IV) and the poliad god of the city. Three are the reasons supporting such a reading: “ First, there was no scribal tradition for the writing of the name in cuneiform – and it is likely that even in the Canaanite version of Aziru’s speech, as he was addressing his scribe, there may have been a hesitation as to the pronunciation of this new deity. Second, even from the little that may have transpired outside of the Aten circles, the very special sense of this new deity may have been so perceived as to suggest that it might have been more consonant with his mysterious nature, and at any rate with proper cultic protocol, not to even attempt to pronounce his name. Finally, there may have been an underlying uncertainty as to whether the deity was in fact still the ‘valid’ one by which the oath would have to be sworn” (p. 97).
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