ah,
who thereupon writes to the Pharaoh, protesting his loyalty to
Khu-n-Aten, declaring that he is "the house-dog" of the king, and that
he guards the land of the Amorites for "the king" his lord. He further
calls on the Egyptian commissioner Pakhanate, who had been ordered to
visit him, to bear witness that he was "defending" Zemar and its fields
for the king. That Pakhanate was friendly to Ebed-Asherah may be
gathered from a despatch of Rib-Hadad, in which he accuses that officer
of refusing to send any troops to the relief of Gebal, and of looking on
while Zemar fell. Ebed-Asherah goes on to beg the king to come himself,
and see with his own eyes how faithful a governor he really was.

The letters of Abimelech of Tyre told a different tale, and the
unfortunate Pharaoh might well be excused if he was as much puzzled as
we are to know on which side the truth lay, or whether indeed it lay on
either. Abimelech had a grievance of his own. As soon as Zimridi of
Sidon learned that he had been appointed governor of Tyre, he seized the
neighbouring city of Usu, which seems to have occupied the site of
Palaetyros on the mainland, thereby depriving the Tyrians of their
supplies of wood, food, and fresh water. The city of Tyre was at the
time confined to a rocky island, to which provisions and water had to be
conveyed in boats. Hence the hostile occupation of the town on the
mainland caused many of its inhabitants to die of want. To add to their
difficulties, the city was blockaded by the combined fleet of Sidon,
Arvad, and Aziru. Ilgi, "king of Sidon," seems to have fled to Tyre for
protection, while Abimelech reports that the king of Hazor had joined
the Beduin under Ebed-Asherah and his sons. It may be noted that a
letter of this very king of Hazor has been preserved, as well as another
from Ebed-Sullim, the Egyptian governor of the city, whose powers were
co-extensive with those of the king.

Soon afterwards, however, the Sidonian ships were compelled to retreat,
and the Tyrian governor made ready to pursue them. Meanwhile he sent his
messenger Elimelech to Khu-n-Aten with various presents, and gave the
king an account of what had been happening in "Canaan." The Hittite
troops had departed, but Etagama--elsewhere called Aidhu-gama--the
_pa-ur_ or "prince" of Kadesh, in the land of Kinza, had joined Aziru in
attacking Namya-yitsa, the governor of Kumidi. Abimelech adds that his
rival Zimridi of Sidon had collected ships and