. At length,
however, the majority of them reached the British Museum and the
Berlin Museum, while others drifted into the museums at Cairo, St.
Petersburg, and Paris. When they were deciphered, Mitanni was
discovered, and a flood of light thrown on the internal affairs of
Egypt and its relations with various kingdoms in Asia, while glimpses
were also afforded of the life and manners of the times.

The letters covered the reigns of Amenhotep III, the great-grandson of
Thothmes III, and of his son Akhenaton, "the dreamer king", and
included communications from the kings of Babylonia, Assyria, Mitanni,
Cyprus, the Hittites, and the princes of Phoenicia and Canaan. The
copies of two letters from Amenhotep III to Kallima-Sin, King of
Babylonia, had also been preserved. One deals with statements made by
Babylonian ambassadors, whom the Pharaoh stigmatizes as liars.
Kallima-Sin had sent his daughter to the royal harem of Egypt, and
desired to know if she was alive and well. He also asked for "much
gold" to enable him to carry on the work of extending his temple. When
twenty minas of gold was sent to him, he complained in due course that
the quantity received was not only short but that the gold was not
pure; it had been melted in the furnace, and less than five minas came
out. In return he sent to Akhenaton two minas of enamel, and some
jewels for his daughter, who was in the Egyptian royal harem.

Ashur-uballit, king of Ashur, once wrote intimating to Akhenaton that
he was gifting him horses and chariots and a jewel seal. He asked for
gold to assist in building his palace. "In your country", he added,
"gold is as plentiful as dust." He also made an illuminating statement
to the effect that no ambassador had gone from Assyria to Egypt since
the days of his ancestor Ashur-nadin-akhe. It would therefore appear
that Ashur-uballit had freed part of Assyria from the yoke of Mitanni.

The contemporary king of Mitanni was Tushratta. He corresponded both
with his cousin Amenhotep III and his son-in-law Akhenaton. In his
correspondence with Amenhotep III Tushratta tells that his kingdom had
been invaded by the Hittites, but his god Teshup had delivered them
into his hand, and he destroyed them; "not one of them", he declared,
"returned to his own country". Out of the booty captured he sent
Amenhotep several chariots and horses, and a boy and a girl. To his
sister Gilu-khipa, who was one of the Egyptian Pharaoh's wives, he
gifted go