Abdi-Heba

One of the Amarna letters. A letter from Abdi-Ḫeba of Jerusalem to the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III. 1st half of the 14th century BCE. From Tell el-Amarna, Egypt. Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin

Abdi-Ḫeba (Abdi-Kheba, Abdi-Ḫepat, or Abdi-Ḫebat) was a local chieftain of Jerusalem during the Amarna period (mid-1330s BC). Egyptian documents have him deny he was a mayor (ḫazānu) and assert he is a soldier (we'w), the implication being he was the son of a local chief sent to Egypt to receive military training there.[1]

EA 161, letter by Aziru, leader of Amurru, stating his case to pharaoh (note paragraph divisions).

Also unknown is whether he was part of a dynasty that governed Jerusalem or whether he was put on the throne by the Egyptians. Abdi-Ḫeba himself notes that he holds his position not through his parental lineage but by the grace of Pharaoh, but this might be flattery rather than an accurate representation of the situation. At this time the area he administered from his garrison may have had a population of fifteen hundred people and Jerusalem would have been a 'small highlands stronghold' in the fourteenth century BC with no fortifications or large buildings.[2]

  1. ^ Donald B. Redford, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times, Princeton University Press, 1992 p. 270.
  2. ^ Finkelstein, Israel & Silberman, Neil Asher The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, 2001, The Free Press, New York City, ISBN 0-684-86912-8 p. 239