Amarna letter EA 288

Amarna letter EA 288 Titled: Benign Neglect
Rib-Hadi letter to Pharaoh
Material	Clay
Size	Height: 16.2 cm (6.4 in) Width: 10.5 cm (4.1 in)
Writing	cuneiform (Akkadian language)
Created	~1360-1335 BC (Amarna Period)
Period/culture	Middle Babylonian
Place	Akhetaten
Present location	Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin no. VAT 1643

Amarna letter EA 288, titled Benign Neglect,^[1] is a tall, finely-inscribed clay tablet letter, approximately 7.5 in tall x 4.5 in wide, broken into two pieces, from Abdi-Heba the mayor/ruler of Jerusalem, of the mid 14th century BC Amarna letters. The scribe of his six letters to Egypt were penned by the "Jerusalem scribe"; EA 288 is a moderately long, and involved letter.

The Amarna letters, about 300, numbered up to EA 382, are a mid 14th century BC, about 1350 BC and 20–25 years later, correspondence. The initial corpus of letters were found at Akhenaten's city Akhetaten, in the floor of the Bureau of Correspondence of Pharaoh; others were later found, adding to the body of letters.

Letter EA 288 (also see here-(Obverse): [1]), is numbered VAT 1643, from the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin.

A summary of letter structure: EA 288 begins with a short address to the Pharaoh. Immediately, 3 segue paragraphs begin the letter, as "dramatic statements" by the Jerusalem scribe (and Abdi-Heba); a fourth segued statement follows. Then the purpose of the letter begins, covering the second half of the letter's obverse and the reverse.

Paragraphs I-VIII (IX), complete the letter's obverse (as seen in photo).