Aramaic Documents

The Aramaic Letters of Arsames of the 5th Century BC
as first outlined by Immanuel Velikovsky and expanded on by CIAS

The Cowhide Letters
Time frames of Interactions between Greece and Egypt
Summary of the powers of Psamtek
King Uzziah and Persian Satraps
Nekhtor, where is he?
Necropolis Fragmentary Aramaic Texts

The Papyrus Harris
The Persians in the Canopus Decree
Si Amon, the last Dynastic representative

Arriving in Persian times we also have a change in writing technology. Clay tablets and stone were now often replaced by papyrus, leather and occasionally metal foils. These letter writing surfaces are easier to process for the scribe but archaeologically speaking, they are also part of the reason why in situ written source material of the Persian period is much scarcer than even during the age of the Assyrian empire just before. The consequence is that we do not know as much about the Persians as we would like to and today, for that reason, some scholars are reaching incongruous conclusions as a result. This situation also should prepare us to be very cautious in accepting historical explanations mostly based on archaeological excavation evidence. More often then not it is a difficult task to interpret such evidence correctly in the absence of anciently written guidelines and accurate points of references.

Below we discuss anciently written, contemporary letters which are among the only sources shedding light on the goings on during the time of the Persian Empire. As such, theses source letters ought to help us understand a little better about people and their duties. As we witness today the difference between reading a picture based writing method, hieroglyphics, and telling the same history in alphabetic script, these letters stem from a time when hieroglyphics were still used in Egypt. We believe that the discrepancies we are discussing on this website are largely based on the differences between these two - hieroglyphic and alphabetic differences, where hieroglyphics, as a less understood or verifiable language, is the weaker component in our opinion. Hieroglyphics are less understood since we are trying to understand its meaning largely from late or later period lingual relationships and source information.

The Cowhide Letters

In 1932 the German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt (1863-1938) was in Cairo, Egypt, when he was contacted by an antiquities dealer who offered to sell him a leather pouch full of leather scrolls written in Aramaic. The dealer did not seem to know where these scrolls originated from but there were 14 scrolls and a number of fragments in the bag. It was Eugen Mittwoch, a Hebrew-Aramaic scholar, who first read these scrolls. [Godfrey R. Driver, `Aramaic Documents of the 5th Century BC', (Oxford, 1954)]

Ten of these letters were from Arsames and addressed to various people. Among them 4 were to `Nekht-hor' and 3 also to him but by different senders. Persepolis as it once appeared

Yet, in all these letters the name of Arsames is mentioned. From the content it was deduced that these letters were written during the reign of the Persian King Darius II (about 424-410 BC). At that time Egypt was a satrapy of the Persian crown and as such paid an annual tribute. The man in charge in overseeing that this tribute was being paid was Arsames or short Arsa. He is already known from cuneiform tablets as having been in charge of a sizeable business. He had large cattle farms. In one day a transaction took place involving 1809 heads of cattle in Nippur, Babylonia and on two following days 582 more heads of cattle. In those days cattle were leased and the lessee was responsible for tending and folding the herds and flocks entrusted to him.

Egypt was one of the biggest income producers to the Persian kings bringing in "700 talents, twice as much as all Syria-Palestine combined." Egypt also fed Persian army personnel to the rate of 120,000 rations per day. This oppressive tribute was made even more severe in the days of Darius II (Nothus) and presents the background to the travels of Wennamon to Byblos and later Persia's desire to gain Egypt back as tribute payer in the days of Ramses III/Nectanebo I.

Arsame's letters to Nekht-hor have no introductory salute, and convey his haughty attitude toward his Egyptian plenipotentiaries. They deal mainly with exacting tribute from Egypt and even more so with personal land and serf properties of Arsames and two or three of his officials who, like himself, were related to the Persian royal house.

A typical letter is here reproduced:

"From Arsham (

Arsam) to Nehtihur (

Nekht-hor): And now previously, when the Egyptians rebelled, then Psamshek (

Psamtek) the previous pekida [governor] took strict care of our domestic staff and property which were [are] in Egypt, so that my estate suffered no sort of loss; he also sought out enough staff of craftsmen of various skills and other property and made them over to my estate ...

He then reprimands Nekht-hor.

"Do you show yourselves active and take strict care of our staff and property that my estate may suffer no sort of loss; also seek out enough staff of craftsmen of various races from elsewhere and bring them into my court and mark them with my brand and make them over to my estate, just as the previous pekidia [governors] used to do.
Thus let it be known to thee: if my staff [of serfs] or other property suffer any sort of loss and you [plural] do not seek out others from elsewhere and add them to my estate, you will be called strictly to account, and reprimanded. Artahay is aware of this order, Rast is the clerk." [G.R. Driver, Ibid., Letter VII, p. 28]

From Warfis to Nekht-hor.
And now, Maspat my officer has sent word to me and said, saying: `A letter from Arsam was delivered in Babylon to Psamshek, son of Ahapi, to assign certain Cicilians, 5 [men], (to me)' and 5 Cicilians, all (told) [5] men, [were delivered] to me in Babylon.'
Afterwards (I) asked Nekht-hor for the Cicilians, 5 men, but he did not deliver them to me.
Now thus says Warfis:
`Behold! do thou look at Arsam's letter which they brought to Psamshek regarding the Cicilians whom they promised to me, 5 men, [and] do [thou] deliver to Maspat those 5 Cicilians apart from (those) who were delivered (to him) at Babylon, 5 men.'
Also he sent a complaint about thee, saying:
`Nekht-hor has taken and appropriated the wine which is in Pampris and the crop from the land, all (of it).'
Now restore the wine (and) the crop and anything else that thou hast taken, all (of it), to Maspat, (that) he may appropriate it to my estate lest, when thou comest here, thou art (required to) make good the loss of anything that thou hast taken and art called to account on this (matter).
Also Maspat has sent word, saying:
`He has beaten up my lady's domestic staff and taken property from them.'
Now (as for) thee - thou hast no business with my domestic staff; so restore to my staff whatever thou hast forcibly taken from them, so that Maspat may not again send a complaint." [Ibid., Letter VIII, p. 36]

From these letters we learn how the Persians exploited Egypt leading eventually to military resistance by Inaros/Ramses XI, Amyrteos and Ramses III/Nectanebo. Inaros, very early in the courier of Arsames, succeeded in capturing Marea located near the site were later would be Alexandria. After capturing this town he had little trouble in bringing the rest of the country on his side. But his successes were not a result of his strength and he knew he would soon loose it again unless he could find some allies. He appealed to Athens who agreed to send a fleet of 200 ships to Egypt. No doubt the royal credentials of Inaros, and probable access to state funds to pay for this support, helped convince Athens that this might be a good decision. In the revised model we believe that Inaros, a contemporary of the Persian plenipotentiary Arsames, was none other than Ramses XI as we point it out in our discussion of the 21st Dynasty.

Arsames, Nekht-hor, Nekht-hor's son Psamtek, Ianaros and Amyrteous lived during the 5th century BC. Archaeologists found basalt slabs of Psamtek at Naucratis in Egypt which also had the name of one, Nekht-nebef engraved on it. Both then, Psamtek and Nekht-nebef were contemporaries. But it was Arsames who, next to the great King of Persia, employed these officials to make sure that he himself and his lord were receiving a steady stream of riches from Egypt. In doing so he employed coercion, confiscating properties under the slightest pretense and force, methods the ancients had long known and lived under. Nekht-hor, Nekht-nebef and Psamtek were powerful officials in their own homeland and wrote their name in cartouches but were not seated kings with a pedigree. Modern historians displaced them from their true time period and selected them to represent the 26th Dynasty, but the records of their wars, laws, overcoming the eleven rulers, tombs and mummies are non-existent. Modern historians continue to mix the facts about these individuals of the 4th century BC with those of the 26th Dynasty also known as the 19th Dynasty of Egypt. They are telling the story, first from the Egyptian monuments, and again from the Greek authors. Psamtek was not Psammetichus and Nekht-nebef was not Nectanebo I. They were perfunctories of the Persian crown.
We know more about the 18th Dynasty then we know about the 26th, even though it is much closer to us in time. May the reader be made aware of this confused period in history, records of which are sparse because they were not seated pharaohs.

The personalities of interest to us we meet then in the letters of Arsames and on Egyptian monuments. Here are the sources of our information:

Persian Evidence

Egyptian Evidence

Ahapi, father of Psamtek - Letter II

No information - If Psamtek was a king it seems that his father should have had some clout.

Psamsek or Psamtek, son of Ahapi - Letter II

The Name Psamtek appears on a ballustrade the reverse side of which is shown here and has the figure and name of Nekhtnebef carved on it.

The hieroglyphic symbol for the cobra snake to either side of his cartouche are intended to show how he is nourished by that deity.

Nehitur/Nekhtor/Nakhthoreb/Nectanebo II -
Letters VI-XIII

Nekhthorheb - See `Two Figures' by Paul Tresson in this paper on Arsames. The extensive text on his sarcophagus has not been translated and may contain the name of his mother `Nes-en-per-Mut'. His sarcophagus served once as a font in a church of St. Anastasius, which was later turned into a mosque where it was shown as the coffin of Alexander. It is now in the British Museum. It is of some interest that the sarcophagus of Ramses III, now in the Louvre Museum, was built on the model of Nekhthorheb's sarcophagus. The similarity extends from the semi-oval shape at one end to many other features. It is no wonder in revised view for these two personalities were not separated by 770 years (Ramses III 1182-1151 BC/ Nectanebo II 380-343 BC) but merely one generation (Nakhthoreb*/Nekhtor/Nehitur about 424-405?BC/ Ramses III 379-361 BC).
* Some books use the name Nakhthoreb instead of Nekhthorheb but the consonants remain the same.
The name of Nekhhorheb appears also in inscriptions at the Siwa Oasis Temple of Umm Ubaydah.

Nehitur

Nekhtnebef - Contemporary of Psamtek See the stele of his found at Naucratis. There is also a finely crafted sarcophagus of him now in the Cairo Museum. Nekhtnebef and Psamtek are engraved on a ballustrade.

The Time Frames of Arsames, Ahapi, Nekht-nebef, Psamtek, Herihor, Wenamon, Nekht-hor-heb, Amyrteous, Acoris, Nectanebo I and Tachos.

490 BC

Battle of Marathon.

485 BC

Xerxes rules over Egypt and Sudan; High Priest Amenhotep.

ChSharsha/Xarxa

470 BC

Court procedures in tomb robberies; government of western Thebes invested.

465 BC

Athenians send troops to help Inaros.

Inaros' rebellion against Persia (460 BC); Amyrtaeus I.

460 BC

Age of Pericles (460-429 BC) begins.

Arsames appointed satrap over Egypt; High Priest Amenhotep, for supporting Inaros, removed from office by Pinehas the military commander.

455 BC

Aeschylus dies (525-456 BC).

Arsames makes Ahapi his administrator. [Letter II states that Psamtek was the son of Ahapi.]

450 BC

Sacred War (449-448 BC): Athens vs. Sparta.

Arsames appoints Psamtek to govern southern and Nekhtnebef to govern northern Egypt.[Nehitur, first refered to in Letter VII succeeded Psamtek.]

445 BC

Thirty Year Peace signed between Athens and Sparta.

Psamtek sends grain to Athens; Greek and Carian mercenaries at Abu Simbel.

440 BC

Nekht-nebef governor of northern Egypt; Herihor appointed high priest, 438 BC.

430 BC

Peleponnesian War (431-404 BC).

Nesunebded appointed governor at Tanis.

420 BC

Nekht-hor-heb appointed by Arsames governor of Egypt (424 BC).

415 BC

Wenamon sent by Herihor to Byblos (419 BC).

410 BC

Jewish Temple at Elephantine destroyed.

405 BC

Time of Sophocles - born 496 BC;
Euripides - born 489 BC.
Nearing the close of the era of the Persian pekida Nekhthorheb.

Wenamon builds the Aghurmi and Umm Ubaydah temples in the Siwa Oasis; Nekht-hor-heb mourns Arsames (about 407 BC).

400 BC

Xenophon in Cyrus the Younger's march.

Thucydides (ca. 460 - ca. 400 BC).

Amyrtaeus seizes power.

High Priest Peinuzem I.

395 BC

Socrates supposed trial and death (399 BC). See Here!

Nepherites establishes native rule in Egypt.

390 BC

Duration of Corinthian War (394-387 BC).

385 BC

Acoris (393-380 BC); High Priest Psusennes.

375 BC

Nectanebo I (Ramses III-Nekht-a Neb) is seated on throne of Egypt 379-361 BC.

370 BC

Pharnabazus brings his troops from Asia Minor, is opposed by Chabrias, then helped by Iphicrates.

373-358 BC

The Satrap's Revolt

360 BC

Agesilaus leaves for Egypt in 361 BC.

Tachos, Ramses IV, asked for his support of Egypt against the Persians.

A Summary of the Powers of Psamtek and What that Implies

1. Psamtek was the enforcer of the wishes of Arsames.

2. In that capacity his functions were wide ranging.

1. Psamtek had police powers without fear to be held accountable by any higher authority than Arsames himself.
2. His functions included:
a) staffing, the accounting of all activities to administer wishes of Arsames.
b) branding of skilled, enslaved, craftsmen
c) perform accurate accounting of all income and expenditures
d) Transportation of staff to other subordinates of Arsames
e) Punishment for infractions by servants and slaves; included beatings
f) Power over military personal

1) Such powers imply that there was no pharaoh in Egypt during the time of their activities and that in effect they were `kings' in Egypt but not royalty.
2) They had unhindered access to public property and tax records
3) They had unhindered legal, judicial and enforcement powers
4) They wrote their names in cartouches, produced stela and temples and other constructions were erected in their name etc.
5) There was probably a provincial tax collector or governor in the Persian period by the name of `Shuba' whose seal impressions (reading in crude letters : `Shuba Ammon') were found at Tell el-Umeiri, building B. [See BAR, Nov 1993, p. 34.]

Uzziah and Persian Satraps

Other historians have been speculating that `Arzu' described as `Arzu the Asiatic' was `Uzziah-Azariah', king of Judah who then supposedly ruled in Egypt between the 19th and 20th Dynasty without specifying if they mean he was physically present in Egypt or if he ruled through his proxies.
We have shown that this `Arzu' was the Persian satrap `Arsames' of whom there is no record that he ever set foot in Egypt. In our opinion this identification with a Judean king is once again a result of faulty chronology. It seems hard to proof that a Judean king of the later 8th century would have been such a conniving and hard driving overseer of a satrapy as Arsames was. We need only read the letters of `Arsames' to realize that they fit the overtones of Persian satraps. A comparison may be at hand with the Persian satraps Ariamnes [satrap of Cappadocia), Artaphernes, Mausolus, satrap of Caria in the 4th century BC, Hydarnes (the general who led the Persians at Thermopylae), Sisamnes, Pharnabazos, Tithrantes, Orontes of Daskylium and Tissaphernes, descendant of Hydarnes, of Sardis(413-395 BC). [See: Maspero, `History of Egypt', Vol. IX, p. 296 and other books] Darius, who with his son-in-law Cyrus took Babylon, had satraps by the name of Gobryas and Gadata, who would not materially assist him in the campaign. Aryandes, satrap under Darius I, was executed for overstepping his office. Hydarnes also became satrap of Media. From sources we know that he was still satrap in -499. According to Herodotus, his son Sisamnes (-480) was satrap of Aria and the younger Hydarnes (II) of the whole Greek side of Asia over the Lydian region. And true to the statement of Herodotus, Persian names express some bodily or mental excellence and end all with the letter `s' to the Greeks, however, according to others the ending `ek' as in `Toprak', `Marlik', `Psamshek' or `Psamtek' is a characteristic ending for Persian names. [According to Professor Martin Dickson, Princeton University; See A.H. Sayce, Notes on Assyrian & Egyptian History in PSBA, Vol. XXX, 1908, p. 13-(13)-19; He cites names like: Baleus, of which Xerxes, the Persian Khshayarsha, is given as an equivalent, Arma-mithres (Sos-armos), Belokhos, Balaios, Altadas (corruption of Askatades/Derkatades?), Mamitos, Sphairos (Sparetos, Sparthaios), Thinaios, Teutamos, Derkylos, Pyriatides] Seal impression evidence was found for another Persian period during excavations of building B at Tell el-`Umeiri. The seal was probably written in the Ammonite language reading `Shuba, Ammon'. Scholars believe these types of seals were used in the Persian province of Ammon in this case by the provincial governor or tax collector by the name of `Shuba'. [`Biblical Archaeology Review', Nov/Dec, 1993, p. 34]

Conclusion:
During the 5th Century BC, when Nekhtor and Psamtek were in office, we would expect to find their presence evidenced by inscriptions in stone and monuments.
Reliefs and inscriptions bearing their name were found but ascribed to the `pharaoh's' of the 26th Dynasty assigned to the early 6th Century BC.
According to conventional scholars, no Egyptian monumental evidence was found for the presence of the Nekhthor and Psamtek known to us from the letters of Arsames. We believe this is so because they are already used, and wrongly so we might add, by these same scholars to describe the kings of the 26th Dynasty.
Therefore Nekhthor and Psamtek were not only separated and displaced in time but also made into personalities they never were (i.e. Pharaoh Necho and Psammetichus).
Some books on Egyptian history claim that there were three Psamteks to get around the dilemma which otherwise exists without giving any reasons or sources for that claim.

This travesty of misidentification perpetrated by modern scholars cries out for correction.

Necropolis Fragmentary Aramaic Texts

Between about 1966 to 1975 numerous fragmentary Aramaic papyri and ostraca in Aramaic and Phoenician were found by Professor W.B. Emery, Dr. G.T. Martin and H.S. Smith on the Sacred Animal Necropolis site at North Saqqara. The papyri were numbered from 1 to 202 and the ostraca from I to XXVI. "Each text has in addition two other numbers... The first is the excavator's number: those papyri and ostraca found by Emery are numbered by the grid square of the excavation, those found by Martin according to the season when they were excavated; the papyri are additionally designated AP (Aramaic Papyrus). The second number, that given in square brackets after the excavator's number, represents the entry of the object in the consecutive register of the excavation kept for the Egyptian Antiquities Organization. Papyrus 1 is therefore numbered `H5-AP44 [1951], H5 being the grid square of discovery; ostracon III is 71/2-290 [5558], 71/2." [J.B. Segal, H.S. Smith, Aramaic Texts From North Saqqara, Oxford, 1983]

The Aramaic papyri No. 1-63, 66-101, 107-110, 112-188 are fragments found in 1966-7 in a deposit of organic material in the large walled courtyard west of the rock-cut entrance to the catacombs of the Mothers of Apis and north of the Main Temple Enclosure. [W.B.Emery in JEA 53 (1967), 141-5] The Main Temple Enclosure comprised a central shrine, probably dedicated to Osiris the Baboon and Horus the Falcon. Decorated architectural elements from the temple-shrines show the cartouches of Nectanebo II (that is the conventional Nekhtharhebe/Nakhthorheb) ... .

Archaeology is of little help in dating these papyri; it shows that these accumulated archives may have been discarded and deposited at the site at any time between the 3rd and 4th century AD, and they may have been written at an earlier date. The texts are witten by various hands. Most are in the style of Aramaic familiar from Elephantine and elsewhere in Egypt during the period of Persian domination.
An interesting feature of the papyri is the interchange between and , and and in Aramaic words. At first sight these phenomenon may argue for the period of Persian rule in Egypt when the two alternative forms of pronuncuation were current side by side, before, that is, and became the invariable rule. But we may have here a particular local dialect.

Calendrical information might have given a clue to the dating of the papyri. Some Egyptian month names appear, ... however they do not appear in the same context ... A number of year dates are given without the name of the king. Two are of significance. At No. 30a, 1 there is an allusion to the 34th year and at No. 32, 1f. to the 37th and 38th years. If we assume - certainly rightly - that these are regnal years, they can apply to Psammetichus I (conv. 664-610 BC) or Amasis (conv. 570-526 BC) of the Saite Dynasty or to Artaxerxes I (465-424 BC) or Artaxerxes II (404-359 BC) among the Achaemenids. The 34th year - but not the 37th and 38th years - could apply to Darius I (522-486 BC).

Of these kings the most likely is Artaxerxes I in the 5th century or Artaxerxes II largely in the 4th century. Two dates in other papyri mention a king by name - the 5th year of Darius and the 9th year of Darius. In both passages the name Darius is spelled in the longer form which would indicate a later, rather than an earlier usage. It is unlikely, then, that it refers to Darius I. If it refers to Darius II, the 5th year would be 419 BC, the year of the famous `Passover papyrus' from Elephantine; the 9th year would be 415 BC. [Ibid. p. 1-4]

But these texts feature a none royal name we already referred to above, Psamtik, not necessarily the Psamtek we mentioned earlier though. No doubt there were numerous period names in fashion at any given time in history. In addition reference is made to the "... Ionians and the Carians in the harbor of, presumably, Memphis. The recipient of the letter is instructed to prevent them from going out by blocking their passage(?); he is to detain those Ionians and Carians that he has seized and to withold from them equipment and food."

The name `Psamtik' occurs in these very fragmentary texts:

a) H5-AP34 [1581] p. 45, 46; `... son of Psamtik';
b) H5-AP58 [2201], p. 64; `house of Psamtik';
c) H5-AP11 [1558], p. 76; `Psamtik son of SH';

Papyrus H5-AP43 [1590] p. 41, 42.

1. "... also their ships
2. Ionians () and Carians (`krky' to be read Carians) that will say
3. these ... ; afterwards you will not permit to go out in a forward direction, but
4. ... of the barrier; they will be carrying bags of tanner's work that will come that
5. you will not permit passage; and the Ionians and Carians that you will seize keep with you
6. i(f) they will be able to flee in a forward direction. Let there be six chains there until from you
7. Now you appoint suitable men; between the gates let them guard strictly
8. equipment and food; they shall not permit the Ionians and Carians
9. when these are there; afterwards do not release for
10. complement of the ships, equipment and food
11. ... Egyptians, do thus when neither food nor ...
12. and from there also afterwards from the king was sent
13. and the reckoning between the gates of the sea when neither food nor
14. ... these will find from there suitable men
15. these ...; make for them most worthy men and put for them
16. n]ow when food and the complement of the ships for each
17. they will [...] to these rascals. Iddinmarduk wrote this."