Map of Old Testament Israel - Aduru

Aduru
H-4 on the Map

Aduru: Dura. Aduru was mentioned in the Amarna letters as a city hostile to the prince of Pehel (Pella).

Mutbaal (Akk. "man of Baal") was a Canaanite king of the Amarna Period. He is identified in the Amarna letters as a son of Labaya, the ruler of the hill country north of Jerusalem, including the territory in the vicinity of the city of Shachmu (biblical Shechem). Mutbaal may be the son whose association with the Habiru raiders Labaya denounced in EA 254. He ruled in Pella on the eastern side of the Jordan river. After his father's death at the hands of the citizens of Gina, Mutbaal and his brother continued their assaults on other Canaanite rulers and their holdings, employing Habiru mercenaries. Eventually Biryawaza of Damascus was ordered by the Egyptian court to take armed action against the sons of Labaya. (EA 250) David Rohl and a minority of scholars identify Mutbaal with Ishbaal or Ish-bosheth, the son of the Israelite King Saul, but the chronology that would make this identification feasible is not accepted by the majority of scholars. It cannot be denied that the names have exactly the same meaning, but two people may have the same name and still belong to different time-periods. Another interesting parallel is that while both fathers (Labaya, Saul) had their capitals West of the Jordan, the sons had theirs in Transjordan. In Rohl's historical view, it would not have been Mutbaal but Jonathan who displeased Labaya by associating with the Habiru. Mutbaal's brother in the post-Labaya period would be David, his brother-in-lawesthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutbaal

 

More Information about Aduru and the Amarna Tablets

List of Mutbaal's 2 letters to Pharaoh
1.EA 255—title: "No destination too far"–See: Karaduniyash
2.EA 256—title: "Oaths and denials"- Moran, The Amarna Letters, pp 308-310.
EA 256 is about Mutbaal, and Pella-(Pihilu); a list of cities in the letter, in the Golan Heights=(Garu)—Udumu, Aduru, Araru, Mešta-(Meshta), Magdalu, Heni-anabi-(Kheni-anabi), Sarqu, Hayyunu, & Yabiluma. People mentioned in this letter include Dadua, Yishuya and Ayab, whom Rohl identifies with David, Jesse, and Joab. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutbaal

Mut-Balu to Ianhamu
EA#256 gc(35): "To Ianhamu, my lord, say. Thus saith Mut-Ba-lu, they servant: At the two feet of my lord I fall down. Just as Mut-Ba-lu has said in thye presence, Aiab is escaped. It has been concealed (hihbę) how that the king if Bihiši fled from the deputy (zukini) of the king, hos lord.[n256] As true as the king, my lord, lives; as true as the king, my lord, lives, Aiab is not in Bihiši. Behold, he is for two m[o]nths ..... Even Benenima as thou. Even Tadua ask thou. Even Jašuia ask thou, whether he has not, since ........ -Marduk has returned home, hurried forth from the city of Aštarti, now that all the cities of the land Gari, (namely), Udumu, Aduri, Araru, Meštu, Magdalim, Hinianabi, Zarki, are hostile. Hawini (and) Jabišiba are conquered. Further, behold: After thou didst send me a tablet I wrote to him. Until thou arrivest from thy trip, behold, he will come to Bihiši and will hearken to thy words." [End of the letter]
Topography: Gari: Deut. 3:14; Joshua 12:5; 13:11, 13; Could be Kur garu, the land of Garu; may be shortened form of biblical `Gashuru (Geshurites)' according to Benjamin Mazaar; BAR, Jul/Aug 1992, p. 44; Others translate `Bihisi?' as `Pella?'.

Comments: There is a Matinu Balu mentioned in the annals of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III. "In the year of Daian-Assur (6th year) ... I departed from Niniveh. ... To Karkar I drew near. Karkar, his royal city I destroyed. ... 200 soldiers of Matinu-Ba'il, the Arvadite ..." [Luckenbill, `Records of Assyria', Vol. II, Sec. 610, 611.] Together the information from this EA letter and the Assyrian record we may connect Mut-Balu with the city of Arvad. From Josephus, who quoted Menander, we know that a Metten-Baal var. Matgenus was a grandson of Ithobal (Ethbal) and a nephew of Jezebel. [Josephus, `Against Apion', Bk. I, Sec. 18; "... he was slain by Ithobalus ... he (who) was succeeded by his son Badezorous ... he was succeeded by Matgenu (var. Metten-Baal) his son..." and Antiquities, Bk. VIII, ch. XIII, Sec. 1; "Ahab... he took to wife the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Tyrians and Sidonians, whose name was Jezebel ...".] Matinu-Bail and Metten-Baal are presumably the same person as the Mut-Balu in the EA letters. This identification is further strengthened by another name we find in both, the EA letters and in the records of Shalmaneser III. This name is the name of a city, "But let the king direct his attention towards his servant and give him Uzu in order that he may live .. and drink water." EA#150. .. "200 soldiers of the Usanateans" [Luckenbill, `Ass. Records', Vol. II, Sec. 611.] In revised view `Jasuia/Yishua' could not be Joshua.https://wwwestspecialtyinterests.net/eae.php#256

Mut-Balu or Mut-Bahlum to the king
EA#255 gc(25): "[T]o the king, [my] lord and my sun, say. Thus saith Mut-Bahl[um], thy servant, the dust of th[y] two feet, the clay whereon thou treadest (Isa. 41:25): At the feet of the king, my lord, sevent imes and seven times I fall down. The king, my lord, has sent Hâya to [m]e to say: `Caravans have been sent, indeed, to Hanakalbat; so, then, semd them (father).' Who am I that I should not send caravans of the king, my lord, farther (Esth. 8:10)? Behold, [La]baja, my father [has serve]d the king, his lord, [and he] has sent on [all car]avans [which] the king [had se]nt to Hanagalbat. Let the king, my lord, send caravans to Karaduniaš. I will bring them in so that they be completely safe." [End of the complete letter]

Comments: Mut-Baal of Pi-hi-li (Pella, on the east bank of the Jordan) could be Labaya's son. Given the tendency toward syncretism in religion, a combination of Yahwism and Baalism (1.Kings 18:21), we might expect the Syrio-Palestinians to have both, a Yahwistic and a pagan name (the gods Mot and Baal). There is a good probability that Labaya was the Edomite king Mesha and his son Mut-Balu was in charge of escorting Egyptian caravans to Mitanni/Babylonia. Coming from Egypt on the way to Babylon one would pass through Arvad the city of Mut-Balu. A word on paganism. There is a vast difference between what wika or pagans say they believe, what they claim and what wika paganism really is. Many people, disillusioned with Christianity, join wika groups without really knowing what they get into. Despite the claim that wika pagans do not believe in a devil and exhibit a garb of innocence, they tap into another power. But there is a right kind of power and a false kind. We must be very careful on these matters. That ought to raise a red flag in all of us. Basically it is a secretive religion and things go on in initiated circles which are destructive and evil. Parents you do not want your children involved in any of these fads. Yes, evil can exist in some Christian circles, but be more discerning. Wika Paganism is driven by Hollywood movies, especially innocent appearing children movies, video games, the Internet and books to name a fewest Get out of wika, sorcery or witchcraft of any type as fast as possible. The Bible forbids the following: "And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." Revelation 9:20-21. https://wwwestspecialtyinterests.net/eae.php#256

Free Bible - El Amarna Letters (Biblical Archaeology) Tel el Amarna was in ancient Egypt near the Nile River about halfway between Memphis and Thebes. In 1988 there were about 400 cuneiform tablets discovered ...
wwwestfree-bible.com/archaeology/israel/el-amarna-letters.php 

Ancient Babylonia Glossary - Amarna Tablets Tel el Amarna, ancient locality, Egypt, near the Nile and c.60 mi N of Asyut. Ikhnaton's capital, Akhetaton, was in Tell el Amarna. ...
wwwestfree-bible.com/babylonia/BabyloniaAmarna_Tablets.php 

Amarna Letters - Horse Relief This relief is from Tell el Amarna and depicts horses. ... The Amarna letters belong to the royal archives of Amenophis III and his son Amenophis IV. ...
wwwestfree-bible.com/past/amarna_letters_horse_relief.php 

TELL EL-AMARNA; TABLETS in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE (Bible ...The name, Tell el-Armarna, "the hill Amarna," is the modern name of ancient ruins about midway between Memphis and Luxor in Egypt. The ruins mark the site ...
wwwestfree-bible.com/isbe/T/TELL+EL-AMARNA;+TABLETS/ 

Partial Restoration Of A Palace At Tell-el-Amarna - Images of ...Partial Restoration Of A Palace At Tell-el-Amarna - Partial restoration of a palace at Tell-el-Amarna by Charles Chipiez.
https://free-bible.com/ibh/Egyptian+Palaces/Tell-el-Amarna+Palace/Partial+Restoration+Of+A+Palace+At+Tell-el-Amarna

Tell-el-Amarna Palace - Ancient Egyptian Palaces - Images and ...Ancient Tell-el-Amarna Palace in Egyptian Palaces - Free Bible.
wwwestfree-bible.com/ibh/Egyptian+Palaces/Tell-el-Amarna+Palace/ 

Plan Of A Part Of The City At Tell-el-Amarna - Images of Ancient ...Plan Of A Part Of The City At Tell-el-Amarna - An illustration of the plan of a part of the city at Tell-el-Amarna; from Prisse.
https://free-bible.com/ibh/Egyptian+Daily+Life/City+Plans/Plan+Of+A+Part+Of+The+City+At+Tell-el-Amarna

The Canaanites - Encyclopedia(7) Tell el-Amarna Tablets. 5. The Israelitsh Invasion. 6. Culture ... In the Tell el-Amarna Letters, Canaan is written Kinakhna and Kinakhkhi. ...
https://free-bible.com/map-israel-joshua/map-israel-joshua_the_canaanites_encyclopedia.php

Art & Images: - Bible History Links (Ancient Biblical Studies) Akhenaten Daughter Meritaten Egypt (New Kingdom): Akhenaten and his daughter Meritaten: detail, Left side, of sunk relief framgent from Tell el-Amarna, ca. ...
https://free-bible.com/links.php?cat=24&sub=76&cat_name=&subcat_name=Art+%26+Images