Damien Mackey
November 2004

The biblical Ben-Hadad I (880-841 BC) and his son, Hazael (841-806 BC), who murdered him, both long-reigning Syrian kings, prove to be ubiquitous and multi-facetted rulers when studied in the context of Velikovsky's revision (Ages in Chaos I). I believe that they also provide the key to "The Assuruballit Problem" [TAP]; perhaps one of the 3 most challenging problems for the revision (alongside where to locate Ramses II and how to account for the Third Intermediate Period?). TAP is this: If Velikovsky is right in locating el-Amarna [EA] to the mid-C9th BC, then why is EA's Assyrian king "Assuruballit", and not Shalmaneser III, who is known to have straddled the mid-C9th BC?

I shall answer TAP in 4, through the agency of Ben-Hadad I and Hazael.

Abdi-Ashirta.

Velikovsky had identified Ben-Hadad I and Hazael with successive EA kings of Amurru (Syria), respectively Abdi-Ashirta and Aziru. He seems to have got this very right. Thus James [010]:

"With [these] two identifications [Velikovsky] seems to be on the firmest ground, in that we have a succession of two rulers, both of whom are characterised in the letters and the Scriptures as powerful rulers who made frequent armed excursions - and conquests - in the territories to the south of their own kingdom. In the letters their domain is described as "Amurru" - a term used, as Velikovsky has pointed out ... by Shalmaneser III for Syria in general, the whole area being dominated by the two successive kings in "both" the el-Amarna period and the mid-9th century."

And Bimson [020]:

"In the first volume of his historical reconstruction, Velikovsky argues that ... Aziru of Amurru, well known from the Amarna letters, should be identified with Hazael of Damascus.... The identification is well supported, and has implications for the slightly later period now being discussed."

Rib-Addi of Gubla (Byblos) had complained to pharaoh that Abdi-Ashirta was acting presumptuously, as if he were 'a king of Mitanni, or a king of Kasse' (Chaldean Babylon) (EA#76). As we are now going to find (3), Abdi-Ashirta did graduate to being a 'king of Mitanni', and he also became the 'king of Kasse' (Babylon) (5). According to Tyldesley [040]: "Abdi-Ashirta and his son Aziru - both nominally Egyptian vassals - were able to continue their expansionist policies unchecked".

3. Tushratta (Dushratta).

From a close study of the kingdom of Mitanni, whose king Tushratta, or Dushratta, was an EA correspondent with Amenhotep III and Akhnaton, and a truly 'great king' of EA, one finds that it basically approximates to the Syrian kingdom, but reaching also into Assyria, and perhaps Anatolia. One might therefore expect to read about a huge clash between the Syrian king Abdi-Ashirta (also a contemporary of these two pharaohs) and Tushratta. One doesn't. Why? Because it is all one and the same Syro-Mitannian king: the name Abdi-Ashirta, var. Abdi-Ashrati, meaning 'slave of Ashtarte' [050], being simply Ab-DU-aSHRATTA, or DUSHRATTA. It is the one king. That this mighty Syro-Mitannian king also had control of Assyria is apparent from the fact that he was able to provide Amenhotep III with the statue of Ishtar from Nineveh in the hope of curing the pharaoh of an illness (EA#23). In 4 we shall find this same Syro-Mitannian king, as a ruler of Assyria, praying to the same statue of Ishtar for a cure for his own debilitating illness. [060]

Tushratta was intimately linked to the EA pharaohs, having provided daughters, and at least one sister, as wives to the pharaohs. He was very fond of Egyptian gold.

It seems that Tushratta arose to the throne, as would his son, by murdering a predecessor.

Thus van der Mieroop [070]:

"… over the relatively short period of the Amarna archive, from about 1365 to 1335 [sic], the Mittani state suffered a number of internal and external difficulties. Internally, two branches of the royal family competed for the throne, each seeking support for their respective claims from outside powers. Tushratta, who corresponded with the Egyptian King Amenhotep III (ruled 1390-53), had been placed on the throne by the murderer of his older brother. Initially Egypt had resented this state of affairs, and only after Tushratta executed his brother's murderer did its king reestablish diplomatic relations."

Tusratta, apparently having secured his throne by murder, would ultimately himself be murdered. In this, too, he was like Ben-Hadad I, like Abdi-Ashirta, his alter ego's.[080] And again a son was involved. The latter is called Kurtiwaza (var. Mattiwaza). One must suspect again that this was Hazael/Aziru. [090]

4. Ashurnasirpal.

This is simply our Syro-Mitannian king now as ruler of Assyria.[95] His conventional date of beginning, 883 BC, harmonizes well with Ben-Hadad I's estimated 880 BC; though the latter would be considered to have reigned substantially longer than Ashurnasirpal. My explanation to account for this is that Ashurnasirpal would, as I shall soon show, suffer a long illness. The primary rule would then have fallen to his son, Shalmaneser III, his legitimate son, whereas Hazael, "son of nobody", was presumably son by a concubine. But both sons would have figured amongst "the sons of Abdi-Ashirta, the dogs" frequently complained about by Rib-Addi and others.

I diverge here now to account for TAP:

Whilst Shalmaneser III did indeed straddle the mid-C9th BC, he was not the only important son of Ashurnasirpal. Hazael/Aziru, who ruled (mainly Syria) until almost the end of the C9th BC [97], was perhaps equally important, if not more so. We still have much more to say about this latter king. He is in fact the actual key to TAP. His Assyrian name was Assuruballit (may possibly be some name connection with Aziru), the EA correspondent who identifies himself as "king of Assyria" (EA 15 & 16). Assuruballit refers to his father as"the king of Hanigalbat", a term that seems synonymous with Mitanni (EA 16):

"When Ashur-nadin-ahhe, my father, wrote to Egypt, twenty talents of gold were sent to him. When the king of Hanigalbat wrote to your father in Egypt he sent twenty talents of gold to him. [Now] I am […] king of Hanigalbat, but you send me […] of gold and it is not enough for the pay of my messengers on the journey to and fro".

We learn here that Assuruballit's father was called Ashur-nadin-ahhe. That is an immediate problem for the conventional system, since the King List and the available monuments name his father as Eriba-Adad. There is a problem, too, for the revision, given that Ashurnasirpal's father is named Tukulti-Ninurta.

A proposed solution re the latter will be offered in a moment.

My revision can perhaps accommodate at least the basic pattern of the names, Eriba-Adad and Ashur-nadin-ahhe, with Eriba-Adad being of a pattern with Ben-Hadad, and Ashur-nadin-ahhe with Ben-Hadad's alter ego, Ashurnasirpal. But we can do even better than this with Ashur-nadin-ahhe. A supposedly earlier Tukulti-Ninurta was murdered by a son named Ashur-nadin-apli (var. Ashurnasirpal), and this I believe actually refers to our situation, with Ashur-nadin-apli accounting for the name Ashur-nadin-ahhe.

The Tukulti-Ninurta murdered by Ashurnasirpal, therefore murdered by Tushratta, would then certainly be "the murderer of [Tushratta's] older brother" who had placed Tushratta on the throne. Tushratta may have been ordered by Amenhotep III to kill his brother's murderer (he may not have needed much prompting). In EA terms, the murderer murdered might be the regent Tu?i referred to in 3. If so, then Tukulti-Ninurta would not actually have been Ashurnasirpal's father, but predecessor (according to Luckenbill the word can mean both "father" and "ancestor"); one of the "two branches of the royal family" mentioned above, competing for the throne.

Later, Assuruballit and Shalmaneser III themselves would probably have been competing for the throne of Assyria, with the latter eventually proving too strong, despite the Hittite help that Assuruballit soon gained (as Aziru) . That is my explanation and solution of TAP.

Another important point that should not be overlooked in regard to Assuruballit, that will take on new significance in (6), is that he actually conquered Egypt itself. A. Harrak gives the following vital information [100]: "Adad-narari I had summarized in an inscription the achievements of his royal predecessors. He said the following about Ashur-uballit:

(31) mušekniš mât Musri museppih ellât (32) mât Šubârę rapalti murappiš misrî u kudurrî

Subduer of the land Musru, disperser of the hordes of the extensive land of the Shubaru, extender of borders and boundaries.

Likewise, we already referred to the unchecked "expansionist policies" of Abdi-ashirta and Aziru. [110]

Returning to Ashurnasirpal, we find that he, as Ashur-nadin-ahhe of EA, had been plying Egypt for gold, just like Tushratta did.

We hear nothing about Ashurnasirpal himself being in turn assassinated as were his three previous alter ego's (1-3). But he does have in common with Ben-Hadad I and Abdi-Ashirta an illness. Thus Sweeney [120]:

"… a long prayer lamenting a debilitating illness and asking the goddess Ishtar for deliverance. [He pleads]; "The afflictions which I behold, before thee I bewail; to my words full of sighing, let thy ears be directed. To my afflicted speech let thy mind be opened."

The prayer continues at length in the same vein, and it is evident, says Sweeney, "that this Ashurnasirpal had been struck by a very serious and enduring illness".

5. Kadashman-Enlil (Kurigalzu).

And, yes, the ambitious Abdi-Ashirta did also apparently become "the king of Kasse", as Kadashman-Enlil. I base this firstly on the fact that he, as Ashurnasirpal, boasted of having conquered Chaldean Babylonia [130]:

"The fear of my sovereignty prevailed as far as the country of Karduniash; the might of my weapons overwhelmed the country of Kaldu".

I base it secondly on the fact that Kadashman-Enlil was the father of EA's Burnaburiash, whom Velikovsky has convincingly identified with Shalmaneser III as ruler of Babylon. [140] (Thus Ashurnasirpal must = Kadashman-Enlil).

Thirdly, on Kadashman-Enlil's father having given Kadashman-Enlil's sister in marriage to Amenhotep III, as had (Tushratta =) Ashurnasirpal; and Kadashman-Enlil having given his daughter to the same pharaoh, as had Tushratta. Kadashman-Enlil, as did Tushratta, showed concern for the well-being of his sister and daughter. [150]

And fourthly on Kadashman-Enlil's great love of Egyptian gold, just like (Tushratta =) Ashurnasirpal.

Tuya

The tomb of Tuya is located in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings of Thebes and deep below the level of the valley, slightly south of, and in the same hill as that of Ramses IX. The plan is simple; a flight of well-cut steps leads down to a corridor which opens into a large room width a small side chamber in the south wall. This room was originally covered with white stucco but left unpainted. Fragments of a large wooden coffin were found on the floor or against the walls, while on one side was the royal mummy under a cartonage of exquisite workmanship, inlaid with various stones in gold mounts. The surface of the large coffin was originally covered with scenes of the `Aten' cult, and was made for the `Royal mother and Great royal wife Tuya' by Akhnaton. Besides a few broken boxes this was the only furniture in the tomb.

Unfortunately the whole woodwork and stucco was so fragile that it would crumble under the touch, and the discoverers were unable to move anything. It was decided to photograph all the content of the tomb before handling or preserving anything.

The two halves of the door of the room were covered with gold leaf, and, like the coffin, ornamented with scenes of the `Aten' cult. Four very fine alabaster canopic jars were in the side chamber and a few stone kohl-pots were scattered about the floor but no other small objects were found. However, an inscribed scarab (British Museum) is shown which seems to say that Thuyu was the granddaughter of an unnamed deceased king (nesuten), who had been victorious in all land from Karoy (in the south) to Naharin (in the north), thus supporting the foreign origin of Thuyu/ Tuya as set forth in this article. Her, being the great-granddaughter of Thutmose III. seems far fetched considering all the other evidence brought forward here.[See KMT, Fall 2000, p. 24.]

The cartouches of Akhenaten had been erased on the furniture but those of Tuya and Amenhotep III. remained intact.

The outer door had been sealed by the priests of Amon, but had been broken into later and then roughly closed again. [154]

Yuya.

The powerful Yuya [155] and his wife Tuya were the parents of both Ay and Queen Tiy, the latter having married the EA pharaoh Amenhotep III.[157] Ay was therefore the brother of Queen Tiy. This influential family, the 'Yuya family' as I shall call it, is thought to have been of foreign origin, possibly northern Syrian. This estimation is supported by - given my equation of the Mitannian with the Syrian kingdom - the common view that Tiy was, at least partly, of Mitannian origin. Yuya bore the prestigious title of "Father of god [Pharaoh]", meaning pharaoh's 'father-in-law'. Thus yet again, as was the situation with EA's sequence of Abdi-Ashirta and Aziru, do we have two most powerful Syro-Mitannians, father and son, Yuya and Ay, together extending from the time of Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III (Yuya's contemporaries), and then right down to the time of Tutankhamun (Ay's contemporary), and even later: that is, more than the extent of the entire EA period.[158]

Moreover Abdi-Ashirta, that is, Tushratta, had, just like Yuya, given his daughters in marriage to Amenhotep III and Akhnaton. Certainly, one of Yuya's daughters, the Mitannian Mutemwija, had been a concubine of Thutmose IV; and another, Tiy, was given to Amenhotep III. It has even been suggested that Tiy's mother, Tuya, had been a wife of pharaoh Thutmose IV, the father of Amenhotep III. And Tushratta gave his daughter Tadu-hepa to Amenhotep III [160]. Tushratta's Mitannian predecessor, Šuttarna II, had given to the same pharaoh his daughter Gilu-Hepa [170]. Moreover, according to David Rohl [180], "Akhenaten's second wife, Queen Kiya, was the sister of King Tushratta of Mitanni".

This all makes it most likely, therefore, that Yuya and Tushratta were one and the same Syro-Mitannian father-in-law of Amenhotep III.

It becomes even more likely given Tushratta's apparent close connections to Queen Tiy, daughter of Yuya. In EA 29 the wily Tushratta, congratulating Akhnaton upon his accession to the throne, implies a great familiarity with Tiy [185]:

"And when my brother Nimmuria [Amenhotep III] died, they proclaimed it, and … I also learned. He was gone ... and I wept on that day... But when Naphuria [Akhnaton], the great son of Nimmuria by Tiy his wife the great one, wrote to me: "I will enter upon my reign," I said: "Nimmuria is not dead". Now Naphuria, his great son by Tiy, his great wife, has placed himself in his stead, and he will not change from its place one thing from what it was before ... Tiy, his mother … the great wife of Nimmuria ... is alive, and she will report the words to Naphuria, the son of Nimmuria her husband, that we were on excellent friendly terms."

"In the Eighteenth Dynasty …family ties dominated the national political scene. The main government posts were shared out among the members of the royal family and marriage into that family came to be a way of officially recognizing the influence of the non-royal official who had become too important to be ignored. This was the case with Tuthmosis I and later with Ay and Horemheb."

"The marriage of Amenophis III to the commoner Tiy was, from this point of view, by no means the passionate romance that it is sometimes claimed to have been.

Yuya was an officer in the Chariotry and Master of the Stud Farms. It is thought that he was also the father of the queen-mother Mutemwia, which would make him Amenophis III's uncle. He installed his son Ay as master of the Stud Farms during the reign of his grandson Amenophis IV, having already made his other son, Inen, the Second Prophet of Amun at Thebes and the 'Chief of Seers' in the temple of Ra at Karnak."

Ostensibly servants of Egypt (or, to return to Tyldesley's phrase, "nominally Egyptian vassals"), appointed by pharaoh to police Syro-Palestine against insurgents (like Ahab, apparently, and the habiru), and as a buffer against the Hittites, these Syrian royals were actually bent upon preserving their own selfish interests. And they had plenty of chariots (pharaoh's?) and troops at their disposal, at least initially:

"King Ben-Hadad of Aram gathered all his army together; thirty-two kings were with him, along with horses and chariots ... and they slew everyone of them and the Syrians fled ..." [I Kings 20:1,20]

"And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him ... number thee an army, like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain..." [I Kings 20:23,25]

The 'Yuya family' was obviously made up of some extremely forceful and assertive personalities in Yuya, Tuya, Ay and Tiy. This would not be at all surprising if the group were, as I am claiming, Ben-Hadad I and company. The Syrian Ben-Hadad I was, as we saw so abundantly in the previous chapter, a master of political intrigue: duplicitous and seemingly ubiquitous. Ay and his sister, Queen Tiy, were undoubtedly very strong personalities too. Regarding Tiy, for instance, Velikovsky thought it more correct to say that Amenhotep III "was married … by", than "married to", this formidable woman [210]. And he re-cast her as the equally forbidding, even harpy-like, Jocasta, in his comparison of the EA saga with the Oedipus Rex cycle of the Greeks [220].

An obvious feature of the 'Yuya family' was each one's distinctive, un-Egyptian name (Yuya, Tuya, Tiy and Ay), and hence suggestive of foreigners - though they are generally considered to be Egyptian nicknames. Tildesley [230] tells of the difficulty that the Egyptian artisans had with the name:

… we are not altogether certain how Yuya was pronounced but it is likely to have been something close to 'Aya' …. 'Yuya' … was certainly an unusual name in ancient Egypt; the semi-literate artisans who were charged with labeling their patron's monuments and funerary goods had trouble with the spelling and each eventually produced his own Yuya variant. Mis-spellings were by no means uncommon in Egyptian tombs, but Yuya's name seems to have caused more problems than most, and this has led to the suggestion that Yuya may have been an Asiatic with an unfamiliar foreign name.

It is interesting, too, that the tomb of Ay contains a complete version of the Sun Hymn, whose resemblance in part to David's Psalm 104 has often been remarked upon. It may be that the 'Yuya family' had introduced into Egypt, from Syro-Palestine, a syncretic Baalistic Yahwism. In fact Syro-Palestinian Baalism, the worship of Baal, "the lord", may explain the whole Aten/Aton (Adonai, "the lord") phenomenon of Akhnaton's reign. Akhnaton's cognomen, "Who liveth in truth" is also a very biblical concept:

"The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in all righteousness." [Jeremiah 4:2]

Egyptian ma´at (truth) being similar to Hebrew emet (truth). The same can perhaps be said for Ay's choice of cognomen, "Who is doing right". "Such titles", noted Velikovsky, "were rather unusual among the kings of Egypt" [240].

All in all, we seem to have here in this 'Yuya family' a most powerful dynasty of Syrian origin closely connected to the throne of Egypt; a family "evidently always at the center of the Amarna drama." [250]

The above-mentioned marriage links would account for why Yuya and Tuya were so highly honoured in Egypt; likely raised to an exalted position in the land by Queen Tiy herself. Yuya, as an "officer in the Chariotry", is thought to have been from a high-ranking military background. As Ben-Hadad I, though, he was a king in his own right, with designs on carving out for himself a vast empire; though always protesting his loyalty and friendship with Egypt. The fact that Yuya's well-preserved mummy is considered to have been found in Egypt [260] is not necessarily a problem for my identification of him with the assassinated Ben-Hadad I, whose death in Damascus would have been long anticipated anyway due to his enduring illness, and detailed plans could have been made for his embalment and burial. Tiy could easily have ordered that her Mitannian father be buried in Egypt.

Here is Miller's description of Yuya's mummy [270]:

Details: The mummy of Yuya was found along with that of his wife, Tuyu, in their tomb in the Valley of the Kings. … KV 46 was one of the few non-royal burials in the Valley [272], and indicates the high esteem in which Yuya and Tuyu were held by Amenhotep III, their son-in-law. When found, Yuya was still in his coffins, but the lids had been removed and the mummy had been rifled by thieves in search of valuables.[275] In spite of this, Yuya's mummy was not substantially damaged, and a few objects remained on the body or in the torn bandages.

Quibell and Davis both mention a gold plate, which had been used to cover the embalming incision. Davis goes on to describe "numerous valuable religious symbols, several scarabs, and various objects of interest and beauty," including "a necklace of large beads made of gold and of lapis lazuli, strung on a strong thread" which were found on the mummy.

Quibell further notes that Yuya had gold finger stalls covering his fingers, and X-rays taken by Harris show finger-rings still in place on Yuya's hands. The Cairo Museum also has an amulet (CG51167) and some beads (CG51184, perhaps the ones referred to by Davis above) deriving from Yuya's mummy. [280]

G. E. Smith describes the mummy of Yuya as one of the finest examples of the embalming practices of the 18th Dynasty. Egyptians developed mummy preservation into an art for they saw death as humanities biggest problem. The mummy is that of an old man, and Maspero stated that Yuya was probably in his sixties when he died. His thick, wavy hair is a yellowish color, and was probably bleached by the embalming materials rather than being naturally blonde. Smith says the hair was white when Yuya died. His body cavity was packed with balls of linen soaked in resins, and his perineum is thickly coated with resinous material to such an extent that his genitals are completely covered. Yuya's arms were crossed over his chest, with the fingers of the hands extended. His eye sockets were packed with linen and the eyelids had been pulled closed.

Yuya's mummy, like that of his wife, was equipped with an openwork cartonnage "cage," coated with a thin layer of plaster, inscribed and covered with gold foil …. This device was designed to fit over the shroud of the mummy as a means of holding it in place. [290]

This well-preserved mummy has been variously described as being 'of Asiatic origin' and 'of unusual, almost European physiognomy'. According to an Internet article: "[Yuya's] mummy was not crossed in the usual Osiris form over the chest. Instead the palms of the hands were facing the neck under the chin. No Egyptian mummy was ever found with the hands in this position." [300]

This was, I suggest, a foreign (Syrian) king buried in Egypt: namely, Ben-hadad I. Known in the Assyrian records as Ashurnasirpal.

Hopefully now, with this, we have finally laid to rest the ubiquitous Ben-Hadad I, multi-named and multi-titled (see e.g. Ashurnasirpal's Central Nimrud Palace bas relief [310]), and his son, Hazael; surely one of the most powerful and influential father-son royal combinations throughout the whole of antiquity whose influence reached from Damascus to the palaces of Ben-hadad, Jeremiah 49:27.

Notes and References

[010] Peter James, "The Dating of the El-Amarna Letters", SIS Review Vol. II, No. 3, London, 1977/78, p. 80. Emphasis added).
[020] Bimson, "Dating the Wars of Seti I", SIS Review, Vol. V, 21. Emphasis added).
[030] Velikovsky also wrote, that Abdi-Asirta as Ben Hadad I. was taken prisoner and then again set free.; `Ages in Chaos', p. 251 (1.K. 20:31-34); cmp. EA#117.; p. 294 - the murder.
[040] Joyce Tyldesley, `Nefertiti', p.35. Perhaps also: Frank Yurco, Were the Ancient Egyptians Black or White in BAR, Sep 1989, p. 24; Answer: The ancient Egyptians did not think in these terms which are a baggage issue from our own culture superimposed on ancient times. See the image of Nefertiti and Yuya.
[050] Some authors will write, "The epics of Ugarit show the Canaanites as organized in city states, ruled by kings, perpetually quarreling ... Their primitive religion conceived of many gods whose principal concern was food, drink, and sex. The goddesses Anat, Astarte, and Asherah were always pregnant, yet always virgins, worshiped as sacred courtesans in a ritual involving prostitution." [W.L. Langer, editor, Western Civilisation', N.Y., 1968, p. 117. See also Elizabeth Bloch-Smith & Beth Alpert Nakhai, `A Landscape Comes to Life' in NEA, Jun 1999, p. 62-(87)-92, 101-127; showing a B&W image of a stela with Ashtaroth from Beth-Shean. The article admits, "The identification of ethnic identity from material culture continues to prove one of archaeology's stiffest challenges. Little is as clear as ... the Sea Peoples warrior from Medinet Habu ..."p. 64. They don't know.]
[060] While we have text from the period of Samsuiluna mentioning healing addressed to the gods Ea, Shamash, and Marduk, Ishtar/Astarte was also a goddess called upon in times of -sickness. "Incantation: `Oh Ea, Shamash and Marduk, what is my sin? Sickness has fallen upon me. ... evil rejoices over me.'" [PSBA, Vol. XXXIV, Jan-Dec 1912, p. 75-(77)-80.]
See also Wilhelm Spiegelberg, The Fragments of the `Astarte' Papyrus of the Amherst Collection in PSBA, Jan 8, 1902, p. 41-50. Astarte in hieroglyphics as shown in the text.
[070] Van der Mieroop, `A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 BC', Blackwell, 2004, p. 143.
[080] According to the reconstruction here pursued , the EA correspondent with the most letters to his credit would be Abdi-Asirta / Tussrata and the various variations of these names (which, according to Damien, signify the same person) as found in the EA letters.
[090] The death of Ben Hadad: 2.Kings 8:15.; the death of Abdi-Asirta, EA#101.
[095] Birs Nimrud, near Mosul, Iraq, was excavated by Henry Layard in 1845 when he promptly discovered there the palace of Assurnasirpal. [C.W. Ceram, `The March of Archaeology', NY, 1970, p. 211.] The image of victorious Assyrian soldiers carrying the decapitated heads of their enemies in a relief from the palace of Assurnasirpal II (conv. 883-859 BC) in Kalhu (modern Nimrod) can be seen in Denise Schmandt-Besserat, Stone Age Death Masks in Odyssey, Mar/Apr 2003, p. 18-27. The mentioned image is on p. 24.
[097] When Sir Austin H. Layard (1817-1894) began excavations in November 1845 in Nimrud, which he thought was Nininveh, he had discovered the remains of Kalhu (known as Calah in Genesis 10:11-12??), capital of Ashurnasirpal (II.). Kalhu remained the capital for some 150 years and Layard found here the Black Obelisk. He returned to Kalhu in 1849 and soon after found Nineveh and Sennacherib's palace. Layard's field work ended in 1852 with the onset of the Crimean War. [BAR, Jan 1995, p. 30];
We should also refer to the caption of 'the 27 cm tall ivory plaque depicting Ashurnasirpal II in full canonicals. He wears the Assyrian miter and long pigtail; the outer garment is a tight fitting shawl with scalloped fringe passing over the left shoulder and leaving the right shoulder free. Under-garment is a long, short sleeved coat decorated with engraved stellar and plant designs. Tassels trail down to the ankles; the king is shod with sandals as on the sculpture; 2 perforations each, top and bottom, for fixing on to a wooden back are present. On the tips of the fingers he carries a bowl [97a]; in his right hand the eagle-headed sickle of the god Ninurta as on the statue of the king discovered by Layard in the `small temple' of Belit-mati. Most of the face was missing and is restored in wax, together with four tassels on the right hand side at the bottom of the skirt, and in back of the miter, by Sayid Akram Shukri, in the laboratories of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad. Note how this differs in style from the more detailed carving and rounded modeling of figures on the panels in room SW7 of Fort Shalmaneser, which were made about 150 years later; the details of this figure are less precise and regular, the poise of the body reflects that of the king on the contemporary bas-reliefs. Here he is presented as pontiff; on the stela as commander-in-chief. Possibly made to celebrate the completion of the North West Palace in 879 BC. Found with the sphinx ND1083, at the same level, behind the stela, embedded in ash and mud, under a fallen mud-brick wall, room EA of the NW Palace. The detail shows the bird-headed ceremonial sickle of Ninurta, perhaps the instrument with which the king cut the first sheaves of corn at the harvest, c.f. the British Museum statue of Assurnasirpal II. The blade is backed with decorative hoops.' [Mallowan, M.E.L., Nimrud and Its Remains, Vol. I & II, London, 1966.]
[97a] Which reminds of these words of God's prophet Isaiah (ca. 740-690 BC), "The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. . . . The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts. And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images." Isaiah 17:1-8.
[100] A. Harrak, `Assyria and Hanigalbat', 1987, pp. 8-9.
[110] Assuruballit's g/grandson, Adad-nirari I must now be the same as Adad-nirari III, g/grandson of Assuruballit due to the latter's marrying his daughter to Burnaburiash, i.e. Shalmaneser III, grandfather of Adad-nirari III.
[120] Emmet Sweeney, `Ramessides, Medes and Persians', 2nd ed., 2001, p.38, with ref. Olmstead's History of Assyria, New York, 1923, pp. 72-74. According to Olmstead's History of Assyria, p. 12, Fig. 12 (B&W image), Arbela, located on top of a mesa, was the city of the goddess Ishtar (Virgo, Ninsar, The pagan `Lady of Heaven.' PSBA, Vol. XVIII, p. 30.). Also shown is a sketch map of the early Ishtar temple in the city of Ashur, Map 1, p. 17.
[130] Boutflower, The Book of Isaiah. Chapters [1-XXXIX], London, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1930. p. 95.
[140] Velikovsky, `Ages in Chaos', p. 310ff; Here we find a few sources on the extent of the land of the Chaldeans.
[150] Tyldesley, ibid., pp. 28-29.
[154] See E.R. Ayrton, `The Tomb of Thyi' in PSBA, Feb. 1907, p. 85-86; Nov. 1907, p. 277-281.
[155] H.R. Hall, `Yuia, the Syrian' in PSBA, Jan/Dec 1913, p. 63-65. The article describes a small (3 in. diam.) thick with blue-glaze rimmed ware which features hieroglyphics, though apparently not free of errors, inside the triangular radiant sun beams reading, "King's wife Tuyu, King's Prince Yuia, prince of Zahi". The signs of Yuia's title do not appear anywhere else like on his funerary furniture, nor is he called anywhere else `prince of Zahi'. "But the testimony of this little relic is definite to his origin. He was a Syrian chief ..."; It may also be of interest to point out the many `Bes' type representations on pieces of furniture which belonged to Queen Tiy or were given to relatives of hers. They were discovered in the tomb of her parents, Yuia and Thuiu. There were no less than 3 beds and 3 chairs with such Bes-family figures, and gods related to them. Among those furniture is also the well known chair of Sit-Amun, eldest daughter of Queen Tiy. Cyril Aldred was among those who supported the theory that Aya was the son of Yuya. [Aldred. 1988, p. 220,221.]
Maspero wrote about the plate's inscription as follows:
"The inscription reads as follows, `King's wife Tuyu, King's Prince Yuia, prince of (see glyphs above) - The writing is not very good; there is a mistake of for in the title , and the of Yuias name is turned backwards. Also the title `hiqmesut' is peculiar, and is probably a mistake for , "Prince of the South," though it might denote a peculiar rank conferred upon Yuia, who received all sorts of favours from his son-in-law and sovereign Amenhotep III. It might be a form analogous to , though this seems hardly probable. I have littel doubt as to the genuiness of the insciption.
The title or does not occur on the funerary furniture of Yuia or in his papyrus, nor on the scarabs of Amenhetep III, commemorating his marriage with Teie. Nor is Yuia anywhere else called "Prince of Zahi." But the testimony of this little relic is definite as to his origin. He was a Syrian chief, of the Lebanon probably, and this fact agrees very well with the physiognomy of his mummy. Probably he was a prince of importance, who had come or been brought into Egypt in pursuit of the regular policy of Thutmose III, in accordance with which the Syrian princes were educated at the Egyptian court. We are reminded of Cotys and Rhoementaleos, the Thracians, at the court of Tiberias (Tac., Ann., II, 6?3, Mommsen, in Ephem. Eigr., II, p. 2571.) In Egypt Yuia was given distinguished offices about the court, became captain of the king's chariotry, and the oversight of the cattle of Min at Akhmim was bestowed upon him, a position which was no doubt a richly endowed sinecure. Until I saw Mr. Whyte's saucer I had thought very probable the suggestion of Sir G. Maspero**, that Yuia was originally an Abadeh from the desert behind Akhmim, which would accounr for the peculiar face of his daughter Queen Teie. But it is now evident that his connection with Akhmim was a purely honorary one. He was a Syrian chief, thoroughly egyptianized, and married to an Egyptian lady, Tuyu." The title which the latter bears here may be merely a shortened form of her usual title , Royal Mother of the king's wife (sc. Teie)," but it may also indicate that she was of royal origin, so that Teie was a fit mate for King Amenhetep." [End of the PSBA article.]
[(**) This seems to be implied in Maspero's words Tomb of Youiya and Touiyea, p. xvii; cf. p. xxi.]

[157] A copy of the famous limestone wedding scarab of Amenophis III was found in room 380 at Rumeileh/Ain Shems/Beth Shemesh, at the base of reinforcing stone posts on April 18, 1933 by a `pick-man of the Raba' family of Deir Aban'. Ten lines of writing are translated as: "Live the Horus, Mighty Bull, Shining Truth, Favorite of the Two Goddesses, Establisher of Laws, Quieter of the Two Lands, Golden Horus, great in strength, Smiter of the Asiatics, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nibmare Son of Ra, Amenhotep, Ruler of Thebes, given life, the Great King's wife Tiy who liveth. The name of her father is Yuya. The name of her mother is Thuya, She is the wife of a mighty King whose southern boundary is as far as Karei and the northern boundary as far as Naharin." The discovery team concluded that the scarab was placed there after having been already 300-400 years old. [Elihu Grant, Rumeileh, Haverford, 1934, p.66.]
[158] For a relief carving described as showing Ay and his wife together receiving the `Gold of Honor' see KMT, Winter 2002/03, p. 36.
[160] Grimal, `A History of Ancient Egypt', trans. I. Shaw, Blackwell, 1994, p. 233.
[170] Ibid..
[180] David Rohl, `Lost Testament', Century, Random House UK Ltd., 2002. p.302.
[185] Contributors to `Amenhotep III - Perspectives on his reign' (Edited by David O'Connor and Eric H. Cline, Ann Arbor, 1998) has no helpful insights to offer when it comes to identifying Queen Tiy and her time. We read, "Still, one cannot help wondering just how this daughter of a not very highly placed provincial family came to be chosen as "great royal wife". ... The remarkable thing about Tiyi, however, is not where she came from but what she became." [Lawrence M. Berman] This tells it all, resigned to interprete ancient Egyptian history in a false time frame such remarks are no surprise but sad. We show here how glorious the whole era becomes when chronologically lined up as we at CIAS are decribing their lives. We hope that future reading material will debate the account of the 18th dynasty as laid out at CIAS.
[190] Rohl, Op. cit., p. 221. (My emphasis).
[200] Grimal, Op. cit., pp. 221-222. We present info on Thutmose I here and about Horemheb here.
[210] Velikovsky, `Oedipus and Ikhnaton', Doubleday, p. 48; Abacus, 1960, p.35.
[220] Ibid., ch. "The King's Mother and Wife".
[230] Tyldesley, Ibid., p. 21, (Emphasis added).
[240] Velikovsky, Op. cit., p. 175 -181.
[250] Grimal, op. cit., p. 226.
[260] The gilded mummy mask of Yuya can be seen in KMT, Summer 1996, p. 43. The mask has no resemblance to the mummy (though "rifled" by tomb robbers, see quote on next page) of Yuya. See also a side view of the head of Yuya in BAR, Sep. 1989, p. 27. A color image of the goddess `Isis' from the golden coffin of Tuya, Queen Tiy's mother, can be seen in Joann Fletcher, `Chronicle of a Pharaoh', Oxford, 2000, p. 46; Queen Tiy on p. 69.
[270] Miller, W., "XVIII'th Dynasty Gallery", Theban Royal Mummy Project. http://anubis4_2000.tripod.com/mummypages1/18B.htm. For a great color image of the upper portion of the mummy of Yuya see KMT, Winter 2005, p. 37; Ancient Egypt, Feb, 2005, p. 40. Compare this angle of the mummy's face with the bas-relief from the palace of Ashurnasirpal (a side view) at Calah (Nimrud) where he is pictured as a winged being carrying an ibex. Note the shape of the nose, eyes, cheek bones. Compare also the similar features of the statue of Shalmaneser III, similar because he was family. Found in several sources: I just see it in the British Museum Guide to Babylonian and Assyrian Antiquities, 1908, Plate XI, (Nimrud Gallery #18), p. 24.
[272] See also E.R. Ayrton, The Tomb of Thyi in PSBA, February 1907, p. 85-88 & November 1907, p. 277-281.
[275] The reign of Amenhotep III was the great reign of the shabti, not just in number but also in quality and diversity of materials. With the mummy of Yuya 14 quality shabtis were found and with Tuya 4. Amenhotep III's burial had some 60 shabtis. [O'Connor and Cline, `Amenhotep III - Perspectives on His Reign', Ann Arbor, 1998, p. 122.]
[280] The most impressive objects in the tomb of Yuya and Tuyu (KV46) may be the very large, richly decorated, wooden casket covered with thin gold foil and found by Davis in 1905. Also the particularly beautifully crafted wooden casket on delicate high legs, covered with gold foil and decorated with gold and faience inlays, with a vaulted lid is very impressive and can be seen in N. Reeves, The Great Discoveries, p. 114f. For the cartonage of Tuyu and her Mummy see, N. Reeves, The Complete Valley of the Kings, p. 175, 176. Also shown is the second casket of Yuya overlaid with silver foil and decorated with molten glass inlays.
While the overall features between the mummy of Yuya and the sculpture of Ashurnasirpal have some parallels, other Assyrian kings show these too. How can that be? Answer: It can be, because they were offspring of the same family.
[290] Source Bibliography: DRN, 150, fig. 57, 161, no. 109 and 111; EM, 97; IT, xxi, xxix; TTAA, 39, 68; XRA, 169f.; XRP, 141-142.
[300] "The Descendants of Joseph in Egypt", www.acacialand.com/josephs.html p.2. But Yuya's mummy could not be Joseph since his remains were carried and buried in Palestine, "And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. So Joseph died, [being] an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt" until the day Israel exited the land of their sojourn taking the bones of their patriarch, according to the oath, with them. Genesis 50:26-28.
[310] British Museum, `A Guide to the Babylonian and Assyrian Antiquities', London, 1908, `The Nimroud Central Saloon', p. 29-32.