Desperate plea for help came too late for ancient Assyrian leader

[Adsos Letter]

Source: TimesOnline
Hannah Devlin




A letter scratched into a clay tablet reveals a desperate plea for reinforcements that came just too late. Alone, petrified and facing almost certain death, the ancient Assyrian leader Mannu-ki-Libbali scrawled a call for help to his commander, but his cry for extra troops came too late.

Soon after it was sent, the ancient city of Tushan was overrun by Babylonian invaders, its temples and palaces pillaged, then torn down or set aflame.

The letter, scratched into a clay tablet in 630BC, may never have reached its intended recipient. But more than 2,500 years later it has been unearthed almost intact by archaeologists, offering an unprecedented glimpse into the downfall of the one of the most powerful empires of the ancient world.

In the 30-line letter, the author despairs that he lacks the necessary equipment and manpower to stave off the enemy, suggesting that the issue of military resources may be as old as warfare itself.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article6740694.ece

Nice article.

[aquart]

1. Lotta letters like that in Amarna, too.

[Adsos Letter]

2. Yes, I have a couple of books on the Amarna Tablets. Quite a discovery.

[aquart]

3. Try this. Shock yourself.

<http://www.grazian-archive.com/quantavolution/QuantaHTML/vol_15/velikovsky_affair_01.htm>
<http://www.specialtyinterests.net/amarna.html>

[ColbertWatcher]

4. Anyone know where Obama was when this happened?

I'm sure he prevented the delivery of the message somehow.