136 B.—“To the King my Lord (my God?), the Sun from heaven, by letter thus (says) _Yamirdagan_ thy servant: at the feet of the King my Lord seven times seven times I bow. I hear the message of the King my Lord to me, and now I will guard the city of the King my Lord till the coming of a message of the King my Lord for me.”
Comparing the name with that of Dagontacala of Ascalon, it appears that this writer was probably a Philistine.
151 B.—A letter from the “Chief of the town _Naziba_” to say he goes with his chariots and horses to meet the King’s soldiers. This place must, therefore, have been in or near the plains. It may be the Nezib of the Bible (Josh. xv. 43), now _Beit Nusîb_, eight miles northwest of Hebron, close to Keilah. The chariots could easily reach this vicinity from the plain, by the broad flat highway of the Valley of Elah.
55 B. M.—With the usual salutation, _Ben Addu_, captain of the King’s horse, says: “Now they watch the land of the King my Lord exceedingly. And who am I—a dog.... He will hear the messages of the King my Lord and of the _Ka-pa_ (for _Paka?_) of the King my Lord. To (_Sagusi Khasi?_) ... thus (says) _Ben Addu_: I bow at thy feet. All is failing. So now those who are our friends are fleeing to the King; will not he despatch ... the road.... Now they guard the road: it is cleared for thee.”
56 B. M.—The usual salutation from _Ben Addu_, of the city of _Pitazza_; continues: “Now they guard the city, and land of the King my Lord, the Sun from heaven: all that the King has said they watch—the allies. And the decree of the message of the King my Lord _Bel Anapa_ (Baal Anubis) the _Paka_ of the King my Lord has uttered. The King my Lord is mighty as the Sun in heaven. Whom I but a dog, and shall such a one not mind the message of the King my Lord the Sun from heaven?”
153 B.—From the same _Ben Addu_, of _Pitazza_, with the usual salutation, and to the same effect as the preceding, but too broken to read.
The only site which seems to be suggested by Pitazza is the important ruin of _Futeis_, southeast of Gaza. It is near the road to Egypt and in the plains. The letters probably refer to arrangements for the flight of the kings of Jerusalem and Gezer, or of their wives.