Though the date is doubtful, within limits, this letter probably refers to the departure of the Egyptian soldiers mentioned in the Jerusalem letters.
155 B.—A much-damaged letter. The name of the writer is lost. He sends the usual salutation, and speaks of a letter: of transgression and sin; and mentions the city _Gazri_ (Gezer). He speaks of the going down of the king (or casting down), and of the _Paka_. (See note.)
50 B. M.—“To the King my Lord my God my Sun, the Sun from the heavens, thus (says) _Yapa’a_(320) the chief of the city of _Gazri_ (Gezer) thy servant, the dust of thy feet, a chief captain of thy horse. At the feet of the King my Lord—the Sun from the heavens, seven times and seven times bow indeed both this heart and this body; and whatever the King my Lord says to me I listen to exceeding much. I am the King’s servant, the dust of thy feet. And the King my Lord shall learn. Behold the chief of my brethren; fellows foreign to me also strive for the city of _Mu(ra)’azi_;(321) and the delivery of the same is the demand of men of blood; and now behold what has arisen against me, and counsel as to thy land. Let the King send to the chief who is his friend against one (who is a foe?).”
49 B. M.—After the same salutation from _Yapa’a_, chief of _Gezer_, master of the horse, the letter continues: “I hear the message of the messenger of the King my Lord exceeding much. And let the King my Lord, the Sun from heaven, counsel his servant as to his land. Now strong is the chief of the men of blood against us; and send thou to destroy him O King my Lord for me; and will not the King restore from the hand of the chief of bloody ones? We are not quite made an end of by the chief of the bloody ones.”
51 B. M.—With the usual salutation from _Yapa’a_, the letter continues: “Whatever the King my Lord says to me I listen to him exceedingly. It is gracious. But as I fear what shall befall, help thou my region from the power of the people of the desert lands. And now I hear that the _Pauri_ (chiefs; see the Jerusalem letter B. 103) of the King gather a multitude; and it suffices for me. And they have enlarged my heart very much.”
From these letters we gather that there had been a withdrawal of the Egyptian troops about the time when the “desert people” attacked _Yapa’a_. That these desert people were the Hebrews under Joshua, who was the contemporary of Japhia, we learn more clearly from the Jerusalem letters. That Gezer submitted to them is also shown by the same.