| rdfs:comment | - The name of the state translated as "Alashiya" is found on texts written in Egyptian, Hittite, Akkadian, Mycenean (Linear B) and Ugaritic. A number of the Amarna letters are from the King or ministers of Alashiya. These mostly concern the amount of copper that has been sent from Alashiya and requests for silver or ivory in return. One letter refers to 500 talents of copper (probably about 12.5 tons) and makes excuses as to why so little copper has been sent. Pharaoh is also referred to by the King of Alashiya as his "brother", indicating that the king regarded himself as an equal, probably because of the economic power of his kingdom. Papyrus Anastasi IV, written several centuries later, also refers to copper (as well as cows) sent from Alashiya to Egypt.
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| abstract | - The name of the state translated as "Alashiya" is found on texts written in Egyptian, Hittite, Akkadian, Mycenean (Linear B) and Ugaritic. A number of the Amarna letters are from the King or ministers of Alashiya. These mostly concern the amount of copper that has been sent from Alashiya and requests for silver or ivory in return. One letter refers to 500 talents of copper (probably about 12.5 tons) and makes excuses as to why so little copper has been sent. Pharaoh is also referred to by the King of Alashiya as his "brother", indicating that the king regarded himself as an equal, probably because of the economic power of his kingdom. Papyrus Anastasi IV, written several centuries later, also refers to copper (as well as cows) sent from Alashiya to Egypt. Any place identified as Alashiya must therefore have had sizable copper production during the Late Bronze Age. There are a number of other clues in the texts. The Amarna letters contain references to a ship belonging to the King of Alashiya and the men of Lukki (probably part of the Sea Peoples, similar to pirates) seizing villages in Alashiya. In other correspondence, the King of Ugarit pleads for help from the King of Alashiya to protect Ugarit from the Sea Peoples. Another document from Ugarit records the banishment of two princes to "the land of Alashiya". One further text found at Ugarit may contain a further clue to the location of the capital city of Alashiya, as it could imply that the city was located on a mountain. However, this word has more usually been translated as shore. The extant ending of the Story of Wenamun records how Wenamun, a priest of Egypt, had been blown off course on the sea journey from Byblos to Egypt and ended up on Alashiya. Wenamun reports that he was almost killed by an angry mob, but was rescued by Hatbi, the "princess of the town". Some of the last texts referring to Alashiya are from the Hittite Empire (based in modern Turkey) and boast of quelling Alashiya by force. However, with all such military reports it is difficult to assess the true outcome.
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