Yurza

From ArchaeoWiki

Representative writings and transliterations
Akkadian	Yurza
Egyptian	-
NW Semitic
Greek
Latin
Arabic	Tell Jemmeh
Other	Arza, Yurza
Contemporary	Tell Jemmeh

The cuneiform toponym Yurza refers to a city-state, identified with Arza, and situated at the site of Tell Jemmeh in the vicinity of Gaza in the Nahal Besor.

Contents 1 Documentation 1.1 Primary 1.2 Secondary 2 Leadership 3 Discussion 4 Observations 5 Bibliography 5.1 Prosopography 5.2 Identification 5.3 Discussion

Documentation

Primary

• EA 314
• EA 315
• EA 316

Secondary

• TIII Karnak Annals I:12

Leadership

• Pu-Baʿlu (Amarna period, late 14th century BCE)

Discussion

Petrographic analysis of the clays from EA 315 and EA 316 point strongly to Tell Jemmeh as their place of origin, fitting well with archaeological evidence from the site and textual evidence on Yurza / Arza. Furthermore, petrography completely rules out an alternative suggestion, identifying Yurza with Tell el-Hesi [Rainey 1993]. As such, Yurza is almost certainly to be identified with Arza.

Observations

Bibliography

Prosopography

• Pu-Baʿlu: Amarna Personal Names §

Identification

• Petrography: Inscribed in Clay, pp.299-301.

Discussion