himself by means of gifts. Lastly, he denied the accusation that he had
received the envoy of the king of the Hittites and refused to receive
the Egyptian messenger, although the country he governed belonged to the
king, and the king had appointed him over it. Let the Egyptian envoy
make inquiries, he urges, and he will find that Aziru has acted
uprightly.

The capture of Zemar forms the burden of many of the letters of
Rib-Hadad. It had been besieged for two months by Ebed-Asherah, who had
vainly attempted to corrupt the loyalty of the governor of Gebal. For
the time Rib-Hadad managed to save the city, but Aziru allied himself
with Arvad and the neighbouring towns of Northern Phoenicia, captured
twelve of Rib-Hadad's men, demanded a ransom of fifty pieces of silver
for each of them, and seized the ships of Zemar, Beyrout, and Sidon. The
forces sent from Gebal to Zemar were made prisoners by the Amorite chief
at Abiliya, and the position of Rib-Hadad daily became more desperate.
Pa-Hor, the Egyptian governor of Kumidi, joined his opponents, and
induced the Sute or Beduin to attack his Sardinian guards. Yapa-Hadad,
another governor, followed the example of Pa-Hor, and Zimridi the
governor of Sidon had from the first been his enemy. Tyre alone remained
faithful to his cause, though an "Ionian" who had been sent there on a
mission from Egypt had handed over horses, chariots, and men to
Ebed-Asherah, and it was accordingly to Tyre that Rib-Hadad sent his
family for safety. Tyre, however, now began to suffer like Gebal in
consequence of the alliance between Zimridi and Ebed-Asherah.

Zemar eventually fell into the hands of Ebed-Asherah and his sons, its
prefect Khayapa or Khaip being slain during the assault. Abimelech, the
governor of Tyre, accuses Zimridi of having been the cause. Whether this
were so or not, it placed the whole of Northern Phoenicia under the