Rib-Addi

Governor of Byblos reigns of Amenophis III and Akhenaten, c.1417-1370 BC.

    Rib-Addi was the Governor of Byblos, a vassal state of Egypt during the Eighteenth Dynasty; he is known from the extensive correspondence he carried on with the Egyptian king, and the letters are preserved in the state archive at Amarna, the city built as a capital by *Akhenaten.

    There are nearly seventy letters in this particular correspondence and since these greatly outnumber letters from any other source, it has been suggested that the Amarna archive must be incomplete, preserving only limited examples from other correspondents. Some of Rib-Addi's letters were duplicates that he had sent out from Byblos by different messengers in the hope that at least one of his pleas for help would reach the Egyptian Court and receive some attention.

    His letters have been used to illustrate the situation which appears to have existed in Syria/Palestine during the reigns of *Amenophis III and *Akhenaten, when loyal vassals pleaded in vain for Egyptian assistance and military support against their northern enemies. Particularly in *Akhenaten's reign, this is regarded as evidence of the continuing decline of Egypt's influence in the area. Rib-Addi repeatedly requested Egypt to help him hold *Byblos against the attacks of Abdi-Ashirta of Amurru, but the pleas went unanswered and Rib-Addi and his city eventually succumbed to the enemy.

BIBL. Mercer, S.A.B. The Tell el Amarna Tablets, (two vols) Toronto: 1939; Kitchen, K. A. Suppiluiuma and the Amarna Pharaohs. Liverpool: 1962; CAH ii, ch li.

Biographical Dictionary of Ancient Egypt by Rosalie and Antony E. David