Apirou , Abirou , Hapirou or Habirou is the name given by many sources sumériennes, Egyptian, akkadiennes, hittite S, Mitanni your, and ic Ougarit (going back approximately to -2000 with -1200) with a category of the population of the North-West of the Mésopotamie and Fertile Croissant, since the borders of the Egypt, until in Canaan and Iran. The portrait which one draws up of Apirou varies according to the source and the time: they are wandering, semi-sedentaries, outlaws, marginal, rebellious, mercenaries, slaves, migrant worker, etc

The terms Habiru and Hapiru are in the shelves akkadiennes in writing Cunéiforme and seem to correspond at the end apr.w appearing in the Egyptian texts starting from Thoutmôsis {{III}}, conventionally marked “Apirou” ( W being the mark of the Pluriel as an Egyptian). In annals mésopotamiennes, one identifies them by the Logogramme sumérien sa.gaz , whose pronunciation is unknown. Perhaps Apirou means dusty , following the example nomads of the steppe.

When one discovered the first texts mentioning Apirou in the correspondence of a king of Canaan with a Egyptian Pharaon, some quickly operated the bringing together with the biblical term `bry (derivative of עבר), in other words the “Hebrews”, and thought that these letters constituted a extra-biblical proof of the invasion of Canaan carried out by Josué. Nevertheless, after many research, this assumption is now largely abandoned. The people belonging to the groups of Apirou carry, indeed, of the names of varied origin not allowing to suppose a single ethnic membership. Moreover, excavations on the highlands of Canaan in particular let suppose that the first Jews appear only starting from -1200 (see also Shasou and Apirou in the Egyptian documents).

Sources

Sumériennes sources

Documents sumériens dating from the reign of Shoulgi, king of Ur v. -2150, describe “people travelling without clothing, in a deathly hush, destroying all on its passage; the men go where good seems to them, planting their tents and their campings; they live in the region without observing the decrees of my king. ”

These people are designated by a wedge-shaped logogramme in two characters whose pronunciation unknown, is transcribed in a conventional way by sa.gaz . Although there exist occurrences of this logogramme in the texts sumériens, none of the two characters has clean significance in this language. Some proposed for this logogramme a pronunciation gub.iru in sumérien.

The logogramme sa.gaz was identified in certain documents with the word Akkadien habbatu , which means “brigand” or “highwayman”.

Mésopotamiennes sources

The logogramme sa.gaz appears in texts of the south of Mésopotamie, gone back to approximately -1850, where it is…

Hapiri instead off the logogram; another described them ace " soldiers from the West".

The Tikunani PRISM, dated from around -1550, lists the names off 438 Habiru being useful soldiers gold off king Tunpi-Teššub off Tikunani, has small city-state in Mesopotamia exchange. The majority off thesis names are typically Hurrian, the rest is Semitic, one is Kassite.

Another text, of approximately -1500 descrit the Hapiru ace soldiers gold laborers, organized into bands off various sizes commanded by sa.gaz leaders: one band from Tapduwa has 15 soldiers, another from Sarkuhe has 29, and another has 1,436. which source??? -->

Canaanéennes sources

The oldest source…

Akhénaton (Amenhotep V, towards -1340) from vassal kings in Palestine, found in the royal files known ace the Amarna letters. Thesis letters, written by Canaanite scribes in Akkadian language and Cuneiform script, complain butt attacks by tribes that appear to cuts been semi-nomads nomads but, and which formed shifting allegiances with one gold another kingdom in room wars.

Those people are identified by the Sumerian logogram sa.gaz in nap letters, and by the Akkadian name Hapiru in others. They appear to Be activates one has broad area including Syria (At Upe near Damascus), Phoenicia (Sumur, Batrun and Byblos), and to the south ace far ace Jerusalem -->

Egyptian sources

See also: Letters of Amarna

`pr.w in the consonant-only Egyptian script, where . is the plural marker. The pronuciation off this Word has been reconstructed ace apiru . From similarity off context and description, it is believed that the Egyptian `pr.w are is equivalent to the Akkadian Habiru/Hapiru.

In his account off the conquest off Joppa, General Toth off Pharaon Thoutmôsis {{III}} (towards -1440) asks At does not summon that his horses Be taken inside the city, ballast they Be stolen by has passing Apir .

One two stelae At Memphis and Karnak, the son of Thoutmôsis, Amenhotep {{II}} boasts off having made 89,600 prisoners in his campaign in Palestine (around -1420), including " 127 princes and 179 noble (?) off Retained, 3600 Apiru , 15,200 Bedouin, 36,600 Horites, " etc

With stela from the reign off Séthi {{Ier}} (towards -1300) such that the pharaoh feels year forwarding into Syria gold Palestine, in response to year attack off " the apiru from Mount Yarmuta" upon has local town. Year unspecified number off the apiru were captured and brought back to Egypt Slavic aces. His/her son, Ramsès {{II}} is traditionally recognized like the Pharaon of the Exode, the adversary of Moïse.

With list off goods bequeathed to several temples by pharaoh Ramsès {{III}} (towards -1160) includes many serfs, Egyptian and foreign: 86,486 to Thèbes (2607 foreigners), 12,364 to Heliopolis (2093 foreign), and 3079 to Memphis (205 foreign). The foreign serfs are described ace " maryanu (soldiers), apiru , and people already settled in the temple estate". -->

Hittites sources

The logogramme sa.gaz …

sa.gaz are mentioned in At least has dozen documents from the Hittite kingdom, starting from -1500 gold earlier. Several documents contain the sentence " the troops from Hatti and the sa.gaz troops", Hatti being the core area off the Hittite kingdom. Two oaths from the reigns off Suppiluliumas (around -1350) and Mursilis {{II}} (towards -1300) invoke, among has long list off deities, “… the Lulahhi gods (and) the Hapiri gods, Ereskigal, the gods and goddesses off the Hatti Land, the gods and goddesses off Amurru Land,…”.

Another mention occurs in has off treaty between kings Duppi-Teshub Amurru and Tudhaliyas off Carchemish, arbitrated by Mursilis {{II}}. The Hittite monarch recalls how He had restored king Abiradda to the throne off Jaruwatta, off has town in the Land Barga, which had been captured by the Hurrians and given to “the grandfather off Tette, the sa.gaz ”. -->

Mitannites sources

An inscription on a found statue with Alalakh in Anatolia of the south-west, which introduces the prince Idrimi of Alep (approximately -1500 with -1450) in the Mitanni, reports that after its family had to flee towards Emar, it gave up them to join the people " Apiru" with " Ammija in the ground of Canaan". Apiru would have recognized it like the " wire of their large roi" and would be " joined together around him; " it describes them like incorporating " originating in Halab, the country of Mukish, the country of Nihi with also of the warriors of the country of Amae. " After having lived among them during seven years, it would victoriously have carried out them in an attack by the sea against the town of Alalakh, of which he became the king for 30 years until the inscription.

Ougaritiques sources

In the port city of Ougarit, in the north of the Syria, a wedge-shaped shelf which was still in the course of cooking at the time of the destruction of the city (towards -1200) mentions the prm (that one supposes being Apirou, - m corresponding to the plural suffix ougaritic.

Interpretations

Apirou like scattered ethnicity

-1550) indicates they were originally nothing more than has wandering tribe off Hurrians, goal summons wire-drawer for the disappearance off this ethnic distinction At has very early training course making them has Not-exclusive ethnic group. Like the 17th century, Cossack bands off Eastern European Steppes, scholars since Moshe Greenberg cuts envisioned the Hapiru agricultural ace being formed out off outlaws and drop-outs from neighbouring societies. The numbers off the Habiru off the