146 Ann E. Killebrew
group (Kamp and Yoffee 1980: 98). Building on these foundations, later studies have
emphasized the notion of a socially constructed and shared identity, as reflected in the
textual evidence. These ideologies of kinship were reinforced by flexible social and eco-
nomic networks, which incorporated pastoral, agricultural, and urban economies that
were particularly suited to the second millenniumBCEMesopotamian context (Porter
2009; Wossink 2009: 135–37).
The term hapiru (habiru/‘apiru [Akkadian/West Semitic],
̨
pr.w [Middle Egyp-
tian], SA.GAZ [Sumerian]) appears in second millenniumBCESumerian, Akkadian,
Hittite, Mitanni, Ugaritic, and Egyptian sources. In these texts, which span the
nineteenth–twelfth centuriesBCE,thehapiruare described as rebels, raiders, soldiers,
mercenaries, slaves, outlaws, vagrants, or individuals living on the margins of society
(Greenberg 1955). It is noteworthy that they are not mentioned as pastoralists or as
members of tribes. In early Sumerian documents, the cuneiform logogram SA.GAZ
is employed, which is translated as “one who smashes sinews,” and often refers to
small bands of soldiers, apparently employed locally as mercenaries. This term appears
in association with the Akkadian habb ̄atu (“plunderer” or “robber”) or šagg ̄ašu
(“murderer”). Thehapiruappear as soldiers in nineteenth-centuryBCEadministrative
texts in southern Mesopotamia, where they are often equated with SA.GAZ. The
later appearance of SA.GAZ andhapirutogether in the Ugaritic texts confirms prior
attempts to link the two terms (see Rainey 1995: 482, and the discussion therein). At
Mari to the north, thehapiruare also soldiers, but never referred to as SA.GAZ. The
sixteenth-century unprovenanced Tikunani Prism is one of the most important Akkadian
texts mentioning thehapiru. This inscription lists the names of 438hapirusoldiers of
Tunip-Teššup, king of the central Mesopotamian city-state, Tikunani. Significantly, the
majority of the names are Hurrian, one is Kassite, and the remaining names are Semitic
(Salvini 1996).
From the late sixteenth centuryBCE, the term SA.GAZ appears sporadically in a num-
ber of Hittite texts. SA.GAZ troops are mentioned in several documents. Oaths from the
reigns of Šuppiluliuma I and Mursili II refer to thehapirugods, as well as to the gods
and goddesses ofAmurru. Other texts allude to ahapirusettlement and female SA.GAZ
singers. In an autobiographical inscription on a fifteenth-centuryBCEstatue from south-
eastern Anatolia, Idrimi describes his sojourn with the “hapirupeople” in “Ammija in the
land of Canaan” and his ultimate return to power as king of Alalakh with the assistance
of thehapiru(Vidal 2012). Lists of SA.GAZ troops have also been found at Alalakh. The
majority of names are Hurrian, leading some scholars to suggest a connection between
thehapiruand Hurrians, a northern Mesopotamian group. Texts from Nuzi, a provin-
cial town in northern Mesopotamia, describehapiruwho entered long-term service or
received handouts of food and clothing. Most of the names are East Semitic. Tablets
recovered in the northern Levantine city of Ugarit from the Late Bronze Age typically
characterize thehapiruas untrustworthy (Greenberg 1955: 64–70, 78).
Thehapirufeature prominently in New Kingdom Egyptian texts. Of particular note are
the fourteenth-century Amarna letters, which contain the correspondence between the
Egyptian Pharaohs Amenophis III and IV (Akhenaten) and various vassal rulers. Letters
from the rulers of Canaan’s city-states requesting military assistance from the pharaoh
complain bitterly of attacks by armed raiders and plunders that they refer to ashapiruor
SA.GAZ (see Greenberg 1955: 32–49, 55–6; Rainey 1995: 484–90).