36 George Dahl, 



'* When I had spent nine days moored in his harbor, I went to 

 him and said to him : ' Behold, thou hast not found my money 

 (therefore let me depart) with the ship-captain and with those 

 who go . . .'" (four lines are lost here and an uncertain amount 

 more.) 



(Some twenty-three additional lines are missing here) "... the 

 sea. He said to me: 'Be silent . . . '" (three lines containing but 

 a few broken words; among them a reference to searching for the 

 thieves. The journey from Dor to Tyre is somewhere in these 

 lacunae.) 



On his way from Tyre to Byblos, Wenamon in some way meets 

 some of the Thekel with a bag (?) of silver weighing 30 deben. 

 He seized this as security for the 31 deben of silver he had lost. 

 Four months and 12 days after his departure from Thebes, he 

 arrives at Byblos. Having come in an ordinary merchant ship 

 without rich gifts, Wenamon is ordered by Zakar-Baal to leave. 

 But after 19 days one of the noble youths attendant upon Zakar- 

 Baal falls into a prophetic ecstasy and demands that Wenamon be 

 summoned and treated with honor. The king in conversation with 

 Wenamon asserts his independence of Egypt and requires Wena- 

 mon to send to Egypt for part payment of the timber he wishes to 

 secure. After the return of Wenamon's messenger with gold and 

 silver and other valuables, the desired logs are delivered by the 

 king. Upon promising to pay the balance Wenamon is permitted 

 to embark. But to his despair he discovers eleven Thekel (Tak- 

 kara) ships outside the harbor, waiting to arrest him, doubtless 

 because of his seizure of silver from the Thekel he had met between 

 Tyre and Byblos. Zakar-Baal on the following day calls the 

 Thekel fleet to an interview, during which Wenamon embarks and 

 escapes. Contrary winds, however, drive him to Cyprus (Alasa), 

 where he barely escapes being killed by the populace. He manages 

 to secure an audience with the Queen and is protected by her. The 

 report here breaks off and we do not know how Wenamon finally 

 managed to reach Egypt. 



The Thekel (or Takkari), whom Wenamon finds settled at Dor, 

 had begun entering Syria under Ramses HI (1198-1167 B. C.) 80 

 years or more before. In his eighth year Ramses met and deci- 

 sively routed in Syria by land and sea a number of maritime 

 tribes who had made common cause with the invading Libyans. 



