Ayyab was a ruler of Aà ¡tartu (Tell Ashtara), south of Damascus) during the Amarna period of the Egyptian Empire.
According to the Amarna letters, cities/city-states and their kings in the region â just like countries to the north, such as Hatti of the Hittites, fell prey to a wave of attacks by ÿApiru raiders. The Amarna correspondence corpus covers a period from 1350âÂÂ1335 BC.
Another ruler of Aà ¡tartu cited in the Amarna letters is Biridaà ¡wa. The letters do not clearly indicate their title, leading some scholars to describe them as kings of Damascus (Dimaà ¡qu) while others believe they were high Egyptian officials, possibly mayors.
The Amarna Archive (c. 1350 BC) has 3 references to Ayyab. He authored one letter (EA 364) to the Pharaoh. He is mentioned in EA 256, a letter by Mutbaal of Pihilu (Pella, Jordan), one of the sons of the rebellious Labaya.
The chronological order of events may indicate that Ayyab ruled prior to Biridaà ¡wa.
In the Amarna Archive, Ayyab is the author of one letter to the Egyptian pharaoh (EA 364). He is in conflict with the city of Hazor to the northwest.
A letter from Mutbaal of Pihilu (Pella) to the commissioner Yanhamu, rejecting rumors that he was concealing Ay-'ab.
<blockquote>(o 001) Speak to Yanḥamu, my lord, a message from Mut-Baÿli, your servant. I fall at the two feet of my lord. (o 004) How is it said in your presence: "Mut-Baÿli ran away; {Can. he concealed} þAy-þab"? How can the king of Pihilu run away from the commissioners (Can. gloss: sukinu-officials) of the king, his lord? As the king, my lord, lives, as the king, my lord, lives, I swear that þAy-þab is not in Pihilu! See, he has not been (there) for two months. Look, ask Bin-þilima; look, ask [T]aduwa; look, ask Yaà ¡uya! (r 019) Indeed, since the robbery of à  ulum-Marduk I went to the aid of ÿAà ¡tartu (only) when all the cities of the land of Garu became hostile, (namely) Udumu, Aduru, Araru, Mià ¡tu, Magdalu, ÿEnu-ÿanabi, (and) Zarqu. The cities of Hayyanu and Yabià ¡ima were seized. (r 029) Something else: See, (only) since you sent a tablet to me did I send a message to him. By the time you arrive from your journey, see, he will have reached Pihilu, and I will surely obey your commands.</blockquote>
The Land of Garu may compare to modern Golan/Bashan/Hauran-region. The name Golan may derive from Garu with the -r and -l being interchangeable. The cities that follow may then be spread in this region. Udumu, Aduru (in Hauran?), Araru (ÿAraÿra north in Hauran), Mià ¡tu, Magdalu, ÿEnu-ÿanabi, (and) Zarqu. A counterpart to Astartu in the Bashan region would have been modern Daraa.
Outside Garu were Hayyanu may be in Bashan south of the Ḥauran-plateau and Yabià ¡ima may perhaps be rendered as Yabesh/Yabish/Yabessa, being similar to Jabesh-Gilead (Ybà Â) south of the Yarmouk River.