Tunip


Tunip was a city-state in western Syria in 1350–1335 BC, the period of the Amarna letters. The name "Syria" did not yet exist, though this was already the time of ancient Assyria. The regions were: Amurru, Nuhašše, the Amqu, Nii, etc.
The record of the appellation 'Tunip' is mainly from Egyptian records,, and especially the Amarna letters.
Tunip is especially mentioned in the Amarna letters of Aziru, residing in Amurru and in conflict with the king of Hatti. He is often claiming to reside in Tunip, until it is safe to leave, or to try to defend other cities/city-states of his region. The local region in Syria, Nuhašše is also in conflict, and is mentioned in 7 of Aziru's 13 EA letters,.

Location

The exact location of Tunip remains uncertain, although there's now increasing evidence that it is at the site of Tell 'Acharneh.

This important city was sought either in northern Phoenicia or in the Middle Orontes. Two prominent sites have been suggested in the latter region: Tell Hama in the modern city of Hama and Tell Asharneh in the southern Ghab Valley northwest of Hama.

The 70 hectare site of Tell Asharneh on the banks of the Orontes River in Syria has been widely seen as the likely location of Tunip. The authors of the above study support the identification of Tunip as Tell Asharneh based on petrographic analysis.
A team of Canadian archaeologists have been conducting excavations at the site of Tell 'Acharneh, under the direction of Michel Fortin of Laval University in Quebec city.

Amarna letters regarding ''Tunip''

Five letters reference 'Tunip' in the Amarna letters corpus, 3 from Aziru's sub-corpus.

EA 59, ''"From the citizens of Tunip" ''

EA 161, ''"An absence explained"'', Aziru no. 6 of 13

Letter EA 161 shows how Aziru claims he was made a 'mayor' of his region, in Amurru.