A  son  begins  a  letter  to  his  father  thus  :  "  To
Dudu,  my  lord,  my  father,  speaketh  thus
Aziru  thy  son,  thy  servant.  At  the  feet  of
my  father  I  prostrate  myself.  Unto  the  feet
of  my  father  may  there  be  peace."  A  sub
ject  addresses  his  liege,  the  king  of  Egypt,
after  this  manner:  "To  the  king  my  lord,
my  god,  my  sun-god,  speaketh  thus  Yapahi
thy  servant  and  the  dust  of  thy  feet,  At  the
feet  of  the  king  my  lord,  my  god,  my  sun-
god,  seven  times  seven  times  I  prostrate  my
self."  The  governor  of  a  district  writes  to
his  equals:  "To  the  kings  of  Canaan,  ser
vants,  my  brothers,  thus  the  king.'1  And
Pharaoh  begins  a  letter  to  a  neighboring
monarch  with  the  words:  "To  Kallima-Sin,
king  of  Karduniyash,  my  brother,  speaketh
thus  Nibnuariya  [Amenophis  iii.]  the  great


Samaria


634


Samaria


king,  king  of  Egypt,  thy  brother.  To  me  is
peace  [welfare].  May  peace  be  to  thee  and
thy  house,  to  thy  children,  magnates,
horses,  chariots,  in  thy  land  may  there  be
abundant  peace."

The  usual  epistolary  salutation  in  the
Greco-Roman  period  in  Palestine  was  briefer,
more  direct,  more  businesslike,  and  in  it
the  name  of  the  writer  commonly  stands
first.  "  King  Alexander  to  his  brother  Jon
athan,  greeting "  (1  Mac.  x.  18).  "  King
Demetrius  unto  the  nation  of  the  Jews,
greeting  "  (25  ;  and  so  Acts  xv.  23  ;  xxiii.  26  ;
Jas.  i.  1).  The  letter  was  frequently  con
cluded  with  a  salutation,  derived  from  Latin
usage,  "Farewell"  (Acts  xv.  29;  xxiii.  30).
To  the  brief  salutation  after  the  Latin  man
ner,  the  Hebrews,  following  their  own  cus
toms,  often  added  a  pfayer  for  peace  (2  Mac.
