| Predynastic period | Early Dynastic | Old Kingdom | First Intermediate | Middle Kingdom | Second Intermediate | New Kingdom | Third Intermediate | Late period | Graeco-Roman period |
| Predynastic period | Early Dynastic | Old Kingdom | First Intermediate | Middle Kingdom | Second Intermediate | New Kingdom | Third Intermediate | Late period | Graeco-Roman period |
The Amarna Letters are a set of clay tablets were discovered in 1887 near to the ruins of Akhenaten´s city, Akhetaten (Armarna). A total of 382 tablets have been recovered, but many more were probably been lost or destroyed. The tablets are written in cuniform, the diplomatic language of the middle east, and record the correspondence between the pharaoh and the kings and vassals of the middle east during the reigns of Amenhotep II and his son Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV).
The tablets are generaly divided into two groups. The first group is the correspondence between the pharaoh and the rulers of Babylonia, Assyria, Mitanni, Arzawa, Alashiya (Cyprus) and the land of the Hittities. The second group are from Egypt's vassal states, and largely consist of begging letters, requests for help (usually money and troops), and complaints regarding the petty disputes between Egypt's vassal states in Syria and Palestine.
