In the 1350 BC correspondence of 382 letters, called the Amarna letters, the prostration formula is usually the opening subservient remarks to the addressee, the Egyptian pharaoh. The formula is based on prostration, namely reverence and submissiveness. Often the letters are from vassal rulers or vassal city-states, especially in Canaan but also in other localities. The formula is often repetitive, or multi-part, with parts seeming to repeat and can go forward in a typical standard format. However, the prostration formula may also be duplicated in a similar format at the end of a letter, or a foreshortened part of the formula may be entered, for effect, in the middle of a letter.

Some example letters with the Prostration formula

The letters EA 242 and 246 are from Biridiya of Magidda-(Megiddo), (EA for 'el Amarna').

Biridiya letter 242, no. 1 of 7: title: "Request granted"

See: Amarna letters for the phrase "7 times and 7 times".

Biridiya letter 246, no. 5 of 7: title: "The sons of Lab'ayu"

Reverse:

An example of: "Dirt, Ground, Chair, and Footstool"

Biryawaza letter EA 195, no. 2 of 4: title: "Waiting for the Pharaoh's words"

This letter contains all the uses of "dirt, ground, chair, and footstool", seldom found in one letter.