The ancient civilizations of the Near East - Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, the Hittites and Canaanites - constituted the first formalized international relations system in world history. Holy wars, peace treaties, border regulations, trade relations and the extradition of refugees were problems for contemporary ambassadors and diplomats as they are today. Mario Liverani reconstructs the procedures of international relations in the period c.1600-1100BC using historical semiotics, communication theory and economic and political anthropology.
'...will be of great value both to historians...and to scholars and theorists of international relations.' - Gary Beckman, kiplinger.com
Preface
List of Maps
Abbreviations
Introduction
PART I: TERRITORY AND BORDERS
Inner vs. Outer Territory
Universal Control
The Boundaries of the World
Symbolic Attainment of the World Border
The Coexistence of Different States
Moving Borders
The Boundary as a Watershed for Taxation
The Boundary as a Watershed for Responsibilities
Runaways and Extradition
PART II: WAR AND ALLIANCE
The One Against Many
War as Elimination of the Rebels
Conquest as a Cosmic Organization
Peace as Submission
Ordeal by War
The Rules of War
The Battle of Megiddo
Peace as Mutual Recognition
The Ideology of Protection
The Ideology of Brotherhood
PART III: CIRCULATION OF GOODS
Priority and Continuity of the Redistributive Pattern
Intervention of the Reciprocal Pattern
Accumulation vs. Circulation
Self-Sufficiency vs. Interdependence
The Ideology of Life
Hatshepsut and Punt: Trade or Tribute?
Wen-Amun and Zakar-Ba'al: Gift or Trade?
The Annals of Tuthmosis III: Tribute or Gift?
The Origins of Tribute
Equal vs. Unequal Marriages
Conclusion
Index
MARIO LIVERANI is Professor of History and the Ancient Near East and Director of the Inter-University Research Centre for Saharan Archaeology at the University of Rome and of the Archaeological Mission in the Libyan Sahara. He is editor of Arid Zone Archaeology. He is the author of many books focusing on the Ancient Near East (in both English and Italian) and an active contributor to specialized journals.