Amarna Diplomacy: The Beginnings of International Relations [Hardcover]

Raymond Cohen (Editor), Raymond Westbrook (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1999

Published in 1992, William L. Moran's definitive English translation, The Amarna Letters, raised as many questions as it answered. How did Pharaoh run his empire? Why did the god-king consent to deal with his fellow, mortal monarchs as equals? Indeed, why did kings engage in diplomacy at all? How did the great powers maintain international peace and order?

In Amarna Diplomacy, Raymond Cohen and Raymond Westbrook have brought together a team of specialists, both social scientists and ancient historians, to explore the world of ancient Near Eastern statecraft portrayed in the letters. Subjects discussed include Egyptian imperial and foreign policy, international law and trade, geopolitics and decision making, intelligence, and diplomacy. This book will be of interest to scholars not only of the ancient Near East and the Bible but also of international relations and diplomatic studies.

Contributors are Pinhas Artzi, Kevin Avruch, Geoffrey Berridge, Betsy M. Bryan, Raymond Cohen, Steven R. David, Daniel Druckman, Serdar Güner, Alan James, Christer Jönsson, Mario Liverani, Samuel A. Meier, William J. Murnane, Nadav Na'aman, Rodolfo Ragionieri, Raymond Westbrook, and Carlo Zaccagnini.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The breadth of the scholarly expertise here is remarkable and certainly sheds new light on an ancient and rather arcane body of texts." -- William G. Dever, MESA Bulletin

"Fascinating reading not only for specialists on the history of the ancient Near East but for all who are interested in the making and working of international politics in general." -- Archiv orientální

"This is an important volume for any scholar of the ancient Near East." -- Religious Studies Review

About the Author

Raymond Cohen is a professor of international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Raymond Westbrook is a professor of ancient Near Eastern languages and literature at the Johns Hopkins University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801861993
• ISBN-13: 978-0801861994
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,596,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Conclusions about International Relations in the ancient world, drawn from the Amarna Letters, April 10, 2009

By 

C. L. Fluty "Author of Nefertiti, Immortal Queen" (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amarna Diplomacy: The Beginnings of International Relations (Paperback)

This book is a collection of essays that began as contributions to a conference about the relationships between rulers in the Middle East during the 14th Century BCE, as drawn from the Amarna Letters. The Amarna Letters are a group of documents inscribed on clay tablets that were found in 1897 in the ruins of Akhetaten, the capital city of Pharaoh Akhenaten, at a site now called El-Amarna. These were letters between various rulers of Great Powers and governors of lesser powers around the Middle East, and the Pharaoh of Egypt. Some of them appear to date to the reign of Akhenaten, some to the reign of his father, Amenhotep III, and others appear to date somewhat later. Most are written in the Akkadian language in cuneiform script, which was the "lingua franca" of its day. They provide a remarkable "up close and personal" picture of the most important people of their day and their interactions.
From these letters, this group of scholars have drawn fascinating inferences about the nature of international law, relations, policy, and even spying and political intrigue among the great and little powers of the world as it was 3300 years ago. It is interesting to see how far we have come, how different international relations are today - and yet, how some things have not changed all that much.
This is a scholarly work, not light reading, but very interesting to anyone with an interest in history or international law and diplomacy.