International Relations in the Ancient Near East

by Mario Liverani

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.

Genres: History

258 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Inés Chamarro · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book, but not one about History. The angle of approach is the diplomatic relations system, the interplay of the different philosophies or cosmovisions of the different major players and the double talk of each of these powers between "selling" international events to the internal public opinion or to their fellow sovereigns. The era (1600-1100 BC) is particularly interesting because a lot of material has reached us from diplomatic archives in Egypt, Assyria, the Hittite empire, Mittani and Ugarit, and this sometimes allows to compare the retelling of an event from several perspectives, or the arguments applied to similar events by sovereigns with differing styles or philosophies. The book makes abundant use of original texts and has very short and focused chapters covering different topics, making it easy to put it down for long periods and then come back to it without missing a beat.

I never would have thought it, but the Egyptians do come off as rather off-putting in their arrogance and splendid isolation. The Hittites are pragmatists with a much more balanced view and capable of considering fairness rather than simple military force, although they are not above taking advantage when the chance appears. The Assyrians, on the other hand, appear as outsiders trying to force their way into the club of important nations and are both defensive and pushy by turns. The poor minor kings or vassals were clearly jostled around by the major players, but even so they often stood their ground defending what they considered their rights and changed sides with relative ease when unhappy with their existing overlord. There is an almost feudal conception at times as to the rights and obligations of king and vassal in the Hittite empire which must have made the place an interesting one.

[DS25 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bellissimo testo, che racchiude in modo sintetico alcune tematiche nucleo delle società del VOA (con un focus importante sull'esterno, quindi anche sul mondo Egizio). Interessante in particolare il capitolo sul commercio, che include alcuni documenti interessanti sull'ideologia di scambio/tributo, compreso il "commercio" di principesse - che suona malissimo, ma non saprei come altro descriverlo - per lo status e l'influenza nel paese ospitante.

[Sasha Alessandro Volpi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liverani rappresenta sempre il vertice della Storia del Vicino Oriente in Italia e nel mondo.

[Birch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok.