This volume examines international relations in an era of extensive political activity in the ancient Near East. The introduction presents the new approach and research model adopted herein—namely the “buffer-state&rdquo, principle adapted from the field of modern political science. Designed to avert the outbreak of violent conflict between superpowers by creating small, neutral states between them, this theory is applied to two areas of international relations in the ancient Near East.
The first focuses on the buffer-state system that emerged in the wake of the rise of the kingdom of Hanigalbat/Mitanni in northern Mesopotamia &mdash, a remnant of the Hurrian empire that divided the Middle Assyrian empire from the Hittite empire. As the bi-polar balance of power that had prevailed in the region began to change due to the development of this state, a series of upheavals finally led to its annexation to Assyria.
The second analyses the kingdom of Amurru that lay at the centre of the Lebanese coastal strip. Serving as a buffer state between the New Egyptian kingdom and the Hittite empire, this witnessed an unparalleled growth that enabled its leaders to successfully navigate their precarious position between these two rival superpowers.
The study is grounded upon a close textual analysis of numerous documents from the period in question, including chronicles, lists of campaign, correspondence, and international treaties. It also makes extensive use of secondary literature written in a variety of European languages. With no scientific work available to date that addresses all the political systems at play during this extended period, this contribution hopes to provide a comprehensive survey of an action-packed ancient political arena employing modern tools.
Danacode: 110-20316 ISBN: 978-965-226-588-3 Language: Hebrew Pages: 364 Weight: 720 gr Dimensions: 17x24 cm Publication Date: 03/2021 Publisher: Bar-Ilan University Press
Contents
Foreword 9
Methodological introduction
Chapter 1: The distinctive character of historical research 13
Chapter 2: What is a “buffer state”? 16
Part 1
Hanigalbat as a buffer state between Hatti and Assyria
Chapter 1: Introduction 25
Chapter 2: The Hurrians and Hanigalbat 27
Chapter 3: Mitanni’s relations with early Hatti 30
Chapter 4: Mitanni’s relations with Eighteenth-dynasty Egypt 34
Chapter 5: The rise of the Middle Assyrian empire and its relations with Egypt, Babylonia, and Mitanni 42
Chapter 6: The consolidation of the Neo-Hittite empire 48
Chapter 7: Suppiluliuma I’s campaigns to Syria and clash with Tušratta 53
Chapter 8: The collapse of the Mitanni empire and rise of the Hanigalbat buffer state 66
Chapter 9: The Hittite empire during the reigns of Arnuwanda II and Mursili II 73
Chapter 10: Hanigalbat’s shift from Hittite to Assyrian sovereignty and back 81
Chapter 11: Adad-nirāri I’s conquest of Hanigalbat 86
Chapter 12: The reigns of Muwattalli II and Urhi-Tešub and the early years of Hattusili III : A synchronic analysis 92
Chapter 13: Shalmaneser I’s conquest of Hanigalbat 104
Chapter 14: The Hittite empire during the reign of Tudhaliya IV 115
Chapter 15: Hanigalbat’s annexation by Assyria during the reign of Tukulti-Ninurta I 119
Summary 125
Part 2
Amurru as a buffer state between Hatti and Egypt
Chapter 1: The driving out of the Hyksos and establishment of the Eighteenth dynasty in Egypt 129
Chapter 2: The Eighteenth-dynasty pharaohs’ northwards expansion 133
Chapter 3: The reigns of Thutmose II and Hatshepsut 137
Chapter 4: Thutmose III ’s Syro-Canaanite campaigns 143
Chapter 5: Amenhotep II ’s Syro-Canaanite campaigns 156
Chapter 6: The reigns of Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III 161
Chapter 7: The structure of Egyptian rule in Syro-Canaan 168
Chapter 8: The socioeconomic background of ‘Abdi-Aširta’s activities in Amurru 176
Chapter 9: Amurru’s political consolidation under ‘Abdi-Aširta 184
Chapter 10: The rise and fall of Labaya of Shechem 197
Chapter 11: ‘Abdi-Aširta’s sons’ return to Amurru and the early days of Aziru’s reign 200
Chapter 12: Hatti’s establishment in the Syrian arena 206
Chapter 13: The internal developments in Egypt under Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten 212
Chapter 14: Amurru’s transformation into a buffer state 221
Chapter 15: Egypt’s decline 232
Chapter 16: Amurru as a buffer state under Aziru’s successors, Du-Tešub and Duppi-Tešub 237
Chapter 17: Egypt at the end of the Eighteenth dynasty and the renewed campaigns to Syria during the Nineteenth dynasty 240
Chapter 18: Ramesses II and the battle of Qadesh 249
Chapter 19: The Syrian arena following the battle of Qadesh 259
Chapter 20: The Hittite-Egyptian peace treaty 266
Summary 277
Conclusion 279
Abbreviations 283
Bibliography 287
Index 349
Dr. Idan Brier is a senior lecturer in the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at Bar-Ilan University. His area of expertise is the study of the political and social history of the biblical period and the ancient Near East. His research also deals with the study of human-animal relations during this period, and he is a full-time fellow at the Oxford Center for Animal Ethics Research Institute.