International Relations in the Ancient Near East

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • Mario Liverani

      Pages 1-13

3. Territory and Borders

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15

      PDF

   2. Inner vs. Outer Territory

      • Mario Liverani

      Pages 17-22

   3. Universal Control

      • Mario Liverani

      Pages 23-28

   4. The Boundaries of the World

      • Mario Liverani

      Pages 29-33

   5. Symbolic Attainment of the World Border

      • Mario Liverani

      Pages 34-37

   6. The Coexistence of Different States

      • Mario Liverani

      Pages 38-45

   7. Moving Borders

      • Mario Liverani

      Pages 46-51

   8. The Boundary as a Watershed for Taxation

      • Mario Liverani

      Pages 52-56

   9. The Boundary as a Watershed for Responsibilities

      • Mario Liverani

      Pages 57-65

   10. Runaways and Extradition

       • Mario Liverani

       Pages 66-70

   11. Messengers and ‘Ambassadors’

       • Mario Liverani

       Pages 71-76

4. War and Alliance

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 77-77

      PDF

   2. The One against Many

      • Mario Liverani

      Pages 79-85

   3. War as Elimination of the Rebels

      • Mario Liverani

      Pages 86-90

   4. Conquest as a Cosmic Organization

      • Mario Liverani

      Pages 91-96

   5. Peace as Submission

      • Mario Liverani

      Pages 97-100

   6. Ordeal by War

      • Mario Liverani

      Pages 101-107

   7. The Rules of War

      • Mario Liverani

      Pages 108-115

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.

• anthropology
• communication
• continuity
• history
• history of literature
• interdependence
• international relations
• Inuit
• organization
• peace
• semiotics
• Syria
• trade
• tradition
• world history

'...will be of great value both to historians...and to scholars and theorists of international relations.' - Gary Beckman, kiplinger.com

• University of Rome, Italy

  Mario Liverani

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.

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