The Origin of the Amarna International System: Egyptian Imperialism in the Northern Levant and Geopolitical Dynamics in the Late Bronze Age

Zangani, Federico

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Year:: 2020
Contributor:: Zangani, Federico (creator); Allen, James (Advisor); Rutz, Matthew (Advisor); Rojas, Felipe (Reader); Mynarova, Jana (Reader); Brown University. Department of Egyptology and Assyriology (sponsor)
Genre:: theses
Subject:: Middle East; Egyptology; Syria; Assyriology
Extent:: xiii, 432 p.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26300/jrbf-d861

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Abstract:: This dissertation investigates the evolution of the imperial policies of the Egyptian 18th Dynasty (ca. 1550-1295 BC) in the northern Levant (i.e. Syria and Lebanon), and how this eventually led to the origin of the diplomatic system of the Amarna letters. Through a combined analysis of the Egyptian record, the Amarna letters, and archival cuneiform documents from Kumidi (Kāmid el-Lōz, Lebanon) and Qatna (Tell Mishrifeh, Syria), this study argues that Egyptian imperialism was expressly dictated by economic motives, and that the policies of territorial expansionism undertaken by Tuthmosis III and Amenhotep II in the 15th century BC resulted in failure due to the geographic barriers and the sociopolitical, ethnic, and linguistic complexity of the northern Levant. Instead of a territorial empire with spatial continuity, in the 14th century BC the pharaonic monarchy opted for a new policy aimed at establishing an economic network in the northern Levant, targeting wealthy polities located strategically at the intersection of major trade routes, such as Byblos, Kumidi, Damascus, and Qatna. In order to safeguard their economic interests in the region, the Egyptians relied upon local political figures, such as the “commissioner” of Kumidi, with a view to maximizing their economic rate of return with minimal infrastructural investment and military involvement. The epistolary correspondence between the pharaonic monarchy and the local rulers in the Amarna archive, therefore, should be understood as the only available instrument to attempt at exerting political power and maintaining cohesion in what was a very loose system of governance. The degree to which this policy succeeded varied considerably, and Egyptian control over Syria was highly inhomogeneous and precarious. This analysis ultimately leads to a minimalist view of Egyptian imperialism in the northern Levant, since it was not aimed at territorial annexation, but targeted specific cities at the nodes of the Near Eastern and Mediterranean economic network.
Notes:: Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brown University, 2020

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Zangani, Federico, "The Origin of the Amarna International System: Egyptian Imperialism in the Northern Levant and Geopolitical Dynamics in the Late Bronze Age" (2020). Egyptology and Assyriology Theses and Dissertations. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://doi.org/10.26300/jrbf-d861

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Egyptology and Assyriology Theses and Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations for the Egyptology and Assyriology department.
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