diplomacy in antiquity

security and sense of the greatness of the great families, ruling and composing its elite. In the end, it
appears that the very thing that served to uphold the system also facilitated the demise of the
Amarna-led international society. Ultimately, Egyptian procrastination and reluctance to engage in
the give-and-take of normal business undid the system. This may have been hampered by the
frequent killings of envoys and the rivalry over influence on the Syro-Pale-stone plains. A chief
concern was the proxy battle fought out of the palaces in Hattusha, Amarna, and not least
Washukanni over influence in Southern Syria, resulting more often than not in a stand-off and a
reluctance to both engage and mediate disputes other than those of the subjugated vassals in the
immediate vicinity. Egypt’s abandonment-cum-demise of Mittani, along with mismanagement of
the relationship with Babylonia, the chief rival of Assyria, is thought to have prompted a virtual
break-down in the Near East system.
Ever the intermediaries between Europe and the Middle East, the Phoenicians lived in the main
cities of Byblos, Tyros, Sidon, Berytos, Megiddo & Ugarit. The Phoenician moment in history
reflected a breakdown in the Near East system, which allowed nimble merchants to flourish from
cities on the slopes of the Lebanese mountains. The oldest city-states, Byblos, was founded in the
sixth millennium B.C. This small seafaring person in Europe is often remembered as the transmitter
of the Alphabet, onto which the Greeks added vowels. Ugarit Phoenicia, however, is also the home
of the sanctuary of Baal (Melqaert) and of El (Jahve), the rites of whom are at the core of our
inkling towards sharing and participation in the exercise of power and the benefits conferred upon
man by the gods if we do so as organized in families. Monarchs, Merchants, and Shipowners not
only founded Carthago, Cadiz, Malaka, and Sardinia. They also helped monetarize trade and refined
navigational and shipbuilding techniques. Temples, more often than not, served as store-house for
the polity’s trade in goods. Sitting at a trading hub between Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Aegean,
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