The Egyptian diplomatic system in the LBA beyond the terms of “Brotherhood” & “Equality”: Diplomatic Marriage as a case

studyBy

Grigorios I. Kontopoulos©

Aegean UniversityDepartment of Mediterranean Studies

The Egyptian ideology towards Foreigners

• Egypt was the dominant center of the world.

• Foreigners perceived as:1. Valuable objects in the

service of gods2. Inherent part of the

created world, between human & nature creations

3.Forces of chaos and destruction that opposed Maat and divine creation.

• Foreigners could reverse their negative and conform to the rules of Maat only through their acculturation and integration as individual members of the Egyptian society.

Acceptance of foreign customs and tradition by an

Egyptian=Barbarism

Foreigners in Egypt

Textual sources

1. Execration texts.2. Topographical lists.3. Terms such as Hryw-SA, xAstyw, aAm, RTnw, xAstyw

(people from the countries of the hills and deserts) & psDt-pDwt (the nine bows)” in order to define foreigners using geographical criteria.

Thutmose III caananite city list, Karnak

Clay figurine

Nectanebo II statue Pedestal Musee de Louvre, 2963

Foreigners in texts addressed to an internal Egyptian audience:

Depicted as inferior human beings

Foreigners in texts addressed to foreigners: (Treaties, Amarna Letters etc.)

Depicted under a sense of equality

Change of attitude towards foreigners during New Kingdom

Part of the loot

Slaves after expeditions

The role of propaganda

Egyptians = Foreigners

The birth of the Egyptian Expansionism

Egypt till 1500 BC:• Absence of a mechanism which controlled the political

fermentations and the turbulences at its boarders• Oriented in securing its boarders and gather products from

abroad.

Egypt after Second Intermediate Period (1674-1553 BC) : • Campaigns against Hyksos (Kamose-Ahmose) created the rise

of the Egyptian expansionism.• Several campaigns in Nubia to the South and Syria and

Palestine to the North (Ahmose, Amenhotep I, Thuthmose I) disrupted the equilibrium of power between Egypt and its Eastern neighbors:

“His southern boundary is as far as the frontier of this land, the northern as far as the inverted water which goes downstream in going upstream”.

(Urk. IV: 82-86)

The creation of the Egyptian empire

The successful campaigns in Nubia and Syria-Palestine created:1. An Egyptian sphere of influence in Western Asia.2. A different perception of the expansionism, manifested

in a form of an amalgam of international relationships.

• Pharaoh’s suzerainty was recognized by the native rulers of the states of Western Asia.

Egypt’s involvement in the diplomatic procedure traced at:1. Mari & Bogazkoy archives.2. Amarna Letters.3. Several war monuments & campaign memorials.• Diplomatic relations reached their peak during the

Amarna period.

The Amarna system of diplomacy

• Not the earliest system established in the Near Easten territory.

• Mari and Bohazkoy archives revealed a fully developed system of diplomatic contacts between Egypt and its Near Eastern neighbors.

382 tablets written in Babylonian language

350 Letters & inventories between Egypt & its

neighbors in two separate categories:

Egypt = Foreign states

Foreigners = Vassals

Previous studies

Scientifically oriented in a dipole consisted of:1. The degree to which the actions of states and people

of the ancient Near East & Egypt were defined by the world views and ideologies.

2. The translation of the several archives survived (Amarna Letters, Mari & Bogazkoy archive, Marriage scarabs, Treaties etc).

Unexplored aspects3. The vital need of a state to remain part of a wider

diplomatic system.4. The need to be recessive in matters such as its

ideology towards the “others” and its “superiority” among them in order to be accepted as an international “player”.

5. The adoption of common codes between different states in order to communicate each other.

Foreign princesses in Egypt

Foreign chiefs

Lesser wives of the Pharaoh

Means for a diplomatic agreement

Connected with a bride price

The Unequal character ofdiplomatic marriage

Unequal to Pharaoh

Pharaoh = The ideal ally

• Explore the perception of the diplomatic contacts by the Egyptians & their NE counterparts.

• Analyze the phenomenon of propaganda.

• Comparison between the status of Pharaoh and Kings of Near East.

• Analysis of the connection between ideology & Language in NK Egypt.

• Underline the significance and analyze the meaning & the significance of diplomatic marriage as a VITAL mean for the diplomatic procedure.

• Locate the proposed “abandonment” of power by the Pharaoh and questions it.

Contribution to scholarship

Diplomatic marriages during New Kingdom

Diplomatic marriage: “the arranged marriage between the ruler of one state and the offspring of the

royal house of another”.

• Several cases of diplomatic marriages during the reign of Thutmose III, Amenhotep III, Ramesses II.

• Although Egyptians accepted a foreign bride for the Pharaoh, the vice versa seems forbidden:

“from time immemorial no daughter of the king of Egypt is given to

anyone” (EA 4).

Completely different perception of diplomatic marriage from the parties

involved

Amenhotep III marriage scarab

Thank you for

your attention.