The Babylonian World - Historia Antigua

— David A. Warburton —
both Egypt and Babylonia – quite aside from some more distant lands. Thus, one
can hardly argue that simple logistical constraints played a role.
Contact between Babylonia and Egypt was determined by far more than sheer
distance: it was a question of the relations each had to its neighbours and their
conceptions of their own roles vis-à-vis those neighbours. We will try to explore the
situation on two levels.
In an instant, we will take a look at the power politics which dominated the
Ancient Near East, and thus appreciate that the relations between Egypt and Babylon
were not so much a matter of reciprocal contacts, but, rather, influenced by their
respective relations with Greece, Anatolia, Nubia, Syria, Assyria and Iran.
First, however, we will try to see what the sources can tell us about thought patterns,
and a letter found at the abandoned capital, Akhetaten (now called Amarna) is among
the most valuable sources in this respect. We will begin with this aspect, as the wellknown
letter from a Babylonian king to an Egyptian Pharaoh bears quoting:
To Akhenaten/Amenophis IV, Great King of Egypt, my brother: Thus
Burnaburiash, Great King of Babylonia, your brother. . . . From the time my
brother’s ambassador arrived here I have not been well. . . . And I am still not
well. Anyway, since I was not well and my brother showed no concern, I for my
part became angry with my brother, saying ‘Has my brother not heard that I am
ill?! Why has he shown no concern?!’ . . . My brother’s ambassador addressed me,
saying, ‘It is not so near that your brother can hear about you and send greetings.
The country is far away. Who is going to tell your brother so he can immediately
send greetings? Would your brother hear that you are ill and still not send an
envoy?’ I for my part addressed him as follows, saying, ‘For my brother, a Great
King, are there really distant and close countries?’ He addressed me as follows,
saying, ‘Ask your own envoy.’ . . . Now, since I asked my own envoy and he said
that the journey was long, I was not angry any longer, and I held my peace.
(EA 7, after Moran 1992: 12–13)
This letter provides a great deal of information.
First, the simple fact that this royal letter from one of the most important rulers
of the world at that time was simply abandoned when the capital was moved at the
end of the Amarna period shows how important diplomatic correspondence was to
the ancient Egyptians. In addition, the fact that the actual correspondence with the
great kings (of Hatti, Mitanni, Assyria) makes up only a small proportion of the
archive as preserved (perhaps three dozen letters of more than three hundred) may
suggest either that most of the important letters were in fact moved away, or
alternatively that the greatest part of the Egyptian correspondence was with minor
vassals in Palestine and minor kings in Syria. One could speculatively argue both
losses and culling, suggesting that the present day composition cannot be used to
argue about the composition in antiquity. However, based on the archive itself, it
can be argued that the composition of the archive is representative of its original
form since the Egyptian ambassador clearly states that messengers were not moving
constantly back and forth between the two countries – which contrasts greatly with
the speed and volume of the correspondence with the authorities and envoys in Syria-
Palestine. Thus we can see that Egyptian priorities lay closer to home, which confirms
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