The Amarna Age—the fifteenth and fourteenth centuries before Christ—provides the archaeologist rich resources for the study of ancient cultures. The epic and mythological literature from Ras Shamra, ancient Ugarit on the Phoenician coast, dates from this period, as do the Nuzi tablets written by Hurrian scribes in Mitanni. The Ugaritic texts give us an insight into the language and religious thought of ancient Canaan, and the archives from Nuzi offer a wealth of information concerning the social, economic, and legal structure of northern Mesopotamia in Patriarchal times.

During the Amarna Age the Hittite Empire was pushing southward from its center in Asia Minor, seeking to incorporate into its domains both independent states and areas that had acknowledged Egyptian sovereignty. Minoan Crete had already reached her highest achievements and was fast approaching her end. Babylon had already enjoyed a period of prosperity and power under the great Hammurabi, but she would not again become a major power for seven centuries—when Nebuchadnezzar would lead her to fresh victories. Assyria was soon to send her armies into Syria and Palestine and challenge Egypt for control of the East, but she was still a minor power during the Amarna Age.

The present study is limited to events in Egypt and to Egypt’s political and military relations with her vassals in Syria and Palestine. The Amarna Tablets are our primary source of information for Egypt’s external affairs, and the artifacts and tomb inscriptions from Amarna (ancient Akhetaton) help us to reconstruct life at the court of Akhenaton—the Pharaoh whose personality is apparent in every chapter.

The author expresses his indebtedness to the scholars whose books are listed in the bibliography, and to those organizations which made available the photographs which are an important part of the present study. The president and staff of the Baker Book House have shown every consideration in the planning of the series, Baker Studies in Biblical Archaeology, and in the production of this, the second volume.

Charles F. Pfeiffer