Published in 1992, William L. Moran's definitive English translation, "The Amarna Letters, " raised as many questions as it answered. How did Pharaoh run his empire? Why did the god-king consent to deal with his fellow, mortal monarchs as equals? Indeed, why did kings engage in diplomacy at all? How did the great powers maintain international peace and order?

In "Amarna Diplomacy," Raymond Cohen and Raymond Westbrook have brought together a team of specialists, both social scientists and ancient historians, to explore the world of ancient Near Eastern statecraft portrayed in the letters. Subjects discussed include Egyptian imperial and foreign policy, international law and trade, geopolitics and decision making, intelligence, and diplomacy. This book will be of interest to scholars not only of the ancient Near East and the Bible but also of international relations and diplomatic studies.

Contributors are Pinhas Artzi, Kevin Avruch, Geoffrey Berridge, Betsy M. Bryan, Raymond Cohen, Steven R. David, Daniel Druckman, Serdar Guner, Alan James, Christer Jonsson, Mario Liverani, Samuel A. Meier, William J. Murnane, Nadav Na'aman, Rodolfo Ragionieri, Raymond Westbrook, and Carlo Zaccagnini.

Raymond Westbrook and Bruce Wells examine Old Testament legal materials that illustrate how ancient Israelites settled their grievances. This textbook is unique in exploring these legal materials as they relate to the issues of everyday life--family, property, contracts, and crimes--and providing readers with a broad understanding of their ancient legal and social foundations.

Biblical property law was concerned less with the efficient use and transfer of commercial assets than with protecting the rights of the family to the sources of their economic survival. This important collection of essays explores the legal link between property and family in the Bible, whether through the general law of inheritance or through special institutions such as redemption, the levirate and the sabbatical and jubilee years. It brings together the author's existing contributions, previously published in disparate law journals, to which have been added several unpublished studies and a general introduction.>

Creditors have always sought the protection of the law to secure themselves against loss if the debtor cannot or will not pay the debt. This volume examines the legal instruments of security available to creditors in the earliest known legal systems, their use and abuse, and the ways in which the law sought to satisfy the differing interests of creditors, debtors, and society in general, with varying degrees of success.
The book covers all the major legal systems of the ancient Near East, from Sumer to Ptolemaic Egypt, as well as comparative historical developments up to the present day. Twelve scholars have each contributed a study of their special period of expertise, while the general issues that arise from their research are discussed in a concluding chapter.