Building and dissolving international alliances

30 June 2016

The United Kingdom of Great Britain has voted for ‘Brexit’: in other words, its departure from the European Union, thus placing in jeopardy the stability established among the countries of Europe. Meanwhile, other nations have for years been knocking at the door in the hope of gaining entry to the European Union.

The balance struck between great powers is a phenomenon that recurs throughout history. In the fourteenth century BCE, the monarchs of the principal Near Eastern kingdoms established bilateral treaties, indeed, sometimes even tripartite agreements, albeit excluding those which they considered too weak or complicated. Such alliance ‘games’ are documented in the royal correspondence discovered at El Amarna, ancient Akhetaten, the erstwhile capital of Egypt. Akkadian and the cuneiform inscribed on clay tablets served as the spoken and written language used in international diplomacy between Egyptian pharaohs, Hittite sovereigns (of Anatolia), and kings of Mittani (north-eastern Syria), of Babylon (southern Iraq), and Assyria (northern Iraq). Diplomatic relations were marked by the exchange of sumptuous gifts, women for inter-dynastic marriage, and ambassadors who acted to create links between these great kings who called themselves ‘brothers’. In effect, these exchanges constituted the bedrock of the alliances and of the geopolitical balance struck between major kingdoms.

Nine of the letters sent to Egyptian pharaohs by Burna-Buriash II (1359–1333 BCE), during the course of his long reign on the throne of Babylon, were unearthed at El Amara. They testify to the cordial relations he enjoyed with them, and to many exchanges of gifts between the two courts.[1] Aware of the benefits which came with being part of this community of great kings, he wrote to the young Tutankhamun (1336–1327 BCE), the new pharaoh of Egypt: ‘In the days of my ancestors and of your ancestors a reciprocal declaration of friendship was made; they exchanged fine gifts of tribute and never refused a request for some beautiful wares’. Precious stones and horses were sent from Babylon to Egypt, and gold, ivory and ebony were despatched to Babylon in return.

However, this balance of power was somewhat fragile and alliances between great kings were not immune from crises. The takeover of Hatti (another Anatolian kingdom) by the Hittites was undoubtedly a harbinger, Egypt and Babylon then being allies of Hatti. The Hittite king Suppiluliuma I (1344–1322 BCE) subsequently attacked the Kingdom of Mitanni, also made vulnerable in its eastern quarter by the independence of Assyria ruled by Ashur-uballit I (1363–1328 BCE). However, alliances between great kings always figured strongly in the minds of the Near Eastern sovereigns, and Ashur-uballit I, at the head of a kingdom where he proclaimed himself the ‘King of Assyria’, more than anything wanted to join this alliance. Initially he was welcomed by Akhenaton (1353–1336 BCE), the pharaoh of Egypt, following the delivery of gifts conveyed by his ambassador. However, the death of one of the kings made it necessary for the others to renew their treaties of alliance. Thus, when Tutankhamun ascended the throne, Burna-Buriash II, the King of Babylon, tried to dissuade Egypt from once again including Assyria in the alliance of the great kings by diminishing the role played by the latter:

Now, concerning my Assyrian vassals, it is not I who have sent them to you. Why have they on their own accord travelled to your country? If you are my friend, they will strike no bargain with you. Send them back to me empty handed! I will despatch to you as a gift 1.5kg of genuine lapis-lazuli and five pairs of horses to pull five wooden chariots.

This did not prevent Egypt from responding to the Assyrians’ advances, recognising in this way the new power of an emerging country. Babylonia, desirous of receiving Egyptian gold, was not able lodge a stronger objection. And so the Kingdom of Mittani, enfeebled, withdrew, de facto, from the exclusive circle of the major states…

In the case of ‘Brexit’, the European Union is undergoing a change that will necessarily involve it being reshaped. Let us hope that an agreement is reached that caters for the interests of all the people that live within the European Union, but one which also takes into account the people of neighbouring countries, in particular those of the Near East, who have for too long suffered from the terrible effects of war and deprivation.

[1] Moran, William L. (1987), Les Lettres d’El-Amarna. Correspondence Diplomatique du Pharaon (Littératures anciennes du Proche-Orient, 13), Paris: Editions du Cerf. Letters EA 6 to 14 were sent by Burna-Buriash II of Babylon; the letter quoted from here is EA 9.