Foreign Relations: Relationship with Vassal Rulers

Question 1

Context

Answer 1

Context:

• the political situation in the north was confused and volatile - Suppiluliumas (Hittite king during Akhenaten’s reign) continued to expand his territory, coming into contact with Egypt’s vassals.
• in addition to the Hittite problems, a number of Syrian princes exploited the situation by attacking each other and forming alliances

Question 2

Aziru of Amurru

Answer 2

• Amurru was the northern-most of Egypt’s inland vassal states
• Aziru was an ally of Egypt but his land was immediately adjacent to the Hittite kingdom
• He was attempting to carve out his own sphere of influence and played a double game by declaring his friendship with both the Egyptians and the Hittites as the situation demanded

The treachery of Aziru

• Complaints about Aziru’s attacks on other Egyptian vassal towns were sent to Akhenaten in the Amarna Letters
• One of the most frequent writers was Prince Rib-Addi of Byblos, and important post and trading centre on the Phonecian coast. He was a loyal vassal who was eventually captured and killed by Aziru
• When Akhenaten wrote to Aziru demanding he present himself at the Egyptian court to account for his actions, Aziru delayed complying with the order, claiming that Hittite attacks on his territory prevented him from attending. When he finally made his journey to Egypt, he was detained for several eyars. On his return to Amurru he finally renounced his alliance with Egypt and became a vassal of the Hittites.