Abstract:
The Fertile Crescent, due to its geographical characteristics, has always been an area troubled with
conflict and warfare. The men who participated in these wars, from ca 2000 BCE to 1000 BCE
operated from an ethos which was governed by a system of rules, all which were conceived to be the
creation of divine will, to which kings and their warriors (keymen) were subject. The cuneiform texts
from Mari, Ugarit, Ebla, Amarna and others, have not only thrown light on the political, social,
religious and military aspects of those turbulent times, but have also given insight into the formation
of armies as well as the commanders who led those armies and the royal officials who governed
cities and provinces, all appointed by the monarch in order to effect the smooth running of his
kingdom. They also shed light on the formation of coalitions and alliances in order to promote
peace, arrange marriages to the daughters of other ruling powers and to promote trade relations.
These were no easy tasks, considering the diversity of peoples, the birth and fall of kingdoms and
empires, and the ever shifting and changes of loyalties of greedy kings and their men, to attain
power and conquest for themselves.. However, these texts also give glimpses of the human side of
the king and the close relationships between himself and his men of authority, whilst the women of
the court also played their role in some areas of the social field. The responses, of these people
towards matters and events, whether they were confrontations, marriage alliances, trade ventures
or hunting expeditions, occurred within an ever changing world yet, it was also a world with an
ethos of ancient traditions, which did not disappear but instead remained, albeit in adapted or
altered form, to be a part of their contextual reality.
