Marc Van De Mieroop is Professor of Ancient Near Eastern History at Columbia University, New York. He has also taught at Yale University and at the University of Oxford. He has written numerous books and articles including, most recently, King Hammurabi of Babylon: A Biography (Blackwell, 2004) and A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 BC: Second Edition (Blackwell, 2007).

• List of Illustrations viPreface viiiAcknowledgments xiNote to the Reader xiii1 The World in 1279 bc 12 The Primary Actors: States 123 The Other Actors: On the Fringes of the States 464 Political Organization and Social Structure 685 Diplomacy and War 1006 Food and Drink 1347 Aspects of the Economy: Textiles, Metals, and Trade 1538 Cultures in Contact 1929 A Mediterranean System 22310 End of an Era 235Appendix: King Lists 255Notes 261Bibliography 266Index 285

"Throughout the chapters, various basic problems of historical methodology from interaction to self-identification, from technological change to collapse are faced and explained in an easy but correct way." (Recensiones, 2010)