Thu., 12/5

Do Now—Exercise 22C—Model answer: The Habiru were bands of brigands organized by Abdi-Ashirta into the kingdom of Amurru in the fourteenth century B.C. The king of Byblos (Gubla), Rib-Hadda, begged his Egyptian overlord, probably Amenhotep III, for back-up against the Amurru. The Amurru dynasty, however, played both sides against the middle, professing loyalty to Egypt while using both the Hittite threat and the possibility of switching allegiance to the Hittites to their advantage. Frustrated by this insolence, the Amarna ruler, Akhenaten, demanded extended audiences from the Amurru royalty. After secretly negotiating treaties with their Hittite-vassal neighbors, and after delaying compliance with and ultimately refusing the second such pharaonic order, the Amurru kings themselves signed a vassalhood treaty with the Hittites, significantly shifting the balance of power in Syria. Read: p. 267 – p. 270, ¶ 1. HW: Read / review p. 267 – p. 270, ¶ 1.