CONCLUSION

The Late Bronze Age was a time for internationalism and a golden era for Egypt as it witnessed the rise of the New Kingdom and imperial control in the Levant. This control is particularly attested in the Amarna letters, which contain the correspondences of Levantine client kings with the pharaohs of Egypt. The picture these letters paint, however, is one of disorder and conflict, particularly in Canaan. As the sample letters above indicate, figures like ‘Abdi-Heba, Biridiya, Lab’ayu, Milkilu, and Shuwardata were in conflict with one another as well as various marginalized groups and in desperate need of firmer Egyptian intervention and order. Despite these appearances, Egypt actually effectively managed Canaan through organized administration and communication as well as exploitation of the conflicted client kings who competed for loyalty with Egypt. This approach allowed for Egypt to be both intimately involved with its client kings while also limited in its investments in their conflicts. The success of this imperial policy, however, is hard to measure because the Late Bronze Age came to a somewhat sudden demise that left none of the major powers, from the Mediterranean to Mesopotamia, unaffected.