Policies of Exchange : Political Systems and Modes of Interaction in the Aegean and the Near East in the 2nd Millennium B.C.E. ; Proceedings of the International Symposium at the University of Freiburg, Institute for Archaeological Studies, 30th May-2nd June 2012 / edited by Birgitta Eder, Regine Pruzsinszky.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction / Birgitta Eder and Regine Pruzsinszky -- Keynote : Exchange Models in Historical Perspective / Mario Liverani -- Syria and the Levant : Ugarit et l'Egypte : essai d'interprétation de la dokumentation archéologique et perspectives de la recherche / Valerie Matoian -- "What is Not in My House You Must Give Me" : Agents of Exchange According to the Textual Evidence from Ugarit / Kevin M. McGeough -- Local Foreign and International Arts and Crafts at Late Bronze Age Qatna / Elisa Rossberger -- The International Relations of Hatti's Syrian Vassals, or How to Make the Best of Things / Elena Devecchi -- Egypt and its External Relations : Canaanite Jars and Jar Sealing from Deir el-Medina : Scattered Evidence of Egypt's Economic Relations with the Levant during the New Kingdom / Laurent Bavay -- Objects from Afar - the Distribution of Egyptian Imports in the Northern Levant : Parameters for Ascertaining the Character of Diplomatic Contacts between Egypt and the Levant during the Bronze Age? / Alexander Ahrens -- Egypt Among the Great Powers and its Relations to the Neighboring Vassal Kingdoms in theSouthern Levant According to the Written Evidence. Thutmose III and Amarna / Jana Mynarova -- Exchange, Extraction, and the Politics of Ideological Money Laundering in Egypt's New Kingdom Empire / Ellen Morris -- Egypt's "Empire" in the Southern Levant during the Early 18th Dynasty / Felix Höflmayer -- The Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean : Preliminary Thoughts on Abundance vs. Cooperation in Late Bronze Age Trade across the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean / Eric H. Cline -- Stone and Glass : The Ideological Transformation of Imported Materials and their Geographic Distribution in Mycenaean Greece / Birgitta Eder -- Imported Mycenaean Pottery in the East : Distribution, Context and Interpretation / Reinhard Jung -- Sealing and "Exchange" in the Late Bronze Age Aegean and Beyond / Diamantis Panagiotopoulos -- Chirusoprasino phullo rigmeno sto pelago : Cyprus - Crossroads of Civilizations / Hartmut Matthaus -- The Hittites and their Neighbors : Emar's Role in Transregional Trade at the Crossroads along the Middle Euphrates / Regine Pruzsinszky, Barbara E. Solans -- Archaeology of Exchange : Evidence for Supra-Regional Contacts According to the Archaeological Sources in Hatti / Mirko Novak.

The Late Bronze Age in the Eastern Mediterranean belongs to the most captivating chapters in the history of the Ancient World: Various cuneiform documents and archaeological sources illustrate the numerous contacts between different polities in the 2nd millennium BCE. Reciprocal gift exchange within the framework of diplomatic contacts and redistributive mobility of goods in asymmetric political relations shaped regional and supra-regional communication in different ways. Following the detailed discussions about modes of culture contacts and exchanges in previous research the contributions in the present volume address questions of the specific mechanisms and routes of exchange. How and by which means did material commodities and knowledge circulate among the Great Powers, lesser independent states and vassal kingdoms of the Aegean, Anatolia, Syria, the Levant, Mesopotamia and Egypt? Where did the different raw materials and finished products come from, and under which conditions and by whom were they negotiated? Is it possible to determine regions of production and direct and indirect channels of distribution? Which rules were applied in the supra-regional exchange? Which possibilities and which obligations did the vassal kingdoms of the Levant have towards the Great Powers of the Hittites, Assyrians and Egyptians? Which role did the Mycenaean palaces of the Aegean play within the “international” network of exchanges? Can we develop a model of political and economic interaction? During the symposium at Freiburg University archaeologists, philologists and historians discussed these issues on the basis of the current evaluation of the archaeological and written evidence within an interdisciplinary framework and developed perspectives on the specific forms of exchange (re)considering the interaction of political and economic forces.

Chiefly in English, one articles in French.