New Books in History Eric H. Cline, "Love, War, and Diplomacy: The Discovery of the Amarna Letters and the Bronze Age World They Revealed" (Princeton UP, 2025)
Nov 12, 2025
Eric H. Cline, Professor of classics and anthropology at George Washington University, dives into the fascinating world of the Amarna Letters. He recounts the dramatic discovery of these ancient tablets, revealing the intricate diplomacy and royal intrigues of the Late Bronze Age. Cline discusses the challenges faced by scholars in translating these significant texts, the vibrant communication among pharaohs, and the political dynamics in Canaan. He also explores the potential for further discoveries that could provide deeper insights into this historical period.
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Discovery Story Of The Amarna Tablets
- The Amarna tablets were likely found in 1887 amid Akhenaten's abandoned capital at Tel el-Amarna and quickly dispersed through antiquities dealers.
- Eric H. Cline suspects an illegal digner covered the operation with a story about a local woman finding the cache while gathering fertilizer.
A Fragmented Archive Limits Context
- About 400 clay tablets survive, split across 14 museums in eight countries, which fragments the archive's research value.
- Loss and damage during early transport likely erased roughly a third of the original corpus, complicating historical reconstruction.
Akkadian As Bronze Age Diplomatic Lingua
- Akkadian in cuneiform served as the diplomatic lingua franca across the Late Bronze Age, used by Egyptians, Hittites, and others.
- Translators in the 1880s worked within only a few decades of deciphering cuneiform, so they were still developing methods and making early errors.
