Warfare in the Ancient Near East

Warfare in the Ancient Near East: Preparation, Enactment and Remembrance explores the many dimensions of warfare across the ancient Near East, from military strategy and defensive architecture to royal propaganda, captivity, memory and psychological trauma. Drawing together studies on Egypt, Assyria, Judea, Mesopotamia and the Roman East, the volume examines not only how wars were fought, but also how they were justified, remembered and reshaped in cultural memory.

Contributors investigate subjects including the fortifications of Hatra, Egyptian military organisation in Nubia, chariot warfare, Trajan’s Mesopotamian campaigns, the treatment of captives, Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian royal rhetoric, and the lasting trauma of violence in biblical narrative. Combining archaeological, textual and iconographic evidence, this interdisciplinary collection offers fresh perspectives on warfare as a recurring social, political and psychological reality in the ancient world.