In a previous paper I presented an analysis of the geographical distribution and linguistic affiliation of the names of local rulers attested in the Amarna letters. There I argued that these names are not scattered at random, but rather that their distribution shows that names having the same linguistic matrix are distributed in geographically well-defined clusters. Moreover, the analysis of the sociolinguistic context of such names made it possible to argue that their distribution is not specific of the Amarna period, but seems to reflect, at least to some extent, the socio-linguistic landscape of the region before the establishment of the Egyptian domination on the area. On the basis of these observations, in the conclusions of that previous article I noticed that a preliminary survey of the evidence suggests a correlation between such socio-linguistic landscape and the geographical developments of the military campaigns of Thutmose III and Amenhotep II. The present article focuses on this correlation in order to assess its significance for our understanding of the Eighteenth Dynasty Egyptian imperialism in the Levant.
Thutmose III, Egyptian Empire, Levant, New Kingdom, Hurrians
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