In terms of geopolitical relations, the Middle East in the late Bronze Age did not witness the emergence of a large empire, which divided up spheres of influence between them, i.e. regions within which smaller "vassal" states had their place.
The three "great power" centres
The three "great power" centres were Egypt, Babylonia and the Mithannic Empire, which had a foothold in the northern territories of Iraq and Syria. Babylonia was under the control of a dynasty known as the Kassu dynasty, and although its status as a great power was recognised, it played only a minor role, while the centre of strategic events was the border between the Mitanni and Egypt, which then fell on Palestine and part of Syria. Mitanni and Egyptian hegemony peaked in the 15th century, but in the 14th century Mitanni was swept away by the Hittite kings from Turkey, who took control of much of their territory and extended their control to the Syrian-Palestinian region. They even managed to snatch a few tiny states for themselves from the Egyptian sphere of influence. The 13th and 12th centuries were a period of resurgence in Assyria and the slow decline of the Hittite Empire. The 11th century saw the dawn of the Iron Age. The geopolitical order of the Late Bronze Age collapsed, due to political, economic and food crises, and the emergence of what are known as the Sea Peoples, whose ethnic and political identity remains obscure.
The fall of Hammurabi's dynasty left a power vacuum in Babylonia, and the Kassu kings never hesitated to take advantage of the situation. These princes came from the nearby Zagros Mountains, and the dynasty they founded proved to be very long-lived.
The Kassu were an adaptable people
Just like the Indo-Aryan Mithanni elite of the time, the Kassus adapted to the culture of the conquered population, not hindering the ongoing local religious, literary, linguistic and social development.
We know neither the roots nor the language of the Kassus, the latter only in their names. There are theories that trace them back to Indo-Aryan origins, but the available historical sources are so incomplete and problematic that they offer no certainty in this respect. Much of the political history of Kassu Babylonia is made up of its relations with other major Middle Eastern powers, most notably Egypt. From the thirteenth century onwards, Assyria exerted increasing pressure on it until it finally brought it under its direct rule.
In terms of their Egyptian connections, the Kassu rulers were famous for their constant gold mining. One of the fundamental elements of international relations in the period was the policy of inter-marriage between the ruling houses. The Egyptian pharaohs always showed particular restraint in this respect, and although they themselves welcomed foreign princesses, they never allowed their own daughters to marry foreigners. So to compensate for this, they paid for friendship with vast amounts of gold.
Achievements of the Kassu era
The Kassu period was a time of permanent crisis in Babylonia, which had already shown worrying signs during the previous Amurru dynasty. Along the middle reaches of the Euphrates, many areas were completely depopulated, and cities were dwindling in both number and population.
The economy favoured large estates, which were donated by the king to members of the military elite and high-ranking court officials. As a result, more and more people became indebted, slavery increased and pessimism became rife, a trend reflected in literature.
The Kassu period was therefore a very exceptional period in Babylonian history, as on the one hand the unity of the country was consolidated, but on the other hand a certain political decline began. The capital itself, however, retained its wealth, not only in terms of gold and jewels, but also in terms of culture. Although increasingly the preserve of the schools of letters, it was well on the way to establishing a deep and wide literary and scientific tradition.
