Brotherhood of Kings, really ancient diplomacy - New Books in History Amanda Podany

How long do the customs of diplomatic relationships that we read about on the Internet and in the newspapers every day go back?  If this podcast is right, then as far back as written records.

One of the things about this podcast series that I don't always like myself is that Marshal Poe is often very interested in the methods of history.  This is an interesting enough subject, but I am a bit impatient and I usually want to get straight onto the actual history.  But in this case it is fascinating to think that a whole history laid buried for thousands of years on clay tablets that nobody alive knew how to read.

And that is what this podcast is about - the diplomacy of the ancient world as revealed by one of the most enduring forms of information technology humans have come up with yet.

http://newbooksinhistory.com/2010/08/19/amanda-podany-brotherhood-of-kings-how-international-relations-shaped-the-ancient-near-east/