The ancient Egyptians, Minoans, Mycenaeans, Hittites, Canaanites, Hurrians, Aramaeans, Israelites, Urartians, Mannaeans, Assyrians, Phygians, Kassites, Chaldeans, Elamites, Scythians, Medes and Persians. An evocative list of peoples: but who were they? Where did they come from, and how did they interact over a thousand years of ancient history, before the establishment of the Persian empire? The years 1500-500 BC represent an extraordinary period of internationalism. From the Aegean and Egypt, through Canaan, Syria and Anatolia, to Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq) and Iran, the region was linked by military expansion, diplomatic exchanges and movements of goods and peoples over enormous distances, resulting in cultural transfers and technological and social revolutions. Turmoil at the end of the second millennium BC saw the collapse of the powerful Hittite empire and a diminution of Egypt"s empire abroad. Local groups rose in Syria and Anatolia, and new states such as Israel and Judah were...