Covenant: Ancient Near East
Establishing covenants played an important part in the social and political life of the ancient Near East. Numerous texts of international treaties from the time of the Bible have been preserved. These covenants and treaties from the countries surrounding ancient Israel can shed more light on the meaning of the biblical covenant
- Hittite treaties from the late Bronze Age (1550-1200 BC);
- Assyrian oaths of fidelity from the early Iron Age (900-600 BC).
Hittite Treaties
There are many extant international treaties from the late Bronze Age (1550-1200 BC), particularly those drawn up by Hittite kings. These are mostly suzerainty treaties: a powerful king imposed a covenant on a “vassal”, the ruler of an inferior nation.
These treaties had a fixed structure that we sometimes see reflected in the form of biblical covenants (particularly the Mozaic Covenant
- 1.Identification of the king who established the covenant.
- 2.Historical prologue. Here, the king mentions the favours he has done the vassal in the past. The vassal is expected to obey the covenant out of gratitude.
- 3.Obligations the vassal must fulfil to maintain a good relationship with the king.
- 4.Stipulation that a copy of the treaty must be placed in the Temple and that the treaty must be read to the people regularly.
- 5.List of witnesses who will watch over the implementation of the treaty. These are always gods. Heaven and earth, mountains and rivers are also sometimes called on as witnesses (a motif that occurs in the Bible as well).
- 6.List of blessings and curses. The witnesses — the gods — will bless or curse the vassal and his subjects depending on whether they obey the treaty.
- 7.Carrying out a ritual to seal the treaty and put it into effect. Usually an animal was sacrificed. The animal represents the vassal: just as the animal is killed, the vassal and his subjects will also be killed if they break the oath.
Assyrian Oaths of Fidelity
Treaties have also been found from the period of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (900-600 BC). These are of a different nature to the Hittite treaties: they are less refined and worked out. Certain elements are missing, such as the historical prologue and the blessings. Curses, however, are plentiful. These covenants seem to have been imposed purely through military might. They no longer give the impression of being based on mutual trust, like the Hittite treaties.
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