Players:

1. Egypt (Gold): Egyptian - Akhetaten, Memphis, Gaza, Byblos
2. Hatti (Blue-grey): Hittite (Central Turkey) - Hattusa, Samuha, Sarissa
3. Babylonia (Magenta): Babylonian (South Iraq) - Babylon, Dur-Kurigalzu, Nippur
4. Mitanni (Blue-violet): Mitannian (North Syria/Southeast Turkey) - Washukanni, Harran, Carchemish
5. Assyria (Red): Assyrian (North Iraq) - Assur, Nineveh, Arbela
6. Elam (Orange): Elamite (South Iran) - Susa, Anshan, Kabnak
7. Achaea (Green): Achaean (Greece) - Mycenae, Thebes, Knossos
8. Arzawa (Light aqua): Arzawan (West Turkey) - Apasa, Kuwaliya, Puranda
9. Alashiya (Copper red): Alashiyan (Cyprus) - Alassa, Enkomi, Tenta

Rules and Features:

1. Standard rules apply, along with build anywhere.
2. Land Bridges: Thebes-Euboea, Mycenae-Aetolia, Europe-Wilusa, Europe-Masa, Dilmun-Liyan, Dilmun-Salulikki
3. Islands: The regions of Rhodes, Karpathos, and Lazpa consist of the repsective islands along with the sea enclosed around them. These island regions are coastal regions so that armies can move to adjacent coastal regions (i.e. an army can move from Rhodes to Karpathos or from Lazpa to Wilusa). However, adjacent coastal regions still keep their coastlines (i.e. a fleet can move from Wilusa to Seha River Land). Cyclades is a sea region, rather than a coastal region.

Background:

The Amarna era of the 14th century BC is known in history as one of the first golden ages of international diplomacy. The era's namesake, Amarna, Egypt, was built by the pharaoh Akhenaten to serve as Egypt's capital, and was then known as Akhetaten, as part of his unorthodox devotion to the sun disk god, the Aten. At this site, archaeologists discovered a trove of diplomatic correspondences written on clay tablets. From these artifacts, historians have pieced together the fascinating international system that existed at the time. There was a club of great powers led by great kings who addressed each other as "brother." It was essential for a great king to be recognized as a brother by the leaders of the great powers in order to achieve prestige and international influence. The club generally consisted of Egypt, Hatti (the Hittite Empire), Babylonia, and Mitanni. However, Mitanni was superseded by and turned into a vassal of an upstart Assyria. While Assyria demanded recognition as a great power due to military might, the other great kings were offended by perceived Assyrian haughtiness and at first refused to address the Assyrian king as a brother.

Other powers were recognized as equals of the great powers on some occasions. During a period of Hittite weakness in the 15th century BC, the federation of Arzawa was seen as the dominant power in Anatolia until it fractured and was humbled by later Hittite kings like Suppiluliuma. The kingdom of Alashiya, believed to be on Cyprus held significant influence due to its control of copper production. Mycenaean Greece was also believed to be a great power. Hittite sources make reference to a great king of "Ahhiyawa" who waged a cold war against the Hittites in western Anatolia. It is believed this Ahhiyawa, likely a cognate for Achaea, could have been a confederation of Greek cities with the king of Mycenae as its leader. Scholars have interpreted the Iliad, in which Homer commonly refers to the Greeks as "Achaeans," as remembering a conflict between Achaea and the Hittite vassal Wilusa (Troy). For Elam, this period is one of obscurity. However, the country will emerge a century later as a major power to challenge Assyria. Elam was conquered by a Kassite king of Babylonia, Kurigalzu, who may have installed the Igehalkid dynasty as vassal kings on the Elamite throne. The numerous marriages between Elamite kings and Kassite princesses in the following decades certainly implies the two countries maintained, in the least case, a very cordial relationship.

While the great powers often made war on one another, the main purpose of the brotherhood of great kings was to foster international trade on a scale never seen before. The great powers carved out spheres of influence and tussled for hegemony over minor powers, whose monarchs addressed their overlords as "father." The metaphorical family structure ushered in an era of globalization previously thought impossible by scholars. Unfortunately, a century after the Amarna era, the system would take the reverse course in the unparalleled destruction of the Late Bronze Age Collapse. This catastrophe was so severe that some cultures lost even the knowledge to write.