Elite Emulation and Patronage Relationships in the Middle Bronze: The Egyptianized Dynasty of Byblos

Abstract

The paper maintains that the adoption of egyptianized language, administrative titles and religious traits by the rulers of Byblos in the Middle Bronze Age should be seen as an elite emulation practice. it proposes that the underlying reasons for embracing such practices are related to the existence of patronage inter-elite bonds in the northern levant and the euphrates area. The author argues that the egyptianized features adopted by the Byblos rulers were a means of differentiating themselves from other local rulers and of garnering prestige from their association with the highlyvaluated egyptian elite—a relationship that dated from the early Old Kingdom and that was based mainly on the exchange of prestige goods.