Читать книгу The Secrets of Spies - Weldon Owen - Страница 11
ОглавлениеCHAPTER 1 THE FIRST SPIES
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ANCIENT
EGYPT AND
BIBLICAL TIMES
We can be fairly sure that spying dates back to the
creation of the first city states nearly ten thousand
years ago. The discovery of information about
rivals—or even allies—could be vital for a state’s
survival and prosperity. However, it was only with the
development of writing thousands of years later in the
civilizations of the Near East that we find clear evidence
of our ancestors’ desire for covert knowledge.
EVIDENCE FROM CLAY TABLETS
Written on a clay tablet around 2000bce, the earliest intelligence report
we know of describes a secret mission to spot fire beacons being lit in
villages along the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia. However, it is only a
fragmentary account. We do not know why the beacons were being lit or
what happened subsequently. A better intelligence record is found several
centuries later in the Amarna letters from Ancient Egypt, written on clay
tablets between 1400 and 1300
bce.
The letters are exchanges between the Pharaoh in Egypt and rulers
of his vassal states in Canaan (roughly present-day Israel and Lebanon).
The Pharaoh expresses concerns over the vassal rulers’ loyalty.
In one letter, it is clear that the Pharaoh had received a report from
a spy about the behavior of Amurru, ruler of Aziru, who had been
consorting with the ruler of Qidša, an enemy of Egypt. The Pharaoh
threatens Amurru with decapitation if this continues.
“YOU ARE AT PEACE
WITH THE RULER
OF QIDŠA. THE TWO
OF YOU TAKE FOOD
AND STRONG DRINK
TOGETHER. WHY DO
YOU ACT SO? WHY ARE
YOU AT PEACE WITH
A RULER WHOM THE
KING IS FIGHTING?”
The Pharaoh rebukes his vassal ruler, Amurru
Left: The Amarna letters
are written on clay tablets
in Akkadian cuneiform,
the script of Ancient
Mesopotamia. Akkadian was
the language of diplomacy at
the time. The tablets were
discovered in Egypt
in 1887.
Right: Judas identified
Jesus to the authorities by
kissing him on the cheek.
