Hittite Treaty forms

The ANE (Ancient Near East) of the second millennium utilized a treaty form that has come to be called the Hittite vassal treaty. This treaty format had a VERY specific structure, with little or no variability in the order of those elements. It was pervasive in the ANE throughout the 2nd millennium, and an earlier form of it can be found in the 3rd millennium as well. But in the 1st millennium, treaty forms differed substantially from this format, and the general treaty form was essentially 'lost' to history until archeological discoveries in the last century. [Old Testament Studies] [Answers & Evidence] [Bible History]