Abstract
This article is intended as a supplement to the discussion on patronage in the Late Bronze Age Levant (ca. 16th-12th century BC) initiated by R. Westbrook's seminal 2005 paper (WESTBROOK 2005).
It focuses on one of his case studies, namely the evidence provided by the Amarna letters (mid-14th century BC). To gain a deeper understanding of the social and political structure(s) of the above-mentioned region, data closely related to the functioning of the Egyptian administration in the region are discussed and re-evaluated.
The search for patronage or patronage-like relationship(s) in the epistolary corpus is conducted through a series of textual analyses.