This article sets out to debunk the Egyptological myth of Dynasty 18 as a successful imperial power through an evidence-based reconsideration of the local histories of five Syrian cities – Qadesh, Ugarit, Tunip, Qatna, and Niya. A combined analysis of Egyptian and cuneiform sources, including the recently published Hurro-Akkadian documents from Qatna, clearly indicates a progressive failure of the foreign policies of the pharaonic monarchy from Tuthmosid times through the Amarna Period, and this study challenges Egyptological consensus and denies the very existence of an Egyptian empire in the northern Levant. Theories from International Relations that question sovereignty and territoriality and the growing body of research on global cities and city diplomacy outline a promising avenue of future research to reconsider the nexus between diplomacy and the failure of imperialism, and to reappraise Dynasty 18 not as an imperialist power, but as a territorial state struggling to cope with the geopolitical and economic challenges of globalization.

中文翻译：

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北黎凡特曾经有过埃及帝国吗？揭穿王朝 18 的埃及学神话

本文旨在通过对五个叙利亚城市（加德什、乌加里特、图尼普、加特纳和尼亚）的地方历史进行循证再审，来揭穿第 18 王朝作为一个成功的帝国力量的埃及学神话。对埃及和楔形文字来源的综合分析，包括最近出版的来自 Qatna 的 Hurro-Akkadian 文件，清楚地表明从图特摩斯时代到阿马尔纳时期法老君主制的外交政策逐渐失败，这项研究挑战了埃及学的共识并否认了埃及帝国在黎凡特北部的存在非常重要。