Medical complications associated with security and control of prisoners of war in the ancient Near East.

In the ancient Near East, all military protagonists were ruthless in their treatment of prisoners. The Egyptians were forced to undertake repeated punitive operations against their north-eastern neighbours from the second half of the third millennium BC. The Mesopotamians occasionally made military expeditions as far as the Mediterranean coast of Asia Minor, and the Agadean dynasty controlled trade in the northern part of Asia Minor during the same period.' By the second millennium BC, Egyptian and Mesopotamian forces did occasionally come into direct conflict in the region of northern Syria; extensive invasions of Syria, Anatolia and Egypt by the Assyrians often occurred during the first half of the first millennium BC. Although often widely separated geographically from each other, different states in Asia Minor were influenced to some extent by each other's methods of waging war and of coping with the problems of prisoners captured in battle. The relatively minor campaigns of the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians in the third and second millennia BC did not produce excessive numbers of prisoners of war, all ofwhom could easily be dealt with by the conquering powers. The situation changed for the worse during the first millennium BC. It became clear that any state that emerged as an important military power might forcibly transport back to the homeland vast quantities of animals and slaves as booty acquired in battle. All prisoners of war automatically became the property (slaves) of their conquerors. Usually there was a clear distinction made after capture between the treatment meted out to all adult males (who were presumed to have borne arms against the enemy), and the females and young children (who were considered to be guiltless of this crime). It soon became evident that the removal of prisoners of war to distant countries was a most satisfactory method of controlling political unrest. The large numbers of prisoners were a ready and convenient source of manpower that could be exploited by their conquerors, provided the prisoners remained in good health. Nevertheless, the Assyrian campaigns tended to disrupt the economy of the invaded countries, particularly of northern Syria, and to reduce the numbers of