Located in Northern Syria, much of what we know about the Yamhad civilization has been discovered in neighboring strongholds of the time. Alalakh and Mari are ancient cities that held close political ties with Yamhad’s capital, Halab (also known as Aleppo). They shared the heritage of ethnic Amorites, a Western Semitic ethnic group, but the Yamhad Kingdom gained superiority in the late 3rd millennium under the rule of Yarim-Lim I through trade, treaties, and politically advantageous marriages. Alliances among the cities allowed the Yamhad civilization to practice diplomacy over warfare, and their bountiful agricultural resources developed vastly extensive international trade networks. Thank you to Jane Fitzpatrick for this fascinating article.