Excavations at the ancient Mesopotamian city of Nippur have brought to light the remains of a 3,500-year-old 'Diplomatic Residency' dating to the Kassite period. The building served as a high-status guesthouse for foreign emissaries, as evidenced by a central courtyard filled with luxury ceramics from Egypt and the Levant. Most crucially, researchers discovered a vault containing over fifty cuneiform tablets that record the daily logistics of hosting royal visitors.
The texts include gift lists, menu preparations for banquets, and drafted letters of correspondence between the Babylonian court and the Hittite Empire. These records offer a rare, 'behind-the-scenes' look at Bronze Age diplomacy, focusing on the hospitality and protocol required to maintain international alliances during a period of shifting regional powers.