I recently started learning about the Bronze Age. I am keen to learn more about how prosperous these times were and about how diplomacies and international relationships between countries were established. I heard how disputes were fixed by treaties rather than wars for the first time in human history. I would like to know more about these subjects and about how it could be that these countries were so civilized yet fell one by one.
So my question to you is;
What are some documentaries, movies, books or anything else where I could learn more?
If possible, easy to digest because I'm a beginner in learning about history and will be doing it by myself (and I am not a native English speaker either).
There are several book suggestions for the Bronze Age civilizations in the AskHistorians reading list, so check that out. Art of the First Cities and Beyond Babylon are readable and available online for free, so I recommend starting with those. They're exhibition catalogues produced by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and have beautiful color photographs of many of the most important artifacts from the Bronze Age.
Specific recommendations for diplomacy and international relations:
Brotherhood of Kings: How International Relations Shaped the Ancient Near East by Amanda Podany – This is an excellent overview of the complex trade networks and diplomatic relationships between Near Eastern polities. Podany not only covers the Amarna letters and diplomacy in the Late Bronze Age but also the Old Babylonian period (the era of Hammurabi) and the Mari letters, the Old Assyrian trade colonies in Anatolia, and so on.
Letters of the Great Kings of the Ancient Near East by Trevor Bryce – This is similar in content to Podany's book, but Bryce focuses on the Late Bronze Age specifically, particularly the role of the Hittites in Late Bronze Age diplomacy. Since Podany's book ends in the Amarna period (ca. 1350-1330 BCE) and does not cover the Egyptian-Hittite relations of the Ramesside period, this focus on the Hittites is helpful.
International Relations in the Ancient Near East by Mario Liverani – This is a very dry but important book, and Liverani has influenced how every ancient historian analyzes the Late Bronze Age. Rather than write a history of kings and trade goods, Liverani focuses on the ideology and realpolitik of Bronze Age diplomacy, which makes it a very nice companion volume to Podany's book. You may want to check to see if it's been translated into your native tongue.
Amarna Diplomacy: The Beginnings of International Relations edited by Raymond Cohen and Raymond Westbrook – This is a very unusual book in ancient Near Eastern studies, since it includes contributions not only by Egyptologists and ancient Near Eastern historians but also specialists in political science and international relations.