He answered, "You shall not kill them. Would you kill those you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master."This shows a very different picture of ancient warfare than what I've always imagined. In my mind, I always thought that anyone captured was probably executed. Mercy was not a common quality in this time. If they weren't executed after the battle, then I always thought it was only because they were being held for a victory celebration at the end of the war, or to be kept as slaves, or perhaps as sacrifice to some barbaric god.
However, this suggests that being captured was not effectively the end of their lives. Apparently, if they were captured, they would be held for some amount of time, but were well treated as captives. When the king decided, or perhaps merely at the end of the campaign, they would be returned to their people. It's not clear if there was some kind of parole system like we have today, where they couldn't fight against the same enemy, or return to the same unit, but it definitely shows a more...civilized, for lack of a better word...rule of combat than I'd thought existed.
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