Near East Kingdoms

Canaan (Bronze Age / Old Testament Period)

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City states began to appear in Syria in the third millennium BC. By the start of the second millennium BC the same was happening in the Levant, along the Mediterranean coast. Semitic-speaking tribes created a patchwork of city states of their own in Canaan, while the later-appearing Phoenicians (more Canaanites) also founded their own mighty seaborne trading empire.

Although concentrated more in Syria and extending down into Mesopotamia, the Amorites also occupied areas of northern Canaan. They founded the island state of Arvad around 2000 BC. They also invaded and gained control of Gebal, dominating other Bronze Age small cities along the coastal strip which forms modern Lebanon, while other cities such as Sidon remained free of Amorite influence.

By around 1750 BC, the approximate period in which the Old Testament claims that areas of 'Early Canaan' were being settled by the early Israelites (albeit with any dating for this period being subject to intense debate), the Syrian states were apparently dependencies of Elam for a short time, although the existence of the Biblical Elamite king, Chedorlaomer, cannot be confirmed.

The many Canaanite city states which were reported by the Old Testament in Genesis (14) are included here or are linked to respective pages. However, as the Old Testament was written down over a thousand years after the events of this period, the names became very distorted and are subject to much modern research regarding possible historical equivalents. Josephus also provides an interpretation of the names, with these being included after the Biblical versions.

Outside the cities of the region were populations of habiru, a disorganised movement of outsiders who included semi-nomadic social outcasts, refugees from the debt-ridden city system, unemployed farm labourers, and equally unemployed mounted mercenary archers.

Between about 2000-1200 BC, these groups plagued the established order. The larger states viewed them as a threat to the stability of the region, although the regional manpower shortage was sometimes so acute that they could still be hired as labourers or mercenaries. The Shutu (or Shasu) may have been much the same type of people, at the start of the subsequent 'Bronze Age Collapse'.

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(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from Unger's Bible Dictionary, Merrill F Unger (1957), from Easton's Bible Dictionary, Matthew George Easton (1897), from Egypt, Canaan and Israel in Ancient Times, Donald Redford (Princeton University Press, 1992), from Early Israel and the Surrounding Nations, A H Sayce, from the Illustrated Dictionary & Concordance of the Bible, Geoffrey Wigoder (Gen Ed, 1986), from The Cambridge Ancient History, John Boardman, N G L Hammond, D M Lewis, & M Ostwald (Eds), from A Test of Time, David Rohl (Arrow, 2001), from Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, David Noel Freedman, B E Willoughby, & Heinz-Josef Fabry (G Johannes Botterweck & Helmer Ringgren, Eds, William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999), from A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars, Walter C Kaiser Jr (Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), from Jewish War & Jewish Antiquities, Flavius Josephus, from the NOVA/PBS documentary series, The Bible's Buried Secrets, first broadcast 18 November 2008, and from External Link: Encyclopaedia Britannica.)

fl c.1750 BC

In Shinar (Babylon?).

c.1750 BC

Shinar, or Sennaar, is equated with Babylon, making the king identifiable with Hammurabi, although this theory appears to be falling out of favour with many scholars.

Babylon began life as a modest town which had been seized from Kazallu, but was quickly fortified by the building of a city wall in the nineteenth century BC

King Amraphel of Shinar is allied with 'Chedorlaomer' of Elam (probably Kudur Lagamar), plus 'Arioch of Ellasar' (originally thought to be Rim-Sin of Larsa, but now thought more likely to be the early Hurrian King Ariukki), and 'Tidal, king of nations' (probably the Hittite king, Tudhaliya I, with the 'nations' probably being the recently-conquered Hatti).

Together they attack the early Israelites during a general conflict. After twelve years of paying tribute, several Canaanite 'cities of the plain' rebel and need to be brought back into line. These are the five cities of the Vale of Siddim which are mentioned in the Old Testament.

Chedorlaomer also attacks the Rephaim and defeats them, while the Horites are said to be members of the coalition which includes Sodom and Gomorrah, and they are similarly defeated.

c.1749 BC

Despite their resistance, the rebellious city states of Admah, Bela, Sodom, Gomorrah, and Zeboiim are defeated within a year. The city of Salem also figures in this period in connection with Abraham of the Israelites.

During the rebellion, Sodom is aided by Lot, adopted son of Abraham. Thereafter he is found living within the city itself, shortly before it is destroyed (as Josephus says) by means of God casting 'a thunderbolt upon the city, and set[ting] it on fire, with its inhabitants; and laid waste the country with the like burning'.

Mount Sodom near the Dead Sea may have overlooked the 'Vale of Siddim' and the five cities which are mentioned in this instance of attempted eastern domination of Canaan

1600s BC

Ar of Moab may in fact be a place or region within the kingdom rather than a king. If so then it is located on the south bank of the River Arnon, close to Moab's northern border. An Egyptian execration text dated to the seventeenth century BC refers to an 'Ayyab' as king of the Shutu, but this is not 'Ar' of Moab.

The name is possibly a variant form of 'Job', with Jobab of Edom being a handy candidate. However, tentative identification of the mysterious Shutu has linked them with the Moabites and Ammonites to the north of Edom.

c.1650 BC

Jacob of the Israelites spends some years in Harran, where he meets his wives. As he returns them and his large family to Hebron, Jacob stops off at the Canaanite city of Shechem where his daughter is attacked, so Jacob's sons slay all the males within the city walls.

This is the approximate date of the ending of the Middle Bronze Age, precisely the time period in which archaeology backs up the destruction of the city. Its recently-installed great in-sloping wall of cyclopean masonry has failed to protect it.

A short dark age followed the Hittite collapse and the creation of power vacuums in Babylonia and Syria (caused by the Hittites) during the sixteenth century BC (click or tap on map to view full sized)

There seems to be no broad suggestion of disturbances or destruction across Canaan as a whole in this period, but it is unlikely to be a coincidence that the Hyksos, led by Salitis, founder of the Fifteenth Dynasty, overrun Egypt during the reign of Dudimose I. Egyptian protections across Canaan are likely to be disrupted.

c.1503 BC

Thutmose I invades Canaan and Syria, sweeping through much of it. Egypt establishes a presence but does not appear to remain in force. However, the raid does provide a foretaste of soon-to-be renewed Egyptian dominance in the region.

1453 BC

Egypt reasserts its authority in the region by conquering territory in Canaan and Syria as far north as Amurru. The Egyptians establish three provinces which are named Amurru (in southern Syria), Upe (in northern Canaan, which may correspond to Damas), and Canaan (in the south, which includes Gebal).

Each one is governed by an Egyptian official. Native dynasts are allowed to continue their rule over the small states, but have to provide annual tribute.

This photo shows a bronze figure from Tyre, created between 1400-1200 BC and probably representing the Canaanite god Baal in the role of a warrior

1348 BC

Akhenaten institutes monotheism in the fourth year of his reign of Egypt with the sole worship of the sun god Aton (see feature link for more). In the following year he founds a new capital at Amarna. During this period the Amarna letters are written - diplomatic correspondence with Assur-Uballit I of Assyria, the Kassite rulers of Babylonia, plus Mitanni, the Hittites, Alashiya, Arzawa, and the city states of Syria and Canaan.

While the letters do not mention Sarepta, a voyage along the Levantine coast by an Egyptian vessel does contain someone who records the existence of the city. The letters also describe the disruptive activities of the habiru, painting them as a threat to the stability of the region.

Rohl's discredited theory is that the habiru of the Amarna letters are the Israelites of David. Findings may indicate that the three years of drought, famine, and plague of the Amarna letters and those of David's time may be same, but of course there is nothing to say that similar events could not be repeated over the course of the three or four hundred years between the usual dating for these two.

Another theory is that Moses (an individual who is probably much closer to the period in which the Amarna letters are written than is David) is 'the rebel Mesh' of amelut-sagaz-Mesh (habiru) of the Amarna letters.

The cuneiform tablet inscribed with a letter from Tushratta, king of Mitanni, to Pharaoh Amenhotep III, covers various subjects such as the killing of the murderers of the Mitanni king's brother and a fight against the Hittites

c.1340 BC

Sensing the weakness of the neighbouring Mitanni empire (as well as of Egypt), Aziru of Amurru makes a secret deal with the Hittite king, Suppiluliuma. He also establishes himself as a strong king in the region, taking control in Damas and even going so far as to conquer the Canaanite city of Sumur, where the Egyptian representative has his residence.

The restoration of the city is demanded, but Aziru forces Egypt to recognise him first. However, relations with Egypt are soured by constant complaints from Gebal.

c.1310 BC

In the lead up to their confrontation with Egypt at the Battle of Kadesh, the Hittites conduct raids deep into Canaan. Rib-Adda, king of Gebal, reports to his Egyptian overlords on additional and apparently devastating raids by the habiru.

He mentions the nearby minor city of Arqa whose citizens are apparently amongst the last in their area to hold out against the habiru, along with another minor city, Sumur, and Gebal itself. Only Gebal remains unconquered.

The modern site of Arqa, the tell or mound of Arqa near the modern village of the same name, displays many relics of its Roman period, with archaeology also detailing several preceding layers of occupation

c.1230 BC

According to the Old Testament, and dated to this approximate point by calculating back from more certain events, Moses begins to lead the loose confederation of Israelite tribes out of Egypt, shortly after his marriage to a Midianite woman, Zipporah daughter of Jethro the Midian priest whom he had met in the Sinai.

The Hebrews have multiplied from a band of seventy into a people numbering thousands (possibly an exaggerated figure), but they have been reduced to slavery. A tribal nobility still exists, however, and is represented in the sources by the descendants of Levi.

The most recent of his descendants is Moses, who possibly fulfils the role of an advisor or even minister to an unnamed pharaoh who may be Ramses II. Moses is also claimed as an ancestor figure of the early Ethiopian kings.

Strangely, and perhaps not coincidentally, the Old Testament has Moses first encountering his god, Yahweh, in the form of a burning bush when he reaches the land of the Midianites.

Egyptian records mention that the Midianites (whom they know as Shasu) are found at a place called YHW (probably pronounced 'yahoo') in the deserts of southern Jordan. The name seems to be picked up by the Israelites and passed on to others they meet in Canaan.

Mount Nebo in the north of Moab is reputedly the spot at which Moses died, within sight of the promised land on the other side of the Dead Sea

c.1200 BC

There is general collapse in the region as instability grips the Mediterranean coast for some decades, with the first, and biggest victim being the Hittite empire. It is quite possible that the habiru play some part in this.

One theory holds that they unite as an identifiable Canaanite people around this time and begin to attack and conquer many of the local city states under the collective name of Israelites.

Their main opponents in the south are the newly-arrived Sea Peoples who are known as the Philistines, and in the north the incoming Aramaeans, while other groups of Sea Peoples also settle along the coast and in time probably contribute their skills to the region's maritime society.

The ('old') Canaanites are reduced to dominating the Canaanite Mediterranean coastal strip, where cities such as Sidon and Gebal survive, and where their people become the sea traders known as the Phoenicians.

Attacks by the Sea Peoples gathered momentum during the last decade of the thirteenth century BC, quickly reaching a peak which lasted about forty years

It has been strongly suggested that the Israelites themselves are also Canaanites, and that the traditional exodus never occurs. This theory seems to be backed up by archaeological finds (although a temporary event such as an exodus would be hard to locate archaeologically). Alternatively the exodus could involve a small social elite which soon dominates the Canaanites it finds.

In recent years the idea has been strengthened regarding there being no exodus. The climate-induced social collapse of the end of the thirteenth century BC - and the long lead-up towards it of perhaps a century directly, and several centuries more indirectly - results in groups of dispossessed people congregating in Canaan in new groups (as mentioned above).

Known by the established powers by various names, including habiru, these groups would appear in essence to be drop-outs from established society, people who want to find a new way of living outside what they see as an unjust and restrictive society.

The mummy of the last great pharaoh, Ramses III, revealed the fact that his throat had been slit to a width of seven centimetres, more then enough to kill him instantly

Following the social collapse, which also results in the declining fortunes of Egypt, these new communities seemingly emerge over the next two hundred years as a new people, with new, unfussy pottery and a monotheistic culture.

Either with or without the addition of a small cultural elite which has fled Egypt, they have formed the people known as the Israelites who, according to few available records, now begin their settlement period in the region as Canaan also enters the 'Bronze Age Collapse'.