Near East Kingdoms

Canaan (Bronze Age Collapse / Israelite Settlement Period)
Incorporating Adullam, Ai, Aphek, Beit El, Beth-el, Carmel, Gilgal, Hepher, Hivites, Jokneam, Lasharon, Libnah, Lobana, Luz, Madon, Makkedah, Mizpah, Taanach, & Tappuah

Ancient Canaan (Intro) Canaanite States & Groups Israelites & Israel Mesopotamian States & Groups Rome Syrian States & Groups

When city states began to appear in Syria in the third millennium BC it took around a further millennium for them to do so to the south, 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.

Disaster struck 'Bronze Age Canaan' in the form of the social collapse at the end of the thirteenth century BC. Climate-induced drought and famine triggered general instability and large-scale population movements in the Near East. This came hand-in-hand with wholesale looting and raiding, principally by the Sea Peoples. The Hittite empire in Anatolia fell almost overnight.

The Philistines and other Sea Peoples were starting to settle on the lower coast of the Levant, and various neo-Hittite city states were arising in northern Syria, many of which came into contact with the early Israelites. This was a period which seems to have witnessed the main phase of Israelite settlement of Canaan following the supposed exodus from Egypt, although it is a controversial and confusing period.

The independent Canaanites of old gradually found themselves being reduced in territory to the shores of today's Lebanon (eventually to become Phoenicians). Their language was very closely related to ancient Hebrew, demonstrating the likelihood that both they and the Israelites largely shared origins.

The Canaanites of the interior are the very people and their cities who were being subjugated or culturally dominated by the various new arrivals. Many cities of southern Canaan are claimed in the Old Testament to have been conquered by the Israelites, and these are noted here along with (very) approximate dates in which each city was defeated or conquered.

These conquered cities (or groups) include Achshaph, Adullam (a minor town, long since abandoned), Ai (mistakenly attributed), Aphek (with at least two modern locations which may match up), Beth-el (or Bethel - its Hebrew name apparently - formerly being known by the Canaanite name of Luz, lying near Ai in the highlands of the modern Palestinian West Bank, and also known by the Aramaean version of the name: Beit El).

Principal author(s): Page created: Page last updated:

(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 Links: Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Jokneam (Bible Atlas).)

c.1200 - 1000 BC

Emerging out of the collapse and dark age, the principle Phoenician cities along the coast are Arvad, Beroth, Gebal, Hazor, Sarepta, Sidon, and Tyre. Phoenician trading posts soon spring up along the Mediterranean coastline, later to become permanent colonies.

The modern town of Sarafand sits immediately alongside the two-thousand year-old Roman ruins of Sarepta in Lebanon

Non-Phoenician Canaanite cities or states include Ammon, Amrit, Arad, Arqa, Dor, Edom, Geshur, Moab, Shalem, Shechem, and Sumur, while the Philistines establish or re-establish city states of their own farther south which include Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath, Gerar, and Gezer.

Camel nomad Arabs from the peninsula are in close contact with the Syro-Palestinian region to provide luxury goods such as incense from Saba.

c.1200 - 1198 BC

It would seem that the Aradites, along with the Amalekites, come down from the hills to deal the Israelites 'a shattering blow'. Then the Israelites strike back, defeating and destroying the Aradites and claiming their town.

Very quickly afterwards, in a progression of Israelite migration and attacks, they defeat and subjugate Moab, along with a number of minor Canaanite city states which includes those of the Midianites.

c.1170s BC

Adonizedec of Shalem leads the fragmented Jebusites against Joshua of the Israelites, but they are defeated at Gibeon. They apparently also suffer again at Beth-horon, not only from attacks by their pursuers but also from a great hail storm.

The ambitious Ophel excavation in Shalem (Jerusalem) has produced many finds, but precious little before the tenth century BC, by which time the city was in Israelite hands

The five allied Jebusite kings take refuge in a cave at Makkedah (close to the Jebusite city of Lachish and also mentioned in the 1160s BC, below), and are imprisoned there until after the battle, when Joshua commands that they be brought before him.

They are brought out, humiliated, and put to death, and Shalem is conquered (Beroth is included as a supporter of this Canaanite coalition). They take control of the city but apparently lose it again twenty years later during an invasion by the Philistines.

fl c.1170 BC

King of Ai, near Beth-el. Misattributed to this period.

c.1170 BC

The supposed Israelite destruction of Ai cannot be confirmed. The archaeological evidence does show a layer of destruction for this city, which is located in the highlands of the modern Palestinian West Bank, but this layer has been dated to 2200 BC.

Similarly, the fall of Jericho which the Old Testament attributes to Joshua as the leader of the Israelites is also inaccurate. The city's destruction has firmly and confidently been dated to about 1550 BC.

Tell Lachish in Israel represents the highly-developed post-Jebusite city of Lachish, by which time it was firmly part of the first millennium BC Israelite state(s)

c.1160s BC

According to the Old Testament, the Jebusites are conquered by the Israelites, as are many other very minor Canaanite city states which are situated in and around what becomes Judah and lower Syria. The cities of Dor, Gezer, Megiddo, Shimron-meron, and Tirzah (the original capital of Samaria) can be counted amongst their number while the rest are listed below.

Jabin, 'king of Canaan', rules a Canaanite coalition from the northern city of Hazor, but he as the 'head of all those kingdoms' is defeated by Joshua at the 'waters of Megiddo'. Conquest, however, does not come until about 1125 BC (see below).

Even referring to these conquests as city states may be generous. Many could be little more than obscure settlements and small tribes which are taken over piecemeal. Many also have not been pinpointed by modern archaeology, although educated guesses abound.

The archaeological site of Tel Megiddo in Israel is the location of the city of Megiddo in the Old Testament and other surviving records, as well as being the basis of the New Testament's 'Armageddon' (the Greek form of its name)

fl c.1160s BC

King of Libnah / Lobana. Later part of Judah.

fl c.1160s BC

King of Adullam (minor town, now abandoned).

fl c.1160s BC

King of Makkedah (site of the Jebusite defeat of 1170s BC).

fl c.1160s BC

King of Beth-el / Bethel (on the western side of Ai).

fl c.1160s BC

King of Tappuah (in today's south-western West Bank).

fl c.1160s BC

King of Hepher (on the western side of the River Jordan).

fl c.1150s BC

King of Aphek / Aphec (the site of later Philistine battles?).

fl c.1150s BC

King of Lasharon (the King James Bible's 'Sharon').

fl c.1150s BC

King of Taanach / Ti'inik (northern West Bank).

fl c.1150s BC

King of Jokneam 'in Carmel' (Mount Carmel).

fl c.1150s BC

King of Gilgal / Galgalatokai (eastern border of Jericho).

c.1160s BC

With their recorded series of battle victories seeing them claim control of a large swathe of Canaan, the Israelites are able to divide the land between their various tribes. The now-elderly Joshua is granted the city of Timnath-heres (or Timnath-serah) in the territory of the tribe of Ephraim, where he settles.

This slightly fanciful view of the migrating Israelites does show a surprisingly small number of participants (more are cropped off from the left, but even so their numbers are very finite), something which chimes with the 'ruling elite' theory of migration which is detailed on the Israelites page

c.1125 BC

The Israelites have been subdued by Jabin, 'king of Canaan', in Hazor. Now they are roused to rebel. Jabin's associate, Sisera, is routed in battle at Merom, and Hazor itself is sacked and burned, possibly by the Israelites who then annexe it to their still-tribal state. Jabin's allies (or vassals) include the kings of Achshaph, Madon, and Shimron, along with the king of the Hivites of the land of Mizpah.

fl c.1125 BC

King of Madon. Ally of Hazor.

fl c.1125 BC

King of the Hivites of the land of Mizpah. Ally of Hazor.

Archaeological dating of Hazor's destruction produces a date of around 1250-1220 BC, a good century before the approximate dating used here which seems to fit best with Old Testament events.

The identity of the 'Hivites of the land of Mizpah' is a mystery which is yet to be solved. The name 'Hivites' may not even be an accurate translation of the original. The Hittites have been suggested as a popular alternative, although their empire is now gone and only neo-Hittite city states such as Carchemish remain, in northern Syria and adjoining areas of Anatolia.

Their existence is confirmed during David's reign over Israel, but after that they disappear, likely absorbed into the general population of Canaan.

During the second millennium BC, Hazor was one of the region's largest cities, including the upper city and the lower city, and extending to about eight hundred dunams in size

c.1120 BC

Gideon of the Israelites defeats the Midianites after what appears to be an attempt to cattle-rustle and steal crops by the Midianites and their allies, the Amalekites. The latter crop up several times in the form of a fringe group which aids others in attacks against the Israelites.

c.1080 BC

The Israelites are subdued by the Midianites who penetrate their territories from the south. However, given the general description of the Midianites as nomads and bandits, a full invasion of Israelite territory seems unlikely. Perhaps this concerns events which are on a very local and temporary basis.

c.1050 BC

A weakened Egypt loses its remaining imperial possessions in Canaan. The Phoenician city states expand their territory at this time, but are checked in the south by the Philistines.

Archaeological evidence for a mass settling of people in this southern region and at this time has yet to be found, suggesting that the Philistines are formed of small, mobile groups who take a while to establish themselves and take control of the region.

The papyrus 'Book of the Dead' formed part of the burial for Nauny, a chantress of Amun, around 1050 BC, who died in her seventies as Egypt was suffering a low point due to the recent onslaught of droughts and attacks

The Canaanite town of Shiloh has become the central sanctuary site of the Israelite confederacy during the period of the judges. Following the Israelite take-over of areas of Canaan around a century beforehand, the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant had been installed here, but the Ark is now captured by the Philistines during a battle at Ebenezer (site unknown), and Shiloh is soon afterwards destroyed.

Excavations at Khirbat Sayūn in modern Jordan during 1920-1932 suggest that Shiloh remains a ruin for several centuries. The Philistines decide to return the Ark after about seven months while the Israelites can now be considered to be a settled population within a politically rearranged Iron Age Canaan.