The name "Canaan" appears throughout theBible as a geography associated with the "Promised Land". Thedemonym "Canaanites" serves as an ethnic catch-all term covering various indigenous populations—both settled andnomadic-pastoral groups—throughout the regions of the southernLevant.[3] It is by far the most frequently used ethnic term in the Bible.[4] Biblical scholarMark Smith, citing archaeological findings, suggests "that theIsraelite culture largely overlapped with and derived from Canaanite culture ... In short, Israelite culture was largely Canaanite in nature."[5]: 13–14 [6]
The English term "Canaan" (pronounced/ˈkeɪnən/ sincec. 1500, due to theGreat Vowel Shift) comes from the Hebrewכנען (Kənaʿan), via theKoine GreekΧαναανKhanaan and theLatinCanaan. It appears asKinâḫna (Akkadian:𒆳𒆠𒈾𒄴𒈾,KURki-na-aḫ-na) in theAmarna letters (14th century BC) and several other ancient Egyptian texts.[8] In Greek, it first occurs in the writings ofHecataeus (c. 550–476 BC) as "Khna" (Χνᾶ).[9] It is attested in Phoenician on coins fromBerytus dated to the 2nd century BC.[10]
The etymology is uncertain. An early explanation derives the term from theSemitic rootknʿ, "to be low, humble, subjugated".[11] Some scholars have suggested that this implies an original meaning of "lowlands", in contrast withAram, which would then mean "highlands",[12] whereas others have suggested it meant "the subjugated" as the name of Egypt's province in the Levant, and evolved into the proper name in a similar fashion toProvincia Nostra (the first Roman colony north of the Alps, which becameProvence).[13]
An alternative suggestion, put forward byEphraim Avigdor Speiser in 1936, derives the term fromHurrianKinaḫḫu, purportedly referring to the colour purple, so that "Canaan" and "Phoenicia" would be synonyms ("Land of Purple"). Tablets found in the Hurrian city ofNuzi in the early 20th century appear to use the term"Kinaḫnu" as a synonym for red orpurple dye, laboriously produced by theKassite rulers ofBabylon frommurex molluscs as early as 1600 BC, and on the Mediterranean coast by the Phoenicians from a byproduct of glassmaking. Purple cloth became a renowned Canaanite export commodity which is mentioned inExodus. The dyes may have been named after their place of origin. The name 'Phoenicia' is connected with the Greek word for "purple", apparently referring to the same product, but it is difficult to state with certainty whether the Greek word came from the name, or vice versa. The purple cloth ofTyre in Phoenicia was well known far and wide and was associated by theRomans with nobility and royalty. However, according toRobert Drews, Speiser's proposal has generally been abandoned.[14][15]
Djahy
Retjenu (Anglicised 'Retenu') was the usual ancient Egyptian name for Canaan and Syria, covering the region fromGaza in the south, toTartous in the north. Its borders shifted with time, but it generally consisted of three regions.[citation needed] The region betweenAscalon andthe Lebanon, stretching inland to theSea of Galilee, was namedDjahy,[16] which was approximately synonymous with Canaan.[citation needed]
The Ghassulian starGhassulian dolmen, Kueijiyeh hill nearMadaba, Jordan
The first wave of migration, calledGhassulian culture, entered Canaan circa 4500 BC.[21] This is the start of theChalcolithic in Canaan. From their unknown homeland, they brought an already complete craft tradition of metalwork. They were expert coppersmiths; in fact, their work was the most advancedmetal technology in the ancient world.[citation needed] Their work is similar to artifacts from the laterMaykop culture, leading some scholars to believe they represent two branches of an original metalworking tradition. Their main copper mine was atWadi Feynan. The copper was mined from the Cambrian Burj Dolomite Shale Unit in the form of the mineralmalachite. All of the copper was smelted at sites inBeersheba culture.
Amorites atHazor,Kadesh (Qadesh-on-the-Orontes), and elsewhere inAmurru (Syria) bordered Canaan in the north and northeast. (Ugarit may be included among these Amoritic entities.)[25] The collapse of the Akkadian Empire in 2154 BC saw the arrival of peoples usingKhirbet Kerak ware (pottery),[26] coming originally from theZagros Mountains (in modernIran) east of theTigris. In addition,DNA analysis revealed that between 2500 and 1000 BC, populations from the Chalcolithic Zagros and Bronze AgeCaucasus migrated to the Southern Levant.[27]
The first cities in the southern Levant arose during this period. The major sites were'En Esur andMeggido. These "proto-Canaanites" were in regular contact with the other peoples to their south such asEgypt, and to the northAsia Minor (Hurrians,Hattians,Hittites,Luwians) andMesopotamia (Sumer,Akkad,Assyria), a trend that continued through theIron Age. The end of the period is marked by the abandonment of the cities and a return to lifestyles based on farming villages and semi-nomadic herding, although specialised craft production continued and trade routes remained open.[28] Archaeologically, the Late Bronze Age state ofUgarit (atRas Shamra inSyria) is considered quintessentially Canaanite,[5] even though itsUgaritic language does not belong to theCanaanite language group proper.[29][30][31]
A disputed reference to a "Lord ofga-na-na" in the SemiticEbla tablets (dated 2350 BC) from the archive ofTell Mardikh has been interpreted by some scholars to mention the deityDagon by the title "Lord of Canaan"[32] If correct, this would suggest that Eblaites were conscious of Canaan as an entity by 2500 BC.[33] Jonathan Tubb states that the termga-na-na "may provide a third-millennium reference toCanaanite", while at the same time stating that the first certain reference is in the 18th century BC.[5]: 15 SeeEbla-Biblical controversy for further details.
Middle Bronze Age (2000–1550 BC)
Map of the Near East byRobert de Vaugondy (1762), indicating "Canaan" as limited to theHoly Land, to the exclusion of Lebanon and Syria
Urbanism returned and the region was divided among small city-states, the most important of which seems to have been Hazor.[34] Many aspects of Canaanite material culture now reflected a Mesopotamian influence, and the entire region became more tightly integrated into a vast international trading network.[34]
As early asNaram-Sin of Akkad's reign (c. 2240 BC),Amurru was called one of the "four quarters" surroundingAkkad, along withSubartu/Assyria,Sumer, andElam.[citation needed] Amorite dynasties also came to dominate in much of Mesopotamia, including inLarsa,Isin and founding the state of Babylon in 1894 BC. Later on,Amurru became the Assyrian/Akkadian term for the interior of south as well as for northerly Canaan. At this time the Canaanite area seemed divided between two confederacies, one centred uponMegiddo in theJezreel Valley, the second on the more northerly city ofKadesh on the Orontes River.[citation needed] An Amorite chieftain namedSumu-abum founded Babylon as an independent city-state in 1894 BC. One Amorite king of Babylonia,Hammurabi (1792–1750 BC), founded theFirst Babylonian Empire, which lasted only as long as his lifetime. Upon his death the Amorites were driven from Assyria but remained masters of Babylonia until 1595 BC, when they were ejected by the Hittites.[citation needed]
A letter fromMut-bisir toShamshi-Adad I (c. 1809–1776 BC) of theOld Assyrian Empire (2025–1750 BC) has been translated: "It is in Rahisum that the brigands (habbatum) and the Canaanites (Kinahnum) are situated". It was found in 1973 in the ruins ofMari, anAssyrian outpost at that time inSyria.[5][35] Additional unpublished references to Kinahnum in the Mari letters refer to the same episode.[36] Whether the term Kinahnum refers to people from a specific region or rather people of "foreign origin" has been disputed,[37][38] such that Robert Drews states that the "first certain cuneiform reference" to Canaan is found on the Alalakh statue of King Idrimi (below).[39]
A reference to Ammiya being "in the land of Canaan" is found on theStatue of Idrimi (16th century BC) fromAlalakh in modern Syria. After a popular uprising against his rule, Idrimi was forced into exile with his mother's relatives to seek refuge in "the land of Canaan", where he prepared for an eventual attack to recover his city. The other references in the Alalakh texts are:[36]
AT 181: A list of 'Apiru people with their origins. All are towns, except for Canaan
AT 188: A list of Muskenu people with their origins. All are towns, except for three lands including Canaan
AT 48: A contract with a Canaanite hunter.
Around 1650 BC, Canaanites invaded the easternNile delta, where, known as theHyksos, they became the dominant power.[44] In Egyptian inscriptions,Amar andAmurru (Amorites) are applied strictly to the more northerly mountain region east of Phoenicia, extending to theOrontes.
Archaeological excavations of a number of sites, later identified as Canaanite, show that prosperity of the region reached its apogee during this MiddleBronze Age period, under the leadership of the city ofHazor, at least nominallytributary to Egypt for much of the period. In the north, the cities ofYamkhad andQatna werehegemons of importantconfederacies, and it would appear that biblical Hazor was the chief city of another importantcoalition in the south.[citation needed]
According to the Bible, the migrantancient Semitic-speaking peoples who appear to have settled in the region included (among others) theAmorites, who had earlier controlled Babylonia. TheHebrew Bible mentions theAmorites in theTable of Peoples (Book of Genesis 10:16–18a). Evidently, the Amorites played a significant role in the early history of Canaan. In Book of Genesis 14:7f.,Book of Joshua 10:5f.,Book of Deuteronomy 1:19f., 27, 44, we find them located in the southern mountain country, while verses such asBook of Numbers 21:13, Book of Joshua 9:10, 24:8, 12, etc., tell of two great Amorite kings residing atHeshbon andAshteroth, east of the Jordan. Other passages, including Book of Genesis 15:16, 48:22, Book of Joshua 24:15,Book of Judges 1:34, regard the nameAmorite as synonymous with "Canaanite". The nameAmorite is, however, never used for the population on the coast.[45]
In the centuries preceding the appearance of the biblical Hebrews, parts of Canaan and southwestern Syria became tributary to the Egyptianpharaohs, although domination by the Egyptians remained sporadic, and not strong enough to prevent frequent local rebellions and inter-city struggles. Other areas such as northern Canaan and northern Syria came to be ruled by the Assyrians during this period.[citation needed]
UnderThutmose III (1479–1426 BC) andAmenhotep II (1427–1400 BC), the regular presence of the strong hand of the Egyptian ruler and his armies kept the Amorites and Canaanites sufficiently loyal. Nevertheless, Thutmose III reported a new and troubling element in the population.Habiru or (in Egyptian) 'Apiru, are reported for the first time. These seem to have been mercenaries, brigands, or outlaws, who may have at one time led a settled life, but with bad luck or due to the force of circumstances, contributed a rootless element to the population, prepared to hire themselves to whichever local mayor, king, or princeling would pay for their support.[citation needed]
Although HabiruSA-GAZ (aSumerianideogramglossed as "brigand" inAkkadian), and sometimesHabiri (an Akkadian word) had been reported in Mesopotamia from the reign of theSumerian king,Shulgi ofUr III, their appearance in Canaan appears to have been due to the arrival of a new state based in Asia Minor to the north of Assyria and based upon aMaryannu aristocracy of horse-drawncharioteers, associated with theIndo-Aryan rulers of theHurrians, known asMitanni.[citation needed]
Basalt lions from theOrthostat Temple ofHazor (c. 1500–1300 BC)[46] Hazor was violently destroyed during the Bronze Age collapse.[47]
The Habiru seem to have been more a social class than an ethnic group.[citation needed] One analysis shows that the majority were Hurrian, although there were a number of Semites and even someKassite andLuwian adventurers amongst their number.[citation needed] The reign ofAmenhotep III, as a result, was not quite so tranquil for the Asiatic province, as Habiru/'Apiru contributed to greater political instability. It is believed[by whom?] that turbulent chiefs began to seek their opportunities, although as a rule they could not find them without the help of a neighbouring king. The boldest of the disaffected nobles wasAziru, son ofAbdi-Ashirta, who endeavoured to extend his power into the plain ofDamascus.Akizzi, governor of Katna (Qatna?) (nearHamath), reported this to Amenhotep III, who seems to have sought to frustrate Aziru's attempts.[citation needed] In the reign of the next pharaoh,Akhenaten (reignedc. 1352 toc. 1335 BC) both father and son caused infinite trouble to loyal servants of Egypt likeRib-Hadda, governor ofGubla (Gebal),[45] by transferring their loyalty from the Egyptian crown to the Hittite Empire underSuppiluliuma I (reignedc. 1344–1322 BC).[48]
Egyptian power in Canaan thus suffered a major setback when the Hittites (or Hatti) advanced into Syria in the reign of Amenhotep III, and when they became even more threatening in that of his successor, displacing the Amorites and prompting a resumption of Semitic migration. Abdi-Ashirta and his son Aziru, at first afraid of the Hittites, afterwards made a treaty with their king, and joining with the Hittites, attacked and conquered the districts remaining loyal to Egypt. In vain did Rib-Hadda send touching appeals for aid to the distant Pharaoh, who was far too engaged in his religious innovations to attend to such messages.[45]
The Amarna letters tell of the Habiri in northern Syria.Etakkama wrote thus to the Pharaoh:
Behold,Namyawaza has surrendered all the cities of the king, my lord to theSA-GAZ in the land ofKadesh and inUbi. But I will go, and if thy gods and thy sun go before me, I will bring back the cities to the king, my lord, from the Habiri, to show myself subject to him; and I will expel theSA-GAZ.
Similarly,Zimrida, king ofSidon (named 'Siduna'), declared, "All my cities which the king has given into my hand, have come into the hand of the Habiri." The king ofJerusalem,Abdi-Heba, reported to the Pharaoh:
If (Egyptian) troops come this year, lands and princes will remain to the king, my lord; but if troops come not, these lands and princes will not remain to the king, my lord.
Abdi-heba's principal trouble arose from persons calledIilkili and the sons ofLabaya, who are said to have entered into a treasonable league with the Habiri. Apparently this restless warrior found his death at the siege ofGina. All these princes, however, maligned each other in their letters to the Pharaoh, and protested their own innocence of traitorous intentions. Namyawaza, for instance, whom Etakkama (see above) accused of disloyalty, wrote thus to the Pharaoh,[45]
Behold, I and my warriors and my chariots, together with my brethren and mySA-GAZ, and mySuti ?9 are at the disposal of the (royal) troops to go whithersoever the king, my lord, commands."[49]
Merneptah Stele (JE 31408) from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo
Around the beginning of theNew Kingdom period, Egypt exerted rule over much of the Levant. Rule remained strong during theEighteenth Dynasty, but Egypt's rule became precarious during theNineteenth andTwentieth Dynasties.Ramses II was able to maintain control over it in thestalemated battle against the Hittites atKadesh in 1275 BC, but soon thereafter, the Hittites successfully took over the northern Levant (Syria and Amurru). Ramses II, obsessed with his own building projects while neglecting Asiatic contacts, allowed control over the region to continue dwindling. During the reign of his successorMerneptah, theMerneptah Stele was issued which claimed to have destroyed various sites in the southern Levant, including a people known as "Israel". Egypt's withdrawal from thesouthern Levant was a protracted process lasting some one hundred years beginning in the late 13th century BC and ending close to the end of the 12th century BC. The reason for the Egypt's withdrawal was most likely political turmoil in Egypt proper rather than the invasion by theSea Peoples, as there is little evidence that the Sea Peoples caused much destruction ca. 1200 BC. Many Egyptian garrisons or sites with an "Egyptian governor's residence" in the southern Levant were abandoned without destruction includingDeir al-Balah,Ascalon, Tel Mor,Tell el-Far'ah (South),Tel Gerisa,Tell Jemmeh,Tel Masos, and Qubur el-Walaydah.[50] Not all Egyptian sites in the southern Levant were abandoned without destruction. The Egyptian garrison atAphek was destroyed, likely in an act of warfare at the end of the 13th century.[51] The Egyptian gate complex uncovered atJaffa was destroyed at the end of the 12th century between 1134-1115 based on C14 dates,[52] whileBeth-Shean was partially though not completely destroyed, possibly by an earthquake, in the mid-12th century.[50]
EA 8: Letter fromBurna-Buriash II toAkhenaten, explaining that his merchants "were detained in Canaan for business matters", robbed and killed "in Hinnatuna of the land of Canaan" by the rulers ofAcre and Shamhuna, and asks for compensation because "Canaan is your country"
EA 9: Letter fromBurna-Buriash II toTutankhamun, "all the Canaanites wrote toKurigalzu saying 'come to the border of the country so we can revolt and be allied with you'"
EA 30: Letter fromTushratta: "To the kings of Canaan... Provide [my messenger] with safe entry into Egypt"
EA 109: Letter ofRib-Hadda: "Previously, on seeing a man from Egypt, the kings of Canaan fled before him, but now the sons ofAbdi-Ashirta make men from Egypt prowl about like dogs"
EA 110: Letter ofRib-Hadda: "No ship of the army is to leave Canaan"
EA 131: Letter ofRib-Hadda: "If he does not send archers, they will take [Byblos] and all the other cities and the lands of Canaan will not belong to the king. May the king askYanhamu about these matters."
EA 137: Letter ofRib-Hadda: "If the king neglectsByblos, of all the cities of Canaan, not one will be his"
EA 367: "Hani son (of) Mairēya, "chief of the stable" of the king in Canaan"
EA 162: Letter toAziru: "You yourself know that the king does not want to go against all of Canaan when he rages"
EA 148: Letter fromAbimilku to the Pharaoh: "[The king] has taken over the land of the king for the 'Apiru. May the king ask his commissioner, who is familiar with Canaan"
EA 151: Letter fromAbimilku to the Pharaoh: "The king, my lord wrote to me: 'write to me what you have heard from Canaan'." Abimilku describes in response what has happened in easternCilicia (Danuna), the northern coast of Syria (Ugarit), in Syria (Qadesh,Amurru, andDamascus) as well as inSidon.
Other Late Bronze Age mentions
Text RS 20.182 fromUgarit is a copy of a letter of the king of Ugarit toRamesses II concerning money paid by "the sons of the land of Ugarit" to the "foreman of the sons of the land of Canaan (*kn'ny)" According to Jonathan Tubb, this suggests that the people of Ugarit, contrary to much modern opinion, considered themselves to be non-Canaanite.[5]: 16 The other Ugarit reference, KTU 4.96, shows a list of traders assigned to royal estates, one of the estates having three Ugaritans, an Ashdadite, an Egyptian and a Canaanite.[36]
Ashur tablets
A MiddleAssyrian letter during the reign ofShalmaneser I includes a reference to the "travel to Canaan" of an Assyrian official.[36]
Some believe the "Habiru" signified generally all the nomadic tribes known as "Hebrews", and particularly the earlyIsraelites of the period of the "judges", who sought to appropriate the fertile region for themselves.[55] However, the term was rarely used to describe the Shasu. Whether the term may also include other related ancient Semitic-speaking peoples such as theMoabites,Ammonites andEdomites is uncertain.[56]
There is little evidence that any major city or settlement in the southern Levant was destroyed around 1200 BC.[57] AtLachish, The Fosse Temple III was ritually terminated while a house in Area S appears to have burned in a house fire as the most severe evidence of burning was next to two ovens while no other part of the city had evidence of burning. After this though the city was rebuilt in a grander fashion than before.[58] ForMegiddo, most parts of the city did not have any signs of damage and it is only possible that the palace in Area AA might have been destroyed though this is not certain.[57] While the monumental structures at Hazor were indeed destroyed, this destruction was in the mid-13th century BC long before the end of the Late Bronze Age began.[59] However, many sites were not burned to the ground around 1200 BC including:Asqaluna,Ashdod (ancient city),Tell es-Safi,Tel Batash,Tel Burna,Tel Dor,Tel Gerisa,Tell Jemmeh, Khirbet Rabud,Tel Zeror, andTell Abu Hawam among others.[50][51][57]
Despite many theories which claim that trade relations broke down after 1200 BC in the southern Levant, there is ample evidence that trade with other regions continued after the end of the Late Bronze Age in the Southern Levant.[60][61] Archaeologist Jesse Millek has shown that while the common assumption is that trade in Cypriot and Mycenaean pottery ended around 1200 BC, trade inCypriot pottery actually largely came to an end at 1300, while forMycenaean pottery, this trade ended at 1250 BC, and destruction around 1200 BC could not have affected either pattern of international trade since it ended before the end of the Late Bronze Age.[62] He has also demonstrated that trade withEgypt continued after 1200 BC.[63] Archaeometallurgical studies performed by various teams have also shown that trade intin, a non-local metal necessary to makebronze, did not stop or decrease after 1200 BC, even though the closest sources of the metal were modern Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, or perhaps even Cornwall, England.[64][65]Lead fromSardinia was still being imported to the southern Levant after 1200 BC during the early Iron Age.[66]
Between 616 and 605 BC the Neo-Assyrian Empire collapsed due to a series of bitter civil wars, followed by an attack by an alliance ofBabylonians,Medes, and Persians and theScythians. TheNeo-Babylonian Empire inherited the western part of the empire, including all the lands in Canaan andSyria.[citation needed] They successfully defeated the Egyptians and remained in the region in an attempt to regain a foothold in theNear East.
The Neo-Babylonian Empire itself collapsed in 539 BC, and the region became a part of theAchaemenid Empire. It remained so until in 332 BC it was conquered by theGreeks underAlexander the Great, later to fall to theRoman Empire in the late 2nd century BC, and thenByzantium, until theArab conquest in the 7th century AD.[67]
During the 2nd millennium BC,Ancient Egyptian texts use the term "Canaan" to refer to an Egyptian-ruled colony, whose boundaries generally corroborate the definition of Canaan found in theHebrew Bible, bounded to the west by the Mediterranean Sea, to the north in the vicinity ofHamath in Syria, to the east by theJordan Valley, and to the south by a line extended from theDead Sea to aroundGaza. Nevertheless, the Egyptian andHebrew uses of the term are not identical: the Egyptian texts also identify the coastal city ofQadesh in northwest Syria near Turkey as part of the "Land of Canaan", so that the Egyptian usage seems to refer to the entireLevantine coast of the Mediterranean Sea, making it a synonym of another Egyptian term for this coastland,Retjenu.[citation needed]
Lebanon, in northern Canaan, bordered by theLitani river to the watershed of theOrontes River, was known by the Egyptians as upperRetjenu.[68] In Egyptian campaign accounts, the termDjahi was used to refer to the watershed of the Jordan river. Many earlier Egyptian sources also mention numerous military campaigns conducted inKa-na-na, just inside Asia.[69]
Archaeological attestation of the name "Canaan" inAncient Near Eastern sources relates almost exclusively to the period in which the region operated as a colony of theNew Kingdom of Egypt (16th–11th centuries BC), with usage of the name almost disappearing following theLate Bronze Age collapse (c. 1206–1150 BC).[70] The references suggest that during this period the term was familiar to the region's neighbors on all sides, although scholars have disputed to what extent such references provide a coherent description of its location and boundaries, and regarding whether the inhabitants used the term to describe themselves.[71]
The Greek termPhoenicia is first attested in the first two works ofWestern literature,Homer'sIliad andOdyssey. It does not occur in theHebrew Bible, but occurs three times in theNew Testament in theBook of Acts.[74] In the 6th century BC,Hecataeus of Miletus affirms that Phoenicia was formerly calledχνα, a name thatPhilo of Byblos subsequently adopted into his mythology as his eponym for the Phoenicians: "Khna who was afterwards calledPhoinix". Quoting fragments attributed toSanchuniathon, he relates thatByblos,Berytus andTyre were among the first cities ever built, under the rule of the mythicalCronus, and credits the inhabitants with developing fishing, hunting, agriculture, shipbuilding and writing.
Coins of the city ofBeirut / Laodicea bear the legend, "Of Laodicea, a metropolis in Canaan"; these coins are dated to the reign ofAntiochus IV (175–164 BC) and his successors until 123 BC.[75]
Saint Augustine also mentions that one of the terms the seafaring Phoenicians called their homeland was "Canaan". Augustine also records that the rustic people ofHippo in North Africa retained thePunic self-designationChanani.[76][77] Since 'punic' in Latin also meant 'non-Roman', some scholars, however, argue that the language referred to as Punic in Augustine may have beenLibyan.[78]
The Greeks also popularized the termPalestine, named after the Philistines or the AegeanPelasgians, for roughly the region of Canaan, excluding Phoenicia, withHerodotus' first recorded use ofPalaistinê,c. 480 BC. From 110 BC, theHasmoneans extended their authority over much of the region, creating aJudean-Samaritan-Idumaean-Ituraean-Galilean alliance. The Judean (Jewish, seeIoudaioi) control over the wider area resulted in it also becoming known asJudaea, a term that had previously only referred to the smaller region of theJudean Mountains, the allotment of theTribe of Judah and heartland of the formerKingdom of Judah.[79][80] Between 73 and 63 BC, theRoman Republic extended its influence into the region in theThird Mithridatic War, conquering Judea in 63 BC, and splitting the former Hasmonean Kingdom into five districts. Around 130–135 AD, as a result of the suppression of theBar Kochba revolt, the province of Iudaea was joined withGalilee to form a new province ofSyria Palaestina. There iscircumstantial evidence linkingHadrian with the name change,[81] although the precise date is not certain,[81] and the interpretation of some scholars that the name change may have been intended "to complete the dissociation with Judaea"[82][83] is disputed.[84]
Later sources
Padiiset's Statue is the last known Egyptian reference to Canaan, a small statuette labelled "Envoy of the Canaan and ofPeleset, Pa-di-Eset, the son of Apy". The inscription is dated to 900–850 BC, more than 300 years after the preceding known inscription.[85]
The Canaanites were the inhabitants of ancient Canaan, a region that roughly corresponds to present-dayIsrael andPalestine, westernJordan, southern and coastalSyria,Lebanon, and continued up to the southern border ofTurkey. They are believed to have been one of the oldest civilizations inhuman history.[87]
Thus, while "Phoenician" and "Canaanite" refer to the same culture, archaeologists and historians commonly refer to theBronze Age pre-1200 BC Levantine peoples as Canaanites, while theirIron Age descendants, particularly those living on the coast, are referred to as Phoenicians. More recently, the term "Canaanite" has been used for the secondary Iron Age states of the Levantine interior that were not ruled byAramean peoples, that is, that were ruled by a separate and closely related ethnic group which included thePhilistines and theIsraelite kingdoms ofIsrael and Judah.[89]
Enthroned deity; 14–13th century BC; bronze and gold foil; height: 12.7 cm;Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)
According to archaeologist Jonathan N. Tubb, "Ammonites,Moabites,Israelites, and Phoenicians undoubtedly achieved their own cultural identities, and yet ethnically they were all Canaanites", "the same people who settled in farming villages in the region in the 8th millennium BC."[5]: 13–14
There is uncertainty about whether the name "Canaan" refers to a specificSemitic-speaking ethnic group wherever they live, the homeland of this ethnic group, a region under the control of this ethnic group, or perhaps any combination of the three.
Canaanite civilization was a response to long periods of stable climate interrupted by short periods ofclimate change. During these periods, Canaanites profited from their intermediary position between the ancient civilizations of the Middle East—Ancient Egypt,Mesopotamia (Sumer,Akkad,Assyria,Babylonia), the Hittites, andMinoan Crete—to become city-states of merchant princes along the coast, with small kingdoms specializing in agricultural products in the interior. This polarity, between coastal towns and agrarian hinterland, was illustrated inCanaanite mythology by the struggle between the storm god, variously calledTeshub (Hurrian) orBa'al Hadad (SemiticAmorite/Aramean) andYa'a, Yaw, or Yam, god of the sea and rivers. Early Canaanite civilization was characterized by small walled market towns, surrounded by peasant farmers growing a range of localhorticultural products, along with commercial growing ofolives,grapes for wine, andpistachios, surrounded by extensivegrain cropping, predominantlywheat andbarley. Harvest in early summer was a season whentranshumancenomadism was practised—shepherds staying with their flocks during the wet season and returning to graze them on the harvested stubble, closer to water supplies in the summer. Evidence of this cycle of agriculture is found in theGezer calendar and in the biblical cycle of the year.
Periods of rapid climate change generally saw a collapse of this mixed Mediterranean farming system; commercial production was replaced withsubsistence agricultural foodstuffs; and transhumancepastoralism became a year-round nomadic pastoral activity, whilst tribal groups wandered in a circular pattern north to the Euphrates, or south to the Egyptian delta with their flocks. Occasionally, tribal chieftains would emerge, raiding enemy settlements and rewarding loyal followers from the spoils or by tariffs levied on merchants. Should the cities band together and retaliate, a neighbouring state intervenes or should the chieftain suffer a reversal of fortune, allies would fall away or intertribal feuding would return. It has been suggested that the Patriarchal tales of the Bible reflect such social forms.[90]
Since 3100 BC, most Canaanites, particularly those that lived on the land that is now Israel/Palestine, lived in walled settlements in the plains and coastal regions. These settlements were surrounded by mud-brick fortifications and agricultural hamlets, which the inhabitants relied on for food.[91][ii] In the 2nd millennium BC, urban Canaanite elites ruled over rural and pastoral areas. The material culture of the city-states was relatively uniform.[92] New burial customs were implicitly influenced by a belief in the afterlife.[91][93]
During the periods of the collapse ofAkkadian Empire inMesopotamia and theFirst Intermediate Period of Egypt, the Hyksos invasions and the end of the Middle Bronze Age in Assyria and Babylonia, and the LateBronze Age collapse, trade through the Canaanite area would dwindle, as Egypt, Babylonia, and to a lesser degreeAssyria, withdrew into their isolation. When the climates stabilized, trade would resume firstly along the coast in the area of thePhilistine and Phoenician cities. As markets redeveloped, new trade routes that would avoid the heavy tariffs of the coast would develop fromKadesh Barnea, throughHebron,Lachish,Jerusalem,Bethel,Samaria,Shechem,Shiloh throughGalilee toJezreel,Hazor, andMegiddo. Secondary Canaanite cities would develop in this region. Further economic development would see the creation of a third trade route fromEilath,Timna,Edom (Seir),Moab,Ammon, and thence to the Aramean states ofDamascus andPalmyra. Earlier states (for example the Philistines andTyrians in the case ofJudah andSamaria, for the second route, and Judah and Israel for the third route) tried generally unsuccessfully to control the interior trade.[94]
Eventually, the prosperity of this trade would attract more powerful regional neighbours, such asAncient Egypt,Assyria, the Babylonians,Persians,Ancient Greeks, andRomans, who would control the Canaanites politically, levying tribute, taxes, and tariffs. Often in such periods, thorough overgrazing would result in a climatic collapse and a repeat of the cycle (e.g.,PPNB,Ghassulian,Uruk, and theBronze Age cycles already mentioned). The fall of later Canaanite civilization occurred with the incorporation of the area into theGreco-Roman world (asIudaea province), and afterByzantine times, into theUmayyad Caliphate.Western Aramaic, one of the twolingua francas of Canaanite civilization, is still spoken in a number of small Syrian villages, whilstPhoenicianCanaanite disappeared as a spoken language in about 100 CE. A separateAkkadian-infusedEastern Aramaic is still spoken by the existingAssyrians ofIraq,Iran, northeast Syria, and southeastTurkey.
Tel Kabri contains the remains of a Canaanite city from the MiddleBronze Age (2000–1550 BC). The city, the most important of the cities in the WesternGalilee during that period, had a palace at its center. Tel Kabri is the only Canaanite city that can be excavated in its entirety because after the city was abandoned, no other city was built over its remains. It is notable because the predominant extra-Canaanite cultural influence isMinoan; Minoan-style frescoes decorate the palace.[95]
A 2017 study of five Canaanite skeletons found that approximately half of the skeletons' genes originated from agricultural settlers in the Levant around 10,000 years ago. The other half was from a population tied to Iran, which researchers estimate arrived in the Levant approximately 5,000 years ago.[96]
Hajjej (2018) revealed that when usingHLA genes, Levantine Arabs, such asPalestinians,Syrians,Lebanese andJordanians, were closely related populations with common Canaanite ancestry. They shared a common geographic territory, which was later disrupted by 19th-century British and French colonization. Their Canaanite ancestors came from North Africa or the Arabian peninsula via Egypt in 3300 BC and settled in the Levant lowlands after theGhassulian collapse in 3800-3350 BC. The Levantine Arabs were also related toEast Mediterranean populations, such asTurks,Greeks andCretans,Egyptians andIranians, which can be explained by the high migratory flow between Levantine sub-regions. However, Levantine Arabs were genetically distant from Arabian Peninsula populations such asSaudis,Kuwaitis andYeminis before the 7th centuryIslamic conquests.[97]
Agranat-Tamir et al. (2020) stated that Canaanites from the Intermediate Bronze Age (c. 2500–2000 BC) to late Iron Age I (c. 1000 BC) were genetically similar to each other. They lived in modern Israel, Jordan and Lebanon and could be modeled as "a mixture of local earlierNeolithic populations and populations from the northeastern part of the Near East (i.e.Zagros Mountains,Caucasians/Armenians and possibly,Hurrians)". Exceptions include the 2nd millennium BC inhabitants ofSidon,Abel Beth Maacah andAshkelon, who were relatively heterogenous due to inflow from the easternMediterranean basin. The inhabitants of Ba'qah in Jordan also have probable admixture from "eastern desert groups". Following the Bronze Age, there was an addition ofEuropean-related andEast African-related components, which were represented byLate Neolithic andBronze Age Europeans andSomalis, from a north-south and south-north gradient respectively. The majority of modern Jewish and Levantine Arabic-speaking groups have 50% or more ancestry from peoples who were related to Bronze Age Levantines and Chalcolithic Zagros groups. This does not mean that any of these present-day groups bear direct ancestry from people who lived in the Middle to Late Bronze Age Levant or in Chalcolithic Zagros; rather, it indicates that they have ancestries from populations whose ancient proxy can be related to the Middle East.[98]
Almarri et al. (2021) stated that Levantines and Arabians diverged from each other before the Neolithic period, with Levantines adopting a sedentary agricultural lifestyle. In the Bronze Age, immigrants with ancient Iranian-related ancestry replaced about 50% of the local Levantine ancestry. They were believed to introduce haplogroupJ1, which was not found in earlier Levantines. After the Bronze Age,Eastern Hunter Gatherer (EHG) ancestry was introduced, coinciding with the arrival of peoples with southeast European and Anatolian ancestry. Modern Levantines have significantly higher EHG ancestry than Arabians.[99]
Lazaridis et al. (2022) clarified that ancient Levantines and their descendants exhibit a decrease of ~8% local Neolithic ancestry, which is mostlyNatufian, every millennium, starting from thePre-Pottery Neolithic to theMedieval period. It was largely replaced byCaucasus-related andAnatolian-related ancestries, from the north and west respectively. However, despite the decline in the Natufian component, this key ancestry source made an important contribution to peoples of later periods, continuing until the present.[100]
They descended fromCanaan, who was the son ofHam and the grandson ofNoah. Canaan wascursed with perpetual slavery because his father Ham had "looked upon" the drunk and naked Noah. The expression "look upon" at times has sexual overtones in the Bible, as in Leviticus 20:11, "The man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness..." As a result, interpreters have proposed a variety of possibilities as to what kind of transgression has been committed by Ham, including the possibility of castrating or raping his father or maternal incest.[102][103] However, some believe thatCanaan was the perpetrator of the crime, based on the surrounding verses.[104]
According to theTable of Nations, Canaan was also the ancestor of other nations, which were collectively considered to be Canaanite:
Other passages in the Bible offer different lists of the exact names of the Canaanite tribes. For example,Genesis 15:19–21 lists theKenites,Kenizzites,Kadmonites,Hittites,Perizzites,Rephaim,Amorites,Canaanites,Girgashites, andJebusites. In contrast,Exodus 3:8 only lists the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. How those other Biblical lists of Canaanite tribes agree with the genealogical listing ofCanaan's sons has been subject to much discussion. It has further been argued that the Biblical term Canaanite is actuallysynecdoche, referring to both the broader Canaanite nation and to a specific Canaanite tribe within that nation.[105]
Ann E. Killebrew states that the biblical ethnogenesis of Canaan is problematic, because there is archaeological and linguistic evidence that suggests that the ancient Israelites were largely Canaanites themselves.[101] In particular, they were a subset of Canaanite culture.[5][6] Alternatively, other scholars have suggested that the Israelites originated from theShasu and other seminomadic peoples from the desert regions south of theLevant, only later settling in the highlands of Canaan.[106][107][108] It has been also suggested that the Hamitic origin myth could be a reference to Canaan's colonization by the Egyptians in the Late Bronze Age, who were Hamites according to the Hebrew Bible.[69]: 45
Volkmar Fritz argues that there are also dissimilarities in the material culture of the early Israelites and Canaanites, suggesting that thenew settlers were unrelated to the former inhabitants of the Canaanite cities. While Fritz agrees that there are some similarities between the two cultures, he argues that this resulted from close contact between them over a long period. In his view, cultural similarities developed when nomadic Israelites entered the land and gradually formed close economic relationships with Canaanites. The Israelites eventually became self-sufficient in the highlands but retained aspects of the shared Canaanite material culture.[109]
Biblical scholar David Frankel argues that a narrative in theBooks of Chronicles tenuously indicates the historical reality of Israel's ethnogenesis. In his view, the text makes reference to an established Israelite presence in Canaan before Joshua's conquest, which primarily consisted ofEphraimites.[110]
John N. Oswalt observes that "Canaan consists of the land west of theJordan and is distinguished from the area east of the Jordan." Oswalt then goes on to say that in Scripture, Canaan "takes on a theological character" as "the land which is God's gift" and "the place of abundance".[115]
Whilst the inhabitants of Canaan are called Canaanites, they are also calledAmorites, similar to the citizens of the multi-ethnic Soviet Union being called Russian, andHethites/Hittites.[116]Abraham, the ancestor of the Israelites, was most likely an Amorite-Aramean, according to some early theories.[117]
In 738 BC, theNeo-Assyrian empire conquered the Kingdom of Israel. In 586 BC, the Kingdom of Judah was annexed into theNeo-Babylonian Empire. The city ofJerusalem fell aftera siege which lasted either eighteen or thirty months.[123] By 586 BC, much of Judah was devastated, and the former kingdom suffered a steep decline of both economy and population.[124]
The name "Canaanites" is attested as theendonym of the people later known to theAncient Greeks fromc. 500 BC as Phoenicians,[7] and following the emigration of Canaanite-speakers toCarthage (founded in the 9th century BC), was also used as a self-designation by thePunics (chanani) of North Africa duringLate Antiquity.
TheSeptuagint (3rd and 2nd century BC) mostly renders Canaan as Χαναάν (Khanaan), but on two occasions as "Phoenicia" (Exod 16:35 andJosh 5:12).[129]
Legacy
"Canaan" is used as a synonym of thePromised Land; for instance, it is used in this sense in the hymn "Canaan's Happy Shore", with thelines: "Oh, brothers, will you meet me, (3x)/On Canaan's happy shore," a hymn set to the tune later used inThe Battle Hymn of the Republic.[130]
In the 1930s and 1940s, someRevisionist Zionist intellectuals inMandatory Palestine founded the ideology ofCanaanism, which sought to create a unique Hebrew identity, rooted in ancient Canaanite culture, rather than a Jewish one.[131]
Israeli Prime MinisterDavid Ben-Gurion observed the contradictions between the secular and biblical records of Jewish indigeneity to Canaan, which was nonetheless affirmed in theDeclaration of Independence. Whilst he used secular arguments to justify Jewish indigeneity, he argued that the biblical narrative of Abraham migrating to Canaan was a "reunion with indigenous Hebrews who shared his theological belief". He also argued that not all Hebrews joinedJacob's family when they migrated to Egypt and later, birthed the generation of the Hebrews that endured theExodus.[132] Some professors find this view tenable, based on1 Chronicles 7:20–24, which preserved heterodox traditions of Jewish indigeneity.[110][132]
^The independent Canaanite city-states of the early Bronze Age (3000–2200 BC) were situated mostly in plains or coastal regions, surrounded by defensive walls built of mud brick and guarded by watchtowers. Most of the cities were surrounded by agricultural hamlets, which supplied their food needs (Shahin 2005, p. 4).
^abThe current scholarly edition of theGreek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : Dt. Bibelges., 2006ISBN978-3-438-05119-6. However, in modern Greek, the accentuation isXαναάν, while thecurrent (28th) scholarly edition of the New Testament hasXανάαν.
^abcdefgTubb, Johnathan N. (1998).Canaanites. British Museum People of the Past, vol. 2. University of Oklahoma Press.ISBN9780806131085. Retrieved9 October 2018.
^abDrews 1998, pp. 48–49: "The name 'Canaan' did not entirely drop out of usage in the Iron Age. Throughout the area that we—with the Greek speakers—prefer to call 'Phoenicia', the inhabitants in the first millennium BC called themselves 'Canaanites'. For the area south of Mt. Carmel, however, after the Bronze Age ended references to 'Canaan' as a present phenomenon dwindle almost to nothing (the Hebrew Bible of course makes frequent mention of 'Canaan' and 'Canaanites', but regularly as a land that had become something else, and as a people who had been annihilated)."
^Shmuel Ahituv (1984).Canaanite Toponyms in Ancient Egyptian Documents. The Magnes Press, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. pp. 83–84.
^Asheri, David; Lloyd, Alan; Corcella, Aldo (2007).A Commentary on Herodotus, Books 1–4. Oxford University Press. p. 75.ISBN978-0198149569.
^Katell Berthelot (2014). "Where May Canaanites Be Found? Canaanites, Phoenicians and Others in Jewish Texts from the Hellenistic and Roman Period". In K. Berthelot, J. David and M. Hirshman (ed.).The Gift of the Land and the Fate of the Canaanites. Oxford University Press.
^Drews 1998, pp. 47–49:"From the Egyptian texts it appears that the whole of Egypt's province in the Levant was called 'Canaan', and it would perhaps not be incorrect to understand the term as the name of that province...It may be that the term began as a Northwest Semitic common noun, 'the subdued, the subjugated', and that it then evolved into the proper name of the Asiaticland that had fallen under Egypt's dominion (just as the first Roman province in Gaul eventually became Provence)"
^Drews 1998, p. 48: "Until E.A. Speiser proposed that the name 'Canaan' was derived from the (unattested) word kinahhu, which Speiser supposed must have been an Akkadian term for reddish-blue or purple, Semiticists regularly explained 'Canaan' (Hebrew këna'an; elsewhere in Northwest Semitic kn'n) as related to the Aramaic verb kn': 'to bend down, be low'. That etymology is perhaps correct after all. Speiser's alternative explanation has been generally abandoned, as has the proposal that 'Canaan' meant 'the land of merchants'."
^Pardee, Dennis (10 April 2008)."Ugaritic". In Woodard, Roger D. (ed.).The Ancient Languages of Syria-Palestine and Arabia. Cambridge University Press. p. 5.ISBN978-1-139-46934-0.Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved5 May 2013.
^Richard, Suzanne (1987). "Archaeological Sources for the History of Palestine: The Early Bronze Age: The Rise and Collapse of Urbanism".The Biblical Archaeologist.50 (1):22–43.doi:10.2307/3210081.JSTOR3210081.S2CID135293163.
^Lily Agranat-Tamir; et al. (2020). "The Genomic History of the Bronze Age Southern Levant". Vol. 181, no. 5. Cell. pp. 1146–1157.doi:10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.024.
^Lemche 1991, pp. 27–28: "However, all but one of the references belong to the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, the one exception being the mention of some Canaanites in a document from Marl from the 18th century BC. In this document, we find a reference to LUhabbatum u LUKi-na-ah-num. The wording of this passage creates some problems as to the identity of these 'Canaanites', because of the parallelism between LUKh-na-ah-num and LUhabbatum, which is unexpected. The Akkadian word habbatum, the meaning of which is actually 'brigands', is sometimes used to translate theSumerian expression SA.GAZ, which is normally thought to be a logogram for habiru, 'Hebrews'. Thus there is some reason to question the identity of the 'Canaanites' who appear in this text from Marl We may ask whether these people were called 'Canaanites' because they were ethnically of another stock than the ordinary population of Mari, or whether it was because they came from a specific geographical area, the land of Canaan. However, because of the parallelism in this text between LUhabbatum and LUKi-na-ah-num, we cannot exclude the possibility that the expression 'Canaanites' was used here with a sociological meaning. It could be that the word 'Canaanites' was in this case understood as a sociological designation of some sort which shared at least some connotations with the sociological term habiru. Should this be the case, the Canaanites of Marl may well have been refugees or outlaws rather than ordinary foreigners from a certain country (from Canaan). Worth considering is also Manfred Weippert's interpretation of the passage LUhabbatum u LUKi-na-ah-num—literally 'Canaanites and brigands'—as 'Canaanite brigands', which may welt mean 'highwaymen of foreign origin', whether or not they were actually Canaanites coming from Phoenicia."
^Weippert, Manfred (1928)."Kanaan".Reallexikon der Assyriologie. Vol. 5. W. de Gruyter. p. 352.ISBN9783110071924.Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved9 October 2018.
^Drews 1998, p. 46: "An eighteenth-century letter from Mari may refer to Canaan, but the first certain cuneiform reference appears on a statue base ofIdrimi, king ofAlalakhc. 1500 BC."
^Kamrin, Janice (2009). "The Aamu of Shu in the Tomb of Khnumhotep II at Beni Hassan".Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections.1 (3).S2CID199601200.
^abCohen, Getzel M. (2006).The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa. University of California Press. p. 205.ISBN978-0-520-93102-2.Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved9 October 2018.Berytos, being part of Phoenicia, was under Ptolemaic control until 200 BC. After the battle of Panion Phoenicia and southern Syria passed to the Seleucids. In the second century BC, Laodikeia issued both autonomous as well as quasi-autonomous coins. The autonomous bronze coins had a Tyche on the obverse. The reverse often had Poseidon or Astarte standing on the prow of a ship, the letters BH or [lambda alpha] and the monogram [phi], that is, the initials of Berytos/Laodikeia and Phoenicia, and, on a few coins, the Phoenician legend LL'DK' 'S BKN 'N or LL'DK' 'M BKN 'N, which has been read as "Of Laodikcia which is in Canaan" or "Of Laodikcia Mother in Canaan." The quasi-municipal coins—issued under Antiochos IV Epiphanes (175–164 BC) and continuing with Alexander I Balas (150–145 BC), Demetrios II Nikator (146–138 BC), and Alexander II Zabinas (128–123 n.c.)—contained the king's head on the obverse, and on the reverse the name of the king in Greek, the city name in Phoenician (LL'DK' 'S BKN 'N or LL'DK' 'M BKN 'N), the Greek letters [lambda alpha], and the monogram [phi]. Afterc. 123 BC, the Phoenician "Of Laodikcia which is in Canaan" / "Of Laodikcia Mother in Canaan" is no longer attested
^Epistulae ad Romanos expositio inchoate expositio, 13 (Migne,Patrologia Latina, vol.35 p.2096):'Interrogati rustici nostri quid sint, punice respondents chanani.'
^Horbury, William; Davies, W. D.; Sturdy, John, eds. (2008).The Cambridge History of Judaism. Vol. 3. Cambridge University Press. p. 210.doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521243773.ISBN9781139053662.Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved9 October 2018. "In both the Idumaean and the Ituraean alliances, and in the annexation of Samaria, the Judaeans had taken the leading role. They retained it. The whole political–military–religious league that now united the hill country of Palestine from Dan to Beersheba, whatever it called itself, was directed by, and soon came to be called by others, 'the Ioudaioi'"
^Lehmann, Clayton Miles (Summer 1998)."Palestine: History".The On-line Encyclopedia of the Roman Provinces. University of South Dakota. Archived fromthe original on 11 August 2009. Retrieved9 October 2018.
^Sharon, 1998, p. 4. According toMoshe Sharon, "Eager to obliterate the name of the rebelliousJudaea", the Roman authorities (General Hadrian) renamed itPalaestina orSyria Palaestina.
^Drews 1998, p. 49a:"In the Papyrus Harris, from the middle of the twelfth century, the late Ramesses III claims to have built for Amon a temple in 'the Canaan' of Djahi. More than three centuries later comes the next—and very last—Egyptian reference to 'Canaan' or 'the Canaan': a basalt statuette, usually assigned to the Twenty-Second Dynasty, is labeled, 'Envoy of the Canaan and of Palestine, Pa-di-Eset, the son of Apy'."
^Drews 1998, p. 49b:"Although New Assyrian inscriptions frequently refer to the Levant, they make no mention of 'Canaan'. Nor do Persian and Greek sources refer to it."
^Bernard Lewis,The Arabs in History, 6th ed., London 2002, p. 17
^Maria E. Aubet,The Phoenicians and the West, Cambridge 1987, p. 9
^Jonathan Tubb,The Canaanites, London 1998, pp. 13–16
^Van Seters, John (1987).Abraham in Myth and Tradition. Yale University Press.ISBN9781626549104.
^Hajjej et al. 2018. Quote:"Using genetic distances, correspondence analysis and NJ trees, we showed earlier [61, 62] and in this study that Palestinians, Syrians, Lebanese and Jordanians are closely related to each other."
^Rendsburg, Gary A. (2020)."Israelite Origins". In Averbeck, Richard E.; Younger (Jr.), K. Lawson (eds.)."An Excellent Fortress for His Armies, a Refuge for the People": Egyptological, Archaeological, and Biblical Studies in Honor of James K. Hoffmeier. Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 327–339.ISBN978-1-57506-994-4.
^Faust, Avraham (2023)."The Birth of Israel". In Hoyland, Robert G.; Williamson, H. G. M. (eds.).The Oxford History of the Holy Land. Oxford University Press. pp. 22–25.ISBN978-0-19-288686-6.
^Fritz, Volkmar (2011).The Emergence of Israel in the Twelfth and Eleventh Centuries B.C.E. Society of Biblical Literature. pp. 135–38.ISBN9781589832626.
^Munk, Salomon (1845).Palestine: Description géographique, historique et archéologique (in French). F. Didot. pp. 2–3.Sous le nom dePalestine, nous comprenons le petit pays habité autrefois par les Israélites, et qui aujourd'hui fait partie des pachalics d'Acre et de Damas. Il s'étendait entre le 31 et 33° degré latitude N. et entre le 32 et 35° degré longitude E., sur une superficie d'environ 1300 lieues carrées. Quelques écrivains jaloux de donner au pays des Hébreux une certaine importance politique, ont exagéré l'étendue de la Palestine; mais nous avons pour nous une autorité que l'on ne saurait récuser. Saint Jérôme, qui avait longtemps voyagé dans cette contrée, dit dans sa lettre à Dardanus (ep. 129) que de la limite du nord jusqu'à celle du midi il n'y avait qu'une distance de 160 milles romains, ce qui fait environ 55 lieues. Il rend cet hommage à la vérité bien qu'il craigne, comme il le dit lui-même de livrer par laterre promise aux sarcasmes païens. (Pudet dicere latitudinem terrae repromissionis, ne ethnicis occasionem blasphemandi dedisse uideamur)
^Oswalt, John N. (1980)."כנען". In Harris, R. Laird; Archer, Gleason L.; Waltke, Bruce K. (eds.).Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody. pp. 445–446.ISBN9780802486318.
^The Making of the Old Testament Canon. by Lou H. Silberman, The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary on the Bible. Abingdon Press – Nashville 1971–1991, p1209
^Schweid, Eliezer (1985).The Land of Israel: National Home Or Land of Destiny. Translated by Greniman, Deborah. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. pp. 16–17.ISBN978-0-8386-3234-5.... let us begin by examining the kinds of assertions about the land of Israel that we encounter in persuing [sic] the books of the Bible. ... A third kind of assertion deals with the history of the Land of Israel. Before its settlement by the Israelite tribes, it is called The Land of Canaan
^Hellweg, Paul (1993). "kritarchy".The Wordsworth Book of Intriguing Words. Wordsworth reference. Wordsworth. p. 71.ISBN9781853263125.
^"1 Kings 12 NIV".Archived from the original on 8 February 2024. Retrieved8 February 2024 – via Bible Gateway.
^Malamat, Abraham (1968). "The Last Kings of Judah and the Fall of Jerusalem: An Historical—Chronological Study".Israel Exploration Journal.18 (3):137–156.JSTOR27925138.The discrepancy between the length of the siege according to the regnal years of Zedekiah (years 9-11), on the one hand, and its length according to Jehoiachin's exile (years 9–12), on the other, can be cancelled out only by supposing the former to have been reckoned on a Tishri basis, and the latter on a Nisan basis. The difference of one year between the two is accounted for by the fact that the termination of the siege fell in the summer, between Nisan and Tishri, already in the 12th year according to the reckoning in Ezekiel, but still in Zedekiah's 11th year which was to end only in Tishri.
Ember, Melvin;Peregrine, Peter Neal, eds. (2002). "Encyclopedia of Prehistory: Volume 8: South and Southwest Asia".Encyclopedia of Prehistory. Vol. 8: South and Southwest Asia. New York; London: Kluwer Academic/Plenum. p. 103.ISBN0-306-46262-1.
Goldenberg, David M. (2005)."What did Ham do to Noah?". In Stemberger, Günter; Perani, Mauro (eds.).The Words of a Wise Man's Mouth Are Gracious. Walter de Gruyter.ISBN9783110188493.
Canaan & Ancient Israel, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Explores their identities (land-time, daily life, economy & religion) in pre-historical times through the material remains that they have left behind.
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