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136-406: The archaeological site of Tel Gezer rises to an elevation of 229 metres (751 ft) above sea-level, and affords a commanding prospect of the plains to the west, north and east. Gezer became a major fortified Canaanite city-state in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. It was later destroyed by fire and rebuilt. It is first mentioned in several ancient Egyptian inscriptions. Its importance

272-476: A BASOR 130 paper. This development would also account for the mostly unfinished state of decorations of Shoshenq's building projects at the Great Temple of Karnak where only scenes of the king's Palestinian military campaign are fully carved. Building materials would first have had to be extracted and architectural planning performed for his great monumental projects here. Such activities usually took up to

408-584: A GM 205 (2005) paper observes that "there are only a bare handful of inscribed blocks from Tanis that might name the king (i.e. Shoshenq I) and none of these come from an in situ building complex contemporary with his reign." Hence, it is more probable that Shoshenq was buried in another city in the Egyptian Delta. Sagrillo offers a specific location for Shoshenq's burial—the Ptah temple enclosure of Memphis —and notes that this king built: fairly widely in

544-575: A "Maccabean citadel" from the 2nd century BCE, because on one of the stones a curse against Simon was found engraved in Greek (Macalister 1912, vol. I: 209–23; 236–56). After the discovery of identical gates from the time of King Solomon in Megiddo and Hazor , and following what is told in the Bible about the construction projects of this king in the three cities, Yigael Yadin proved in 1957 that in fact

680-654: A campaign to "Mentu", "Retjenu" and "Sekmem" ( Shechem ) is the Sebek-khu Stele , dated to the reign of Senusret III ( c.  1862 BC). A letter from Mut-bisir to Shamshi-Adad I ( c.  1809–1776 BC) of the Old 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

816-401: A central wall and an inner wall. In what remained of the outer rampart, it reached a height of about 5 metres, and was built of compacted alternating layers of chalk and earth covered with plaster. The inner wall measured 4 metres in width and was made of large stone blocks, reinforced with towers. The city gate stood near the southwest corner of the wall, was flanked by two towers which protected

952-427: A construction of hewn-stone in the style typical of the days of Solomon is evident. The Solomon Gate has since been reinterpreted by some as dating from several centuries later, by virtue of the fact that the gate was rebuilt, although recent radiocarbon tests support an early date for the strata at the site. The Neo-Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III put Gezer under siege between the years 734 and 732 BCE. The city

1088-658: A flared crescent-shaped blade which is close in form to the Aegean -influenced double axe but is quite distinct from the Canaanite double-headed axe, which has a different shape that resembles an X. Thus, Kitchen concludes Siamun's foes were the Philistines , who were descendants of the Aegean-based Sea Peoples and that Siamun was commemorating his recent victory over them at Gezer by depicting himself in

1224-515: A formal battle scene relief at the temple in Tanis. Alternatively, Paul S. Ash had put forward a detailed argument that Siamun's relief portrays a fictitious battle. He points out that in Egyptian reliefs Philistines are never shown holding an axe, and that there is no archaeological evidence for Philistines using axes. He also argues that there is nothing in the relief to connect it with Philistia or

1360-476: A large building with many rooms and courtyards was situated on the acropolis. Grinding stones and grains of wheat found among the sherds indicate that it was a granary. Macalister describes the Iron Age construction of an olive press with collecting vats. Local and Philistine vessels attest to a mixed Canaanite/Philistine population. The 10th century BCE seems to have been a period of notable urban development for

1496-607: A report of campaigns in Nubia and Israel, with a detailed list of conquests in Israel. This is the first military action outside Egypt formally commemorated for several centuries. This report of conquests is the only surviving late Iron Age text concerning Canaan . Libyan concepts of rule allowed for the parallel existence of leaders who were related by marriage and blood. Shoshenq and his immediate successors used that practice to consolidate their grasp on all of Egypt. Shoshenq terminated

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1632-452: A schoolboy's memory exercises, or a text designated for organising the collection of taxes from farmers. Another possibility is that the text was a popular folk song, or child's song, listing the months of the year according to the agricultural seasons. It has proved to be of value by informing modern researchers of ancient Middle Eastern script and language, as well as the agricultural seasons. Thirteen boundary stones have been identified near

1768-519: 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. Although Habiru SA-GAZ (a Sumerian ideogram glossed as "brigand" in Akkadian ), and sometimes Habiri (an Akkadian word) had been reported in Mesopotamia from

1904-696: A team from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary ("NOBTS"), in partnership with the Israeli Parks Authority and the Israeli Antiquities Authority, launched an effort to clear a massive water tunnel, discovered first by Macalister over a hundred years earlier. Macalister never fully excavated the tunnel because a strong storm blew debris back into the tunnel and he considered it too expensive and time consuming to re-excavate

2040-644: A year to complete before work was even begun. This would imply that Shoshenq I likely lived for a period in excess of one year after his 925 BC campaign. On the other hand, if the Karnak inscription was concurrent with Shoshenq's campaign into Canaan, the fact that it was left unfinished would suggest this campaign occurred in the last year of Shoshenq's reign. This possibility would also permit his 945 BC accession date to be slightly lowered to 943 BC. A 2005 study by Rolf Krauss of ancient Egyptian chronology suggests that Shoshenq I came to power in 943 BC rather than 945 BC as

2176-555: Is Ashkelon ; seized upon is Gezer; Yanoam is made as that which does not exist; Israel is laid waste, his seed is not". In biblical times, Gezer, which lay on the outskirts of Jewish land, was incorporated at a later time. The biblical story of the Israelite conquest of Canaan under their leader Joshua mentions a certain "king of Gezer" ( Joshua 10:33 ) who had gone to help his countrymen in Lachish , where he met his death. Gezer

2312-415: Is Karmei Yosef . Verification of the identification of this site with biblical Gezer comes from a dozen bilingual inscriptions in either Hebrew or Aramaic , and Greek, found engraved on rocks several hundred meters from the tell . These inscriptions from the 1st century BCE read "boundary of Gezer" and "of Alkios" (probably the governor of Gezer at the time). The discovery of these boundary stones near

2448-606: Is a canopic chest of unknown provenance that was donated to the Egyptian Museum of Berlin (ÄMB 11000) by Julius Isaac in 1891. This may indicate his tomb was looted in antiquity, but this hypothesis is unproven. Egyptologists differ over the location of Shoshenq I's burial and speculate that he may have been buried somewhere in Tanis —perhaps in one of the anonymous royal tombs here—or in Bubastis . However, Troy Sagrillo in

2584-552: Is an Egyptian word for Ancient Libyans . His ancestors had settled in Egypt during the late New Kingdom , probably at Herakleopolis Magna , though Manetho claims Shoshenq himself came from Bubastis , a claim for which no supporting physical evidence has yet been discovered. Significantly, his uncle Osorkon the Elder had already served on the throne for at least six years in the preceding 21st Dynasty; hence, Shoshenq I's rise to power

2720-552: 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 of Tyre in Phoenicia was well known far and wide and was associated by the Romans with nobility and royalty. However, according to Robert Drews , Speiser's proposal has generally been abandoned. Retjenu (Anglicised 'Retenu')

2856-519: Is considered less credible because it was produced centuries later. Amorites at Hazor , Kadesh (Qadesh-on-the-Orontes), and elsewhere in Amurru (Syria) bordered Canaan in the north and northeast. (Ugarit may be included among these Amoritic entities.) The collapse of the Akkadian Empire in 2154 BC saw the arrival of peoples using Khirbet Kerak ware (pottery), coming originally from

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2992-482: Is conventionally assumed based on epigraphic evidence from the Great Dakhla stela, which dates to Year 5 of his reign. Krauss and David Warburton write in the 2006 book Ancient Egyptian Chronology : The chronology of early Dyn. 22 depends on dead reckoning. The sum of the highest attested regnal dates for Osorkon II, Takelot I, Osorkon I, and Shoshenq I, added to 841 BC as year 1 of Shoshenq III, yields 938 BC at

3128-476: Is conventionally identified with the Egyptian king Shishak (שׁישׁק Šîšaq , transliterated ), referred to in the Hebrew Bible at 1 Kings 11:40, 14:25 and 2 Chronicles 12:2–9. According to these passages, Jeroboam fled from Solomon and stayed with Shishaq until Solomon died, and Shishaq invaded Judah, mostly the area of Benjamin , during the fifth year of the reign of Rehoboam , taking with him most of

3264-462: Is currently unknown, the burial of one of his prominent state officials at Thebes, the Third Prophet of Amun Djedptahiufankh , was discovered intact in tomb DB320 in the 19th century. Inscriptions on Djedptahiufankh's Mummy bandages show that he died in or after Year 11 of this king. His mummy was discovered to contain various gold bracelets, amulets and precious carnelian objects, and give

3400-441: Is impossible to conclude which Egyptian monarch ruled concurrently with David and Solomon". Professor Edward Lipinski argues that Gezer, then unfortified, was destroyed late in the 10th century (and thus not contemporary with Solomon) and that the most likely Pharaoh was Shoshenq I (ruled 943–922 BCE). However, the archaeological evidence recovered at the site indicates that Gezer was previously destroyed in an earlier stratum, around

3536-639: Is listed in the Book of Joshua as one of the cities allotted to the tribe of Ephraim , as well as a Levitical city , one of ten allotted to the Levite children of Kehoth – the Kohathites ( Joshua, ch. 21 ). Eusebius (4th century CE), describing the biblical Gezer of his day, writes: Gazer [ sic ]. The lot of Ephraim, set aside for Levites. And Joshua besieged it, killing its king (Josh. 10:33) . Solomon also built here (1 Kings 9:15–16) . It

3672-669: Is now called Gazara, a village of Nikopolis ( Emmaus ), [which is a place located] 4 milestones from it in the north. The tribe of Ephraim did not expel the foreigners from it (Judges 1:29) . According to the Hebrew Bible , the only source for this particular event, the Sack of Gezer took place at the beginning of the 10th century BCE, when the city was conquered and burned by an unnamed Egyptian pharaoh , identified by some with Siamun , during his military campaign in Philistia . This anonymous Egyptian pharaoh then gave it to King Solomon as

3808-519: Is on record as sharing the same academic view. A 2010 study by Thomas Schneider argued that Shoshenq reigned from 962 to 941 BCE. Ido Koch in his 2021 book considered Schneider's chronology of Egyptian kings as a valuable integrative study. However, recent archaeomagnetic dating at Beth-Shean , one of three early sites that could have been destroyed by Shoshenq I, shows 68.2% probability the destruction occurred between 935 and 900 BC, and 95.4% probability it occurred between 940 and 879 BC. Shoshenq I

3944-728: Is only possible that the palace in Area AA might have been destroyed though this is not certain. 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. 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 , and Tell Abu Hawam among others. Despite many theories which claim that trade relations broke down after 1200 BC in

4080-547: Is the first among them, thanks to Clermont-Ganneau 's discovery of three such inscribed stones in 1874 and of a fourth in 1881. Ten of the thirteen inscriptions are bilingual, including the first three ones, containing two distinct parts, one in Greek and one either Hebrew or Aramaic, and written in what is known as square Hebrew characters . Clermont-Ganneau's reading of the Hebrew/Aramaic part as "the boundary of Gezer"

4216-587: Is the following. After the Iron Age the periods are named after the various empires that ruled the region: Assyrian , Babylonian , Persian , Hellenistic (related to Greece ) and Roman . Canaanite culture developed in situ from multiple waves of migration merging with the earlier Circum-Arabian Nomadic Pastoral Complex , which in turn developed from a fusion of their ancestral Natufian and Harifian cultures with Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) farming cultures, practicing animal domestication , during

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4352-573: The Jewish War (1.2.2.), cites the Book of Maccabees as his primary source for these events and retains the Greek form of the name Gazara ( Greek : Γάζαρά ), meaning, Gezer. Elsewhere, Josephus ( Jewish War 1.170) wrote that a certain " Gadara " ( Greek : Γαδάροις ) was one of the five synedria , or regional administrative capitals of the Hasmonean realm, established by Aulus Gabinius ,

4488-527: The 1948 Arab–Israeli War . Gezer is first mentioned as part of a list of cities taken by Thutmose III on the walls of the Precinct of Amun-Re , at Karnak . The Amarna letters mention kings of Gezer swearing loyalty to the Egyptian pharaoh. Gezer is mentioned in the victory stele of Merneptah , dating from the end of the 13th century BCE, which states: "Plundered is the Canaan with every evil; carried off

4624-873: The 6200 BC climatic crisis which led to the Neolithic Revolution/First Agricultural Revolution in the Levant . The majority of Canaan is covered by the Eastern Mediterranean conifer–sclerophyllous–broadleaf forests ecoregion. The first wave of migration, called Ghassulian culture, entered Canaan circa 4500 BC. This is the start of the Chalcolithic in Canaan. From their unknown homeland, they brought an already complete craft tradition of metalwork. They were expert coppersmiths; in fact, their work

4760-766: The Amarna letters (14th century BC) and several other ancient Egyptian texts. In Greek, it first occurs in the writings of Hecataeus (c. 550–476 BC) as " Khna " ( Χνᾶ ). It is attested in Phoenician on coins from Berytus dated to the 2nd century BC. The etymology is uncertain. An early explanation derives the term from the Semitic root knʿ , "to be low, humble, subjugated". Some scholars have suggested that this implies an original meaning of "lowlands", in contrast with Aram , which would then mean "highlands", whereas others have suggested it meant "the subjugated" as

4896-454: The Bible as a geography associated with the " Promised Land ". The demonym "Canaanites" serves as an ethnic catch-all term covering various indigenous populations—both settled and nomadic-pastoral groups—throughout the regions of the southern Levant . It is by far the most frequently used ethnic term in the Bible. Biblical scholar Mark Smith , citing archaeological findings, suggests "that

5032-662: The Bubastite Portal at Karnak . The conventional dates for his reign, as established by Kenneth Kitchen , are 945–924 BC but his time-line has recently been revised upwards by a few years to 943–922 BC, since he may well have lived for up to two to three years after his successful campaign in Israel and Judah , conventionally dated to 925 BC. As Edward Wente of the University of Chicago noted (1976) on page 276 of his JNES 35 Book Review of Kitchen's study of

5168-649: The Egyptian Empire and Hittite Empire. Later still, the Neo-Assyrian Empire assimilated the region. According to the Bible, the migrant ancient Semitic-speaking peoples who appear to have settled in the region included (among others) the Amorites , who had earlier controlled Babylonia. The Hebrew Bible mentions the Amorites in the Table of Peoples ( Book of Genesis 10:16–18a). Evidently,

5304-671: The First 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. The semi-fictional Story of Sinuhe describes an Egyptian officer, Sinuhe, conducting military activities in the area of "Upper Retjenu " and " Fenekhu " during the reign of Senusret I ( c.  1950 BC). The earliest bona fide Egyptian report of

5440-566: The Hasmonean kingdom . Gezer became known as Gazara in the Hellenistic period and became an important city for the Hasmonean rulers. Notwithstanding Simon's capture of Gezer in circa 142 BCE, Josephus alludes to the fact that Gezer returned under Seleucid control in the days of Antiochus VII Sidetes and during the high-priesthood of Simon's son, John Hyrcanus . Josephus, in both his Antiquities (12.7.4.; 13.6.7.; 13.9.2.) and in

5576-517: The Hyksos , they became the dominant power. In Egyptian inscriptions, Amar and Amurru ( Amorites ) are applied strictly to the more northerly mountain region east of Phoenicia, extending to the Orontes . Archaeological excavations of a number of sites, later identified as Canaanite, show that prosperity of the region reached its apogee during this Middle Bronze Age period, under the leadership of

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5712-482: The Israelite culture largely overlapped with and derived from Canaanite culture ... In short, Israelite culture was largely Canaanite in nature." The name "Canaanites" is attested, many centuries later, as the endonym of the people later known to the Ancient Greeks from c.  500 BC as Phoenicians , and after the emigration of Phoenicians and Canaanite-speakers to Carthage (founded in

5848-551: The Late Bronze collapse . The death of Ramesses II caused cities in Canaan to rebel to become independent. Merneptah of Egypt, who succeeded Ramesses II, had to regain control and boasted about his capture of Gezer . A massive fiery destruction seems to support this in excavations done by Prof. Steven Ortiz. Toward the end of the Bronze Age, the city declined and its population diminished. In 12th and 11th centuries BCE,

5984-511: The Levant . Gezer was located on the northern fringe of the Shephelah region, approximately 30 km (19 mi) northwest of Jerusalem. It was strategically situated at the junction of the Via Maris , the international coastal highway, and the highway connecting it with Jerusalem through the valley of Ayalon, or Ajalon . The nearest modern-Israeli settlement to the archaeological site

6120-551: The Negev , and the Kingdom of Israel , among various topographical lists inscribed on the walls of temples of Amun at al-Hibah and Karnak . The fragment of a stela bearing his cartouche from Megiddo has been interpreted as a monument Shoshenq erected there to commemorate his victory. Some of these conquered cities include ancient Israelite fortresses such as Megiddo, Taanach and Shechem. There are other problems with Shoshenq being

6256-532: The Third Intermediate Period , there is "no certainty" that Shoshenq's 925 BC campaign terminated just prior to this king's death a year later in 924 BC. Egyptologist Morris Bierbrier also dated Shoshenq I's accession "between 945–940 BC" in his 1975 book concerning the genealogies of Egyptian officials, who served during the late New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period. Bierbrier based his opinion on Biblical evidence collated by W. Albright in

6392-599: The Twenty-fifth Dynasty the Egyptians made a failed attempt to regain a foothold in the region but were vanquished by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, leading to an Assyrian conquest of Egypt . Shoshenq I Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq I ( Egyptian ššnq ; reigned c.  943–922 BC )—also known as Shashank or Sheshonk or Sheshonq I —was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and

6528-708: The Zagros Mountains (in modern Iran ) east of the Tigris . In addition, DNA analysis revealed that between 2500–1000 BC, populations from the Chalcolithic Zagros and Bronze Age Caucasus migrated to the Southern Levant. The first cities in the southern Levant arose during this period. The major sites were 'En Esur and Meggido . These "proto-Canaanites" were in regular contact with the other peoples to their south such as Egypt , and to

6664-664: The "Leader of the Army" at Herakleopolis in Middle Egypt. He pursued an aggressive foreign policy in the adjacent territories of the Middle East, towards the end of his reign. This is attested, in part, by the discovery of a statue base bearing his name from the Lebanese city of Byblos , part of a monumental stela from Megiddo bearing his name, and a list of cities in the region comprising Syria , Philistia , Phoenicia ,

6800-474: The 14th century BCE, a palace was constructed on the high western part of the tell, the city's acropolis . Archaeologists also discovered remains of what might have been the Egyptian governor's residence from the same period in the northern part of the tell. In the late reign of Ramesses II , climate became drier and colder causing turmoil in the Mediterranean from around 1250 BCE, eventually leading to

6936-462: The 20-year period covered by the Amarna letters. Discoveries of several pottery vessels, a cache of cylinder seals and a large scarab with the cartouche of Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III attest to the existence of a city at Gezer's location in the 14th century BCE—one that was apparently destroyed in the next century—and suggest that the city was inhabited by Canaanites with strong ties to Egypt. In

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7072-460: The 2nd millennium BCE) a new city wall, 4 m (13 ft) thick, was erected outside the earlier one. It is a very rare example of Late Bronze Age fortifications in the country, witness for the elevated political status of Gezer in southern Canaan during Egyptian rule. The Canaanite city was destroyed in a fire, presumably in the wake of a campaign by the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III (ruled 1479–1425 BCE). The oldest known historical reference to

7208-400: The 2nd millennium BCE), Gezer became a major city, well fortified and containing a large cultic site. It may have grown due to MBIIA-sites like Aphek becoming weaker. On the north side of the city, the fortifications consisted of at least two lines of defense surrounding the tell. Some excavators have noted as many as three defensive walls built in different periods: an outer earthen rampart,

7344-737: The 9th century BC), was also used as a self-designation by the Punics (as "Chanani" ) of North Africa during Late Antiquity . The English term "Canaan" (pronounced / ˈ k eɪ n ən / since c.  1500 , due to the Great Vowel Shift ) comes from the Hebrew כנען ( Kənaʿan ), via the Koine Greek Χανααν Khanaan and the Latin Canaan . It appears as Kinâḫna ( Akkadian : 𒆳𒆠𒈾𒄴𒈾 , ki-na-aḫ-na ) in

7480-463: The Amarna letters of Pharaoh Akhenaten c.  1350 BC. In these letters, some of which were sent by governors and princes of Canaan to their Egyptian overlord Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) in the 14th century BC, are found, beside Amar and Amurru ( Amorites ), the two forms Kinahhi and Kinahni , corresponding to Kena and Kena'an respectively, and including Syria in its widest extent , as Eduard Meyer has shown. The letters are written in

7616-506: The Amorites played a significant role in the early history of Canaan. In Book of Genesis 14:7 f ., Book of Joshua 10:5 f ., Book of Deuteronomy 1:19 f ., 27, 44, we find them located in the southern mountain country, while verses such as Book of Numbers 21:13, Book of Joshua 9:10, 24:8, 12, etc., tell of two great Amorite kings residing at Heshbon and Ashteroth , 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

7752-485: The Assyrians during this period. Under Thutmose III (1479–1426 BC) and Amenhotep 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

7888-426: The Egyptian crown to the Hittite Empire under Suppiluliuma I (reigned c. 1344–1322 BC). Egyptian power in Canaan thus suffered a major setback when the Hittites (or Hat.ti) 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

8024-428: The Ghassulians belonged to the West Asian haplogroup T-M184 . The end of the Chalcolithic period saw the rise of the urban settlement of 'En Esur on the southern Mediterranean coast. By the Early Bronze Age other sites had developed, such as Ebla (where an East Semitic language , Eblaite , was spoken), which by c.  2300 BC was incorporated into the Mesopotamia -based Akkadian Empire of Sargon

8160-405: The Great and Naram-Sin of Akkad (biblical Accad). Sumerian references to the Mar.tu ("tent dwellers", later Amurru , i.e. Amorite ) country west of the Euphrates River date from even earlier than Sargon, at least to the reign of the Sumerian king, Enshakushanna of Uruk , and one tablet credits the early Sumerian king Lugal-Anne-Mundu withholding sway in the region, although this tablet

8296-442: The Habiri. Apparently this restless warrior found his death at the siege of Gina . 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, Behold, I and my warriors and my chariots, together with my brethren and my SA-GAZ , and my Suti ?9 are at

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8432-406: The Hasmonean citadel was no other than a gate from the days of Solomon. In the excavations of the 1960s, the entire gate was revealed. It is identical in plan and size to the other two mentioned and is connected by a casemate wall . On both sides of the passageway within the gate are four pairs of pillars and three pairs of cell-like chambers. In front of the entranceway stood two towers. At the gate,

8568-702: The Hebrew script can be connected to what is known from the First Book of Maccabees about Simon replacing the gentile inhabitants with Jewish ones ( 1 Macc. 13:47–48 ) The later date can be supported by a scenario in which Herod, after acquiring the lands of the vanquished Hasmoneans, gave them to (H)alkios, Archelaos and Alexas, all three names mentioned by Josephus for members of a powerful land-owning family from Herod's court. Canaan Canaan ( / ˈ k eɪ n ən / ; Phoenician : 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – KNʿN ; Hebrew : כְּנַעַן – Kənáʿan , in pausa כְּנָעַן ‎ – Kənāʿan ; Biblical Greek : Χαναάν – Khanaán ; Arabic : كَنْعَانُ – Kan'ān )

8704-437: The Hellenistic and early Roman periods include two bath houses discovered in situ , as well as a number of ritual baths ( mikveh ) and rock tombs. The site continued to be occupied after the destruction of the Second Temple , but was gradually abandoned during the late Roman-early Byzantine period. In 1177, the plains around Gezer were the site of the Battle of Montgisard , in which the Crusaders under Baldwin IV defeated

8840-403: The Hittites at Kadesh 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 successor Merneptah , the Merneptah Stele was issued which claimed to have destroyed various sites in

8976-446: 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. The Amarna letters tell of the Habiri in northern Syria. Etakkama wrote thus to the Pharaoh: Behold, Namyawaza has surrendered all

9112-486: The Hurrian city of Nuzi in the early 20th century appear to use the term "Kinaḫnu" as a synonym for red or purple dye , laboriously produced by the Kassite rulers of Babylon from murex 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 in Exodus . The dyes may have been named after their place of origin. The name 'Phoenicia'

9248-411: The Late Bronze Age state of Ugarit (at Ras Shamra in Syria ) is considered quintessentially Canaanite, even though its Ugaritic language does not belong to the Canaanite language group proper. A disputed reference to a "Lord of ga-na-na " in the Semitic Ebla tablets (dated 2350 BC) from the archive of Tell Mardikh has been interpreted by some scholars to mention the deity Dagon by

9384-469: The Roman proconsul of Syria , in 57 BCE. The name has been edited to " Gazara " in the Loeb edition ( Jewish War 1.170). However, in this case, other researchers prefer one of two candidates from Transjordan , Gadara in Perea , or Gadara of the Decapolis (see more at Perea and Gadara (disambiguation) ). Gezer was sparsely populated during Roman times and later times, as other regional population centers took its place. Archaeological finds attesting to

9520-485: The Temple of Amun at Tanis believed to be related to the sack of Gezer depicts an Egyptian pharaoh smiting his enemies with a mace . According to the Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen, this pharaoh is Siamun. The pharaoh appears here "in typical pose brandishing a mace to strike down prisoners(?) now lost at the right except for two arms and hands, one of which grasps a remarkable double-bladed axe by its socket." The writer observes that this double-bladed axe or ' halberd ' has

9656-400: The accession of Shoshenq I between December 944 and November 943 BC—or 943 BC for the most part. However, Dr. Anthony Leahy has suggested that "the identification of the wrš -festival of Seth as [a] lunar [festival] is hypothetical, and [thus] its occurrence on the first day of a lunar month an assumption. Neither has been proven incontrovertibly." Thus far, however, only Dr. Kenneth Kitchen

9792-471: The archaeological site makes it the first biblical city to be positively identified. Today's archaeological site spans an area of 130 dunams (32 acres), and contains 26 levels of settlement, from the Chalcolithic to the early Roman periods (3500 BCE to 100 CE). Most of the remains date from the Middle and Late Canaanite and the Israelite periods. The first settlement established at Tel Gezer dates to

9928-524: The area, undoubtedly including a pylon and forecourt at the Ptah temple (Kitchen, TIPE 1996, pp. 149–150) ...It is, therefore, not completely improbable that he (i.e., Shoshenq I) built his tomb in the region. The funerary cult surrounding his "House of Millions of Years of Shoshenq, Beloved of Amun" was functioning several generations after its establishment at the temple (Ibrahem Aly Sayed 1996, p. 14). The "House of Millions of Years of Shoshenq, Beloved of Amun"

10064-454: The biblical date for Shishak’s campaign [d]oes not fit well with current [radiocarbon]-based estimates for [Shoshenq I]." They estimate Shoshenq I's reign within the Stratum 8 destruction of Tel Gezer, which has been radiocarbon dated to the mid-10th century BCE (c. 969-940 BCE with 68.3% hpd, and 991-930 BCE with 95.4% hpd). One fragmentary but well-known surviving triumphal relief scene from

10200-656: The cities for his cavalry, and whatever Solomon desired to build... (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife; The only mention in the Bible of a pharaoh who might be Siamun (ruled 986–967 BCE) is the text from 1 Kings quoted above, and we have no other historical sources that clearly identify what really happened. As shown below, Kenneth Kitchen believes that Siamun conquered Gezer and gave it to Solomon. Others such as Paul S. Ash and Mark W. Chavalas disagree, and in 2001 Chavalas states that "it

10336-565: The cities of the king, my lord to the SA-GAZ in the land of Kadesh and in Ubi . 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 the SA-GAZ . Similarly, Zimrida , king of Sidon (named 'Siduna'), declared, "All my cities which the king has given into my hand, have come into

10472-484: The city is to be found on an inscription of conquered sites at Thutmose's temple at Karnak . A destruction layer from this event was found in all excavated areas of the tell. The Tell Amarna letters , dating from the 14th century BCE, include ten letters from the kings of Gezer swearing loyalty to the Egyptian pharaoh. The city-state of Gezer (named Gazru in Babylonian ) was ruled by at least three leaders during

10608-411: The city of Hazor , at least nominally tributary to Egypt for much of the period. In the north, the cities of Yamkhad and Qatna were hegemons of important confederacies , and it would appear that biblical Hazor was the chief city of another important coalition in the south. In the early Late Bronze Age, Canaanite confederacies centered on Megiddo and Kadesh , before being fully brought into

10744-477: The city until it became destroyed in the third quarter of that century, probably as a result of Shoshenq I 's campaign in Canaan at that time. On the southern slope about 200 meters east of the gate from the Middle Bronze Age IIB, there is what is now known as the "Solomon Gate". This area was excavated at the beginning of the 20th century by Macalister, who defined the remains discovered there as

10880-642: The disposal of the (royal) troops to go whithersoever the king, my lord, commands." Around the beginning of the New Kingdom period, Egypt exerted rule over much of the Levant. Rule remained strong during the Eighteenth Dynasty , but Egypt's rule became precarious during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties . Ramses II was able to maintain control over it in the stalemated battle against

11016-520: The dowry of his daughter . Solomon then rebuilt Gezer and fortified it. The Bible states: This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the house of the Lord and his own house, the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer, Lower Beth-horon, Baalath, Tamar in the wilderness, within the land, as well as all of Solomon’s storage cities, the cities for his chariots,

11152-512: The early Israelites of the period of the " judges ", who sought to appropriate the fertile region for themselves. However, the term was rarely used to describe the Shasu. Whether the term may also include other related ancient Semitic-speaking peoples such as the Moabites , Ammonites and Edomites is uncertain. There is little evidence that any major city or settlement in the southern Levant

11288-469: The end of the 4th millennium BCE during the Chalcolithic period, when large caves cut into the rock were used as dwellings. At the beginning of the Early Bronze Age (early 3rd millennium BCE), an unfortified settlement covered the tell. It was destroyed in the middle of the 3rd millennium BCE and subsequently abandoned for several centuries. In the Middle Bronze Age IIB (MBIIB, first half of

11424-426: The end of the Late Bronze Age. He has also demonstrated that trade with Egypt continued after 1200 BC. Archaeometallurgical studies performed by various teams have also shown that trade in tin , a non-local metal necessary to make bronze , did not stop or decrease after 1200 BC, even though the closest source of the metal were modern Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, or perhaps even Cornwall, England. Lead from Sardinia

11560-612: The excavator, as the site was later put at the disposal of the Palestine Exploration Fund. A large Canaanite (Bronze Age) water system comprising a tunnel going down to a spring, similar to those found in Jerusalem , Tel Hazor and Tel Megiddo , was first excavated by Macalister and was re-excavated as part of the 2006–2017 campaigns of the Tel Gezer Excavation and Publication Project. In 2010

11696-531: The forces of Saladin . There was a Crusader Lordship of Montgisard and apparently a castle stood there, a short distance from Ramleh . R.A. Stewart Macalister who excavated the ruin in the years 1902–1905 and 1907–1909 has noted that around the year 1869 the mound and other parts of the lands of the village of Abû Shûsheh were acquired by Messrs. Bergheim, who had been bankers in Jerusalem. Their acquisition of these lands would prove "a fortunate circumstance" for

11832-469: The fortress of Taru (Shtir?) to " Ka-n-'-na ". After the near collapse of the Battle of Kadesh , Rameses II had to campaign vigorously in Canaan to maintain Egyptian power. Egyptian forces penetrated into Moab and Ammon , where a permanent fortress garrison (called simply "Rameses") was established. Some believe the " Habiru " signified generally all the nomadic tribes known as "Hebrews", and particularly

11968-594: The founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt . Of Meshwesh ancestry, Shoshenq I was the son of Nimlot A , Great Chief of the Ma , and his wife Tentshepeh A, a daughter of a Great Chief of the Ma herself; Shoshenq was thus the nephew of Osorkon the Elder , a Meshwesh king of the 21st Dynasty . He is generally presumed to be the Shishak mentioned in the Hebrew Bible , and his exploits are carved on

12104-477: The hand of the Habiri." The king of Jerusalem , 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 called Iilkili and the sons of Labaya , who are said to have entered into a treasonable league with

12240-557: The help of a neighbouring king. The boldest of the disaffected nobles was Aziru , son of Abdi-Ashirta , who endeavoured to extend his power into the plain of Damascus . Akizzi , governor of Katna ( Qatna ?) (near Hamath ), reported this to Amenhotep III, who seems to have sought to frustrate Aziru's attempts. In the reign of the next pharaoh, Akhenaten (reigned c. 1352 to c. 1335 BC) both father and son caused infinite trouble to loyal servants of Egypt like Rib-Hadda , governor of Gubla (Gebal), by transferring their loyalty from

12376-507: The hereditary succession of the high priesthood of Amun. Instead he and his successors appointed men to the position, most often their own sons, a practice that lasted for a century. Shoshenq I was succeeded by his son Osorkon I after a reign of 21 years. According to the British Egyptologist Aidan Dodson , no trace has yet been found of the tomb of Shoshenq I. The sole funerary object linked to Shoshenq I

12512-540: The land of Canaan" is found on the Statue of Idrimi (16th century BC) from Alalakh 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: Around 1650 BC, Canaanites invaded the eastern Nile delta , where, known as

12648-712: 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 the Sea 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 including Deir al-Balah , Ascalon , Tel Mor, Tell el-Far'ah (South) , Tel Gerisa , Tell Jemmeh , Tel Masos , and Qubur el-Walaydah. Not all Egyptian sites in

12784-410: The latest for year 1 of Shoshenq I...[However] The large Dakhla stela provides a lunar date in the form of a wrš feast in year 5 of Shoshenq [I], yielding 943 BC as his year 1. The Year 5 wrš feast is recorded to have been celebrated at Dakhla oasis on IV Peret day 25 and Krauss' exploration of the astronomical data leads him to conclude that the only 'fit' within the period of 950 to 930 BC places

12920-476: The majority were Hurrian, although there were a number of Semites and even some Kassite and Luwian adventurers amongst their number. The reign of Amenhotep III , as a result, was not quite so tranquil for the Asiatic province, as Habiru/'Apiru contributed to greater political instability. It is believed that turbulent chiefs began to seek their opportunities, although as a rule they could not find them without

13056-484: The mention of Jerusalem was erased from the list over time. Others believe that Rehoboam 's tribute to Shoshenq saved the city from destruction and therefore from the Bubastite Portal's lists. Some scholars even propose that Shoshenq claimed a conquest that he did not enact and copied the list of conquered territories from an old Pharaoh's conquest list. As an addendum to his foreign policy, Shoshenq I carved

13192-496: The name Amorite as synonymous with "Canaanite". The name Amorite is, however, never used for the population on the coast. In the centuries preceding the appearance of the biblical Hebrews, parts of Canaan and southwestern Syria became tributary to the Egyptian pharaohs , 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

13328-499: The name of Egypt's province in the Levant, and evolved into the proper name in a similar fashion to Provincia Nostra (the first Roman colony north of the Alps, which became Provence ). An alternative suggestion, put forward by Ephraim Avigdor Speiser in 1936, derives the term from Hurrian Kinaḫḫu , purportedly referring to the colour purple, so that "Canaan" and " Phoenicia " would be synonyms ("Land of Purple"). Tablets found in

13464-409: The north Asia Minor ( Hurrians , Hattians , Hittites , Luwians ) and Mesopotamia ( Sumer , Akkad , Assyria ), a trend that continued through the Iron 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. Archaeologically,

13600-432: The number and size of the standing stones confer a unique character to this cultic site. Such massebot are found elsewhere in the country, but those from Gezer massebot are the most impressive examples. The area was almost completely cleared by Macalister. The remains were re-excavated in 1968. A double cave beneath the high place was shown to be predating it and not connected to it. In the Late Bronze Age (second half of

13736-439: The official and diplomatic East Semitic Akkadian language of Assyria and Babylonia , though "Canaanitish" words and idioms are also in evidence. The known references are: Text RS 20.182 from Ugarit is a copy of a letter of the king of Ugarit to Ramesses 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

13872-561: The people of Ugarit, contrary to much modern opinion, considered themselves to be non-Canaanite. 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. A Middle Assyrian letter during the reign of Shalmaneser I includes a reference to the "travel to Canaan" of an Assyrian official. Four references are known from Hattusa: Ann Killebrew has shown that cities such as Jerusalem were large and important walled settlements in

14008-401: The pool probes reached a depth of more than six feet before the end of the season and the bottom of the pool was discovered in only one probe (Eastern probe)—the one just below the bottom step of the water shaft." The debris removal and excavation continued until the summer of 2017. One of the best-known finds is the " Gezer calendar ". This is a plaque containing a text appearing to be either

14144-504: The pre-Israelite Middle Bronze IIB and the Israelite Iron Age IIC period ( c.  1800–1550 and c.  720–586 BC), but that during the intervening Late Bronze (LB) and Iron Age I and IIA/B Ages sites like Jerusalem were small and relatively insignificant and unfortified towns. Just after the Amarna period, a new problem arose which was to trouble the Egyptian control of southern Canaan (the rest of

14280-519: The region then being under Assyrian control). Pharaoh Horemhab campaigned against Shasu (Egyptian = "wanderers") living in nomadic pastoralist tribes, who had moved across the Jordan River to threaten Egyptian trade through Galilee and Jezreel . Seti I ( c.  1290 BC) is said to have conquered these Shasu, Semitic-speaking nomads living just south and east of the Dead Sea , from

14416-656: The reign of the Sumerian king, Shulgi of Ur 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 a Maryannu aristocracy of horse-drawn charioteers , associated with the Indo-Aryan rulers of the Hurrians , known as Mitanni . The Habiru seem to have been more a social class than an ethnic group. One analysis shows that

14552-577: The relief is called 'Gazru'. Stamped Rhodian amphora handles, a Tyrian lead weight of the Tanit series, and a didrachm of Ptolemy VI found in situ suggest a Hellenistic occupation from the end of the 3rd century BCE to 142 BCE. According to the book of 1 Maccabees , Simon Thassi captured Gazara and expelled the population during the Maccabean Revolt . He then brought in new settlers of devout Jews and fortified it, making it part of

14688-565: The ruins of Mari , an Assyrian outpost at that time in Syria . Additional unpublished references to Kinahnum in the Mari letters refer to the same episode. Whether the term Kinahnum refers to people from a specific region or rather people of "foreign origin" has been disputed, such that Robert Drews states that the "first certain cuneiform reference" to Canaan is found on the Alalakh statue of King Idrimi (below). A reference to Ammiya being "in

14824-456: The same as the biblical Shishak: Shoshenq's Karnak list does not include Jerusalem—his biggest prize according to the Bible. His list focuses on places either north or south of Judah, as if he did not raid the center. The fundamental problem facing historians is establishing the aims of the two accounts and linking up the information in them. There have been some possible suggestions and proposals from scholars regarding this issue. Some argue that

14960-442: The site. In 2011 professor Dennis Cole, archaeologist Dan Warner and engineer Jim Parker from NOBTS, and Tsvika Tsuk from the Israeli Parks Authority, led another team in an attempt to finish the effort. In just two years the teams removed approximately 299 tons of debris from the ancient water system. In 2012, the team uncovered a large sealed cavern about nine meters beyond the water pool and "Macalister's Causeway." In 2013,

15096-544: The so-called Syro-Hittite states and the Phoenician city-states. The entire region (including all Phoenician/Canaanite and Aramean states, together with Israel , Philistia , and Samaria ) was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire during the 10th and 9th centuries BC, and would remain so for three hundred years until the end of the 7th century BC. Emperor-kings such as Ashurnasirpal , Adad-nirari II , Sargon II , Tiglath-Pileser III , Esarhaddon , Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal came to dominate Canaanite affairs. During

15232-467: The southern Levant were abandoned without destruction. The Egyptian garrison at Aphek was destroyed, likely in an act of warfare at the end of the 13th century. The Egyptian gate complex uncovered at Jaffa was destroyed at the end of the 12th century between 1134-1115 based on C14 dates, while Beth-Shean was partially though not completely destroyed, possibly by an earthquake, in the mid-12th century. References to Canaanites are also found throughout

15368-484: The southern Levant, including a people known as "Israel". However, archaeological findings show no destruction at any of the sites mentioned in the Merneptah Stele and so it is considered to be an exercise in propaganda, and the campaign most likely avoided the central highlands in the southern Levant. Egypt's withdrawal from the southern Levant was a protracted process lasting some one hundred years beginning in

15504-638: 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. Archaeologist Jesse Millek has shown that while the common assumption is that trade in Cypriot and Mycenaean pottery ended around 1200 BC, trade in Cypriot pottery actually largely came to an end at 1300, while for Mycenaean 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

15640-710: 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 upon Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley , the second on the more northerly city of Kadesh on the Orontes River. An Amorite chieftain named Sumu-abum founded Babylon as an independent city-state in 1894 BC. One Amorite king of Babylonia, Hammurabi (1792–1750 BC), founded

15776-509: The tallest of which was three meters high, with an altar-type structure in the middle, and a large, square, stone basin, probably used for cultic libations . The exact purpose of these megaliths is still debated, but they may have constituted a Canaanite " high place " from the Middle Bronze Age, ca. 1600 BCE, each masseba possibly representing a Canaanite city connected to Gezer by treaties enforced by rituals performed here. Both

15912-482: The team began an effort to preserve the ancient Canaanite mudbrick gate and complex near the water system. In the Water System: "Most of the first two weeks of the dig were spent searching for the bottom step and cleaning Macalister’s causeway. Tons of debris and rocks were removed in the process. When the bottom step was located and the causeway area clear, the team excavated three probes in the pool area. Each of

16048-488: The tell, distanced between less than 200 metres to almost 2 km from it, probably dating from the Late Hellenistic period (late 2nd – 1st century BCE), the most recent having been found by archaeologists from SWBTS in 2012. See also Location . There are only a few "lost" biblical cities that have been positively identified through inscriptions discovered by means of archaeological work (surveys or digs). Gezer

16184-553: The tell. With the discovery of the last nine inscriptions it became evident that their distribution does not support Clermont-Ganneau's initial interpretation, of them marking Gezer's Sabbath limit , but rather that they probably mark the boundaries between private estates, or between city land and these estates. Analysis of the lettering have led to the conclusion that they were all contemporaneous, with opinions based on palaeography and history slightly diverging in regard to their date – either Hasmonean or Herodian . The earlier date and

16320-534: The times of Siamun. Lindelle C. Webster's excavation team concluded recently that correlation of Stratum IX, in Tel Gezer, with Solomon’s era and Siamun "[is] improbable [as the end] of Tandy Stratum 10A is estimated by [radiocarbon] within the 11th century BCE, contemporary with the 21st Dynasty of Egypt but too early for Solomon by any estimate," and that correlation of Stratum 7 "with Shishak /[Shoshenq I]'s [e]nd boundary, (927–885 BCE, 68.3% hpd), [included in]

16456-409: The title "Lord of Canaan" If correct, this would suggest that Eblaites were conscious of Canaan as an entity by 2500 BC. Jonathan Tubb states that the term ga-na-na "may provide a third-millennium reference to Canaanite ", while at the same time stating that the first certain reference is in the 18th century BC. See Ebla-Biblical controversy for further details. Urbanism returned and the region

16592-472: The treasures of the temple built by Solomon. The egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen proposes that Shoshenq's successor, Osorkon I , lavished 383 tons of gold and silver on Egyptian temples during the first four years of his reign and correlate it directly to the looting, while the archaeologist Israel Finkelstein claims that the looting narrative in question "should probably be seen as a theological construct rather than as historical references". Shishak/Sousakim

16728-485: The wooden doors, a common design for its time. The tell was surrounded by a massive stone wall and towers, protected by a five-meter-high (16 ft) earthen rampart covered with plaster. The wooden city gate, near the southwestern corner of the wall, was fortified by two towers. Cultic remains discovered in the northern part of the tell were a row of ten large standing pillars , known as massebot or matsevot , singular masseba/matseva , oriented north–south,

16864-853: Was a Semitic -speaking civilization and region of the Southern Levant in the Ancient Near East during the late 2nd millennium BC . Canaan had significant geopolitical importance in the Late Bronze Age Amarna Period (14th century BC) as the area where the spheres of interest of the Egyptian , Hittite , Mitanni , and Assyrian Empires converged or overlapped. Much of present-day knowledge about Canaan stems from archaeological excavation in this area at sites such as Tel Hazor , Tel Megiddo , En Esur , and Gezer . The name "Canaan" appears throughout

17000-730: Was also related to Jeroboam: "the wife of Jeroboam" is a character in the Hebrew Bible . She is unnamed in the Masoretic Text , but according to the Septuagint , she was an Egyptian princess called Ano: Archaeologists at Tel Gezer recently concluded that correlation of Stratum 7, (927–885 BC, 68.3% hpd), "with Shishak/Sheshonq I's [e]nd boundary, [included in] the biblical date for Shishak’s campaign [d]oes not fit well with [their] current 14C-based estimates for Sheshonq I," which they considered to be (c. 969-940 BC with 68.3% hpd, and 991-930 BC with 95.4% hpd) in Stratum 8. Shoshenq I

17136-473: Was destroyed around 1200 BC. At Lachish , 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. For Megiddo , most parts of the city did not have any signs of damage and it

17272-619: Was divided among small city-states, the most important of which seems to have been Hazor. 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. As early as Naram-Sin of Akkad 's reign ( c.  2240 BC), Amurru was called one of the "four quarters" surrounding Akkad , along with Subartu / Assyria , Sumer , and Elam . Amorite dynasties also came to dominate in much of Mesopotamia, including in Larsa , Isin and founding

17408-513: Was due in part to the strategic position it held at the crossroads of the ancient coastal trade route linking Egypt with Syria , Anatolia and Mesopotamia , and the road to Jerusalem and Jericho , both important trade routes. In Roman and Byzantine times, the site was sparsely populated. Later, In the modern era , Tel Gezer was the site of the Palestinian village of Abu Shusheh , the residents of which were expelled by Israeli forces during

17544-460: Was later confirmed. The inscriptions' Greek part contains personal names, either (H)alkios, Alexas, or Archelaos, for instance Clermont-Ganneau's four stones were all bearing the inscription "of Alkios". Sometimes the two parts are upside-down, or " tête-bêche ", in relation to each other, on the last discovered one the lines being separated by a line and the Hebrew/Aramaic inscription תחמ גזר ‎ > "Teḥum Gezer" ("the boundary of Gezer") facing

17680-518: Was not wholly unexpected. As king, Shoshenq chose his eldest son, Osorkon I, as his successor and consolidated his authority over Egypt through marriage alliances and appointments. He assigned his second son, Iuput A , the prominent position of High Priest of Amun at Thebes as well as the title of Governor of Upper Egypt and Commander of the Army to consolidate his authority over the Thebaid. Finally, Shoshenq I designated his third son, Nimlot B , as

17816-493: Was probably captured by the Assyrians at the end of the campaign of Tiglath-Pileser III to Canaan . At any rate, a fiery destruction so severe befell the city at this time, insofar that it reduced the upper two courses of stone in the inner casemate wall to powdery lime. A reference to Gezer's destruction appears in a cuneiform relief from the 8th-century BCE royal palace of Tiglath-Pileser III at Nimrud . The city inscribed on

17952-439: Was probably the forecourt and pylon of the Ptah temple, which, if the royal necropoleis at Tanis, Saïs, and Mendes are taken as models, could very well have contained a royal burial within it or the temenos . Sagrillo concludes by observing that if Shoshenq I's burial place was located at Memphis, "it would go far in explaining why this king's funerary cult lasted for some time at the site after his death." While Shoshenq's tomb

18088-612: Was still being imported to the southern Levant after 1200 BC during the early Iron Age. By the Early Iron Age , the southern Levant came to be dominated by the kingdoms of Israel and Judah , besides the Philistine city-states on the Mediterranean coast, and the kingdoms of Moab , Ammon , and Aram-Damascus east of the Jordan River, and Edom to the south. The northern Levant was divided into various petty kingdoms,

18224-622: Was the most advanced metal technology in the ancient world. Their work is similar to artifacts from the later Maykop culture , leading some scholars to believe they represent two branches of an original metalworking tradition. Their main copper mine was at Wadi Feynan . The copper was mined from the Cambrian Burj Dolomite Shale Unit in the form of the mineral malachite . All of the copper was smelted at sites in Beersheba culture . Genetic analysis has shown that

18360-708: Was the son of Nimlot A and Tentsepeh A. His paternal grandparents were the Chief of the Ma Shoshenq A and his wife Mehytenweskhet A. Prior to his reign, Shoshenq I had been the Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Army, and chief advisor to his predecessor Psusennes II , as well as the father-in-law of Psusennes' daughter Maatkare . He also held his father's title of Great Chief of the Ma or Meshwesh , which

18496-537: Was the usual ancient Egyptian name for Canaan and Syria, covering the region from Gaza in the south, to Tartous in the north. Its borders shifted with time, but it generally consisted of three regions. The region between Ascalon and the Lebanon , stretching inland to the Sea of Galilee , was named Djahy , which was approximately synonymous with Canaan. There are several periodization systems for Canaan. One of them

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