Canaanite City-States and Urbanism in Palestine
Overview:
Early Bronze Age—3500 to 2200
Middle of the Period--Cultural hegemony of Sumer and Akkad and Old Kingdom Egypt—Begins with the rise of Egypt and Sumer, development of writing, urbanism, monarchy.
Ends with the decline of the Old Kingdom and Sumer at Ur III—meanwhile the beginnings of Minoan civilization in Greece.
Intermediate (EB IV or MB I) to Middle Bronze Age—2200 to 1550 is circumscribed by the Fall of Ur III and the Hyksos invasions of Egypt—Egypt still retained cultural influence over the Levant but Egypt itself was in disarray and alternately ruled by their “Asiatic” or “Semitic” overlords
Meanwhile toward end of this period Mycenaean civilization arises in Greece.
Early Bronze Age Palestine For whatever reason, Palestine lagged behind Mesopotamia and northern Syria in the development of a complex society.
Nevertheless, the rise of urbanism is a hallmark of the Early Bronze Age (3200-2200 BC) in Palestine. The chronology of Early Bronze Palestine is tied to that of Egypt, but there is disagreement over the terminology and dates for the period.
Egyptian finds in Palestine indicate that the Early Bronze (EB) I correlates to the late Predynastic Period and the beginning of the First Dynasty in Egypt, while the EB II correlates to the remainder of the Archaic Period (Dynasties 1-2), and the EB III corresponds to the Old Kingdom (Dynasties 3-6).
The Rise of Urbanism: The EB I Period (3200-3000 BC)
True urbanism only arose after an initial transitional phase, usually called EB I (3330-3000 BC), in which most settlements were unfortified villages. These were generally in different locations than in the preceding Chalcolithic period. Another innovation is the introduction of tombs in which large numbers of skeletons are found together in a natural or hewn-out rock cave.
Such tombs, in fact, are the main source of data for the period. Often, the skeletons are found disarticulated—perhaps indicating secondary burials—ususally with the skulls lined up next to a central bone pile. A huge cemetery at Bab edh-Dhra, at the Lisan peninsula on the east side of the Dead Sea, represents the largest burial ground of this type known in the Near East. A settlement nearby seems too small to accommodate such a cemetery. This has led to the hypothesis that Bab edh-Dhra served as a regional cemetery with sacred associations. Another theory holds that the cemetery served the “cities of the Plain,” including the lost cities of Sodom and Gommorrah (Gen 13:10-12), but this is quite uncertain.
At Bab edh-Dhra, two types of EB I tombs are known. Earlier “shaft tombs,” with multiple secondary burials in an artificial cave reached by a vertical shaft, give way to built up structures of mud brick containing multiple primary burials. Similar to the latter are round stonebuilt tombs with corbelled roofs found in the southern Sinai, called nawamis, apparently built by pastoral nomads.
The major public buildings known from EB I Palestine are temples. A double sanctuary at Megiddo, separated from dwellings by a walled courtyard, may have served as a central shrine for the area. Temples are known from other sites, including Hartuv, where a large broad hall sanctuary incorporating a row of standing stones (Hebrew massebot) may have developed from an open-air sacred area.
Urban Palestine: The EB II-III Period (3000-2200 BC)
With the Early Bronze II period urbanism fully arrived in Paleistine, spurred on, no doubt, by peaking trade relations with Egypt, evidenced already in the EB I period. Large walled cities appeared at Ai, Arad, Beth Yerah, Megiddo, Tell el-Farcah, Yarmuth, and other sites.The fortifications at EB II-III sites are quite impressive. EB II walls were usually entered through narrow gates and reinforced with projecting semi-circular towers as seen in an excellent example at Arad, in the eastern Negev. In the late EB II and EB III periods walls were generally thickened, at Ai and Beth Yerah (Khirbet Kerak) eventually reaching a width of eight meters. At Yarmuth, continued constructions swelled the defensive perimeter enclosing forty acres to a width of forty meters!
In contrast to Mesopotamia, the actual history of the cities in EB Palestine is completely unknown, as no inscriptional material has yet been found. There were connections between Egyptian incursions in the south of Palestine and their construction, but the cities of EB Palestine seem never to have developed a unified political system. Indeed, the fortifications and other features imply a system of large city-states. They were, apparently, the beginnings of the royal Canaanite system of independent, rival states which continued into the next millennium. They may have been in mutual competition or conflict, as occasional destruction levels seem to indicate.The city wall at Jericho, for example, was rebuilt seventeen times during the Early Bronze Age.
Fall of Urbanism: The EB IV/MB I Period (2300-2000 B.C.E.)
The last two centuries of the third millennium BC in Palestine are marked by the wholesale destruction or abandonment of every major EB III site in Palestine. The subsequent period, in contrast to those great city-states, is characterized by a seminomadic, pastoral way of life. This period is comparable to the First Intermediate Period of Egypt, and represents a dark age for Palestine. The MB I pottery shows more characteristics in common with the preceding Early Bronze than with the Middle Bronze IIA which follows. Therefore, some have preferred to call this period EB IV. As we have seen, the interlude of the MB I period also saw a disruption of centralized control in Egypt.The transhumant population of Palestine was feared and loathed by Egyptians.
Negative though it may be, there are similarities between this attitude and the lifestyle described of the Patriarchs in the Bible. Although there have been attempts to place Abraham in the MB I Period, it is far more likely that the age of the Patriarchs should be sought in the early 2nd millennium BC—the Middle Bronze Age. Sometimes referred to as the Intermediate Bronze Age, marks a dramatic transformation in the urbanization and the growth of societies, which were originally established at the beginning of EB I through to the EB III.
Severe drought resulting from a major climatic catastrophe(s) that occurred circa 2300-2200 B.C.E. (EB IV/MB I) encompassed the whole region of the Near East.
The Age of Internationalism: The Middle Bronze Age (2200 - 1570 B.C.E.)
The Middle Bronze Age is contemporary with the First Intermediate Period, Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period in Egypt. United Egypt of the Old Kingdom disintegrated into individual kingdoms (nomarchs) after the Sixth Dynasty. This period of disunity, possibly described in the Admonitions of Ipuwer (ANET, pp.441-444), lasted some three hundred years and is generally contemporary with Middle Bronze I.
Under kings of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Dynasty, Middle Kingdom Egypt reached a cultural pinnacle. Politically Middle Kingdom monarchs extended their influence southward into Nubia as far as the fortress of Semnah. Egypt's hegemony in Asia, however, is more problematic, although there is evidence of early contact with Asiatic peoples. The Tale of Sinuhe describes the adventures of an Egyptian royal tutor who fled to Syria and lived among the Asiatic tribes. Other evidence of contact include Egyptian execration texts, lists of Asiatics living in Egyptian households, extensive gifts and statuary from Byblos and other sites, and Egyptian tomb inscriptions and depictions (e.g. Beni Hasan painting of 37 Asiatics).
Asiatics gained control of the delta region of Egypt in the Second Intermediate Period. Known as the Hyksos “Rulers of Foreign Lands” these Asiatic princes may have extended control beyond the delta and as far south as Abydos. A number of key battles were fought by Egyptian kings of the Seventeenth Dynasty against the Hyksos but it wasn't until the reign of Amosis, the first king of the Eighteenth Dynasty (circa 1570 B.C.E.), that the Hyksos were expelled.
Albright, Nelson Glueck and E. A. Speiser, have linked the Patriarchs to the end of Middle Bronze I and beginning of Middle Bronze II.
Overview:
Early Bronze Age—3500 to 2200
Middle of the Period--Cultural hegemony of Sumer and Akkad and Old Kingdom Egypt—Begins with the rise of Egypt and Sumer, development of writing, urbanism, monarchy.
Ends with the decline of the Old Kingdom and Sumer at Ur III—meanwhile the beginnings of Minoan civilization in Greece.
Intermediate (EB IV or MB I) to Middle Bronze Age—2200 to 1550 is circumscribed by the Fall of Ur III and the Hyksos invasions of Egypt—Egypt still retained cultural influence over the Levant but Egypt itself was in disarray and alternately ruled by their “Asiatic” or “Semitic” overlords
Meanwhile toward end of this period Mycenaean civilization arises in Greece.
Early Bronze Age Palestine For whatever reason, Palestine lagged behind Mesopotamia and northern Syria in the development of a complex society.
Nevertheless, the rise of urbanism is a hallmark of the Early Bronze Age (3200-2200 BC) in Palestine. The chronology of Early Bronze Palestine is tied to that of Egypt, but there is disagreement over the terminology and dates for the period.
Egyptian finds in Palestine indicate that the Early Bronze (EB) I correlates to the late Predynastic Period and the beginning of the First Dynasty in Egypt, while the EB II correlates to the remainder of the Archaic Period (Dynasties 1-2), and the EB III corresponds to the Old Kingdom (Dynasties 3-6).
The Rise of Urbanism: The EB I Period (3200-3000 BC)
True urbanism only arose after an initial transitional phase, usually called EB I (3330-3000 BC), in which most settlements were unfortified villages. These were generally in different locations than in the preceding Chalcolithic period. Another innovation is the introduction of tombs in which large numbers of skeletons are found together in a natural or hewn-out rock cave.
Such tombs, in fact, are the main source of data for the period. Often, the skeletons are found disarticulated—perhaps indicating secondary burials—ususally with the skulls lined up next to a central bone pile. A huge cemetery at Bab edh-Dhra, at the Lisan peninsula on the east side of the Dead Sea, represents the largest burial ground of this type known in the Near East. A settlement nearby seems too small to accommodate such a cemetery. This has led to the hypothesis that Bab edh-Dhra served as a regional cemetery with sacred associations. Another theory holds that the cemetery served the “cities of the Plain,” including the lost cities of Sodom and Gommorrah (Gen 13:10-12), but this is quite uncertain.
At Bab edh-Dhra, two types of EB I tombs are known. Earlier “shaft tombs,” with multiple secondary burials in an artificial cave reached by a vertical shaft, give way to built up structures of mud brick containing multiple primary burials. Similar to the latter are round stonebuilt tombs with corbelled roofs found in the southern Sinai, called nawamis, apparently built by pastoral nomads.
The major public buildings known from EB I Palestine are temples. A double sanctuary at Megiddo, separated from dwellings by a walled courtyard, may have served as a central shrine for the area. Temples are known from other sites, including Hartuv, where a large broad hall sanctuary incorporating a row of standing stones (Hebrew massebot) may have developed from an open-air sacred area.
Urban Palestine: The EB II-III Period (3000-2200 BC)
With the Early Bronze II period urbanism fully arrived in Paleistine, spurred on, no doubt, by peaking trade relations with Egypt, evidenced already in the EB I period. Large walled cities appeared at Ai, Arad, Beth Yerah, Megiddo, Tell el-Farcah, Yarmuth, and other sites.The fortifications at EB II-III sites are quite impressive. EB II walls were usually entered through narrow gates and reinforced with projecting semi-circular towers as seen in an excellent example at Arad, in the eastern Negev. In the late EB II and EB III periods walls were generally thickened, at Ai and Beth Yerah (Khirbet Kerak) eventually reaching a width of eight meters. At Yarmuth, continued constructions swelled the defensive perimeter enclosing forty acres to a width of forty meters!
In contrast to Mesopotamia, the actual history of the cities in EB Palestine is completely unknown, as no inscriptional material has yet been found. There were connections between Egyptian incursions in the south of Palestine and their construction, but the cities of EB Palestine seem never to have developed a unified political system. Indeed, the fortifications and other features imply a system of large city-states. They were, apparently, the beginnings of the royal Canaanite system of independent, rival states which continued into the next millennium. They may have been in mutual competition or conflict, as occasional destruction levels seem to indicate.The city wall at Jericho, for example, was rebuilt seventeen times during the Early Bronze Age.
Fall of Urbanism: The EB IV/MB I Period (2300-2000 B.C.E.)
The last two centuries of the third millennium BC in Palestine are marked by the wholesale destruction or abandonment of every major EB III site in Palestine. The subsequent period, in contrast to those great city-states, is characterized by a seminomadic, pastoral way of life. This period is comparable to the First Intermediate Period of Egypt, and represents a dark age for Palestine. The MB I pottery shows more characteristics in common with the preceding Early Bronze than with the Middle Bronze IIA which follows. Therefore, some have preferred to call this period EB IV. As we have seen, the interlude of the MB I period also saw a disruption of centralized control in Egypt.The transhumant population of Palestine was feared and loathed by Egyptians.
Negative though it may be, there are similarities between this attitude and the lifestyle described of the Patriarchs in the Bible. Although there have been attempts to place Abraham in the MB I Period, it is far more likely that the age of the Patriarchs should be sought in the early 2nd millennium BC—the Middle Bronze Age. Sometimes referred to as the Intermediate Bronze Age, marks a dramatic transformation in the urbanization and the growth of societies, which were originally established at the beginning of EB I through to the EB III.
Severe drought resulting from a major climatic catastrophe(s) that occurred circa 2300-2200 B.C.E. (EB IV/MB I) encompassed the whole region of the Near East.
The Age of Internationalism: The Middle Bronze Age (2200 - 1570 B.C.E.)
The Middle Bronze Age is contemporary with the First Intermediate Period, Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period in Egypt. United Egypt of the Old Kingdom disintegrated into individual kingdoms (nomarchs) after the Sixth Dynasty. This period of disunity, possibly described in the Admonitions of Ipuwer (ANET, pp.441-444), lasted some three hundred years and is generally contemporary with Middle Bronze I.
Under kings of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Dynasty, Middle Kingdom Egypt reached a cultural pinnacle. Politically Middle Kingdom monarchs extended their influence southward into Nubia as far as the fortress of Semnah. Egypt's hegemony in Asia, however, is more problematic, although there is evidence of early contact with Asiatic peoples. The Tale of Sinuhe describes the adventures of an Egyptian royal tutor who fled to Syria and lived among the Asiatic tribes. Other evidence of contact include Egyptian execration texts, lists of Asiatics living in Egyptian households, extensive gifts and statuary from Byblos and other sites, and Egyptian tomb inscriptions and depictions (e.g. Beni Hasan painting of 37 Asiatics).
Asiatics gained control of the delta region of Egypt in the Second Intermediate Period. Known as the Hyksos “Rulers of Foreign Lands” these Asiatic princes may have extended control beyond the delta and as far south as Abydos. A number of key battles were fought by Egyptian kings of the Seventeenth Dynasty against the Hyksos but it wasn't until the reign of Amosis, the first king of the Eighteenth Dynasty (circa 1570 B.C.E.), that the Hyksos were expelled.
Albright, Nelson Glueck and E. A. Speiser, have linked the Patriarchs to the end of Middle Bronze I and beginning of Middle Bronze II.
No comments:
Post a Comment