The Place & the Players

Levant Location

Canaan was a civilisation of nomadic-pastoral peoples in the Levant before biblical times. Much of the geo-political information was derived from ancient Egyptian texts. Much of the cultural information on Canaan was found in 1928 in Ugarit, Syria and is called the Ugaritic texts (in cuneiform).

The land of Canaan is near the end of the Fertile Crescent where it fronts the Mediterranean Sea. Canaan's agriculture was mostly dependent on seasonal rainfall. In contrast, both Mesopotamia and Egypt had mighty rivers to provide irrigation for their lush vegetation. Anatolia to the North, was basically hilly. The mass of lands to the south-east of Canaan was mainly desert.

Canaan was surrounded by dominant empires: Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, Hittite (Anatolia) and Mycenaea (Greece). For trade, this location was precious and precarious.

▪ Early pre-Canaanites

In pre-Canaanite civilisation [3300~ 2300BCE], there were already city-states like Megiddo and Hazor. During the early bronze age, there were also numerous urban villages and farms. They later spoke a Semitic language which shows an early  Mesopotamian connection. Around 2300BCE, the city-state system was mostly abandoned.

▪ Amorites/ Babylonians

The Amorites settled in Canaan [2000~ 1550BCE] from the Mesopotamia empire in the east. Basically, the Amorites gradually re-urbanised the city-state system with improvements. Amorite political control also extended into Syria.

The Amorites were from the city-states like Mari on the Euphrates and founded the first Babylonian dynasties in Mesopotamia. They would have spoken Akkadian or another semitic language. Early trade with the Canaanite region would have been significant as evidenced by the semitic language spoken by them. We can trace much of the influence of the Amorites on Canaan since we now know much about Mesopotamian civilisation, technology and mythology from their cuneiform writing system.

▪ Hittites

The Hittites [1650~ 1180BCE] did not settle directly in Canaan but exerted significant influence in the region. Ugarit city, to the north, was a Hittite vassal [c.1330BCE]. After the Hittite empire ended, the Neo-Hittites [1000~ 700BCE] assumed the influential role. 

The Hittite capital city was Hattusa in central Anatolia, a centre for astronomical observations and religious events. Their religion favoured weather-gods (or storm-gods) called Tarhunts. The Hittites language was a variant of Luwian language. The Luwians were the peoples of the southern-half of Anatolia and its Mediterranean coast. We can think of the Hittites as being an independent offshoot of the Luwians. They used two writing systems; with Luwian hieroglyphs as well as cuneiform (for phonetic syllables). 

▪ Ancient Egypt

The ancient Egyptians did not conquer Canaan directly but they had settlements in the south, some with military garrisons. Apart from land expansion, their interest was in cedarwood timber from Canaan (for the ancient Egyptian navy). 

After the turmoil of the Late Bronze Age collapse [1200~ 1150BCE], ancient Egypt was weakened and they transmigrated the Philistines into the south of Canaan.

▪ Philistines

The Philistines (ancient Palestinians) settled in Canaan [1200~ 1150BCE] from the ancient Egyptian empire in the southwest. In Canaan, their main cities were in the south.

The Philistines were a sea-faring people and thought to be Aegean from ancient Greece and Crete. The ancient Greeks called them Philistia and the ancient Egyptians called them Peleset. 

The Philistine group transmigrated to south Canaan included Peleset, Sherden and Tjecker peoples. Separately, the Philistines aspired to establish independent political control over their city-states.

Era 4 : Emerging States & Neo-Assyria [1000~ 586BCE]

Iron Age II [1000~ 586BCE] was a more settled period. The Philistines would assimilate and later speak a semitic language. The Philistines would also syncretise with Canaanite religion and include gods like Ba'al Zebul, Dagon and Ashtoreth (Astarte).

In early Iron Age II [1000~ 800BCE], the eastern border sees the rise of sizeable "emerging states": 

• Aram Damascus ^a (east of Phoenicia); 

• Ancient Israel ^b (east of middle Canaan), 

• Judah (east of Philistia), 

• and further beyond: Ammon, Moab and Edom. 

They all spoke semitic languages: They spoke the Canaanite branch; except for Aram Damascus speaking an Aramaic branch. 

Middle Canaan is frequently overrun by Aram Damascus, ancient Israel and Judah. 

In middle Iron Age II [800~ 732BCE], both Aram Damascus and ancient Israel dominated over the others. However, the Neo-Assyrian empire ^c was already exerting influence over the region. 

In later Iron Age II [732~ 722BCE], the Neo-Assyrian empire take control over the entire region. The states fall one by one: 

• Philistia [c. 750BCE], 

• Phoenicia [744BCE], 

• middle Canaan [c.734BCE], 

• Aram Damascus [732BCE] and 

• ancient Israel [722BCE]. 

At the end of Iron Age II [722~ 586BCE], the entire region from Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean Sea is under the Neo-Assyrian rule. In the Mesopotamian empire, the Neo-Assyrians were later replaced by the Neo-Babylonians ^d.