The Land of Canaan in the Late Bronze Age

Description

This volume provides a series of contributions on the crucial aspects relating to the Bible and the Late Bronze Age period. The volume is introduced with a background essay surveying the main areas of history and current scholarship relating to Late Bronze Age Palestine and to the Egyptian New Kingdom (Dynasties 18-20) domination of the region, as well as the question of the biblical account of the same geographical area and historical period. Specific chapters address a range of key concerns: the history of Egypt’s dealing with Canaan is surveyed in chapters by Grabbe and Dijkstra. The Amarna texts are also dealt with by Lemche, Mayes and Grabbe. The archaeology is surveyed by van der Steen. The Merenptah Stela mentioning Israel is of considerable interest and is discussed especially by Dijkstra. This leads on to the burning question of the origins of Israel which several of the contributors address. Another issue is whether the first Israelite communities practised egalitarianism, an issue taken up by Guillaume, with a response by Kletter. Title Page Copyright Page Contents Contributors Part 1 Introduction and Background Introduction Summary of chapters Chapter 1 Late Bronze Age Palestine: If we had only the Bible … Sources Analysis The origins of Israel Synthesis Conclusions Part 2 Chapters Chapter 2 Canaan in the Transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age from an Egyptian Perspective Canaan from an Egyptian perspective: the Israel stele in the context of Egyptian royal ideology Israel depicted on the wall? Some iconographic observations Decline of the Late Bronze Age and the settlement of the Sea Peoples End of Egypt’s domination of Canaan Expansion of the Phoenician cities in the Early Iron Age Settlement patterns and Egyptian presence on either side of the Jordan Transjordan on Egyptian walls Egyptian political and commercial interests in Transjordan The return of Egypt into the Levant Sheshonq’s I military, commercial and diplomatic goals in the Levant Conclusion Chapter 3 Canaan under the Rule of the Egyptian New Kingdom: From the Hyksos to the Sea Peoples From the Hyksos to Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) The Amarna period City state against city state The nineteenth into the twentieth dynasty Conclusions Chapter 4 Poor by Necessity or by Choice? Ancient Israelite Egalitarianism Antonin Causse Norman Gottwald and the social-scientists Avraham Faust and ethnogenesis Egalitarianism after Faust Conclusion Chapter 5 Land Tenure, Ideology and the Emergence of Ancient Israel: A Conversation with Philippe Guillaume Land ownership ‘Port power’ The emergence of Israel Egalitarianism, ideology and archaeology Chapter 6 The Impact of the Late Bronze III Period on the Origins of Israel* What origins are for First, second and nth Israel The formation of the first Israel in the LB IIB Period David Ussishkin and the discovery of the LB III Period The beginning of settlement in the highlands of Canaan The formation of the tribes of the future second Israel From first to second Israel Chapter 7 The Amarna Letters and Palestinian Politics On the historical importance of the collection Playing with Pharaoh or being played with by Pharaoh? Conclusion: The Amarna power game as the ‘normal situation’ Appendix Chapter 8 International Diplomacy in the Amarna Age Historical context of Amarna correspondence The Amarna correspondence Conclusion Chapter 9 The Archaeology of the Late Bronze Age in Palestine Introduction: Beginning of the Late Bronze Age Palestine in the course of the Late Bronze Age Trade routes Material culture Late Bronze II and the 19th Dynasty End of the Late Bronze Age Summary and conclusions Part 3 Conclusion Chapter 10 Reflections on the Discussion Sources The Amarna Period The Exodus The first identity of Israel in Egyptian sources Settlement of Israel The question of egalitarianism in early Israel Final remarks Bibliography Author Index Citation Index