The Bronze Age

The early Bronze Age saw the growth of most of the towns that were known in historic times. The Palestinian towns of Megiddo , Jericho , Tell al-Farah, Bait Sheaan, Khirbet, Kerak and Ai in northern and central Palestine hold the most significant evidence of the first phase of the early Bronze Age.

In southern Palestine , the towns of Tell ad-Duweir, Tell Bait Mirsim and Tell al-Hessi appear to have been built in the late Bronze Age. This indigenous Semitic population were called Canaanites.

The tracing of the ethno-cultural origins of the Canaanites and the other groups of the region (the Leviant) leads us to the fact that those inhabitants included the Amorites (of the southwestern desert), the Akkadians and Assyrians ( Mesopotamia ), the Arameans, the Habiru (Hebrews) and the Bedu (Beduin Arabs of the southern desert).

These groups spoke related languages including Hamitic, ancient Egyptian, Coptic and Ethiopian languages.

Throughout the Bronze Age, nomads from Arabia made sporadic forays into the area. Though initially hostile, the Arabs were incorporated into the existing culture. Later Indo-European groups also immigrated, intermingled with and were absorbed by the Semitic cultures.

Walled Palestinian towns appeared throughout Palestine in the third millennium. These towns remained independent city states, intermittently subjugated to Egyptian control.

Palestine was occupied by several allied tribes which had many features in common as well as their differences. They were essentially nomadic with tribal centres unlike the Canaanites who lived in the plains and the coastal areas where they practiced farming.

The middle Bronze Age

This period marked the start of Canaanite culture and the entry of the Israelites into Palestine in the 14th and 13th centuries BC. Middle Bronze Age civilization in Palestine flourished with strong links to the towns of the Phoenician-Canaanite coast.

Egyptian documents provide valuable information about the region during the 12th Egyptian dynasty (1938 to 1756BC) which saw significant Egyptian interests and influence in Palestine .

The late Bronze Age

The middle and late Bronze Ages in Palestine had no sharp differences. Egyptian armies conquered Palestine proven by administrative documents excavated in both Egypt and Palestine showing details of provincial government organisation in Palestine between 1450 and 1350BC.

In the course of the closing decades of 13th century BC, the incoming Israelites were able to occupy most of the hill country east of the Jordan river and in western Palestine. Evidence provided by archaeological research suggests that the Israelite settlement in Palestine was much more complex and disconnected than indicated by biblical accounts.