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ORIGINAL PEOPLE |
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ORIGINAL PEOPLE |
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Photo © Jack Hazut |
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Dolmen, Bronze Age graves, Golan Heights |
The history of the area is complex due to the many tribes and (later) nations that settled, conquered and ruled, traded there or moved through: Canaanites, Philistines, Samaritans, Nabataeans, Greeks, Romans, Muslims and Christians.
In pre-Biblical times, the area was known as the Land of Canaan and had been a collection of city-states, tributary to the Egyptian Pharoah, as attested to in the Tel-El Amarna tablets. The breakup of the Egyptian empire beginning about 1500 BC made possible the invasion of the Israelites. According to Jewish tradition, twelve tribes entered Canaan from Egypt and conquered it, led by Moses approximately 1240-1200 BC. Historical evidence from the Amarna tablets suggests that there were already 'apiru' (Hebrews) among the Canaanites in the time of Egyptian rule.
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Photo © Jack Hazut |
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Hatzor, main Canaanite city, 2nd millennium BC |
During the final years of the Late Bronze Age, the Philistines also invaded Canaan (1500 - 1200 BC). Other evidence suggests that around 1200 BC, semi-nomads from the desert fringes to the east, joined by elements from Anatolia, the Aegean, and the south, possibly including Egypt, began to settle in the hill country of Canaan. A large proportion - probably a majority of this population - were refugees from the Canaanite city states, destroyed by the Egyptians in one of their periodic invasions.
The Biblical account continues with the rise of an Israelite kingdom, first under Saul and then under David at about 1000 BC, the date of David's conquest of Jerusalem.
The biblical accounts have not been confirmed by archeology and the exact dividing line between myth, legend, and history remains unknown. Generally the historical record begins with the destruction of the northern Israelite capital at Samaria in 772 BC by Assyrians, and the conquering of Judah's (southern Israelites) capital at Jerusalem in 586 BC by Babylonians who destroyed the First Temple.
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