Canaanites
The Canaanites were the indigenous people of the ancient Levant
(modern Israel, Palestine, Transjordan, Lebanon and coastal Syria).
They spoke a Semitic language related to Hebrew. During the Early
Bronze Age, as trade with Egypt increased, strongly defended cities
developed throughout the region which formed the centres of
independent states. Egyptian campaigns were occasionally launched
against some Canaanite cities but relations were normally
maintained through trade.
Starting around 2000 BC, Canaanites began to infiltrate the
Egyptian Delta, and their donkey caravans can be seen on a number
of Egyptian tomb paintings. By 1700 BC they had seized control of
the Delta and established a local dynasty known as the
Hyksos or “Shepherd Kings”. This period (1700-1480)
saw the development of a rich and imaginative artistic style, and
it was at this time too that the Canaanites developed an alphabetic
writing system that was passed on to the Phoenicians.
Around 1550 BC the Hyksos were driven from Egypt by the
energetic kings of the Eighteenth Dynasty, and Tuthmosis III
(1504-1450 BC) put the entire Canaanite region under direct
imperial control. Throughout the period of the Egyptian Empire,
disaffected and dispossessed Canaanites, known to the Egyptians as
Habiru migrated to the hill country regions. This
Habiru population formed the kernel of what was to become
historical Israel, and it was referred to as such by the pharaoh
Merneptah (reigned 1236-1223 BC) on a victory stele now in the
Cairo Museum.
Image caption: Pendant from the Tell
el-cAjjul hoard
Canaanite, about 1750-1550 BC. From Tell el-cAjjul,
Israel