ANT 340 / 640:
The Archaeology and History of the “Bible Lands”:
Ancient (Syria)-Palestine.
Notes and images compiled by Gregory Mumford © 2023
Lecture 14:
Late Bronze Age (Part-2).
Table of contents:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Characteristics of Canaanite Culture:
Canaanite religion: The pantheon
LB Age pottery: Various types
LB Age trade: Maritime trade
LB Age arts and crafts: Metallurgy
LB Age arts and crafts: Art/decoration
LB Age arts and crafts: Sculpture
LB Age arts and crafts: Seals (glyptic art)
LB Age arts and crafts: Ivory carving
LB Age arts and crafts: Metal artwork
LB Age arts and crafts: Clay sculpture
LB Age writing: Language and literature
LB Age: Mortuary religion, burial customs
Summary notes: Characteristics of Canaanite culture
4
16
35
60
66
68
75
83
92
97
100
109
132
Instructor tips for lectures, etc.:
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reinforcement & reviews of materials/concepts.
(2). Take notes on lectures, etc. …
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(3). Complete the required textbook
readings, and/or review the ppt.,
prior to the specific class day …
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comprehension of the material, and will enable
asking focused questions where something
may be less clear (in the textbook or lecture).
(4). Ask questions during the class if
you are confused/wish more data
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(5). Complete optional materials:
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https://howtostudyincollege.com/how-to-get-good-grades/note-taking-strategies/
Late Bronze Age:
LB Age IA, IB, IIA & IIB
(1,550 – 1,200 BCE)
Canaanite religion:
The pantheon.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Religion: deities:
Summary of Levantine pantheon:
(?) = Dagon/Dagan
EL = Astarte
EL:
• Head of the Canaanite pantheon, with
El meaning “leader.”
• Major deity representing “order” in the
universe.
• In his traits there are allusions to
infancy, childhood, i.e., a passive/calm
nature (shown seated & bearded).
• He is often called the father of Baal.
• Epithets: “Father of all the gods”
“Father of the years”
“Father of men”
“Bull El” (i.e., fertility link)
“King”
• Earthly kings are called “son of EL”
• EL appears in Syria ca. 2500 BC =EB
Yam
Mot
Baal = Anat
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Religion: deities:
Aštar (Ishtar) / Astarte:
• She is the wife of EL and is
a major deity.
• Epithets: “Lady Asherah of the Sea”
“Mother of all the gods”
“Wet-nurse of the gods”
• She represents the mother of Baal,
but is not well-disposed towards him.
• She is important in the Levant from
1500 BC onwards: LB Age ...
• She may have solar features in South
Arabia.
• She also becomes important in New
Kingdom Egypt (and later)
• She is later a major deity amongst the
Sidonians and Phoenicians.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Religion: deities:
Dagan / Dagon:
• A weather deity / manifestation.
• Epithets: “The rainy one”
“Lord of corpses”
Has chthonic affiliations
(i.e., underworld; earthly)
• Also a deity of grain / fertility.
• Recognized as an alternate father of
Baal (maybe two different traditions?).
• Initially from the Middle Euphrates
region in Syria.
• Spreads to W. Syria and Palestine
in 1500 – 1000 BC. LB – Iron Age I
• Has temples at Ugarit (Ras Shamra)
• Becomes a major deity in the Iron Age
Philistine culture.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Religion: deities:
Baal:
• A weather deity with variant names:
-Baal-Zephon, who lives on Jebel elAqra in Syria, has a few temples in
Ugarit and a temple in Egypt (D19).
-Baal-Karmelos, who resides at Mt.
Carmel (in Palestine).
Model of Baal temple at Ugarit (Ras Shamra)
-Baal, Baal-Hadad, or Hadad, a chief
deity of Ugarit.
• Epithets: “prince” (Baal-zebub),
“The bull-calf”
“The Rider of the Clouds”
- Appearing in storms
- Life-giving force behind crops,
animals, and people.
- Battling chaos of the sea and
the heat of the summer.
Storm clouds in Lebanon: “Rider of Clouds”
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Religion: deities:
Baal (continued):
• A major deity in the Levant.
• One tradition labels him as the son of
Dagan / Dagon (also a weather god)
• Another tradition equates him with
being a son of EL (chief of pantheon).
• He is depicted
a. striding
b. Armed with weapons
c. Throwing lightning bolts
• Baal represents the positive aspects of
the natural cycle: i.e., growing crops,
rebirth, etc. (the opposite of Mot/Death)
• He is later a major opponent deity to
the Israelite religion.
Old Testament Baalzebub (our Satan)
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Religion: deities:
Anat:
• A goddess of beauty, love, etc.
• Also known as a fierce warrior.
• Adopted by Anc. Egyptians & shown
protecting the pharaoh from enemies.
• Epithets: “Virgin/Maiden Anat”
“The destroyer”
• She is called the daughter of EL.
• She is both the sister & lover of Baal
(she changes to a heifer to make love
to Baal who changes to a bull).
•She also plays the role of the “widow”
when Baal is killed (i.e., prior to his
resurrection)
• A major deity in the Levant from
1500 BC (LB) to the Hellenistic period.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Religion: deities:
Yam:
• An important deity of the sea, & water
in general, thus being important to
sailors.
• Yam/Sea has two personality types:
a. Calm: i.e., good summer weather
b. Anger: i.e., harsh winter weather
• Epithets: “Lord Sea”
“Prince River”
• Yam has temples and regular offerings
being generally an important deity.
• Yam is a traditional enemy of Baal,
with whom he often fights.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Religion: deities:
Mot (“Death”):
• The Underworld deity and a major
enemy of Baal (i.e., his counterpart).
• god of “death”
• Name comes from mwt “to die”
• Epithets: “Mot is a son of the gods”
“Beloved of EL”
• He resides in the Underworld
• He can take the form of a snake
• In death people are said to be eaten
by Mot.
• Baal battles Mot and is killed, but is
reborn (Anat defeats Mot in revenge)
• Mot = hard dry earth in summer.
• Baal = green crops in winter-Spring.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Religion: deities:
Mot (“Death”):
Mot (“death” i.e., heat/drought)
killing Baal (“life” i.e., crops)
• The Underworld deity and a major
enemy of Baal (i.e., his counterpart).
• god of “death”
• Name comes from mwt “to die”
• Epithets: “Mot is a son of the gods”
“Beloved of EL”
• He resides in the Underworld
• He can take the form of a snake
• In death people are said to be eaten
by Mot.
• Baal battles Mot and is killed, but is
reborn (Anat defeats Mot in revenge)
• Mot = hard dry earth in summer.
• Baal = green crops in winter-Spring.
Drought in Syria; + generic scene below
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Other Levantine (W. Semitic) deities:
- Aštar
= Son of Astarte
- (el)qunirša
= Creator of the earth
- Hauran/Horon= Chthonic deity (fierce)
- Kamoš/Kamiš= 1000 BC god of Moab
- Kothar-Hasis = Craftsman of the gods
- Kotharat
= Usually 7 goddesses
(childbirth & fertility)
- Rephaim
= “saviors” (chthonic?)
- Rešep
= Plague god, fights evil
- Šahr+Šalim
= “Dawn” and “Dusk”
Gracious & merciful gods
- Šapaš
= Sun-goddess
Traverses underworld at
night; EL’s messenger.
- Yarik & Nikkal= Lunar deities.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Other Levantine (W. Semitic) deities:
- Aštar
= Son of Astarte
- (el)qunirša
= Creator of the earth
- Hauran/Horon= Chthonic deity (fierce)
- Kamoš/Kamiš= 1000 BC god of Moab
- Kothar-Hasis = Craftsman of the gods
- Kotharat
= Usually 7 goddesses
(childbirth & fertility)
- Rephaim
= “saviors” (chthonic?)
- Rešep
= Plague god, fights evil
- Šahr+Šalim
= “Dawn” and “Dusk”
Gracious & merciful gods
- Šapaš
= Sun-goddess
Traverses underworld at
night; EL’s messenger.
- Yarik & Nikkal= Lunar deities.
Late Bronze Age:
LB Age IA, IB, IIA & IIB
(1,550 – 1,200 BCE)
Pottery:
Various types.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Pottery and international trade:
• Canaanite pottery experiences an even
greater increase in types and foreign
influences and imports in the LB Age.
• The occurrence of foreign imports also
provides cross-cultural chronological
reference points with Egypt, Syria,
Cyprus, Anatolia, Greece, the Aegean.
Local pottery:
• LB Age Canaanite pottery develops
slowly from MB Age forms.
• I.e., There is NO sharp break between
MB and LB Age pottery.
• In contrast, MB IIC & LB I tend to
merge and are difficult to separate.
• Distinctions between the two rely on
the disappearance and appearance of Late Bronze Age pottery types
certain forms from a given corpus.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Pottery and international trade:
• Canaanite pottery experiences an even
greater increase in types and foreign
influences and imports in the LB Age.
• The occurrence of foreign imports also
provides cross-cultural chronological
reference points with Egypt, Syria,
Cyprus, Anatolia, Greece, the Aegean.
Local pottery:
• LB Age Canaanite pottery develops
slowly from MB Age forms.
• I.e.,There is NO sharp break between
MB and LB Age pottery.
• In contrast, MB IIC & LB I tend to
merge and are difficult to separate.
• Distinctions between the two rely on
the disappearance and appearance of
Canaanite amphorae = storage jars
certain forms from a given corpus.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Local LB I pottery:
Tell el-Yahudiyeh Ware disappears
•An obscure gray juglet appears briefly
• Indigenous Canaanite pottery
exhibits some alteration in production,
form, and decoration.
E.g., More coarse, rough, and massproduced pottery in LB Age.
• Painted decoration is more common:
E.g., Red, or red and black, on a plain
buff background, or light buff slip.
• Decoration tends to be geometric:
E.g., Concentric circles within bowls
Bands on exterior of jugs & jars
Friezes of geometric panels:
(triglyphs separating metopes).
Sacred tree flanked by 2 gazelles:
(motif on Mitannian cylinder seals)
Some complex scenes: humans &
animal procession + sacred tree.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Bichrome pottery:
• Characterized by red & black painted
decoration on a buff background.
• Begins ca.1600 BC (late MB IIC) and
continues into early 15th cent. (1480+?)
Maybe up to Thutmose III conquest.
• Fairly consistent forms:
> indigenous kraters, jars, and jugs
Some Cypriot-derived bowls & jugs
• Decoration:
> Canaanite-style triglyphs & metopes
Some Cypriot cross-lines over body
• Motifs:
Fish, water fowl, antelopes, and bulls.
• Distribution:
Focus in coastal plain, the Shephelah,
northern valleys, but covers Palestine,
coastal Syria (Ugarit), & Cyprus.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Bichrome pottery:
• Production:
Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA)
reveals many bichrome containers are
made in Eastern Cyprus.
• Some are made locally at Megiddo.
• If Cyprus = origin for Bichrome ware,
they produced mostly Canaanite forms
to cater to a Canaanite market.
• Otherwise,Cypriot migrants entering
Palestine in late MB IIC may have
subsequently adopted local forms for
an otherwise Cypriot product (clays?).
• The migrants may represent Hurrians,
owing to similarities with their pottery.
• Like Bichrome, Chocolate-on-White
continues to 1500 BC (LB IA).
• → MB 2C-LB 1A has much continuity!
Bichrome pottery
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Bichrome pottery:
• Production:
Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA)
reveals many bichrome containers are
made in Eastern Cyprus.
• Some are made locally at Megiddo.
• If Cyprus = origin for Bichrome ware,
they produced mostly Canaanite forms
to cater to a Canaanite market.
• Otherwise, Cypriot migrants entering
Palestine in late MB IIC may have
subsequently adopted local forms for
an otherwise Cypriot product (clays?).
• The migrants may represent Hurrians,
owing to similarities with their pottery.
• Like Bichrome, Chocolate-on-White
continues to 1500 BC (LB IA).
• → MB 2C-LB 1A has much continuity!
Tell Nagilla: Bichrome ware
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Cypriot Pottery:
• Cypriot exports of pottery vessels, &
in some cases their contents (liquids),
began in the MB Age, but increased
greatly in the LB Age, peaking in post
1450 through 1300 (in Amarna period).
• Cyprus played its prime role in copper
exports, via which it also shipped its
pottery throughout East Mediterranean.
• As a major maritime commercial polity,
Cyprus (Alasiya) also transported
other goods between the Aegean and
East Mediterranean: Levant & Egypt.
•Cypriot potters retained manufacturing
handmade pottery and distinct fabrics,
techniques, colours, and motifs.
• Cypriot pottery types = very distinct
by types and chronologically.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Cypriot Pottery types:
Base Ring ware:
• Small juglets, jugs, flasks, bowls, and
bull-shaped vessels (pouring offerings)
White Slip ware:
• Hemispherical “milk bowls” with brown
decorated white slip background.
Monochrome ware:
• Small bowls covered with reddish slip
White Shaved ware:
• Mostly juglets made of a white fabric
with “knife-shaved” lower bodies.
White Painted ware:
• Small jugs & juglets with brown-black
decoration on a white surface.
Bucchero ware:
• Jugs displaying a ribbed body
(possibly imitating metal containers).
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Cypriot Pottery types:
Base Ring ware:
• Small juglets, jugs, flasks, bowls, and
bull-shaped vessels (pouring offerings)
White Slip ware:
• Hemispherical “milk bowls” with brown
decorated white slip background.
Monochrome ware:
• Small bowls covered with reddish slip
Base Ring Ware
White Shaved ware:
• Mostly juglets made of a white fabric
with “knife-shaved” lower bodies.
White Painted ware:
• Small jugs & juglets with brown-black
decoration on a white surface.
Bucchero ware:
• Jugs displaying a ribbed body
(possibly imitating metal containers).
White Slip Ware I
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Cypriot Pottery types:
Base Ring ware:
• Small juglets, jugs, flasks, bowls, and
bull-shaped vessels (pouring offerings)
White Slip II
White Slip ware:
• Hemispherical “milk bowls” with brown
decorated white slip background.
Monochrome ware:
• Small bowls covered with reddish slip
White Shaved ware:
• Mostly juglets made of a white fabric
with “knife-shaved” lower bodies.
White Painted ware:
• Small jugs & juglets with brown-black
decoration on a white surface.
Bucchero ware:
• Jugs displaying a ribbed body
(possibly imitating metal containers).
Red Lustrous Ware
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Cypriot Pottery types:
Base Ring ware:
• Small juglets, jugs, flasks, bowls, and
bull-shaped vessels (pouring offerings)
White Slip ware:
• Hemispherical “milk bowls” with brown
decorated white slip background.
Monochrome ware:
• Small bowls covered with reddish slip
White Shaved ware:
• Mostly juglets made of a white fabric
with “knife-shaved” lower bodies.
White Painted ware:
• Small jugs & juglets with brown-black
decoration on a white surface.
Bucchero ware:
• Jugs displaying a ribbed body
(possibly imitating metal containers).
Cypriot pottery
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Cypriot Pottery types:
Base
RingPainted
ware: ware
White
• Small juglets, jugs, flasks, bowls, and
bull-shaped vessels (pouring offerings)
White Slip ware:
• Hemispherical “milk bowls” with brown
decorated white slip background.
Monochrome ware:
• Small bowls covered with reddish slip
White Shaved ware:
• Mostly juglets made of a white fabric
with “knife-shaved” lower bodies.
White Painted ware:
• Small jugs & juglets with brown-black
decoration on a white surface.
Bucchero ware:
• Jugs displaying a ribbed body
(possibly imitating metal containers).
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Cypriot Pottery chronology:
• Each type of Cypriot ware has its own
typological/chronological sequence:
BR I
White Painted ware:
• MB II through LB I: poss.1800?-1400 BC.
• Stylistic changes over this period.
• Disappears by end of LB I (1400 BC)
Monochrome, White Slip, “milk bowls”:
• Some “Milk bowls” appear in MB IIC
• Mostly these forms begin in LB I: 1550
• Peak in Palestine ca.1400-1300 BC
Purpose of most Cypriot pottery:
• Most exported forms = bowls
i.e., open containers (non-storage) →
pottery desired for itself (vs. contents)
• Apparently catered as fine ‘table ware’
to the elite in Levant, Egypt, etc.
• Remaining closed vessels, esp. BR
ware juglets, = for oil, perfume, opium?
BR II
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Cypriot Pottery chronology:
• Each type of Cypriot ware has its own
typological/chronological sequence:
BR I
White Painted ware:
• MB II through LB I: poss.1800?-1400 BC.
• Stylistic changes over this period.
• Disappears by end of LB I (1400 BC)
Monochrome, White Slip, “milk bowls”:
• Some “Milk bowls” appear in MB IIC
• Mostly these forms begin in LB I: 1550
• Peak in Palestine ca.1400-1300 BC
Purpose of most Cypriot pottery:
• Most exported forms = bowls
i.e., open containers (non-storage) →
pottery desired for itself (vs.contents)
• Apparently catered as fine ‘table ware’
to the elite in Levant, Egypt, etc.
• Remaining closed vessels, esp. BR
ware juglets, = for oil, perfume, opium?
BR II
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Mycenaean pottery:
• The Mycenaean civilization in Greece
and the Aegean (i.e., post-Minoan),
exported pottery throughout much
of the Mediterranean: South Italy →
Levant and into Egypt. Esp. LB Age II
• In contrast to Cypriot pottery, Myc.
potters used a fast wheel and very
fine, well-levigated clay (kneaded well)
• They applied a light cream slip with a
lustre (i.e., shiny/burnished look/feel)
over the surface → background.
• Most decoration incorporated a dark
brown paint (some reds too).
• Myc. forms and motifs are varied, but
fairly distinct and consistent.
• Most exports to the east of Greece
represent “closed” vessels:
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Mycenaean pottery forms:
• Flasks
• ‘Pyxides” (cylindrical containers)
• ‘Stirrup jars”
• Piriform amphoriskoi
• Some flat bowls
• Some large kraters
Mycenaean decoration:
• Horizontal bands
• Concentric circles
• Spiral motifs
• Other stylized motifs:
E.g., Procession of chariots.
Mycenaean typology:
• Furumark sub-divided Myc. pottery into
three main phases according to style:
Mycenaean I, II, III.
• Each phase was subdivided further.
E.g., Myc.II = LB IB (1470-1400 BC)
1st appearance of Myc.pottery in Levant
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Mycenaean pottery in Levant:
• Mycenaean II pottery = very rare in the
Levant:
(a). Cup at Lachish Fosse Temple I
(b). Sherds in Amman Airport Structure
• Mycenaean IIIA & IIIB pottery increase
dramatically throughout the Levant in
LB 2A-B: 1400-1300 & 1300-1200 BC
• Mycenaean pottery appears in
(a). Occupation contexts
(b). Cultic contexts
(c). Mortuary contexts
• Mycenaean exports are particularly
popular at the port of Tell Abu Hawam:
a. One theory = Myc. trading colony
b. Refuted owing to distribution of
similar Myc. types elsewhere, and
the lack of Myc. domestic forms.
Mycenaean IIIA
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Mycenaean pottery in Levant:
• Like Cypriot pottery, Myc. containers
probably had a similar attraction to
their Egyptian & Levantine recipients
as fine tableware and objets d’art.
• The role of Mycenaean maritime trade
in the East Mediterranean is less clear:
a. Did the Mycenaeans form trading
enclaves in Cyprus & the Levant?
E.g., Ugarit & Tell Abu Hawam.
b. Mycenaean pottery may have been
made in Cyprus for export eastward
c. Others suggest all Mycenaean items
came from Greece, either directly,
or via Cypriot or Canaanite traders.
NAA, Cypriot potter’s marks (on Myc.), etc.:
Now = evidence for Cypriot manufacturing
of many Mycenaean forms …
Mycenaean pottery dispersal via Cyprus?
Cypriot potters & traders (incl. at Tiryns)*
Cyprus:
Late Bronze Age:
LB Age IA, IB, IIA & IIB
(1,550 – 1,200 BCE)
Trade:
Maritime trade.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Maritime trade:
Three major LB Age shipwrecks yield
further evidence on maritime trade:
The Cape Gelidonya, Ulu Burin and
Point Iria shipwrecks:
• Off the southern coast of Turkey.
• En-route to Greece carrying Cypriot
copper ingots and other items.
• The crew’s possessions = Canaanite
• Possibly Canaanite merchants sailing
to Cyprus and onwards to Greece.
Other traders:
• Presumably other city-states and
nations had their own mercantile fleets
including Mycenaeans who are known
to have their own ships.
The Value of Cypriot & Mycenaean
pottery in the Levant is emphasized
by the appearance of local copies!
Ulu Burin
LATE BRONZE AGE 2A (late Dyn.18)
Location of Ulu Burun shipwreck:
ca. 1300+ BCE
LATE BRONZE AGE 2A (late Dyn.18): Layout of the Ulu Burun shipwreck:
ca. 1300+ BCE
Late Bronze Age
1550-1200 BC:
Maritime trade in
the Mediterranean
Ulu Burin shipwreck
Late 14th cent. BC
Ulu Burin shipwreck (near Turkey) CYPRUS: primary copper source
Cypriot copper
poured into
ox-hide shaped
ingots
Ulu Burun shipwreck (off coast of Turkey): copper ingots and pottery.
Ulu Burin shipwreck
Late 14th cent. BC:
Cargo bearing the basic
ingredients for bronze
production (tin + copper):
Ingots of copper
Items & ingots in (pure) tin
Ulu Burin
shipwreck
Late 14th
cent. BC:
Silver bracelets
Gold jewellery
Ulu Burin shipwreck
Late 14th cent. BC:
100+ storage jars
Most contained terebinth
resin (incense for rituals).
Ulu Burin shipwreck 14th cent.BC
Large storage jars (pithoi):
contained fine Cypriot pottery
Forward hold: Mycenaean pottery
Glass ingots exported for use in recipient
nation/culture’s glass production.
Hippo ivory exported for use in recipient
nation/culture’s ivory production.
Ulu Burin shipwreck
Late 14th cent. BC:
Luxury items:
Egy. scarab seals
Syro-Mesopotamian
cylinder seals
Ulu Burin shipwreck: 14th cent. BCE
• Anchor stones:
(including Canaanite types)
Cape Gelidonya shipwreck: ca. 1200 BCE
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/class/316/gelidonya/
Cape Gelidonya shipwreck: late 13th cent. BCE
Late Bronze Age Cape Gelidonya shipwreck piece (1200 BCE):
Late Bronze Age Cape Gelidonya shipwreck ingots (1200 BCE):
Late Bronze Age Cape Gelidonya shipwreck basket (1200 BCE)
Late Bronze Age Cape Gelidonya shipwreck (ca. 1200 BCE): Tools+weapons
• Believed to originate from Syria, representing an itinerant tinker who made
bronze weapons & tools: Also had imitation scarabs, pottery, etc.
Mycenaean trade & exchange:
MH III - LH I-III: 1600 – 1100 BC:
Trade goods:
Port Iria wreck (ca. 1200 BC):
• 10 m from shore, off Argolid coast.
• In late LH IIIB (1300-1200 BC) 1200
• Carrying a limited cargo of:
a. Cypriot pithoi (huge containers);
b. Cypriot jugs;
c. Minoan stirrup jars;
d. Myc. bowls, jars, cooking pots;
• Lost cargo (probable perishables):
e. Textiles? –major Aegean industry
f. Oil/perfume? –major industry
• Interpretation options:
a. Long-distance merchant ship:
Carrying out trade from Cyprus
to Greece (via Crete/Minoans)
b. Regional-local trade in Aegean:
Crete to Mainland?; local only?
https://www2.rgzm.de/navis/cargo/Iria/Iria.htm
Three LB Age shipwrecks in Aegean-Anatolia & 14? others off Israel
WEB LINK:
https://www.academia.edu/32130711/Four_Late_Bronze_Age_Shipwrecks_in_the_Mediterranean_and_Aegean_and_Their_Connections_to_Cyprus
Ulu Burun & Cape Gelidonya shipwrecks (ca. 1300-1200 BCE)
in relation to maritime trade routes in LB Age East Mediterranean.
http://mollus.oxfordjournals.org/content/74/1/79/F1.expansion
Late Bronze Age materials, products and trade routes ca. 1550-1200 BC
Late Bronze Age:
LB Age IA, IB, IIA & IIB
(1,550 – 1,200 BCE)
Arts & Crafts:
Metallurgy.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Timna:
LB IIB
Metallurgy:
- Iron 1A
• Cyprus formed the main supplier of
copper for the Eastern Mediterranean Dyns.
during the LB Age.
19-20
• At times when this copper supply
became inaccessible or much reduced
to Egypt (during the Egypto-Hittite war)
Egypt increased its exploitation of its
Eastern Desert & South Sinai sources,
& dug new mines in S. Negev: Timna.
• Otherwise, Cyprus enriched itself via
mining and exporting copper in an
“ox-hide”-shaped ingot that appears
throughout the Mediterranean:
- Cyprus (mines and ports)
- Ugarit (Ras Shamra)
Cyprus
- Shipwrecks off Turkey
- Sites in Greece
Timna
- Sites in Southern Italy
South Sinai
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
MB Age tin from Afghanistan
LB tin “
“
Metallurgy:
• East Anatolia (Turkey) supplied some
tin from EB mines, which accompanied
copper shipments in ingots to enable
the production of bronze (copper + tin).
• E.g., Tin ingots appear in a shipwreck
off the coast of Haifa. Only SOME TIN
• The recipient polities of copper and tin LB Age Ulu Burun shipwreck
Tel Zeror mound plan
shipments established smelting
installations to produce bronze tools,
weapons, & other items for local use:
• E.g., Tel Zeror (Plain of Sharon):
- Several smelting furnaces in an open
area with clay crucibles & bellows.
- Adjacent massive ash deposits attest
to long-term intense operations.
- An unusual abundance of Cypriot
pottery near the installations implies
an additional assoc. with Cypriots.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Metallurgy:
Repertoire of bronze items:
• Sickle swords (began in MB II)
• Daggers (now cast with a hilt)
• Tanged spearheads
• Shafted/socketed spearheads
• Arrowheads
• Chisels (wood-working)
• Cymbals (temple rituals)
• Figurines (cultic applications)
Precious metals:
• Gold and silver jewellery, representing
recycled local materials and imported
gold from Egypt &. silver from Anatolia
• Precious metals become scarcer in
Canaan during the Late Bronze Age,
possibly owing to Egypt’s continuous,
and increasing extraction of tribute
from its vassal states.
Deir el-Balah: Canaanite-Egy. jewellery
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Metallurgy:
Repertoire of bronze items:
• Sickle swords (began in MB II)
• Daggers (now cast with a hilt)
• Tanged spearheads
• Shafted/socketed spearheads
• Arrowheads
• Chisels (wood-working)
• Cymbals (temple rituals)
• Figurines (cultic applications)
Precious metals:
• Gold and silver jewellery, representing
recycled local materials and imported
gold from Egypt &. silver from Anatolia
• Precious metals become scarcer in
Canaan during the Late Bronze Age,
possibly owing to Egypt’s continuous,
and increasing extraction of tribute
from its vassal states.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Metallurgy:
Repertoire of bronze items:
• Sickle swords (began in MB II)
• Daggers (now cast with a hilt)
• Tanged spearheads
• Shafted/socketed spearheads
• Arrowheads
• Chisels (wood-working)
• Cymbals (temple rituals)
• Figurines (cultic applications)
Precious metals:
• Gold and silver jewellery, representing
recycled local materials and imported
gold from Egypt & silver from Anatolia
• Precious metals become scarcer in
Canaan during the Late Bronze Age,
possibly owing to Egypt’s continuous,
and increasing extraction of tribute
from its vassal states.
Late Bronze Age:
LB Age IA, IB, IIA & IIB
(1,550 – 1,200 BCE)
Arts & Crafts:
Art / decoration.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Art:
• Most Canaanite artistic expression
appears in the miniature arts, including
cylinder seals, figurines, and jewellery.
• Sculpture does appear, and exhibits
skills affiliated with MB North Syria,
but is much less common.
• All of the forms and motifs, however,
provide an invaluable source for
studying otherwise poorly preserved
Canaanite a. Garments
b. Physical appearance
c. Religion (iconography)
d. Cross-cultural relations
e. Aspects of daily life
f. Fauna
g. Flora
h. Etc.
Late Bronze Age:
LB Age IA, IB, IIA & IIB
(1,550 – 1,200 BCE)
Arts & Crafts:
Sculpture.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Stone sculpture:
• Canaanite temples in particular display
stone sculpture that apparently is
derived from MB Age North Syrian art:
Ebla and Alalakh.
Orthostats (sculpted slabs):
Hazor:
• Stone orthostat portraying a crouching
lion flanking the temple’s entry.
→ also a Lioness head (from Hazor).
• The motif of guardian lions is popular
throughout the Levant, including an
association with a deity standing on
a lion’s back.
E.g., Ebla: row of lion heads on basins
E.g., Other temples with guardian lions
Beth-Shean:
• Basalt slab depicting a dog fighting a
lion in two registers (i.e., 2 stages).
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Stone sculpture:
• Canaanite temples in particular display
stone sculpture that apparently is
derived from MB Age North Syrian art:
Ebla and Alalakh.
Orthostats (sculpted slabs):
Hazor:
• Stone orthostat portraying a crouching
lion flanking the temple’s entry.
→ also a Lioness head (from Hazor).
• The motif of guardian lions is popular
throughout the Levant, including an
association with a deity standing on a
lion’s back.
E.g., Ebla: row of lion heads on basins
E.g., Other temples with guardian lions
Beth-Shean:
• Basalt slab depicting a dog fighting a
lion in two registers (i.e., 2 stages).
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Stone sculpture:
Stone statuettes:
• Canaan has yielded small stone
anthropomorphic statuettes of divine
or royal figures:
E.g., A seated male holding an item in
a hand, such as a cup or lotus flower
(Hazor; Tel Sippor)
Stone stelae (free-standing slabs):
• Canaanite sculpture includes stelae
that often portray deities, such as
Baal: A warrior figure with a spear and
conical headdress, & variants.
(Ugarit; Tell Shihab)
El: A seated, elderly god (Ugarit).
Egyptian-style deities: A nomadic
Shasu(?) is depicted before an
Egyptian-style deity (Balua‘)
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Stone sculpture:
Stone statuettes:
• Canaan has yielded small stone
anthropomorphic statuettes of divine
or royal figures:
E.g., A seated male holding an item in
a hand, such as a cup or lotus flower
(Hazor; Tel Sippor)
Stone stelae (free-standing slabs):
• Canaanite sculpture includes stelae
that often portray deities, such as
Baal: A warrior figure with a spear and
conical headdress, & variants.
(Ugarit; Tell Shihab)
El: A seated, elderly god (Ugarit).
Egyptian-style deities: A nomadic
Shasu(?) is depicted before an
Egyptian-style deity (Balua‘)
Tell Shihab “Baal” on a stela
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Stone sculpture:
Stone statuettes:
• Canaan has yielded small stone
anthropomorphic statuettes of divine
or royal figures:
E.g., A seated male holding an item in
a hand, such as a cup or lotus flower
(Hazor; Tel Sippor)
Stone stelae (free-standing slabs):
• Canaanite sculpture includes stelae
that often portray deities, such as
Baal: A warrior figure with a spear and
conical headdress, & variants.
(Ugarit; Tell Shihab)
El: A seated, elderly god (Ugarit).
Egyptian-style deities: A nomadic
Shasu(?) is depicted before an
Egyptian-style deity (Balua‘)
Seated deity: EL(?)
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Stone sculpture:
Stone statuettes:
• Canaan has yielded small stone
anthropomorphic statuettes of divine
or royal figures:
E.g., A seated male holding an item in
a hand, such as a cup or lotus flower
(Hazor; Tel Sippor)
Stone stelae (free-standing slabs):
• Canaanite sculpture includes stelae
that often portray deities, such as
Baal: A warrior figure with a spear and
conical headdress, & variants.
(Ugarit; Tell Shihab)
El: A seated, elderly god (Ugarit).
Egyptian-style deities: A nomadic
Shasu(?) is depicted before an
Egyptian-style deity (Balua‘)
Late Bronze Age:
LB Age IA, IB, IIA & IIB
(1,550 – 1,200 BCE)
Arts & Crafts:
Seals (glyptic art).
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Glyptic art:
• Cylinder seals provide a major source
for the study of local through foreign
art, iconography, and foreign contact.
• Palestine has produced about 400
cylinder seals with diverse motifs,
while Syria contains larger quantities
(both as MB heirlooms & later styles).
• During Egypt’s control of much of the
Levant, cylinder seals suffer a decline
in quality (versus prosperous MB Age).
• Popular motifs / themes:
Warrior deity Baal
Naked/clothed goddess Astarte(?)
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Glyptic art:
• Cylinder seals provide a major source
for the study of local through foreign
art, iconography, and foreign contact.
• Palestine has produced about 400
cylinder seals with diverse motifs,
while Syria contains larger quantities
(both as MB heirlooms & later styles).
• During Egypt’s control of much of the
Levant, cylinder seals suffer a decline
in quality (versus prosperous MB Age).
• Popular motifs / themes:
Warrior deity Baal
Naked/clothed goddess Astarte(?)
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Glyptic art:
(a). Syro-Mitannian cylinder seals:
• In the 15th cent. BC, artisans in the
Kingdom of Mitanni (Syria) produced
a distinctive style that is later adapted
in Palestine (i.e., 50% of cylinder seals)
• Manufacturing cylinders seals from a
soft frit (artificial paste/faience).
• Incising cylinder with various motifs:
a. Bird frieze
b. Antelope frieze
c. Fish frieze
d. Sacred tree flanked by antelopes
and attendants (priests).
• Artisans in Palestine simplify these
seals a little later (14th – 13th cent BC),
and may reflect the arrival of Hurrian
seal cutters after the Hittites destroyed
Mitanni in the late 14th cent. AD.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Glyptic art:
Syro-Mitannian cylinder seals:
Lapidary:
•• In
Carving
the 15thdesigns
cent. BC, artisans in the
into hard of
stone
Kingdom
Mitanni (Syria) produced
seals
… that is later adapted
acylinder
distinctive
style
in Palestine (i.e., 50% of cylinder seals)
• Manufacturing cylinders seals from a
soft frit (artificial paste/faience).
• Incising cylinder with various motifs:
a. Bird frieze
b. Antelope frieze
c. Fish frieze
d. Sacred tree flanked by antelopes
and attendants (priests).
• Artisans in Palestine simplify these
seals a little later (14th – 13th cent BC),
and may reflect the arrival of Hurrian
seal cutters after the Hittites destroyed
Mitanni in the late 14th cent. AD.
Glyptic art:
Haematite cylinder seal with gold caps at either end
Placed in a LB 2A-B tomb near Acre (North Palestine)
Mitannian-style cylinder seal: 15th cent. BC+
Upper row: lions attacking bull; winged goddess & priest flank animal body
Lower row: Sacred tree flanked by two horned quadrupeds & two griffins.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Linear style technique in cylinder seal:
Glyptic art:
(b). Canaanite cylinder seals:
• The local Canaanite seal-cutting
workshops made simpler cylinder
seals with a broad range of motifs.
• They drew upon local through regional
and foreign motifs/influences.
• The Canaanites also imported seals
from elsewhere, including:
- Cyprus
- Assyria
NW Syria: Tell Atchana (Alalakh II?)
Egyptian-style adopted in cylinder seal:
• Hence, some seals appear essentially
as jewellery: an object d’art
• Other foreign seals may reflect the
presence, or transit, of foreign envoys:
- Merchants
- Messengers
- Others
Gezer (South Canaan): cylinder seal
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Glyptic art:
(c). Egyptian scarab seals:
• Canaan contains immense quantities
of Egyptian scarab seals during the
Late Bronze Age (i.e., imperial control)
• A number of scarabs bear Egyptian
royal names, indicating more official
contact with, or gifts to, vassal states.
• Although such scarabs provide a
chronological link, their tendency to be
retained as heirlooms reduced their
aid in dating their contexts of discovery
• Some king’s names were especially
popular as a talisman (protection), and
are produced after the king’s reign:
E.g., Thutmose III (Menkheperre) is
found on scarabs for 100s of yrs
Late Bronze Age:
LB Age IA, IB, IIA & IIB
(1,550 – 1,200 BCE)
Arts & Crafts:
Ivory carving.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Ivory carving:
• Ivory carving is a well-attested industry
in the Late Bronze Age, with artisans
using ivory to produce a wide range of
small items to decorative components
in composite objects:
- E.g., cosmetic containers
- E.g., inlay panels in furniture.
• A subterranean storage area in the
LB-Iron 1A palace at Megiddo (Str.VIIA)
yielded ca.300 pieces of carved ivory:
- One ivory piece bore the name of
Ramesses III (early Dyn.20: Iron 1A).
• This represents a re-building of the
LB Age palace, and may include items
that span the LB → Iron 1A periods.
• The ivory pieces consisted of small
containers, decorative fittings, and
inlays that came from wooden furniture
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Ivory carving:
• Other ivory caches appear at Lachish,
Tell el-Far‘ah (South), Ugarit, and in
isolated findings elsewhere: tombs etc. Megiddo: ivory panel from an armchair?
• Part of an ivory box from Tell el-Farah
portrays Egyptian-style hunting and
banqueting scenes.
• A popular ivory product in Canaan is
a duck-shaped cosmetic container
for unguents. It derives from Egyptian
types and enjoys widespread use.
• Complex mythological scenes also
appear on composite ivory panels in
elite furniture: e.g., bed headboards.
Ugarit (Ras Shamra):
ivory inlay panels from a bed headboard
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Ivory carving:
• Kantor and others have studied the
ivories in detail, dividing the artwork
into different cultural workshops:
Hatti
(Hittites)
a. Pure Canaanite artwork
Mycenaean
b. Hybrid Canaanite-Egyptian artwork
c. Hybrid Canaanite-Mycenaean work
d. Imported Mycenaean ivories
e. A rare imported Hittite ivory
(a). Canaanite ivory artwork:
• Canaanite artists made decorative
ivory panels for furniture, ivory plaques
and small boxes, and sculpted figures.
• Their favourite motifs include stylized
flora, fauna, and mythological beings.
• Female sphinxes, griffins, lions, and
antelopes appeared earlier in “Syrian”
glyptic art.
Egypt
Mitanni
Canaan
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Canaanite ivory artwork:
• Scenes often feature naked or clothed
female figures.
• The palace ivory bed panels often
have scenes of daily life at Ugarit and
to a lesser extent at Megiddo.
• An ivory plaque, which may have come
from a chair’s armrest shows a seated
ruler, a queen approaching, a female
lyre player, a soldier bringing POWs,
the prince/ruler in his chariot; banquet.
• Just this one scene illustrates a broad
range of things:
a. Costumes and regalia of different
classes and professions.
b. Different items, weaponry, etc. that
are otherwise not well-preserved.
c. A local depiction of Canaanites vs.
Egyptian propagandistic stereotypes
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Canaanite ivory artwork:
• Scenes often feature naked or clothed
female figures.
• The palace ivory bed panels often
have scenes of daily life at Ugarit and
to a lesser extent at Megiddo.
• An ivory plaque, which may have come
from a chair’s armrest shows a seated
ruler, a queen approaching, a female
lyre player, a soldier bringing POWs,
the prince/ruler in his chariot; banquet.
• Just this one scene illustrates a broad
range of things:
a. Costumes and regalia of different
classes and professions.
b. Different items, weaponry, etc. that
are otherwise not well-preserved.
c. A local depiction of Canaanites vs.
Egyptian propagandistic stereotypes
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
b.Hybrid Canaanite-Egyptian ivories:
• This collection of ivories are mostly
Egyptian in form and motifs:
- Plaques depicting Egyptian deities
- Swimming-girl shaped cosmetic
containers
- Duck-shaped cosmetic containers
- Egyptian plants: e.g., papyrus.
Egy. wooden swimming-girl cosm-spoon
• Despite the prevalence of Egyptian
influence, it appears that Canaanite
artisans made most of these things, Composite swimming-girl cosm-spoon
copying hieroglyphs and other motifs
inaccurately, but in an attempt to lend
an Egyptian feel to the artwork & forms
Ugarit: duck-shaped cosmetic container
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Hybrid Canaanite-Mycenaean ivories:
• This grouping contains locally made
items such as combs, a game board,
and ivory plaques.
• The scenes and motifs include hybrid
Canaanite and Mycenaean styles:
- Combat between animals (predator
and prey).
- Coniferous foliage & palm branches
- Other Mycenaean style motifs
• This corpus displays Mycenaean
influence, albeit possibly via Cyprus
which has yielded much Mycenaean
influence, including ivories.
• A few imported Mycenaean ivories
also appear at Megiddo and Ugarit.
• A single Hittite ivory plaque also
appears at Megiddo, showing rows of
deities, kings, animals, & winged-disks
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Ivory carving summary:
• Hence, the ivory industry relied on
raw materials that include mainly
elephant tusks & hippopotamus tusks.
• The nearest source represents the
Syrian elephant, which resided in the
forests in Lebanon and Syria mostly
(now extinct).
• Other sources include Nubia & India.
• Raw tusks are known to be exported
throughout Egypt, the Near East, and
East Mediterranean, where local artists
used ivory to produce their own or
hybrid compositions for the elite.
• Despite an overall impoverishment in
Late Bronze Canaan, the local elites
were still prosperous, and in the 13th
to early 12th centuries BC reveal
widespread collections of ivories.
Late Bronze Age:
LB Age IA, IB, IIA & IIB
(1,550 – 1,200 BCE)
Arts & Crafts:
Metal artwork.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Metal artwork:
Figurines and pendants:
• LB Age artisans continued to produce
figurines and pendants in gold, silver,
and bronze.
• A seated male, probably the god EL,
wears a long mantle and represents
the head of the Canaanite pantheon.
• A seated female wearing a long robe
is likely El’s spouse: Astarte?
• A naked female figure is likely the
goddess Astarte, who represents love
and fertility ().
a. Often portrayed on gold-sheet
pendants (triangular in form).
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Bronze-figurine-of-the-Astarteon-the-Ingot-type-from-Teratsoudhia-Tomb-104-Chamber-K_fig7_318852079
b. Sometimes shown in full-figure
c. Or abbreviated head & genitalia
Ashmolean
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Metal artwork:
Figurines and pendants:
• A warrior, prob. the god Baal-Hadad,
forms the most popular subject:
a. Striding figure
b. Holding a spear/weapon & shield
• A naked female standing on a lion
is identified by Egyptian captions as
Qudshu: “the Holy One.”
a. Canaanite deity depicted in both
Canaan and Egypt.
b. Lachish temple variant shows her
wearing an Egyptian-style crown,
standing on a horse, and holding
two lotus flowers (Acropolis temple).
• Humans are less frequently portrayed
in metal figures, but include a king or
priest wearing a mantle with a right
hand raised palm outward in adoration
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Metal artwork:
Figurines and pendants:
• A warrior, prob. the god Baal-Hadad,
forms the most popular subject:
a. Striding figure
b. Holding a spear/weapon & shield
• A naked female standing on a lion
is identified by Egyptian captions as
Qudshu: “the Holy One.”
a. Canaanite deity depicted in both
Canaan and Egypt.
b. Lachish temple variant shows her
wearing an Egyptian-style crown,
standing on a horse, and holding
two lotus flowers (Acropolis temple).
• Humans are less frequently portrayed
in metal figures, but include a king or
priest wearing a mantle with a right
hand raised palm outward in adoration
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Metal artwork:
Figurines and pendants:
• A warrior, prob. the god Baal-Hadad,
forms the most popular subject:
a. Striding figure
b. Holding a spear/weapon & shield
• A naked female standing on a lion
is identified by Egyptian captions as
Qudshu: “the Holy One.”
a. Canaanite deity depicted in both
Canaan and Egypt.
b. Lachish temple variant shows her
wearing an Egyptian-style crown,
standing on a horse, and holding
two lotus flowers (Acropolis temple).
• Humans are less frequently portrayed
in metal figures, but include a king or
priest wearing a mantle with a right
hand raised palm outward in adoration
Late Bronze Age:
LB Age IA, IB, IIA & IIB
(1,550 – 1,200 BCE)
Arts & Crafts:
Clay sculpture.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Clay figurines:
• Levantine artisans produced clay
figurines by putting raw clay into
moulds and baking the clay figurine.
• Most figurines consist of naked
females, equated with naked fertility
goddesses, such as Astarte (or Anat?)
• Such figurines are likely used mainly
by women, such as the later biblical
teraphim:
(Genesis 31:19-35; I Samuel 19:13-16)
• Female figurines are often standing,
holding snakes or lotus flowers.
• They often have Egyptian “Hathor”style hair: curled side-locks.
• Another type of female figurine
includes a female lying on a bed
(which is a popular type in NK Egypt).
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Clay figurines:
• Levantine artisans produced clay
figurines by putting raw clay into
moulds and baking the clay figurine.
• Most figurines consist of naked
females, equated with naked fertility
goddesses, such as Astarte (or Anat?)
• Such figurines are likely used mainly
by women, such as the later biblical
teraphim:
(Genesis 31:19-35; I Samuel 19:13-16)
• Female figurines are often standing,
holding snakes or lotus flowers.
• They often have Egyptian “Hathor”E.g.,curled
NK Deir
el-Medina
style hair:
side-locks.
• Another type of female figurine
includes a female lying on a bed
(which is a popular type in NK Egypt).
Deir el-Balah
Late Bronze Age:
LB Age IA, IB, IIA & IIB
(1,550 – 1,200 BCE)
Writing:
Language/literature
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Writing:
(a). Akkadian script in Levant:
• The cosmopolitan nature of LB Age
Canaan, which had broader relations
with the East Mediterranean and Near
East, is reflected in the writing systems
found throughout Palestine.
• As in the Middle Bronze Age, the
Akkadian cuneiform script & language
functioned as the international means
of communication throughout the
Near East: = lingua franca.
Megiddo: LB 1A frag.
Aphek 1250 BC letter of Gilgamesh epic
• In addition, the archives at Ugarit,
Amarna letters, and other isolated
tablets from Hazor, Megiddo, Tanaach,
Aphek, and Tel Hebron, reveal that
Canaanites also used cuneiform widely
in various religious and secular texts:
Tanaach: frags.
- E.g., Dictionaries
of cuneiform tablets
Lists, etc.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Akkadian script in Levant (cont.’):
• Each city-state ruler apparently had
locally trained scribes in his service.
• The discovery of bilingual and trilingual
dictionary tablets in Akkadian, at such Hebron: cuneiform tablet listing animals
sites as Aphek, reveal the existence of
local scribal schools and reference
collections for the non-indigenous
speakers/readers/writers of Akkadian.
• The presence and usage of Akkadian
at Egypt’s royal court emphasizes the
need for all East Mediterranean states
to employ scribes conversant in this
language for international relations.
• Despite Egypt’s political domination of
the Levant, it recognized that Akkadian
had to be used to communicate with
its vassals and neighbouring states,
in trade, commerce, and diplomacy.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
(b). Egyptian script in Levant:
• However, the Egyptian language is
also found in the Levant, using formal
hieroglyphs on stone slabs associated
with state and funerary-cultic structures
(e.g., statuary; stelae; jambs; lintels).
Mt.Ebal R2 scarab
• Egyptian business script also occurs,
being best preserved on var. hieraticinscribed bowls or other lessperishable materials (e.g., clay coffins;
scarab seals; etc.).
• The Egyptian texts mostly reflect the
usage of Egyptian script by
Dr. el-Balah stela
a. Egyptians in Canaan
(military, state, temple administration),
b. Some Egyptianized Canaanites
(i.e., princes → rulers), and
c. Canaanite scribes.
• However, both Egyptian & Akkadian → Dyn.19 Sety I stela Deir el-Balah: Egy
still foreign languages to Canaanites. at Beth-Shan
hieratic on bowl
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Indigenous Levantine script/language
• The Levantine population, including
Canaanites and northern affiliated
peoples (e.g., Ugarit), also developed
their own alphabetic writing system,
beginning in the later MB Age.
• This innovation became one of the
most important contributions to
Western civilization: The Canaanite
alphabet formed the foundation for the
later development of the Phoenician
and Greek alphabets.
• The Levant experiences two distinct
forms of the “Canaanite” alphabet:
a. North: Ugarit
b. South: Canaan with two variants:
- Proto-Sinaitic
- Proto-Canaanite
Proto-Canaanite & Ugaritic → alphabet!
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Ugaritic-alphabetic script:
• In the northern Levant, at Ugarit, the
indigenous scribes developed an
alphabetic script with 27 signs using
cuneiform signs (= specific to Ugarit).
• This adapted the use of clay tablets,
used for traditional Akkadian cuneiform
but used a stylus to write in the much
simplified new alphabetic system.
• As a major trading peoples, acting as
mediators between Syria-Mesopotamia
and the East Mediterranean, it was a
natural move to simplify the difficult &
cumbersome Akkadian script to a much
simpler alphabetic script that could be
learnt and used much more easily and
widely by business persons.
• Most of Ugarit’s mythological texts in
the temple library used the new script.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Canaanite alphabetic script:
• The Canaanites, who were dominated
politically by Egypt in the LB Age,
introduced their own distinct alphabetic
script based on acronyms.
• This Canaanite script displays two
variants:
a. Proto-Sinaitic
b. Proto-Canaanite
a. Proto-Sinaitic:
• The Proto-Sinaitic script appears in
the Sinai Peninsula primarily, being
written on rock slabs, rock faces, and
some earlier Middle Kingdom statues
in the copper mining region.
• This script was apparently used by
Canaanites exploiting the copper
mining region in Middle Bronze IIB-C:
ca.1750-1550 BC (post-Middle Kingdom)
• This script is still poorly understood
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
b. Proto-Canaanite:
• This script occurs in brief inscriptions
on pottery vessels & stone+metal items.
• Both its date of origin and meaning
remain poorly understood (similarly to
Proto-Sinaitic).
- E.g., Lachish
Brief text
- E.g., Tel Nagila Brief text
- E.g., Shechem Longer stone text
• The Shechem text has been dated to
Late MB IIC, in the 16th cent. BC
• The remaining Proto-Canaanite texts
are dated to LB 2B (13th cent. BC)
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Proto-Canaanite & Proto-Sinaitic:
• Of the relatively few translated texts,
they seem to refer to cultic activities.
Lachish
• A Proto-Canaanite text on a jar from
Ewer
Lachish’s Fosse temple is a dedication
with
to the goddess of this shrine.
Proto• In Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions, one of
Canaanite
the very few known words is Ib‘lt:
“for/belonging to the lady”
• This epithet may refer to Astarte, who
in-turn may represent the Egyptian
goddess Hathor, who has a shrine in
the S. Sinai turquoise mining region:
“Hathor, Mistress of the Turquoise.”
Overview of the alphabet:
• An exceedingly important innovation.
• It simplified both the ease of learning
how to read and write & using writing.
• It also increased literacy immensely.
Late Bronze Age:
LB Age IA, IB, IIA & IIB
(1,550 – 1,200 BCE)
Mortuary religion:
Burial customs.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Burial customs:
• LB Age Canaan yields a large range
of diff. burial types: many = foreign!
a. Natural-artificial caves:
• Multiple family burials placed in a
complex over generations.
• Some huge caves contained 100s of
bodies.
Cave burials:
• Many burials were accompanied by
Naturally these tend to occur
large quantities of
in- the
hillvessels
country region:
Pottery
i.e.,
geographic/geological
- Weapons
- Jewellery
locational determinant
- Seals
- Other valuable possessions
Also handy for re-usage over
• time
Many
…are located in the Shephelah
and hill country: e.g., Mt. Carmel,
Samarian – Judean hills, etc.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Burial customs:
• As in earlier periods, Canaan yields a
range of different burial types:
a. Natural-artificial caves:
• Multiple family burials placed in a
complex over many generations.
• Some huge caves contained
100s of bodies: divide by years of tomb usage
• Many burials were accompanied by
large quantities of
- Pottery vessels
- Weapons
- Jewellery
- Seals
- Other valuable possessions
• Many are located in the Shephelah
and hill country: e.g., Mt. Carmel,
Samarian – Judean hills, etc.
Hazor Area F Str.1B
burial cave no.8144
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
b. Mostly single burial pit-graves:
• Simple rectilinear soil-cut pit-graves
normally contain single burials
• Most common in the coastal and
northern plains of Canaan.
• Pit-graves with a significant inclusion
and amount of Cypriot & Mycenaean
Soil-cut
pit-burials:
pottery (valuable
imports): e.g., Acre.
these
tend to
be more
•Naturally
The inclusion
of foreign
wealth
has
common
in suggestions
flatter lands:
led to some
that these
burials
reflect
wealthy
merchants
i.e.,
which
lack
handy
naturalor
elite
trading
withfor
Aegean.
(orcustomers
artificial)
caves
• The
pit-graves
vary: wealthier…one
burial
opportunities
contain built-up interior structures.
•They
Tell still
es-Sa‘idiyeh:
interior
rectilinear
do occur
in the
hill
mud brick
structures
withas
many
items
country,
but
not quite
freq.
…
late LB Age–Iron 1A
• Tell el-Ajjul: dromos/corridor access
to a stone-built interior structure.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
b. Mostly single burial pit-graves:
• Simple rectilinear soil-cut pit-graves
normally contain single burials
• Most common in the coastal and
northern plains of Canaan.
• Pit-graves with a significant inclusion
and amount of Cypriot & Mycenaean
pottery (valuable imports): e.g., Acre.
• The inclusion of foreign wealth has
led to some suggestions that these
burials reflect wealthy merchants or
elite customers trading with Aegean.
• The pit-graves vary: wealthier one
contain built-up interior structures.
• Tell es-Sa‘idiyeh: interior rectilinear
mud brick structures with many items
late LB Age–Iron 1A
• Tell el-Ajjul: dromos/corridor access
to a stone-built interior structure.
Tell Abu Hawam:
-Simple pit burial →
EXTENDED in LB
Ashkelon:
--Female burial in pit
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Ajjul: Gov.Tomb
b. Mostly single burial pit-graves:
• Simple rectilinear soil-cut pit-graves
Megiddo
normally
royal?
tomb contain single burials
1600 BC
• Most common in the coastal and
MB2Cnorthern plains of Canaan.
LB1A
• Pit-graves with a significant inclusion
and amount of Cypriot & Mycenaean
pottery (valuable imports): e.g., Acre.
• The inclusion of foreign wealth has
led to some suggestions that these
burials reflect wealthy merchants or
https://www.timesofisrael.com/untouched-for-3600-years-royal-tomb-may-change-what-weelite customers trading with Aegean.
know-about-canaanites/
• The pit-graves vary: wealthier ones
contain built-up interior structures.
• Tell es-Sa‘idiyeh: interior rectilinear
mud brick structures with many items
late LB Age–Iron 1A
• Tell el-Ajjul: dromos/corridor access
to a stone-built interior structure.
Ajjul: Tomb 1969
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
LB mummification at Tell es-Saidiyeh:
- Some Egyptian-style burials also
reveal evidence for “mummification”
a. Bodies tightly wrapped in linen
b. Bronze implements incorporated
into bindings with Egyptian linen:
traces via mineralization (corrosion)
c. Bitumen placed over several of
the bodies (also at Megiddo) to
aid in preservation.
- Ritual “killing” of bronze tools and
weapons by bending (to stop looting)
- Many funerary offerings = Egyptian
in nature: pottery, bronze vessels, +
- Egyptian-type odd practices:
E.g., Bronze bowl placed over face
of deceased.
- Bodies buried in extended fashion.
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
c. Anthropoid coffin burials:
• In LB 2B–Iron 1A, ceramic anthropoid
coffin burials appear in Canaan, which
reflect an Egyptian practice, called
“slipper” coffins by W.M.F. Petrie.
• In general, such burials reflect the
distribution of Egyptian Ramesside
garrisons (i.e., Dynasty 19 – early 20),
with officers & troops using these.
• Some anthropoid coffins have Egyptian
inscriptions or Egyptian motifs:
E.g., lotus blossom, divine beard, etc.
• Other anthropoid coffins reflect hybrid
coffins: Philistine/Peleset headdress.
• Placed in deep pits with moderately to
valuable contents and 1-several bodies
Baked clay, anthropoid coffin:
•“slipper”
A few had
Egyptian
an Egyptian
stela
coffin
–Egyptian
type.
above the pit (at Deir el-Balah).
Anthropoid coffins
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
c. Anthropoid coffin burials:
• In LB 2B–Iron 1A, ceramic anthropoid
coffin burials appear in Canaan, which
reflect an Egyptian practice, called
“slipper” coffins by W.M.F. Petrie.
• In general, such burials reflect the
distribution of Egyptian Ramesside
garrisons (i.e., Dynasty 19 – early 20),
with officers & troops using these.
• Some anthropoid coffins have Egyptian
inscriptions or Egyptian motifs:
E.g., lotus blossom, divine beard, etc.
• Other anthropoid coffins reflect hybrid
coffins: Philistine/Peleset headdress?
• Placed in deep pits with moderately to
valuable contents and 1-several bodies
• A few had Egyptian an Egyptian stela
above the pit (at Deir el-Balah).
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
c. Anthropoid coffin burials:
• In LB 2B – Iron 1A, ceramic anthropoid
coffin burials appear in Canaan, which
reflect an Egyptian practice, called
“slipper” coffins by W.M.F. Petrie.
• In general, such burials reflect the
distribution of Egyptian Ramesside
garrisons (i.e., Dynasty 19 – early 20),
with officers & troops using these.
• Some anthropoid coffins have Egyptian
inscriptions or Egyptian motifs:
E.g., lotus blossom, divine beard, etc.
• Other anthropoid coffins reflect hybrid
coffins: Philistine/Peleset headdress.
• Placed in deep pits with moderate to
valuable contents; one → a few bodies
• A few had Egyptian an Egyptian stela
above the pit (at Deir el-Balah).
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
c. Anthropoid coffin burials:
• In LB 2B – Iron 1A, ceramic anthropoid
coffin burials appear in Canaan, which
reflect an Egyptian practice, called
“slipper” coffins by W.M.F. Petrie.
• In general, such burials reflect the
distribution of Egyptian Ramesside
garrisons (i.e., Dynasty 19 – early 20),
with officers & troops using these.
• Some anthropoid coffins have Egyptian
inscriptions or Egyptian motifs:
E.g., lotus blossom, divine beard, etc.
• Other anthropoid coffins reflect hybrid
coffins: Philistine/Peleset headdress.
• Placed in deep pits with moderate to
valuable contents; one → a few bodies
• A few had an Egyptian stela with text
above the pit (at Deir el-Balah: 4 e.g.,).
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
LB Age double pithos-type burials:
- A Sea Peoples’ component appears
present at Tell es-Saidiyeh via a
particular burial type in the Egyptian
controlled site: double pithos burials
- J. Tubb found 37+ double pithos
burials at this site (LB2B - Iron 1A).
a. A totally non-Canaanite tradition
(Lower parts of 2 large store jars
placed opening-to-opening)
b. Single body inside double pithoi
c. Funerary goods inside or outside
the double store jar “coffin,” but
= like other tomb type offerings.
d. Slight preference for Egyptiantype items: scarabs, jewellery,
bronze knives, ivory boxes, etc.
→ Apparently = main burial type in
Hittite Anatolia → = Sea Peoples.
J. Tubb: Sherden?
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
d. Bench Tomb burials:
• Several sites in Canaan contain a
different style of tomb, called a bench
tomb.
• Such tombs are soil-cut with a passage
and stairway entry into a squarish
chamber with raised side benches
(also described as a side-niche).
• This tomb type actually dates to Iron
Age 1A (ca.1200-1150 BC), during the
early Dynasty 20 control of Canaan.
• It may represent an Aegean-derived
Tell
Farah
South
burial
form,
related to the Sea Peoples’
settlement in coastal regions.
• These burial types will be discussed
further in the Iron 1A class.
Bench Tomb burials
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
d. Bench Tomb burials:
• Several sites in Canaan contain a
different style of tomb, called a bench
tomb.
• Such tombs are soil-cut with a passage
and stairway entry into a squarish
chamber with raised side benches
(also described as a side-niche).
• This tomb type actually dates to Iron
Age 1A (ca.1200-1150 BC), during the
early Dynasty 20 control of Canaan.
• It may represent an Aegean-derived
burial form, related to the Sea Peoples’
settlement in coastal regions.
• These burial types will be discussed
further in the Iron 1A class.
Iron 1A:
Tell Farah
South
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Intramural tombs
e. Intramural & stone-built tombs:
• Intramural burials, which occurred in
the MB Age, become rare in the LB.
Stone-built tombs
• This shift from many urban to mostly
external burials may reflect a change
in religious beliefs, population, or a
combination of both with foreign
influences.
• However, some towns do retain
several intramural burials, while a
few settlements have stone-built
tombs: Dan, Megiddo, and Aphek.
Intramural
• The stone-built tombs include
a
royal
corbel-roofed structure and
areburials
LB Age
similar to the ashlar-built in
royal
tombs
at Ugarit (Ras Shamra). palace at
Qatna (in
Similar to Mycenaean Tholos
Syria tombs
…)
•
• Much Myc. Pottery at Dan & Megiddo
•Qatna
But (Syria)
MB II Canaan has corbelling
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
e. Intramural & stone-built tombs:
• Intramural burials, which occurred in
the MB Age, become rare in the LB.
• This shift from many urban to mostly
external burials may reflect a change
in religious beliefs, population, or a
combination of both with foreign
influences.
• However, some towns do retain
several intramural burials, while a
few settlements have stone-built
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/rewriting-tel-megiddos-violent-history
tombs: Dan, Megiddo, and Aphek.
• The stone-built tombs include a
corbel-roofed structure and are
similar to the ashlar-built royal tombs
at Ugarit (Ras Shamra).
• Similar to Mycenaean Tholos tombs
• Much Myc. Pottery at Dan & Megiddo
• But MB II Canaan also has corbelling
“LB Age” tomb at Megiddo
Megiddo Tomb 4089
Stratum XI Area AA:
Found open & empty
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
e. Intramural & stone-built tombs:
• Intramural burials, which occurred in
the MB Age, become rare in the LB.
• This shift from many urban to mostly
external burials may reflect a change
in religious beliefs, population, or a
combination of both with foreign
influences.
• However, some towns do retain
several intramural burials, while a
few settlements have stone-built
tombs: Dan, Megiddo, and Aphek.
https://www.baslibrary.org/biblical-archaeology-review/31/5/8
• The stone-built tombs include a
corbel-roofed structure and are
similar to the ashlar-built royal tombs
at Ugarit (Ras Shamra).
• Similar to Mycenaean Tholos tombs
• Much Myc. pottery at Dan & Megiddo
• But MB II Canaan also has corbelling
Tel Dan: Mycenaean-built tomb
Except
conical
corbel
vault →
Mycenae
Tel Dan:
• Mycenaean pottery from the
so-called “Mycenaean tomb”
• Possible influences in tomb
design???
https://teldan.wordpress.com/discoveries/
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
e. Intramural & stone-built tombs:
• Intramural burials, which occurred in
the MB Age, become rare in the LB.
• This shift from many urban to mostly
external burials may reflect a change
in religious beliefs, population, or a
combination of both with foreign
influences.
• However, some towns do retain
several intramural burials, while a
few settlements have stone-built
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/rewriting-tel-megiddos-violent-history
tombs: Dan, Megiddo, and Aphek.
• The stone-built tombs include a
corbel-roofed structure and are
similar to the ashlar-built royal tombs
at Ugarit (Ras Shamra).
Megiddo Tomb 1 (LB Age vs. MB Age)
• Similar to Mycenaean Tholos tombs • Shaft entry → passage → chamber
• Much Myc. Pottery at Dan & Megiddo • Single body on a stone bench
• 5+? bodies on the floor
• But MB II Canaan has corbelling
th
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
f. Larnax/coffin burials:
• Gezer+Acre (Acco) have yielded 2
bathtub-style coffins to hold bodies.
• These coffins are non-indigenous to
the Levant.
• They are similar to Greek larnax
found in Mycenaean culture, and
may also reflect some contact with
the Aegean.
Note: postulated cremation burials.
• L. Herr has suggested that the tiny
fragments of burnt human remains
at the Amman Airport structure may
reflect Hittite, or Indo-European,
cremations
in this
region. coffin
Generic,
Aegean
larnax-type
→ This instructor (and others) disagree
strongly with this suggestion.
Larnax burials
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
f. Larnax/coffin burials:
• Gezer+Acre (Acco) have yielded two
bathtub-style coffins to hold bodies.
• These coffins are non-indigenous to
the Levant.
• They are similar to Greek larnax
found in Mycenaean culture, and
may also reflect some contact with
the Aegean.
Cave tomb at Gezer with ceramic coffin
Note: postulated cremation burials.
• L. Herr has suggested that the tiny
fragments of burnt human remains
at the Amman Airport structure may
reflect Hittite, or Indo-European,
cremations in this region.
→ This instructor (and others) disagree
Gezer lar nax: i.e., ceramic coffin
with this suggestion.
i.e., = other options (see later lecture)
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
LB Age burial customs:
• The LB Age also appears to yield
some large cemeteries that lack
adjacent settlements (similar to MB).
• A 14th–13th cent. BC cemetery lay at
Tell el–‘Ajjul, which lacked a nearby
settlement of sufficient size.
• The large settlement at Ajjul had
been mostly abandoned in LB 1A,
being replaced by a small Egyptian
fort (with a successive series of
constructions).
• It is suggested that such “rural”
(non-urban) cemeteries represent
semi-nomadic populations, which
increased during the LB Age:
E.g., Sashu
Habiru
‘Apiru
LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Multicultural burial customs:
• The many different types of burials
and tomb types within LB Canaan
suggest both a multicultural and
socially stratified population.
• R. Gonen has studied the spatial
distribution of burial types in LB Age
Canaan & has determined that some
differences reflect regional variance:
a. The coastal plain contains individual
burials in simple pits or in stone
structures placed in simple pits.
b. In contrast, the Shephelah (foothills)
and hill country contain multiple
burials in natural or rock-cut caves.
→ This difference may reflect Biblical
descriptions of the coastal plains as
containing mainly Canaanites, while
the hill country held Amorites.True??
SUMMARY
OF MAIN
POINTS:
Summary notes:
Late Bronze Age: Indigenous Canaanite characteristics.
Date:
ca. 1550 – 1200 BC
Lifestyle:
LB Age city-states are mostly unfortified in Palestine
(Egyptian imperial policy?)
Some towns place buildings along mound edge → pseudofortified.
Town palace (“governor’s residency) tends to move nearer to citygate area
Religion:
Much greater variance in temples: migdol tower-temples continue
(Baal-Hadad), but other foreign-derived designs exist within and
outside towns.
Ugarit yields cuneiform texts with much information on West Semitic
deities worshipped by Canaanites: El, Anat, Dagon, Baal, Astarte,
Yam, Mot, etc. (standing stones; Baal disk-symbol; raised arms +
lunar disk; etc. indicate diff. cults)
Summary notes:
Late Bronze Age: Indigenous Canaanite characteristics.
Landscape:
Semi-nomadic pastoralists threatening countryside: the ‘Apiru, Shasu,
etc.
Technology:
Chariot and horses; body armour; composite bow; socketed
weaponry; etc.
Trade:
Cypriot pottery: Base Ring I-II juglets (opium); White Slip I-II; also
valued for beauty.
Mycenaean pottery: valued for its beauty and importing oils &
unguents
Amarna letters and isolated cuneiform letters reveal international
trade & political relations (Amarna period = late LB 2A: 1350-1300
BC).
Extensive maritime trade: e.g., Ulu Burin shipwreck (10 tons of
copper + 1 ton of tin).
Summary notes:
Late Bronze Age: Indigenous Canaanite characteristics.
Artwork:
Stone sculpture; cylinder seals & ivories in Canaanite and hybrid
styles.
Burials:
Extended burials (full length) with pit-graves in plains and cavetombs in hills
Many different foreign-derived burials throughout Palestine (multicultural society)