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The Kingdom of Hazor in the Late Bronze Age:
Chronological and Regional Aspects of the Material Culture of Hazor
and its Settlements
Sharon Zuckerman, Institute of Archaeology
Since the first excavation seasons at Tel Hazor, led by Yigael Yadin in the
1950’s, impressive remains of fortifications, temples and public buildings from the
Bronze Age were unearthed throughout the huge 800 dunams of the upper and
lower city of Hazor. The final reports of Yadin’s team are an invaluable source of
both architectural and artifactual information relating to the Bronze Age strata,
although some of their conclusions have been debated. The renewed excavations at
the site have concentrated in two areas on the upper tel: area A, the acropolis, and
Area M, on the northern slope of the tel facing the lower city. The Late Bronze
Age remains revealed in these two areas and their interpretation are the subject of
my dissertation.
One aim of my work is to suggest an archaeological and historical
reconstruction of the Kingdom of Hazor during the Late Bronze Age II, The last
phase of the flourishing Canaanite city. The second aim is a reassessment and
renewed discussion in the final destruction of Hazor in the end of the Late Bronze
Age. This destruction was extensively discussed, usually in relation to the vivid
biblical description of the fire set to the defeated Canaanite metropolis by the
Israelites. I intend to discuss the destruction Hazor from a different perspective,
evaluating it as the final phase of a long process of development and decline of the
mighty kingdom beginning in the Middle Bronze Age. Based on a critical
evaluation of previous dating suggestions of this event, I offer evidence for a date
that will suit best all kinds of dating evidence available to-date.
The detailed stratigraphic analysis of the monumental buildings excavated in
the renewed excavations is the basis for a new interpretation of the Acropolis plan
during the Late Bronze Age. The building termed "Canaanite Palace", on the
highest point of the Tell, should in my opinion be interpreted as part of a large
complex of cultic ceremonial buildings arranged around a central courtyard. The
activities taking place in the "Canaanite Palace" probably included ritual food
consumption on a large scale, as evidenced also by the faunal remains from the
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courtyard. Another building, on the northern slope of the Tel, is defined as a
"Royal Portal" to a spacious building, the residential palace of Abdi-Tirshi king of
Hazor and his dynasty. Such "Royal Portals" were found in other Syrian Palaces
(notably that of Ugarit) and were probably not open to the public, but served royal
emissaries, foreign merchants and other privileged functionaries. These were
accepted there by the king or his high officials, participated in a series of ritual
activities such as libation or ablution, and than led into the royal palace itself.
A major contribution of the ceramic assemblage is Chronology. Some types
of vessels are chronologically indicative, and point to a date early in the 13 th
century BC for the final destruction of Canaanite Hazor.
The date and causes of the violent destruction of Canaanite Hazor have been
an important issue ever since the first excavations of the site. The different
suggestions for dating this event can be categorized under two separate schools.
The first school dates the destruction to the later half of the 13th century, sometime
during the last years of the long rein of Ramses II or his heir Merneptah. These
scholars (noteworthy are Yigael Yadin, Yohanan Aharoni, and Amnon Ben-Tor),
tie the destruction of Canaanite Hazor to the biblical descriptions in Joshua and see
the Israelites as responsible for this event. The second school tends to support an
earlier date in the first half of the 13th century. Proponents of this date, such as
Olga Tufnell, Kethlyn Kenyon, P.Beck and M.Kochavi and Israel Finkelstein, base
their suggestions on the preliminary study of the pottery of Hazor and its
connection to the ceramic assemblages of dated sites. In my dissertation I
evaluated all lines of evidence that can contribute to the chronological debate.
These include imported Wares (mainly Mycenaean pottery), Egyptian historical
sources and finds at Hazor, cuneiform tablets found in the destruction level and
C14 dates of samples from the same context. Most of these support the earlier date
suggested, and point to the first half of the 13th century in the time of Ramses II as
the most plausible date for the final destruction of Canaanite Hazor.
If this is the case, there is no necessary connection between the destruction of
Hazor and the process of Israelite Tribes settlement in Cannan. The destruction of
Canaanite Hazor should be studied as the last phase of a long process of
development, flourishing and decline of the kingdom. The remains of the activities
taking place in the two monumental complexes on the upper tel provide important
clues both to the strength of Hazor and the seeds of its decline. Large-scale ritual
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meals can be reconstructed on the basis of the ceramic and faunal assemblages in
the “Canaanite Palace” and its courtyard. These commensal feasts could have
served as the city’s elite way of labour recruitment, needed for the large scale
building activities in the beginning of the 14th century BC. It can thus explain
Hazor’s special status in its Canaanite context. The remains of such ritual feasts in
the last phase before the destruction should be explained against the background of
deteriorating political and economic conditions and the growing competition
between the Canaanite city-states.
The destruction of Canaanite Hazor was violent but selective. Remains of
fire were limited to the temples in the lower city and the monumental buildings on
the Tel. The destruction campaign was thus aimed at centers of political and
religious power in the city, and the destruction of gods and kings statues should be
seen as part of this attack against the ruling hierarchy. The dwelling quarters in the
lower city were not affected. The bearers of such destruction could have well been
other Canaanite hostile city or even the city dwellers themselves, so long
suppressed under the ruling authority. Whoever was responsible for this event was
not interested in the rebuilding of the city, and the city was deserted. Its population
probably spread to other sites in the vicinity, which continued to flourish in the
second half of the 13th century. Hazor was left deserted for a certain period and lost
its role as a major center for decades to come.