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110-501: The text is largely an account of Merneptah's victory over the ancient Libyans and their allies, but the last three of the 28 lines deal with a separate campaign in Canaan , then part of Egypt's imperial possessions. It is sometimes referred to as the "Israel Stele" because a majority of scholars translate a set of hieroglyphs in line 27 as " Israel ". Alternative translations have been advanced but are not widely accepted. The stele represents

220-745: A Libuan king invaded Egypt from the west in alliance with various northern peoples. Merneptah achieved a great victory in the summer of that year , and the inscription is mainly about this. The final lines deal with a separate campaign in the East, where some of the Canaanite cities had revolted. Traditionally the Egyptians had concerned themselves only with cities, so the problem presented by Israel must have been something new – possibly attacks on Egypt's vassals in Canaan. Merneptah and Ramesses III fought off their enemies, but it

330-479: A battle in open hilly country against an enemy shown as Canaanite. Yurco suggested that this scene was to be equated with the Israel of the stele. While the idea that Merneptah's Israelites are to be seen on the walls of the temple has had an influence on many theories regarding the significance of the inscription, not all Egyptologists accept Yurco's ascription of the reliefs to Merneptah. Ancient Libya During

440-627: A campaign to "Mentu", "Retjenu" and "Sekmem" ( Shechem ) is the Sebek-khu Stele , dated to the reign of Senusret III ( c.  1862 BC). A letter from Mut-bisir to Shamshi-Adad I ( c.  1809–1776 BC) of the Old Assyrian Empire (2025–1750 BC) has been translated: "It is in Rahisum that the brigands (habbatum) and the Canaanites (Kinahnum) are situated". It was found in 1973 in

550-484: A catastrophic change reduced the vast body of fresh water to a seasonal lake or marsh. Ibn Khaldun and Herodotus distinguish the Libyans on the basis of their lifestyles rather than ethnic background, those practicing agriculture, and the others nomadic pastoralism. Modern historians tend to follow Herodotus's classical distinctions. Examples include Oric Bates in his book The Eastern Libyans . Some other historians have used

660-706: A common pedestal that supports a huge transverse beam. In the Terrgurt valley, Cowper says: "There had been originally no less than eighteen or twenty megalithic trilithons, in a line, each with its massive altar placed before it". In ancient times, the Phoenicians / Carthaginians , the Neo-Assyrian Empire , the Persian Achaemenid Empire ( see Libya (satrapy) ), the Macedonian Empire of Alexander

770-427: A fixed city-state home, thus implying a seminomadic or rural status for 'Israel' at that time". The phrase "wasted, bare of seed" is formulaic, and often used of defeated nations – it implies that the grain-store of the nation in question has been destroyed, which would result in a famine the following year, incapacitating them as a military threat to Egypt. According to James Hoffmeier, "no Egyptologists would ever read

880-508: A settled life, but with bad luck or due to the force of circumstances, contributed a rootless element to the population, prepared to hire themselves to whichever local mayor, king, or princeling would pay for their support. Although Habiru SA-GAZ (a Sumerian ideogram glossed as "brigand" in Akkadian ), and sometimes Habiri (an Akkadian word) had been reported in Mesopotamia from

990-606: A speculative territory west of Egypt. Modern Arabic uses Libya . The Lwatae, the tribe of Ibn Battuta , as the Arabs called it, was a Berber tribe that mainly was situated in Cyrenaica. This tribe may have ranged from the Atlantic Ocean to modern Libya , however, and was referred to by Corippius as Laguatan ; he linked them with the Maures . Ibn Khaldun 's Muqaddimah states Luwa

1100-566: Is based on the ethnonym Libu ( Ancient Greek : Λίβυες Líbyes , Latin : Libyes ). The name Libya (in use since 1934 for the modern country formerly known as Tripolitania and Barca ) was the Latin designation for the region of the Maghreb, from the Ancient Greek ( Attic Greek : Λιβύη Libúē , Doric Greek : Λιβύᾱ Libúā ). In Classical Greece , the term had a broader meaning, encompassing

1210-591: Is connected with the Greek word for "purple", apparently referring to the same product, but it is difficult to state with certainty whether the Greek word came from the name, or vice versa. The purple cloth of Tyre in Phoenicia was well known far and wide and was associated by the Romans with nobility and royalty. However, according to Robert Drews , Speiser's proposal has generally been abandoned. Retjenu (Anglicised 'Retenu')

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1320-508: Is considered less credible because it was produced centuries later. Amorites at Hazor , Kadesh (Qadesh-on-the-Orontes), and elsewhere in Amurru (Syria) bordered Canaan in the north and northeast. (Ugarit may be included among these Amoritic entities.) The collapse of the Akkadian Empire in 2154 BC saw the arrival of peoples using Khirbet Kerak ware (pottery), coming originally from

1430-716: Is only possible that the palace in Area AA might have been destroyed though this is not certain. While the monumental structures at Hazor were indeed destroyed, this destruction was in the mid-13th century BC long before the end of the Late Bronze Age began. However, many sites were not burned to the ground around 1200 BC including: Asqaluna , Ashdod (ancient city) , Tell es-Safi , Tel Batash , Tel Burna , Tel Dor , Tel Gerisa , Tell Jemmeh , Khirbet Rabud, Tel Zeror , and Tell Abu Hawam among others. Despite many theories which claim that trade relations broke down after 1200 BC in

1540-461: Is the Libyans who taught Greeks how to ride chariots , this is further shown when Mastanbal the prince of Numidia who is well versed in Greek literature. A sportsman in his youth, the prince took part in chariot races and the Panathenaic Games which only populations whom the greeks considered equal to them culturally and religiously were allowed to participate. Mastanbal was a sportsman who

1650-496: Is the daughter of Poseidon and Tritonis a Libyan lake nymph. .in another version of the story in the same source, they say that she was daughter of Poseidon and Lake Tritonis, and that, being for some reason angry at her father, she gave herself to Zeus , who made her his own daughter, on the other hand some say that she sprang from the forehead of her father Zeus in the same location in North Africa. According to Herodotus , it

1760-582: Is the following. After the Iron Age the periods are named after the various empires that ruled the region: Assyrian , Babylonian , Persian , Hellenistic (related to Greece ) and Roman . Canaanite culture developed in situ from multiple waves of migration merging with the earlier Circum-Arabian Nomadic Pastoral Complex , which in turn developed from a fusion of their ancestral Natufian and Harifian cultures with Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) farming cultures, practicing animal domestication , during

1870-782: The 6200 BC climatic crisis which led to the Neolithic Revolution/First Agricultural Revolution in the Levant . The majority of Canaan is covered by the Eastern Mediterranean conifer–sclerophyllous–broadleaf forests ecoregion. The first wave of migration, called Ghassulian culture, entered Canaan circa 4500 BC. This is the start of the Chalcolithic in Canaan. From their unknown homeland, they brought an already complete craft tradition of metalwork. They were expert coppersmiths; in fact, their work

1980-751: The Amarna letters (14th century BC) and several other ancient Egyptian texts. In Greek, it first occurs in the writings of Hecataeus (c. 550–476 BC) as " Khna " ( Χνᾶ ). It is attested in Phoenician on coins from Berytus dated to the 2nd century BC. The etymology is uncertain. An early explanation derives the term from the Semitic root knʿ , "to be low, humble, subjugated". Some scholars have suggested that this implies an original meaning of "lowlands", in contrast with Aram , which would then mean "highlands", whereas others have suggested it meant "the subjugated" as

2090-661: The Berbers (El-Barbar or El-Barabera(h)). There were many tribes in ancient Libya, including the now extinct Psylli , with the Libu being the most prominent. The ancient Libyans were mainly pastoral nomads, living off their goats, sheep and other livestock. For subsistence, milk, meat, hides and wool were gathered from their livestock for food, pitching tents and as clothing. Ancient Egyptian sources describe Libyan men with long hair, braided and bearded, neatly parted from different sides and decorated with feathers attached to leather bands around

2200-498: The Bible as a geography associated with the " Promised Land ". The demonym "Canaanites" serves as an ethnic catch-all term covering various indigenous populations—both settled and nomadic-pastoral groups—throughout the regions of the southern Levant . It is by far the most frequently used ethnic term in the Bible. Biblical scholar Mark Smith , citing archaeological findings, suggests "that

2310-563: The Egyptian Empire and Hittite Empire. Later still, the Neo-Assyrian Empire assimilated the region. According to the Bible, the migrant ancient Semitic-speaking peoples who appear to have settled in the region included (among others) the Amorites , who had earlier controlled Babylonia. The Hebrew Bible mentions the Amorites in the Table of Peoples ( Book of Genesis 10:16–18a). Evidently,

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2420-658: The Egyptians . The nation of Egypt contains the Siwa Oasis , which is bordering Libya at the Western Desert . The Siwi language , a Berber language , is still spoken in the area by around 21,000 people. Their Ancient Egyptian neighbors referred to the various Libyan tribes as the Temehu, Tehenu, Rebu and Meshwesh . Homer names Libya, in the Odyssey (IX.95; XXIII.311). Homer used

2530-651: The First Babylonian Empire , which lasted only as long as his lifetime. Upon his death the Amorites were driven from Assyria but remained masters of Babylonia until 1595 BC, when they were ejected by the Hittites. The semi-fictional Story of Sinuhe describes an Egyptian officer, Sinuhe, conducting military activities in the area of "Upper Retjenu " and " Fenekhu " during the reign of Senusret I ( c.  1950 BC). The earliest bona fide Egyptian report of

2640-508: The Hyksos , they became the dominant power. In Egyptian inscriptions, Amar and Amurru ( Amorites ) are applied strictly to the more northerly mountain region east of Phoenicia, extending to the Orontes . Archaeological excavations of a number of sites, later identified as Canaanite, show that prosperity of the region reached its apogee during this Middle Bronze Age period, under the leadership of

2750-631: The Iron Age and Classical antiquity , Libya (from Greek Λιβύη : Libyē , which came from Berber : Libu ) referred to modern-day Africa west of the Nile river . Greek and Roman geographers placed the dividing line between Libya/Africa and Asia at the Nile. In contrast, the areas of Sub-Saharan Africa were known as Aethiopia . More narrowly, Libya could also refer to the country immediately west of Egypt, viz Marmarica ( Libya Inferior ) and Cyrenaica ( Libya Superior ). The Libyan Sea or Mare Libycum

2860-526: The Israelite culture largely overlapped with and derived from Canaanite culture ... In short, Israelite culture was largely Canaanite in nature." The name "Canaanites" is attested, many centuries later, as the endonym of the people later known to the Ancient Greeks from c.  500 BC as Phoenicians , and after the emigration of Phoenicians and Canaanite-speakers to Carthage (founded in

2970-606: The Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt , during the 13th century BC. LBW appears as an ethnic name on the Merneptah Stele to designate Libyans. Menelaus had travelled there on his way home from Troy ; it was a land of wonderful richness, where the lambs have horns as soon as they are born, where ewes lamb three times a year and no shepherd ever goes short of milk, meat or cheese. When the Ancient Greeks actually settled in Libya,

3080-645: The Pentapolis of the Roman era on the current west Italian coast. The exact boundaries of the whole of ancient Libya are unknown, but it likely constituted the western regions of Ancient Egypt , and was known as "Tjehenu" to the Egyptians. Ibn Khaldun, who dedicated the main part of his book Kitab el'ibar , which is known as "The history of the Berbers", did not use the names Libya and Libyans , but instead used Arabic names: The Old Maghreb , ( El-Maghrib el-Qadim ), and

3190-680: The Zagros Mountains (in modern Iran ) east of the Tigris . In addition, DNA analysis revealed that between 2500–1000 BC, populations from the Chalcolithic Zagros and Bronze Age Caucasus migrated to the Southern Levant. The first cities in the southern Levant arose during this period. The major sites were 'En Esur and Meggido . These "proto-Canaanites" were in regular contact with the other peoples to their south such as Egypt , and to

3300-477: The desertification of the area is provided by megalithic remains, which occur in great variety of form and in vast numbers in presently arid and uninhabitable wastelands: dolmens and circles akin to Stonehenge , cairns, underground cells excavated in rock, barrows topped with huge slabs, and step-pyramid-like mounds. Most remarkable are the trilithons , some still standing, some fallen, which occur isolated or in rows, and consist of two squared uprights standing on

3410-476: The history of Egypt , historians know little about the history of Libya, as there are few surviving written records. Information on ancient Libya comes from archaeological evidence and historic sources written by Egyptian scribes, as well as the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines , and later from Arabs of Medieval times. Since the Neolithic, the climate of North Africa has become drier over time. A reminder of

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3520-709: The 9th century BC), was also used as a self-designation by the Punics (as "Chanani" ) of North Africa during Late Antiquity . The English term "Canaan" (pronounced / ˈ k eɪ n ən / since c.  1500 , due to the Great Vowel Shift ) comes from the Hebrew כנען ( Kənaʿan ), via the Koine Greek Χανααν Khanaan and the Latin Canaan . It appears as Kinâḫna ( Akkadian : 𒆳𒆠𒈾𒄴𒈾 , ki-na-aḫ-na ) in

3630-512: The Amarna letters of Pharaoh Akhenaten c.  1350 BC. In these letters, some of which were sent by governors and princes of Canaan to their Egyptian overlord Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) in the 14th century BC, are found, beside Amar and Amurru ( Amorites ), the two forms Kinahhi and Kinahni , corresponding to Kena and Kena'an respectively, and including Syria in its widest extent , as Eduard Meyer has shown. The letters are written in

3740-555: The Amorites played a significant role in the early history of Canaan. In Book of Genesis 14:7 f ., Book of Joshua 10:5 f ., Book of Deuteronomy 1:19 f ., 27, 44, we find them located in the southern mountain country, while verses such as Book of Numbers 21:13, Book of Joshua 9:10, 24:8, 12, etc., tell of two great Amorite kings residing at Heshbon and Ashteroth , east of the Jordan. Other passages, including Book of Genesis 15:16, 48:22, Book of Joshua 24:15, Book of Judges 1:34, regard

3850-639: The Assyrians during this period. Under Thutmose III (1479–1426 BC) and Amenhotep II (1427–1400 BC), the regular presence of the strong hand of the Egyptian ruler and his armies kept the Amorites and Canaanites sufficiently loyal. Nevertheless, Thutmose III reported a new and troubling element in the population. Habiru or (in Egyptian) 'Apiru, are reported for the first time. These seem to have been mercenaries, brigands, or outlaws, who may have at one time led

3960-467: The Berbers for themselves, such as Imazighen . Late period sources give more detailed descriptions of Libya and its inhabitants. The ancient historian Herodotus describes Libya and the Libyans in his fourth book, known as The Libyan Book . Writers such as Pliny the Elder , Diodorus Siculus , and Procopius also contributed to what is now primary source material on ancient Libya and the Libyans. The name

4070-483: The Egyptian crown to the Hittite Empire under Suppiluliuma I (reigned c. 1344–1322 BC). Egyptian power in Canaan thus suffered a major setback when the Hittites (or Hat.ti) advanced into Syria in the reign of Amenhotep III, and when they became even more threatening in that of his successor, displacing the Amorites and prompting a resumption of Semitic migration. Abdi-Ashirta and his son Aziru, at first afraid of

4180-471: The Egyptian ones, but probably, some tribes were named in the Egyptian sources and the later ones as well. The Meshwesh -tribe documented by the Ancient Egyptians represents this assumption. Moreover, scholars believe it would be the same tribe called Mazyes by Hektaios and Maxyes by Herodotus, while it was called "Mazaces" and "Mazax" in Latin sources. All those names are similar to the name used by

4290-402: The Egyptians used to refer to their enemies; the actual enemies varied according to time and circumstance. Hatti and Ḫurru represented the entirety of Syro-Palestine , Canaan and Israel were smaller units within the region, - Canaan might here refer to the city of Gaza ,- and Asqaluni , Gezer and Yanoam were cities within the region. Based on their determinatives, Canaan referred to

4400-700: The Ghassulians belonged to the West Asian haplogroup T-M184 . The end of the Chalcolithic period saw the rise of the urban settlement of 'En Esur on the southern Mediterranean coast. By the Early Bronze Age other sites had developed, such as Ebla (where an East Semitic language , Eblaite , was spoken), which by c.  2300 BC was incorporated into the Mesopotamia -based Akkadian Empire of Sargon

4510-605: The Great and Naram-Sin of Akkad (biblical Accad). Sumerian references to the Mar.tu ("tent dwellers", later Amurru , i.e. Amorite ) country west of the Euphrates River date from even earlier than Sargon, at least to the reign of the Sumerian king, Enshakushanna of Uruk , and one tablet credits the early Sumerian king Lugal-Anne-Mundu withholding sway in the region, although this tablet

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4620-654: The Great and his Ptolemaic successors from Egypt ruled variously parts of Libya. With the Roman conquest, the entire region of present-day Libya became part of the Roman Empire . Following the fall of the Empire, Vandals , and local representatives of the Byzantine Empire also ruled all or parts of Libya. The territory of modern Libya had separate histories until Roman times, as Tripoli and Cyrenaica . Cyrenaica , by contrast,

4730-442: The Habiri. Apparently this restless warrior found his death at the siege of Gina . All these princes, however, maligned each other in their letters to the Pharaoh, and protested their own innocence of traitorous intentions. Namyawaza, for instance, whom Etakkama (see above) accused of disloyalty, wrote thus to the Pharaoh, Behold, I and my warriors and my chariots, together with my brethren and my SA-GAZ , and my Suti ?9 are at

4840-403: The Hittites at Kadesh in 1275 BC, but soon thereafter, the Hittites successfully took over the northern Levant (Syria and Amurru). Ramses II, obsessed with his own building projects while neglecting Asiatic contacts, allowed control over the region to continue dwindling. During the reign of his successor Merneptah , the Merneptah Stele was issued which claimed to have destroyed various sites in

4950-446: The Hittites, afterwards made a treaty with their king, and joining with the Hittites, attacked and conquered the districts remaining loyal to Egypt. In vain did Rib-Hadda send touching appeals for aid to the distant Pharaoh, who was far too engaged in his religious innovations to attend to such messages. The Amarna letters tell of the Habiri in northern Syria. Etakkama wrote thus to the Pharaoh: Behold, Namyawaza has surrendered all

5060-486: The Hurrian city of Nuzi in the early 20th century appear to use the term "Kinaḫnu" as a synonym for red or purple dye , laboriously produced by the Kassite rulers of Babylon from murex molluscs as early as 1600 BC, and on the Mediterranean coast by the Phoenicians from a byproduct of glassmaking. Purple cloth became a renowned Canaanite export commodity which is mentioned in Exodus . The dyes may have been named after their place of origin. The name 'Phoenicia'

5170-407: The Israelites were an urban people at this time, nor does it provide information about the actual social structure of the people group identified as Israel. As for its location, most scholars believe that Merneptah's Israel must have been in the hill country of central Canaan. The stele was found in Merneptah's funerary chapel in Thebes, the ancient Egyptian capital on the west bank of the Nile. On

5280-411: The Late Bronze Age state of Ugarit (at Ras Shamra in Syria ) is considered quintessentially Canaanite, even though its Ugaritic language does not belong to the Canaanite language group proper. A disputed reference to a "Lord of ga-na-na " in the Semitic Ebla tablets (dated 2350 BC) from the archive of Tell Mardikh has been interpreted by some scholars to mention the deity Dagon by

5390-483: The Mzata, were from the Qibt s (Egyptians). According to Ibn Khaldun, this claim is incorrect because Ibn Hazam had not read the books of the Berber scholars. Oric Bates , a historian, considers that the name Libu or LBW would be derived from the name Luwatah whilst the name Luwatah is a derivation of the name Libu. Furthermore, Bates considered all the Libyan tribes to be a single civilization united under central Libu and Meshwesh control. Compared with

5500-404: The Nine Bows. Desolation is for Tjehenu ; Hatti is pacified; Plundered is the Canaan with every evil; Carried off is Asqaluni ; Seized upon is Gezer ; Yanoam is made non-existent; Israel is laid waste—its seed is no more; Kharru has become a widow because of Egypt. All lands together are pacified. Everyone who was restless has been bound. The " nine bows " is a term

5610-414: The cities of the king, my lord to the SA-GAZ in the land of Kadesh and in Ubi . But I will go, and if thy gods and thy sun go before me, I will bring back the cities to the king, my lord, from the Habiri, to show myself subject to him; and I will expel the SA-GAZ . Similarly, Zimrida , king of Sidon (named 'Siduna'), declared, "All my cities which the king has given into my hand, have come into

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5720-411: The city of Hazor , at least nominally tributary to Egypt for much of the period. In the north, the cities of Yamkhad and Qatna were hegemons of important confederacies , and it would appear that biblical Hazor was the chief city of another important coalition in the south. In the early Late Bronze Age, Canaanite confederacies centered on Megiddo and Kadesh , before being fully brought into

5830-465: The continent that later (second century BC) became known as Africa , which, in antiquity, was assumed to constitute one third of the world's land mass, Europe and Asia combined making up the other two thirds. The Libu are attested since the Late Bronze Age as inhabiting the region ( Egyptian R'bw , Punic : 𐤋𐤁𐤉 ‎ lby ). The oldest known documented references to the Libu date to Ramesses II and his successor Merneptah , pharaohs of

5940-531: The crown of the head while wearing thin robes of antelope hide , dyed and printed, crossing the shoulder and coming down until mid calf length to make a robe. Older men kept long braided beards, while women wore the same robes as men, plaited, decorated hair and both sexes wore heavy jewelry. Depictions of Libyans in Egyptian reliefs show prominent and numerous tattoos, very similar to traditional Berber tattoos still seen today. Their weapons included bows and arrows, hatchets, spears and daggers. The Libyan script that

6050-414: The determinative for a city – a throw stick plus three mountains – the hieroglyphs that refer to Israel instead employ the throw stick (the determinative for "foreign") plus a sitting man and woman (the determinative for "people") over three vertical lines (a plural marker): The determinative "people" has been the subject of significant scholarly discussion. As early as 1955, John A. Wilson wrote, of

6160-404: The disposal of the (royal) troops to go whithersoever the king, my lord, commands." Around the beginning of the New Kingdom period, Egypt exerted rule over much of the Levant. Rule remained strong during the Eighteenth Dynasty , but Egypt's rule became precarious during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties . Ramses II was able to maintain control over it in the stalemated battle against

6270-438: The earliest textual reference to Israel and the only reference from ancient Egypt. It is one of four known inscriptions from the Iron Age that date to the time of and mention ancient Israel by name, with the others being the Mesha Stele , the Tel Dan Stele , and the Kurkh Monoliths . Consequently, some consider the Merneptah Stele to be Petrie's most famous discovery, an opinion with which Petrie himself concurred. The stele

6380-405: The early Israelites of the period of the " judges ", who sought to appropriate the fertile region for themselves. However, the term was rarely used to describe the Shasu. Whether the term may also include other related ancient Semitic-speaking peoples such as the Moabites , Ammonites and Edomites is uncertain. There is little evidence that any major city or settlement in the southern Levant

6490-426: The end of the Late Bronze Age. He has also demonstrated that trade with Egypt continued after 1200 BC. Archaeometallurgical studies performed by various teams have also shown that trade in tin , a non-local metal necessary to make bronze , did not stop or decrease after 1200 BC, even though the closest source of the metal were modern Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, or perhaps even Cornwall, England. Lead from Sardinia

6600-433: The favorites of Apollo , and some ancient Greek writers regarded them as the mythical founders of Apollo's shrines at Delos and Delphi . Masinissa received a golden crown from the inhabitants of Delos as he had offered them several shiploads of grain to the temple of Apollo in Delos the famous birthplace of the sun god and his twin sister Artemis . Berbers have occupied North Africa for thousands of years alongside

6710-417: The fortress of Taru (Shtir?) to " Ka-n-'-na ". After the near collapse of the Battle of Kadesh , Rameses II had to campaign vigorously in Canaan to maintain Egyptian power. Egyptian forces penetrated into Moab and Ammon , where a permanent fortress garrison (called simply "Rameses") was established. Some believe the " Habiru " signified generally all the nomadic tribes known as "Hebrews", and particularly

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6820-417: The hand of the Habiri." The king of Jerusalem , Abdi-Heba , reported to the Pharaoh: If (Egyptian) troops come this year, lands and princes will remain to the king, my lord; but if troops come not, these lands and princes will not remain to the king, my lord. Abdi-heba's principal trouble arose from persons called Iilkili and the sons of Labaya , who are said to have entered into a treasonable league with

6930-557: The help of a neighbouring king. The boldest of the disaffected nobles was Aziru , son of Abdi-Ashirta , who endeavoured to extend his power into the plain of Damascus . Akizzi , governor of Katna ( Qatna ?) (near Hamath ), reported this to Amenhotep III, who seems to have sought to frustrate Aziru's attempts. In the reign of the next pharaoh, Akhenaten (reigned c. 1352 to c. 1335 BC) both father and son caused infinite trouble to loyal servants of Egypt like Rib-Hadda , governor of Gubla (Gebal), by transferring their loyalty from

7040-455: The idea that this determinative means the "'ysrỉꜣr" were a people: "The argument is good, but not conclusive, because of the notorious carelessness of Late-Egyptian scribes and several blunders of writing in this stela". This sentiment was subsequently built upon by other scholars. According to The Oxford History of the Biblical World , this "foreign people ... sign is typically used by the Egyptians to signify nomadic groups or peoples, without

7150-585: The inscription says it was carved in the 5th year of Merneptah of the 19th dynasty. Most of the text glorifies Merneptah's victories over enemies from Libya and their Sea People allies. The final two lines mention a campaign in Canaan, where Merneptah says he defeated and destroyed Asqaluna , Gezer, Yanoam and Israel. Egypt was the dominant power in the region during the long reign of Merneptah's predecessor, Ramesses II , but Merneptah and one of his nearest successors, Ramesses III , faced significant invasions. The problems began in Merneptah's 5th year (1208 BCE), when

7260-433: The land of Canaan" is found on the Statue of Idrimi (16th century BC) from Alalakh in modern Syria. After a popular uprising against his rule, Idrimi was forced into exile with his mother's relatives to seek refuge in "the land of Canaan", where he prepared for an eventual attack to recover his city. The other references in the Alalakh texts are: Around 1650 BC, Canaanites invaded the eastern Nile delta , where, known as

7370-445: The land whilst Israel referred to the people. Petrie called upon Wilhelm Spiegelberg, a German philologist in his archaeological team, to translate the inscription. Spiegelberg was puzzled by one symbol towards the end, that of a people or tribe whom Merneptah (also written Merenptah) had victoriously smitten – I.si.ri.ar? Petrie quickly suggested that it read " Israel! " Spiegelberg agreed that this translation must be correct. "Won't

7480-593: The late 13th century BC and ending close to the end of the 12th century BC. The reason for the Egypt's withdrawal was most likely political turmoil in Egypt proper rather than the invasion by the Sea Peoples , as there is little evidence that the Sea Peoples caused much destruction ca. 1200 BC. Many Egyptian garrisons or sites with an "Egyptian governor's residence" in the southern Levant were abandoned without destruction including Deir al-Balah , Ascalon , Tel Mor, Tell el-Far'ah (South) , Tel Gerisa , Tell Jemmeh , Tel Masos , and Qubur el-Walaydah. Not all Egyptian sites in

7590-449: The majority of Egyptologists concur that the reference should indeed be understood as referring to Israel, and mainstream scholarship acknowledges a connection between the Israel mentioned and biblical Israel. The Merneptah stele is considered to be the first extra-biblical reference to ancient Israel in ancient history and is widely considered to be authentic and providing historical information. Michael G. Hasel, arguing that prt on

7700-421: The majority were Hurrian, although there were a number of Semites and even some Kassite and Luwian adventurers amongst their number. The reign of Amenhotep III , as a result, was not quite so tranquil for the Asiatic province, as Habiru/'Apiru contributed to greater political instability. It is believed that turbulent chiefs began to seek their opportunities, although as a rule they could not find them without

7810-632: The modern name of the Berbers in their works, such as the French historian Gabriel Camps . The Libyan tribes mentioned in these sources were: " Adyrmachidae ", " Giligamae ", " Asbystae ", " Marmaridae ", " Auschisae ", " Nasamones ", " Macae ", " Lotus-eaters (or Lotophagi)", " Garamantes ", " Gaetulians ", " Mauri ", and " Luwatae ", as well as many others. Canaan Canaan ( / ˈ k eɪ n ən / ; Phoenician : 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – KNʿN ; Hebrew : כְּנַעַן – Kənáʿan , in pausa כְּנָעַן ‎ – Kənāʿan ; Biblical Greek : Χαναάν – Khanaán ; Arabic : كَنْعَانُ – Kan'ān )

7920-496: The name Amorite as synonymous with "Canaanite". The name Amorite is, however, never used for the population on the coast. In the centuries preceding the appearance of the biblical Hebrews, parts of Canaan and southwestern Syria became tributary to the Egyptian pharaohs , although domination by the Egyptians remained sporadic, and not strong enough to prevent frequent local rebellions and inter-city struggles. Other areas such as northern Canaan and northern Syria came to be ruled by

8030-690: The name from Greek and the Punic languages. The Romans would have known them before their colonization of North Africa because of the Libyan role in the Punic Wars against the Romans. The Romans used the name Líbues , but only when referring to Barca and the Libyan Desert of Egypt. The other Libyan territories were called " Africa ", which were Roman provinces. Classical Arabic literature called Libya Lubya , indicating

8140-544: The name in a geographic sense, while he called its inhabitants " Lotus-eaters ". After Homer, Aeschylus , Pindar , and other ancient Greek writers used the name. Herodotus (1.46) used Λιβύη Libúē to indicate the African continent; the Líbues proper were the light-skinned North Africans, while those south of Egypt (and Elephantine on the Nile) were known to him as " Aethiopians "; this

8250-544: The name of Egypt's province in the Levant, and evolved into the proper name in a similar fashion to Provincia Nostra (the first Roman colony north of the Alps, which became Provence ). An alternative suggestion, put forward by Ephraim Avigdor Speiser in 1936, derives the term from Hurrian Kinaḫḫu , purportedly referring to the colour purple, so that "Canaan" and " Phoenicia " would be synonyms ("Land of Purple"). Tablets found in

8360-409: The north Asia Minor ( Hurrians , Hattians , Hittites , Luwians ) and Mesopotamia ( Sumer , Akkad , Assyria ), a trend that continued through the Iron Age . The end of the period is marked by the abandonment of the cities and a return to lifestyles based on farming villages and semi-nomadic herding, although specialised craft production continued and trade routes remained open. Archaeologically,

8470-439: The official and diplomatic East Semitic Akkadian language of Assyria and Babylonia , though "Canaanitish" words and idioms are also in evidence. The known references are: Text RS 20.182 from Ugarit is a copy of a letter of the king of Ugarit to Ramesses II concerning money paid by "the sons of the land of Ugarit" to the "foreman of the sons of the land of Canaan ( *kn'ny )" According to Jonathan Tubb, this suggests that

8580-577: The old name taken from the Egyptians was applied by the Greeks of Cyrenaica , who may have coexisted with the Libu. Later, the name appeared in the Hebrew language , written in the Bible as Lehabim and Lubim , indicating the ethnic population and the geographic territory as well. In the neo-Punic inscriptions, it was written as Lby for the masculine noun, and Lbt for the feminine noun of Libyan . Latin absorbed

8690-481: The opposite bank is the Temple of Karnak, where a fragmentary copy was found. In the 1970s Frank J. Yurco announced that some reliefs at Karnak which had been thought to depict events in the reign of Ramesses II , Merneptah's father, in fact belonged to Merneptah. The four reliefs show the capture of three cities, one of them labelled as Asqaluni ; Yurco suggested that the other two were Gezer and Yanoam. The fourth shows

8800-561: The people of Ugarit, contrary to much modern opinion, considered themselves to be non-Canaanite. The other Ugarit reference, KTU 4.96, shows a list of traders assigned to royal estates, one of the estates having three Ugaritans, an Ashdadite, an Egyptian and a Canaanite. A Middle Assyrian letter during the reign of Shalmaneser I includes a reference to the "travel to Canaan" of an Assyrian official. Four references are known from Hattusa: Ann Killebrew has shown that cities such as Jerusalem were large and important walled settlements in

8910-494: The pre-Israelite Middle Bronze IIB and the Israelite Iron Age IIC period ( c.  1800–1550 and c.  720–586 BC), but that during the intervening Late Bronze (LB) and Iron Age I and IIA/B Ages sites like Jerusalem were small and relatively insignificant and unfortified towns. Just after the Amarna period, a new problem arose which was to trouble the Egyptian control of southern Canaan (the rest of

9020-508: The region then being under Assyrian control). Pharaoh Horemhab campaigned against Shasu (Egyptian = "wanderers") living in nomadic pastoralist tribes, who had moved across the Jordan River to threaten Egyptian trade through Galilee and Jezreel . Seti I ( c.  1290 BC) is said to have conquered these Shasu, Semitic-speaking nomads living just south and east of the Dead Sea , from

9130-584: The reign of the Sumerian king, Shulgi of Ur III , their appearance in Canaan appears to have been due to the arrival of a new state based in Asia Minor to the north of Assyria and based upon a Maryannu aristocracy of horse-drawn charioteers , associated with the Indo-Aryan rulers of the Hurrians , known as Mitanni . The Habiru seem to have been more a social class than an ethnic group. One analysis shows that

9240-525: The reverends be pleased?" remarked Petrie. At dinner that evening, Petrie, who realized the importance of the find, said: "This stele will be better known in the world than anything else I have found." The news of its discovery made headlines when it reached the English papers. The line which refers to Israel is below (shown in reverse to match the English translation; the original Egyptian is in right-to-left script ): While Asqaluni , Gezer and Yanoam are given

9350-607: The ruins of Mari , an Assyrian outpost at that time in Syria . Additional unpublished references to Kinahnum in the Mari letters refer to the same episode. Whether the term Kinahnum refers to people from a specific region or rather people of "foreign origin" has been disputed, such that Robert Drews states that the "first certain cuneiform reference" to Canaan is found on the Alalakh statue of King Idrimi (below). A reference to Ammiya being "in

9460-450: The signs of a foreign ethnic entity as indicating a foreign land, but a people group". In contrast to this apparent Israelite statelessness, the other Canaanite groups fought by Egypt ( Asqaluni , Gezer, and Yano'am) are described in the stele as nascent states. Alternatives to the reading "Israel" have been put forward since the stele's discovery, the two primary candidates being as follows: However, these remain minority interpretations,

9570-544: The so-called Syro-Hittite states and the Phoenician city-states. The entire region (including all Phoenician/Canaanite and Aramean states, together with Israel , Philistia , and Samaria ) was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire during the 10th and 9th centuries BC, and would remain so for three hundred years until the end of the 7th century BC. Emperor-kings such as Ashurnasirpal , Adad-nirari II , Sargon II , Tiglath-Pileser III , Esarhaddon , Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal came to dominate Canaanite affairs. During

9680-467: The southern Levant were abandoned without destruction. The Egyptian garrison at Aphek was destroyed, likely in an act of warfare at the end of the 13th century. The Egyptian gate complex uncovered at Jaffa was destroyed at the end of the 12th century between 1134-1115 based on C14 dates, while Beth-Shean was partially though not completely destroyed, possibly by an earthquake, in the mid-12th century. References to Canaanites are also found throughout

9790-477: The southern Levant, including a people known as "Israel". However, archaeological findings show no destruction at any of the sites mentioned in the Merneptah Stele and so it is considered to be an exercise in propaganda, and the campaign most likely avoided the central highlands in the southern Levant. Egypt's withdrawal from the southern Levant was a protracted process lasting some one hundred years beginning in

9900-628: The southern Levant, there is ample evidence that trade with other regions continued after the end of the Late Bronze Age in the Southern Levant. Archaeologist Jesse Millek has shown that while the common assumption is that trade in Cypriot and Mycenaean pottery ended around 1200 BC, trade in Cypriot pottery actually largely came to an end at 1300, while for Mycenaean pottery , this trade ended at 1250 BC, and destruction around 1200 BC could not have affected either pattern of international trade since it ended before

10010-688: The state of Babylon in 1894 BC. Later on, Amurru became the Assyrian/Akkadian term for the interior of south as well as for northerly Canaan. At this time the Canaanite area seemed divided between two confederacies, one centred upon Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley , the second on the more northerly city of Kadesh on the Orontes River. An Amorite chieftain named Sumu-abum founded Babylon as an independent city-state in 1894 BC. One Amorite king of Babylonia, Hammurabi (1792–1750 BC), founded

10120-461: The stele meant grain, suggested that "Israel functioned as an agriculturally based or sedentary socioethnic entity in the late 13th century BCE" and this in some degree of contrast to nomadic "Shasu" pastoralists in the region. Others disagree that prt meant grain, and Edward Lipinski wrote that "the 'classical' opposition of nomadic shepherds and settled farmers does not seem to suit the area concerned". Hasel also says that this does not suggest that

10230-508: The temple of Merneptah. Owing to the rough surface, and the poor cutting, the readings in many places require careful examination... The scene at the top retains its original colouring of yellow, red, and blue. Amun is shown giving a sword to the king, who is backed by Mut on one side and by Khonsu on the other". Now in the collection of the Egyptian Museum at Cairo , the stele is a black granite slab, over 3 meters (10 feet) high, and

10340-409: The title "Lord of Canaan" If correct, this would suggest that Eblaites were conscious of Canaan as an entity by 2500 BC. Jonathan Tubb states that the term ga-na-na "may provide a third-millennium reference to Canaanite ", while at the same time stating that the first certain reference is in the 18th century BC. See Ebla-Biblical controversy for further details. Urbanism returned and the region

10450-538: Was Greek before it was Roman. It was also known as Pentapolis , the "five cities" being Cyrene (near the village of Shahat) with its port of Apollonia (Marsa Susa), Arsinoe (Tocra), Berenice (Benghazi) and Barca (Merj). From the oldest and most famous of the Greek colonies , the fertile coastal plain took the name of Cyrenaica. These five cities were also known as the Western Pentapolis ; not to be confused with

10560-821: Was a Semitic -speaking civilization and region of the Southern Levant in the Ancient Near East during the late 2nd millennium BC . Canaan had significant geopolitical importance in the Late Bronze Age Amarna Period (14th century BC) as the area where the spheres of interest of the Egyptian , Hittite , Mitanni , and Assyrian Empires converged or overlapped. Much of present-day knowledge about Canaan stems from archaeological excavation in this area at sites such as Tel Hazor , Tel Megiddo , En Esur , and Gezer . The name "Canaan" appears throughout

10670-1026: Was also the understanding of later Greek geographers such as Diodorus Siculus , Strabo ...etc, amongst other writers. In the Hellenistic period , the native Berbers were known collectively as Libyans to the Greco-Roman world, a Greek term for the inhabitants of the Maghreb, they Identified the Massylii , the Masaessyli , the Gaetuli , The Phareusiens and the Mauri . The Libyans were believers of an ancestral religion known as Numitheism . The Libyans were known far and wide as glorious warriors with extra-ordinary physical strength, they were efficient in battle and were an effective force when combined with an army, they were either employed as mercenaries or were made part of an army as

10780-598: Was an ancestor of this tribe. He writes that the Berbers add an "a" and "t" to the name for the plural forms. Subsequently, it became rendered as Lwat . Conversely, the Arabs adopted the name as a singular form, adding an "h" for the plural form in Arabic. Ibn Khaldun disagrees with Ibn Hazam , who claimed, mostly on the basis of Berber sources, that the Lwatah, in addition to the Sadrata and

10890-469: Was destroyed around 1200 BC. At Lachish , The Fosse Temple III was ritually terminated while a house in Area S appears to have burned in a house fire as the most severe evidence of burning was next to two ovens while no other part of the city had evidence of burning. After this though the city was rebuilt in a grander fashion than before. For Megiddo , most parts of the city did not have any signs of damage and it

11000-407: Was discovered in 1896 by Flinders Petrie in the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, and first translated by Wilhelm Spiegelberg . In his "Inscriptions" chapter of Petrie's 1897 publication "Six Temples at Thebes," Spiegelberg described the stele as "engraved on the rough back of the stele of Amenhotep III , which was removed from his temple and placed back outward, against the wall, in the forecourt of

11110-615: Was divided among small city-states, the most important of which seems to have been Hazor. Many aspects of Canaanite material culture now reflected a Mesopotamian influence, and the entire region became more tightly integrated into a vast international trading network. As early as Naram-Sin of Akkad 's reign ( c.  2240 BC), Amurru was called one of the "four quarters" surrounding Akkad , along with Subartu / Assyria , Sumer , and Elam . Amorite dynasties also came to dominate in much of Mesopotamia, including in Larsa , Isin and founding

11220-660: Was passionate about horseback riding. He owned a stud farm of purebred horses. Around 168 BC or 164 BC, he won a gold medal for his people in Numidia at the Athens Hippodrome at the Panathenaic Games in the prestigious horse-drawn chariot racing event. In Pseudo-Apollodorus , the Greeks proceeded to write of Hyperborea as a place that existed in ancient Libya somewhere within or between the Atlas ranges of North Africa as that

11330-649: Was still being imported to the southern Levant after 1200 BC during the early Iron Age. By the Early Iron Age , the southern Levant came to be dominated by the kingdoms of Israel and Judah , besides the Philistine city-states on the Mediterranean coast, and the kingdoms of Moab , Ammon , and Aram-Damascus east of the Jordan River, and Edom to the south. The northern Levant was divided into various petty kingdoms,

11440-399: Was the beginning of the end of Egypt's control over Canaan – the last evidence of an Egyptian presence in the area is the name of Ramesses VI (1141–1133 BC) inscribed on a statue base from Megiddo . The bulk of the inscription deals with Merneptah's victory over the Libyans, but the closing lines shift to Canaan: The princes are prostrate, saying ' Peace !' Not one raises his head among

11550-502: Was the case with Numidian Cavalry in the ranks of both Roman Empire and Ancient Carthage , they completely overturned the tide of battle in Cannae for Hannibal and Battle of Zama for Scipio Africanus , Virgil speaks of the Libyans in this way: "The surrounding lands are Libyan , a race unbeatable in war" After the Egyptians, the Greeks; Romans; and Byzantines mentioned various other tribes in Libya. Later tribal names differ from

11660-604: Was the most advanced metal technology in the ancient world. Their work is similar to artifacts from the later Maykop culture , leading some scholars to believe they represent two branches of an original metalworking tradition. Their main copper mine was at Wadi Feynan . The copper was mined from the Cambrian Burj Dolomite Shale Unit in the form of the mineral malachite . All of the copper was smelted at sites in Beersheba culture . Genetic analysis has shown that

11770-516: Was the part of the Mediterranean Sea south of Crete , between Cyrene and Alexandria . In Greek mythology , Athena was believed to have been of Libyan origins and was therefore nicknamed Athene Tritogeneia ("born of Trito"), from her birth in Lake Tritonis in North Africa (Modern day Algeria and Tunisia) where she is considered native to the land, in this version of the story she

11880-529: Was the usual ancient Egyptian name for Canaan and Syria, covering the region from Gaza in the south, to Tartous in the north. Its borders shifted with time, but it generally consisted of three regions. The region between Ascalon and the Lebanon , stretching inland to the Sea of Galilee , was named Djahy , which was approximately synonymous with Canaan. There are several periodization systems for Canaan. One of them

11990-415: Was the well-known dwelling place of Atlas as he was enduring punishment by Zeus, he was visited by Herakles as well as Perseus in North Africa . This coincides exactly with North Africans being well known for their worship of their sun god 'Tafukt' or commonly identified by the Greeks as Apollo they were believed to inhabit a sunny, temperate, and divinely-blessed land. The oldest myths portray them as

12100-516: Was used in Libya was mostly a funerary script . It is difficult to understand, and there are a number of variations. Ibn Khaldun divided the Berbers into the Batr and the Baranis . Herodotus divided them into Eastern Libyans and Western Libyans . Eastern Libyans were nomadic shepherds east of Lake Tritonis . Western Libyans were sedentary farmers who lived west of Lake Tritonis. At one point,

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