The Ancient Canaanites: A Captivating Guide to the Canaanite Civilization that Dominated the Land of Canaan Before the Ancient Israelites

By Captivating History

Did you know that the ancient Canaanites invented the alphabet?

The Bible references Canaan several times. For example, God commanded the Israelites to destroy the Canaanites following the Israeli flight from Egypt.
However, the actual history of this civilization doesn't quite match theological sources. For one thing, the Canaanite civilization consisted of a multitude of different peoples from the same ethnic group but with different cultures.

The region also had frequently redefined borders, and very few written records remain of Canaan, making it difficult for scholars to research. It can therefore be hard for readers to find an easy-to-read and cohesive resource on this fascinating civilization.

But that is about to change. In this new captivating history book, you will discover the truth about the ancient Canaanites.

The Ancient Canaanites: A Captivating Guide to the Canaanite Civilization that Dominated the Land of Canaan Before the Ancient Israelites includes:

• Revolutionary Findings Provided by Modern Archaeological Detective Techniques
• A Simple Explanation of What Caanan is and Where it's Located
• Fascinating Discoveries of Canaanites Artifacts
• Remarkable Insights into their Government and Social Structure
• Startling Theories About The Bronze Age Collapse
• What There Is to Know About the Culture of the Canaanites
• The Main Conflict with Canaan that Occurs Early in the Bible and More Shocking Mentions In the Bible
• Religion and Beliefs
• And much, much more!

 

Get the book now to learn more about the ancient Canaanites!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Captivating History
• Release date: Sep 24, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215016732

Book preview

Introduction

What and Where is Canaan?

A lot of people in the contemporary Western world has heard of the quasi-mythical Canaan. The Bible references this civilization several times, including mention of when God commanded the Israelites to destroy the Canaanites following the Israeli flight from Egypt. However, the actual history of this civilization doesn’t quite match theological sources. For one thing, the Canaanite civilization consisted of a multitude of different peoples from the same ethnic group but different cultures. The region also had frequently redefined borders, and very few written records remain of Canaan, making it difficult for scholars to research.

There are a few different theories about where the origin of the name Canaan came from. The one with the most weight is that the name means Land of Purple. One of the supplies traded to other civilizations was a special purple or indigo dye extracted from a type of shellfish found near the shores of contemporary Palestine. An older, less likely, possibility is that the name comes from a Semitic root which means low, humble, or subjugated. Some scholars believe this could be translated to the Canaanites living in an area of lowlands since it’s unlikely the name was referring to a Biblical theme—as proposed by the original theorist—as early as 2,000 BCE.

Modern Tyrian Purple Dye

An Example of Modern Shellfish Dye

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tyrian_purple_on_grayscale.jpg

Early Canaan in the time before the Early Bronze Age (3,500-2,000 BCE) seems to have been settled by nomadic peoples who originated from the east and settled in the region known as the Levant. This Levant covered a large portion of the Near East, Middle East, and Northern Africa. Its area corresponds with contemporary Cyprus, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and sections of Turkey.

Map of the Middle East

Map of the Middle East – Location of Levant

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Middle_east.jpg

Most of the known information about Canaan is actually very recent. A surge of archaeological expeditions and artifacts found during the 20th century CE resulted in a clearer picture of the location and practices of this ancient civilization. Before the discovery of this evidence, scholars believed that Canaan was limited entirely to the Jewish Holy Land as mentioned in religious documents like the Torah and Bible. For example, the following map is from 1762, made by the cartographer and atlas developer Robert de Vaugondy.

1762 Map of Canaan

Map of Canaan from the 18th Century CE

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Middle_East_by_Robert_de_Vaugondy.jpg

The documents and sources discovered by archaeologists were not created by the Canaanites. At this time, scholars have been unable to find any tablets, letters, or forms of writing that can provide a historical record of the civilization or describe its main societal structures. Instead, professionals pieced together a rough idea of what Canaan was like by examining remaining architectural landmarks and finding references to Canaan in the records left by other civilizations.

The Amarna Letters and Other Documents

Numerous references to the Canaanites can be found in the Amarna Letters. These were documents written to Pharaoh Akhenaton during the 14th century BCE, usually by rulers, governors, and princes from the vassal states of the massive Egyptian empire. Vassal states were kingdoms, provinces, or other groups that had their own form of government but paid tribute to a larger, more powerful state. The Amarna Letters appear as clay tablets on which scribes wrote in cuneiform. Before paper, scribes used fresh clay and wrote with a stylus by carving through the wet material. Tablets which needed to be permanent or were sent to other people were baked to stay firm. Many of these old-fashioned tablets compose the vast majority of the Amarna Letters.

Amarna_Akkadian_letter

A Clay Amarna Letter

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amarna_Akkadian_letter.png

Some of the references to Canaan included sentences or decrees like this, a letter from Burna-Buriash II to Tutankhamun:

In the time of Kurigalzu, my ancestor, all the Canaanites wrote here to him, saying, ‘C[om]e to the border of the country so we can revolt and be allied [wi]th you!’ My ancestor sent them this (reply), saying, ‘Forget about being allied with me. If you become enemies of the king of Egypt, and are allied with anyone else—will I not then come and plunder you? How can there be an alliance with me?’ (EA-9)

And these excerpts from letters by Rib-Hadda:

Previously, on seeing a man from Egypt, the kings of Canaan fled before him, but now the sons of Abdi-Ashirta make men from Egypt prowl about like dogs. (Ea=109)

If he does not send archers, they will take [Byblos] and all the other cities, and the lands of Canaan will not belong to the king. May the king ask Yanhamu about these matters."(EA-131)

If the king neglects Byblos, of