The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant: From Urban Origins to the Demise of City-States, 3700–1000 BCE

Resistance and Authority at the Beginning of Urbanism: The Case of Tel Bet Yerah Broken Maceheads

“…The Early Bronze Age (EBA) of the southern Levant (contemporary Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority) is often considered a period of political experimentation. Signs of intensified social hierarchy appeared in different forms, intensities, and locations, and although the intensity grew over time, it was not necessarily linear and straightforward (Greenberg 2019, 125–31). During the Early Bronze II ( c .3100–2850 BC), an apparent major restructuring of the village‐centred political economy led to the emergence of a broad network of fortified settlements exhibiting a high degree of cultural uniformity.…”

“…Despite that, little evidence of centralized administration or social stratification was found. On the other hand, during the EB III ( c .2850–2500/2450 BC), prestige items became somewhat more common, fortifications became more elaborate, and palatial structures were built in several fortified centres, all elements likely testifying to a more stratified society (Philip 2008; Greenberg 2019; Ashkenazi 2020; Paz 2020). Concurrent with the transition to EB III, the first evidence for the arrival of a distinct, non‐local material cultural assemblage appears at sites in the northern Jordan Valley.…”

THE VEGETATION HISTORY OF THE SHEPHELAH, SOUTHERN LEVANT: MIDDLE BRONZE AGE–HELLENISTIC PERIOD (c.2000–100 BC)

“…While the Middle Bronze Age I ( c .2000–1800 BC) in the Shephelah was characterized by relatively low settlement activity (Dagan 2004; Finkelstein and Langgut 2014), the Middle Bronze Age II–III ( c .1800–1600 BC) experienced an increase in settlement activity, reflected by intensive urbanization (Dagan 2004; Greenberg 2019, 225). Many of the Middle Bronze Age sites in the southern Levant were endowed with massive fortification systems (Burke 2008), as was the case at Azekah (Quail‐Gates 2022) and Lachish (Ussishkin 2004).…”

Religious Innovation and Elite Ideology at Bronze Age Hazor

“…On numerous occasions, Zuckerman has argued that Hazor was a “sacred landscape” constructed by elites in order to legitimize their rule while integrating the settlement's non‐elite population into its greater sphere of influence (Zuckerman 2007a, 16; 2012, 116–22). Echoing these notions, Greenberg (2019, 317) argues that the monumental structures of the acropolis and lower city were vehicles of royal authority and ideology at LB Hazor. Indeed, no Bronze Age site in the southern Levant had nearly as many temples as Hazor did, and the four monumental migdal temples – associated with elites – appear both on the acropolis and lower city.…”