Canaanites

<strong>Canaanites</strong> explores the ancient population of the Western Levant IsraelTransjordan Lebanon and coastal Syria examining the development of itsdi... » 

Canaanites explores the ancient population of the Western Levant IsraelTransjordan Lebanon and coastal Syria examining the development of itsdistinctive culture from the early farming communities of the eighth millenniumB.C. to the fragmentation of its social and cultural ideals in the latter halfof the first millennium B.C.Jonathan N. Tubb makes judicious use of the Hebrew Bible in describingCanaanite culture. He views the Bible as a rich resource for understanding theliterary and theological heritage of Israel which he classifies as asubculture of Canaan. At the same time he reveals the limitations of the Bibleas a historical document arguing that to reconstruct the Canaanites historywe must first look at the archaeological data.Tubb stresses the continuity of Canaanite civilization portraying events suchas the imposition of Egyptian imperial rule and the development of historicalIsrael as episodic interruptions. He also looks at the role of the Canaanitesin the international trading community of the ancient Mediterranean examiningtheir interactions with neighbouring countries and the effects of thesecontacts on the material culture of Canaan in particular and the Near East ingeneral. «