Home Region: Levant (Southwest Asia)

Canaan

2000 BCE 1175 BCE

D G SC WF R

EQ 2020 il_canaan / IlCanaa

Preceding Entity: Add one more here.

[continuity; Intermediate Bronze-Age Canaan] [continuity] Update here

Succeeding Entity: Add one more here.

1200 BCE 332 BCE Phoenician Empire (lb_phoenician_emp) [continuity]

General Description

_Short description_
Very little is known about the ancient Canaanites and what is known is often through references given by other cultures (such as the Egyptians). Even combined with what is known and not known from archaeological work the overall picture of Canannite society should be taken as a very provisional one.
Canaanites seem to have lived between 2000-1175 BCE, from a time contemporary to the Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, the Canaanite Hyksos Period of Egypt and their expulsion, through the New Kingdom of Egypt, to the invasion of the Sea Peoples (which have often been associated with the destruction of Canaanite cities).
Outside of the city-state organization the Canaanites did not achieve any territorial centralization in the Levant. The Canaanites lived in hierarchical city-states that would form alliances and fight opposing coalitions of Canaanites. The region as a whole was under Egyptian control after the invasion of Thutmose III.
One tentative archaeological interpretation of Canaanite government holds that Canaanite regimes were more similar to an household oikos economy than a Mesopotamian-style redistributive state: "in sharp contrast to both the Aegean and the entire ancient Near East, there is not a single indication that literate administration ever played any significant role in the [Middle Bronze Age] Canaanite economy." ^[1]
However, it appears at least some Canaanites did use writing to record laws. Two fragments of a larger clay tablet (designated Hazor 18) were discovered in 2010 at Tel Hazor, that would possibly have contained as many as 20 or 30 laws (which in turn could have been part of a larger collection of law tablets) in a format similar to the Code of Hammurabi. An earlier tablet, Hazor 5, contains part of the description of a lawsuit, judged by the king personally. ^[2] It is likely that at least some Canaanite polities would have had formal law codes.
The population of the Canaanites probably never exceeded much beyond 50,000 people in a single polity, though more were likely present towards the end of the period than at the beginning.

_Oren’s long description_
During the Bronze Age, Canaan was composed of dozens of "city-states," some strong enough to lead regional confederations against each other or against outside invaders. These city-states appear to have been significantly institutionalized, featuring standing armies, bureaucracies and public works, and official cults. The social structure was highly unequal; most of the land was concentrated in the hands of the small ruling class, with the vast majority of inhabitants being serfs, slaves, or landless vagabonds or nomads. The economy depended heavily on trade, with intensive agriculture of staples such as wine and oil meant for export in exchange for prestige goods such as imported pottery, and tin for making bronze.
Canaan of the Middle and Late Bronze was by no means a unified entity, even as its polities shared significant cultural elements. The varying landscape carried with it different geopolitical conditions for each local polity, strongly conditioning the development of each one and its various political/strategic needs. "The Coastal Plain, the setting for the region’s largest political and economic centers, conventionally seen as the hearth of Canaanite civilization, emerges as a hodge-podge of polities with highly variable structures and their attendant political connotations. The Jordan Rift, normally seen as a smaller-scale backwater off the Mediterranean littoral, features settlement patterns most consistent with a series of highly integrated peer polities or city-states, and subregional political coherence. In contrast to both of these lowland areas, the settlement clusters of the Hill Country are more dispersed, with consistent evidence of less settlement integration. When considered structurally, these results suggest three fundamentally different bases for political development in a region normally viewed as a single, albeit fractious, social and cultural entity during the Late Bronze Age. These distinctions help illuminate the foundations of the particularly volatile political dynamics of the southern Levant." ^[3]
During the Middle Bronze, Canaanite polities were wealthy and powerful enough to extend their influence into the Egyptian Delta (via the so-called "Hyksos). However, the end of the Middle Bronze is marked by the campaign of Thutmose I, who expelled the Hyksos and then campaigned into Canaan proper, imposing Egyptian overlordship over many of the Canaanite cities. As the Late Bronze progressed, Canaanite cities were marked with increasing social turmoil, wracked by repeated uprisings against Egyptian officials or against local elites, and facing periodic invasions from the sea or pressure from the Hittite Empire. The politics of this period are somewhat better understood thanks to the finding of the Amarna Letters, some 350 clay tablets of Egyptian diplomatic correspondence that date to about the middle of the 14th Century BCE. Many of them are from Canaanite "mayors," sending groveling obeisances to the Pharaoh and pleading for military assistance in the face of urgent threats. Finally, during the 12th Century BCE, a series of poorly-understood calamities and city destructions brought the Bronze Age Canaanite civilization to a close; it would be succeeded by the Phoenicians to the north, and the Israelites in the Judean highlands.
(A word of caution is in order about coding methodology. Much of the evidence we have about this polity comes from archaeological finds. However, the brute fact of an archaeological artifact is often used as the basis for considerable interpretation and conjecture. Methods have been improving over time, but still some archaeologists tend to leap far ahead of what the evidence will support. Additionally, the meaning of many finds is hotly disputed by archaeologists, each faction insisting for its point of view: "When any scholar defends the correctness or appropriateness of a singular point of view, or set of data, everything else tends to be analyzed accordingly - alternative views are intensely criticized, dismissed, or ignored entirely, while complementary views or evidence are presented with little critical reflection. Whether the evidence is archaeological or scientific, often it is only partial or ambiguous and so becomes easy to interpret or manipulate in a manner that serves to perpetuate a preconceived idea or point of view. The outcome is often a selective filtering of data and related information and an unwillingness to contemplate or envisage a counter position." ^[4]
This is a particular problem with regard to establishing chronologies. While on a given archaeological site researchers are (usually) able to determine the boundaries of relative temporal layers, tying those layers to an absolute timeline, or even fitting them into a relative relationship with the layers of other sites, is a fraught business; and when the time period in question is as far back as the Middle Bronze, the available evidence becomes correspondingly scarcer and more difficult to correlate with each other. Unfortunately, many researchers are too quick to claim certainty where none exists. ^[5]
In short, every data point that is backed up with archaeology must be considered provisional, and new discoveries can totally upend our picture of what happened—as can new interpretations that correct erroneous early interpretations, a constant danger with motivated archaeologists.)

[1]: (Yasur-Landau et al. 2015, 609). Assaf Yasur-Landau, Eric H. Cline, Andrew J. Koh, David Ben-Shlomo, Nimrod Marom, Alexandra Ratzlaff and Inbal Samet. 2015. "Rethinking Canaanite Palaces? The Palatial Economy of Tel Kabri during the Middle Bronze Age." Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 40, No. 6: 607-625.

[2]: (Horowitz, Oshima, Vukosavovic 2012) Wayne Horowitz, Oshima Takayoshi and Filip Vukosavovic. 2012. "Hazor 18: Fragments of a Cuneiform Law Collection from Hazor." Israel Exploration Journal, Vol. 62, No. 2: 158-176.

[3]: Savage/Falconer (2003:42).

[4]: Knapp/Manning (2016:101).

[5]: See extensive discussion in Knapp/Manning (2016).

General Variables

Identity and Location

1 Utm Zone

1 Original Name

1 Capital

5 Alternative Name

Temporal Bounds

1 Peak Years

1 Duration

Political and Cultural Relations

4 Suprapolity Relations

1 Supracultural Entity

1 Succeeding Entity

1 Scale of Supracultural Interaction

1 Relationship to preceding Entity

2 Polity Succession

1 Degree of Centralization

Language

1 Linguistic Family

1 Language

Religion

Social Complexity Variables

Social Scale

2 Population of the Largest Settlement

1 Polity Territory

2 Polity Population

Hierarchical Complexity

1 Settlement Hierarchy

1 Religious Level

1 Military Level

1 Administrative Level

Professions

1 Professional Soldier

1 Professional Priesthood

1 Professional Military Officer

Bureaucracy Characteristics

1 Specialized Government Building

1 Merit Promotion

1 Full Time Bureaucrat

1 Examination System

Law

1 Professional Lawyer

1 Judge

1 Formal Legal Code

1 Court

Specialized Buildings: polity owned

1 Market

1 Irrigation System

1 Food Storage Site

1 Drinking Water Supply System

Transport Infrastructure

1 Road

1 Port

1 Canal

1 Bridge

Special-purpose Sites

1 Mines or Quarry

Information / Writing System

1 Written Record

1 Script

4 Phonetic Alphabetic Writing

1 Nonwritten Record

1 Mnemonic Device

Information / Kinds of Written Documents

1 Scientific Literature

1 Sacred Text

1 Religious Literature

1 Practical Literature

1 Philosophy

1 Lists Tables and Classification

1 History

1 Fiction

1 Calendar

Information / Money

1 Token

1 Precious Metal

1 Paper Currency

1 Indigenous Coin

1 Foreign Coin

1 Article

Information / Postal System

1 Postal Station

1 General Postal Service

1 Courier

Information / Measurement System

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)

Fortifications

1 Wooden Palisade

1 Stone Walls Non Mortared

1 Stone Walls Mortared

1 Settlements in a Defensive Position

1 Modern Fortification

1 Moat

1 Fortified Camp

1 Earth Rampart

1 Ditch

1 Complex Fortification

1 Long Wall

Military use of Metals

1 Steel

1 Iron

1 Bronze

Projectiles

1 Tension Siege Engine

1 Sling Siege Engine

1 Sling

1 Self Bow

1 Javelin

1 Handheld Firearm

1 Gunpowder Siege Artillery

1 Crossbow

1 Composite Bow

1 Atlatl

Handheld weapons

1 War Club

1 Sword

1 Spear

1 Polearm

1 Dagger

1 Battle Axe

Animals used in warfare

1 Horse

1 Elephant

1 Donkey

1 Dog

1 Camel

Armor

1 Wood Bark Etc

2 Shield

1 Scaled Armor

1 Plate Armor

1 Limb Protection

1 Leather Cloth

1 Laminar Armor

1 Helmet

1 Chainmail

1 Breastplate

Naval technology

1 Specialized Military Vessel

1 Small Vessels Canoes Etc

1 Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service

Economy Variables (Luxury Goods) Coding in Progress.

Religion Variables Coding in Progress.

Crisis Consequence Cases Coding in Progress.

Power Transitions Coding in Progress.

Instability Events Coding in Progress.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range	Canaan (il_canaan) was in:
(2000 BCE 1181 BCE)	Galilee

Home NGA: Galilee

General Variables

Identity and Location Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Utm Zone	36 S Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Original Name	Canaan Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Capital	Hazor Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Alternative Name	Ka-na-na Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Alternative Name	Kenah Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Alternative Name	Kena'an Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Alternative Name	Southern Levant Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Alternative Name	Ga-na-na Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Temporal Bounds Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More
Peak Years	1550 BCE Expert
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Duration	[2000 BCE ➜ 1175 BCE] Expert
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Political and Cultural Relations Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Suprapolity Relations	nominal allegiance to [---] Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Suprapolity Relations	alliance with [---] Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Suprapolity Relations	vassalage to [---] Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Suprapolity Relations	unknown [---] Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Supracultural Entity	Amorite Near East Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Succeeding Entity	Ancient Phoenicia Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Scale of Supracultural Interaction	300,000 km² Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Relationship to Preceding Entity	continuity Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Preceding Entity	continuity; Intermediate Bronze-Age Canaan [continuity] Update here Expert
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Succeeding Entity 1200 BCE 332 BCE	Phoenician Empire (lb_phoenician_emp) [continuity] Expert
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Degree of Centralization	quasi-polity Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Language Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Linguistic Family	Semitic Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Language	Canaanite Expert	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Religion Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Social Complexity Variables

Social Scale Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Population of the Largest Settlement	[20,000 to 40,000] people	2000 BCE 1551 BCE
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Population of the Largest Settlement	[45,000 to 50,000] people	1550 BCE 1175 BCE
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Polity Territory	[400 to 3,000] km²	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Polity Population	[5,000 to 40,000] people	2000 BCE 1551 BCE
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Polity Population	[5,000 to 60,000] people	1550 BCE 1175 BCE
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Hierarchical Complexity Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Settlement Hierarchy	[6 to 7]	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Religious Level	[2 to 4]	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Military Level	-	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Administrative Level	-	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Professions Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Professional Soldier	Present Inferred	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Professional Priesthood	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Professional Military Officer	Unknown Suspected	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Bureaucracy Characteristics Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Specialized Government Building	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Merit Promotion	Unknown Suspected	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Full Time Bureaucrat	Unknown Suspected	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Examination System	Unknown Suspected	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Law Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Professional Lawyer	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Judge	Unknown	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Formal Legal Code	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Court	Unknown Suspected	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Specialized Buildings: polity owned Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Market	Present Inferred	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Irrigation System	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Food Storage Site	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Drinking Water Supply System	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Transport Infrastructure Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Road	Present Inferred	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Port	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Canal	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Bridge	Absent Inferred	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Special-purpose Sites Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Mines or Quarry	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Information / Writing System Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Written Record	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Script	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Phonetic Alphabetic Writing	Absent	2000 BCE 1801 BCE
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Phonetic Alphabetic Writing	Absent Disputed	1800 BCE 1550 BCE
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Phonetic Alphabetic Writing	Present Disputed	1800 BCE 1550 BCE
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Phonetic Alphabetic Writing	Present	1550 BCE 1175 BCE
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Nonwritten Record	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Mnemonic Device	Present Inferred	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Information / Kinds of Written Documents Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Scientific Literature	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Sacred Text	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Religious Literature	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Practical Literature	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Philosophy	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Lists Tables and Classification	Present Inferred	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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History	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Fiction	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Calendar	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Information / Money Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Token	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Precious Metal	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Paper Currency	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Indigenous Coin	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Foreign Coin	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Article	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Information / Postal System Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Postal Station	Unknown	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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General Postal Service	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Courier	Unknown	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Information / Measurement System Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)

Fortifications Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Wooden Palisade	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Stone Walls Non Mortared	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Stone Walls Mortared	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Settlements in a Defensive Position	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Modern Fortification	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Moat	Absent Inferred	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Fortified Camp	Unknown	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Earth Rampart	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Ditch	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Complex Fortification	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Long Wall	absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Military use of Metals Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Steel	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Iron	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Bronze	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Projectiles Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Tension Siege Engine	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Sling Siege Engine	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Sling	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Self Bow	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Javelin	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Handheld Firearm	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Gunpowder Siege Artillery	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Crossbow	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Composite Bow	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Atlatl	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Handheld weapons Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
War Club	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Sword	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Spear	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Polearm	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Dagger	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Battle Axe	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Animals used in warfare Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Horse	Present Inferred	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Elephant	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Donkey	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Dog	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Camel	Unknown	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Armor Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Wood Bark Etc	Absent Inferred	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Shield	Unknown	2000 BCE 1551 BCE
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Shield	Present	1550 BCE 1175 BCE
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Scaled Armor	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Plate Armor	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Limb Protection	Unknown	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Leather Cloth	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Laminar Armor	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Helmet	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Chainmail	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Breastplate	Unknown	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Naval technology Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Specialized Military Vessel	Unknown	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Small Vessels Canoes Etc	Unknown Suspected	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service	Present	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Economy Variables (Luxury Goods)

Religion Variables

Moralizing Supernatural Punishment and Reward Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Moralizing Enforcement is Broad	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Moralizing Supernatural Concern is Primary	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Agentic	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement in This Life	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Moralizing Supernatural Punishment And Reward	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Moralizing Religion Adopted by Commoners	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Targeted	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement in Afterlife	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Moralizing Religion Adopted by Elites	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement of Rulers	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Certain	Absent	2000 BCE 1175 BCE
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Human Sacrifice Canaan (il_canaan)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More