Editing Bronze Age (section)

=== Levant ===
[[File:TimnaChalcolithicMine.JPG|thumb|Chalcolithic copper mine in the [[Timna Valley]], Negev Desert, Israel]]
{{Further|History of the ancient Levant#Bronze Age|Canaan|Prehistory of the Levant|List of archaeological periods (Levant)}}

In modern scholarship, the chronology of the Bronze Age Levant is divided into: 
* Early Syrian, or Proto Syrian{{snd}}corresponding to the Early Bronze Age
* Old Syrian{{snd}}corresponding to the Middle Bronze Age
* Middle Syrian{{snd}}corresponding to the Late Bronze Age
The term ''Neo-Syria'' is used to designate the early [[Iron Age]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hansen |first=Mogens Herman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8qvY8pxVxcwC&pg=PA57 |title=A Comparative Study of Thirty City-state Cultures: An Investigation |publisher=Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab |year=2000 |isbn=978-8778761774 |volume=21 |page=57 |access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref>

The old Syrian period was dominated by the [[Ebla#First kingdom|Eblaite first kingdom]], [[Tell Brak#Kingdom of Nagar|Nagar]] and the [[The second kingdom of Mari|Mariote second kingdom]]. The [[Akkadians]] conquered large areas of the Levant and were followed by the [[Amorites|Amorite kingdoms]], {{circa|2000–1600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E, which arose in [[Mari, Syria#The Lim dynasty|Mari]], [[Yamhad]], [[Qatna]], and [[Assyria]].<ref>under [[Shamshi-Adad I]].</ref> From the 15th century&nbsp;BCE onward, the term [[Amurru kingdom|Amurru]] is usually applied to the region extending north of [[Canaan]] as far as [[Kadesh (Syria)|Kadesh]] on the [[Orontes River]].

The earliest-known contact of [[Ugarit]] with Egypt (and the first exact dating of Ugaritic civilisation) comes from a [[carnelian]] bead identified with the Middle Kingdom pharaoh [[Senusret I]], whose reign is dated to 1971–1926&nbsp;BCE. A [[stela]] and a statuette of the Egyptian pharaohs [[Senusret III]] and [[Amenemhet III]] have also been found. However, it is unclear when they first arrived at Ugarit. In the [[Amarna letters]], messages from Ugarit {{circa|1350&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E written by [[Ammittamru I]], [[Niqmaddu II]], and his queen have been discovered. From the 16th to the 13th century&nbsp;BCE, Ugarit remained in constant contact with Egypt and Cyprus ([[Alashiya]]).

[[Mitanni]] was a loosely organised state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia, emerging {{circa|1500–1300&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E. Founded by an [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] ruling class that governed a predominantly [[Hurrian]] population, Mitanni came to be a regional power after the Hittite destruction of [[Kassite]] Babylon created a power vacuum in Mesopotamia. At its beginning, Mitanni's major rival was Egypt under the [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Thutmosids]]. However, with the ascent of the Hittite empire, Mitanni and Egypt allied to protect their mutual interests from the threat of Hittite domination. At the height of its power during the 14th century&nbsp;BC, Mitanni had outposts centred on its capital, [[Washukanni]], which archaeologists have located on the headwaters of the [[Khabur (Euphrates)|Khabur River]]. Eventually, Mitanni succumbed to the Hittites and later [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] attacks, eventually being reduced to a province of the [[Middle Assyrian Empire]].

The [[Israelites]] were an [[ancient Semitic-speaking people]] of the [[Ancient Near East]] who inhabited part of Canaan during the [[History of ancient Israel and Judah|tribal and monarchic periods]] (15th–6th centuries&nbsp;BCE),<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Finkelstein |first=Israel |year=1996 |title=Ethnicity and origin of the Iron I settlers in the Highlands of Canaan: Can the real Israel stand up? |journal=The Biblical Archaeologist |volume=59 |issue=4 |pages=198–212 |doi=10.2307/3210562 |jstor=3210562 |s2cid=164201705}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Finkelstein |first=Israel |title=The archaeology of the Israelite settlement |publisher=Israel Exploration Society |year=1988 |isbn=965-221-007-2 |location=Jerusalem}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=From nomadism to monarchy: archaeological and historical aspects of early Israel |publisher=Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi |year=1994 |isbn=965-217-117-4 |editor-last=Finkelstein |editor-first=Israel |editor-last2=Naʼaman |editor-first2=Nadav}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Finkelstein |first=Israel |year=1996 |title=The archaeology of the United Monarchy: an alternative view |journal=Levant |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=177–187 |doi=10.1179/lev.1996.28.1.177}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Finkelstein |first1=Israel |title=The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Sacred Texts |last2=Silberman |first2=Neil Asher |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2002 |isbn=0-684-86913-6}}</ref> and lived in the region in smaller numbers after the fall of the monarchy. The name "Israel" first appears {{circa|1209&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E, at the end of the Late Bronze Age and the very beginning of the Iron Age, on the [[Merneptah Stele]] raised by the Egyptian pharaoh [[Merneptah]].

The [[Arameans]] were a Northwest Semitic semi-nomadic [[pastoralism|pastoral]] people who originated in what is now modern Syria (Biblical [[Aram (region)|Aram]]) during the Late Bronze and early Iron Age. Large groups migrated to Mesopotamia, where they intermingled with the native Akkadian (Assyrian and Babylonian) population. The Aramaeans never had a unified empire; they were divided into independent kingdoms all across the Near East. After the [[Late Bronze Age collapse|Bronze Age]] collapse, their political influence was confined to Syro-Hittite states, which were entirely absorbed into the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] by the 8th century&nbsp;BCE.