Editing Bronze Age (section)

== Near East ==
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{{Main|Ancient Near East}}

West Asia and the [[Near East]] were the first regions to enter the Bronze Age, beginning with the rise of the [[Mesopotamia]]n civilisation of [[Sumer]] in the mid-4th millennium&nbsp;BCE. Cultures in the ancient Near East practised intensive year-round agriculture; developed [[writing system]]s; invented the [[potter's wheel]], created [[centralised government]]s (usually in the form of [[hereditary monarchies]]), formulated written law codes, developed [[city-state]]s, nation-states and empires; embarked on advanced architectural projects; and introduced [[social stratification]], economic and civil administration, [[slavery]], and practised organised warfare, medicine, and religion. Societies in the region laid the foundations for [[astronomy]], mathematics, and [[astrology]].

{{anchor|Periodization}}

The following dates are approximate.
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===Near East Bronze Age divisions===
The Bronze Age in the Near East can be divided into Early, Middle and Late periods. The dates and phases below apply solely to the Near East, not universally.<ref>The Near East period dates and phases are unrelated to the bronze chronology of other world regions.</ref><ref>Piotr Bienkowski, Alan Ralph Millard, eds. ''Dictionary of the ancient Near East''. p. 60.</ref><ref>Amélie Kuhr. ''The Ancient Near East, c. 3000–330&nbsp;BC''. p. 9.</ref> However, some archaeologists propose a "high chronology", which extends periods such as the Intermediate Bronze Age by 300 to 500–600 years, based on material analysis of the [[southern Levant]] in cities such as [[Tel Hazor|Hazor]], [[Jericho]], and [[Beit She'an]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lev |first1=Ron |last2=Bechar |first2=Shlomit |last3=Boaretto |first3=Elisabetta |year=2021 |title=Hazor Eb III City Abandonment and Iba People Return: Radiocarbon Chronology and ITS Implications |journal=Radiocarbon |volume=63 |issue=5 |page=1453 |bibcode=2021Radcb..63.1453L |doi=10.1017/RDC.2021.76 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
* Early Bronze Age (EBA): 3300–2100&nbsp;BCE
** 3300–3000: EBA I
** 3000–2700: EBA II
** 2700–2200: EBA III
** 2200–2100: EBA IV
*Middle Bronze Age (MBA) or Intermediate Bronze Age (IBA): 2100–1550&nbsp;BCE
** 2100–2000: MBA I
** 2000–1750: MBA II A
** 1750–1650: MBA II B
** 1650–1550: MBA II C
*Late Bronze Age (LBA): 1550–1200&nbsp;BCE
** 1550–1400: LBA I
** 1400–1300: LBA II A
** 1300–1200: LBA II B ([[Late Bronze Age collapse]])

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=== Anatolia ===
{{further|Prehistory of Anatolia#Bronze Age}}
[[File:Hattusa Bronze Tablet Cuneiform.JPG|thumb|upright|Hittite bronze tablet from Çorum-Boğazköy dating from 1235&nbsp;BC, [[Museum of Anatolian Civilizations]], [[Ankara]]]]

The [[Hittite Empire]] was established during the 18th century&nbsp;BCE in [[Hattusa]], northern [[Anatolia]]. At its height in the 14th century&nbsp;BCE, the Hittite Kingdom encompassed central Anatolia, southwestern Syria as far as [[Ugarit]], and upper [[Mesopotamia]]. After 1180&nbsp;BCE, amid general turmoil in the [[Levant]], which is conjectured to have been associated with the sudden arrival of the [[Sea Peoples]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Killebrew |first=Ann E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gBCl2IQfNioC&pg=PA1 |title=The Philistines and Other 'Sea Peoples' in Text and Archaeology |publisher=Society of Biblical Literature |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-58983-721-8 |series=Society of Biblical Literature Archaeology and biblical studies |volume=15 |page=2 |quote=First coined in 1881 by the French Egyptologist G. Maspero (1896), the somewhat misleading term 'Sea Peoples' encompasses the ethnonyms Lukka, Sherden, Shekelesh, Teresh, Eqwesh, Denyen, Sikil / Tjekker, Weshesh, and Peleset (Philistines). [Footnote: The modern term 'Sea Peoples' refers to peoples that appear in several New Kingdom Egyptian texts as originating from 'islands' (tables 1–2; Adams and Cohen, this volume; see, e.g., [[Robert Drews|Drews]] 1993, 57 for a summary). The use of quotation marks in association with the term 'Sea Peoples' in our title is intended to draw attention to the problematic nature of this commonly used term. It is noteworthy that the designation 'of the sea' appears only concerning the Sherden, Shekelesh, and Eqwesh. Subsequently, this term was applied somewhat indiscriminately to several additional ethnonyms, including the Philistines, who are portrayed in their earliest appearance as invaders from the north during the reigns of Merenptah and Ramesses Ill (see, e.g., Sandars 1978; Redford 1992, 243, n. 14; for a recent review of the primary and secondary literature, see Woudhuizen 2006). Henceforth the term Sea Peoples will appear without quotation marks.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Drews |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bFpK6aXEWN8C&pg=PA48 |title=The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe ca. 1200 B.C. |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1993 |isbn=0691025916 |pages=48–61 |quote=The thesis that a great 'migration of the Sea Peoples' occurred ca. 1200 B.C. is supposedly based on Egyptian inscriptions, one from the reign of Merneptah and another from the reign of Ramesses III. Yet in the inscriptions themselves, such a migration nowhere appears. After reviewing what the Egyptian texts have to say about 'the sea peoples', one Egyptologist (Wolfgang Helck) recently remarked that although some things are unclear, 'eins ist aber sicher: Nach den ägyptischen Texten haben wir es nicht mit einer "Völkerwanderung" zu tun.' Thus, the migration hypothesis is based not on the inscriptions themselves but on their interpretation.}}</ref> the kingdom disintegrated into several independent "Neo-Hittite" city-states, some of which survived into the 8th century&nbsp;BCE.

[[Arzawa]], in Western Anatolia, during the second half of the 2nd millennium&nbsp;BC, likely extended along southern Anatolia in a belt from near the [[Turkish Lakes region]] to the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] coast. [[Arzawa]] was the western neighbour of the Middle and New [[Hittite Kingdom]]s, at times a rival and, at other times, a vassal.

The [[Assuwa league]] was a confederation of states in western Anatolia defeated by the Hittites under the earlier [[Tudhaliya I]] {{circa|1400&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E. Arzawa has been associated with the more obscure [[Assuwa]] generally located to its north. It probably bordered it, and may have been an alternative term for it during some periods.

=== Egypt ===
{{Main|Ancient Egypt}}

==== Early Bronze dynasties ====
[[File:Egypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 - Caryatid Mirror - 1983.196 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|thumb|upright|Bronze mirror with a female human figure at the base, [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt]] (1540–1296&nbsp;BCE)]]
[[File:Thutmose III sphinx E10897-Louvre 042005 06.jpg|thumb|upright|Sphinx-lion of [[Thutmose III]] (1479–1425&nbsp;BCE)]]

In [[Ancient Egypt]], the Bronze Age began in the [[Protodynastic Period]] {{circa|3150&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E. The archaic ''Early Bronze Age of Egypt'', known as the [[Early Dynastic Period of Egypt]],<ref name="Karin Sowada and Peter Grave">Karin Sowada and Peter Grave. ''Egypt in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Old Kingdom''.</ref><ref>Lukas de Blois and R. J. van der Spek. ''An Introduction to the Ancient World''. p.&nbsp;14.</ref> immediately followed the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt, {{circa|3100&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E. It is generally taken to include the [[First Dynasty of Egypt|First]] and [[Second Dynasty of Egypt|Second]] dynasties, lasting from the Protodynastic Period until {{circa|2686&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E, or the beginning of the [[Old Kingdom]]. With the First Dynasty, the capital moved from [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]] to Memphis with a unified Egypt ruled by an Egyptian god-king. Abydos remained the major holy land in the south. The hallmarks of ancient Egyptian civilisation, such as art, architecture and religion, took shape in the Early Dynastic Period. [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]], in the Early Bronze Age, was the largest city of the time. The Old Kingdom of the regional Bronze Age<ref name="Karin Sowada and Peter Grave" /> is the name given to the period in the 3rd millennium&nbsp;BCE when Egyptian civilisation attained its first continuous peak of complexity and achievement—the first of three "Kingdom" periods which marked the high points of civilisation in the [[Geography of Egypt#Nile Valley and Delta|lower Nile Valley]] (the others being the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] and [[New Kingdom]]).

The [[First Intermediate Period of Egypt]],<ref>Hansen, M. (2000). ''A comparative study of thirty city-state cultures: An investigation conducted by the Copenhagen Polis Centre''. Copenhagen, Denmark: Det Kongelike Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. p. 68.</ref> often described as a "dark period" in ancient Egyptian history, spanned about 100 years after the end of the Old Kingdom from about 2181 to 2055&nbsp;BCE. Very little monumental evidence survives from this period, especially from the early part of it. The First Intermediate Period was a dynamic time when the rule of Egypt was roughly divided between two areas: [[Heracleopolis Magna|Heracleopolis]] in Lower Egypt and [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] in Upper Egypt. These two kingdoms eventually came into conflict, and the Theban kings conquered the north, reunifying Egypt under a single ruler during the second part of the [[Eleventh Dynasty]].

==== Nubia ====
The Bronze Age in [[Nubia]] started as early as 2300&nbsp;BCE.<ref name="Childs1993">{{Cite journal |last1=Childs |first1=S. Terry |last2=Killick |first2=David |year=1993 |title=Indigenous African Metallurgy: Nature and Culture |journal=Annual Review of Anthropology |volume=22 |pages=317–337 |doi=10.1146/annurev.anthro.22.1.317 |jstor=2155851}}</ref> Egyptians introduced copper smelting to the Nubian city of [[Meroë]] in present-day [[Sudan]] {{circa|2600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E.<ref name="Miller1994" /> A furnace for bronze casting found in [[Kerma]] has been dated to 2300–1900&nbsp;BCE.<ref name="Childs1993" />

==== Middle Bronze dynasties ====
The [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt]] spanned between 2055 and 1650&nbsp;BCE. During this period, the Osiris funerary cult rose to dominate popular [[Ancient Egyptian religion]]. The period comprises two phases: the Eleventh Dynasty, which ruled from Thebes, and the [[Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt|Twelfth]]<ref>Othmar Keel and Christoph Uehlinger. ''Gods, goddesses, and images of God in ancient Israel'', 1998. p.&nbsp;17. "The first phase (Middle Bronze Age IIA) runs roughly parallel to the Egyptian Twelfth Dynasty".</ref> and [[Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Thirteenth]] dynasties, centred on [[el-Lisht]]. The unified kingdom was previously considered to comprise the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties, but historians now consider part of the Thirteenth Dynasty to have belonged to the Middle Kingdom.

During the [[Second Intermediate Period]],<ref>Bruce G. Trigger. ''Ancient Egypt: A Social History''. 1983. p.&nbsp;137. "...&nbsp;for the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period it is the Middle Bronze Age".</ref> Ancient Egypt fell into disarray a second time between the end of the Middle Kingdom and the start of the New Kingdom, best known for the [[Hyksos]], whose reign comprised the [[Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Fifteenth]] and [[Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Sixteenth]] dynasties. The Hyksos first appeared in Egypt during the Eleventh Dynasty, began their climb to power in the Thirteenth Dynasty, and emerged from the Second Intermediate Period in control of [[Avaris]] and the [[Nile Delta]]. By the Fifteenth Dynasty, they ruled lower Egypt. They were expelled at the end of the [[Seventeenth Dynasty]].

==== Late Bronze dynasties ====
The [[New Kingdom of Egypt]], also referred to as the Egyptian Empire, existed during the 16th–11th centuries&nbsp;BCE. The New Kingdom followed the Second Intermediate Period and was succeeded by the [[Third Intermediate Period]]. It was Egypt's most prosperous time and marked the peak of Egypt's power. The later New Kingdom, comprising the [[Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Nineteenth]] and [[Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt|Twentieth]] dynasties (1292–1069&nbsp;BCE), is also known as the [[Ramesside period]], after the eleven pharaohs who took the name of Ramesses.

=== Iranian plateau ===
[[File: Elam cool.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Late 3rd-millennium&nbsp;BCE silver cup from Marvdasht, [[Fars province|Fars]], with linear-Elamite inscription]]
{{Further|Iranian plateau}}

[[Elam]] was a pre-Iranian ancient civilisation located east of Mesopotamia. In the Middle Bronze Age, Elam consisted of kingdoms on the [[Iranian plateau]], centred in [[Anshan (Persia)|Anshan]]. From the mid-2nd millennium&nbsp;BCE, Elam was centred in [[Susa]] in the [[Khuzestan]] lowlands. Its culture played a crucial role in both the [[Gutian Empire]] and the Iranian [[Achaemenid dynasty]] that succeeded it.

The [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex|Oxus civilisation]]<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dalton |first1=Ormonde Maddock |author-link1=Ormonde Maddock Dalton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p14VAAAAYAAJ |title=The treasure of the Oxus |last2=Franks |first2=Augustus Wollaston |author-link2=Augustus Wollaston Franks |last3=Read |first3=C. H. |publisher=British Museum |year=1905 |location=London}}</ref> was a Bronze Age Central Asian culture dated {{circa|2300–1700&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E and centred on the upper [[Amu Darya]] ({{aka|the Oxus}}). In the Early Bronze Age, the culture of the [[Kopet Dag]] oases and [[Altyndepe]] developed a proto-urban society. This corresponds to level IV at [[Namazga-Tepe]]. Altyndepe was a major centre even then. Pottery was wheel-turned. Grapes were grown. The height of this urban development was reached in the Middle Bronze Age {{circa|2300&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E, corresponding to level V at Namazga-Depe.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Masson |first=V. M. |title=History of civilizations of Central Asia |editor-last=Dani |editor-first=A. H. |volume=The dawn of civilization: earliest times to 700&nbsp;BC |chapter=Bronze Age in Khorasan and Transoxiana |editor-last2=Masson |editor-first2=Vadim Mikhaĭlovich}}</ref> This Bronze Age culture is called the [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex]].

The [[Kulli culture]],<ref>Possehl, G. L. (1986)., ''Kulli: An exploration of ancient civilization in Asia''. Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press.</ref><ref>Piggott, S. (1961). ''Prehistoric India to 1000 B.C.'' Baltimore: Penguin.</ref> similar to that of the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]], was located in southern [[Balochistan]] (Gedrosia) {{circa|2500–2000&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E. The economy was agricultural. Dams were found in several places, providing evidence for a highly developed water management system.

[[File:Chlorite object Jiroft, Kerman ca. 2500 BCE, Bronze Age I, National Museum of Iran.jpg|thumb|[[Master of Animals]] in [[Chlorite group|chlorite]], [[Jiroft culture]], {{circa|2500&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E, Bronze Age I, [[National Museum of Iran]]]]
[[Konar Sandal]] is associated with the hypothesized [[Jiroft culture]], a 3rd-millennium&nbsp;BC culture postulated based on a collection of artefacts confiscated in 2001.

=== 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.

=== Mesopotamia ===
{{Main|History of Mesopotamia}}
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2025}}
The [[Bronze Age Mesopotamia|Mesopotamian Bronze Age]] began {{circa|3500&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E and ended with the [[Kassite]] period {{circa|1500|1155&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E). The usual tripartite division into an Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age is not used in the context of Mesopotamia. Instead, a division primarily based on art and historical characteristics is more common.

The [[cities of the Ancient Near East]] housed several tens of thousands of people. [[Ur]], [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]], [[Isin]], [[Larsa]], and [[Nippur]] in the Middle Bronze Age and [[Babylon]], [[Calah]], and [[Assur]] in the Late Bronze Age similarly had large populations. The [[Akkadian Empire]] (2335–2154&nbsp;BCE) became the dominant power in the region. After its fall, the [[Sumer]]ians enjoyed a renaissance with the [[Neo-Sumerian Empire]]. [[Assyria]], along with the [[Old Assyrian Empire]] ({{circa|1800–1600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E), became a regional power under the [[Amorite]] king [[Shamshi-Adad I]]. The earliest mention of Babylon (then a small administrative town) appears on a tablet from the reign of [[Sargon of Akkad]] in the 23rd century&nbsp;BCE. The Amorite dynasty established the city-state of Babylon in the 19th century&nbsp;BCE. Over a century later, it briefly took over the other city-states and formed the short-lived First Babylonian Empire during what is also called the [[Old Babylonian Period]].

Akkad, Assyria, and Babylonia used the written East Semitic [[Akkadian language]] for official use and as a spoken language. By that time, the Sumerian language was no longer spoken, but was still in religious use in Assyria and Babylonia, and would remain so until the 1st century&nbsp;CE. The [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadian]] and Sumerian traditions played a major role in later Assyrian and Babylonian culture. Despite this, Babylonia, unlike the more militarily powerful Assyria, was founded by non-native Amorites and often ruled by other non-indigenous peoples such as the [[Kassites]], [[Aramaeans]] and [[Chaldea]]ns, as well as by its Assyrian neighbours.