Chronology - Canaan & Ancient Israel @ University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

This page includes information that may not reflect the current views and values of the Penn Museum.

The artifacts featured in the Museum's Canaan and Ancient Israel gallery were excavated from levels of Bronze and Iron Age (ca. 3300 - 550 BCE)* occupation.

The Bronze Age is divided into three parts:

Early Bronze Age (3300 - 1950 BCE)
Middle Bronze Age (1950 - 1539 BCE)
Late Bronze Age (1539 - 1200 BCE)

For more than 300 years during the Late Bronze Age and early Iron Age, Egypt ruled Canaan. Deities, arts and technology were intermingled between the two cultures.

The Iron Age is divided into two parts:

Iron Age I (1200 - 950 BCE)
Iron Age II (950 - 586 BCE)

The dividing of ancient history into chronological periods is the product of modern scholarship. The division between the Bronze and Iron Age marks a significant technological innovation, namely the adoption of ironworking, which over time replaced bronze as the most popular metal for tools, weapons and armor.

In addition to the change in technology, the evolution from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age was distinguished by widespread social changes, similar to those accompanying the invention of the printing press or the end of World War II.

* The abbreviations BCE and CE used throughout this website stand for "Before the Common Era" and "Common Era" respectively. They are an equivalent to the abbreviations BC and AD. Many scholars today prefer to use BCE and CE to abbreviate historical periods.

< Dr. Linda Bregstein and Dr. Bruce Routledge, co-curators of the "Canaan and Ancient" exhibit at the Museum, examine a pottery vessel in one of the Museum's storerooms.