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Time > EarlyBronze | MiddleBronze | LateBronze | IronI | IronII Map | Climate | Glossary | Bibliography | Activities Around 1950 BCE, urban life revived in Canaan. For the first time, palaces were built in the largest settlements. These palace-towns controlled nearby villages and vied with one another for power. From Syria to the Egyptian Delta, rulers competed for prestige though warfare, trade, building projects and fine crafts. In Egypt, near the middle of the 17th century BCE, a group of Canaanites, known as Hyksos came into power and ruled the northern part of the country as self-styled Pharaohs for over 100 years. Eventually, an Egyptian royal family centered in Thebes in southern Egypt gathered enough power to challenge the Hyksos. In 1539, the Pharaoh Ahmose drove the Hyksos out of Egypt and began to build an empire. From Syria to Egypt, people in the Middle
Bronze Age buried their dead with elaborate rituals
which shared many common traits. Caves were used
for multiple burials in which several generations
of family members were placed in the same tomb. A
rich collection of goods was found with burials,
including pottery vessels, wooden containers,
weapons, tools and jewelry. Another form of burial was that of infants in pottery jars under the floors of rooms and courtyards. The body of the infant was placed inside the jar with gifts such as ointment juglets and jewelry. This practice did not continue into later periods and may indicate a high rate of infant mortality. An infant burial of this type was excavated at Sarepta. The weapons of the warriors were now made of
bronze. Bronze is an alloy of copper with 5-10%
tin, which was likely imported from Afghanistan.
New types of weapons made in the Middle Bronze Age
were the duckbill axe, the narrow, chisel-shaped
axe, and a leaf-shaped dagger with a wooden handle
and a stone pommel. |
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