on 10-Jul-2023 (Mon)

The earliest war in history we have a record of 0:48 took place between Elam and the Sumerian King of Kish

To over simplify 2:10 most of Canaan can be divided into 4 broad categories 2:14 1. The Coastal Plain 2:16 2. The Hill Country 2:18 3. The Jordan Rift River Valley 2:21 4. The Trans-Jordan Plateau

the vast majority of the region's significant rainfall, falls to the west of the Jordan Rift

much of the best (Levant) farmland has been located on the coastal plain.

(Canaan) Because the Coastal Plain and Hill Country were largely dependent on seasonal rainfall they were susceptible to periodic drought and famine. To survive, it was necessary for the people of Canaan to store away some sufficient food and water for a rainy day, or, more accurately, many non-rainy days. If enough food and water were not stored the only two options left for the ill-prepared were conflict or migration.

Mesopotamia and Egypt were the primary destinations for Canaanite refugees

The Hill Country's greatest weakness, was possibly it's greatest strength. The geographical division and elevation changes that made the land difficult to unite also made it difficult to conquer.

In the north, the hill country and the coastal plain merge. The Canaanites of the heavily forested region became expert seafarers and merchants and their high quality wood was in high demand throughout the ancient Mediteranean. These Canaanites were later known as the Phoenicians.

While the Hill Country of Canaan is not particularly unusual, the Jordan rift is one of the most extreme topographic features on our planet.

For approximately 1000 years the city of Hazor was the leading city state of the northern rift. The Kings of [...] , were powerful enough to periodically command a coalition of northern Canaanite city-states.

In the south of Jordan Rift, Jericho was the only notable city-state. This is largely due to the fact that Jericho has access to a significant amount of fresh water a very rare commodity in the surrounding area.

On the Trans-Jordan Plateau, two civilizations, the Ammonites and the Moabites developed. They both became centralized kingdoms in the later 2nd millennium BC. They were centered around modest river valleys, which were fed by underground springs, that flowed into the Jordan River.

The north of the Trans-Jordan region was dominated by the Amorites and later the Arameans both coming from around what is now the Syrian Highlands.

The Economy of Ammon and Moab were largely dependent on the outermost inland trade route that connected the near east to Egypt. That trade route passed through Edom.

Like the other Canaanites, Ammonites and Moabites, the Edomites were Semitic Speaking people.

They possessed some of the least hospitable land in the region (Levant) Because quality farmland was in short supply the Edomites were predominantly semi-nomadic pastoralists.

Consequently, whenever Edomites could not make a living off of taxing trade they often turned to banditry raiding as far north as the Jezreel valley and to the west to the borders of Egypt

As early as the first dynasty of Egyptian Pharaohs, the strategic importance of Canaan was realized. At the site which would later become Gaza the Egyptians built a fortress which guarded Egypt's economic and military interests in the region.

During the early Bronze Age, several fortified Canaanite towns grew into cities. The largest known sites of this period were En Esur, Megiddo and Jericho

In the middle Bronze Age urbanism returned and increased. It was during this period that Hazor rose to become the leading city-state in Northern Canaan while Ashdod and Ashkelon became the leading cities of the coastal plain and Lachish, Jerusalem and Hebron became the leading cities of the hill country.

Senusret III is the first known Egyptian Pharaoh to campaign in Canaan. The he vassalized kings and extracted tribute and plunder.

While Egypt put pressure on the South, the Amorite Kingdom of Qatna put pressure on the north, they extracted tribute and Hazor became a nominal vassal of Qatna. Perhaps because of this military pressure, many Canaanites migrated into the Nile Delta

Around 1650 BC the Hyksos overthrew the Egyptians, and ruled as pharaohs in the Nile Delta for a century before being defeated and driven out by the Egyptians.

The city of Megiddo controlled the entry and exit to and from the Jezreel Valley