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Abstract

This book examines the relations between the inhabitants of southwest
Canaan (the southern coastal plain and the Shephelah to its east), in
particular the local elite, and the agents of the Egyptian empire, who imposed
Egyptian hegemony over the region during the 16th–12th centuries BCE.
Consequently, this book explores the impact of the empire’s disintegration on
the local population in the region, and the post-collapse transformation of the
12th–11th centuries BCE.
The subsequent discussion, which is based on theoretical models that deal
with empires and colonial encounters, focuses on the range of local reactions
to the Egyptian hegemony. Further to this, the analysis points out the active
role of the local elite in the events that shaped the history of the region across
four centuries. The collaborative nature of the local elite had a degree of
influence over Egyptian policy towards the region, principally the hegemonic
character of imperial rule over Canaan. As encounters with the Egyptians
intensified, both in Canaan and Egypt itself, the local elite were exposed to a
variety of Egyptian practices that they then appropriated and localized to fit
their own social structure.
Yet nothing lasts forever, as the disintegration of the Egyptian empire
during the 12th century BCE terminated the prior prolonged period of
Egyptian interaction with the inhabitants of southwest Canaan. The book
thus traces transformations in the region following the Egyptian withdrawal.
It is argued that the Egyptian-oriented system that prospered for centuries
collapsed and was replaced by a new system, one dominated by newly
emerged groups. Based in new centers, these new groups rejected many of
the practices that were common during the days of Egyptian hegemony.
Instead, these agents incorporated new cultural practices that maintained
a prominent Mediterranean component, which were appropriated and
eventually localized.

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