Emergence of urban life and the establishment of the first fortified cities under Egyptian rule.
Canaanites, a group of Semitic people, settled in Palestine/Canaan and along the Syrio-Palestinian coast. They established semi-independent city-states, as reflected in Tell al-Amarna Letters; maintained maritime and land trade with the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt and Mesopotamia; invented the alphabet writing; developed a multi-deity religion common to Semitic peoples of the ancient Near East; and manufactured bronze tools.
Frequent rebellions by Canaanite city states prompted Egyptian military campaigns in Palestine.
Era: Bronze Age (3,000—1,250 BCE)
