The archaeology of the southern Levant is generally conceived as a series of phases or stages in
human cultural and evolutionary development based, for the most part, on tool technology for early pre-historic, proto-historic and early historic periods. Later phases are generally associated with historical periods and are named accordingly. While there is no single, accepted sequence that all archaeologists agree upon, the basic conventions indicate a number of
Stone Ages, followed by a Copper/Stone Age, in turn followed by a
Bronze Age. The names given to them, derived from the
Greek, are also used widely for other regions. The different ages in turn are often divided up into sequential or sometimes parallel chrono-cultural facies, sometimes called "cultures" or "periods". Sometimes their names are derived from
European prehistory, at other times from local sites, often where they were first discovered. Archaeologically, it is among the most extensively excavated regions in the world.
Pre-history and Stone Age The Southern Levant is amongst the oldest inhabited parts of
Eurasia, being on one of three plausible routes by which early
hominins could have
dispersed out of Africa (along with the
Bab al Mandab and the
Strait of Gibraltar).
Homo erectus left Africa and became the first hominin species to colonise Europe and Asia approximately two million years ago, probably through the Southern Levant. During this phase of the
Pleistocene epoch the region was wetter and greener, allowing
H. erectus to find places with fresh water as it followed other African animals that were dispersing out of Africa at the same time. One such location was '
Ubeidiya, on the southern shore of the
Sea of Galilee, where some of the oldest hominin remains in Eurasia have been discovered, dating to between 1.2 million and 1.5 million years ago. Several
Stone Ages, when stone tools prevailed and make up the bulk of artifacts, are followed by periods when other technologies came into use. They lent their names to the different periods. The basic framework for the southern
Levant is, as follows:
Paleolithic or Old Stone Age is often divided up into phases called, from early-to-late:
Lower Paleolithic, Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic. An
Epipaleolithic (latest Paleolithic) period, also known as
Mesolithic (transition to Neolithic) follows and is, in turn succeeded by a
Neolithic (New Stone Age). The following
Chalcolithic period includes the first evidence of
metallurgy with copper making its appearance. However, as
stone technology remains prevalent, the name, Chalcolithic (Copper/Stone) age combines the two.
Bronze Age Bronze is used for the following periods, but is actually a misnomer for a good part of that time. An Early
Bronze Age is divided into three major phases, Early Bronze I, II and III, but copper and not bronze was the most common
metal in use, while
stone technology continued to contribute the bulk of
tools. Early Bronze III is followed by another period, alternately named Early Bronze IV, Middle Bronze I, Intermediate Bronze or Early Bronze-Middle Bronze. In this period the name is apt; true bronze (a
tin alloy of
copper) makes its appearance in this time span. The next period is generally known as Middle Bronze II and is generally broken down into two sub-periods, Middle Bronze IIa and Middle Bronze IIb. Some scholars acknowledge a Middle Bronze III. The next period is known as Late Bronze and is often sub-divided into Late Bronze I and II.
Iron Age The introduction of
iron, although relatively rare, especially in the earliest phases, caused the following phase to be named the
Iron Age. It is variously sub-divided into Iron I, Iron II and sometimes Iron III, with subdivisions becoming increasingly popular as sequences become better known. Some archaeologists suggest that there in the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, the large cultural differences are explained by foreign invasion, that is, the introduction of new ethnicity. More recent evidence indicates that the large culture changes were not the result of a foreign invasion. Rather, the Iron Age people of the southern Levant were related to their Bronze Age predecessors.
Later historical periods The post-Iron Age is generally thought of as historical and accordingly names of periods reflect this. The very latest Iron Age phase is sometimes called "
Assyrian" and the following period is universally known as the
Persian period. The 333 BCE conquest of the region by
Alexander the Great is accepted as the beginning of the
Hellenistic period. The
Deuterocanonical book 2 Maccabees records: "Apollonius the son of Tharseas, who at that time was governor of Celesyria and Phenicia", Celesyria being the transliteration of
Coele-Syria. It is followed by the
Roman period, with an Early and Late Roman sub-period. The 4th century is recognised as the beginning of the
Byzantine period, that lasted until the
Arab conquest of the region. The following period is known as Early Arab and sub-periods by the names of reigning dynasties. The
Crusader conquest of the region is known, appropriately as the
Crusader period, which in part overlaps with
Ayyubid rule, and it is followed by a
Mamluk period after the conquering power. In 1516–17 the
Ottoman Empire conquered the region and gave its name to the period that lasted until 1917–18, when the British conquered it in
World War I. ==See also==