The Lower Qishon Late Bronze Age Terrestrial and Maritime Network

Abstract

During the Late Bronze Age, a complex network of economic interactions constituted of various semi-independent political entities, yet economically interdependent, existed in the Lower Qishon. We conducted a comparative analysis of plainwares from different sites along the Lower Qishon to identify how they interacted during the LBA. We also performed a comparative study of the maritime-imported ceramics to uncover the maritime connections of the network. We conclude that the Lower Qishon network linked the southern Akko/Haifa Bay with the northwestern Jezreel Valley. On land, the network was in contact with Tel Hazor and the Transjordan. At sea, it was directly connected with Syro-Lebanese and Cypriote coastal sites and indirectly with Egypt, coastal Anatolia, and the Aegean.