Ancient Israel did not emerge within a vacuum but rather came to exist alongside various peoples, including Canaanites, Egyptians, and Philistines. Indeed, Israel’s very proximity to these groups has made it difficult—until now—to distinguish the archaeological traces of early Israel and other contemporary groups. Through an analysis of the results from recent excavations in light of relevant historical and later biblical texts, this book proposes that it is possible to identify these peoples and trace culturally or ethnically defined boundaries in the archaeological record. Features of late second-millennium B.C.E. culture are critically examined in their historical and biblical contexts in order to define the complex social boundaries of the early Iron Age and reconstruct the diverse material world of these four peoples. Of particular value to scholars, archaeologists, and historians, this volume will also be a standard reference and resource for students and other readers interested in the emergence of early Israel.

Ann E. Killebrew, Assistant Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Jewish Studies at The Pennsylvania State University, is a seasoned field archaeologist and co-editor of Jerusalem in Bible and Archaeology: The First Temple Period (Society of Biblical Literature, 2003).

 Contents
Acknowledgements 
Abbreviations
List of Illustrations
Introduction: Peoples and Ethnicity in the Biblical World: A Conceptual Framework 1
Chapter I: The Age of Internationalism: The Eastern Mediterranean During the 13th 
	Century B.C.E. and the "Crisis"						 25
Chapter II: Egypt in Canaan: Empire and Imperialism in the Late Bronze Age	 64
			 									
Chapter III: Canaan and Canaanites: An Ethnic Mosaic				 108
Chapter IV: Early Israel: A "Mixed Multitude"				 152
Chapter V: The Philistines: Urban Colonists of the Early Iron Age 213
Chapter VI: Identifying the Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, and Early Israel 266 
Bibliography 274
Illustrations (1-74)
Indices