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Concept
Canaan
Summary
Canaan (ˈkeɪnən; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – KNʿN; כְּנַעַן – Kənáʿan, in pausa כְּנָעַן – Kənāʿan; Χανααν – Khanaan; كَنْعَانُ – Kan‘ān) was a Semitic-speaking civilization and region of the Southern Levant in the Ancient Near East during the late 2nd millennium BC. Canaan had significant geopolitical importance in the Late Bronze Age Amarna Period (14th century BC) as the area where the spheres of interest of the Egyptian, Hittite, Mitanni and Assyrian Empires converged or overlapped. Much of present-day knowledge about Canaan stems from archaeological excavation in this area at sites such as Tel Hazor, Tel Megiddo, En Esur, and Gezer.
The name "Canaan" appears throughout the Bible as a geography associated with the "Promised Land". The demonym "Canaanites" serves as an ethnic catch-all term covering various indigenous populations—both settled and nomadic-pastoral groups—throughout the regions of the southern Levant or Canaan. It is by far the most frequently used ethnic term in the Bible. Biblical scholar Mark Smith, citing archaeological findings, suggests "that the Israelite culture largely overlapped with and derived from Canaanite culture... In short, Israelite culture was largely Canaanite in nature."
The name "Canaanites" is attested, many centuries later, as the endonym of the people later known to the Ancient Greeks from 500 BC as Phoenicians, and after the emigration of some Canaanite-speakers to Carthage (founded in the 9th century BC), was also used as a self-designation by the Punics (as "Chanani") of North Africa during Late Antiquity.
The English term "Canaan" (pronounced ˈkeɪnən since 1500, due to the Great Vowel Shift) comes from the Hebrew (knʿn), via the Koine Greek Χανααν Khanaan and the Latin Canaan. It appears as Kinâḫna (𒆳𒆠𒈾𒄴𒈾, KURki-na-aḫ-na) in the Amarna letters (14th century BC) and several other ancient Egyptian texts. In Greek, it first occurs in the writings of Hecataeus as "Khna" (Χνᾶ). It is attested in Phoenician on coins from Berytus dated to the 2nd century BCE.
The etymology is uncertain.
Official source
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