A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Division of the Humanities in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

By Bruce Williams

© 1975 All Rights Reserved
The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
The University of Chicago

Commitee: Helene J. Kantor, Klaus Baer, Lawrence Stager

EXPLANATION OF REISSUE OF THIS MANUSCRIPT 1999

In the Spring of 1999 at the ARCE meetings in Chicago, Dr. Jacke Phillips read an announcement that Manfred Bietak had initiated an international project on THE SYNCHRONIZATION OF CIVILIZATIONS IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN IN THE 2nd MILLENNIUM B.C. to resolve problems of chronology in the early Second Millennium B. C., in the Nile Valley, the Near East, and the Aegean. Making my dissertation available in electronic form is my contribution to this effort. The purpose is to make a large body of material available to scholars who may not have ready access to the wide range of evidence that pertains to this age of broad contacts.

This dissertation is now twenty-four years old. Since it was written, great many new sites have been excavated and published, and students of the period have generated quite a bit of discussion on it. A number of significant points in this work must now be changed. The most important change is the reversal of the Kerma chronology. Although I noted that the so-called Nubian cemetery at Kerma was earlier than K, I did not see that Reisner had the order of K reversed. W. Y. Adams and David O'Connor have since corrected this error. This reversal, however, has little effect on the chronology, except, perhaps, to make it slightly easier to accept, for KXVI, now the earliest great tumulus, is dated by a large basin of Dedumose to the latest Thirteenth Dynasty or later. Details are found in the Appendix to OINE VI. A second major change is that earlier phases of Asiatic culture appear earlier in the Delta settlements than I indicated. I will leave other points of discussion to later revisions of the work. Many details remain useful, such as evidence first discerned by Klaus Baer that dates the end of the Thirteenth Dynasty's unified control of the Nile Valley to the Seventeenth Century.

Although many years have gone by since I wrote Archaeology and Historical Problems of the Second Intermediate Period, the two main theses posed in this dissertation are still alive: First, almost all of the Middle Bronze Age is later than 1800 B.C. Second, the Middle Bronze Age was contemporary with the Assyrian Colony and Old Babylonian Periods as dated by the low chronology. Beyond these two theses, the archaeological and historical sequences of this period should be considered interconnected phases. At its beginning, Assyrians live and work in central Anatolia, the state-complex encompassing the lands from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf. The ruler of Byblos, well known to the Mesopotamians, has a title of an Egyptian nomarch. At the end, the Hyksos are allied with Kush, while the Egyptians claim the friendship of the Aegeans—backed up by interconnections in royal jewelry. The Hittites have descended from the mountains to destroy Yamkhad, and then march all the way to Babylon. A thesis was, and is, that these events were not isolated or coincidental, but parts of larger geo-political and cultural changes that embraced not localities or districts, but all of the regions and states from the Aegean to the Zagros and Anatolia to Sudan. Key to this reconstruction was a system of correlations that required the essential acceptance of Bietak's low chronology for the Middle Bronze Age, and the low chronology for Mesopotamia, which contradicted the very high dates often argued for these same periods, especially in Syro-Palestinian archaeological circles. This contradiction forms the core of the issues now again in question.

I hope this submission will contribute to the research, by pointing out some of the less-familiar evidence, and by raising some points that do not deserve to be ignored.

Bruce Williams
October 1, 1999

ACCESS TO THE MANUSCRIPT

Processing of the manuscript into a form accessible over the Internet is has been done under the auspices of the Research Archives of the Oriental Institute. We are providing the manuscript in twenty-one .pdf files in addition to this introductory statement and table of contents. Links to the .pdf files will be found in the table of contents below. As printed, the manuscript covers xxxi + 2143 pages and includes 598 figures, 95 tables and 11 maps.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FRONTMATTER

PART I. EGYPT FROM THE END OF THE TWELFTH DYNASTY TO THE EXPULSION OF THE HYKSOS

  • CHAPTERS I-II
    Chapter I. PROBLEMS IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CHRONOLOGY OF EGYPT BETWEEN THE OLD KINGDOM AND THE AMARNA PERIOD
    • Sequence Dating in Historical Egypt
    • The Chronology of Egyptian Archaeology in the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom
    Chapter II. THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE AVARIS AREA AND THE DATE OF YEHUDIYYA WARE
    • Tell ed-Dab'a
    • Tell el Yehudiyya
    • Inshas
    • Farasha
    • Major Occurences of Yehudiyya Ware in the Nile Valley
    • The Date of the Kerma Tumuli, the Date of the Seventeenth Dynasty and the Date of Yehudiyya Ware
  • CHAPTERS III-V
    Chapter III. THE ITJ TAWY REGION IN THE SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD
    • Major Burials of the Thirteenth Dynasty
    • Riqqa
    • Haraga
    • The Cemetery at Illahun
    • Harawa
    • Dahshur
    • Lisht
    • The Khendjer Complex
    • The Town at Illahun
    • Haraga: Occupation Site
    • Tarkhan
    Chapter IV. THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THEBES IN THE SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD
    • Middle Kingdom Groups at Thebes
    • Second Intermediate Period Materials
    • Summary: Chronological Evidence from Thebes
    Chapter V. ABYDOS
    • Pottery Groups of the Late Twelfth and Thirteenth Dynasties
    • Groups of Thirteenth Dynasty and Hyksos Age
    • Summary: Chronological Evidence from Thebes
  • CHAPTERS VI-IX
    Chapter VI. UPPER EGYPT FROM THE END OF THE MIDDLE KINGDOM TO THE END OF THE THIRTEENTH DYNASTY
    • Armant
    • Kubaniyya
    • Tell Edfu
    • El Kab
    • Qau Before the Hyksos Age
    • Matmar Before the Hyksos Age
    • Upper Egypt in the Thirteenth Dynasty
    Chapter VII. UPPER EGYPT IN THE HYKSOS AGE
    • Mostagedda
    • Deir Rifa
    • Balabish in the Early to Mid Hyksos Age
    • Qau and Badari
    • Matmar in the Era of the Expulsion
    • Abydos at the End of the Hyksos Age
    • Diospolis Parva
    Chapter VIII. THE AREA NEAR THE FAYUM AT THE END OF THE HYKSOS AGE
    • Sedment
    • Gurob: Group A
    Chapter IX. EGYPT IN THE SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD
    • The Sequence
    • Archaeology and the Hyksos

PART II. EGYPT FROM THE END OF THE TWELFTH DYNASTY TO THE EXPULSION OF THE HYKSOS

PART III. NUBIA FROM THE END OF THE TWELFTH DYNASTY TO THE RECONQUEST IN THE NEW KINGDOM

  • CHAPTERS X-XVI
    Chapter X. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEMS OF THE NUBIAN CULTURE COMPLEX IN THE SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD
    Chapter XI. THE C-GROUP
    • Ia
    • Ib
    • IIa
    • IIb
    • III
    • C-Group Settlements
    • Imported Objects
    Chapter XII. KERMA
    • Cemetery N
    • The Age of the Great Tumuli at Kerma
    • Kerma: Summary
    Chapter XIII. CEMETERIES IN UPPER NUBIA AND KERMA TOMBS IN LOWER NUBIA
    • Sai
    • Soleb
    • Songi
    • Ukma West
    • Semna South
    • Kerma Occurences in Lower Nubia
    • Qurta
    • Kuban
    • Wadi Alaqi
    • Mediq
    • Tumas
    • Aniba
    • Buhen
    • Debeira
    • Mirgissa
    • Adindan
    • Summary: The Kerma Assemblage in Lower Nubia
    Chapter XIV. THE PAN GRAVES
    • Shellal
    • Ginari
    • Mo'alla
    • Dakka
    • Kuban Fort
    • Kuban Cemetery
    • Wadi Alaqi
    • Qurta
    • Maharaga
    • Sayala
    • Wadi es Sebu'a
    • Areika
    • Tumas
    • Aniba
    • Masmas
    • Toshka West
    • Toshka East
    • Adindan
    • Faras to Gamai East
    • Serra West
    • Pan Grave Sites in Egypt
    Chapter XV. EGYPTIANS IN NUBIA
    • Buhen
    • Aniba
    • Kuban; Cemetery 110
    • Kor
    • Serra East
    • Mirgissa
    • Uronarti
    • Shalfak
    • Semna
    • Kumma
    • Summary: The Egyptians in Nubia
    Chapter XVI. NUBIA IN THE SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD
    • A Synchronism of the Archaeological Assemblages in Nubia in the Second Intermediate Period
    • Historical Problems and the Archaeology of Nubia in the Second Intermediate Period

PART IV. NUBIA FROM THE END OF THE TWELFTH DYNASTY TO THE RECONQUEST IN THE NEW KINGDOM

PART V. PALESTINE AND SYRIA IN THE MIDDLE BRONZE II AND III AGES

  • CHAPTERS XVII-XIX
    Chapter XVII. PROBLEMS IN THE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE OF PALESTINE AND SYRIA
    Chapter XVIII. THE MIDDLE BRONZE II A
    • Byblos
    • Other Sites of MB II A Occurence
    Chapter XIX. THE MIDDLE BRONZE IIB - III IN PHOENICIA
    • Byblos
    • Tombs of the Sidon Region: Lebe'a, Ruweise and Madjluna
    • "Kafer edj-Djarra"
    • Qraye
    • The Tombs at Sin el Fil
    • Amrith
  • CHAPTER XX
    Chapter XX. NORTHERN PALESTINE IN THE MIDDLE BRONZE IIB - III
    • Megiddo
    • Hazor
    • Tell el-Far'a North
    • Shechem
    • Tell Ta'annek
    • Tell Poleg
    • Ras el Ain
    • Affula
    • Nahariyya
    • Kurdana
    • Yauron
    • Barqai
    • Beth Shan
    • Kefar Szold
    • Ginossar
    • Tell Dan
  • CHAPTERS XXI-XXIII
    Chapter XXI. SOUTH-INLAND PALESTINE IN THE MIDDLE BRONZE IIB - III
    • Jericho
    • Tell Beit Mirsim
    • Gibeon
    • Khirbet Kufin
    • Kalandia
    • Wadi et-Tin
    • Moza Illit
    • Bethel
    • Beth Zur
    • Khirbet el Mshash
    • Tell el Milh
    Chapter XXII. TRANSJORDAN IN THE MIDDLE BRONZE II - III
    • Amman
    • Pella
    • Irbid
    • Fo'ara
    Chapter XXIII. SOUTHWEST PALESTINE
    • Tell al Ajjul
    • Tell el Far'a South
    • Tell Aviv
    • Dhahrat el Humrayya
    • Lachish
    • Gezer
    • Ain Shems
    • Tell Nagila
    • Ness Ziona
    • el Jisr
    • Tel Mor
    • Yavne Yam
    • Tell Jerishe
  • CHAPTERS XXIV-XXVIII
    Chapter XXIV. THE MARCHLAND: THE REGION OF DAMASCUS, THE BIQAA, KADESH AND UGARIT
    • The Damascus Region: Yabrud
    • The Damascus Region: Tell Ghuzlaniyya
    • The Damascus Region: Tell es-Salihiyya
    • The Biqaa: Kamid el Loz and Tell Hizzin
    • Kadesh
    • Tell et-Tin
    • Ugarit
    Chapter XXV. NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA AND THE MIDDLE EUPHRATES REGION
    • The Mari Palace
    • Baghuz
    • Tell Chagar Bazar
    Chapter XXVI. INLAND SYRIA
    • Hama
    • Qatna
    • Osmaniyya
    • Tell Mardikh
    • Carchemish
    Chapter XXVII. THE AMUQ-ALALAKH SEQUENCE AND THE BABYLONIAN CHRONOLOGY
    • Amuq Sites
    • Alalakh
    • Alalakh and the Babylonian Chronology
    Chapter XXVIII. PALESTINE AND SYRIA IN THE SECOND INTERMEDIATE PEROD
    • The Proto-Canaanite Sequence
    • Syrian Sequences
    • The Sequence of Weapons in the Middle Bronze II-III
    • Fortifications and Destructions in the Middle and Early Late Bronze Ages
    • Foreigh Relations of Palestine-Syria
    • Painted Pottery of the Middle Bronze II-III Yehudiyya Ware

PART VI. PALESTINE AND SYRIA IN THE MIDDLE BRONZE II AND III AGES

  • CHAPTER XXIX
    Chapter XXIX. ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD
    • The Nile Valley Before the Hyksos
    • Western Asia Through the Reign of Hammurabi
    • The Coming of the Hyksos
    • The Conquest of Egypt
    • The Hyksos Rule in Egypt
    • The Political Structure of the Hyksos Age
    • The End of the Hyksos Age

PART VII. APPENDIXES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • APPENDIXES AND BIBLIOGRAPY
    • APPENDIX A. MASTER TABLES
    • APPENDIX B. HISTORICAL MAPS
    • APPENDIX C. SURVEYS IN THE SECOND CATARACT REGION
    • APPENDIX D. MIDDLE BRONZE POTTERY FROM BYBLOS
    • BIBLIOGRAPHY