The northern Coastal Plain during the Early Iron Age (Iron I-Early Iron IIA)

The early Iron Age on the northwestern Coastal Plain of the Southern Levant is, as yet, little-known The few historical sources available along with the fragmentary archaeological record renders this period almost a “Dark Age.” Itamar Singer’s (1994) study which appeared in the original From Nomadism to Monarchy remains one of the primary references on the topic, while his summary of the historical record still represents the entirety of the available corpus. However, since 1994 there has been considerable advancement in the relevant archaeological research. Based on the accumulated evidence, we are now able to offer an archaeological perspective on the social and economic conditions in the region during this period. The objective of the essay that follows will be to focus on the political economy of the early Iron Age societies who inhabited the northwestern Coastal Plain of the Southern Levant. Singer’s (1994) study addressed historical events, in particular he covered aspects of Egyptian imperialism along with the settlement of the Israelites and “Sea Peoples” in the region. In contrast, the focus of this essay will be on structural aspects of the region’s historical development, such as social and economic processes observable within the archaeological record.