Evidence for movement of goods and animals from Egypt to Canaan during the Early Bronze of the Southern Levant: a view from Tell Eṣ-Sâfi/Gath

Haskel J. Greenfield; Tina L. Greenfield; Elizabeth Arnold; Itzick Shai; Shira Albaz; Aren M. Maeir

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Evidence for movement of goods and animals from Egypt to Canaan during the Early Bronze of the Southern Levant: a view from Tell Eṣ-Sâfi/Gath

Haskel J. Greenfield ^[1] ; Tina L. Greenfield ^[1] ; Elizabeth Arnold ^[2] ; Itzick Shai ^[3] ; Shira Albaz ^[4] ; Aren M. Maeir ^[4]
1. [1] University of Manitoba
  
  University of Manitoba
  
  Canadá
2. [2] Grand Valley State University
  
  Grand Valley State University
  
  Charter Township of Allendale, Estados Unidos
3. [3] Ariel University
  
  Ariel University
  
  Israel
4. [4] Bar-Ilan University
  
  Bar-Ilan University
  
  Israel
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Localización: Ägypten und Levante: Internationale Zeitschrift für ägyptische archäologie und deren nachbargebeite, ISSN 1015-5104, Nº. 30, 2020, págs. 377-397
Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
- In this paper, we present the results of recent research on the potential movement of ani-mals and other goods between Old Kingdom Egypt and the southern Levant during the Early Bronze III (c.2850–2550 BCE). Several types of goods found at the site within a domestic residen-tial neighbourhood (possibly of merchants) sug-gest that the inhabitants had extensive trade con-nections with the surrounding regions. A variety of durable goods derived from a variety of non-local sources, some of which are potentially locat-ed in Egypt. Other objects may have had a raw material origin in Egypt, but were modified in the northern Levant, and end up in the southern Levant. Scientific analysis of the normally assumed items, such as domestic livestock, dem-onstrate that donkey caravans were coming from Egypt during a period when trade supposedly has ceased between Egypt and the southern Levant. Isotopic analysis of donkey and other domestic animals are the first bioarchaeological evidence for the movement of livestock between the two regions – that the animals were born and raised in Egypt, brought to Canaan, and slaughtered soon after their arrival at the site. These results can challenge our traditional assumptions about evi-dence for direct trade between regions. We should be cautious in our labeling of raw material of artefacts that are non-local before a full scientific analysis is conducted.