Caananite City-States

Canaanite City-States The Canaanites (West Semitic: K’naan’im) were a West Semitic people, closely related to the Israelites and speaking essentially the same language. Prior to the 1400's BCE, the population of much of the area of what is now Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon was mostly Canaanite; Aramean incursions in Syria and Amorites in Trans-Jordan reduced the area of “Canaan” while the Phoenecians of northern Israel and Lebanon are usually classified separately due to their divergent development as maritime traders and explorers. The Canaanites were organized into loose confederations of city-states, virtually all of which were under Egyptian domination from around 1500 to 1200 BCE. Between 1200 and 900 most of the Canaanite states fell under Israelite rule and were largely assimilated. It should be noted that many of the names of king/governors of the Canaanite kingdoms are Indo-European rather than Semitic, and it is likely that many of these dynasts were Hurrian or Hittite mercenaries in the service of the Pharaohs rather than native Canaanites, or at least came from families that had adopted Hurrian or Hittite culture. Some archeologists and historians believe that some of the early Israelite tribes were actually Canaanite in origin.

As an interesting aside - in the Bible (Gen. 10) eleven Canaanite "tribes" are mentioned: the Sidonians, Arvadites (both Phoenician people), Hethites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites (who lived in Shechem), Arkites, Sinites, Zemarites, and Hamathites (possibly referring to the Canaanite population of the Syrian interior). Later in Genesis another tribe is mentioned, the Perizzites, though they do not appear on the Gen. 10 genealogy. The interesting thing about this is that if you add the Perizzites to the other Canaanite tribes mentioned this brings the number up to twelve. This was a magic number in the ancient Middle East (Babylonian mathematics, for example, is based on 12 which is why we have a 24 hour day, 60 min. hour, etc.) and many historians suspect that the Israelites engaged in some creative adjustment of tribal identities (see under Hebrews) in order to maintain the number of tribes in their confederacy at twelve. So you have, in the Biblical narrative, twelve Canaanite peoples being supplanted by twelve Israelite tribes. Alternatively, you could ignore the Perizzites and to the original eleven add the Hittite/Hurrian warrior aristocracy that made up the ruling class of most of the cities- this gives you 12 also.

Why a separate file on these small polities? First, because there are so many of them recorded, and to include them among other states within modern Israel would damage the clarity of the presented data. Quite apart from which, the Canaanites as a distinct ethnoi deserve specific treatment. But there is, I feel, a more important issue present. These little polities are remembered largely because they are mentioned in what became a vitally important holy scripture - a book which has arguably had more impact on world culture than any other. Had it not been so, there would be little trace or memory of these cities today. And it is important to understand that the way of life implied in this file: that of dozens or even hundreds of little independent and semi-independent city-states (villages, really) crowded into limited terrain, is the way we lived as a species for thousands of years. For every town mentioned below, one can imagine ten more very much like it in almost every other habitable spot on the globe. But most all those others are forgotten, while the names of these were written down.

The names of the major Canaanite kings come primarily from three sources: the Bible, the Tel El-Amarna documents (papyrus letters, addressed to various pharaohs of the 1400's BCE by several of the Canaanite kings) and the Sefer ha-Yashar, purported to be the annals of the ancient Hebrews quoted in several places in the Bible, but which may or may not be authentic. Where rulers’ names have come from the Sefer ha-yashar, I have indicated so with an asterisk.

Includes: Achshaph, Admah, Adullam, Akhtiashna, Ammia, Aphek (Afek), Arahti, Arashni, Astaroth, Ayalon, Bala-Zoar, Beth-Horon, Beth-Shean (Beth Shan, Scythopolis), Beth Shemesh, Beth Teni, Bezek, Bihisi, Bihura, Chazar, Eglon, Enishasi (Esazi), Ga'ash, Gath-Carmel (Gintikarmil), Geba-Shemen, Gerar, Geshur, Gezer, Gitti-Padalla,Gomorrah, Gudashuna, Hayasha, Hazati, Hazi, Hazor, Hebron, Hivite Kingdom, Irqata, Jarmuth, The Jebusites, Jericho, Keilah, Khashabu, Kumidi, Lachish, Lapana, Madon, Megiddo, Muhazu, Mushikhuna, Niy, Nuribta, Qatna (Nukhashshe), Qidshu (Kadesh), Qiltu, Ruhizzi, Sarton, Sashimi, Segor Confederation, Shamkhuna, Sharuna (Sharon), Shechem (Nablus), Shiloh, Shunem, Sile, Siyannu, Sodom, Ta'anach, Tapnach, Tikunani, Tob, Tunip, Tushulti, Yannuama, Yarimuta, Yurtsa, Zeboyim, Zemar, Ziklag, Zilu, Ziribashani, Zuhru, and Zunu.

ACHSHAPHTown in the Galilee. Following the end of Egyptian rule in the 1200's, it was probably under the dominion of Hazor.

Endaruta.......................................fl. 1300's

Shimron..................................fl. early 1100's

ADULLAMA major Canaanite stronghold in central Israel, near Bethlehem.

Barsan........................................ fl. c. 1600's ?
To the Israelites by 1050

AKHTIASHNA

Sur-Ashar..........................................1300's BCE

AMMIA A Phoenician town located on the site of modern Amyun, near the city of Tripoli. A mendicant prince from Alalakh reported that Ammia was populated by "men of Halab (Aleppo), Mukish, Ni and Amau", suggesting a cosmopolitan and diverse population. The town plays a key role in the Amarna texts. In one of his more frantic letters (EA 75) Rib-Addi of Gubla (Byblos) writes to Pharaoh the "behold now the people of Ammia have killed their lord; so I am frightened."

Conqured by Amurru early 1300's BCE
El-Datha.......................................fl. 1300's

APHEK (Afek) A town situated near modern-day Petach Tikva, Israel.

Haya.........................................early 1200's
sacked by Philistines..............................c. 1240
To Ashdod...................................c.1240-990
To Israel thereafter...

ARAHTI A town in central Syria, typically a dependency of Mitanni and later the Hittites.

Akiya..........................................fl. c. 1360

ARASHNI A city of unknown location, mentioned in the Amarna texts as an enemy of Gebal (Byblos). Probably located in northern Israel or Lebanon.

Miya..........................................1300's

ASTAROTH Town on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, near the border with Bashan.

Ayyab.....................................fl. late 1300's

AYALON Region along the road from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, in central Israel.

Ninurmahmes (fem.).........................fl. late 1300's

BETH-HORON City in Judea, along the road from Jerusalem to Jaffa (Tel Aviv).

* Lavan..................................1600's or 1500's

BETH-SHEAN (Beth Shan, Scythopolis) A strategically vital city in the Jordan valley, in northeastern Israel.

Egyptian garrison-town......................c.1500-1300's BCE
Possibly to Shechem and the Benei Labayu...mid 1300's-early 1200's
To the Philistines of Gath.....early or mid 1200's-990
To Israel......................................990-928
To Samaria (Northern Kingdom of Israel)........928-722
To Assyria.....................................722-612
To Babylon.....................................612-539
In the 600's the region was invaded by Scythian marauders, some of whom may have settled in Beth Shean. Later, more Scythian mercenaries were settled in the region by the Persians and Hellenistic kings; hence the city's Greek name of Scythopolis.
To Persia......................................539-332
To Macedon.....................................332-323
To the Kingdom of Antigonus....................323-301
To Egypt.......................................301-198
To the Seleucid Empire.........................198-110
Within the Dekapolis...........................110-85
To Judea........................................85-63
To the Roman Republic...........................63-40
Occupied by Parthia.............................40-37
To Judaea (as client of Rome)...................37-4
To Batanaea (client Kingdom of Rome).........4 BCE-34 CE
To Rome directly................................34-37
To Batanaea, and Judea..........................37-44
To Rome directly thereafter, see generally Galilee for subsequent chronology

BETH SHEMESH A city in central Israel, 14 miles (22 km.) west of Jerusalem. Its name means "House of the Sun" in Hebrew and it was the site of an ancient Canaanite city-state.

"Mistress of the Lionesses" (fem.).............fl. c. 1350 BCE
This was the designation of a female Canaanite ruler mentioned in several of the Amarna Letters as seeking Egyptian aid against growing unrest. A plaque believed to depict her was unearthed at Beth Shemesh in 2008.

BETH TENI

Ba'alu-Mer.........................................1300's BCE

BEZEKA Canaanite city in Judea, south of Jerusalem.

Adonibezek......................................c. 1150

BIHISI Possibly located in the Samarian highlands north of Jerusalem.

Ayab (Joab ?)......................................1300's

BIHURA

Sutu...............................................1300's
Kumedi.............................................1300's

CHAZAR Literally “place of return”; a city in the Samarian highlands.

* Parathon...........................fl. 1600's or 1500's

EGLON A city in Judea, near Lachish. It has been identified with Tell Nejileh, 6 miles south of Tell Hesy or Ajlan, northwest of Lachish.

Debir..........................................fl. early 1100's

ENISHASI (Esazi)

Satiya.............................................1300's
Abdi-Risa..........................................1300's

GA’ASH City in the Samarian Highlands.

* Elan...................................1600's or 1500's

GATH-KARMEL (GINTIKARMIL) A town on the slopes of Mount Carmel, near modern Haifa.

Tagi...........................................fl. late 1300's

GEBA-SHEMEN (Qebaasumin) A town in northern Israel, near Megiddo.

Qaqa........................................fl. c. 1418 BCE
Sacked by Thutmose III

GERAR Canaanite city-state, southeast of Gaza. In the Bible, Abraham and Isaac sojourned there for a time. Its identification is controversial; the most likely site is Tel Haror, where remains from the appropriate biblical period have been found.

Abimelech I

Abimelech II...................................fl. c. 1600's ? with...

It is possible that the two Abimelechs referred to are actually the same individual.

Phicol

To the Philistines of Gaza.................c. 1200-1000

To Israelites thereafter...

GESHUR A tiny kingdom on the border of modern Lebanon, Israel, and Syria. The Geshurites were probably predominately Canaanite with an Aramaic-speaking ruling class. They repulsed an Israelite invasion under Joshua and later retained close relations with the Israelite kingdom.

Clients of Israel from c. 990 BCE

Ammihud...........................late 1000's-early 900's
Talmai........................................mid 900's

To Damascus.....................................c. 920
Golan Heights chronology thereafter (See Bashan).

GEZER An ancient city of Canaan, on the coastal plain of Sharon, northwest of Jerusalem. Its position guarding the road from Jerusalem to Jaffa has always given it importance, e.g., in the wars of Joshua, David, the Maccabees, and in the Crusades. Excavations there (1902–8, 1929, 1934) have made it possible to trace the history of Gezer from Chalcolithic times. It was an Egyptian outpost c.1900 B.C. Among the important findings were evidence of troglodyte dwellings, a Middle Bronze Age water tunnel, stone monoliths, and an agricultural calendar of the late 10th cent. B.C. In 1945 a communal settlement of the same name was founded there. References to it in the Bible are numerous.

Yapahu (Japhia) (also in Muhazu)...........fl. mid 1400's
Milkilu....................................c. 1402-1364
Ba'alu-Shipti..................................mid 1300's
Yapuhu................................fl. mid-late 1300's
Addadanu.......................................fl. late 1300's
??
Horam..........................................fl. early 1100's
??
To Israelites from early 1000's
In the immediate vicinity of ancient Gezer emerged the community of Ramla, not to be confused with nearby Ramallah, across the "Green Line" in the West Bank.
To the Jebusites............................... ? -c. 1000
To the Kingdom of the Hebrews..............c .1000-922
To Judah.......................................922-587
To Babylon.....................................587-539
To Persia......................................539-332
To Macedon.....................................332-321
To the Satrapy (Kingdom 305) of Antigonus......321-301
To Egypt.......................................301-198
To the Seleucid Empire.........................198-167
To the Maccabean Kingdom.......................167-63
To the Roman Republic...........................63-40
To Parthia......................................40-37
To the Roman Republic...........................37-27
To the Roman Empire.........................27 BCE-66 CE
The Jewish Revolt...............................66-70
To the Roman Empire.............................70-132
The Bar Kochba Revolt..........................132-135
To the Roman Empire............................135-395
To the Byzantine Empire........................395-614
To Persia......................................614-628
To the Byzantine Empire........................628-638
To the Caliphate...............................638-868
To Egypt.......................................868-896
To the Caliphate...............................896-935
To Fatimid Egypt...............................935-1076

To the Djarrahid Confederacy..........c. 1000-1013

To the Seljuqs................................1076-1099
To the Kingdom of Jerusalem...................1099-1187

Lordship of Ramla Ramla was briefly ruled by the bishop of Ramla and Lydda, until 1101. It is unknown when Ramla became a separate seigneury, although there was an important Baldwin of Ramla who owned large amounts of land there in the early years of the kingdom. In 1126 Ramla became part of Jaffa, and a separate lordship was created after Hugh II's revolt in 1134, with Baldwin II as lord (although Baldwin I was not a lord in his own right). It was later a part of the Lordship of Ibelin.
Baldwin I
Baldwin II...............................1134- ?
Hugh of Ramla.............................fl. c. 1154
Peter of Ramla............................fl. c. 1159
?

To Egypt......................................1187-1516
To the Ottoman Empire.........................1516-1918

During the Ottoman centuries, the subgovernor (Mütesarrif) of the Jerusalem district (sanjak) normally resided at Ramla. For these officials, see Ottoman Jerusalem.

To Great Britain..............................1918-1948
To Israel.....................................1948-

GITTI-PADALLA Town in the Jezreel Valley in northen Israel, near the modern city of Haifa.

Addu-Qarad.........................................early 1300's

GUDASHUNA

Yamiuta............................................1300's

HAYASHA A town in Syria, on the upper Euphrates.

Huqqana........................................fl. c. 1360

HAZATI

Addaya.............................................1300's

HAZI

Mayarzana..........................................1300's
Ildaya.............................................1300's

HAZOR A city in northern Israel and a Canaanite city in ancient times. Vassals of Egypt, they threw off Egyptian control in the 1200's BCE and established hegemony over the city-states and tribes of northern Canaan. In the pre-Hyksos era Hazor was among the more powerful states of the Levant, dominating most of northern Canaan, Bashan and parts of southern Syria as far away as damascus. Its dominion may have extended as far as the Phoenician coast.

Ibni-Addu..........................................1700's BCE
To Egypt...................................c. 1600-c. 1200
Abdi Tirshi.................................fl. c. mid 1300's
Iehaenu (an Egyptian version of Jabin ?)........c. late 1200's
Jabin I.........................................c. late 1200's
??
Jabin II........................................c. late 1100's with...
The two Jabins may be the same individual; alternatively, it is possible that Jabin is a title of some sort rather than a name.
Sisera..........................................c. late 1100's
Sisera was the Canaanite warlord who led a coalition of Canaanite states against the Israelites. The judges Deborah and Barak managed to launch a surprise attack on the Canaanite host and Sisera fled the battle to hide in a Kenite tent (see Midianites). There he was killed while sleeping by the Kenite chieftain's wife, Yael, who drove a tent peg through his skull. The remains of the city from this period are covered in a layer of ash, which along with fire damage to artifacts indicates that it was sacked and burned by invaders. In fact archeologists believe the city was burned three times: c. 1400 BCE, c. 1300 by Seti I, and again in the late 1200's, possibly by the Israelites.
To Israelites from c. early 1000's BCE.
Within Northern Kingdom after 922 BCE...

HEBRON Kiriyat-Arba to the ancient Hebrews. A Canaanite city, possibly with an Amorite ruling class. Hebron was part of a coalition of Canaanite kingdoms defeated by the Israelites in Gibeon and was occupied soon after. It was the center of the tribe of Judah and was King David's capital until the conquest of Jerusalem.

Arba ha-Anak (legendary founder)...............before 1700's BCE ?
Mamre.............................................fl. 1600's
??
Japhia.........................................fl. c. 1200's
Hoham..........................................fl. c. early 1100's
Sheshi.........................................fl. c. 1150
General Israelite sequence thereafter (within Judah 922-587)...
To Edomites (with some Jewish settlement)......587-167
To the Maccabean Kingdom.......................167-63
To the Roman Republic...........................63-40
To Persia.......................................40-37
To the Roman Republic...........................37-27
To the Roman Empire.........................27 BCE-395 CE
To the Byzantine Empire........................395-614
To Persia......................................614-628
To the Byzantine Empire........................628-638
To the Caliphate...............................638-868
To Egypt.......................................868-896
To the Caliphate...............................896-935
To Egypt.......................................935-1076
To the Seljuqs................................1076-1099
To the Kingdom of Jerusalem...................1099-1187

Lords of Castellion St. Abram
Gerard de Avesnes of Hainault............1099-1199
Galdemar Carpenel........................1100–1101
Roger of Haifa...........................1101–1102

Royal domain..................................1102–1104

Hugh I of St. Abraham.........................1104

Royal domain..................................1104–1108

Walter Mahomet...........................1108–1118

Royal domain..................................1118–1120

Baldwin of St. Abraham...................1120–1136
Hugh II of St. Abraham...................1136–1149

Royal domain..................................1149-1187
To Egypt......................................1187-1516
To the Ottoman Empire.........................1516-1918
To Great Britain..............................1918-1947
To Jordan.....................................1947-1967
To Israel.....................................1967-
Much of the town to Palestinian Authority.....1993-

IRQATA (Arka) Town in the Akkar district of northern Lebanon. In the Bible its inhabitants are called the Arkites and are named as one of the main Canaanite tribes.

Aduna..............................................1300's
To Amurru ?

JARMUTHA town in the plain of Judah, originally the residence of one of the Canaanite kings. It has been identified with the modern Yarmuk, a village about 7 miles northeast of Beit-Jibrin.

Piram..........................................fl. early 1100's

The JEBUSITES A Western Semitic folk inhabiting the region around Jerusalem; when their city was taken by King David, he made it his capital since it had not been on any Israeli land before. The Jebusites were often clients or dependent Bedawi to Egypt in times when Egypt was strong.

Shas'an........................................fl. 1900's BCE with...
Y'qar'am
Ba-[...]....................................fl. c. 1800
Melchizedek.................................fl. c. 1600's
Melchizedek is mentioned in Genesis 14:18 as King of "Salem", in which he acts as a kind of priestly diplomatic envoi, accepting "tithes" from the defeated forces of the Battle of the Kings, giving them to Abram (Abraham), the victor of the day.
Abdi-Kheba..................................fl. c. 1300
Baalchipushti (literally: "Lord of Roaches")
Adonizedek....................................late 1200's
Araunah (Ornan)........................late 1000's-early 900's
To Israel thereafter, c. 975

JERICHO Rare for this website, this is an entry with no names. Nevertheless, I cannot forbear from mentioning it specifically, because it has been for ages a very well-known place in Judaeo-Christian history and mythology. It is, of course, the first city that was conquered by the Habiru (Hebrews) as they entered the Holy Land. According to the Biblical account, the Israelite leader Joshua ben Nun seized it after a seige involving the destruction of it's walls by the sounding of great trumpets. The Bible mentions the King of Jericho several times, but never refers to him by name. Aside from it's Biblical role, though, Jericho is also remarkable as being one of the oldest continually occupied cities in the world: the site shows evidence of settlement from at least 9000 BCE.

Apparently intermittent occupation.........c. 9000-c. 3500
Post-Ghassulian peoples....................c. 3500-c. 2300
To the Amorites............................c. 2300-c. 1900
To the Canaanites..........................c. 1900-c. 1260
To the Israelites; standard Israel sequence thereafter...

KEILAH A town in the Judean hills, southwest of Jerusalem.

Shuwardata......................................c. 1300's
To Israelites from c. 1100

KHASHABU

Bieri..............................................1300's BCE

KUMIDI

Arahattu...........................................1300's

LACHISH A royal Canaanite city east of Hebron and southwest of Jerusalem, in the Shephelah or coastal plain of Israel. It has been identified with Tel el Hasy.

Zimrida........................................fl. 1400's
Pabi...........................................fl. 1300's
Iabnilu........................................fl. 1300's
Shipti-Hadda...................................fl. 1300's
??
Japhia.........................................fl. early 1100's

LAPANA

Teuwatti...........................................1300's

MADON Town in the Galilee. Following the end of Egyptian rule c.1200 BCE, it was probably under the dominion of Hazor.

Jobab..........................................fl. early 1100's

MEGIDDO City in northern Israel, a Canaanite kingdom subject to Egypt in ancient times. Megiddo was the site of many famous battles; indeed its name became so intimately connected with the concept of war that its Hebrew name, Har Megiddo (Mountain of Megiddo) gave the Greek (and later the English) languages the word "Armageddon".

Biridya (also in Nuribta and Shunem)...........fl. mid 1300's
A letter of Biridya to Pharaoh survives, complained of attacks by King Labayu of Shechem, who was importing mercenaries from among the “Habiru” (Hebrews) who were “laying waste to the land”.
To Israelites from........................,........late 1000's
Within Northern Kingdom after 922...

MUHAZU A city of unknown location, presumably in northern Israel.

Yapahu (also in Gezer).............................1300's opposed by...
a younger brother of Yapahu, name unknown

MUSHIKHUNA

Shuttarna..........................................1300's

NIY (also Niya ?) City in Syria, with a largely Canaanite population and a Hurrian ruling class.

Takuwa (Niya)...............................fl. c. 1360
Aki-Teshub (Niy)...................................1300's

NURIBTA Town in the Jezreel valley, northern Israel.

Biridiya (also in Megiddo and Shunem)..............1300's

QATNA (Nukhashshe) Town just east of the Orontes River in Syria.

Ishi-Addu......................................fl. c. 1800 BCE
Amutpiel ben Ishi-Addu..........................early 1700's
To Aleppo......................................c.1700-1600
Idanda.............................................c. 1400
Taku...........................................fl. c. 1400
Akizzi..........................................early 1300's
Addu-Nirari
Tette...........................................fl. c. 1350
Largely within Homs chronology thereafter...

QIDSHU (Kadesh) A major North Canaanite city located on the Orontes river in Syria. The name Kadesh means "holy"; "Qidshu" is the Akkadian version used in ancient diplomatic correspondence. Kadesh was normally dominated by the Hittites and in 1275 was the site of a major battle between Rameses II and the Hittite king.

?? Amoritic and/or Hurrian influence
Possible vassal to Mittani.....................c. 1600-c. 1450
Kadesh was the center of a northern Canaanite coalition that opposed Thutmose III's expedition into Canaan and Syria in 1479 BCE.
Vassal to Egypt................................c. 1450-c. 1350
Suttarna...........................................fl. c. 1350
Etakkama (Aitagammu)...............................mid 1300's
Ari-Teshub.................................fl. c. 1330-c. 1325
To the Hittites................................c. 1325-1300/1250
Probable Neo-Hittite control...................c. 1250-c. 1185
In approximately 1185 BCE, the region was invaded by Sea Peoples, and this locality disappears for good. The physical site of the town (Tall an-Nabi Mind) was controlled by Damascus c. 950-732, and thereafter followed the usual sequence for the Syrian Levant.

QILTU Town in southern Israel, along the "King's Highway" near Gaza.

Shuwardata..........................................early 1300's BCE
To the Philistines from c.1200

RUHIZZI

Arzawiya............................................1300's

SARTON City in the Samarian highlands.

Susi..................................fl. 1600's or 1500's

SASHIMI

Abdi-Milki.......................................fl. early 1300's

SEGOR Located near the Dead Sea, an ancient Canaanite confederacy of five city-states: Admah, Bala-Zoar, Gomorrah, Sodom, and Zeboyim. The exact location is unknown (cf. Gen., xiv, 3, 8, 10, 17; xix, 20-22, 30, 37; Deut., xxxiv, 3). Josephus identifies Segor with "Zoara of Arabia" at the south end of the Dead Sea ("Bel. Jud.", IV, viii, 4; cf. "Ant. Jud.", I, xi, 4; XIII, xv, 4; XIV, i, 4). Other scholars have identified it with Tell esh-Shaghur (seven miles north of the Dead Sea), Chirbet es-Safich, (three miles south of the Dead Sea) or Lisan. Sodom and Gomorrah are, of course, by far the best known of these communities; bywords to their Hebrew opponents for luxurious decadence and sinfulness.

Shinab (in Admah)...........................fl. c. 1600's with...
Birsha (in Gomorrah)........................fl. c. 1600's and...
Bera (in Sodom).............................fl. c. 1600's and...
Shemeber (in Zeboyim).......................fl. c. 1600's

Probably sacked and destroyed some time between 1600 and 1200 BCE. Around 1300 the area around the Segor became a new Canaanite kingdom centered around the city of Arad. Its palace has been discovered by archeologists but its kings' names are not recorded.

SHAMKHUNA A place whose location is unknown. It is mentioned on an Egyptian execration text. Some scholars have wondered whether Ab-Reheni could be an Egyptian form of the Biblical name "Abraham".

Ab-Reheni..........................................1700's ?
Shamu-Adda.........................................1300's

SHARUNA (Sharon) The coastal plain north of modern Tel Aviv.

Rusmanya............................................1300's

SHECHEM (NABLUS) A Canaanite town in central Samaria, later a major center of the Israelite kingdoms.

Hivite KingdomThe Hivites were a Canaanite tribe who established hegemony over the Samarian highlands, often at the expense of other dismayed rulers.
* Pered the Hivite.............................fl. 1600's with…
* Chidechem ben Pered..........................fl. 1600's
Hamor ben Chidechem............................fl. late 1600's
Possibly sacked by the Habiru at this point
??
Labayu.........................................fl. mid 1300's
Labayu is accused in many of the Amarna letters of waging war on his neighbors with Habiru ("Hebrew" ?) mercenaries. It is possible that Labayu himself was of Hebrew origin. The name can also be read Laba-ya, and "Ya" may be a suffix indicating the Israelite God.
Mutbaal ben Labayu (see also Pella)............fl. late 1300's
??
To Israelites......................................mid 1200's
It is not clear from the Biblical account that Shechem was actually conquered by the Israelite invasion. It is possible that it retained its Canaanite population and rulers in some sort of vassalage for several generations. Eventually it became associated with the Joseph tribes and the Northern Kingdom. The tombs of Joseph and Joshua are located there, as is Mount Gerizim, site of the ancient temple of the Samaritans.
House of Gideon
Abimelech..........................................early 1000's for 3 years
Abimelech was a son (one of 70!) of the Israelite judge Gideon. After the death of his father Gideon he murdered all but one of his brothers and declared himself King of the Israelites, though in reality he never directly ruled much more than Shechem and its environs. He was killed after a 3-year reign by a cobblestone thrown from the walls by an irate townswoman. The experience left the Israelites wary of monarchy for some time.
Within Northern Kingdom of Israel after 922. Normal Israelite sequence thereafter, until the time of the Crusades...
To the Kingdom of Jerusalem...................1099-1244

Amaury, Viscount of Nablus................fl. 1175
D'IBELIN
Balian I.................................. ? -1193
John (also Lord of Beirut)...............1193-1236
Balian II (also Lord of Beirut)..........1236-1244 d. 1247

Return to the Israelite sequence thereafter...

SHILOH City in the Samarian highlands, later a cultic site for the early Israelites.

* Ihuri........................................fl. 1600's ?

SHUNEM Town and region in the Jezreel Valley, near modern-day Solem. It was the home of Abishag, a young concubine who "comforted" King David in his old age.

Biridiya (also in Megiddo and Nuribta).............1300's

SILEA town, probably in southern Palestine, overrun by Habiru marauders in the late 1300's.

Turbazu........................................fl. mid 1300's
Yaptihadda.....................................fl. late 1300's

SIYANNU A small kingdom located on the Syrian coast, south of Ugarit.

Abdi Hebat.....................................fl. c. 1350
Abdi Anati.....................................fl. c. 1300

TA'ANACH Modern Tel Ti'inik, a town east of Jerusalem.

Talwashur...................................fl. c. 1450
Yashdata....................................fl. c. 1400

TAPNACH City in the Samarian highlands near Shechem.

* Jeshub.......................................fl. 1600's ?

TIKUNANI A city in the extreme northeast of Syria, ruled by Hurrian overlords and normally subject to Mittani.

Tunip-Tessup.......................................1300's BCE ?

TOB (Tubu) A town east of the Sea of Galilee, in the highland region of Bashan. Possibly identical with the modern town of Taibiyah.

Probably to Hazor..................................c. 1600
Vassal of Egypt............................c. 1500-c. 1250
Tunip-Tessup.......................................1300's BCE ?
The Amarna Letters (EA 205) refers to the city of "Tubu" and its ruler, referred to only as "the Man of Tubu". He is mentioned in conjunction with other rulers of southwestern Syria.
To Bashan..................................c. 1250-c. 1200
Disputed...................................c. 1200-c. 990
Jephthah of Gilead (see also in Judges of Israel)...fl. c. 1100
During this time Tob appears to have been part of a lawless frontier region between several Israelite tribes, the Ammonites, and the encroaching Aramaeans. It is mentioned in the Book of Judges as the town to which the future judge Jephthah fled from his half-brothers and gathered a small band of mercenaries who were later recruited to defend the Israelites of Gilead from Ammon and its allies.
To Israel c. 990; generally Golan chronology thereafter...

TUNIP (Dunip) A town of uncertain location, mentioned in various Egyptian texts. It has been variously identified with Tel Acharneh, in Syria, Laish (near modern Metulla, Israel) and with the much later city of Baalbek in Lebanon.

Ir-Dim.........................................mid 1400's BCE
??

TUSHULTI A town in the Beka'a Valley (see also Iturea and Amurru).

Aman Hatbi......................................fl. c. 1360

YANNUAMA Probably located in northern Israel.

Namiawaza....................................early 1300's opposed by...
Biridaswa

YARIMUTAA Phoenician city whose ruins were just uncovered south of Beirut in the year 2001. In one particularly poignant plea to Pharaoh, (Amarna Tablet #75) Rib-Addi of Gubla (Byblos) states: "However, the war of the 'Apiru against me is severe. [Our] sons [and] daughters are gone, [as well as] the furnishings of the houses, because they have been sold in Yarimuta to keep us alive." This passage suggests that Yarimuta was once a major trade center, and probably a nexus point in the Levantine slave trade.

Yankhan.........................................mid 1300's

YURTSA Town identified with modern Tell el-Ful, between Gezer and Muhatsu (modern Mahoz).

Pu-Baal

ZEMAR (Sumura) A Phoenician state in southern Lebanon. In Genesis the Zemarites are described as one of the component tribes of Canaan.

Conqured by Amurru early 1300's BCE
Ahribta...........................................c. 1360 BCE
Yapa-Addi........................................mid 1300's
In a particularly confusing Amarna tablet, Yapa-Addi is an ally of Aziru of Amurru's war against the Phoenician states. He may be described as the ruler of Zemar but the wording is unclear.

ZIKLAG A town in the Negev, the desert region in southern Israel. It has been identified with 'Asluj, a heap of ruins south of Be'er Sheva. Some, however, identify it with Khirbet Zuheilikah, ruins found on three hills half a mile apart on the confines of Philistia, Judah, and Amalek.

To Egypt....................................c.1800-1200
To the Philistines of Gath..................c.1200-1010
David ben Jesse (King of Israel 1010-961).....1015-1010
David, who was a fugitive from King Saul, offered his services as a mercenary to the Philistine king of Gath, who gave Ziklag to him and his men. David used it as a base to launch a series of raids against the Amalekites, who were enemies of both Gath and Israel.
To the Amalekites..................................1010
To Philistines of Gath........................1010-c.1000
To Israel thereafter

ZILU Unknown locality, presumably in Canaan.

Turbasu............................................1300's

ZIRIBASHANI

Artamanya

ZUHRU

---dih.............................................1300's

ZUNU

Nukurtuwa..........................................1300's

Other major Canaanite cities, for whom no regnal lists could be found, include Achzib, Ai, Beth-Anath, Dothan, Hepher, Hormah, Ibleam, Rehob, Shaalbim, Zoar, Zorah.

Note also, that numerous other cities in the Levant had were Caananite, or had Caananite phases. Where these have more detailed chronologies, they are dealt with in other files. They include:

In Jordan: Heshbon, Pella, Peraea.

In Lebanon: Amurru, Byblos, Beirut, Sidon, Tripoli, Tyre.

In Syria: Aleppo, Arvad, Bashan, Carchemish, Damascus, Ugarit.

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