Introduction

This chapter starts by introducing the area and time period and situates it in the context of world history. The importance of the transitionary period in the Levantine area and its environs in the Ancient Near East between ca. 1300-900 BCE (Late Bronze Age to Iron Age) is highlighted. The chapter then proceeds into a description of the area from a geographical and climatic perspective. The presentation subsequently provides a representative summary of previous studies on the topic, keeping in mind that previous studies have not covered the area and the related transitions as a whole from the perspective of migration and colonialism. An overview of relevant textual and archaeological evidence then follows, with the presentation highlighting issues and problematics that relate to combining these two main types of data.