(Re)constructing the history of the nomadic population in Bronze Age southern Levant

Abstract

Bronze Age was a dynamic period in southern Levant history marked by the emergence of urban centres followed by their collapse and subsequent re-emergence. Reconstructing the processes of urbanization implies understanding the interactions between the different components of society (rural sedentary, nomadic and semi-nomadic). The problem with the pastoral nomadic society is that it was not explicitly mentioned in the written records. Most written sources came from the urban centres and were written by biased scribes. The second problem with the pastoral nomads is that they did not leave much archaeological traces. By using analytical methods in comparing all of the available data, both written records and material remains of the Bronze Age sites as well as the anthropological models of the cultural contacts between nomadic and sedentary populations in different region and in different times it is possible to re(construct) the history of nomadic population during Bronze Age southern Levant.