Is There an Iron Age Levant?

Abstract

For students of the Iron Age a Levantine perspective presents significant challenges and rewards. The region is vaguely bounded and there are relatively few studies that place this larger context at their heart. Yet, approaching the Iron Age from a Levant-wide perspective is rewarding insofar as it requires us to consider global patterns and local diversity simultaneously. The tension between the ‘big picture’ and local detail complicates and challenges easy narratives of historical change. Two cases where a Levantine perspective changes how we view the Iron Age are 1) the interpretation of local Aegean style pottery in relation to the Sea Peoples, and 2) the form and formation of Iron Age kingdoms.