The architecture of defense: Fortified settlements of the Levant during the Middle Bronze Age

This study represents the first comprehensive examination of the archaeological and historical aspects of the development of fortification strategies of Middle Bronze Age Levantine settlements (ca. 2000--1550 B.C.), which were predominantly characterized by massive earthen ramparts. By considering the evidence for the defenses of more than 110 sites from northern Mesopotamia to the Nile Delta, technological developments in warfare, and the endogenous and exogenous threats to stability throughout this period, a number of factors responsible for the adoption of various defensive strategies have been identified. Though earlier scholarship considered the origin of earthen rampart fortifications only in broad terms, the present analysis has revealed that the new defensive strategies of this period owed their development almost entirely to trends in warfare and defense which were already present in the northern Levant during the second half of the third millennium B.C.;Through the identification of four major phases in the development of fortification strategies during the Early and the Middle Bronze Ages, this study has also shed new light on the political organization of the Levant in the Middle Bronze Age. It has, for instance, provided a basis for the recognition of the MB IIB-C Amorite kingdom of Ashkelon in the southern Levant, its boundaries and settlements, based in part upon the identification of a shared defensive strategy among its settlements. The social implications of large fortification construction projects like those undertaken for Middle Bronze Age fortifications have also been considered. This has revealed that, despite the enormous size of Middle Bronze Age fortifications, the construction of these features was significantly less costly in terms of human and material resources than has previously been suggested. Finally, a catalogue of Early and Middle Bronze Age fortifications in the Levant which was compiled for this research has been provided as a resource for future research on this topic.