The people that settled in this valley were in contact with cultures across the eastern Mediterranean and beyond, including the entire Near East (western Asia, Turkey and northeast Africa ).
This international travel and trade hypothesis was the subject of a fascinating open-access study published in the latest edition of
PLOS ONE , where the researchers have relied heavily on genetic and isotope data to reconstruct a dataset of over 200 individuals unearthed in the Amik Valley.
An aerial photo of Tell Atchana, where the recent study on the so-called “first international age” revealed that mobility was much less common that previously thought. (Murat Akar /
Around the 18th century BC (the Middle Bronze Age), the inhabitants of Tel Hazor expanded their settlement, and founded the lower city. The upper and lower cities were occupied until the 13
th century BC, when both were violently destroyed. Subsequently, Tel Hazor was rebuilt, though it was no longer the great city it once was. For instance, many of the constructions from this period were of a semi-nomadic character, whilst during the 11th century BC, the site was an unfortified Israelite settlement. Hazor regained some of its former splendor from the time of King Solomon onwards. During his reign, the upper city was rebuilt and fortified.
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