Canaanites

Canaanites appears on the timeline as a people or culture of Levant (Middle East) from c. 3200 to 1150 BCE, a span of more than 2,050 years. Its people spoke Semitic languages (Akkadian, Amorite, Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician, Ge'ez, Amharic, Tigrinya).

Semitic-speaking farmers and townspeople of the southern Levant, organised in walled city-states such as Megiddo, Hazor and Jericho. Their rulers appear in Egyptian texts and the Amarna letters.

See Canaanites on the interactive timeline

Facts

Dates: c. 3200 to 1150 BCE
Duration: more than 2,050 years
Type: People or culture
Region: Levant, Middle East
Language family: Semitic

Events in Middle East during its time

3200 BCE Writing invented at Uruk
2334 BCE Sargon founds the Akkadian Empire
2004 BCE Elamites sack Ur
1754 BCE Code of Hammurabi
1595 BCE Hittites sack Babylon
1274 BCE Battle of Kadesh
1177 BCE Late Bronze Age collapse

Neighbours in Middle East

Old Babylonian Empire 1894 to 1595 BCE
Hittite Empire (New Kingdom) c. 1400 to 1180 BCE
Akkadian Empire c. 2334 to 2154 BCE
Ebla c. 3000 to 1600 BCE
Old Elamite period c. 2700 to 1500 BCE
Mari c. 2900 to 1761 BCE
Phoenician city-states c. 1200 to 332 BCE
Middle Assyrian Empire 1365 to 912 BCE
Kassite Babylonia c. 1595 to 1155 BCE
Middle Elamite period c. 1500 to 1100 BCE

Elsewhere in the world at the same time

Minoan civilization c. 3100 to 1450 BCE, Europe
Shang dynasty c. 1600 to 1046 BCE, East Asia
Old Kingdom of Egypt c. 2686 to 2181 BCE, North and West Africa
New Kingdom of Egypt c. 1550 to 1069 BCE, North and West Africa

Questions

When did Canaanites exist?

c. 3200 to 1150 BCE, about more than 2,050 years. These dates are approximate, because the evidence for its beginning or end is uncertain.

Where was Canaanites?

Levant, in Middle East.

What language did Canaanites speak?

Semitic. This family includes Akkadian, Amorite, Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician, Ge'ez, Amharic, Tigrinya.