Jerusalem of the Bronze Age, Jerusalem is one of the oldest…

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Jerusalem is one of the oldest and most continuously inhabited cities in the world. Given its regional proximity to both the Nile River Delta and the Fertile Crescent (two of the world’s four cradles of civilization), it is little wonder that archaeological evidence suggests settlement of the site dating as far back as 4500 and 3500 BCE. The first known reference to the city was recorded in the second millennium BCE Execration Texts of Middle Kingdom Egypt, implying an adversarial relationship between the rulers of the former and the Proto-Canaanite people of “Rusalimum.” By the 17th century BCE, the Canaanites had fortified their settlement, though perhaps to little avail as they eventually became vassals to the rulers of the Egyptian New Kingdom. The next known mentions of Jerusalem appear in the Armana letters (dating to the 14th century BCE) which contain notably non-confrontational, even amicable correspondence between an Egyptian Suzerain and Abdi-Heba, headman of “Urusalim.” With the decline of most Eastern Mediterranean societies during the Bronze Age collapse of the 12th century BCE, the Canaanite tribes of Jerusalem established themselves as a regional power centralized on what was then called “Jebus.” The Jebusites would control the city until the unification of the region under a particular folk hero who rose to prominence when he defeated the Philistine champion known as Goliath.