The Intermediate Bronze Age (2500-2000 BC) is a fascinatingly mysterious period in the history and archaeology of the southern Levant: chronologically it is confined between the Early and Middle Bronze Ages and shows, on the one hand, persisting characteristics from the previous period (therefore it is sometimes called “Early Bronze Age IV”), and on the other hand, it shows new features which will continue and develop in the following period (therefore it is sometimes called “Middle Bronze Age I”). Nevertheless, there are significant differences between the period and the periods surrounding it, which portray the Intermediate Bronze Age as a period of momentous social crisis.
The period is characterized by an abrupt change from the urban lifestyle of the Early Bronze Age to agrarian and nomadic lifestyles. New, temporary, or meagre agrarian villages replaced the fortified, sizeable Early Bronze Age cities, especially in areas that were not inhabited before nor after the period, including in arid regions. In the Early Bronze Age cities that continued to be inhabited during the period, new, modest, and meagre agrarian constructions were built.
The pottery of the period is diverse and changes regionally, and it points both to technological and artistic developments and to the continuation of traditional methods. Some ceramic groups show foreign stylistic influences, among them some originating in the cultures of the northern Levant. Scholars interpret these to testify of the strengthening ties of the northern with the southern Levant during the period, and some suggest that at the period the southern Levant’s cultural and political affinity shifted northwards, contrary to the strong Egyptian affinity that prevailed in the prior period.
The increased use of metal was prominent during the period: many metal tools were found, especially in burial contexts, and with them, new and significant metallurgic technologies appeared: even though the prior period is called the “Early Bronze Age,” due to the use of bronze in Egypt and Mesopotamia, in the southern Levant, the deliberate use of bronze alloy begins only in the Intermediate Bronze age.
Another outstanding attribute of the period is the large number and the features of burials: many cemeteries were discovered in Israel, in some of them hundreds of graves, in the building of which great effort was often invested. Mostly, each grave contains one or a few bodies, and offerings. Yet inhumation types are varied, and sometimes one cemetery will contain graves of different kinds.
Different interpretations were offered for the abrupt changes that occurred in the southern Levant in the Intermediate Bronze Age compared to the preceding period: the arrival of immigrating populations to the region (apparently from the northern Levant); internal social calamity in the region’s cities that led to the disintegration of the urban social structure and the creation of a new tribal one; alternatively, some suggest the calamity was caused by external, environmental causes, such as climate change.
Source:
Shai, I. (Accessed on 25 August 2023). The Bronze Age 3,700-1,150 BCE. Israeli Institute of Archaeology. https://www.israeliarchaeology.org/%D7%AA%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%A4%D7%95%D7%AA/%d7%aa%d7%a7%d7%95%d7%a4%d7%aa-%d7%94%d7%91%d7%a8%d7%95%d7%a0%d7%96%d7%94/
Greenhut, Z. (2019). The Intermediate Bronze Age. In Faust, A., & Katz H. (Eds.). Archaeology of the land of Israel: From the Neolithic to Alexander the Great (vol. 1) (pp. 259-329). Lamda – The Open University.