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© MANFRED BIETAK, AUSTRIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

A LEVANTINE-STYLE TEMPLE excavated at Avaris (Tell el-Dab‘a) underscores that the city’s inhabitants were Canaanites. Unlike contemporary Egyptian temples, Temple III at Avaris (left) has a tripartite plan (with an outer portico, a main room, and a chamber at its rear), which is characteristic of many Canaanite temples, including a well-preserved example from Hazor (right). Excavator Manfred Bietak believes that the Avaris temple may have been dedicated to the Canaanite storm god Baal Zephon.