Hazor’s Hinterland
BASED ON STEPANSKY, THE PERIPHERY OF HAZOR DURING THE BRONZE AGE, THE IRON AGE AND THE PERSIAN PERIOD (1999)
Surveys and small excavations conducted near Hazor give a picture of its hinterland. They indicate that, while there was a rural presence in the area during the Middle Bronze Age, the settlement distribution completely changed in the Late Bronze Age. The areas surveyed include Hazor’s immediate vicinity and the Upper Galilee in general. All reflect a similar picture: In the Middle Bronze Age, several installations and villages are present in Hazor’s surroundings, but in the Late Bronze Age, only one site was identified in close proximity to Hazor (see orange dot on map).1 Only a few rural sites around Hazor have been excavated, in small excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority. These include installations, quarries, and a small village, all dated to the Middle Bronze Age.
Therefore, even if people lived outside of Hazor, we still don’t know exactly where they lived. We might have some clues regarding their place of residence in the Middle Bronze Age—namely, in the rural settlements that have been surveyed and excavated—but we have no evidence for it during the Late Bronze Age. One possibility is that the rural population of the hinterland converged into the lower city of Hazor during this time. This might have occurred for a number of reasons, such as seeking protection or economic opportunities available in the city or other social reasons.