DUBY TAL/ALBATROSS/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

In the past, some argued that the stories about Egyptians and Canaanites in the Torah reflected ancient stories about conflicts between Egypt and the Israelites (for example, the stories where Egypt is a place of refuge or even the enemy of Israel in Genesis and Exodus). One might expect the Amarna Letters to be a prime source for corroborating such biblical traditions, but the texts do not reference any specific events or people related to the stories of Moses or the Patriarchs.

The letters do, however, open a window onto the political dynamics of Canaan “before Israel” and the rise of local elites in particular regions that became important in the Iron Age (1130–586 BCE). For example, scholars use the letters to trace the development of sites like Megiddo, Shechem, Lachish, Gezer, and Jerusalem that would become important cities of the later Israelite and Judahite kingdoms. The letters also tell us what life was like for people who were subjected to imperial rule and had to interact with a foreign military and administration.

Not only do the letters provide a sense of life in Canaan under Egyptian rule, but they also tell us how local elites tried to outmaneuver each other for access to trade, resources, and strategic sites. Canaanite rulers, such as Rib-Hadda of Byblos or Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem, routinely appealed to the pharaoh and his officials to get involved in these disputes. Biblical scholars use these pieces of evidence to better understand how small city-states and chiefdoms emerged into full-fledged kingdoms in the Iron Age.