What is Canaanite?
'''Canaanites''' were a people mentioned in the [[Hebrew Bible]], or [[Old Testament]]. Most of their land, called [[Canaan]], later became known as Judea which later was renamed to [[Palestine]] by Romans. The Canaanites settled in the region about 2000 [[Common Era|BCE]]. They were the main [[inhabitant]]s until about 1200 B.C. The [[Book of Joshua]] says that the [[Israelite]]s [[wikt:conquer|conquered]] Canaan. However, [[archaeology]] and the [[Bible]] suggest that the Israelites only gradually became the area's main people. Archaeology also suggests that many Canaanite [[city|cities]] were destroyed by the Sea Peoples, or [[Philistine]]s, in the 1100s BCE. The Sea Peoples may have sailed to Canaan from the area around the [[Aegean Sea]]. The Canaanites were a [[Semitic people]] related to the [[Phoenician]]s, Amorites, [[Assyrian]]s and Israelites. The Canaanites had a developed [[civilization]]. Their main [[political]] group was the [[city-state]]. In a city-state, a [[king]] ruled a city or town and the villages and land around it. The Bible mentions a number of Canaanite [[tribe]]s. The chief Canaanite [[gods]] were El (a [[wikt:create|creator]] god) and [[Baal]] (a [[storm]] god). The main [[goddess]]es were Anat, Asherah, and Astarte. They were [[fertility]] goddesses. [[Category:Bible]] {{stub}}