UC Berkeley

Cultural contact between New Kingdom Egypt and the southern Levant during the Late Bronze Age (LBA) was a complex and multifaceted phenomenon as analyses of Egyptian imperial policy, of Egyptian presence at and occupation of Levantine sites, and of local Canaanite adoption and adaptation of Egyptian objects have shown. Despite considerable evidence for the coexistence and comingling of Egyptian and Canaanite religious practices and objects, scholars have designated only four Levantine temples—at the sites of Serabit el-Khadim, Timna, Gaza, and Byblos—as “Egyptian.” Previous research focused primarily on examinations of Egyptian influences on individual temples, on textual attestations of New Kingdom royal building programs of temples and other structures in the southern Levant, and on the economic and imperial role of temples built or co-opted by the Egyptian imperial administration in the Levant. More work is needed, however, to explore the complexities and diversity of entangled Egyptian-Levantine LBA interactions. Moving beyond a methodological framework that relies on rigid dichotomies to discuss cross-cultural interactions in the southern Levant, this dissertation uses the lens of entanglement to survey a wider range of temples and their associated material culture to investigate the complexity of Egyptian-Canaanite interactions within and influences on temple spaces and ritual practice during the LBA. This dissertation considered selected key questions that are crucial to our understanding of Egyptian-Canaanite entanglement: (1) Is it possible to distinguish Egyptian and Canaanite architectural elements incorporated into, as well as votive and utilitarian objects used within, temples in the southern Levant?; (2) What is the extent of syncretized deities and objects?; (3) Is it possible to determine if these temples could be made accessible or suitable for cultic rituals performed by both Egyptians and Canaanites?; (4) Where and at what types of sites do these “Egyptianized” temples occur?; and (5) How did these cultic spaces change over the course of the Late Bronze Age?

Through an analysis of archaeological and iconographical data, including architecture and object assemblages from temples located at eight sites in the southern Levant (Serabit el-Khadim, Timna, Lachish, Pella, Tell Deir ‘Alla, Tell Abu Hawam, Beth Shean, and Megiddo), this dissertation tracks Egyptian-Canaanite entangled temple practices and interactions as they developed throughout the LBA. I argue that the temples examined in this study reflect different types and levels of cultural entanglement that may be divided into four categories: 1) clearly entangled cults; 2) possibly entangled cults; 3) co-opted Egyptian cult without Canaanite participation or only with Canaanite resistance; and 4) no entangled or Egyptian cult. Temples with entangled cults would have served a vital role for Egyptians stationed abroad at garrison towns or taking part in state-run mining expeditions by providing necessary spaces to replicate Egyptian religious and cultural life as well as to fulfil perceived Egyptian social responsibilities such as living in accordance with Ma’at. This dissertation demonstrates that particular temples were made suitable for Egyptian cult practices using different interventions, and that Egyptians and Canaanites interacted in diverse ways in these entangled spaces.