View source for Israelite highland settlement

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'''Israelite highland settlement''' refers to an ancient [[Israelite]] settlement in the highlands north of [[Jerusalem]] discovered in [[archaeological field survey]]s conducted in [[Israel]] since the 1970s.
These surveys found a large increase in the settled population dating to 1200 BCE. It is not known whether the Israelites arrived in the wake of conquests or the new villages were established by former nomads or displaced persons. A similar increase was not found in the surrounding lowland areas. According to archaeological evidence, these areas may have been inhabited by [[Canaan]]ites or [[Sea People]].
A 2005 book by Robert D. Miller  applies statistical modeling to the sizes and locations of the villages, grouping them by economic and political features.  He found highland groupings centered on [[Dothan (ancient city)|Dothan]], Tirzah, [[Shechem]], and [[Shiloh (Biblical)|Shiloh]]. [[Tribe of Benjamin#Territory|The tribal territory of Benjamin]] was not organized around any main town.
This evidence does not prove there was a conquest as described in the [[Book of Joshua]], but if the biblical reference to "daughter villages" means all villages closest to a specific town, the [[List of surviving and destroyed Canaanite cities|list of Canaanite towns not taken]] in the [[Book of Judges]] ({{bibleverse|Judges|1:27-35}}), which begins: "Nor did Manesseh drive out [[Bet Shean]] and her daughter-villages ...", the correspondence to the survey results is remarkably accurate. Towns not captured in the central zone were Taanach, Ibleam, [[Megiddo (place)|Megiddo]], [[Tel Dor|Dor]], [[Gezer]], [[Aijalon]], [[Salbit|Shaalbim]], and Jerusalem.
==See also==
* [[Archaeology of Israel]]
* [[Biblical archaeology]]
* [[Judaean Mountains]]
* [[List of Biblical names]]
==Bibliography==
*{{cite book | author=Dever, William G. | title=Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From? | publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans | year=2003 | isbn=0-8028-0975-8| author-link=William G. Dever }}
*{{cite book | author1=Finkelstein, Israel | author2=Neil Asher Silberman | title=The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts | publisher=Free Press | year=2002 | isbn=0-684-86913-6 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/bibleunearthedar00fink }}
*{{cite book | author=Miller, Robert D., II | title=Chieftains Of The Highland Clans: A History Of Israel In The Twelfth And Eleventh Centuries B.C. | publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans | year=2005 | isbn=0-8028-0988-X}}
{{Sites of the Israelite Settlement}}
[[Category:1970s archaeological discoveries]]
[[Category:Iron Age sites in Israel|*]]
[[Category:Ancient Israel and Judah]]
[[Category:Biblical archaeology]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible mountains]]
[[Category:Israelites]]
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