UC Berkeley

This dissertation investigates the economic systems operating during the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1600 BCE) at Kamid el-Loz, a decentralized settlement situated in the Beqa’a Valley of Lebanon. The scope is to examine trade structures that involved peripheral exchange centers found throughout the Beqa’a Valley and their interaction with the commercial hubs of the Lebanese coast and the hinterland settlements of southwestern Syria. During this time, settlements throughout the ancient Near East witnessed a process of regeneration that followed the collapse of Early Bronze Age IV (c. 2200-2000 BCE) societies. The development of more complex economic networks and political relationships, as well as the arrival of new ethnic groups, characterized this renewal.

This dissertation sets forth two main research questions: How can the material culture and the geographical setting of Kamid el-Loz shed light on the economic systems of the central Levant and southwestern Syria? And, to what degree was the Beqa’a Valley integrated into the cultural milieu of the Eastern Mediterranean during the Middle Bronze Age? To answer these queries, the ceramic vessels found in the storage rooms of the Kamid el-Loz palace were analyzed and thematic maps using Geographic Information System (GIS) software were created to reconstruct the commercial paths through which materials circulated.

The results from this study indicate that Kamid el-Loz had a well structured palatial organization that shared the same international exchange networks that involved the coastal Middle Bronze Age centers. The Beqa’a Valley was linked to this greater system of trade through paths used to surmount the obstacles posed to circulation by the mountain ranges that border this area. Interactions between these different regions are visible in the material culture recovered at Kamid el-Loz, which evidences a process of adaptation and selection of non-local motifs.

One contribution of this project to the archaeology of the Middle Bronze Age Levant is the reconstruction of the ceramic vessel economy of Kamid el-Loz. In addition, the recreation of ancient networking trails in the Beqa’a Valley will provide a model useful for the understanding of exchange systems across the region, especially in the central Levant. Finally, determining the level of foreign interaction among settlements belonging to three different geographic areas will contribute to the social sciences by providing insight into how ancient societies received and reacted to external cultural influences.