The connections between the Northern and Southern Levant during Early Bronze Age III. Re-evaluations and new vistas in the light of new data and higher chronologies

Until recently, the study of interconnections between the northern and southern Levant has focused on the Early Bronze IV period, in part due to the ill- defined nature of Early Bronze III in the northern Levant. The analysis of north- south connections during Early Bronze III has been limited mostly to the diffusion of particular ware classes in both regions, such as the Red- Black Burnished Ware and the Levantine Combed Ware. Lately, important advancements in the scholarly knowledge on Levantine archaeology have occurred. The first is represented by the revision of absolute chronologies for the Levantine Early Bronze Age, showing that both Early Bronze III and IV were synchronous in the northern and southern Levant. The second is the reconstruction of the Early Bronze III segment of the northern Levantine regional trajectory, thanks to fresh data from several sites, such as Ebla, Tell Tuqan, Tell Mishrifeh, and Tell Al-Ṣūr. The paper reevaluates the Early Bronze III evidence available at certain sites in both the northern and southern Levant to demonstrate that it is possible to identify common practices and ideal models emerging in the material culture of both regions during this period. Moving from the new north- south synchronisms, the reasons for this connectivity will be explored in the context of the early urbanization in the northern Levant and of the socio- economic landscape of the southern Levant during Early Bronze III.