Second Intermediate Period scarabs from Egypt and Palestine: historical and chronological implications
Daphna Ben-Tor

The large number of scarabs found in Middle Bronze Age sites in Palestine is unparalleled in this region at any other period. A significant number of these scarabs are frequently referred to as "Hyksos scarabs" as identical types were found in Second Intermediate Period contexts in Egypt. Excavated scarab series of this period in both regions indicate commercial contacts as well as mutual cultural influence, and their significance as reflecting the particular political situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period has long been recognized. Yet, the historical and political implications of these scarabs are highly controversial, as the Second Intermediate Period in Egypt is still one of the most obscure periods in Egyptian history, even as regards its chronological range and dynastic order. The political situation in Middle Bronze Palestine is even more obscure due to the scarcity of contemporary textual sources in this region, and the dependence of the absolute chronology of the Middle Bronze Age phases on Egyptian chronology.

Considering the extreme popularity and wide distribution of scarabs in both regions during this period, their potential contribution as an extensive and highly informative body of contemporary source material is indisputable. Scarabs of this period were frequently used as primary archaeological evidence in many studies, particularly with regard to the relations between Egypt and the southern Levant. However, the historical conclusions presented in these studies are inconclusive and controversial due primarily to disagreements over absolute dates of archaeological deposits in Egypt and Palestine in which scarabs were found. Further difficulties result from disagreements over the chronological definition of the Second Intermediate Period in Egypt, and the Middle Bronze Age phases in Palestine coinciding with this period.

Evidence from recent studies of Egyptian and Canaanite pottery of this period can, however, helps resolve some of the controversial issues, first and foremost by offering reliable means for dating archaeological deposits, both in Egypt and in the southern Levant. It is these studies that now make it possible to determine the chronological range of the Second Intermediate Period in Egypt, and its coinciding phases in Middle Bronze Age Palestine. Moreover, based on these studies we can now establish stylistic and chronological typologies of excavated scarab series of this period in both regions, and use these scarabs to enhance our understanding of the period.

Evidence based on these studies argues for dating almost the entire scarab corpus from Middle Bronze Age Palestine to the Second Intermediate Period, and for the Canaanite production of the great majority of these scarabs. Once separate typologies are established for the Palestinian and Egyptian excavated series of this period, a comparison between the two reveals close similarities as well as distinct differences. Analysis of the dominant motifs on design scarabs from both regions and on contemporary royal-name scarabs can help determine the origin of production of the scarabs, whether Egyptian or Canaanite, and their source of inspiration. Such an analysis can also demonstrate independent developments and identify imports in both regions, which reflect the nature of the relations between the two regions during this period. Moreover, a comparison between contemporary scarabs from Nubia and Palestine reveals the similarities and differences between Egypt's relations with the indigenous populations of Nubia and Palestine during this period.

I hope to be able to show that once the relative and absolute chronology of the excavated scarab series in Egypt and Palestine are established by ceramic assemblages, and the Egyptian and Palestinian excavated series are dealt with separately, many of the difficulties encountered in early studies can be resolved.