Considerations on the Role of Mobile Pastoralism in the Urbanization Process in the Southern Levant during the Bronze Age

Abstract

The urbanization process in the Southern Levant implied a significant change for the sedentary population during the Bronze Age. Additionally, modifications have been observed in the archaeological record in the arid zones inhabited by mobile populations, apparently linked to the appearance of urban markets. It is believed that the development of the pastoralist economy was related to new economic conditions, which could have stimulated in its stead the development of goods exchanges. The main goal of this article is to analyze the influence that the Southern Levant urban settlement had on the populations of the arid zones, and vice versa, especially the relationship to the participation of the latter in the exchange networks, necessary for the “urban revolution” to take place. To do this, a review of the archaeological record of some sites associated with pastoral groups is presented, and then, some considerations about the mutual influences between mobile population and the urban settlements are proposed. The exchange that took place made possible the accumulation of the necessary goods for the urbanization process to be possible.