Glazed polychrome tiles, c.1200 BC from Tell el-Yahudieh.

These decorative tiles of glazed faience originally ornamented the walls of a palace of Ramesses III at Tell el-Yahudieh in the Egyptian Delta. They would once have been included in symbolic friezes illustrating Egypt's triumph over its traditional enemies: Nubians, Libyans and Asiatic peoples. The three fragments here show Asiatic prisoners.
 

The beginning of the Late Bronze Age (1550-1150 BC) was marked by a major historical event; the expulsion of the Hyksos by the Egyptians, followed by a series of military campaigns which brought the whole of the Levant and parts of North Syria under direct Egyptian control. Egypt imposed a heavy burden of taxation, but in return the Canaanite cities gained security and better access to international markets. The Egyptian empire brought with it even more far-reaching trade links, including those with the Mycenaean of mainland Greece, but the local culture, by now well established, continued to flourish and to further develop its refined craft works.

In the reign of Ramesses II (1304-1287 BC), the empire was reorganised. Key strategic cities like Beth Shan in the north and Gaza in the south were strengthened, while others were allowed to decline. Many people were made homeless and migrated to the Judean hill country where they established small farming settlements. These dispossessed Canaanites, known to the Egyptians as Hapiru (Hebrews), formed the basis of what was to become Israel.