Sources: Joshua; Judges 1; Numbers 13–14; Deuteronomy 7, 20; the Amarna letters (~1350 BC); the Merneptah Stele (~1208 BC).

The conquest of Canaan is one of the most archaeologically contested subjects in the study of ancient Israel. The Merneptah Stele (~1208 BC) is the earliest extrabiblical reference to “Israel” as a people in Canaan — it uses a determinative indicating a people without a state, suggesting a tribal grouping. The biblical account in Joshua presents a swift, unified military conquest; Judges 1 presents a slower, messier picture of incomplete conquest alongside coexistence. Archaeological evidence: some cities the Bible says Joshua destroyed (Jericho, Ai) show no evidence of occupation at that time; others (Hazor, Lachish) have destruction layers that may align. Three historical models have been proposed: (1) Conquest (Albright) — 13th-century military campaign; (2) Peaceful infiltration (Alt, Noth) — gradual semi-nomadic settlement; (3) Social revolution (Mendenhall, Gottwald) — mainly indigenous Canaanites forming a new tribal confederation. The herem (ban/total destruction) commands — ordering annihilation of the Canaanite peoples — are the most ethically difficult texts in the Torah, generating debate about divine command, genocide, and historical contingency that belongs to every era that reads these texts. The Amarna letters (~1350 BC) reveal a politically fragmented Canaan of competing city-states — the political situation that would have made a determined outside force effective.