About 4500BC, the Ghassulian culture was the first wave of migration into Canaan. This began the Chalcolithic archaeological period in Canaan. A time when copper predominated metalworking technology.

The Ghassulians, who are usually the prime example of the Calcolithic period in Canaan, were originally from the South Caucasus region. This was located between the Black Sea (that lies between Europe and Asia) and the Caspian Sea (the world's largest inland body of water.) They also came from the Northwest Zagros Mountains in Iran, Northern Iraq, and Southeastern Turkey. Upon migrating to Canaan they brought a complete craft tradition of metalworks with them. They were excellent coppersmiths.

Similar to artifacts of the Maykop culture of the Western Caucasus region (Modern Day Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Southern Russia), the Ghassulians' copperwork was the most advanced metal technology in the ancient world.

The Maykops were known for their animals style in metalworks, bronze cheek-pieces for horses, and petroglyphs that are yet to be deciphered. Some of the world's earliest wagon wheels, the most ancient stringed instrument, the most ancient sword, and the most ancient architectural column ever discovered belonged to the Maykops.

The Ghassulians' main copper mine was at Wadi Feynan in Southern Jordan. The Wadi Feynan area posssessed the largest copper deposits in what is now Modern Day Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. Their copper was mined from the Cambrian Burj Dolomite Shale Unit as malachite.
A green-banded, opaque, mineral. Their copper was smelted at sites of the Beersheba culture (in the Beersheba Valley near Negev). This was a desert, and semi-desert, location in Southern Israel.

The Chalcolithic period in Canaan ended when the urban settlement of En Esur began on the southern Mediterranean coast. With a name that translates into "Spring of the Bracelets," the En Esur settlement was located on the northern Sharon Plain, where the Wadi Ara Pass leads from the Coastal Plain inland.

The Ghassulian culture arose on the edge of the Dead Sea in Modern Day Jordan. Small hamlets of farming people characterized them. Some lived in underground dwellings or trapezoid-shaped mud-brick abodes. These were often partially built underground. Polychrome wall paintings adorned their dwellings.

Ghassulian pottery was highly elaborate, mainly footed bowls and horn-shaped wine goblets. Their copper was smelted with stone tools. The Ghassulian culture closely correlated with the Amratians of Upper Egypt (this culture lasted from approximately 4000BC to 3500BC and worked with raw gold, papyrus rowboats, and copper). The Ghassulians were also closely associated with the Minoans of Crete (a sophisticated culture that flourished from about 3000BC to 1100BC).

The earliest evidence of the Ghassulians' copper industry was found in Bir abu Matar in the Beersheba Valley, in the Negev desert of Southern Israel.

Found on the western shore of the Dead Sea, the Ghassulians' Chalcolithic Temple of Ein Gedi dates to about 3500BC. Artifacts from this temple are believed to have been discovered at Nahal Mishmar, a stream and cave in the Judean Desert.


Next Time: Sea Of Galilee #19: Canaan's Early Bronze Age