King Ramesses III (1186-1155 BCE) replaces the toponym of the Alliance (Kishon) of Jabin with the Band of Deborah in his great Asiatic Topographic List 27.85 inscribed in circa 1180 BCE on the Great Temple in Medinet Habu. The Bible is telling us that this Jabin, whose seat of power was in Hazor, was the king of Canaan, suggesting that he was the president of a confederation ("kings of Canaan"), whose location might have been identified by king Rameses II as
"qshr ybwn"
("Alliance of Jabin"),
reigning to a larger portion of northern Galilee. After Deborah had defeated his general, this Jabin was contented to be holding his power over a small area of Hazor, hence biblically, during the attack of Joshua, he was more known by the title "king of Hazor," and hieroglyphically speaking, his name was obliterated and was replaced by the toponym "Band of Deborah."
The "Kishon of Jabin" was very popular during the days of Rameses II (1279-1213 BCE) that the pharaoh publicly put it on record (Topographic List 23.21) on the Great Temple of Amun at Karnak, but later, after several pharaohs had reigned,
"qweshe' teborah"
("Band of Deborah")
found its place officially in the 1180's BCE list. The new administration was in effect saying Deborah's troops have replaced Jabin's Alliance, or the former have defeated the said Alliance, which according to the Bible was headed by general Sisera of Haroseth of the nations, likely around the time of king Merneptah, circa 1208 BCE. Sisera was killed by Jael, the wife of Heber a grandson of Kenite Jethro.
"So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. And the hand of the children of Israel
וַתֵּ֜לֶךְ
[watêlek]
continually grew stronger,
וְקָשָׁ֔ה
[we-qašah]
and became more severe [harsh]
against Jabin
the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan." -Judges 4:23-24
This defeat was not the destruction of Hazor, rather the subduing of the Alliance of Jabin, hence Jabin is identified here "king of Canaan," that is, head of the region.
There was a process before the destruction of Jabin: first God subdued the king of the Alliance by Jael's killing of Sisera, and second the hand or arm of Israelites continually grew stronger, and third became more severe against king Jabin, and fourth they destroyed that king.
King Merneptah has reported that he brought back peace in the region, that is, he quieted Israel which was causing troubles because of the wanderings of its men and women from neighboring Seir to Canaan. This may mean, that after he devastated Israelite circumcision ritual (because Joshua stopped the circumcision), Israel became at peace with other countries.
We can have a hint about this peaceful circumstance because king Ramesses III did not hieroglyphically describe area of Deborah's troops as a fighting enemy, but a subdued area of concerned.
It took several years before Israel destroyed Jabin, and that was when Joshua burned Hazor to the ground around 1180's. In Joshua's entering the promised land, Jabin was an ordinary king of Hazor with equal power to other neighboring countries, and in fact, Joshua suggests that Hazor was not as great as in the past and reports that it was "BEFORE, the head of all those kingdoms" (Josh. 11:10) - during Joshua's own time, Hazor was not as great as it was before. And that Jabin was no longer the suzerain lord of the kings of northern Canaan, he sent message to neighboring cities asking for a help - rather than commanding them (cf. Josh 10:3-6).
"And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had heard those things, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of
Achshaph,
and to the kings that were on the north of the mountains, and of the plains south of Chinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of
Dor
on the west, and to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh. And they went out, they and all their armies with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many. ...they came and camped together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel. So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them.
And YHWH delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Sidon, and unto Misrephothmaim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining. And Joshua did unto them as YHWH bade him: he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire.
And Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the king thereof with the sword: for
Hazor formerly was the head of all those kingdoms.
And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them: there was not any left to breathe: and
he burnt Hazor with fire.
But as for the cities that stood still in their strength, Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only; that did Joshua burn." - Joshua 11:1-5,7-11,13
It is biblically confirmed that Joshua "destroyed" Jabin and burned the city of Hazor. In archaeology, the people who destroyed Hazor inhabited the area, and they lived there from around 1200 to 1150 BCE. They were Israelites.
There is a belief that it was king Rameses the Great who destroyed Hazor in 1274 BCE, but that is not conforming with the report of army scribe Hori (fl.1230 - c.1160 BCE) that Egyptian maher could go into Hazor (Papyrus Anastasi I, 21.8). Archaeological findings in Hazor also disagree with the theory.
"Yet Ben-Tor believes that the intentional smashing of statues at Hazor, particularly those of the Egyptian kings, makes these possibilities unlikely. He also dismisses the likelihood of destruction at the hands of a rival Canaanite city-state because of the apparent absence of nearby cities powerful enough to attack Hazor. ...
That leaves the Israelites."
(A. Rabinovich, N. A. Silberman, The Burning of Hazor Vol. 51 No. 3, May/June 1998; 2023 Archaeology Magazine: archive.archaeology.org/9805/abstracts/hazor.html, publication of the Archaeological Institute of America)
In 1955-58 and 1968-69, archaeologist Yigael Yadin excavated at Hazor and have documented the great conflagration that accompanied the total destruction of the final Late Bronze Age city. Layers of ashes, burnt wooden beams, cracked basaltic slabs, mutilated basaltic statues, and fallen walls are the evidence of this destruction. There are public structures -Orthostats Temple and Stelae Temple - in the lower city. Corroborating this fierce conflagration is found in the public buildings in the upper city, as Amnon Ben-Tor's findings can show us on the monumental cultic edifices and the administrative palatial buildings - all of which served as the foci of religious and civil power and wealth at the height of Canaanite Hazor in the 1200 BCE.
Although basaltic statues of gods and kings are decapitated and ritual vessels in temples are smashed, the lower city's smaller-scale domestic and cultic buildings are not as grievous put on fire and destroyed as the upper city. Identical decapitation of statue of goddess in Athika (Timna Valley, Edom) in 1190 BCE was done in Hazor lower city. And like in Athika, the destroyers did not wage too much war to do this destruction. The people who did it were intentionally desecrating the physical symbols of the kings and officials of Egypt and their religious legitimation (by their idols) in the area.
Sphinx of the Egyptian king Mycerinus (25th century BCE) was probably sent by Rameses II or Merneptah as a gift to the king of Hazor and displayed at the entrance near the palace storerooms. Archaeologists recovered fragments of 18 different Egyptian royal and private statues, dedicated to Egyptian kings and officials, including two sphinxes at Hazor. Most of these statues were found in layers dated to the Late Bronze Age (1400-1200 BCE).
A statue or an offering table erected in the entrance complex was inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphic dedicatory inscription mentioning its builder: the name of Rahotep, the priest and vizier of king Rameses II around 1235 BCE, is inscribed on the worship table found in Hazor Stratum XIII. With all of these Egyptian materials, we can safely say that Hazor was not an enemy but an ally of Egypt during its fiery destruction. This proves that Hazor was ended with massive fire not in 1400 BCE but probably after 13th century BCE.
Conspicuously, all statues at the site were found broken to pieces and scattered over a large area, indicative that they were deliberately and violently mutilated and smashed sometime between 1230 and 1180 BCE.
Kitchen says "that neither the Egyptians, Canaanites nor Sea Peoples destroyed LB Hazor-the early Hebrews remain a feasible option."
Actually, if the destroyers of royal and religious statues in Athika were the same to those who did it in Hazor, then these men were no other than but Kenites, of the family of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses.
Kenites of Tel Masos were connected to Athika and Phunon in terms of copper smithing is concerned in the 1190's. In Timna Valley, Edom they are conventionally called "Midianites" by archaeologists.
In historical fact, Kenite appears to become popular during the time of Hori (fl. 1230-c.1160 BCE), an Egyptian army scribe who mentioned Kenite in his Satirical Letter (Papyrus Anastasi I).
If Kenites had a good relation with king Jabin as reported in Judges 4:17, then there is no hard thing for them to have a place inside Hazor. If this was so, then like what their leaders (Heber and Jael) had done, Kenites could also kill Hazorites with ease, and like what they did in Egyptian images in Athika, they could also deliberately destroy Egyptian royal and religious statues.
Evidence of the 13th century BCE massive conflagration, half-meter thick burnline and residual burned areas, is visible in Area M on the northern slope of the tel, as revealed from the excavations of 2000 and 2001. Bible has positively identified Joshua as the one who put Hazor on fire to destroy.
Those who used wrong chronology, accused the Bible of saying Deborah & Barak had destroyed Hazor. The Bible has no such claim. Besides Deborah or Barak did not kill king Jabin, neither they destroyed Hazor. Deborah won the battle when Jael, the wife of Heber grandson of Jethro, killed Sisera, the general of the alliance of Jabin in northern Canaan or Galilee and when shooting stars hit the river of Kishon. As far as the Bible and archaeological findings in Hazor are concerned, 1400 BCE is a wrong date for Joshua's destruction of Hazor.
Garstang, however, dated Hazor's destruction to around 1400 BCE. Contrary to this, archaeological findings may suggest between 1230 and 1180 BCE. Therefore, Hazor...
" was finally destroyed sometime before the end of the 13th century B.C.E. The discovery of Mycenean and local ware from the 13th century helped to disprove Garstang's date of its fall."
"Stratum XIII, the last Late Bronze Age city on the tell, shows the same signs of destruction in the 13th century as were found in the lower city. The upper city, however, in contrast, was resettled after a short interruption, but not in the form of a true city. Most of its constructions are still of a seminomadic character – silos, hearths, and foundations for tents and huts. These remains are essentially identical with those of the Israelite settlements in Galilee in the 12th century and indicate that the majority of this settlement occurred only after the fall of the cities and provinces of Canaan."
(Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2008 The Gale Group)
If the destroyers of Hazor were not Egyptians, Canaanites or Peleset, then who were they?
We can know them because after the destruction of Hazor they sojourned in its upper city between around 1180 and 1150 BCE.
Israelites dwelt in Hazor after it was burned.
"the destruction of Late Bronze IIB/III Hazor was followed by an Israelite occupation during the Iron IA Age (ca. 1200-1150 BC)"
(Wood, “Rise and Fall,” 487; idem, “The Biblical Date: 1446,” 256)
"More recently, Shlomit Bechar holds that a complex of cultic standing stones (matzebot) from the Iron I and Iron IIa Israelite strata at Hazor was built to commemorate the Israelite conquest of the city." - Wikipedia
"An examination was made of the destruction of 13th century BC Hazor, which has become the trendy era of choice for the conquest of the city described in Joshua 11. The material evidence for the destruction of the Hazor of this period clearly points to the Israelites as the culprits, due in part to the distinct, ritualistic desecration of religious and cultic objects. However, chronologically this destruction fits into the era of the judges, and the context of Judges 4 bears out that not only was the king of Hazor killed, but the city was destroyed and, in large part, burned down by the persistent Israelites. Moreover, the narratives of Joshua 11 and Judges 4 were seen to describe two different encounters..."
(Bible archaeology.org)
Joshua (1248-1138 BCE) was with Caleb when sent to watch Canaanites in 1228 BCE. Forty-four years after that, in around 1185 BCE, Caleb was asking his inheritance, and his nephew Othniel had defeated Chushanrishathsim of Aram Naharim which led to the destruction of Emar (cf. Josh.14:10).
The first judge of Israel to be named is Moses, next is Jair (Exo. 18:13; Num. 32:40-41, Deut. 3:14, Josh. 13:30). Judges 10:1-3 reported that Tolah ben-Puah was contemporary of Jair and most likely died earlier than Jair. Deborah was the judge before king Ramesses III, in fact she categorically wrote a female pharaoh (which obviously is referring to Queen Tausert) and she was contemporary to the sons of Jair.
Therefore, yes, biblically speaking, the destruction of Hazor was during the era of the judges.
The first weakening of Jabin was when Deborah defeated him by the death of his general, Sisera, in around 1208 BCE.
After that, Israel progressed, and became stronger and stronger and completely destroyed Jabin when Joshua burned Hazor down in the 1180s BCE. Adding to the fact that it was destroyed by the same people, mutilation of idols and pharaoh's image are also noticeable in Athika (Timna Valley, Edom) in circa 1190 BCE by the "Kenite" Midianites. These Israelites are probably accompanied by Peleset who were freed by YHWH from Caphtor (Amos 9:7) so the latter's Mycenaean pottery is not a surprising thing to be found in 1230 BCE stratum of Hazor. Manetho positively named the troops of Moses in destroying Egyptian idols (archaeologically confirmed in Athika dated around 1190 BCE).
After Hazor's destruction, Israelites sojourned in it till around 1150 BCE.
The fact that Israelites lived in Hazor between circa 1180 and 1150 BCE after its final fall is the very evidence that indeed Israelites benefited in the destruction - and hence, the people likely who did its ruining.
Neither there is an indication of Isrealite in the 1400 BCE Hazor to consider Israelites as its destroyers in the 15th century BCE, nor there are Israelite remains or whatsoever in Hazor after 1400 BCE. The presence of Israelites in Hazor is in the strata of Iron Age I, particularly around 1200 to 1150 BCE. This was also the time when the biblical Joshua (1248-1138 BCE) led Israel to destroy Hazor and its king, whose name was likely acknowledged by king Rameses the Great as
"y-b-w-n" (Jabin).
Adding to this timeline is the fact that the people of Yahweh who built Joshua's altar had buried too the Thutmose scarabs released by king Rameses II (1279-1213 BCE) in some areas settled around 1200 BCE. Another Thutmose scarab was found in the circa 1177 BCE Shiloh of Israelites.
It could not be that while Israel became stronger and stronger after the destruction of Hazor in 1400 BCE, that Hazor's king was later subduing neighboring countries. Tyre's king, Abimilki, reported to the pharaoh that "the king of Hazor has abandoned his house [pharaoh] and has aligned himself with the 'Apiru" (EA 148:41). Ayyab, in another case, said that "it is the ruler of Hazor who has taken 3 cities from me. From the time I heard and verified this there has been waging war against" Abdi-Tirshi, the king of Hazor (EA 364:17-21). It seems that a vassal state ruled by the king of Hazor was breaking away to form a northern alliance with other Canaanite states, particularly with Habiru (EA 227). But this was actually a strategic move of the Hazorite king to gain more power, which was reflected down to the time of king Rameses II. No other vassalage rulers during Amarna period was called "king" except of Hazor.
This was actually the history why after more than a century, Hazor was the head of the neighboring kingdoms. Its king was capturing city-states and adding them to his own territory. By the time of Deborah (1208 BCE), king of Hazor was the president of the alliance of kings in northern Canaan. The alliance was designated "q-sh-r" (Kishon) by Rameses II and identified its head as "y-b-w-n" (Jabin), positively named in the Bible as the king of Canaan whose sit of power was in Hazor and whose army commander was living in Haroseth.
The evidence found in the 13th century BCE Hazor shows that internal battle occurred that might have led to the destruction. This may mean that residents of Hazor caused the internal conflict, and afterwards Israelites settled on the ruins.
The Bible gives possible answer why this was so. According to Judges 4:17, Kenites, particularly the family of Heber of the children of Hobab the son of Jethro, was under the dominion of king Jabin, and hence had a good status to Hazor for almost 20 years (1227-1208 BCE). Jael gave a clear example most importantly to men that when time comes, they could kill their oppressors, and this might be what had happened in Hazor: Kenites living in Galilean region, particularly those inside Hazor, might have killed Hazorites when the success of Joshua's troops became conspicuous.
"Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite." -Judges 4:17
"And YHWH sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth ha-Goiim. And the children of Israel cried unto YHWH: for he had 900 chariots of iron; and 20 years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel." -Judges 4:2-3
Sisera could go inside the house of Heber the Kenite without hesitation because of being well acquainted with the family. This may imply that as Sisera was welcome to the Kenites of Yenoam (Kedesh), Kenites might be expected to be much welcome in Hazor, or likely even had their place in the city. The anticipated reaction of the Kenites in Hazor and Yenoam is to take side to Israel once either Joshua or judges make a war, and this really happened when Jael unhesitatingly killed general Sisera to give favor to judge Deborah in 1208 BCE and likely Kenites made their own initiative inside Hazor during the attack of Joshua in the 1180's BCE.
How do we know that these same people destroyed Hazor? Because they left their religious identity (destruction of pharaohs' images and idols).
The way the Kenite Midianites under Yar-su (Yar-mesu) smashed and destroyed the images of pharaoh and Egyptian idols in Athika (Timna Valley, Edom) in circa 1190 BCE is identical to what the Kenites had done in Hazor in around 1180's BCE probably with the combined aid of Joshua's troop.
With this strategy of the troops of Yar-su (Moses), king Rameses III (1186-1155 BCE) officially qouted or paraphrased Joshua in 1179 BCE, saying:
"No land could stand before their arms, from Hittite land, Kadesh, Carchemish, Arzawa, and Alashiya (Cyprus) on, being cut down.
A camp was set up in Amurru (Lebanon region). They desolated its people, and its land was like that which has never come into being. They were coming forward toward Egypt.
Their confederation was Philistia, Tjeker (of Dor), Shakarus (Issacharites), Denye (Dan), and Weshesh (Asher), lands united." - Ramesses III, 2nd pylon, Medinet Habu (read also, KRIT 5:34-35)
In addition to the Kenites, Danites (the Denye/Denyen in Ramesses III's report) were also connected with Hazor, although not as closer as the Kenites. Hazor and Laish were linked to Mari by their tin business trading in the time of Shashi-Adad I (1698-1666 BCE). Before military Danites conquered Laish (ca. 1180 BCE), Danite business traders seem to be already in Laish living there with their relatives. In one occasion, fugitive Ibna-dushu, probably a man from Hazor, was rescued by Shikalayu (Issacharites) from the hand of little boy king Ammurapi of Ugarit around 1206 BCE. King Ramesses III has positively identified Shakares (Issacharites), Weshesh (Asherites), and Denye (Danites) as involved in destroying city-states from Syria to Egypt.
There were two major directions of the attacks: the Philistines (particularly the Caphtorites) with Israelites (namely Asherites, Issacharites, and then later Danites) who were heading toward Egypt, as what Moses predicted in Exodus 13:17, and the troops of Joshua whose movement was to comb the land of Syria-Palestine toward Euphrates and Hittite territories. The third group are those Israelites co-inhabitants with the natives of the land and they were of great help to the troops of Joshua.
King Ramesses III derived the paraphrase of his report most likely from his captured Issacharites, Danites, and Asherites who might have informed him about Joshua's encouragement.
"Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this
Lebanon
even unto the great river, the river
Euphrates,
all the land of the
Hittites,
and unto the great sea [Mediterranean Ocean] toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.
There shall not any man be able to stand before you
all the days of your life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with you: I will not fail you, nor forsake you." -Joshua 1:2-5
Hazor was in its last standing when Late Bronze Age Collapse Mycenaean people reached it in 1230 or 1190 BCE. Then Israelites made their houses on the ruins of Hazor and lived there till around 1150 BCE.
This same phase of habitation took place in Ai, when Israelites made their houses (c.1177 BCE) literally on the side of the ruins of the 1400 BCE Ai.
Such this transition is not found in Jericho, or perhaps the biblical Jericho is not yet discovered. That is, the destroyed Jericho and the remains or evidence of Israelites upon this destruction do not yet come to light. What we can know about the supposed Jericho is the fact that scarab of king Amenhotep III (1390-1351) was found in its cemetery. King Rameses II (1279-1213 BCE) has reported Jericho as a state and even fought from the city in circa 1273 BCE which probably later became under the pharaoh, and this could be the biblical Jericho.
Hazor is a good example how to determine the timeline of Israelites, and what followed after Israelites destroyed a city.
The Bible tells us that Kenites, the family of Heber, grandson of Jethro, had a good relationship with Hazor, although they were very oppressed, enough reason for Jael to take revenge.
As far as archaeological findings are concerned, Hazor was destroyed by fire around 1200 or 1180's BCE, and after of which Israelites lived in the area till around 1150 BCE.
On the other hand, archaeological finding is the inscribed name of king Ramses II's visier, Prahotep, who erected a monument in Hazor sometime during the pharaoh's Years 40–45 (i.e. 1245-1235 BCE), thus leaving 1234 BCE or later as a legitimate option for the destruction of the final Late-Bronze Hazor (Kenneth A. Kitchen, “An Egyptian Inscribed Fragment from Late Bronze Hazor,” IEJ 53:1 [2003], 24, 25; Wood, “Rise and Fall,” 476).
If this Prahotep was Prahotep II, then he became Northern Vizier in circa 1228 and priest of Ptah in circa 1223 BCE.
Egyptian army scribe Hori, writing Satirical Letter in around 1230 to 1190 BCE, said that Egyptian maher could go into Hazor (Papyrus Anastasi I, 21). This adds the likelihood of Hazor's end in 1180s BCE. 1500-1200 BCE idols in Hazor are mutilated by people who did not wage war in the specific area, similar to what the Kenite Midianites had done to Hathor's idols in 1190 BCE in Timna Valley, Edom. If Kenites together with the troop of Joshua were the destroyers, then Hazor was put to end around 1180s BCE. Why Kenites had an access in Hazor?
It was because Heber, of the children of the Kenite, the father-in-law of Moses, had a good relationship with Jabin king of Hazor. Sisera, the general of king Jabin, was extracting any thing from Heber and the Kenites since 1227 BCE until it ended up in 1208 BCE because his wife Jael killed the general when Deborah led a war, that cause disturbances in Canaan (Judg. 4:2-6), which coerced king Merneptah to quell the disturbances.
"Now Heber the Kenite - which was of the children of Hobab - the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.
But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.
Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was
peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him." -Judges 4:11,16-19
King Jabin lost his league in Galilee, and hence his name was replaced with the name of the Band of Deborah in the 1180s BCE Topographical List of king Ramesses III. King Jabin was well known in Galilee that even Rameses II (1279-1213 BCE) used his name as a toponym Qishon of Jabin.
The possible people who could penetrate Hazor without war was the family of Jethro, the Kenite. In Athika (Timna Valley, Edom), the Kenite Midianites did not wage war but they mutilated the Egyptian idols there. Similar strategy was used in one part of Hazor, when Egyptian images and idols of Hazor were mutilated without waging war. There is a high probability that Kenites were also involved in destroying Hazor in circa 1180s BCE.
The destruction in c.1400 BCE is for sure not by Israelites for there is no artifact to support the date, whereas the destruction in c.1200-1180 BCE shows a lot of evidence left by Israelites, like the four-room houses.
Another misleading claim just to support the wrong chronological year 1400 BCE is that "Jabin" was not a personal name but a title like "pharaoh." They coerce the word "ibna" ("creates," "builds up") as the correct rendering for "Yabin" ("Jabin").
Contrary to this claim, king Rameses II mentioned the true rendering as "y-b-w-n," is what we can discern from the toponym "Kishon of Jabin."
Besides, the Bible distinguishes "Yabin" (Jabin) and "Ibna" when it mentions
"Ibniyah" and "Ibneyah" ("Yah builds up") in 1Chronicles 9:8.
Ibni-, ibne-, or ibna- was used for a theophoric name, hence all names in Hazor bearing this infix must always have the name of a god or personal name, as for example "Ibni-Addad king of Hazor" (ARM VI, 236) of 17th century BCE, which would become "Ibne-Haddad" or "Yabne-Hadad" if it has Hebrized.
Joshua himself also has made mentioned it in a form "Yabni-el" ("God causes to build") as a toponym near Ekron (Josh 15:11) which the Philistines obliterated with the deity's name "el," making it "Yabneh," which is closer to "Yabni-."
Evidence can show that Hazorites and Hebrews did not write the short form "Yabni-," rather it always with a god's or personal name, except in one occasion when Philistines used it as Yabneh.
As far as the Bible is concerned, there is only one Jabin, the king whose general Sisera was killed during Deborah's fight and whose city was put on fire by Joshua, and there are many names bearing the infix "Ibne-" or "Yabne-."
In fact as the centuries turn forward, in Ahab's days in Israel, the term "Yabni-" did not turn into "Yabin" ("Jabin"), but rather into "Bena-," as in "Bena-yau" ("Yahweh has Made").
So far, as archaeological records are concerned, the correct rendering of Jabin is not "ibna-" but "y-b-w-n," one that king Rameses II identified with the alliance (Kishon) in Kedumim and Haroseth during the time of Chushanrishathsim, according to the Topographical Lists of Rameses II and Ramesses III (ca. 1180 BCE). There was no "Ibna" that is positively identified together with the toponyms Kishon, Kedumin and Haroseth. The "y-b-w-n" whose dominion was Kishon and which was contemporary of Kedumin and Haroseth during the time of king Rameses II (1279-1213 BCE) is what Deborah (1208 BCE) and Joshua (1248-1138 BCE) made mention in their reports.
"And YHWH sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan - who reigned in Hazor - whose army captain was Sisera, who dwelt in
Harosheth
ha-Goiim. And the descendants of Israel cried unto YHWH: for he had 900 chariots of iron; and 20 years he severely oppressed the descendants of Israel.
And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. She sent and called Barak ben-Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Has not YHWH God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? And I will draw unto thee to the river
Kishon
Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand." -Judges 4:2-4,6-7
This war was triggered by the Midianites in Canaan who tried to extort Israelites and/or Kenites around Megiddo, which later compelled king Merneptah to stop the disturbances they made with Israel in 1208 BCE. Most likely, Midianites thought they had dominion over Kenites, since the family of Jethro was Midianite (Exo.18:1, Numbers 10:29, Judg. 1:16 & 4:11,17, 1Samuel 15:6).
"Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin - at the brook of
Kishon -
who perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth." -Psalms 83:9-10
These Midianites were known as "kings of Canaan," hence they were always identified as "of Canaan" in Egyptian records if referring to Syria-Palestine.
"The kings came and fought, then fought the
kings of Canaan
in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money. They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. The river of Kishon swept them away, that
Kedumim
river,
the river Kishon. O my soul, you have trodden down strength." -Judges 5:19-21
After the disturbances made by Israel in many places of Syria-Palestine, king Merneptah intervened and "plundered Canaan with all woe," as they tried to plunder Israel in the region.
In the official report of Merneptah there was a silence after this war, whereas in the report of Deborah there was a weakening and defeat on Jabin, as Israel dismantled Kishon or Alliance of Jabin. Kishon means "Alliance" and Deborah describes this alliance as "kings of Canaan," particularly in and around Galilee. After several decades, Joshua's troops penetrated Canaan and enabled to kill Jabin the king of Hazor and burned the city to the ground. The name of Jabin does not survive in the 1180's BCE topographical list of king Ramesses III, which gives us some sort of idea that Jabin or his Alliance was no longer in existence in 1180 BCE.
Archaeologists discovered that the intense fire has cracked the palace's basalt architectural elements, the gate shrine, leaving up to 1 meter (3-foot) deep layer ash.
"... Jabin king of Hazor had heard those things, that he sent [message of help] to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, And to the kings that were on the north of the mountains, and of the plains south of Chinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor on the west, And to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh.
And Joshua ... took Hazor, and smote the king thereof with the sword: for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms. And they smote all the heads that were therein ... and
he burnt Hazor with fire.
But as for the cities that stood still in their strength, Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only; that did Joshua burn.
Joshua made war a long time with all those kings." -Joshua 11:1-3,10-11,13,18
In biblical chronology, Deborah defeated Kishon (Alliance) of Jabin by killing Sisera, and Joshua destroyed Hazor by killing Jabin and burning the city to the ground. This is also what archaeological findings can reveal, that Kishon of Jabin was replaced by the Band of Deborah, and Hazor met its final destruction by intense massive fire in around 1230-1180 BCE, just after of which Iron Age IA Israelites had temporarily dwelt in Hazor (between 1180 and 1150 BCE).
Note that "Akshapa," the Achshaph of Joshua 11:1 was a vassal state of king Akhenaten, mentions in Amarna letter EA 367. The "king" (known in Egyptian as "mayor") of Achshaph was helping Qiltu (Keilah) and Akko's rulers to fight Apiru (Habiru), according to EA 366. But this changed, Akko would no longer Hazor's ally because it was this time under Weshesh (Asherites).
Akko was an ally of Tausert in 1190-1189 BCE, during the time that the female pharaoh was conspiring with Yar-su (Moses).
Another interesting report related to this topic is when Joshua 11:2 suggests that the ruler of Dor was an ally of king Jabin. This implies that Dor was not yet under Tjeker (Teucer). Teucer (Tjeker), according to Parian Chronicle, line 27, built Salamis in Cyprus around 1201 BCE - they were not yet known to land in Syria-Palestine to fight with Peleset and Weshesh (Asher).
After the defeat of Hazor, we can glimpse in Joshua 17:11 that some of the "inhabitants" of Dor were Asherites (Weshesh) and Issacharites (Shakares) who became in the territory allotted to Manasseh, although Manasseh could not manage to completely conquer Dor (Judg 1:27, Josh 17:12). It was around 1074 BCE when Wenamun reported that a Tjekker had a ruler in Dor, and people there were hostile to Egyptian. These Tjekker could be the builder of the larger, well-fortified city of a kingdom in Sharon plain known in archaeology as "Dor XII" (c. 1150-1050 BCE), coinciding with the time of Wenamun, an Egyptian priest. Its ruler b3-dỉ-r (Beder), was a deputy of the king of Tyre, the island of which was founded by Sidonians in 1208 BCE. Phoenicians, the descendants of Asherites, might have destroyed Dor in circa 1050 BCE for shell-fish.
Nevertheless, Dor was an ally of king Jabin of Hazor before Tjeker conquered it in circa 1150 BCE. This may give us idea that Hazor was massively destroyed a decade or so before 1150 BCE, and it corroborates the historical fact that during Rameses II (1279-1213) Kishon of Jabin was in existence, and it was gone when Ramesses III (1186-1155 BCE) was reigning. The disappearance of Jabin could be during the time of king Ramesses III, particularly just before 1180 BCE when the topographical list was written (replacing the name Kishon of Jabin with Band of Deborah).
Around that time also, ca.1180-1177 BCE, Ai was inhabited by Israelites after it was destroyed violently.
Why Israelites needed to sojourned in those later ruined places? Because every war they were engaged in was not in a single day, but in several months or even years, as corroborated by Joshua 11:18, saying that
"Joshua made war a long time with all those kings."
This may mean that there was an overlapping between wars engaged in by Joshua - as king Jabin could not wait for the advantage of Joshua's troops before to act, and as Joshua's troops were fighting here and there simultaneously as enemies had triggered them to do so.
Those who used wrong chronology of 1400 BCE are inventing a lie that Deborah destroyed Hazor - even the Bible does not say about such destruction and Deborah's concerned was the areas around Kishon.
They're forcefully twisting the Bible and archaeology to favor their feeling-based opinion that contradicts Moses, Joshua, Deborah and Torah: against the fact that Israelite exodus happened during the days of Rameses & Merneptah until the death of Moses in 1189 BCE, after the headquarters of Balaam son of Beor was destroyed in circa 1190 BCE.
Archaeologically speaking, the headquarters of Balaam was destroyed in circa 1190 or 1189 BCE, and it was several years after that when Joshua destroyed Hazor.
Another thing we can observe to those who used wrong chronology (1446-1400 BCE), their articles are full of alibis or excuses which they themselves could not memorize, rather than laying out plainly the history supported by archaeology.
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