A person from ancient Canaan, the region that roughly corresponds to modern-day Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon.
From Late Latin 'Canaanita,' derived from Canaan, the ancient Semitic name for the region. The term entered English through biblical and historical texts, referring to the indigenous inhabitants before Israelite settlement.
The Canaanites essentially invented the alphabet we use today—their writing system became the foundation for Hebrew, Phoenician, Greek, and ultimately Latin, meaning you can trace your ABCs back to these ancient traders!
Historical biblical and archaeological discourse on Canaanites predominantly centered male perspectives (priests, kings, warriors). Female Canaanite religious roles, economic contributions, and social agency were systematically underrepresented in translation and interpretation.
Use 'Canaanites' as gender-neutral plural; acknowledge that women constituted religious, economic, and family-structure participants in Canaanite society, not passive background figures.
Recent scholarship (Meyers, Ackerman) has recovered women's roles in Canaanite household production, religious practice, and community organization—correcting male-centered archaeology and biblical studies.
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