In the early Late Bronze Age, Canaan was characterized by confederacies centered around cities like Megiddo and Kadesh. The region was intermittently under the influence of the Egyptian and Hittite empires. Egyptian control, though sporadic, was significant enough to suppress local rebellions and inter-city conflicts, but not strong enough to establish complete domination. Northern Canaan and parts of northern Syria fell under Assyrian rule during this period.

Thutmose III (1479–1426 BCE) and Amenhotep II (1427–1400 BCE) maintained Egyptian authority in Canaan, ensuring loyalty through military presence. However, they faced challenges from the Habiru (or 'Apiru), a social class rather than an ethnic group, comprising various elements including Hurrians, Semites, Kassites, and Luwians. This group contributed to political instability during the reign of Amenhotep III. The Hittites' advance into Syria during Amenhotep III's reign and further under his successor marked a significant reduction in Egyptian power, coinciding with increased Semitic migration.

Egypt's influence in the Levant was strong during the Eighteenth Dynasty but began to waver in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties. Ramses II maintained control through the Battle of Kadesh in 1275 BCE against the Hittites, but the Hittites eventually took over northern Levant. Ramses II's focus on domestic projects and neglect of Asiatic affairs led to a gradual decline in Egyptian control. Following the Battle of Kadesh, he had to campaign vigorously in Canaan to maintain Egyptian influence, establishing a permanent fortress garrison in the region of Moab and Ammon. Egypt's withdrawal from the southern Levant, which began in the late 13th century BCE and lasted for about a century, was more due to internal political turmoil in Egypt rather than the invasion of the Sea Peoples, as there is limited evidence of their destructive impact around 1200 BCE. Despite theories suggesting a breakdown in trade post-1200 BCE, evidence indicates continued trade relations in the southern Levant after the end of the Late Bronze Age.^[18]