c. 1200–1050 BCE

Settlement & Judges

Israel appears as village culture in the Canaanite highlands during the collapse of the Late Bronze Age world.

Egyptian decline

Philistine coastal cities

What we can and cannot say

1
Highland villages
Hundreds of small unwalled sites appear in the central hill country.
Attested by external evidence
2
Conquest question
Joshua's rapid conquest, gradual settlement and internal revolt are all argued.
Genuinely debated
3
Philistines
Aegean-style pottery marks Philistine settlement on the coast.
Attested by external evidence

See the whole span on the timeline.