Tel Dor 
End of Late Bronze Age
The transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in the thirteenth and twelfth centuries BCE, is heralded by a crisis of unprecedented magnitude, which hit the ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean, and within decades brought an end to a world order which existed for a millennium. The cause, or causes, of this catastrophe is one of the hotly debated issues in Near Eastern and Mediterranean archaeology. In Israel, this crisis is manifested by the cessation of three centuries of Egyptian domination, the fall of the Canaanite city-states, the infiltration of pastoral or agrarian tribal societies (Israelites and others) into the highlands, and the onslaught of 'Sea Peoples' on the coasts. After two centuries of turmoil there appear three types of polities: territorial states such as Israel, Judah, Amon, Edom and Moab; the Philistine pentapolis; and the Phoenician cities. Excavations at Dor can furnish invaluable evidence as to the origins and fates of at least two of these groups - the Phoenicians and the SKL 'Sea Peoples'.