INTRODUCTION The presence of Middle Kingdom (MK) Egyptian pottery at Middle Bronze IIa (MB IIa) Tel Ifshar (MARCUS, PORATH, SCHIESTL, SEILER and PALEY 2008) represents an important development in the study of the southern Levant and its foreign relations. The importance of these finds is that they contribute to the increasing evidence for trade during this period, variously, between Egypt, the Levant, Cyprus and the Aegean (MAR- CUS 1991; 1998; 2002; 2007; ARTZY and MARCUS 1992; KISLEV, ARTZY and MARCUS 1993; ARTZY 1995; BIETAK 1996; STAGER 2001; 2002; DOUMET- SERHAL 2006), which suggests that long-distance exchange may have had an important role in the history of the southern Levantine coastal plain. In order to better understand the archaeological context of this evidence for Egyptian – Levantine contacts, the following overview will present the initial stratigraphic phases at Tel Ifshar in which the MK pottery was found and present some of the contemporary Levantine pottery of both local and foreign origin or inspiration. Together, this evidence offers possible synchronisms between the cultures of the Levantine littoral, sheds light on their trade relations and con- tributes to a better understanding of the early Middle Bronze Age. THE GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING OF TEL IFSHAR, ITS EXCAVATION AND PREVIOUS RESEARCH Although a summary description of the site’s locale and excavation have been presented else- where (PALEY and PORATH 1993; 1997), a brief introduction is necessary to emphasize a number of important characteristics of this ancient settle- ment. Tel Ifshar is a 40 dunam (4 hectare) site located in the Sharon Coastal Plain approximate- ly 4 km upriver from the sea, where it was estab- lished upon a summit of the easternmost sand- stone (kurkar) ridge on the northern side of the Alexander River watergap (PALEY and PORATH 1993, 609). This 600 m watergap is complement- ed by a smaller 300 m gap in the intermediate ridge and a larger 1600 m breach in the coastal ridge, all attesting to the impact of this river dur- ing the Pleistocene, when its flow prevented the accumulation of sand from which the ridges were formed (PORATH 1985a, 19–20). In antiquity, the coastal breach may have been a broad bay, suit- able for sheltering ships and providing access to the river, which may have been navigable as far as Tel Ifshar (PALEY and PORATH 1993, 609). If not for a sandbar and modern exploitation of its water sources, this perennial river might still be navigable either for small boats or barges, the lat- ter ideally suited to be towed along the low river bank. From the Late Bronze Age onwards, Tel Mikhmoret, on the northern end of the coastal breach, served as the port for this stretch of coast- line (PORATH 1985b, 126–127; PORATH, PALEY and STIEGLITZ 1993). RABAN (1985, 17) suggested that Tel Mikhmoret belonged to a general pattern of MB IIa rivermouth ports, but excavations at Tel Mikhmoret did not reveal any MBA remains (PORATH et al. 1993). 4 In addition to potential riverine-maritime communication, Tel Ifshar also controlled an important fording point, where the main longi- tudinal route along the eastern kurkar ridge meets the Alexander River. Lateral roads offer this vantage point access along the river bank to both the sea and to the Central Highlands. Water was available from the river and a number of nearby springs (PALEY and PORATH 1993, 609). Wood would have been available from the park THE EARLY MIDDLE BRONZE AGE IIa PHASES AT TEL IFSHAR AND THEIR EXTERNAL RELATIONS By Ezra S. Marcus, 1 Yosef Porath, 1, 2 and Samuel M. Paley 3 1 Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa, Israel. 2 Israel Antiquities Authority. 3 Department of Classics, The University at Buffalo, State University of New York. 4 In light of post-Bronze Age sand dune formation, which tends to obscure ancient remains, e.g., Nami East (ARTZY 1995, 17–20), it would be worthwhile to resume the search for MB IIa remains, either in some unex- plored area at Mikhmoret, perhaps on its eastern side, or further inland along the perimeter of the presumed palaeo-embayment now covered by sand dunes. Ägypten und Levante/Egypt and the Levant 18, 2008, 221–244 © 2008 by Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien