At the end of the Early Bronze Age, which was considered as the first urban period in the land of Canaan, most of the large settlements were abandoned by the population to become pastoral nomads who based their economy on goat and sheep herding. However, the settlement of Lod did not diminish but shrunk down to the size of about 2.5 hectare with a population of 600. During the following period, the Middle Bronze Age, the settlement grew and reached a size of 4 hectares and 1,000 inhabitants.

 

The Late Bronze Age (1,550 – 1,150 BCE) was a turbulent period in the Ancient Near East. The land of Canaan was located between two large empires of the period – the Hittites (now contemporary Turkey), and the Egyptians, who ruled Canaan after a war campaign led by the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III. Thutmose passed through Lod on his way to battle against the northern city-states alliance of Megiddo and Kedesh. The appearance of Lod in Egyptian records show that even then it was an important location on the famous coastal plain road connecting Egypt, Syria and Turkey.

Research conducted by the Israeli Institute of Archaeology shows that the settlement of Lod changed its position during the Late Bronze Age. This shift in location may have been caused by destruction that befell the city during the dramatic events of the period.

 

During the Iron Age, also known as the First Temple period (1,200-586 BCE), Lod was still a relatively small settlement.