canaanites

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canaanites - Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary :

  Canaanites
  the descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham. Migrating from their
  original home, they seem to have reached the Persian Gulf, and
  to have there sojourned for some time. They thence "spread to
  the west, across the mountain chain of Lebanon to the very edge
  of the Mediterranean Sea, occupying all the land which later
  became Palestine, also to the north-west as far as the mountain
  chain of Taurus. This group was very numerous, and broken up
  into a great many peoples, as we can judge from the list of
  nations (Gen. 10), the 'sons of Canaan.'" Six different tribes
  are mentioned in Ex. 3:8, 17; 23:23; 33:2; 34:11. In Ex. 13:5
  the "Perizzites" are omitted. The "Girgashites" are mentioned in
  addition to the foregoing in Deut. 7:1; Josh. 3:10.
  
    The "Canaanites," as distinguished from the Amalekites, the
  Anakim, and the Rephaim, were "dwellers in the lowlands" (Num.
  13:29), the great plains and valleys, the richest and most
  important parts of Palestine. Tyre and Sidon, their famous
  cities, were the centres of great commercial activity; and hence
  the name "Canaanite" came to signify a "trader" or "merchant"
  (Job 41:6; Prov. 31:24, lit. "Canaanites;" comp. Zeph. 1:11;
  Ezek. 17:4). The name "Canaanite" is also sometimes used to
  designate the non-Israelite inhabitants of the land in general
  (Gen. 12:6; Num. 21:3; Judg. 1:10).
  
    The Israelites, when they were led to the Promised Land, were
  commanded utterly to destroy the descendants of Canaan then
  possessing it (Ex. 23:23; Num. 33:52, 53; Deut. 20:16, 17). This
  was to be done "by little and little," lest the beasts of the
  field should increase (Ex. 23:29; Deut. 7:22, 23). The history
  of these wars of conquest is given in the Book of Joshua. The
  extermination of these tribes, however, was never fully carried
  out. Jerusalem was not taken till the time of David (2 Sam. 5:6,
  7). In the days of Solomon bond-service was exacted from the
  fragments of the tribes still remaining in the land (1 Kings
  9:20, 21). Even after the return from captivity survivors of
  five of the Canaanitish tribes were still found in the land.
  
    In the Tell-el-Amarna tablets Canaan is found under the forms
  of Kinakhna and Kinakhkhi. Under the name of Kanana the
  Canaanites appear on Egyptian monuments, wearing a coat of mail
  and helmet, and distinguished by the use of spear and javelin
  and the battle-axe. They were called Phoenicians by the Greeks
  and Poeni by the Romans. By race the Canaanites were Semitic.
  They were famous as merchants and seamen, as well as for their
  artistic skill. The chief object of their worship was the
  sun-god, who was addressed by the general name of Baal, "lord."
  Each locality had its special Baal, and the various local Baals
  were summed up under the name of Baalim, "lords."