After c. 700, occasional references are found in classical authors to notable events in Anatolia and Syria. Since the chronological framework of the history of the Syro-Hittite states is dependent on that of the Assyrian kings and the Neo-Babylonian dynasty, the periods into which it conveniently divides are dictated by the reigns and activities of those monarchs. This is considered in the following phases: the early period, which includes the fall of the Hittite Empire-accession of Ashurnasirpal II; Reigns of Ashurnasirpal II and Shalmaneser III; Successors of Shalmaneser III; Reigns of Tiglath-pileser III, Shalmaneser V and Sargon II; Reigns of Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Ashurbanipal; and the Neo-Babylonian Empire, which is the fall of Assyria to Cyrus' conquest of Lydia. The necessity of dovetailing the native and external sources renders it expedient to consider first the outline history and chronology within each chronological division, and then to attempt to synchronize the indigenous evidence with it.

Since the inscriptions of Ramesses III repeatedly speak of using captives as troops in his own army and since some of the Sea Peoples (especially the Sherden) had been used as mercenaries or as slave troops during the reign of Ramesses II, many scholars now agree that the Philistines were first settled in Palestine as garrison troops. Between the late thirteenth and the end of the twelfth century BC, the territory occupied by the Canaanites was vastly reduced due to occupation by Israelites, the sea peoples, and the Aramaeans. However, there were compensations for these losses. The coast of Phoenicia proper was ideally prepared by nature to become the home of a maritime people. The Hittites had established several vassal states in northern Syria during the initial period of their occupation in the fourteenth century BC. At least two of them, Carchemish and Aleppo, were ruled by princes of the imperial Hittite dynasty.