The Nile Delta of Egypt was invaded and ruled from 1650 to 1550 B.C. by a people called the Hyksos. Their origin is uncertain, but archaeologists hypothesize that they were Canaanites. In support of this hypothesis, the archaeologists point out that excavations of Avaris, the Hyksos capital in Egypt, have uncovered large numbers of artifacts virtually identical to artifacts produced in Ashkelon, a major city of Canaan at the time of the Hyksos invasion.
In order to evaluate the force of the archaeologists' evidence, it would be most useful to determine which of the following?