Habiru were Syrian and Phoenician rebels, outlaws, raiders, and mercenaries who operated in Egypt, Canaan, and Syria from the 18th to 12th centuries BC. Ever since Egypt began to spread its power into the Levant, they formed themselves into armed groups and retreated to the mountains and deserts. They dedicated their lives to the complete liberation of their homeland from foreign invaders, and they tormented Egyptian pharaohs by constantly raising unrest in the occupied provinces and forcing the Pharaohs to repeatedly send punitive expeditions to Syria and Canaan.
It has been theorized that the Hebrews of the Bible may have derived their name from the semi-nomadic Habiru people, but that the term Habiru referred not only to the Hebrews/Israelites, but also to any other Canaanite brigands. In 1921 BC, Egypt had its first interaction with the nomadic Hebrews when Abraham, Sarah, and Lot traveled to Egypt during a famine; in 1728, Abraham's descendant Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers. Joseph rose from being the slave of Pharaoh Sobekhotep VI's captain of the guard Potiphar to becoming the Pharaoh's diviner and vizier in 1715 BC, and, in 1706 BC, Joseph invited his family to join him in Egypt. Pharaoh Wahibre Ibiau gave these nomadic Habiru the best land in Egypt, the land of Goshen in Lower Egypt, and it was there that the descendants of Jacob were "fruitful and multiplied" until their numbers became a threat to the native Egyptians, causing their enslavement in 1577 BC. In 1491 BC, the Egyptianized Habiru nobleman Moses led the Israelites (600,000 men and up to 2.4 million in total, according to the Bible, or 5,550 according to Flinders Petrie) in an Exodus from Egypt to Canaan, escaping Pharaoh Thutmose II's army through the "sea of reeds" in the Sinai Peninsula and, after forty years of wandering in the Wilderness of Paran, reaching the land of Canaan in 1451 BC and gradually conquering the region from the Canaanites. The Habiru tribes lacked a unified structure and were ruled by judges, and these Habiru tribesmen were periodically oppressed by neighboring peoples. The Danite Samson became a famous Habiru warrior and brigand in 1136 BC, leading a war of resistance against the Philistines from 1136 to 1117 BC before being slain in battle. The Israelite king David also operated as a Habiru from 1060 to 1048 BC, leading a band of adventurers based at Ziklag and fighting the Geshurites, Gezrites, and Amalekites while serving the Philistines. David and his Habiru "mighty men" seized control of the United Kingdom of Israel after the death of King Saul at the 1055 BC Battle of Mount Gilboa and a civil war with Saul's son Ish-baal from 1053 to 1048 BC.