Critics will often go to great lengths to prove the Bible wrong about something that isn't in the Bible.I suppose that doesn't appear contradictory to anyone who believes that no evidence is dependable evidence.They attempt to prove that the Bible is wrong about large cities in Canaan or the Negev during the time of the patriarchs.It's a good example of reading something into the Bible that wasn't there.The Bible never states the size of any city during the time of Abraham,only mentioning that some were walled.Perhaps critics got the idea of large cities from Egyptian texts.The Egyptian believed that Canaan was populated enough to be worth placing under tribute.Around 2100 BCE,an inscription,was written by Meryibre Kheti that told of the situation in Canaan during His reign.
"I rose as ruler in my city, but I was anxious about the Delta from he-shenu to Sebak,its southern boundary being at the Canal of the Two Fishes.I pacified the west as far as the sand dunes of the Fayyum;it labours and yields meru-wood; men see wan-wood (once again) and yield it to us.But the east is rich in foreigners, and their taxes are [withheld]; the Middle Island is turned about, (and also) everyone in it. (yet) the temples say of me: O Great One, / men salute you".
Abraham's descendants would have been in Canaan less that 200 hundred years following the date of that inscription.Canaan probably didn't go from "rich in foreigners" to empty and desolate in less than 200 years.Kheti had reinstated His control over Libya and southern Egypt,but had not managed to regain tribute from Canaan.He believed that Canaan was populated enough to be worth the effort.An inscription from around the time of both Abraham and Isaac tells of Asiatics from Shechem revolting against Egypt.It was written by Khu-Sobek during the reign of Sen-usert III (1880-1840)
"His majesty proceeded northward to
overthrow the Asiatics. His majesty reached a foreign country of which
the name was Sekmem."
   There is little doubt that by the time Moses got to the Negev,there were kingdoms in Canaan,ruled from walled garrisons cities.
As for the cities of the Philistines,history tells us concerning Gezer:
"Gezer is one of the greatest tels in Israel. To stand on this magnificent tel is to stand on a part of history that existed as many as 3,000 years before our Messiah walked the earth. Its huge size represents how significant the city of Gezer was in ancient days.West of Gezer lies the coastal plain of Israel, a fertile stretch of land that lines the Mediterranean Sea. To the east are foothills?called the Shephelah?beyond which lie the Judean mountains and the Arabian Desert. Only fifteen miles away from Gezer, Jerusalem is nestled among the Judean hills.Inhabitants of the first settlement established at Tel Gezer, toward the end of the 4th century BCE, lived in large caves cut into the rock. At the beginning of the Early Bronze Age (beginning of the 3rd millennium BCE), there existed an unfortified settlement covering the entire area of the tel. Following its destruction in the middle of the 3rd millennium BCE, the tel was abandoned for several hundred years.Then, in the Middle Bronze Age (first half of the 2nd century BCE), Gezer became one of the foremost cities in the Land of Israel. The entire tel was surrounded by a massive wall constructed of large blocks of stone 4 m. wide, with strong towers erected at intervals along it. This fortification wall (known as the "inner wall") was protected on the outside by an earthen rampart some 5 m. high, consisting of compacted alternating layers of chalk and earth covered with plaster. The city gate was located near the southwestern corner of the wall and consisted of two towers and three pairs of pilasters on which wooden gates were mounted (as was common in that period).At the center of the northern part of the tel was an unusual cultic area. A row of ten monolithic stone steles - the tallest 3 m. high - stood at its center, oriented north-south. A large, square, stone basin that has been interpreted as serving for libations in cultic ceremonies, was found in front of one of the steles. This is a unique Canaanite temple of mazzeboth (standing stones), both in terms of the number of steles and their size. The researchers suggest that the stones represent the city of Gezer and nine other Canaanite cities; rituals related to a treaty between these cities were probably performed here. The Canaanite city at Gezer was destroyed in a violent conflagration, traces of which were found in all excavation areas of the tel. It is assumed that the destruction was the result of the campaign of the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III.In an inscription of Thutmose III, Gezer is mentioned as being conquered from the Canaanites in his campaign in 1468 BCE. In the archives of el-Amarna in Egypt, dating from the 14th century BCE, there are ten letters from the kings of Gezer, assuring loyalty to the Egyptian pharaoh whose vassals they were.Toward the end of the Bronze Age, the city declined and its population diminished. The victory stele of Merneptah (from the end of the 13th century BCE) for the first time specifically mentions "Israel" as a nation, which was defeated and goes on Canaan was plundered and Gezer was captured. Clear evidence of the Egyptian destruction of Gezer was found in the remains of the town.
As for Askelon and Ashdod
"This massive, fortified gateway was only a small part of the defenses of Canaanite Ashkelon. The gate was built into a large mudbrick wall that sat atop a huge earthen rampart, which formed a mile-long semicircle enclosing the entire city--except for the seaward side, which is protected by a natural bluff. Ashkelon seems to have reached its maximum size of 150 acres already in the early second millennium B.C., because the later fortifications, including those of the Hellenistic, Roman, and Islamic periods, follow the line of the Middle Bronze Age rampart. The glacis, or outer face, of the rampart initially consisted of mud bricks, but in a later phase it was constructed of fieldstones sealed with a smooth layer of clay. By 1550 B.C., the continuously rebuilt rampart had reached a height of 50 feet and was 70 feet thick at its base, with a steep, 40-degree slope on its outer face. It was therefore a formidable defense against attackers, who could storm the walls or tunnel through the rampart only with great difficulty.Ashkelon had welcomed Cyprus’ traders since 2000 BCE. Each city of Philistia had its own polyglot traditions and political independence within a web of ties that strengthened all: the old pattern, loose confederacy, meaning hegemonies cultural rather than military. After 3000 years of book-based certainty that Philistine command of iron made all the difference, the digs today prove iron so rare that it could not have dictated much reality until the last half of The Iron Age. The long-buried roots of the Philistines’ actual power we’re beginning to know in detail.
The beginning of the human settlement in the area of Ashdod is in the Paleolithic Age. During all three Stone Ages there was much human activity, and it is even mentioned in Ugaritic documents.Presently a modern industrial city and important seaport, Ashdod is also significant because of its rich past history. In fact, archaeological excavations have revealed 22 strata which testify to continuous settlement of Ashdod dating back to the 17th century b.c.e.Among these finds are Canaanite and Israelite fortifications, a musicians' stand and a Hellenistic plant for extracting purple dye from murex, a purple shell. In the late Canaanite period, Ashdod served as an important harbor city as is shown by archaeological finds and references to its maritime trade in the archives of Ugarit.
    It is now common knowledge among archaeologists that the city of Askelon had been trading with Cyprus since at least 2,000 bce.That alone would have made it a significant city with a population that equaled any trade center.The average sized city was around 12 acres,making Askelon a very large city at the time of Abraham.
Archaeologists have also found evidence of some of the tribal people in the Bible.The Horites were cave-dwellers mentioned in the Bible inhabiting areas around Petra.They have been identified with Egyptian references to Khar and Horshesu,which concern a southern region of Canaan.They were sometimes referred to as Hurru The location given in Egyptian texts is similar to the Biblical location of the Horites.They were known to the Mesopotamians as Hurri.They were referred to as Trogladytes by Josephus.The villages constructed by these people were entirely subterranean and composed of extensive caves dug straight down into the alluvial soil on the banks of the Wadi.This way the Horites could remain cave dwellers in a caveless part of the country.Amenhotep II boasted of having made 89,600 prisoners in his campaign in Palestine (around 1420 BC),including "127 princes and 179 nobles(?) of Retenu, 3600 Apiru, 15,200 Bedouin, 36,600 Horites,".One of the Ebla tablets also mention the town of Salem,and records also show that Amenhotep campaigned against two unnamed Asiatic cities.There is an Egyptian tale that tells of an Egyptian going to Syria during a time of trouble.Sinhue left Egypt and went north to Syria.There He lived under the protection of a Syrian ruler and was made commander of his troops:
"When the Setiu waxed insolent to oppose the chieftains of the deserts,I counselled their movements; for this prince of Retenu caused me to pass many years as commander of his host.Every country against which I marched, when I made my assault it was driven from its pastures and wells.I spoiled its cattle, I made captive its inhabitants, I took away their food,I slew people in it;by my strong arm, by my bow, by my movements and by my excellent counsels.I found favour in his heart and he loved me, he marked my bravery and placed me even before his children,when he had seen that my hands prevailed.