Quote:could NOT drive out the Canaanites BECAUSE they had iron chariots.
Oddly, though, at this precise point in time ( i.e. between 1550 and 1150 BC) Canaan was under the total domination of Egypt. Not only did they not have "iron chariots" the various Canaanite leaders were forced to write pleading notes to the Pharaoh (in this case Akhenaten) for small units of Egyptian troops to suppress bandits in their own territories. We have examples of such letters in the Tel-el-Amarna library.
Oh, and BTW, those tablets which were found do not mention any Hebrews in spite of the fact that they give us quite a good overview of political conditions in Canaan in the middle of the Egyptian Imperial period.