The Oxford Handbook of the Phoenician and Punic Mediterranean

by Carolina Lopez-Ruiz

  During the twelfth century bce, the Late Bronze Age empires withdrew from the Levant. The Hittite empire was the first to lose control in the northern Levant, while the Egyptian 20th Dynasty maintained its rule over the southern Levant until around 1130 bce. In the northern Levant, the kingdom of Karkemish succeeded the Hittite rule in northern Syria, while the kingdom of Tarhuntassa reigned at least parts of Cilicia.

  The accounts of Assyrian raids under Tiglath-pileser I (1114–1076 bce) mention as political entities in northern Syria Karkemish (Hatti) the land of Amurru with the city of Ṣamuru, and the cities of Arwad, Byblos, and Sidon (Grayson 1991). In Cilicia, Early Iron Age levels with relevant evidence for our discussion were reached at Tarsus and Kinet Höyük. The archaeological evidence suggests that the southern Levant was divided in small city-states and tribal territories. Along the northern coast of Modern Israel, Dor and presumably Akko were the main political and economic centers. The small cities were in exchange with city-states in the Jezreel valley, among them Megiddo. The excavations at Tyre and Beirut revealed Early Iron Age settlements, at Beirut apparently with fortifications that are not precisely dated yet (Badre 1997: 64–66; see also chapter 10, this volume). In this time, “Phoenicia” appears to include the region between Arwad and Dor.

  Evidence for Phoenician trade during the late twelfth and the early eleventh centuries bce is essentially limited to pottery. However, even the volume of exchanged pottery is limited (Gilboa 2005: 53–57). Significant (though limited) quantities of transport jars and flasks reached mainly Cyprus (Gilboa 1998), and a few examples were noted at Tarsus and Kinet Höyük in Cilicia. In Cyprus, vessels with continental Levantine design were also produced on the island. Transport jars from Egypt were shipped to Dor, apparently on a regular basis of exchange, but it is hard to find evidence from Phoenicia in Egypt. “Wavy-Band Pithoi,” originally from Cyprus, were exported to Phoenicia, where they were also copied and locally produced.

  Notably, Philistine bichrome pottery does not appear in Cyprus or the northern Levant and only a few imported vessels were found in Phoenicia (Gilboa, Waiman-Barak, and Sharon 2015: 97). Bell-shaped bowls with similar decoration were produced in southern Phoenicia and dubbed “Northern Skyphoi” (Gilboa 2005: 53–57). Early eleventh-century wavy line styles or “Granary Style” pottery from the Aegean, Late Cypriot IIIB Cyprus, or the northern Levant almost never occurs in Phoenicia or the southern Levant (for a vessel somewhat reflecting wavy line style, see Bikai 1978: pl. 41.4; for exceptions, see a skyphos fragment from Gath, Maeir et al. 2009).

  Phoenician interaction with the Levant was apparently limited and the volume of trade restricted. The political landscape of Phoenicia was characterized by small city-states and hegemony among them is not yet visible during the early eleventh century bce. There is no evidence for any political intervention by Phoenicians outside their homeland.

  The Late Eleventh and Tenth Centuries bce

  Phoenician interaction with the rest of the Levant intensified during the second half of the eleventh century bce. In the southern Levant, this phase is called Late Iron Age I. The socioeconomic conditions continued without any significant break from the preceding phase. The political landscape resembled very much that of the Early Iron Age with small polities and city-states. The economy and trade, however, developed more volume.

  This is again most evident in the ceramics. While Egyptian transport jars still reached Dor, there are now increasingly Cypriot imports in Phoenicia. These begin with limited quantities of early Cypro-Geometric I vessels so far mostly from Tyre and Dor, but there are also finds in the western Negev, in tombs at Tell el-Far’ah South. The Negev finds emphasize the increasing importance of the caravan routes to Arabia and Phoenicia’s participation in this emerging trade. The caravans made use of the dromedary, first domesticated at this time, transporting spices and copper from the Arabah (Sapir-Hen and Ben-Yosef 2013; Ben-Yosef et al. 2012). Evidence for the spice trade are small Phoenician flasks that contained cinnamon imported from Southeast Asia (Namdar et al. 2013). Such containers were common in Phoenicia, the southern Levant, and Cyprus, but were also found in Cilicia at Kinet Höyük, a site that provided Cyprus and the Levant with ores for the increasing spread of iron-working.

  The Phoenician pottery is represented by monochrome and bichrome painted vessels that served as containers for trade goods such as the cinnamon sauces mentioned (Gilboa 1999). This group of small containers proved to be a very popular production and vessels were found at Cilicia, Cyprus, all along the Levantine coast, and even in Egypt. The pottery is considered a hallmark of early Phoenician pottery and was produced in southern Lebanon and at Dor (Gilboa and Goren 2015). On that account, Dor was an integral part of the Phoenician homeland.

  The transition from Iron Age I to the Early Iron Age IIA in the southern Levant is marked by several destructions of cities in the northern part of the country. Among these are Megiddo and Tel Kinneret, but also Tell Keisan and possibly more sites in the Akko plain between Dor and Tyre. Intensive surveys in the plain also reveal a profound reorganization of the settlement pattern immediately south of Tyre (Lehmann 2001). The destructions and changes in the settlement pattern may have been caused by an expansion of Tyre into the Akko Plain immediately south of its traditional territory. This is apparently memorized in the biblical narrative regarding the “Land of Kabul” in which the legendary King Hiram of Tyre acquired land in the Akko Plain and the foothills of Galilee (Lehmann 2008b; Lipiński 2006: 174). According to Lipiński, Menander of Ephesos mentions a campaign by Hiram against the Iykeois, which Lipiński considers to be derived from the city name Akko (Lipiński 2004: 42n23). If this historical reconstruction proves true, Tyre’s expansion into the Akko Plain during the tenth century bce would have been the first wave of Phoenician colonization (for Tyre’s expansion, see also chapter 6, this volume). When the Assyrians reached the Akko Plain during the eighth century bce, they found the plain under the control of Tyre. In turn, the colonization of the Akko Plain provided further agricultural resources, which in combination with external economic connections and manufacture constituted the essential foundations of the Phoenician economy. The new agricultural areas supplied Tyre not only with grain but also with additional agricultural products such as wine and oil that was traded with markets such as Egypt (Lehmann 2001).

  During the 22nd Egyptian Dynasty, pharaohs Sheshonq I (943–923 bce; the biblical Shishak) and Osorkon I (922–ca. 888 bce) extended their rule over parts of the Levant. Their political impact on the southern Levant was apparently significant (Ben-Dor Evian 2011), although their role in Phoenicia is less well studied (Lipiński 2006: 100). Epigraphic evidence at Byblos from both pharaohs suggests that Phoenicia and Byblos in particular figured importantly in their politics. Egyptian domination may have ended already under or just after Osorkon I. His successor, Takelot I, appears to have been an ephemeral pharaoh, who left little evidence of his reign behind (for a discussion concerning Takeloth’s I rule, see Ben-Dor Evian 2011: 98; Kitchen 1973: 96).

  The interlude of the 22nd Egyptian Dynasty occurred during a period between two assumedly powerful yet legendary Tyrian kings, Hiram and Ethbaal, at the end of the tenth and the beginning of the ninth centuries bce. Although this reconstruction is based mainly on the alleged (but lost) history of Menander (Joseph. Ap. I.17–18 and AJ VIII. 5:3, 13:2), the 22nd Egyptian Dynasty apparently curbed Tyrian political aspirations for a while.

  The First Half of the Ninth Century bce

  When Egyptian influence in the southern Levant declined, the political landscape of the region was changed profoundly. Most of the small city-states south of Tyre had vanished and were replaced by territorial states, among them the kingdom of Israel and the Aramaeans of Damascus. According to the biblical traditions, the relations between Tyre and Israel were friendly and prince Ahab married the Tyrian princess Jezebel (Briquel-Chatonnet 1992: 67–70; see also chapter 43, this volume).

  With the emergence of these n
ew polities in the early ninth century bce, the kingdom of Israel took possession of the city-state of Dor (Gilboa, Sharon, and Bloch-Smith 2015). With this, Dor lost its importance as an international harbor and Phoenicia shrank, contracting to the coastal stretch between Arwad and Tyre. “Classical” Phoenicia then emerged. Under Ethbaal, Tyre rose to be the most powerful city of southern Phoenicia, resuming its rule over the Akko Plain and commencing intensive economic exchange with the kingdom of Israel under the Omrid Dynasty.

  According to Lipiński (2006: 174), Ethbaal ruled between ca. 879 and 848 bce, and his alleged long reign of thirty-two years suggests a relatively stable period during his time. The end of his reign is suspiciously close to Hazael’s expansion into the southern Levant in 842. Tyre and Sidon may have been united under Ethbaal, giving his state considerable influence in the maritime and continental trade of the Levant.

  At Gaza and in the northwestern Negev, the Mediterranean terminus of the Arabian trade, Phoenician transport jars were found, albeit in modest numbers. Another new phenomenon are cremation burials that were excavated at Tell Ruqeish and Tell el-Far’ah (South). Menander of Ephesos relates that “Ethbaal built the city Botrys” in northern Lebanon (Joseph. AJ VIII.13:2). In the northern Levant, evidence for Phoenician material is rare during the first half of the ninth century bce (Lehmann 2008a: 221–24), and Phoenician interaction with the region remains elusive.

  In contrast, there is clear evidence for an increase of Phoenician (especially Tyrian) influence in the Mediterranean during the first half of the ninth century bce. It is notable at Crete, for example at Kommos (Gilboa, Waiman-Barak, and Jones 2015), at Tekke near Knossos (Niemeyer 1984: 20; Sass 2005: 34–36), and also at Lefkandi in Euboia. Notably, North Syrian metalwork appears at Lefkandi, which may have been shipped there by Phoenicians or Aramaeans. On Cyprus, the Phoenician script circulated, if sparsely, since the early ninth century (Iacovou 2008: 644). The Tyrian colony at Kition was probably established during the ninth century, facilitating Phoenician traffic in the Mediterranean with its increasing volume (on Cyprus, see chapter 31, this volume, with other chapters covering various regions of the Mediterranean).

  In general, the period associated with Ethbaal of Tyre saw the early development of a more entrepreneurial economy, replacing the administered type of economy typical for the Bronze Age in the Levant (Sherratt and Sherratt 1993).

  The End of the Ninth and Eighth Centuries bce Until the Assyrian Conquest

  Since the early ninth century bce, Assyrian imperial expansion threatened the Levant. The Assyrian reliefs of the Balawat gates give an impressive view of the formidable fortifications of Tyre in the time of Shalmaneser III. The local states formed a coalition led by Hadad-Ezer of Damascus in response to the Assyrian threat. The coalition included Arwad and Byblos and defeated Shalmaneser III in the battle of Qarqar in 853 bce. After Hadad-Ezer’s death, probably in 842, the usurper Hazael of Damascus conquered the territory formerly united in the coalition. For about forty years, until about 800 bce, the southern and the northern Levant were dominated by Aram Damascus under Hazael. After the decline of the hegemony of Damascus, the small territorial states of northern Syria and the coastal city-states reestablished their independence. As Assyrian campaigns to the Levant also ceased until 745, the local polities in the Levant enjoyed more than half a century of independent development.

  With these political events, a new phase of Phoenician expansion began, with increasing Phoenician influence over the Levant. At the end of the ninth century bce, in the northern Levant, the small harbor at Al Mina, at the mouth of the Orontes, became an important trading station. Phoenician, Cypriot, and Greek ceramics give evidence for increasing international maritime trade with northern Syria. Al Mina remains a unique site with quantities of Greek imports unrivaled by any other excavation in the Levant, except for Tyre. The imports served first the local polity of Unqi/Pattina, but Mediterranean imports entered through Al Mina and Unqi farther to the east and eventually reached northeastern Syria and Assyria, albeit in small quantities.

  Although often the only evidence, Phoenician pottery is not the best indicator for Phoenician trade. Fine wares are rather rare and transport jars are more useful to trace Phoenician activities (Lehmann 1996). At Brayj in northern Syria, an Aramaean inscription with a relief mentions the Tyrian god Melqart; this was taken as evidence for a possible sanctuary somewhere in that area. The stela was erected by King Bar-Hadad, most probably a king of Arpad and son of ‘Attarsumki I, probably around 800 bce, a date well in accordance with the historical background of Bar-Hadad of Arpad. Although the inscription itself is Aramaic, the iconography of the relief and the style of the text are of Phoenician character (Pitard 1988). A sanctuary of the Tyrian god Melqart in this region could be related to the presence of Phoenicians here, perhaps traders conducting business with destinations further east in the direction of the Euphrates and Mesopotamia.

  The fact that Shalmaneser III collected tribute from the “kings of the seashore” at Til-Barsip points to a formal Phoenician representation on the Euphrates (Kestemont 1985: 137–39). This is further supported by a text of Ashurnasirpal II, listing Tyre and Sidon between Sukhu, Khindanu, and Patinu, on the one side, and Gurgumu, Malidu, and so on, on the other. Even if postulating a Phoenician emporium here is probably not supported by the text, it shows at least that Phoenicians maintained a formal representation on the Euphrates for contacts—and trade—with the Assyrians.

  In Cilicia, Phoenician script and language were used by local rulers for monumental inscriptions. The first such inscriptions were found at Zincirli dating to about 825 bce. Most inscriptions, however, were written in the eighth century (Lehmann 2008a: 219–20). The use of Phoenician writing and language in Cilician chancelleries points to the presence of Phoenicians in the region.

  Texts from the Achaemenid (i.e., Persian) period mention a Phoenician emporion, the elusive Myriandros, during the fourth century bce in Cilicia. This site may have been located at Gülcihan, in eastern Cilicia between Arsuz and Iskenderun, where a survey, conducted by Ann Killebrew and the present author, found pottery from the eighth century bce through the Roman-Byzantine period (Lehmann 2008a: 225–26, with a different identification of the location). Still, the function and history of this Phoenician station remains uncertain. The site may have been instrumental in shipping iron ores and timber from the Amanus (Watson-Treumann 2000–2001).

  In the southern Levant, Phoenician transport jars appear frequently in pre-Assyrian period contexts in eighth-century bce levels at Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Tell Ruqeish. Phoenician amphorae were found also in the northern Negev and are clearly related to the Arabian trade (Singer-Avitz 1999, 2010). Intensive trading along the southern Levantine and the Egyptian coast is further confirmed by shipwrecks near Ashkelon carrying hundreds of Phoenician transport-jars (Ballard et al. 2002).

  Among the celebrated products of Phoenician manufacture are ivory carvings (Barnett 1982: 46–55). They were popular among the elites of the eighth century bce and consumed in capitals such as Karkemish, Byblos, and Samaria, where they also stimulated a local carving production. They also appear in Assyrian sites such as Arslan Tash (ancient Hadatu), where they suggest increasing contacts between Phoenician traders and the Assyrian administration in the Euphrates region. Phoenician ivory reached Nimrud and Khorsabad in large quantities as booty from the Levant, taken from conquered sites such as Hama. With the Assyrian conquest and the end of independent kingdoms in the Levant, Phoenician ivory carving lost an important market and eventually ceased its production. In turn, Phoenician influence on the art in Cilicia as visible in the reliefs of Karatepe was interpreted as cultural impact on Syria and Anatolia, and not as evidence for Phoenician artisans or workshops located there (Akurgal 1981: 131–41; Winter 1979: 120–24). Finally, some of the artifacts that Phoenicians routinely marketed in the western Mediterranean occur in the Levant less frequently—for instance, cheap glass beads and faience amulets. This reflects
the divide of manufacture between the developed technologies of the Levant and the less developed manufacture of the western Mediterranean in the eighth century bce, where such cheap production was considered of value. (See chapters 23 and 24, this volume.)

  Despite the artifacts discussed here, evidence of Phoenician manufacture remains somewhat limited in the Levant and not as dominant as in the western Mediterranean. Phoenician pottery never appeared in large numbers in the northern Levant, whereas it is found more frequently in the southern Levant. In the western Mediterranean, by contrast, a specific tradition of Punic pottery emerged as early as 700 bce. Moreover, Phoenicians were not the only maritime traders in the Levant; Aramaeans and Cilicians also seem to have been busy in the Mediterranean. Their role is often overlooked, but has been emphasized by few scholars (Boardman 2001).

  Finally, the political influence of Phoenicians on other states in the Levant during the eighth century bce was minimal. Their activities concentrated on trading. The volume and the importance of their commercial involvement in the Levant reached a peak first in the eighth century. This intensive involvement is evident mostly in the ubiquitous Phoenician transport-jars and commercial containers, yet also well documented by the use of Phoenician writing and language in Cilicia and the luxury productions at the local courts of the Levantine elites.

  Phoenicians and the Levant Under the Early Empires, Seventh and Sixth Centuries bce

  The Assyrian conquest of the Levant annihilated the courts of the independent small states in the region and destroyed traditional markets and power structures. Yet, at the same time, the Assyrians opened former continental borders and Phoenician goods reached farther inland than ever before.

  The presence of Phoenician ivories, metal bowls and precious stones in the Assyrian capitals has been sufficiently discussed (e.g., Herrmann and Laidlaw 2013). However, it less well known that commercial transport-jars reached the Assyrian homeland as is evident in a complete jar found at Nimrud kept today in the Ashmolean Museum (registered as 1954.32).