The Oxford Handbook of the Phoenician and Punic Mediterranean

by Carolina Lopez-Ruiz

  Conclusion

  The Mediterranean world of Phoenician colonization has often been characterized by a wave in which colonizers move with breathtaking speed through a diverse and large expanse of sea, intent on reaching a Spanish El Dorado. That historical narrative is slowly being replaced by one that pays attention to a Mediterranean made up of challenging micro-regions, reworked and reconfigured by humans often brought together by seaborne connectivity—or “maritime small worlds,” as they have been called more recently (Tartaron 2013: 190). Rather than joining the dots represented by colonies or coastal settlements to depict deceptively simple long-distance sea routes in a center-periphery model of Phoenician colonization, this chapter has opted to consider one group of islands in its regional context. The small world that has been painted in broad strokes is one in which settlers learn about routes, regimes of climate, peoples, and resources through a complicated process played out over time and space—both maritime and terrestrial.

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  Chapter 37

  Ibiza

  Benjamí Costa

  Ibiza (Eivissa) is a western Mediterranean island, the name of which in the Phoenician language was ’YBŠM (vocalized ’Yboshim or the like). The island forms part of the Balearic archipelago. Together with the island of Formentera, it constitutes the subgroup known as the Pityusae (Gr. Pityoussai, “rich in pines”). The island is located off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, from which it is separated by a minimum of 90.37 km from La Nao Cape. The island has a total area of 541.22 km2, although the land available for agriculture is limited and the small quantity suitable for such activity is of medium to low fertility. Neither does it have any raw materials or minerals, with the exception of the lead and silver-bearing galena at s’Argentera mines. The island’s only notable resources are its salt flats and its marine resources. However, its location in the western Mediterranean gives it a strategic position on maritime routes, which undoubtedly was one of the main reasons that led to the establishment of permanent Phoenician settlements on the island (see map 37.1).

  Map 37.1 Map of the main sites in Phoenician-Punic Ibiza.

  Source: Author’s elaboration from satellite image.

  Formative Period: The Arcaic Era

  The formation of a Semitic society based on the island of Ibiza was the result of the superimposition of two distinct elements: first, the western Phoenicians, followed later by the Punic contribution.

  Phoenician Settlement

  Excavations conducted since the 1970s show that the first colonial settlement on the island can be attributed to western Phoenicians, who established themselves permanently in two places: the factory of Sa Caleta, on a small peninsula in the southwestern part of the island (Ramon Torres 2
007), and Puig de Vila, a hill that dominates the Bay of Ibiza, where the establishment shows urban features (Ramon Torres and Esquembre 2017).

  Investigations into the Phoenician presence in the west over the past few decades have transformed previous ideas about their establishment on Ibiza. The excavations carried out at La Fonteta, at the mouth of the Segura River in Alicante, have established a Phoenician presence on the “Levante” (eastern Iberian coast) clearly dating back to the eighth century bce. The evidence suggests the founding of the Sa Caleta settlement on Ibiza by the same Alicante colony. In the area of Catalonia, the presence of Phoenician materials dating back to the eighth century has been detected in indigenous contexts, although in very small quantities and with a somewhat greater abundance during the seventh century. All the data have led to the assumption of a potential Phoenician presence on the island of Ibiza in the eighth century bce.