“Reconstructing Neo-Babylonian Policy in the Phoenician Levant,” Current Historiography on Ancient Israel and Judah (Diana Edelman, Chair), SBL Annual Meeting, San Diego, November 23, 2014. (original) (raw)

Abstract

Discussions of Phoenicia in the Neo-Babylonian period tend to focus on the changing role of Tyre in the wake of Nebuchadnezzar II’s siege (or rather, blockade) of that city, ending in the late 570s BCE. While this event did indeed have dramatic implications for Carthage and the balance of trade in the Mediterranean, other aspects of Phoenician administration and commerce under Neo-Babylonian rule have gone un- or under-explored. This paper will go beyond Josephus’ account of Tyrian royal affairs to survey other types of archaeological and inscriptional evidence that bear on the history of Phoenician sites in this period. What changes would Arwad, Byblos, Beirut, Sidon, and cities further south have experienced? How might the status of Phoenician colonies abroad reflect these “homeland” changes? A brief reconstruction of Phoenicia’s political structure and economic role under Neo-Babylonian rule will be offered, moving site-by-site through its territory to illustrate the available evidence. Diachronic change at each site will be discussed where possible. Although this is difficult to detect in a period lasting just sixty-five years, data from the early Achaemenid period in Phoenicia may in some cases shed light on the status that certain sites carried over from Neo-Babylonian arrangements. Finally, Phoenicia’s value to the Babylonians will be assessed given the implications of this new reconstruction.

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