Phoenician and Punic Studies Research Papers (original) (raw)

Short Analysis of Appian Punic Wars 131

Interpretation of symbols and glyphs found on 1st Dynasty BCE to 18th Century CE artifacts, are a means of tracing the transformational journeys of Bes, the Egypto-Nubian deity. The wanderings, which began in Nubia and Upper Egypt, continued north up the Nile into teeming markets and inns of port cities connected to the sea routes of the Mediterranean and Aegean and by land migrations west to Benin.
Beliefs based upon ancient Pygmy philosophy and tenets were incorporated into Bes as a divine representative. These views were spread by means of reciprocal gift systems, trade, migration and wars. The growing need for an accessible protector, healer and divine intermediary, spanning the distance from the Levant to the western Mediterranean was met by Bes, binding diverse communities into a common front against the external forces of disease and death.
As successive wanderings took place mostly in times of transition and upheaval, cultural contact between dissimilar populations malleably transformed images, names and myths associated with Bes and Pygmy ancestors. These complex results are comprehensively examined in this paper to help us successfully transition into a new era.

- by Giovanna Pisano
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- Phoenicians, Mediterranean archaeology, Phoenician Punic Archaeology, Iron Age
- by Giovanna Pisano
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- Iconography, Phoenicians, Phoenician Punic Archaeology, Glyptics

Fishing in Phoenician and Punic period in Sardinia. Poster for the Museo della Tonnara, Stintino

- by Barbara Wilkens
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- Archaeology, Archaeozoology, Fishing, Phoenician and Punic Studies
- by Laura Zanazzo
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- Geography, Phoenicians, Sardinia (Archaeology), Settlement Patterns

Renewed excavations by Rome "La Sapienza" University at Motya in the last ten years (2002-2011) provided a new set of archaeological data concerning the area of the so-called "kothon" and the nearby South Gate, with the identification of a huge sacred compound, including a monumental temple (called Temple of the Kothon, since it was connected with was proved to be a sacred pool), and several other cult installations and structures. Investigations both in the temple proper area and in the southern sector of this compound brought about the earliest layers of Phoenician occupation in the island, with a series of wells, a huge building and the earliest cult devices. Diagnostic ceramic finds, with striking comparisons in Phoenicia, hint at dating in the second quarter of the 8 th century BC for the foundation of the colony, that is roughly 50 years earlier than previous thought. 1 Una presentazione preliminare della stratigrafia e della ceramica dall'area del Tempio del Kothon dall'VIII al VI secolo a.C. è offerta in L. NIGRO, "Alle origini di Mozia: stratigrafia e ceramica del Tempio del Kothon dall'VIII al VI secolo a.C.", in L. NIGRO (ed.), Motya and the Phoenician Repertoire between the Levant and the West, 9th -6th century BC.

- by Elisa Pompianu
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- Archaeology, Sardinia (Archaeology), Archeologia, Phoenician Punic Archaeology
- by John C Franklin and +2
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- Philology, Religion, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Sumerian Religion

https://www.college-de-france.fr/site/jean-pierre-brun/symposium-2021-2022.htm
The production and use of amphorae in the Phoenician world was a very important economic sector, both in the Levant and in all the areas colonized by the Phoenicians since the early 1st millennium BC and in the urban communities that developed in these areas on the basis of such colonial roots. Amphorae were an indispensable tool for transporting products such as wine, olive oil or salted fish, which were not only in great demand but also played an essential role in the economies of most of the Phoenician and Punic cities of the West. These amphorae were manufactured both in Carthage and its area of influence and in Gadir and its "Atlantic circle", following certain size, weight and capacity standards, adapting in each case the oriental traditions to the local regulations and needs. In this context, the production (in parallel to the "normal size" containers) of small-sized versions, interpreted in many cases as "miniatures" closer to household plain wares, without an economic value similar to that of their prototypes, was observed long ago. Their frequent finding in cult contexts (as offerings) and especially in funerary areas (necropolises and tofets) suggested this functional connection, and some scholars considered that their manufacture was specifically intended for this function as votives. In recent years, the study of a large group of items in Cadiz (the ancient Gadir) and in the southern coast of the Iberian Peninsula has allowed to refute the idea that in this area they were used in funerary contexts, and in turn has confirmed that the "miniatures" reproduced in detail the profiles of the amphorae of normal size, with capacities that are divisors of the same capacity standard for liquids. The distribution of these small amphorae, which includes findings both on land and underwater in various parts of the region, also supports that they were not only used as votive offerings in the maritime sanctuaries of the Bay of Cadiz, but may also have been used for commercial purposes. The aim of the paper will therefore be to discuss the available archaeological evidence and, in the absence of additional sources (epigraphic, literary, etc.), to place these data from Cadiz in the general context of the production of small amphorae in the Phoenician-Punic world, tracing the possible existence of "commercial samples".

- by Frederik Maertens
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- Carthage (Archaeology), Carthage (History), Punic Wars, Second Punic War

Bluefin tuna fishing in the Strait of Gibraltar was a major economic resource in Antiquity, and at certain times its by-products (salted fish and sauces such as garum) were in great demand in the Mediterranean world at the time, especially among the "gourmets" of the social elites of Classical Greece. An international project promoted by the University of Seville, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, and the Fitch Laboratory of the British School at Athens, is studying the exceptional archaeological evidence of these connections between the Punics of the Straits of Gibraltar and the Aegean, and specifically with the city of Corinth.

- by Antonio Saez Romero and +1
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- Classical Archaeology, Phoenicians, Archaeometry, Greek Archaeology

Abstract: In order to expand the number of coin findings attested up to now within the ancient city of Suel (Fuengirola, Málaga), we publish a set of 40 bronze coins preserved in several private collections. All of them were issued by different mints settled in the ancient Phoenician or in the so-called Libyan-Phoenician colonies. Consequently, to those which had already been published from Malaca, we now add others coined in the mints of Abdera, Carteia, Gadir, Seks, Lascuta, Mqm Sms and Tamuda, thus predominating those issued by mints located on the northern shore of the Circle of the Straits of Gibraltar. They can be dated from the third century BC to the first decades of the first century AD.
Resumen: Con la intención de ampliar el volumen de amonedaciones procedentes de la antigua ciudad de Suel (Fuengirola, Málaga), publicamos un total de 40 ejemplares de bronce inéditos conservados en varias colecciones privadas. Todos ellos fueron emitidos por distintas cecas instaladas en las antiguas colonias fenicias o bien en las denominadas libiofenicias, los cuales amplían el escaso volumen de numerario conocido hasta el momento en este lugar. En consecuencia, a las ya publicadas de Malaca se suman otras acuñadas en las cecas de Abdera, Carteia, Gadir, Seks, Lascuta, Mqm Sms y Tamuda, con una cronología que abarca desde el siglo III a. C. hasta las primeras décadas del siglo I d. C., de forma que predominan las emitidas por ciudades situadas en la vertiente septentrional del Círculo del Estrecho.

- by Juan Ramón García Carretero and +1
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- Phoenicians, Phoenician Punic Archaeology, Phoenician & Punic Epigraphy, Phoenician and Punic Studies

Edited by Roald Docter, Ridha Boussoffara & Pieter ter Keurs Carthage is mainly known as the city that was utterly destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC. This book tells the story about this fascinating city, which for centuries was the centre of a far-flung trade network in the Mediterranean. Carthage was founded by Phoenician migrants, who settled in the north of what is now Tunisia, probably in the ninth century BC. The city’s strategic location was key to its success. From here, the Carthaginians could dominate both seafaring trade and the overland trade with the African interior. Carthage, Fact and Myth presents the most recent views of Carthaginian society, its commerce and politics, and the way its society was organised. Chapters, written by leading experts, describe the founding of Carthage, its merchant and war fleets, and the devastating wars with Rome. These include the campaigns of the famous Carthaginian commander Hannibal who crossed the Alps with his army and elephants to pose a grave threat to Rome, but he was ultimately unable to prevail. Tunisian experts describe Roman Carthage – the city as it was rebuilt by the Emperor Augustus – and discuss the later Christian period. Finally, the reader encounters a wealth of information about European images of Carthage, from 16th-century prints to the Alix series of comics. The book is published as part of a large exhibition on the ancient city of Carthage in the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities Watch the clip below to have a look at some of the pages: https://youtu.be/nbyhZ726xj8

- by Pieter ter Keurs
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- History, Archaeology, Roman History, Publishing

Solid state electrochemistry based on the voltammetry of immobilized microparticles (VIMP) methodology is applied to a series of 80 Phoenician Red Slip samples from the archaeological sites of Motya (Sicily, Italy), Mogador (Morocco), Ramat‐Rahel (Israel), Sulky (Sardinia, Italy), Tas Silg (Malta), Pantelleria (Italy), and Cádiz (Spain), dated from the 8th to the 6th century BC. Upon attachment of sub‐microsamples to graphite electrodes in contact with aqueous H2SO4 electrolyte, voltammetric features due to the reduction of Fe(III) minerals and the oxidation of Fe(II) ones, complemented with electrocatalytic effects on oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions, provide characteristic electrochemical fingerprints for pottery samples. A consistent sample grouping discriminating between different potteries from different archaelogical sites, is obtained, all results being consistent with morphological, compositional and mineralogical data. Petrographic analysis supports the grouping, defining the manufacture and firing procedure for the different archaeological context.

The Φιλόγελως is a Greek anthology of humour. One of its sections testifies that Sidonian people had a reputation for foolishness which is otherwise unattested. The jokes of this section are here presented and examined, also in order to try to shed some light on the possible origin of this ancient ethnic humour, as well as to evaluate the presence of genuinely Sidonian features.

- by Giuseppe Minunno
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- Greek Literature, Humour Studies, Phoenician and Punic Studies, Greek humour

Grazie a una documentazione archeologica ed epigrafica sempre crescente, all’adozione di nuovi approcci e modelli teorici, è oggi possibile apprezzare meglio l’identità cosmopolita e fluida dei Fenici e le varie sfaccettature della loro storia e cultura, dalla fine dell’età del Bronzo al dominio romano. Il libro offre ai non specialisti un affresco aggiornato su chi furono, dove vissero e come attraversarono le varie fasi della storia antica, senza trascurare aspetti come le attività produttive, la cultura materiale e la religione. L’affresco che ne risulta mostra quanto studiare il Mediterraneo del I millennio a.C. sulla scia dei Fenici sia di grande attualità per comprendere un mondo fatto di persone, idee e materiali in contatto e in movimento.

- by Umberto Livadiotti
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- Phoenician and Punic Studies

Esta publicación se ha beneficiado de las siguientes ayudas para su financiación:

- by Valentina Melchiorri
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- Cultural Studies, Archaeology, Phonology, Phoenicians

In 1997 a survey of Pantelleria Island (Sicily) proved that the island was colonized since the 3rd century B.C., when Pantelleria became strategic for controlling the Sicilian channel. In 2011 and 2013, systematic surveys and excavations in Cala Tramontana and Cala Levante identified a Punic anchorage between 50 and 90 m. The discovery of lead anchor stocks and ingots, Punic amphorae and 3,500 Punic bronze coins supported the hypothesis of an anchorage related to the first Roman conquest of the island in 255 B.C. Also, part of the project was the re-establishment of an underwater archaeological trail.

- by Leonardo Abelli and +1
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- Maritime Archaeology, Roman History, Maritime History, Mediterranean Studies

ASTARTE from EL CARAMBOLO. Who´s that girl?
This paper presents a review from the sculpture in bronze named «Astarté from El Carambolo». Currently, you can visit this phoenician goddess in Sevilla, the scultpure belongs to the stable collection from the Museo Archaeological. This object has served to build the iconographic studies about Astarté. The goddess is clearly identified as Astarté, the sculpture has an epigraphic inscription where the feets are laied on. Have been made a new iconographic study and the results have to be connected with the last research in the archaeological site between 2002 and 2005.
Resumen: El presente trabajo consiste en una revisión de la pieza escultórica realizada en bronce de la diosa oriental Astarté conservada en el Museo Arqueológico de Sevilla. La escultura, es una de las representaciones de la diosa que han contribuido a formar el corpus iconográfico de la misma ya que, está identificada claramente por la inscripción epigráfica que presenta en el escabel dónde reposan los pies de la diosa. Se ha realizado una nueva lectura iconográfica que debe ponerse en relación con las últimos datos conocidos a partir de las últimas excavaciones en el yacimiento de El Carambolo entre 2002 y 2005.

- by Ana D. Navarro
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- Phoenicians, Ancient Mediterranean Religions, Ancient Religion, Ancient Near East

The text on this large stone stele is a defense of Phoenician temple activity.

- by David Olmsted
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- Phoenicians, Pagan Studies, Akkadian, Etruscan language

Our knowledge of women in Phoenician society is extremely limited. This is largely due to the sources and the research history based on: Phoenicians = seafarers and traders = male. However, some interesting references about Phoenician women can be found in the literary, epigraphic, archaeological and iconographic evidence, as will be briefly presented in the following. A complex picture is emerging that contains considerable research potential.

A methodical search for the likely prototype of an extremely barbarous ancient coin is described. The coin's obverse shows parallel line segments projecting from an approximately rectangular solid shape. Several different obverse orientations are considered. The reverse appears to show a stick figure facing frontally, standing on a ground line or low platform, and holding a staff upright at the left side. Likely prototypes are sought by considering coins of relevant metal, fabric, diameter, shape, weight, and thickness, and with an emphasis on their designs. These factors combined with overall frequencies of occurrence seem to point primarily to Eastern coins as likely prototypes. However, indirect consideration of provenance based on source and context information alters the result. A Western prototype of the area from Sicily to North Africa, more specifically a so-called Lopadusan coin type, is deemed more likely though still uncertain.

Dans ce volume sont publiées les inscriptions phéniciennes inédites appartenant à la collection de la Direction Générale des Antiquités du Liban (DGA), retrouvées et identifiées au cours des travaux d’une mission épigraphique... more

- by José Ángel ZAMORA and +1
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- Religion, Ancient History, Phoenicians, Epigraphy (Archaeology)

Resumen En el siguiente trabajo se detallan las oportuni-dades educativas y divulgativas que ofrece la actual ciudad de Cádiz (España) en relación con su pasado fenicio. Por ello, el objetivo principal de este estudio ha sido exponer los beneficios que, desde el punto de vista histórico y arqueológico, tiene el Itinerario Cultural Europeo "Ruta de los Fenicios" y su proyección educativa y ciudadana. El método basado en la implementación de varios talleres educativos en la Noche Europea de los In-vestigadores de la Universidad de Cádiz supuso una oportunidad para desarrollar una experiencia motivadora y adaptada a la comunidad educati-va, las familias y los agentes patrimoniales. Los resultados muestran que la existencia de esta ruta, ya diseñada y puesta en marcha, es útil para la divulgación científica al conjunto de la sociedad y como recurso didáctico destinado a todos los niveles educativos de centros docentes de la provincia y la ciudad. En conclusión, es necesario destacar las posibilidades didácticas que estos encuentros divulgativos tuvieron para el aprendi-zaje del patrimonio cultural. Palabras clave Aprendizaje significativo, Didáctica de la histo-ria, Educación patrimonial, Proyecto educativo, Talleres didácticos Abstract The following work details the educational and informative opportunities offered by the current city of Cádiz (Spain) in relation to its Phoenician past. For this reason, the main objective of this study has been to expose the benefits that, from the historical and archaeological point of view, the European Cultural Itinerary "Route of the Phoenicians" and its educational and civic projection have. The method based on the implementation of several educational workshops at the European Night of Researchers at the University of Cádiz was an opportunity to develop a motivating experience adapted to the educational community, families, and patrimonial agents. The results show that the existence of this route, already designed and implemented, is useful for scientific dissemination to society as a whole and as a didactic resource for all educational levels of educational centers in the province and the city. In conclusion, it is necessary to highlight the didactic possibilities that these informative meetings had for learning about cultural heritage.

A complete edition of all known Latino (and Graeco)-Punic inscriptions along with a detailed, comparative grammatical analysis, esp. with regard to phonology and orthographic practice. Several texts are presented here for the first time. These texts from Roman-era Tripolitania (the first centuries A.D.) render Punic systematically, although written with Latin graphemes. Until now they have been largely neglected by Semiticists. They thus provide, among other things, fully vocalised material, unusual for alphabetically written Semitic languages, which can provide us with insight into the historical and diachronic development of the (North-West) Semitic languages, esp. biblical Hebrew. At the same time, these texts are also interesting epigraphic texts documenting the spread of the Punic language into the African interior.

- by Robert Martin Kerr
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- Philology, Historical Linguistics, Semitic languages, Phoenicians

According to generally accepted estimates, the corpus of Phoenician-Punic inscriptions comprises about 10,000 inscriptions from all the countries of the Mediterranean region. The sheer quantity and scattered nature of the documents, spread over a very wide span of time, have severely affected research and caused considerable difficulties in the knowledge, availability and use of these sources. In order to tackle these problems and to try to resolve them, by making Phoenician texts –presented with rigorous and uniform criteria – available to the academic community, the project called CIP (Corpus Inscriptionum Phoenicarum necnon Punicarum, also known as the PhDB or Phoenician Data Base) came into being. For the first time, this project produce a collection and a critical edition of all the Phoenician and Punic epigraphic documents in the form of a data bank; also include all the available information on every Phoenician epigraphic document considered of interest for correctly understanding them. It presents the relevant data in an ordered and programmatic form, together with graphic and photographic material. The project in question, born from an Italian initiative (CNR) that early on made use of collaboration with a Spanish team (CSIC) is directed by Paolo Xella and co-directed by José-Ángel Zamora. The aim of this article is to document the progress of the project, explaining its objectives and illustrating the criteria underlying the work completed so far [as of 2007].

- by José Ángel ZAMORA
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- Phoenicians, Epigraphy (Archaeology), Phoenician, Northwest Semitic Epigraphy
- by Joan Ramon
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- Phoenicians, Urbanism (Archaeology), Phoenician, Phoenician Punic Archaeology

Existem mesmo muitas facetas nas formas de sacrifícios entre homens e deuses. Preces, ritos, procissões, cantares, movimentos tantos que a singularidade de uma obra não poderia esgotar. Este livro, Um presente para os deuses: o sacrifício no Mundo Antigo, organizado e escrito por arqueólogos, historiadores, professores universitários e pesquisadores de importantes instituições brasileiras (USP, UNISA, PUC-SP, IPHAN, FMU, ABAMO, UNICID, UNEB e UFOP) tem a ambição de proporcionar ao leitor múltiplos conhecimentos de múltiplas formas que transcendiam na Antiguidade-Índia, Egito, Israel, Fenícia, Grécia, Roma, entre os celtas, mesoamericanos e indígenas brasileiros-, o frágil, paradoxal, e ao mesmo tempo vigoroso e necessário contrato que a humanidade sempre firmou e sempre haverá de firmar com os deuses.

- by Cristina Kormikiari and +1
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- Celtic Archaeology, Phoenician Punic Archaeology, Arqueología, Arqueologia Brasileira (Brazilian Archeology)

Il volume offre una sintesi generale e un'analisi critica della documentazione disponibile (diretta e indiretta) relativa ai santuari fenici e punici chiamati tofet, esaminando le diverse proposte interpre-tative e cercando di prospettare nuove strade e di introdurre nuovi elementi. Dopo le prime scoperte archeologiche della seconda metà del XIX sec. e, soprattutto, dopo la sco-perta del tofet di Cartagine nel 1921, questi santuari sono stati considerati il teatro di sacrifici umani, in connessione con le narrazioni di alcuni autori di lingua greco-romana e con la tradizione biblica relativa a Molek/Moloch. A queste ipotesi interpretative si sono affiancate, a partire dalla fine degli anni '80 del secolo scorso, alcune tesi volte a negare in tutto o in parte l'ipotesi del sacrificio : esse considerano i bambini dei tofet morti per cause naturali e deposti in questi santuari per questioni iniziatico-rituali o come mezzo di comunicazione tra il fedele e la divinità. Il dibattito resta aperto: l'esame complessivo della documentazione non permette attualmente di « uscire dal limbo », cioè di prendere una posizione definitiva sull'argomento, ma soltanto di fissare alcuni punti fermi, escludere alcune opzioni e proporre delle ipotesi

The work deals with the problem of the role of cults in defining and preserving ethnic
and cultural identity. In particular it is focused on the question of the continuity and change
of local religioustraditionsin Persian and Hellenistic rural innersouthern Phoenicia. During
these periods peoples of the hilly country of the inland of Tyre lived the experience of the
comparison with the vivid and multicultural coastal society, characterized by the presence
of strong Egyptian and Greek influence, well recognizable in different aspects of the artistic
production and material culture. Using what Jean-Loup Amselle calls the “démarche
discontinuiste”, that is to analyse human activities focusing on the identification of what is
indistinct instead of what is well defined and classified, we will present the documentation
of the rural sanctuary of Kharayeb, founded around the sixth – fifth century and remained
in use until the first cent. B.C.

- by Ida Oggiano
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- Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Iconography, Cultural Identity

During the Iron Age, the northern coast of Israel passed through several geopolitical upheavals. During the Second Iron Age II, the Carmel coast is considered a border zone between the Phoenician city-states and the Kingdom of Israel. Between 1963–1977, Tel Shiqmona, located on the coast of the Carmel, was extensively excavated and revealed a nearly continuous occupation from the Late Bronze Age to the end of the Iron Age and further into the classical periods. Still, 40 years later, the results and finds of the early periods have not been researched or published. The Tel Shiqmona Project was launched in 2016 in order to save the cultural and intellectual assets hidden in the site’s forgotten finds. At this very preliminary point it has become clear that there are indications of material culture associated with that of Phoenicia and evidence of an extensive commercial relationship with Cyprus throughout the Iron Age. In addition, the excavation at Shiqmona yielded the largest number of potsherds on which a real purple dye is preserved. These findings raise many questions concerning political, cultural, economic and ethnic aspects of the site. The study is still in progress and the purpose of this short paper is to introduce Tel Shiqmona, its research and to formulate the questions, rather than to give the answers.