Beyond Purple and Ivory ‒ An investigation of the Phoenician economy in their homeland based on agriculture and amphora production and distribution in southern Lebanon during the late Iron Age and Persian Period (ca 750‒350 BC)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Aaron Schmitt
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 453707845

This project will provide new insights into economic strategies in the Phoenician homeland during the late Iron Age and Persian Period based on a rigorous analysis of landscape and archaeological data using a multidisciplinary and multidimensional approach.Until today, mainly external textual sources have been used for the study of the Phoenician economy leading to a largely incomplete picture and a number of misconceptions. As Lebanon has seen much less archaeological research relative to surrounding areas key pieces of data are missing hindering efforts to develop region-level explanatory frameworks. In a case study in southern Lebanon, this project attempts to rectify this situation through the ambitious collection and interpretation of data on an unprecedented scale, granting a new understanding of the Phoenician economy. This case study builds on three objectives:A. To assess the potential for agro-pastoral production and its organization through the building of a detailed database of information on the geography and geology of the area.B. To understand the organization of primary sector production including what kind of agro-pastoral goods were produced and how they were processed.C. To define the role amphora production played in relation to agricultural production regarding the organization of production, distribution and consumption.These objectives will be reached through the multidisciplinary analysis of diverse and robust datasets involving landscape analysis, archaeological fieldwork, analysis of plant and animal remains as well as macroscopic and archaeometric analyses of amphorae.Objective A will be reached through a landscape analysis combining remote sensing techniques, geological investigations and the results of the surveys, which will provide us with detailed insights into land potential and agricultural organization in the study area.Objective B consists of excavations at Tell el-Burak and a survey of its hinterland as well as the scientific study of primary human residue from this site, which will provide us with information on agricultural strategies and the processing of agricultural produce.Objective C includes the multidisciplinary analysis of a large corpus of Phoenician amphorae from three different sites within the study area combining typological investigations with an innovative archaeometric approach, which will provide us with information on the role and scale of amphorae production, distribution and consumption in the Phoenician economy.The results of this project will provide Levantine archaeology with much needed robust datasets, which will be interpreted using theory based economic models to gain an understanding of the Phoenician economy. The significance of this project is not limited to Levantine archaeology. Due to the presence of the Phoenicians in larger parts of the Mediterranean, a great number of scholars eagerly awaits new research results from the homeland to put their data into context.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Lebanon
• Cooperation Partner: Professorin Dr. Hélène Sader