| What evidence exists for the movement of goods between Greece and the Near East ? | |
Click here for a map of the Levant ...
Click here for a map of the Mediterranean, which also shows the site of the Ulu Burun shipwreck...
Trade already existed between the Mycenaean culture of Greece and the cultures of the Levant during the Late Bronze Age (1550-1100 BCE). Mycenaean pottery from the 14 th to 13 th centuries BCE has been found at Ugarit in North Syria and ancient Sarepta, which is located between Tyre and Sidon and in the heart of Phoenician territory, as well as other locations in the Levant.(1) Evidence of Bronze Age trade in the Mediterranean is found with the Uluburun shipwreck, dated to 1316 BCE, which has been discovered off of the coast of ancient Kas. The ship may have departed from Syria and most likely stopped at Cyprus to collect copper ingots; this was the largest part of the ship's cargo.(2) It also contained Cypriot and Mycenaean pottery, jewelry, seals, tools, a figurine, and other objects and raw materials originating in Egypt and other parts of Africa, and Canaan.(3)
In the 12 th century BCE, 'Sea Peoples' of unknown origins invaded the Mediterranean region, ending the rich Mycenaean civilization of Greece . The Aegean islands and the Levant were also affected by the incursion of Sea Peoples. Ugarit , a powerful trading city just to the east of Cyprus on the Levantine mainland, had dominated sea trade in the region, but seems to lose power during this time. This opened up direct access for the Phoenicians to Cyprus and set off a long history of Phoenician trade to the West.(4)
There is archaeological evidence for a development of Phoenician colonies and presence on Cyprus, Rhodes and the other islands of the Dodecanese, and Crete as early as the 12 th to 10 th centuries BCE.(5) According to Glenn Markoe, "a distinct trade pattern emerges, extending from Cyprus and the Levantine mainland to the western coast of Italy via Rhodes, Crete, and the Peloponnesian coast ... [bypassing] the central Greek mainland."(6) The evidence for the Phoenicians on mainland Greece isn't as clear as it is for the islands of the Aegean Sea.
A burial at Lefkandi in Euboea on the Greek mainland contains many Phoenician imports that are dated sometime before 900 BCE.(7) Cypro-Phoenician pottery and other inconclusively Phoenician imports have also been found on the island of Aegina located in the Saronic Gulf in close proximity to both Corinth and Athens.(8) The pottery of Aegina and Corinth reflect significant adaptation of Orientalizing motifs, although the pottery of Attica does not reflect as direct an adaptation of these themes.(9)
Does the presence of Eastern goods at Lefkandi and Aegina and Oriental themes at Corinth mean that the Phoenicians were shipping directly to mainland Greece ? Or does it mean that Greek traders were traveling to the islands of Cyprus and Crete and exchanging Greek merchandise for merchandise from Egypt and the Near East and Levant? There are also Greek imports found on the islands of Cyprus and Crete , so this is a possibility.(10) It is to be hoped that archaeologists will find more artifacts that will eventually lead to answers to these questions.
Author: Gina Hander
(1) James D. Muhly, "Homer and the Phoenicians: The Relations between Greece and the Near East in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages," Berytus 19, (1970):21,34-35.
(2) "Uluburun Wreck," Accessed 13 April, 2005, From: http://www.guidebodrum.com/uluburun_wreck.htm.
(3) Cemal Pulak, George F. Bass, eds., "Bronze Age Shipwreck Excavation at Uluburun," Accessed 13 April, 2005, From: http://ina.tamu.edu/ub_main.htm.
(4) Glenn E. Markoe, Phoenicians (Berkeley: University of California Press 2000):23,26.
(5) Ora Negbi, "Early Phoenician Presence in the Mediterranean Islands: A Reappraisal," American Journal of Archaeology 96, no. 4 (October 1992):603-609.
(6) Glenn E. Markoe, "The Emergence of Orientalizing in Greek Art: Some Observations between Greeks and Phoenicians in the Eighth and Seventh Centuries BCE," Bulletin of American Schools of Oriental Research , no. 301, (1996):59.
(8) Glenn E. Markoe, Phoenician Bronze and Silver Bowls from Cyprus and the Mediterranean (Berkeley: University of California Press 1985):125.
(9) Glenn E. Markoe, Bulletin of American Schools of Oriental Research , 53,54,57.
(10) A tomb at Teke near Knossos contains Late Protogeometric Attic pottery as well as Cypriot style bowl with a Phoenician inscription. This leads to the possible conclusion that there is a mutual exchange of goods on the island of Crete. There is also evidence on Cyprus for Attic and Euboean exports. John Nicholas Coldstream, "Greeks and Phoenicians In the Aegean," Phönizier im Westen , Madrider Beiträge 8, (1982):271.
