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Describes and interprets the Phoenician inscriptions found in different places covering the span of entire Mediterranean basin. Range and distribution of the inscriptions; Seafaring culture of the Phoenicians; Study on the Phoenician culture and its influences.

A new translation of the Nora Stone is proposed based on a division of the first extant line of text into two words... Thus reconstructed, I demonstrate that this line can be translated as "A house he beat down." It is subsequently proposed that the... or "house" noted at the start of the Nora Stone may constitute a reference to the destruction of a Sardinian Nuraghic village, specifically Nuraghe Antigori. The identification is based on the usage of... in contemporaneous Phoenician inscriptions to denote a royal house as well as its territories and people. An analogous, though less well developed, sociopolitical organization was present in Sardinian Nuraghic society in this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will discuss the volitive mood of the blessings found in the Phoenician and Luwian inscriptions of Azatiwada. Within the framework of a linguistic approach to the text, I will examine textlevel syntax, genre and influences between the Phoenician/Luwian bilingual inscriptions within their cultic context. All of these components help establish the volitive mood of the blessings within the inscriptions. It will be demonstrated that we are witnessing blessings beyond the parameters of the indicative mood of past events. These elements are established by the combination of the factors listed above and contribute to the composition and shaping of the texts as a whole, all of which maintain an ongoing cultic function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of anthropoid sarcophagi in the Near Eastern area has revealed different phenomena of emulation of a funerary tradition interested in preserving the bodily integrity of the deceased. The burial in monumental stone sarcophagi according to the Egyptian custom is not alien to the practices documented in the coastal region of the Levant as evidenced by the case of Ahiram of Byblos, attributable to the 10th century, but is part of a local tradition that dates to the Middle Bronze Age and seems to continue up to the Late Bronze Age. A similar funeral practice is documented in Phoenicia even later, as Egyptian anthropoid sarcophagi were re-used for burial by the kings of Sidon in the last quarter of the 6th century BCE. This example led to the spread throughout the region of the funeral practice of deposition in dorsal decubitus (i.e. with the body lying in a supine position) within a sarcophagus. This custom persevered among aristocratic and merchant classes for about two centuries, until the last quarter of the 4th century BCE. In this case, the emulation of Egyptian funeral practice was achieved through a ‘formal translation’ into a local taste, which evokes Hellenic art. The analysis illustrates how the progressive diffusion of the anthropoid sarcophagi and the adoption of theca-type sarcophagi in the local necropolises of Phoenicia were contemporary phenomena. The archaeological traces of the conservation treatment of the deceased, crossed with the inscriptions mentioning the use of aromatic gum-resins, have provided plausible documentary support to the thesis of a Phoenician practice of the embalming/mummification of the body of the dead, and in particular of that of sovereigns. This examination of the documentation has highlighted different historical modes and dynamics that testify the presence in the social upper classes (holding authority and wealth) of a strong cultural and ideological attraction (and openness) towards Egyptian culture in the Levant, traceable over a very long period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines and synthesizes a diverse corpus of evidence relevant to the possible practice of mummification or embalming among some Levantine Phoenicians in the Achaemenid Persian period (ca. 500 – 300 BCE). Nineteenth- and twentieth-century descriptions of partially preserved corpses are discussed alongside mortuary inscriptions, anthropoid sarcophagi, and grave goods. The variety of preservative evidence described by excavators, the emphasis on the arrangement and permanence of the burial in inscriptions, the depiction of oil bottles on three sarcophagi, and the frequent inclusion of oil bottles in burials as grave goods combine to suggest a wider range of preservative actions than has previously been suggested. This evidence indicates that some elite Persian period Phoenicians may have been utilizing oils and resins in various ways to enact a kind of symbolic mummification—ritual acts that reflected the importance of the integrity of the burial but did not necessarily result in a well-preserved corpse. The possibility that oils and resins were similarly used in the interment rituals for adult cremations is also examined. This study supports recent scholarship on Phoenician mortuary practice that contends that both cremations and inhumations (partially embalmed or otherwise) are compatible expressions of a shared continuum of ideas held by Levantine Phoenicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fortieth issue of the Rivista di Studi Fenici, ten years ago, I presented a discussion of the Phoenician identity and of the “borders” of a Phoenician region, primarily through the analysis of the material culture. Over the last decade, many contributions have been published; some new acquisitions, including on the theoretical level, have changed the interpretative framework. Therefore, in the light of recent studies, the question discussed here is whether it still makes sense to go in search of the borders of Phoenicia, following the fil rouge of material culture, used as a cultural marker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Phoenician name of Cyprus was not known with certainty until now. From the beginning of the Iron Age to the Hellenistic period the island was divided into independent kingdoms, each kingdom named after its capital. For this reason, only the names of towns or regions appeared in local inscriptions of that period - not the name of the entire island, whose name in Phoenician was therefore unknown. In this paper, we intend to review the entire evidence relating to the question (from both the second and the first millennia bce, both internal and external sources) and present a new document, definitively solving the problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phoenician activity forms an integral part of every discussion about trade, contacts and cultural interaction in the Early Iron Age Aegean. This is largely the outcome of Phoenician involvement in major aspects of the cultural transformation of Greece in the early first millennium BCE: the restoration of maritime contacts with the eastern Mediterranean, the expression of an orientalising artistic style and the introduction of the alphabetic script. Although extensively examined, all these issues have gained new momentum in recent years, also thanks to new archaeological discoveries that reinvigorated our interest in cultural and economic interaction between Greece and the rest of the Mediterranean. Based on archaeological and textual evidence, the article explores the nature of Phoenician presence and activity in the Aegean between the late 11th and the early 7th century BCE, with due consideration also of questions about terminology, the historical setting in Phoenicia and its possible reflection on Near Eastern evidence from the Aegean, and the role played by other agents of maritime contacts, primarily the Cypriots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we study the social structure of the western Phoenicians in the western extreme of the Mediterranean during the 1st millennium BCE based on written sources and archaeological information. This society was very complex and was made up of an aristocracy, free men and individuals in a situation of dependence. Furthermore, we study the historical data regarding the institutional organization of western Phoenician cities. To that end, we use references to eastern Phoenician institutions as well as those belonging to Carthage and other cities within its territory, comparing them with the data from historical and epigraphic sources from cities of the western Mediterranean. We also identify some individual magistracies, such as the sufetes, and collegial institutions such as ͑m or popular assembly, or b͑ l, a corporation of local aristocrats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses and compares the influence of Egyptian and Assyrian culture, mainly religion, on Phoenician religious beliefs and material culture. It presents abundant textual and archaeological evidence from Phoenicia to show the influence of Egypt and the absence of cultural influence from Assyria in Phoenicia. The paper tries to explain this situation by arguing that people adopt traits of other cultures if the latter are perceived as superior to their own, as a source of prestige for the ruling class who is the first to adopt these foreign traditions. Elite emulation may be the reason behind cultural transfer between a prestigious core and a peripheral state. Having established that elite emulation plays an important role the paper asks why did the Phoenician elite simply ignore the Assyrian prestige markers since Assyria was also a powerful empire who served as a model for several north Syrian kings. The paper attempts to answer this question arguing that the idea of power and prestige borrowed from the Egyptians was too anchored in Phoenician tradition and formed a barrier against the emulation of Assyrian symbols of power by the Phoenician elite and that coercion, which characterized Assyrian-Phoenician relations was another main reason that led the Phoenicians to reject Assyrian traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]