An insightful historical account of Phoenicia that illustrates its cities, culture, and daily life

Hélène Sader presents the history and archaeology of Phoenicia based on the available contemporary written sources and the results of archaeological excavations in Phoenicia proper. Sader explores the origin of the term Phoenicia; the political and geographical history of the city-states Arwad, Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre; and topography, climate, and natural resources of the Phoenician homeland. Her limited focus on Phoenicia proper, in contrast to previous studies that included information from Phoenician colonies, presents the bare realities of the opportunities and difficulties shaping Phoenician life. Sader’s evaluation and synthesis of the evidence offers a corrective to the common assumption of a unified Phoenician kingdom.

Features

• Historical as well as modern maps with the locations of all relevant archaeological sites


• Faunal and floral analyses that shed light on the Phoenician diet


• Petrographic analysis of pottery that sheds light on trading patterns and developments

Hélène Sader is Professor of Archaeology at the American University of Beirut and has directed excavations of Phoenician settlements at Beirut and Tell el-Burak. Sader is the author of Les États Araméens de Syrie depuis leur Fondation jusqu’à leur Transformation en Provinces Assyriennes (1987) and Iron Age Funerary Stelae from Lebanon (2005).