The Oxford Handbook of the Phoenician and Punic Mediterranean

by Carolina Lopez-Ruiz

  Mosca, P. 2006. “Some Grammatical and Structural Observations on the Trophy Inscription from Kition (Cyprus).” Maarav 13: 171–88.

  O’Connor, M. 1992. “Diction and the Ancient Northwest Semitic Inscriptions.” In Contacts Between Cultures: West Asia and North Africa, edited by A. Harrak, 1:108–14. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen.

  Peckham, J. B. 1968. The Development of the Late Phoenician Scripts. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

  Rollston, C. 2010. Writing and Literacy in the World of Ancient Israel: Epigraphic Evidence from the Iron Age. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature.

  Rollston, C. 2014. “The Iron Age Phoenician Script.” In An Eye for Form: Paleographic Studies in Honor of Frank Moore Cross, edited by W. Aufrecht and J. A. Hackett, 72–99. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

  Sader, H. 1991–1992. “Nouvelle inscription punique découverte au Liban.” Semitica 41/42: 107–16.

  Sader, H. 2010. Iron Age Funerary Stelae from Lebanon. Cuadernos de Arqueología Mediterránea 11. Barcelona: Publicaciones del Laboratorio de Arqueología, Universidad Pompeu Fabra.

  Schmitz, P. C. 2014. “Phoenician Seal Script.” In An Eye for Form: Paleographic Studies in Honor of Frank Moore Cross, edited by W. Aufrecht and J. A. Hackett, 133–66. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

  Segert, S. 1976. A Grammar of Phoenician and Punic. Munich: C.H. Beck.

  Slouschz, N. 1942. Thesaurus of Phoenician Inscriptions [Hebrew]. Jerusalem and Tel Aviv: Dvir Publishing Company.

  Sznycer, M. 1972–73. “Rapport sur les conférences, Antiquités et épigraphie nord-sémitiques: Recherches sur les Phéniciens à Malte, I.” Annuaire de l’EPHE IV’ section: 145–61.

  Sznycer, M. 1973–1974. “Rapport sur les conférences, Antiquités et épigraphie nord-sémitiques: Recherches sur les Phéniciens à Malte, II.” Annuaire de l’EPHE IV’ section 131–53.

  Sznycer, M. 1974–l975. “Rapport sur les conférences, Antiquités et épigraphie nord-sémitiques: Recherches sur les Phéniciens à Malte, III.” Annuaire de l’EPHE IV’ section: 191–208.

  Sznycer, M. 1992–1993. “Une inscription phénicienne royale de Kition. II. Déchiffrement, traduction, commentaire philologique et historique,” Comptes rendus des séances de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 2: 801–21.

  Sznycer, M., and O. Masson. 1972. Recherches sur les Phéniciens d Chypre. Geneva and Paris: Droz.

  Teixidor, J. 1986. Bulletin d’Épigraphie Sémitique (1964—1980). Paris: Paul Geuthner.

  Tropper, J. 1993. Die Inschriften von Zincirli: Neue Edition und vergleichende Grammatik des phönizischen, sama’lischen und aramäischen Textkorpus. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag.

  Yon, M., and M. Sznycer. 1991. “Une inscription phénicienne royale de Kition (Chypre).” Comptes rendus des séances de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 135–34: 791–823.

  Cuneiform Sources

  Charpin, D. 2014. “Ressources assyriologiques sur internet.” Bibliotheca Orientalis 71, nos. 3/4: 331–57.

  Friedrich, J., and W. Röllig. 1999. Phönizisch-punische Grammatik. Third edition, edited by M. G. Amadasi Guzzo and W. R. Mayer. Rome: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico.

  Xella, P. 1995. “Les sources cuneiforms.” In La civilisation phénicienne et punique: Manuel de recherché, edited by V. Krings, 39–56. Leiden: Brill.

  Egyptian Sources

  Calabro, D. 2015. “Egyptianizing Features in Phoenician Inscriptions from Egypt.” In Semitic Languages in Contact, edited by A. Butts, 97–113. Leiden: Brill.

  Dousa, T. M. 2011. “Common Motifs in the Orphic B Tablets and Egyptian Funerary Texts: Continuity or Convergence?” In The “Orphic” Gold Tablets and Greek Religion: Further along the Path, edited by R. Edmonds III, 120–63. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  Hölbl, G. 1986. Ägyptisches Kulturgut im phönikischen und punischen Sardinien I-II. Leiden: Brill.

  Hölbl, G. 1989. Ägyptisches Kulturgut auf den Inseln Malta und Gozo in phönikischer und punischer Zeit: die Objekte im Archäologischen Museum von Valletta. Vienna: Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.

  Moscati, S. 1974. Problematica della civiltà fenicia. Rome: Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche.

  Padró, J. P. 1986. Amuletos de tipo egipcio del Museo Arqueológico de Ibiza. Ibiza: Museo Arqueológico de Ibiza.

  Pernigotti, S. 1995. “Phoenicians and Egyptians.” In The Phoenicians, edited by S. Moscati, 591–610. New York: Rizzoli.

  Sader, H. 1990. “Deux épigraphs phéniciennes inédites.” Syria 67: 318–21.

  Scandone, G. 1995. “Les sources égytiennes.” In La civilisation phénicienne et punique: Manuel de recherche, edited by V. Krings, 57–63. Leiden: Brill.

  Schmitz, P. 2002. “Reconsidering a Phoenician Inscribed Amulet from the Vicinity of Tyre.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 122, no. 4: 817–23.

  Vercoutter, J. 1945. Les objets égyptiens et égyptisants du mobilier funéraire carthaginois. Paris: Paul Geuthner.

  Biblical Sources

  Briquel-Chatonnet, F. 1992. Les relations entre les cites de la côte phénicienne et les royaumes d’Israël et e Juda. Leuven: Peeters.

  Corral, M. A. 2002. Ezekiel’s Oracles against Tyre: Historical Reality and Motivations. Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute.

  Lipiński, E., ed. 1991. Phoenician and the Bible. Proceedings of the Conference held at the University of Leuven on the 15th and 16th of March 1990. Leuven: Peeters.

  Van der Kooij, A. 1998. The Oracle of Tyre: The Septuagint of Isaiah XXIII as Version and Vision. Leiden: Brill.

  Van Dijk, H. J. 1968. Ezekiel’s Prophecy on Tyre (Ez. 26, 1–28, 19). Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute.

  Xella, P. 1995. “La Bible.” In La civilisation phénicienne et punique: Manuel de recherché, edited by V. Krings, 64–72. Leiden: Brill.

  Personal Names

  Benz, F. L. 1972. Personal Names in the Phoenician and Punic Inscriptions. Rome: Biblical Institute Press.

  Jongeling, K. 1994. North African Names from Latin Sources. CNWS Publications, 21. Leiden: Research School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies (CNWS).

  Muchiki, Y. 1999. Egyptian Proper Names and Loanwords in North-West Semitic. Atlanta, GA: Scholars.

  Material Sources

  Anderson, W. P. 1990. “The Beginnings of Phoenician Pottery: Vessel Shape, Style, and Ceramic Technology in the Early Phases of the Phoenician Iron Age.” BASOR 279: 35–54.

  Bartoloni, P. 1988. Le anfore fenicie e puniche di Sardegna. Rome: Università degli Studi di Roma.

  Bikai, P. 1978. The Pottery of Tyre. Warminster: Aris & Phillips.

  Briend, J., and J.-B. Humbert. 1980. Tell Keisan (1971–1976): une cité phénicienne en Galilee. Fribourg: Éditions universitaires.

  Docter, R. F., F. Chelbi, M. Telmini, A. J. Nijboer, J. van der Plicht, W. van Neer, K. Mansel, and S. Garsallah. 2004. “Radiocarbon Dates of Animal Bones in the Earliest Levels of Carthage.” In Oriente e Occidente: metodi e discipline a confronto. Rifflessioni sulla cronologia dell’età del ferro italiana. Atti dell’Incontro di studi, Roma, 30–31 ottobre 2003. Mediterranea, 1, edited by G. Bartoloni and F. Delpino, 557–77. Pisa: Istituti Editoriali e Poligrafici Internazionali.

  Gilboa, A., and I. Sharon. 2016. “The Assyrian Kāru at Du’ru/Dor.” In The Provincial Archaeology of the Assyrian Empire, edited by J. Macginnis, D. Wicke, T. Greenfield, and A. Stone, 241–52. Cambridge, UK: McDonald Institute Monographs.

  Marin Ceballos, M. C., ed. 2011. Cultos y ritos de la Gadir fenicia. Cádiz: Servicio de Publicaciones, Universidad de Cádiz, and Secretariado de Publicaciones, Universidad de Sevilla.

  Niemeyer, H. G., R. F. Docter, K. Schmidt, and B. Bechtold. 2007. Die Ergebnisse der Hamburger Grabung unter dem Decumanus Maximus. Hamburger Forschungen zur Archäologie. Mainz: Philipp Von Zabern.

  Ramon Torres, J. 1995. Las ánforas fenicio-punicas del Mediterraneo central y occidental. Ibiza: Consell Insular d’Eivissa i Formentera; and Barcelona: Univ
ersitat de Barcelona.

  Levantine Phoenicia

  Dayagi-Mendels, M. 2002. The Akziv Cemeteries: The Ben-Dor Excavations 1941–44. Jerusalem: Israeli Antiquities Authority.

  Delavault, B., and A. Lemaire. 1979. “Les inscriptions phéniciennes de Palestine.” Rivista di Studi Fenici 7: 1–39.

  Doumet-Serhal, C. 2003. “Jars of the First Millennium BC at Tell el Rachidieh (South of Tyre): Phoenician Cinerary Urns and Grave Goods.” Archaeology and History in Lebanon 17: 42–51.

  Gilboa, A. 2005. “Sea Peoples and Phoenicians Along the Southern Phoenician Coast: A Reconciliation: An Interpretation of Šikila (SKL) Material Culture.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 337: 47–78.

  Jigoulov, V. 2010. A Social History of Achaemenid Phoenicia: Being a Phoenician, Negotiating Empire. London: Equinox.

  Lemaire, A. 2016. Levantine Epigraphy and History in the Achaemenid Period. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  Mazar E. 1993. “Achzib, Recent Excavations.” In The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, edited by E. Stern, 1:35–36. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.

  Millar, F. 1968. “Local Cultures in the Roman Empire: Libyan, Punic and Latin in Roman Africa.” Journal of Roman Studies 58: 126–34. [Reprinted in H. N. Cotton and G. N. Rogers, eds., Rome, the Greek World, and the East. Vol. 2: Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire, 249–64. Raleigh: University of North Carolina, 2004.]

  Rollston, C. A. 2016. “Phoenicia and the Phoenicians.” In The World around the Old Testament, edited by B. T. Arnold and B. T. Strawn, 267–308. Ada, MI: Baker Academic.

  Culture, Political and Military Histories, Trade

  Aubet, M. E. 2001. The Phoenicians and the West: Politics, Colonies, and Trade. Second edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  Aubet, M. E. 2008. “Political and Economic Implications of the New Phoenician Chronologies.” In Beyond the Homeland: Markers in Phoenician Chronology, edited by C. Sagona, 179–91. Leuven: Peeters.

  Celestino Pérez, S., and C. López-Ruiz. 2016. Tartessos and the Phoenicians in Iberia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  Fariselli, A. C. 2002. I mercenari di Cartagine. Rome: La Spezia.

  Ferjaoui, A. 1992. Recherches sur les relations entre l’Orient phénicien et Carthage. Tunis: Beit al-Hikma.

  Hoyos, D. 2010. The Carthaginians. London and New York: Routledge.

  López-Ruiz, C. 2009. “Mopsos and Cultural Exchange Between Greeks and Locals in Cilicia.” In Antike Mythen. Medien, Transformationen, Konstruktionen (Fritz Graf Festschrift), edited by U. Dill and Ch. Walde, 382–96. Berlin and New York: De Gruyter.

  Manfredi, L. I. 2003. La politica amministrativa di Cartagine in Africa Roma. Rome: Accademia dei Lincei.

  Markoe, G. E. 2000. Phoenicians. Berkeley: University of California Press.

  Miles, Richard. 2012. Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization. New York: Penguin.

  Religion

  Aubet, M. E., ed. 2004. The Phoenician Cemetery of Tyre al-Bass: Excavations 1997–1999. Beirut: Direction Générale des Antiquités.

  Beer, C. 2013. “Amulettes phénico-puniques entre vie et mort (entre quotidian et tophet).” In Ritual, Religion and Reason: Studies in the Ancient World in Honour of Paolo Xella, edited by O. Loretz, S. Ribichini, W. G. E. Watson, and J. Á. Zamora, 1031–24. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag.

  Bonnet, C. 1988. Melqart: Cultes et mythes de l’Héraclès Tyrien en Méditerranée. Louven: Peeters; and Namur: Presses Universitaires de Namur.

  Bonnet, C. 2010. “Errata, absurditates, deliria et hallucinationes. Le cheminement de la critique historique face à la mythologie phénicienne de Philon de Byblos: un cas problématique et exemplaire de testis unus.” Anabasis 11: 123–36.

  Bonnet, C. 2011. “On Gods and Earth: The Tophet and the Construction of a New Identity in Punic Carthage.” In Cultural Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean, edited by E. S. Gruen, 373–87. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute.

  Doak, B. 2015. Phoenician Aniconism in Its Mediterranean and Ancient Near Eastern Contexts. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature.

  Faraone, C. A., B. Garnand, and C. López-Ruiz. 2005. “Micah’s Mother (Judg. 17:1–4) and a Curse from Carthage (KAI 89): Canaanite Precedents for Greek and Latin Curses against Thieves?” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 64: 165–66.

  Gras, M., J. Rouillard, and X. Teixidor. 1991. “The Phoenicians and Death.” Berytus Archaeological Studies 39: 127–76.

  Lipiński, E. 1970. “La fête d’ensevelissement et de la résurrection de Melqart.” In Actes de la XVIIe Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, edited by A. Finet, 30–58. Ham-sur-Heure: Comité belge de recherches en Mésopotamie.

  Lipiński, E. 1993. Rites et Sacrifices dans la tradition phénico-punique. Leuven: Peeters.

  López-Ruiz, C. 2010. When the Gods Were Born: Greek Cosmogonies and the Near East. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

  Niveau-de-Villedary y Mariñas, A. M. 2009. Ofrendas, banquetes y libaciones. El ritual funerario en la necrópolis púnica de Cádiz. Seville: Universidad de Sevilla; and Cádiz: Universidad de Cádiz.

  Quinn, J. C. 2011. “The Cultures of the Tophet: Identification and Identity in the Phoenician Diaspora.” In Cultural Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean, edited by E. S. Gruen, 388–414. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute.

  Chapter 3

  Birth and Prospects of a Discipline

  Nicholas C. Vella

  Looking at the succession of conferences and publications about the Phoenicians in recent years, it is clear that Phoenician and Punic studies are very much alive. In this brief chapter, I look back at the formative years of the study of the Phoenician and Punic worlds, taking my cue from a paper written fifty years ago by what can arguably be called the most influential scholar in the field during the second half of the twentieth century, Sabatino Moscati. Against the background of Moscati’s work, and in particular the limitations and opportunities given by his field projects, I will then propose eight particular ways in which the field can move forward.

  Sabatino Moscati: Great Inventor of the Phoenicians

  When in 1988 Sabatino Moscati was working on the great and by now proverbial exhibition that was held at Palazzo Grassi on the banks of the Canal Grande in Venice, he was told by the communications officer of his sponsors—the carmaker Fiat (Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino)—that word was going around that Moscati “invented” the Phoenicians and that Giovanni “Gianni” Agnelli (head of Fiat) had produced them for him, like cars on an assembly line (Moscati 1990: 77; figure 3.1). As it happens, there is much truth in this battuta, or quip, even if it may not have been the intention of Fiat’s personnel to see things in the way that I shall be doing here.

  Figure 3.1 Sabatino Moscati with Palazzo Grazzi, Venice, in the background, and Gianni Agnelli (inset).

  Source: Archivio Storico L’Unitá.

  Source: Public.

  That Moscati “invented the Phoenicians” is a truism, insofar as he was responsible—dare I say singlehandedly?—to set the course for Phoenician and Punic studies in Europe between 1963 and 1997, the year he died at the age of seventy-four. I refer specifically to 1963 because that is the year when Moscati read a paper at a gathering of the prestigious Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, of which he was already a member. On that occasion, he spoke about what he called La questione fenicia—a manifesto for Phoenician and Punic studies developed along five axes of investigation: ethnicity; history; religion; art; and language (Moscati 1963). To define his problem—his questione—Moscati took his cue from two factors. The first was the attempt by historians of his time, and those who preceded him, to take the Phoenician story back in time to the beginnings of civilization in the coastal Levant in the second and third millennia bce—a wholly uncalled-for proposition, he argued. The second factor was the uncomfortable historiographic split created between those who suffered from “Phoeniciomania” and
those who tended instead to downplay the role played by the Phoenicians in the history of the Mediterranean. Between these two extremes lay, according to Moscati, the need to define “la natura e la consistenza effettiva della civiltà fenicia”—that is, “the nature and homogeneity of Phoenician culture.” Let me quote from Moscati (in translation):

  Here…we come to the crux of the problem: it is astonishing to observe how essential and fundamental questions are ignored, misunderstood, or taken as already resolved by scholars. Who were effectively the Phoenicians? Which were the distinguishing features and characteristics of their civilization, what were the historical, political, religious and artistic events and qualities that defined and shaped it? Because so far it seems that, the autonomy, the homogeneity of the people and culture have merely been assumed rather than investigated; and yet, these are not problems for that are easily or obviously solved. (Moscati 1963: 485)

  Qui … si tocca l’essenza del problema; e si rimane stupiti osservando come quell che pure è essenziale e basilare rimanga ignorato, frainteso, ovvero aprioristicamente dato per risolto nel corso degli studi. Chi furono, effettivamente, i Fenici? Quali furono gli elementi distintivi e caratteristici della loro civiltà, quali i fatti storici, politici, religiosi ed artistici che la definirono e la condizionarono? Perché finora sembra che l’unità, l’autonomia, la consistenza del popolo e della cultura siano state presupposte piuttosto che indagate: eppure, non sono certo problemi della soluzione ovvia od agevole.

  At the risk of oversimplifying Moscati’s study, we can say that he made a case for the following points:

  1. The Phoenician story really starts in the Near East—the area that roughly goes from Arwad in the north to Acre in the south—in the Iron Age—that is, after 1200 bce.