Greek commodities in Phoenicia: an interdisciplinary study of imported amphorae from Tell el-Burak (Lebanon)

Abstract

This paper examines transport amphorae of Greek/Aegean types from the 7th–4th c. BCE imported to the Phoenician coastal settlement of Tell el-Burak, Lebanon. We present a selection of 58 pieces analyzed by typological, chemical (NAA), and petrographic approaches. These approaches complement each other to suggest provenances and thus reveal complex interregional connections: the Phoenician homeland apparently imported not only finewares but also commodities from various areas in the Eastern Aegean. Multiple sites and/or workshops supplied vessels of the same types, reaching the same targets. Surprisingly, some imitative workshops on Cyprus and producers on the Greek mainland may have been part of the same networks.