Phoenicians and Cypriots in the North? Objects, People and Networks in the Northern Aegean Area in the Geometric and Archaic Periods

by Dr. Petya Ilieva

Institute of Balkan Studies and Center for Thracology

on Thursday, June 10, 2021
at
8 pm Sofia, Bulgaria (EЕT)
6 pm London, UK (GMT)
1 pm New York (EDT)

You can now watch the lecture online in the gallery bellow.

The Northern Aegean is rarely considered in discussions of the Late Bronze Age – Early Iron Age patterns of interaction between the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean and if so, it is usually mentioned in the context of the Phoenician pursuit of metals. The still very limited amount of objects of Cypriot and Levantine origin or associations and their patchy distribution in the Northern Aegean and even further north, restricts the feasibility of a systematic approach and renders any conclusion preliminary. On the other side, Homer and Herodotus vividly described Phoenician activities in the Northern Aegean.

The stark contrast between written testimonies and the archaeological record has challenged generations of scholars. However, a growing body of archaeological evidence from the Northern Aegean and the Eastern Balkans offers new scholarly perspectives. A nuanced approach, taking into consideration the scarce LBA objects of Cypriot origin, as well as the nature of the later, Late Geometric and Archaic sea-borne networks linking the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, may prove instrumental in assessing the place of the Northern Aegean evidence in the interactions with the Eastern Mediterranean.