The Balkan Heritage Foundation and the Department of Archaeology at New Bulgarian University

are pleased to invite you to the latest of our

BEMA Online Seminars in Balkan and Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology

Phoenicians and Cypriots in the North?

Objects, People and Networks in the North 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 1 pm New York (EDT), 6 pm London, UK (GMT),  8 pm Sofia, Bulgaria (EET)

The event will last approximately 90 mins including Q&A.
To register your interest and receive a Zoom link, please RSVP to bhfs.admissions@gmail.com

(Please do check your spam/junk inbox if you do not receive a confirmation email within a day.)

The Northern Aegean is rarely considered in discussions of the EIA 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 archaeological record has challenged generations of scholars. However, a growing body of archaeological evidence from the Northern Aegean 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.