In 1928, the bustling city of Cádiz in southern Spain witnessed a remarkable archaeological discovery that added to those already made in previous years. During the foundation work for the Telefónica building, five meters deep, a small bronze and gold figure emerged, soon to be known as the Priest of Cádiz, an extraordinary object now […]
Phoenicians
Posted inArchaeology
The Extraction of Mazarrón II, the Phoenician Ship That Lay Underwater Off the Coast in Southeastern Spain, Is Complete
Mazarrón II, a Phoenician shipwreck found off the coast of Murcia in southeastern Spain, represents a true treasure for maritime archaeology as the most complete ancient vessel discovered in the Mediterranean. This ship, whose structure is in an exceptional state of preservation, offers a unique window into the past, shedding light on the shipbuilding techniques […]
Posted inArchaeology
New findings during the extraction of a Phoenician shipwreck in Spain, the most complete ancient vessel found in the Mediterranean Sea
The much-anticipated start of the extraction of the Phoenician shipwreck located in Mazarrón, Murcia, named Mazarrón 2—currently the most complete ancient ship found in the Mediterranean—has begun with a series of new discoveries that are expanding the horizons of archaeological knowledge regarding maritime trade in antiquity. A specialized team from the University of Valencia (UV), […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology
Punic Tophets Did Not House Sacrifices, They Were Sacred Spaces for Children Who Died of Natural Causes, Researchers Discovered
An international team of researchers has conducted a thorough study of the cremated remains of infants and children found in the tophet of Zita, Tunisia, revealing a complex history of poor health and careful mortuary rituals that challenges previous interpretations of these controversial sacred sites. The study, recently published in the journal Antiquity, focuses on […]
Posted inIron Age Archaeology
Silver production in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula did not stop during the Phoenician crisis of the 6th century BC
The results of a study conducted by an international team of researchers on silver and lead production in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula during the first millennium BC challenge previous theories about the impact of the Phoenician commercial crisis of the 6th century BC on this important economic activity. The study, recently published in the Journal […]
Posted inCulture
The Byblos Syllabary, a 3800-year-old Writing System whose Inscriptions Have yet to Be Deciphered
In 1928 French archaeologist Maurice Dunand began excavating the ancient coastal city of Byblos, located in what is now Lebanon. Byblos was an important Phoenician city whose origin dates back to around 5000 BC and had a long history of trade and cultural exchanges with neighboring civilizations such as Egypt and Mesopotamia. During four excavation […]
Posted inAntiquity
The Story of the Phoenician Sarcophagi of Cádiz and the “Man Who Was Never Thanked”
In 1887, on the occasion of the celebration of the International Maritime Exhibition in Cádiz (Spain), the dismantling of the grounds where it would be located took place at the so-called Punta de la Vaca. In the excavations, a necropolis with several Phoenician-Punic burials was discovered, about five meters deep, whose grave goods disappeared at […]
Posted inAntiquity, Culture
How the Karatepe bilingual inscription from the 8th century B.C. led to the decipherment of Anatolian hieroglyphs
Just as the Rosetta Stone was fundamental in the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs, other writing systems followed a similar process, sometimes more rugged and convoluted. Some contributed in part to the decipherment of the Anatolian hieroglyphs, in a sort of curious domino effect. In 1694, the Cippi of Melqart, two pedestals bearing bilingual inscriptions, in […]
Posted inAntiquity
How a fourth-century bishop preserved the most extensive text on Phoenician religion that has survived to this day
It is shocking that from the people who invented the alphabet and by extension taught the world to write, the Phoenicians, nothing of their literature has reached us except three fragments of papyrus. It is true that some 10,000 inscriptions in stone and fragments of ceramics are preserved, but no literary, historical or other work […]
Posted inAntiquity, History
The Egyptian-Phoenician expedition that circumnavigated Africa more than 2,500 years ago
The fact that the African continent was for the most part an unknown place until the second half of the 19th century does not mean that it did not gather several exploratory missions attempting to unravel its mysteries. And not only in Contemporary Age because the list of them goes back to Antiquity. For instance, […]
