An overview of iron age harbours in the levant with a focus on Tyre and Sidon : literacy evidence, iconographic sources and scientific research

Abstract

The aim of this research is to provide a picture of the Iron Age harbours of the Levant (Figure 2), focusing on Tyre and Sidon, two of the main harbours during that time. For the purpose of this dissertation, the term Levant refers to the eastern Mediterranean coast affecting modern day Syria, Lebanon and Israel (Figure 1). The time frame under study - tile Iron Age - is the period between the end of the Late Bronze Age, around 1200 BC, and the destruction of the first temple of Jerusalem in 586 BC (Figure 3), in accordance with the timeline given by Mazar. However, the research also includes the Persian period, up to 332 BC, which demarcates the end of the Persian rule in Phoenicia and the dawn of the Hellenistic period. The reason behind this is that a number of authors' descriptions of the maritime activities and the harbours of Tyre during the siege by the Macedonians in 332 BC, which descriptions are imperative to this research.