From the Seabed, Figures of an Ancient Cult [Phoenician]

ASUH ^ | September 1, 2020 | Joshua Rapp Learn | New York Times

[SunkenCiv]

In 1972, in one of the early finds of marine archaeology, researchers discovered a trove of clay figurines on the seabed off the coast of Israel. The figurines -- hundreds of them, accompanied by ceramic jars -- were assumed to be the remains of a Phoenician shipwreck that had rested under the Mediterranean for 2,500 years.

The artifacts were never fully analyzed in a scientific study, and were filed away and mostly forgotten for decades. But a new analysis by Meir Edrey, an archaeologist at the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies at the University of Haifa in Israel, and his colleagues indicates that the items were not deposited all at once in a wreck. Rather, they accumulated over roughly 400 years, between the 7th and 3rd centuries B.C., in a series of votive offerings, as part of a cult devoted to seafaring and fertility...

In the 1970s, a number of the Phoenician figurines began turning up on the illicit antiquities market. Researchers at the time tracked down the vendor and persuaded him to reveal the source; the details led to the discovery of hundreds of figurines and amphorae, or clay jars, at a site called Shavei Zion, off the coast of western Galilee.

The items were ascribed to a shipwreck dating to the 6th century B.C.

But Dr. Edrey's team examined thousands of pottery shards and found they were quite different in style. Such variation typically indicates that pots come from different time periods, suggesting the site was not the result of a single event...

She noted that the loose jumble of amphorae at Shavei Zion contrasted with that of shipwrecks found off the Maltese coast, which have similar-looking pots laid out in an orderly fashion.

[SunkenCiv]

A trove of Phoenician artifacts was long ascribed to a single shipwreck. More likely they were tossed overboard, and over centuries, a new study suggests.

[SunkenCiv]

[ClearCase_guy]

“I cannot think of the deep sea without shuddering at the nameless things that may at this very moment be crawling and floundering on its slimy bed...” ― H.P. Lovecraft, Dagon

[null and void]

“If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?”

Let’s ask TontoKowalski...

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I was just thinking of Dagon when I read this thread.

[SunkenCiv]

The rest of the Phoenician/Phoenicians keywords, duplicates out, chrono:

• Phoenician ship completes Atlantic voyage [crew is pretty old now] [2020]
• Archaeologists discover Phoenician family tomb in ancient city of Achziv [2020]
• Statue of ancient god of child sacrifice put on display in Rome [2019]
• Tartessian, Europe's newest and oldest Celtic language [2019]
• A Phoenician Fortress in Oklahoma? [2019]
• 3,600-yr-old Shipwreck Uncovered Could be Oldest Ever Found in the Mediterranean [Antalya, Turkey] [2019]
• Lead isotopes in silver reveal earliest Phoenician quest for metals in the west Mediterranean [2019]
• Sicily The Wonder of the Mediterranean 1 [2019]
• Origin of Mysterious 2,700-Year-Old Gold Treasure Revealed [2018]
• [tr]...proto-Sinaitic inscriptions found along the coast of Uruguay [2018]
• Ancient Phoenician DNA from Sardinia, Lebanon reflects settlement, integration, mobility [2018]
• 'Indiana Joan', 95, is accused of looting $1MILLION in ancient artefacts from Egypt and the ME [2017]
• Down in the valley, up on the ridge [2016]
• DNA Captured From 2,500-Year-Old Phoenician [2016]
• Easy as Alep, Bet, Gimel? Cambridge research explores social context of ancient writing [2016]
• Excavations at Idalion, Cyprus: Crossing Cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean [April 6, 2016] [2016]
• The Earliest Known Abecedary [2015]
• The Lowly Amphora (and ancient contact across the oceans) [2015]
• Two Underrated Peoples [2015]
• Two Underrated Peoples [2015]
• Archaeologists discover secret room in ancient Sidon temple [Phoenicians] [2015]
• The Voyage of Hanno [The Periplus of Hanno] [2015]
• Archaeologists excavate Roman and Punic city in Tunisia [forum, child sacrifice precinct] [2015]
• Shipwreck off Malta yields 700 B.C. cargo; some of oldest finds of Phoenician times ever [2014]
• Phoenician Artifacts Recovered Off Coast of Malta [2014]
• Archaeologists Uncover Ancient Punic Vessels in Balearic Islands [2014]
• Phoenician colony in southeast Spain re-examined [2014]
• 3,000-year-old shipwreck shows European trade was thriving in Bronze Age [2013]
• Abandoned Anchors From Punic Wars Found Near Sicily [2013]
• French wine 'has Italian origins' [Etruscans] [2013]
• Ancient Ivory: Metal traces on Phoenician artifacts show long-gone paint and gold [2013]
• The Children of Hannibal (MICHAEL J. TOTTEN) [2012]
• Carthage: Ancient Phoenician City-State [2012]
• Archaeological report: Razed ruins not Phoenician port [2012]
• Archaeologists Excavate Ancient Phoenician Port City [ Tel Achziv ] [2012]
• Rare Cuneiform Script Found on Island of Malta [2011]
• Bulgarian Archaeology Finds Said to Rewrite History of Black Sea Sailing [2011]
• Sunken Treasure Found in the Seas Of Sicily [2011]
• Carthaginian temples found -- Azores [2011]
• Who Invented the Alphabet: The Semites or the Greeks? [2011]
• Canadian scientists using ancient coins to map trading routes [2010]
• Ancient tombs discovered on school construction site [2010]
• Replica Phoenician ship ends round-Africa journey (Video) [2010]
• Ancient Shipwreck Points to Site of Major Roman Battle [2010]
• Syrian Archaeologists: Discovery of Cemetery Building Casts Light on Phoenician Religious Traditions [2010]
• Afro-Asiatic languages -- U of MT -- Mansfield Library Language Finger [2010]
• Diggers discover Phoenician army complex in Cyprus [ Trojan War connection ] [2010]
• Hannibal's real Alpine trunk road to Rome is revealed [2010]
• Two-and-a-Half Millennia Don't Change Much [2010]
• Treasure Found Off La Manga [ Phoenician treasure ship ] [2010]
• Phoenician remains found at Málaga airport [2009]
• Berlusconi escort tape may spark antiquities probe [ Phoenician tombs? ] [2009]
• Business Models in Antiquity [2009]
• Ancient Greece's 'global warming' [2009]
• Lebanese are Phoenicians After All; And so Are Many of the Rest of US [2008]
• Ancient Mass Graves of Soldiers, Babies Found in Italy [ Himera battled Carthage ] [2008]
• Rare Lead Bars Discovered Off The Coast Of Ibiza May Be Carthaginian Munitions [2008]
• Lebanon finds 2,900 year old Phoenician remains [2008]
• French dig exposes underside of Tyre [2008]
• Phoenicians Left Deep Genetic Mark, Study Shows [2008]
• Port of 'second Carthage' found [ Tharros / Sardinia ] [2008]
• Phoenician site agreement [ Spain ] [2008]
• 4,000-year-old Canaanite warrior found in Sidon dig[Lebanon] [2008]
• Rubbish Threatens Tuvixeduu Necropolis (Ancient Ruins - Sardinia) [2008]
• Sailor to recreate Phoenicians' epic African voyage [2008]
• Major Archeological Discovery of Necropolis in Sousse Sheds Light on Punic Life in... 4th century BC [2008]
• In Lebanon, DNA may yet heal rifts [2007]
• Sardinia's Phoenician Settlement [2007]
• Major Quake Likely In Middle East, Survey Finds [2007]
• Book lays out how Portuguese found Australia [2007]
• Captain Cook Is Scuppered By Book [2007]
• There They Go Again, Those Arab Racists [2006]
• Phoenician Tombs Found In Sicily [2006]
• Lebanese Expatriates Condemn Syria, Iran; and Praise Israel [2006]
• Archaeologists discover remains of Phoenician city [2006]
• Archaeologists Discover Remains Of Phoenician City (800BC) [2006]
• Ancient Volcano, Seeds And Treerings, Suggest Rewriting Late Bronze Age Mediterranean History (More) [2006]
• The Marsala Punic Warship [2006]
• Old Egypt investigator identifies to mysterious Hyksos kings [sic] [2006]
• Phoenician City Not Destroyed [2006]
• Phoenician Temple Found In Sicily [2006]
• Ancient Harbors Rise Again [2006]
• Long-lost Phoenician ports found: Old Mediterranean harbours discovered buried under modern cities [2006]
• Geoscience Rediscovers Phoenicia's Buried Harbors [2006]
• Research On Ancient Writing Linked With Modern Mideast Conflict [2005]
• Israelite Alphabet May Have Been Found [2005]
• No making cents of a coinfusion ('Mahogany Ship' coin not Phoenician?) [2005]
• In the Wake of the Phoenicians: DNA study reveals a Phoenician-Maltese link [2005]
• Sacred Precincts: A Tartessian Sanctuary in Ancient Spain [2004]
• Quest for the Phoenicians (National Geographic special) [2004]
• Phoenicians: Ancient Mariners [2004]
• Herodotus' History [2004]
• So How Far Did The Phoenicians Really Go In The Region? [2004]
• 'I'm not Arab, I'm Phoenician'- a common phrase, but flawed concept [2004]
• ANCIENT PHONICIAN-HEBREW VOWELS [2003]
• THE HISTORY OF HERODOTUS [2003]
• Supermarket molluscs reveal Roman secret [2003]
• Archaeologists Unearth Tyre's Phoenician Roots [2002]
• Ancient Warrior Grave Unearthed In Lebanese Port (Sidon) [2002]
• Team hopes to unlock mysteries of Cameroon's granite strongholds! [2002]
• Who Really Discovered America? [2002]
• A new day surfaces for deep sea archaeology [2002]
• Ancient Vessel Traces Voyages Of The Past [2002]
• Archaeologists Rewrite Timeline Of Bronze And Iron Ages, Alphabet [2001]

[Ken H]

[Piranha]

Interesting. Some time when I have several hours of unstructured time I’d like to go back to these articles that you compiled and read about the Phoenician ruins that have been found.

[wildbill]

So we’re supposed to ascribe to their new theory of how this loose jumble of figures were the result of lots of sailors throwing them overboard during several centuries at this exact spot in the Med sea???

I grant that Phoenicians were great mariners, but that would be beyond their abilities unless the spot was marked in some way like near a reef or something physical which the archeologists don’t mention in their article

I don’t buy it. Every archeologist wants to find something that has an unknown origin and devine a “new” theory that will make him famous in their fraternity.

[SunkenCiv]

...the loose jumble of amphorae at Shavei Zion contrasted with that of shipwrecks found off the Maltese coast, which have similar-looking pots laid out in an orderly fashion.

That's from the article, but there's nothing in there about 'this exact spot'.

[wildbill]

/the exact spot is somewhat exaggerated, perhaps but the article stated they were found together in a jumble and I’d say that qualifies as an exact spot in a sea the size of the Med.

[SunkenCiv]

It would be very surprising if this discovery doesn't lead to more finds, since it is now realized that these must be all over the place down there. The earlier perception kept anyone from thinking about that. The floor of the Mediterranean is probably littered with thousands of these from widely spaced time periods. See?