The Early Phoenicians: An Archaeological Study on their Commercial Activities and Impacts on Neighbouring Regions

• Project/Area Number: 17K13573
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Archaeology
• Research Institution: Tokyo National Museum
• Principal Investigator: Onozuka Takuzo 独立行政法人国立文化財機構東京国立博物館, 学芸研究部, 研究員 (90736167)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2019)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,640,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥840,000); Fiscal Year 2019: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000)
• Keywords: フェニキア / 鉄器時代 / 古代東地中海 / 土器 / 胎土分析 / テル・ゼロール / テル・レヘシュ / 交易 / 文化的接触 / エスニシティ / 青銅器時代 / レヴァント / 地中海

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Tracing the Phoenician footsteps is an important issue to figure out the history of the ancient Mediterranean world. This study focused on the early Iron Age people who would become known as “Phoenicians,” and considered their cultural traits, commercial activities, and impacts on their neighbouring regions, based on previous archaeological studies as well as newly processed finds from Tel Zeror and Tel Rekhesh.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、初期のフェニキア人に関連づけられる文化に多様性があったこと、フェニキア人と近隣地域とのつながりは、当初は限定的であったが、前10世紀以降、特に前8世紀頃に拡大した可能性があることを指摘することができた。
前12世紀以降の地中海東岸地域に「出現」し、その後の歴史に影響を及ぼした諸集団のうち、フェニキア人についての研究はこれまで手薄であった。本研究は、初期のフェニキアの動向について具体的に考察できた点で、学術的に意義のあるものとなった。

Research Products

• [Journal Article] The Excavations at Tel Rekhesh, Israel: The Results of 2013-2017 Seasonss (2020)
  • Author(s): Shuichi Hasegawa, Hidemasa Hashimoto, Hidetoshi Tsumoto, Takuzo Onozuka
  • Journal Title: Proceedings of the 11th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East Volume: Volume 2 Pages: 115-128
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] 聖書考古学の焦点 (2017)
  • Author(s): 津本英利・小野塚拓造
  • Journal Title: 季刊考古学 Volume: 141 Pages: 95-100
• [Presentation] 南レヴァントから見た3.2kaイベントと古代地中海世界の大転換期 (2020)
  • Author(s): 小野塚拓造
  • Organizer: 日本西アジア考古学会 公開シンポジウム「気候変動と古代西アジア－古気候から探る文化・文明の興亡」
  • Invited
• [Presentation] Breaking a Negative Cycle: Ancient Egyptian Collections in Japan and their Future (2019)
  • Author(s): Takuzo Onozuka
  • Organizer: CIPEG Annual Meeting as part of the 25th ICOM General Conference
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Tel Rekhesh during the Late Bronze and the Early Iron Ages and its Historical Context (2019)
  • Author(s): Shuichi Hasegawa and Takuzo Onozuka
  • Organizer: Symposium "The Jezreel Valley in the LB-Iron IIA in context," Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University
  • Invited
• [Presentation] The excavations at Tel Rekhesh, Israel: The results of 2013-2017 seasons (2018)
  • Author(s): S. Hasegawa, H. Hashimoto, H. Tsumoto, and T. Onozuka
  • Organizer: 1th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Takuzo Onozuka and Hisao Kuwabara (2018)
  • Author(s): Tel Rekhesh in the Iron Age I: An Aspect of Iron Age Demography in the Eastern Galilee
  • Organizer: 2018 Annual Meeting, American Schools of Oriental Research
  • Int'l Joint Research