Thirsty seafarers at temple b of kommos: commercial districts and the role of crete in phoenician trading networks in the aegean
- Autores: Judith Muñoz Sogas
- Directores de la Tesis: María Eugenia Aubet Semmler (dir. tes.), Susan Sherratt (codir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universitat Pompeu Fabra ( España ) en 2020
- Idioma: español
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Adolfo J. Domínguez Monedero (presid.), Vyron Antoniadis (secret.), Ayelet Gilboa (voc.)
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: TDX
- Resumen
This PhD thesis aims to understand the role of Crete in the economic exchange between Phoenicians and Greeks in the Aegean during the 1st millennium BC and what the role of temples was. Archaeological materials, as well as literary and historical sources are analysed throughout the thesis, which has been divided in several chapters.
The first part of the thesis focuses on the context and location of Kommos, a coastal settlement in the South of Crete. A brief examination of how winds and sea currents affect its accessibility is also conducted.
The second chapter presents the Temple B from Kommos and its oriental structure, an analysis of the materials found at the site of Kommos, including faience beads and figurines of Egyptian deities, and, in particular, a detailed study of pieces of Phoenician pottery found inside of the temple. Here is suggested that Temple B might have been used not only as a religious space but also as the main structure for a Phoenician “commercial district”.
The third part offers an examination of other Cretan sites such as Knossos, the Idaean Cave and Eleutherna, among other sites and caves in the island. The materials found in there present similarities to the ones previously explored, which help to draw connections with Kommos and make clear some of the inland routes that could have been followed by local and foreign merchants.
In the fourth chapter, the case of Kommos is compared to other Aegean cult structures of similar characteristics, such as the Sanctuary of Apollo in Eretria, the Heraion of Samos, the temple of Kition in Cyprus or the Temple of Vroulia in Southern Rhodes, among other temples. These appear to be not just religious spaces but also places of cultural and economic exchanges, integrated in networks of commercial districts connected by sea routes.
The last part of the thesis belongs to the conclusions, which give a broad idea of how Phoenician presence and trade in Aegean temples would have occurred, as well as how Crete shaped its role within the context of Mediterranean trade routes from the East to the West.
This PhD thesis has been conducted through field work in Crete and Athens, where archaeological artifacts were studied. Data has also been collected through published archaeological reports of the excavations conducted in the other sites examined, following scholars like Shaw, Boardman, Kotsonas, Stampolidis and Sakellarakis for Cretan settlements, and Huber, Verdan, Kyrieleis, Knich and Karaeorghis for other Aegean sites, combining them with theories by Aubet, Sherratt and Bourogiannis, among other researchers.
