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[German version] The CP is an ornament of Assyrian origin imitating a palm leaf, which is used in Phoenician art, either in the form of a simple leaf, or with bunches of fruit (dates or grapes) and with stems both as a symbol of individual - sacred - plants, trees and bushes and on floral friezes or as a decorative filler motif, often in combination with ornamental lotus flowers. Tree of Life; Ornaments Briese, Christoph (Randers)

[German version] The term faience describes earthenware with a coating of pewter glaze that looks like porcelain and was produced for the first time in Spain in the 13th cent. AD and traded via Mallorca ( Majolica), although it got its name from earthenware manufactured from the 16th cent. onwards in northern Italian Faenza that borrowed from Chinese porcelain. In the archaeological literature faience is a common but incorrect term for a glass-like, silicated, glazed or unglazed product of chalky to sandy consistency (hence more accurately termed silic…

[German version] Representations of the Phoenician TL (also 'Sacred Tree'), whose significance and iconographic origin must be sought in Assyrian religion (magic reliefs, Nimrud), are an important symbol, a picture of fertility in need of protection and therefore an almost ubiquitous element of the religious and profane world view of the Phoenicians. Considerably stylized in various ways, it is usually represented, in ceaselessly novel combinations, series and abridgments of particular elements, a…

[German version] The use of the shells of ostrich eggs as containers or basic materials for other artefacts was based on a very old Oriental tradition, which, in Egyptian, Syrian and Mesopotamian lands, dated back to the Bronze Age or even the Neolithic. As a symbol of the generation and endurance of life, these objects were connected with many magical and religious beliefs, and this, along with their fragility and their limited availability (geographical range limited to Syria, Egypt, the Maghreb…

[English version] Der Begriff F. bezeichnet eine Irdenware mit deckender Zinnglasur porzellanähnlichen Aussehens, die im 13. Jh. n.Chr. erstmals in Spanien produziert und über Mallorca verhandelt wurde ( Majolica), ihren Namen jedoch von einer seit dem 16. Jh. in Anlehnung an chinesisches Porzellan im nordit. Faenza hergestellten Irdenware bekam. In der arch. Lit. ist F. ein gebräuchlicher, aber unkorrekter Begriff für ein glasähnliches, silikatisches, glasiertes oder unglasiertes Produkt kreidiger bis sandiger Konsistenz (daher zutreffender…

[English version] Darstellungen des phöniz. L. (auch “Heiliger Baum”), dessen Bed. und ikonographischer Ursprung in der assyr. Rel. (magische Reliefs, Nimrud) verborgen liegen, sind ein wichtiges Symbol, ein Bild der schutzbedürftigen Fruchtbarkeit und deshalb ein nahezu allgegenwärtiges Element der rel. und profanen Bildwelt der Phönizier. Unterschiedlich stark stilisiert wird in unablässig neuen Kombinationen, Serien oder Verkürzungen bestimmter Elemente zumeist eine Palme dargestellt. Sie beste…

(Cyprus) [German version] [1] [German version] I. Neolithic I (Khirokitia culture, c. 7000-6000 BC) and II (Sotira culture, 4500-3900 BC) The settlement of K. (for the history see also Cyprus II) began relatively late and differed significantly from that of the neighbouring regions Anatolia, Syria, and Palestine. While small groups of hunter-gatherers there gradually became settled farmers around 9000/8000 BC, the earliest inhabitants of the island of K. were, from the beginning, farmers, herders, hunters, and fis…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt Due to the lack of original finds from most regions of the ancient Orient, little can be said about shipbuilding, except for Egypt. The fact that many Syrians were employed in Egyptian shipyards and that a ship (from around 1300 BC) found at Ulu Burun, Turkey was built in the same technique as Egyptian ships indicates that a uniform shipbuilding technique was used throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Here, wooden planks were placed in the desired position w…

I. General information [German version] A. Definition The term colonization is used to refer to several waves of settlement movements in the area around the Mediterranean in the period from the 11th cent. BC up to the Roman imperial era, which significantly alter the settlement geography of the Mediterranean world and have a decisive and lasting effect on the course of ancient history. In general the term colonization is not used to refer to the immigration in the 3rd and 2nd millenia of Indo-European …

I. Allgemein [English version] A. Definition Im Begriff K. werden mehrere Wellen von Siedlungsbewegungen im Mittelmeerraum in der Zeit vom 11. Jh. v.Chr. bis in die röm. Kaiserzeit zusammengefaßt, die das siedlungsgeogr. Bild der Mittelmeerwelt erheblich verändern und den Verlauf der ant. Gesch. entscheidend und dauerhaft bestimmen. Allgemein nicht als K. bezeichnet werden die im 3./2. Jt. erfolgte Einwanderung indo-europäischer Stämme in Kleinasien, Griechenland und Italien sowie die Verbreitung mino…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient (Egypt, South-West Asia, India) Archaeologically attested since the Neolithic and documented since the 3rd millennium BC, long-distance or overland commerce -- as opposed to exchange and allocation of goods on a local level according to daily needs -- was founded on the necessity for ensuring the supply of so-called strategic goods (metal, building timber) not available domestically, as well as on the demand for luxury and prestige goods, or the materials required for producing them. In historical times, the organization of commerce was a…

[English version] I. Alter Orient (Ägypten, Vorderasien, Indien) Fern- oder Überland-H. - im Gegensatz zu Austausch und Allokation von Gütern des tägl. Bedarfs auf lokaler Ebene -, im Alten Orient arch. seit dem Neolithikum, in Texten seit dem 3. Jt. v.Chr. belegt, beruhte auf der Notwendigkeit, die Versorgung mit sog. strategischen Gütern (Metallen, Bauholz) sicherzustellen, die im eigenen Territorium nicht vorhanden waren, sowie auf dem Bedürfnis nach Luxus- und Prestigegütern bzw. den dafür benötigten Materialien. In histor. Zeit lag die Organisation des H. in der …