Mediators and Enablers: The Impact of Phoenicians in Andalusia, Sicily, and Jerusalem

The beginning of the Iron Age in the Mediterranean in the first half of the first millennium BCE is a transition period in many ways. Among others, Phoenician seafarers started their explorations and built a network of trade and communication across the entire Mediterranean Sea and beyond. The present article reviews and discusses the presence of Phoenician people and their impact on the local communities in three different Mediterranean places during the Iron Age, namely the city of Jerusalem in the east, the island of Sicily in the center and the region of Andalusia in the west of the Mediterranean. All three places experienced a cultural and developmental upsurge in the Iron Age, but the involvement of the Phoenicians in these processes was very different. While Jerusalem and Andalusia benefited from two main competencies of the Phoenician people, their craftsmanship and trade abilities, Sicilian communities were largely unaffected by the Phoenician presence on the island. It is argued that this is a direct reflection of the commercial interests of the Phoenicians in these places. Furthermore it becomes obvious that the Phoenicians were not only mediators that connected different parts of the Mediterranean through their extensive network, they also enabled local elites through the provision of foreign and exotic goods to justify and stabilize their authority. This led to the development of complexer political entities and the establishment of a large communication network across the Mediterranean and beyond.