Phoenician inscription recovered in IAA underwater survey

PHOENICIAN WATCH: “… Of the Sidonian[s]”: a Persian period inscription on a Phoenician amphora found underwater near Tel Achziv, Israel (Christopher A. Rollston, Jacob Sharvit, Meir Edrey, Paula Waiman-Barak, Assaf Yasur-Landau). Published (open access) in CARMEL: Studies in Archaeological Sciences and Conservation.

Abstract
This is the first publication of Persian period pottery found underwater near Tel Achziv, including a Phoenician amphora bearing a two-line inscription containing the phrase “of the Sidonian[s]”. The petrographic analysis of this amphora indicates an origin in the Lebanese coast between Tyre and Sidon. These finds may reflect a maritime itinerary along the Phoenician coast between Sidon, “a city with an enclosed harbor”, and Achzib, a city “with a river”, as mentioned in the 4th-century BCE Periplous of Pseudo-Skylax.

The inscription itself is unremarkable, but it is "the first Phoenician alphabetic inscription found underwater in Israel." Also, the possible connection with the Shavei Ẓion (Shavei Zion) finds is intruiguing. For more on the latter, see here, here, and here.

Cross-file under Marine (Maritime, Underwater) Archaeology and Northwest Semitic Epigraphy.

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