"An important new book... offers a powerful appeal to historians of the ancient Mediterranean to examine their inherent biases in writing ancient history and provides an example of how more inclusive histories can be written." — Denise Demetriou, New England Classical Journal

"With a light touch and remarkable mastery of the literature, Lopez-Ruiz replaces old ideas with a subtle and more accurate reference to the extensive patterns of intercultural exchange and the economy that drives the Phoenician trade networks that 'reorganized' the Mediterranean world. Worth reading." — J. G. Manning, author of The Open Sea

"[An] essential and significant contribution... to the ancient history of the Mediterranean. Lopez-Ruiz's work recognizes the role of the Phoenicians in shaping Mediterranean culture by providing rational and documented arguments and restoring the truth." — Hélène Sader, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Imagine you are a traveler sailing to the main cities around the Mediterranean in 750 BC. You would notice a remarkable similarity in clothing, alphabet, consumer goods, and gods from Gibraltar to Tyre. It was not the Greek world — it was the Phoenician. Propelled by technological developments not seen since the Neolithic revolution, the Phoenicians integrated different Mediterranean societies, promoting a cosmopolitan and sophisticated urban elite that shared common cultural, economic, and aesthetic perceptions.

Following the Phoenicians from the Levant to the Atlantic coast of Iberia, Carolina Lopez-Ruiz offers the first comprehensive study of the cultural exchange that transformed the Mediterranean in the eighth and seventh centuries BC. The Greeks, Etruscans, Sardinians, Iberians, and others adopted a lifestyle influenced by the Levant, aspiring to emulate the culture of the Near East. Lopez-Ruiz explores these many legacies, from sphinxes and priestly statues to ivory, metalwork, volute capitals, inscriptions, and iconography of Astarte.

With careful documentation and bold argumentation, Phoenicians and the Making of the Mediterranean revises the Greek-centered model of the ancient world and restores the true role of Near Eastern societies in the history of early civilizations from doubt.

Pages: 440, Publication Year: 0708, Dimensions: 15.6x15.6cm