Early Greece. Oswyn Murray

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      Short-haul trading was never an activity of high social status; in a land famed for its seamanship, Odysseus is insulted by a Phaeacian nobleman: ‘you seem like one who travels with a well-benched ship, a master of sailors that are merchantmen, a man mindful of his cargo, watching his route and the gains he has snatched: you look no athlete’ (Odyssey 8.159ff). Hesiod’s instructions on seafaring (Works and Days 617–94) are mainly concerned with when and why not to go to sea: his gloomy view of trade is based on his father’s experience, and reflects the small profits and comparatively high risks involved in such Aegean trading.

      But this was not the only form of trade. Most attempts to assess the role of trade in the earliest period misunderstand it because they fail to distinguish between local and long distance trade; they assume a model of trade which is in fact only appropriate in the more developed economic conditions of the late archaic and classical periods, when bulk trade in commodities had developed. Because this was increasingly carried on by professional merchants, and because the quantity of trade earlier (and hence its strictly economic effect) must have been slight, there is a tendency to underestimate the importance of trade in early Greece both as a political factor and as a catalyst of social and cultural change.

      It was the aristocracy who must have given the initial impetus to wider exploration beyond the Aegean, by creating a demand for two commodities. The first was metals, and especially crude iron from which to manufacture their increasingly complex weapons and armour; the goddess Athene, visiting Ithaca in disguise, claims to be an aristocrat, ruler of the oar-loving Taphians, on a voyage carrying shining iron to Temesa in exchange for copper (Odyssey 1.180ff). The second requirement of an increasingly prosperous aristocracy was for the finished luxury goods which their competitive life style demanded and which were often beyond the skills of Greek craftsmen. It was in these two spheres that the high risks of long distance trade were offset by high profits; and one area which could clearly supply both needs was the near east.

      The earliest Greek contacts were with the Canaanites of the Levantine coast, a people known to the Greeks as Phaenicians, probably because of their monopoly of the only colour-fast dye in antiquity, the purple (phoinix) extract from the murex shellfish. The coastal cities of Phoenicia controlled the great pine and cedar forests of the Lebanon, the chief source of timber for Egypt, as for King Solomon; they had long owed their prosperity to this and to their position as middlemen between Mesopotamia and Egypt. The collapse of Hittite and Egyptian power in the early Dark Age left them independent; and even after Assyrian expansion began in the ninth century, their position was little affected: the navies of Sidon, Tyre and Byblos controlled the south and eastern Mediterranean seaways for themselves or as Persian vassals until the conquests of Alexander the Great.

      Phoenician culture was urban: the cities were usually independent of each other, and built on heavily fortified coastal islands or headlands. Their art shows the typical characteristics of a trading civilization: eclecticism in forms and motifs from Mesopotamia and especially Egypt, mass production, and a concentration of craftsmanship on small easily transported objects in precious materials such as metal and ivory ; the textiles for which they were famous have not survived. Their prosperity is denounced by the Old Testament prophets; Ezekiel for instance in the sixth century describes the trade of Tyre in detail:

      Tarshish (in Spain) was a source of your commerce, from its abundant resources offering silver and iron, tin and lead, as your staple wares. Javan (Ionia, the Greeks), Tubal (in Cappadocia) and Meshech (Phrygia) dealt with you, offering slaves and vessels of bronze as your imports … Rhodians dealt with you, great islands were a source of your commerce, paying what was due to you in ivory and ebony… Dealers from Sheba (Aden) and Raamah (S. Arabia) dealt with you, offering the choicest spices, every kind of precious stone and gold, as your staple wares. Harran, Kanneh and Eden (in Mesopotamia), dealers from Asshur (Assyria) and all Media, dealt with you; they were your dealers in gorgeous stuffs, violet cloths and brocades, in stores of coloured fabric rolled up and tied with cords; your dealings with them were in these.

      (Ezekiel 27.12–24)

      The Greeks themselves believed that there had been earlier Phoenician settlements both in mainland Greece and the islands, and at the sites of many of their western colonies; the most famous of these stories is that of Kadmos (p. 93). But there is no archaeological evidence for such settlements, and the picture given in the Odyssey seems more plausible. Here the Phoenicians are traders, welcomed if mistrusted by the Greeks; such casual trade can be supported by eastern finds on Greek sites, and can be dated between the tenth and eighth centuries. More permanent contact began in the ninth century when the Phoenicians moved into eastern Cyprus, and founded Kition.

      Many aspects of the culture and development of the Phoenician and Greek cities in this period are so similar that it is not always easy to see which was the innovator; for both were city-state cultures in a stage of rapid expansion, with a similar pattern of settlement in walled coastal sites, and perhaps even similar forms of government. Initially at least contact was friendly. Phoenician culture was technically more advanced, and literate: Phoenician craftsmen may have worked in Greek cities, on Rhodes, Crete and at Athens; and in the north Syrian trading posts Phoenicians and Greeks lived together from the early eighth century. The cultural consequences of this period of collaboration are discussed in the next chapter. The Phoenicians may have been the pioneers in opening up the western Mediterranean to trade, and perhaps in the foundation of colonies there: the traditional foundation date of their greatest colony, Carthage (814/3), is some two or three generations before any Greek venture; though the earliest archaeological evidence is late eighth century. At least it seems that the Phoenicians were responsible for the main technical innovations in naval architecture from the pentekonter to the trireme, and for showing the Greeks the importance and potential both of trade and seapower. But the ultimate result of such interchange was increasing conflict in Cyprus and rivalry for control of the west, which meant the gradual establishment of exclusive spheres of interest in the eastern Mediterranean, and in north Africa, Sicily and Spain, from the seventh century onwards.

      The second phase of Greek contact with the east carne with the establishment of permanent Greek trading posts. It has long been obvious that the great changes in Greek art and culture which took place in the late eighth century were connected with the near east, and that this ‘orientalizing’ movement was only partly due to Phoenician trading or foreign craftsmen; but it used to be thought that the influences carne first to Ionia, whether through trade or overland across Asia Minor. More refined analysis of local pottery styles has shown that Ionian orientalizing is late and derivative; the earliest appearance of the style was in mainland Greece, at Corinth about 725. With recent excavations the routes of diffusion have become clear.

      The excavations of Sir Leonard Woolley from 1936 to 1949 area classic example of the use of archaeology to solve a particular historical problem. He argued that the line of communication between Greece and the east in both the Mycenean and the archaic period must have passed between the Hittite and Egyptian spheres of influence, and therefore up the valley of the Orontes on the borders of Turkey and Syria; in a series of planned excavations he established the detailed history of this trade.

      The Orontes valley was well known to the Myceneans; but there is no sign of Greek presence during the Dark Age, until the establishment shortly before 800 of what rapidly became a major trading post, at Al Mina on the mouth of the river. Unfortunately the town centre and residential quarters were not discovered, so that little can be said of the organization of the settlement: these areas had either been swept away when the river changed course, or had been built separately on higher ground. The excavations revealed the commercial quarter of a large port, with a succession of levels containing warehouses, offices and shops: the later warehouses were substantial single storey buildings of mud brick on stone foundations; they were arranged in blocks of fairly uniform size with a rectangular Street plan, and in some cases there was evidence of specialized trade – particular types of pottery container, a silversmith’s shop, and ivory tusks. There is little doubt that this was the main port for Greek trade СКАЧАТЬ