Al mina and changing patterns of trade: The evidence from the eastern mediterranean

Abstract

Despite many years of research on Al Mina, the seventh-century record has not received much attention in past scholarship. This article summarizes it and compares it to the preceding century, providing new statistical information about the quantitative development of Greek imports dating from the eighth to the seventh century. It is argued that Euboean pottery disappeared at Al Mina around 670 BC at the latest, and that this sudden disappearance can be explained through an increase in Ionian wares that ‘pushed’ Euboean imports from the market. It is further suggested that the emergence of Ionian pottery may point to the growing involvement of Ionian cities in overseas trade. Alternatively, this pottery can be seen as a passive indicator of a new trading system that connected the northern Aegean with the Levant via the Ionian cities. The cause of this newly established long-distance trading network could be the expansion of the Assyrian empire, which led to a reduction of Phoenician influence on Cyprus and northern Syria. In addition, it is suggested that the replacement of copper by silver as a main currency in the Assyrian empire during the seventh century led to a growing demand and further resulted in the exploration of new silver sources in the northern Aegean.