An important phase in the prehistory of Sardinia was the arrival of Phoenician merchants to the island. How, and more important when, is subject of archaeological research and discussion, but also a controversial point for historians studying the work of ancient writers. When did the Phoenicians exactly set foot on Sardinian soil? What they found was a mainly tribal culture of chiefdoms reigning in their respective lands, called commonly the nuraghe-culture. Sardinia was not unknown country to the merchants.

The development of Phoenician trade

During the Bronze-age there were already contacts between Sardinia and the Eastern Mediterranean. Mycenean ceramics have been found on Sardinia and proove there was contact ¹. After 1200 BC, with the Sea-Peoples destabilising the Eastern mediterranean, and the disappearing of the palace-cultures in Mycene and Crete, it were the Cypriot merchants that kept trading, either directly or indirectly, with the western mediterranean. ². It was not until the tenth century BC that Tyrus (ancient Sor) gained in power as a city state based on trade, surpassing her sister cities like Sidon, Sarepta and Byblos (ancient Gebal). Although they are commonly referred to as Phoenicians it is known that the merchants came from the wider Siro-Palestine area. The first signs of expansion of Tyrus are found on Cyprus with the foundation of a colony in Kition (Kittim). From there they expanded westwards through Crete (Kommos) until they reached Spain, the legendary (and biblical) kingdom of Tartessos ³.

Map of the Mediterranean Sea with the most important connections between the Phoenician settlements.

The Phoenicians in the west.

It can be safely stated that the Phoenicians instated in the eighth century BC their first settlements in Sardinia: Tharros, Bithia, Sulcis (Sant'Antioco), Nora and Karalis (Cagliari). They laid the foundation of a trading network in the western Mediterranean; in Spain (Huelva and Gades/Cadiz), Northern Africa (ranging from Utica in Tunis to Lixus in Northern Morocco), Malta, Sicily (Motya, Panormus/Palermo). The main drives for this expansion of the Phoenicians can be found in the lucrative trade of silver they obtained in Spain and wich they sold to the Assyrians but also in luxury goods, produced in their homeland and exchanged with the local chiefs and kings, gaining themselves a position in the local trade networks ⁴. Therefore settlements like Sulcis, Pithekoussai (Ischia) and Motya are often called "ports of trade" or "ports of call", where not only Phoenicians, but also Greek merchants (Euboians) actively engaged themselves in trading ⁵. This Phoenician expansion coincided with the colonisation by the Greeks of Southern-Italy and Sicily (Magna-Graecia), although the main difference is that the Phoenicians were not after land possession but maintained peaceful relations with the local people. ⁶.

Phoenician settlements in Sardinia

The most important evidence of settlement, and foundation of the city, comes from the open-air sanctuaries (dedicated to Astarte), that have been excavated in Tharros, Nora, Sulcis, and that have been found also in Motya (Sicily), Carthage (Tunis). These open air sanctuaries are called tophet deriving from a hebrew word used in the bible where it indicated a similar open-air sanctuary. The sanctuary was used to deposit the urns with ashes of sacrifices, usually animals and also children. In later times votive stele's were also deposited along with the urns (or as a substitute sacrifice). Through the ashes a date could be found (eight century BC) for the oldest deposits and this has been seen as proof of the earliest presence of the Phoenicians. ⁷.

Another important indicator of a foundation was the presence of a temple dedicated to Melqart, the god of the city of Tyrus. A temple of Melqart has been found near Gades (Cadiz). Other temples are those dedicated to Astarte, the Cypriotic goddess 8. Astarte has been identified with Aphrodite by the Greeks.

There are not many remains of Phoenician buildings on Sardinia. For the largest part the Phoenician remains are artefacts or statuettes and these are exposed in the various museums. In this respect the stone of Nora is the most important finding. It contains an inscriptions with the name of the island in Phoenician (SRDN) and it has been dated to the ninth century BC. It can be seen now in the Archeological Museum of Cagliari ⁹. The only remains of the Phoenician presence are the tophet of Tharros and Sulcis (Sant'Antioco).

Notes:

¹ Markoe 2000, p.21, 177
² Mathäus 2000, p. 48-49; Sherratt & Sherratt 1993, p.364-365
³ Sherratt & Sherratt 1993, p.364; Karageorghis 1999, p.186-189; Aubet 1993, p.42 e.v.; Markoe 2000, p.173; Niemeyer 1989, p.20
⁴ Markoe 2000, p.180; Sherratt & Sherratt 1993, p. 363; Mathäeus 2000, p. 56-57; Frankenstein 1979, p. 280-283
⁵ Sherratt & Sherratt 1993, p. 368; Markoe 2000, p. 179; Frankenstein 1979, p. 278; Coldstream , p.263-264; Buchner , p.279; Botto 1989, p.235,241
⁶ Markoe 2000, p. 177
⁷ Aubet 1993, p. 216,217;Markoe 2000, p. 132, 136
⁸ Markoe 2000, p. 89, 130, 139; Röllig 1979, p. 20; Niemeyer 1989, p. 7 e.v.
⁹ Guzzo Amadasi 1967, p. 83 a footnote on the date of the stele of Nora found in 1773 at Nora

Bibliography

1. Aubet, M.E. 1993: The Phoenicians and the West. Politics, Colonies and Trade, Cambridge [first published in Spanish, 1987]
2. Botto, M. 1989: Considerazioni sul commercio fenicio nel tirreno nell'VIII e nel VII secolo a. C., in: Istituto Universitario Orientale Annali Archeologia e Storia Antica XI, Napoli
3. Buchner, G. 1979: Die Beziehungen zwischen der euboïschen kolonie Pithekoussai auf die Insel Ischia und dem nordwestsemitischen Mittelmeerraum in der Zweiten Hälfte des 8. Jhr v. Chr., in: ed. H.G. Niemeyer, Phönizier im Westen, Köln, p. 277-298
4. Coldstream, J.N. 1979: Greeks and Phoenicians in the Aegean, in: ed. H.G. Niemeyer, Phönizier im Westen, Köln, p. 261-272
5. Frankenstein, S. 1979: The Phoenicians in the far west. A function of Neo-Assyrian imperialism, in: ed. M.T. Larsen, Power and Propaganda. A symposion on ancient empires, Copenhagen
6. Guzzo Amadasi, M.G. 1967: Le iscrizioni fenicie e puniche delle colonie in occidente, Roma
7. Karageorghis, V. 1999: Cyprus, in: The Phoenicians, ed. S. Moscati [first published on the occasion of the exhibition The Phoenicians at the Palazzo Grassi Venice 1988], New York, pp. 185-198
8. Markoe, G.E. 2000, Peoples of the past Phoenicians, London
9. Matthäus, H. 2000: Die Rolle Zyperns und Sardiniens im Mittelmeerischen interaktionsprozess während der Späten Zweiten und Frühen ersten Jahrtausends v. Chr., in: Der Orient und Etrurien, Roma
10. Niemeyer, H-G 1989: Das frühe Karthago und die phönizische Expansion im Mittelmeerraum, Als öffentlicher Vortrag der Joachim Jungius-Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften gehalten am 31. Mai 1988 in Hamburg, Göttingen
11. Röllig, W. 1979: Die Phönizier des Mutterlandes zur Zeit der Kolonisierung, in: ed. H.G. Niemeyer, Phönizier im Westen, Köln, p. 15-28
12. Sherratt, A.G. & E.S. Sherratt 1993: The growth of the Mediterranean economy in the early first millenium B.C., in: World Archeaology 24, p. 361-378

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Index Sardinia

Sardinia, an introduction Prehistoric Sardinia The Sardinian bronze age: the nuraghi The Phoenicians on Sardinia Sardinia under Punic rule From the Kingdom of Sardinia to the present Sardinian culture: Oristano The natural environment on Sardinia The natural environment: southwest Sardinia Travelling information for Sardinia