Archaic

Greeks

in

the

Orient:

Textual

and

Evidence*
Archaeological
WOLF-DIETRICH

NIEMEIER

Archaologisches Institut
Universitat Heidelberg
69117 Heidelberg
Germany
It is a matter of controversial discussion whether, after the Philistines in Iron Age I,
a second wave ofpeople from the Aegean-Greeks-arrived on the Levantine coast in
the Iron Age IIB-C period. Greek presence at that time has been assumed for a series
of settlements. A systematic investigation of these settlements in regard to criteria for
foreign presence-as imported religion and cult, burial customs, settlement layout,
architecture, and kitchen-does not provide convincing evidence for resident Greek
civilians in the Levant before the second half of the seventh century B.C. when Greek
merchants apparently lived in some of the harbor cities. More clearly, textual, iconographic, and archaeological evidence discussed in this paper indicates the presence of
Greek mercenaries from the eighth century B.c. on. These mercenaries were not common men but members of the elite driven out of their homeland. On their return, they
transferredforeign ideas and concepts and thus were mediators in the continuing Oriental influx to Greece.

studied in a seminal work the Aegean backgroundof

the
Philistines (Dothan 1982),2 she demonstrated
THE PHILISTINES
with the results of her excavations at Tel Miqnewas a great honor for me to be in Jerusalem Ekron that the Philistines settling in Iron Age I in
in January 1999 as the first Annual Trude Do- Canaan were people from the Aegean who had arthan Lecturer of the Dorot Foundation. It ap- rived via Cyprus (Dothan 1995).3
pears well fitting to dedicate this paper, one of the
Emigrants usually transfer to the new homeland
two lectures held in Jerusalem, to Trude Dothan, their religion and cult, their burial customs, their
since the connections between the littoral of the Le- eating and drinking manners, as well as technovant and the Aegean have always been one of her logical features as, for instance, loomweights (cf.
main fields of interest, and it was she who Hagg and Marinatos 1984: 221). As to the burial
demonstratedthat the Philistines who arrived in the customs of the Philistines, as yet we have no direct
southern Levant soon after 1200 B.C.and carved out information since no early cemeteries have been exa major piece of territoryfor themselves in southern cavated in the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod,
Canaan at the expense of the Canaanites were the and Ekron (Singer 1994: 302). A Philistine identifirst "Greeks" settling in the Orient.1 After having fication of Cemeteries 500 and 900 at Tell-FarCah
(S.), the chamber tombs of which are of Aegean
* This article is the revised version of a lecture deliv- origin according to Waldbaum (1966),4 is doubtful
THE FIRST GREEKS

IN THE ORIENT:

It

ered at the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research

in Jerusalem in March 1999, when the author was the
first Trude Dothan Lecturer in Ancient Near Eastern
Studies. This series, which also includes lectures at AlQuds and Hebrew Universities, was sponsored by the
Albright Institute and endowed by the Dorot Foundation.
1See the recent summary by Stager (1995: 342-48,

fig. 2).

2A revised, expanded,and updatedtranslationof a

workpublishedin 1967 in Hebrew.On the historyof researchon the Philistinesand earlierattemptsto link the
PhilistineswiththeMycenaeancivilizationof theAegean,
see DothanandDothan1992:29-55.
3See also Stager1995:336-40; Niemeier1998:47-49.
4Cf. also Dothan1982:29-33, 260-68.
11

12

WOLF-DIETRICHNIEMEIER

because the site is situated outside of Philistia proper and less than 10% of the pottery from the graves
is Philistine (McClellan 1979; Brug 1985: 70-73;
Singer 1994: 303). Moreover, some scholars see the
chambertombs of Tell el-FarCah(S.) as belonging to
a long local tradition (Loffreda 1968; Stiebing 1970;
Vanschoonwinkel 1999: 87-89).
However, there are certain indicators that people
from the Aegean were present in Early Iron Age I in
Canaan. These include terracottafigurines of ritual
function and Mycenaean tradition (Dothan 1995:
48, 50, fig. 3:12),5 hearths that were not common
before in Canaan but in the Mycenaean palaces and
shrines (Dothan 1992: 96; 1995: 42-45; 1998: 15558), kitchen ware of Mycenaean types (Dothan
1995: 46-47, fig. 3.7:10, 15-17; 1998: 154, fig. 5:
15-17; Killebrew 1998: 397, figs. 7, 10:13-14, 12:
14-15), the introduction of pork and beef into the
diet (Hesse 1986: 17-27; Dothan 1998: 154; Killebrew 1998: 397), and Mycenaean-type loomweights
(Dothan 1995: 46-47).6 Vanschoonwinkel (1999),
who argues that the Philistines were not of Aegean
origin but Canaanite people, ignores importantevidence such as the Mycenaean-type kitchen ware and
loomweights and changes in the diet in the first
phase of Philistine settlement. Ventris's decipherment of the Mycenaean Linear B script used for
administrative purposes in the Late Bronze Age
Aegean demonstratedthat it had been used to write
an early form of the Greek language (Ventris and
Chadwick 1956; Chadwick 1958). Thus we may
term the Philistines "Greeks,"7although non-Greekspeaking groups, such as "Minoans"from Crete, may
have been among them.8 After becoming firmly
established in their Pentapolis, the Philistines began
first to compete with the Israelite tribes and later
with the kingdoms of Saul, David, and Solomon for
political and cultural hegemony over the region.
From the middle of the 12th century B.c. on, their

BASOR 322

pottery and other items of their material culture

show signs of acculturation. Around the mid-tenth
century, Philistia deterioratedinto a minor political
entity and rapidly lost its distinct cultural character,
although the Philistines' sense of ethnic identity
remained secure for several more centuries; in the
Bible Philistia was defined through the Iron Age by
geopolitical and cultural boundaries and was viewed
by the Israelites as a separate region (Dothan 1982:
13-16, 160-91, 251; B. Mazar 1992: 34-41; Gitin
1998a). Although the royal dedicatory inscription
from the seventh centuryB.C.Temple Complex 650 at
Tel Miqne-Ekron is written in a language close to
Phoenician,the name of the dedicatingking, Ahish, is
non-West Semitic and PerhapsGreek in origin (Gitin,
Dothan, and Naveh 1997; Gitin 1998a: 173-74).
ARCHAIC

GREEK RESIDENTS

IN

THE ORIENT?

It is a matter of controversial discussion whether

a second wave of Greeks arrived on the Levantine
coast in the Iron Age IIB-C period. In the late
1930s, when Greek Geometric and Archaic pottery
was found for the first time in the Levant in large
quantities in the excavations conducted by Woolley
at Al Mina on the mouth of the Orontes (Robertson
1940; Woolley 1953: 165-81), the place was regarded as an essentially Greek site which "has been
proved by excavation to have been no less important
a project than that of the earliest western colonies"
(Boardman 1957: 24-25) and in which "there is
nothing to differentiate the place from one of the
many colonies in Italy or Sicily or on the Black Sea
coast" (Dunbabin 1957: 25). This supposed Greek
colony was believed to have formed the chief point
of contact between Greece and the Near East.9
Later, when more Greek pottery was found at other
Levantine sites, the presence of Greek residents was
assumed for further Iron Age settlements, from
north to south (fig. 1): Ras el-Bassit (Riis 1982: 252;
5See also Dothan1982:234-49; A. Mazar1988:259Courbin 1990: 508; Haider 1996: 63), Ras Ibn Hani
60, fig. 2; Stager1995:346. Fortheroleof terracottafigurines in Mycenaeancult, see Ginel 1998: 448-49 with (Riis 1982: 251-52), Tall Sukas (Riis 1970: 126-29,
158-59; 1979: 32; 1982: 246-51; Haider 1996: 64references.
6See also Stager 1991: 36-37, 43 n. 12; 1995: 346; 65), Tabbat al-Hammam (Riis 1982: 251; Haider
1996: 69), Tel Kabri (Niemeier 1994; 1995),10 and
DothanandPorath1993:fig. 24:3-5, pl. 39.
almostno scriptis preservedfromthe
7Unfortunately,
timeof earlyPhilistinesettlementwiththepossibleexceptionof a stampsealfromAshdodwithrathercrypticsigns:
9See the summariesby Graham(1986: 51-53) and
DothanandDothan1992: 153, pl. 10.
Waldbaum(1997: 1-4, with references).
8Onthe prehelleniclanguage(s)of Cretethatprobably
l?The finalpublicationof the Kabriexcavationsis in
survivedinto the historicperiod,see Duhoux1998.
press.

2001

ARCHAIC GREEKS IN THE ORIENT

13

the absence of other criteria, the occurrence of

Greek decorated pottery, even in larger quantities, is
a ratherpoor indicator of the presence of Greeks in
the East (Papadopoulos 1997: 195-97, 205; Waldbaum 1997: 5-6) and therefore has been questioned,
also recently in this periodical (Waldbaum 1997).
Scholars have distinguished different types of
colonies, such as those discussed by Branigan of the
Minoans (Branigan 1981) and by Berard and Riis of
the Greeks (Berard 1960: 13-15; Riis 1982: 23738). Branigan's "settlement colony" corresponds to
the Greek term apoikia: a settlement founded in a
foreign country and populated by people resettled
there from their homeland. For Branigan's "governed colony," a settlement that has a foreign administration or government imposed upon it by force, no
pre-Hellenistic Greek examples exist. Branigan's
"community colony" corresponds to the Greek term
enoikismos: settlements in which a more or less
significant element of the population is comprised
of immigrants from a foreign place. This element
forms a distinctive social grouping within the settlement's society, sometimes but not always reflected
in their spatial distribution. The characteristics of a
settlement colony or apoikia will be a distinctively
foreign material culture: architecture and artifacts
Fig. 1. Levantine sites for which the presence of Greek being strongly reminiscent of the architecture and
artifacts of the homeland (or imported from there),
residentshas been assumed.
and religious and burial practices of a characterforMezad Hashavyahu (Naveh 1962b: 97-99; 1977: eign to that of the new homeland (Branigan 1981:
863; 1993: 586; Cross 1962: 42; Strange 1966: 136- 26). The characteristics of community colonies or
39; Austin 1970: 53, n. 1; Riis 1982: 251: Weippert enoikismoi, by contrast, can vary according to the
1988: 620; Wenning 1989; 1991: 212-14; Redford strength of the cultural tradition of the "colonists"
1992: 444-45; Haider 1996: 75). For a long time, and of the indigenous inhabitants (Branigan 1981:
scholars thought that the Orientals had no taste for 26-27; 1984: 49-51). Often, the house design and
Greek pottery and where it occurs in the East, it is a construction is essentially native, but interior fursign of Greeks living there (R. M. Cook 1959: 122; nishings reflect the origins of the occupiers. Usually,
Akurgal 1966; 161-62; Riis 1969: 436; 1970: 129; foreign communities maintain their native religion,
1982: 243-44, 251-52; Jeffery 1976: 63). Greek often including their own funerary traditions. Their
pottery has been found, however, in native tombs at diet is-if possible-very similar to that in the
Khalde near Beirut (Saidah 1971), at Tell Rachidieh homeland, and these preferences should be reflected
near Tyre (Doumet and Kawkabani 1995), and at not only in the food debris but also in the culinary
Hama (Coldstream 1977: 95; Braun 1982a: 7-9). A equipment. They conduct their business in their nabig Attic kraterof the late ninth century was offered tive language.
Whereas the Philistine settlements in Canaan unas a votive in a local shrine at Hama (Riis 1970:
153-54; Braun 1982a: 9). Moreover, the finds of im- doubtedly were settlement colonies forming urban
ported Greek pottery of the tenth to seventh centu- impositions over the charredruins of earlier Canaanries B.C. at Tyre (Nitsche 1987; Coldstream and ite places,11 today no scholar would identify a Greek
Bikai 1988: 35-43; Haider 1996: 60-62) have demonstrated that "the metropolitan Phoenicians were
llCf. the summaryby Stager(1995: 345-48) for Ashby no means averse to the use of imported Greek
pottery" (Coldstream and Bikai 1988: 43). Thus in kelon,Ashdod,andEkron.

14

WOLF-DIETRICHNIEMEIER

settlement colony or apoikia of the Iron IIB-C period in the Levant. Al Mina is now mostly seen as a
Phoenician or Aramaic town in which a certain number of Greeks at some time formed a community
colony or enoikismos. There is, however, disagreement whether Al Mina was founded in ca. 825-800
B.C.(du Plat Taylor 1959: 91; Boardman 1982a: 758;
Braun 1982a: 9; Popham 1994: 26), ca. 770 B.C.
(Boardman 1999: 145, 153), or ca. 750 B.C. (Woolley 1938: 16; Gjerstad 1974: 122; Kearsley 1989:
145; 1995: 67-69; 1999: 112-15; Haider 1996: 67),
whether Greeks were present from the very beginning of the settlement (Boardman 1980: 40; 1982a:
758; 1990; 1999; Braun 1982a: 9; Haider 1996; 67;
Kearsley 1999: 116-18, 127-31) or only in the later
seventh century B.C.(Graham 1986: 57), and whether the Greek residents played a more (Boardman
1990) or less important role (Coldstream 1977: 93;
Graham1986; Snodgrass 1994: 4). Moreover, recent
research has tended to emphasize the Cypriot element at Al Mina at the expense of the Greek (Jones
1986: 694-96; Coldstream 1989: 94).
In a recent very interesting hypothesis, Kearsley
(1999: 116-31) interpretsthe foundation Level 10/9
of Al Mina as an encampmentof Greek mercenaries
but cannot offer evidence other than the almost exclusively Greek character of the decorated pottery.
Unfortunately,much of the plain pottery found in the
Al Mina excavations was not kept (Boardman 1999:
144). From Level 8 on, Kearsley sees Al Mina as a
port of trade in which different nations were active.
Boardman (1999: 155) compares Al Mina, interpreted by him as a Greek port of trade, to Naukratisand
to Pithekoussai on Ischia. Naukratis is, however, a
very special and unique case (Sullivan 1996: 177,
189-91), and Pithekoussai from the very beginning
was a much larger-scale phenomenon than an emporion (Greco 1994; d'Agostino 1994; 1999),12 having an agriculturalhinterland, being possibly not a
less formal foundation than Cumae (Wilson 1997:
205), and being a polis "within the limits and peculiarities characterizing this concept in the eighth
century B.C."(Greco 1994: 15).

12Asto the termemporion,see Wilson 1997 who has

"thatthe emporionbecameincreasinglyfordemonstrated
malised-a clearlydistinguishedentity,separatefromthe
polis-in the courseof the Classicalperiod;thatpriorto
this an emporionwas any settlementinvolved in commercial activity" (Wilson 1997: 205).

BASOR 322

Beside the high proportion of Greek decorated

wares (Boardman 1999: 150-51), the evidence for
actual Greek presence at Al Mina is rather meager.
Of the criteria mentioned above in connection with
the intrusive Philistines, no tombs of the pre-Persian
periods have been excavated at Al Mina and no evidence for Greek ritual and cult was found. In Level
10/9, only scrappy walls giving no intelligible plans
were found (Boardman 1999: 141). The settlement
layout and the house architectureof Levels 8-6 are
not of Greek but of local character(Riis 1970: 159;
1982: 245-46; Bonatz 1993: 129-30). No Greek
kitchen ware is known. One of Woolley's arguments
for the presence of resident Greek merchants at Al
Mina was that the inscriptions he found were Greek
(Woolley 1938: 15). There is, however, only one
published Greek inscription earlier than the fifth
century B.C., a graffito probably representingthe remains of a proper name on the wall fragment of a
skyphos from the seventh-century Levels VI-VII,
but dated by Boardman as earlier, to the Late Geometric period (Boardman 1982a; Graham 1986: 5556). It does not form unequivocal proof of the use
of the Greek language at Al Mina in such an early
period since it could have been inscribed before it
reached the coast of Syria. There is a lengthier
Greek owner inscription on a vase of the late fifth
century B.C. (Beazley 1955: 205-6, no. 10, fig. 5;
Riis 1982: 241), but most of the graffiti on other
contemporaryGreek vases are Phoenician, and some
Aramaic (Bron and Lemaire 1983).
Of the other Levantine sites with the supposed
presence of resident Greeks, Ras Ibn Hani and Tabbat al-Hammam have to be excluded since as yet
they have failed to produce evidence for even one
of the criteria discussed above. At Ras el-Bassit,
among the intramural and extramural cremation
tombs, only one grave dated aroundca. 600 B.C. contained Greek pottery; all the rest contained local,
Phoenician, and Cypriot pottery (Courbin 1986:
190-93, 198, 201; 1990: 506-7; 1993: passim,
Greek pottery: 30-32, 66-68; Waldbaum 1997: 11).
From the settlement, no evidence for Greek religious ritual and cult is known. Only a few of the
architectural remains have as yet been published.
No Greek kitchen ware is mentioned in the preliminary reports. There are several Greek graffiti, of
which three have been published. The earliest one
is on the fragment of a Late Geometric skyphos,
according to P. Courbin of local production (Courbin 1986: 194, fig. 20). The single preserved letter,

2001

ARCHAIC GREEKS IN THE ORIENT

however, is not necessarily a Greek (H)eta but can

also be a Phoenician Het.13 Two graffiti transcribing Ionian personal names are to be dated to ca. 600
B.C. That on the base of an Ionian cup (Courbin
1978: fig. on p. 58) could have been incised before
the cup reached Ras el-Bassit. Only that on the fragment of a Phoenician torpedo jar (Courbin 1986:
199, fig. 31; 1990: 508, pl. 48.1) was almost certainly inscribed at Ras el-Bassit. There are also
Phoenician inscriptions from Ras el-Bassit (Courbin
1978: 58).
At Tall Sukas, the Greek drinking sets found in
the tombs of the cemetery at the Southern Harbor
and the covering of some of the tombs with roof tiles
have been interpreted as evidence of Greek burial
customs (Riis 1979: 31-32; 1982: 249-50). The
presence of Greek drinking vessels does not, however, represent an unequivocal indicator of Greek
presence.14 None of the graves with roof tiles and
grave goods is earlier than the sixth century B.C.
Moreover, the roof tiles are not conclusively associated with the graves in question (Waldbaum 1997:
11). A small rectangularbuilding in the eastern sector constructed in the course of the seventh century
B.C. has been identified as a Greek temple (Riis 1969:
446; 1970: 44-59; 1982: 240-41, 246-49; Haider
1996: 64). Since we know very little about contemporary small shrines in the larger cities of Phoenicia
(Coldstream 1975: 156) and since the building was
placed over a pre-Greek cult hearth and is associated with a Semitic-type High Place, it cannot safely
be accepted as a Greek temple (Boardman 1972:
215). Two roof tile fragmentsinterpretedas evidence
for the involvement of a Greek architect or a Hellenized local builder are not conclusively associated
with the building of the first phase (Riis 1970: 52,
58). Only in the second phase, which started before
ca. 570 B.C.(Riis 1970: 86) or after the middle of the
sixth century B.C. (Boardman 1972: 216), is the
Greek feature of the use of clay roof tiles certain
(Riis 1970: 68-69; 1982: 240). However, the longitudinal and tripartite plan of the enlarged building
of the second phase follows old and local traditions

13Cf.Coldstream1982:fig. 1; Naveh 1987:fig. 87.

14Luke(1992) has suggestedthatGreekdrinkingvessels were importedto satisfy local demandsrelatingto
Near Easternfeasting and drinkingcustoms.Cf. Waldbaum 1997: 7-8, and for the Persianperiod, De Vries
1977;Wenning1991:207-8.

15

(Bonatz 1993: 131-34) and also more closely resembles the plans of Cypriote chapels with two or three
inner rooms than those of Greek temples (Boardman
1972: 216).15 The house architectureis of local tradition (Lund 1986: 189-92; Bonatz 1993: 125-26).
Apparently no Greek kitchen ware occurs. According to the statement of the excavator, all kitchen
ware is Phoenician (Riis 1982: 258). A spindle
whorl in local clay of a Greek type in use from the
eighth to the sixth century B.C. bears the Greek
owner's graffito of a woman named Pesaphore (Riis
1970: 158, fig. 53d; 1982: 240-41, fig. 3:1; Ploug
1973: 90, no. 424, pl. 19f-g). It was found in a level
that cannot be dated earlier than the third century
B.C. and was tentatively dated by the letter forms to
ca. 600 B.C. (Riis 1965: 59-61). This date is, however, very approximate (Graham 1986: 57). Several
vases of the first half of the sixth century B.C.carry
Greek graffiti, including some in local fabric; others, however, have Semitic graffiti (Ploug 1973: 54,
84-85).
At Tel Kabri, no tombs of the period in question
were excavated. There is no evidence for Greek
religious customs and cult patterns.The architecture
of Tel Kabri does not show Greek features. The
seventh-century casemate construction of the fortification wall in Area A is of Levantine tradition
(Lehmannl994: 20*-22*, fig. 11).16 The fragments
of six Greek cooking pots (chytrai) have been uncovered and-like the Greek cooking pots found
earlier at Mezad Hashavyahu (see infra)-are interpreted as evidence of Greek presence (Niemeier
1990: xxxvI, fig. 22:4; 1994: *33, fig. 19:10).17 No
writing was found. Evidence for Greek religious
customs and cult patternis lacking. Tombs were not
excavated either at Mezad Hashavyahu, and evidence for Greek religious customs and cult patterns
is missing. At Mezad Hashavyahu-as at Kabrithe casemate construction is of Levantine tradition
(Weippert 1988; 620; Wenning 1989: 175-76);
tombs and evidence for Greek cults have not been
found. Up to 18 fragments of Greek cooking pots

15Cf.Gjerstad1948: 19-22, figs. 2, 5.

16Cf. Herzog 1992: 269-70. An earlier casemate
fortificationwall in TelKabri,AreaE, is datedto theninth
centuryB.C.-see Pastor1990:xxIx-xxxI, fig. 13; 1991:
11*-15* fig. 12; Lehmann1994:*19.
17Theotherfragmentsareillustratedin the finalpublicationof the Kabriexcavations,in press.

16

WOLF-DIETRICHNIEMEIER

have been found (Naveh 1962b: fig. 6:7-8, pl.

12F:1, 3; Reich 1989: fig. 4:1-2; Waldbaum and
Magness 1997: 31-32, figs. 8-9), but no Greek graffiti. The inscriptions on several ostraca, on the
shoulder of a jar, and on a four-shekel stone weight
are written in Hebrew (Naveh 1960; 1962a). The
fragments of Greek cooking pots have been interpreted as evidence for Greek presence on the site
(Naveh 1962b: 97; Wenning 1989: 171-73; 1991:
212). Waldbaum (1997: 8 with n. 16) is skeptical
and points to the finds of one or two Greek cooking
vessels at Tel Batash (ancient Timnah) (Waldbaum
and Magness 1997: 31)-where, according to her,
no one has suggested the presence of actual
Greeks-as well as at Ashkelon, and she thinks-in
analogy to the imported cooking wares from Scandinavia, France, and Mexico in well-equipped contemporarykitchens in the United States-that "ancient pottery that developed a reputationfor having
desirable properties or imparting a special flavor to
food might equally have been in demand among the
cognoscenti." There is, however, no evidence for a
special reputation of the Greek kitchen in the
Levant. Tel Batash/Timnah is situated a little way
inland and up the Sorek Valley from Mezad
Hashavyahu.Therefore, the one or two Batash cooking vessels could have been broughtby visitors from
Mezad Hashavyahu.Moreover, there may have been
some Greek presence at Tel Batash/Timnah,too (see
infra). Through its history, Ashkelon was a major
commercial seaport (Stager 1993; 1996b: 66-68).
This may explain the occurrence of numerous fragments of Greek cooking pots. Possibly they were
owned by Greek seafarers and merchants living seasonally or permanently at Ashkelon.
Mezad Hashavyahu and Tel Kabri, Area E, differ
from all the other Levantine sites with finds of Greek
pottery as yet discussed. They represent not harbor
sites but relatively small fortifications. Although the
possibility that Mezad Hashavyahu was a Greek
trading colony has been considered (Naveh 1962b:
98; Strange 1966: 138-39; Weinberg 1969: 94; Galling 1977: 137; Weippert 1988: 620), the fortress
character of settlement and its situation next to the
sea but without a harborand off from existing cities
point against this hypothesis (Wenning 1989: 176).
Instead, these characteristics support the interpretation of Mezad Hashavyahu as a military fortress
(Naveh 1962b: 98-99; 1977: 863; 1993: 586; Cross
1962: 42; Strange 1966: 138-39; Austin 1970: 16

BASOR 322

with n. 1 on p. 53; Braun 1982a: 21-22; Haider

1988: 204-6; 1996: 75-76; Wenning 1989; 1991:
213-14; Bettalli 1995: 65). Recently, Waldbaumhas
considered the possibility of a mercantile side to
Mezad Hashavyahubeing responsible for the distribution of Greek pottery at Tel Batash and Tel MiqneEkron (Waldbaum 1994: 60). However, I think that
the Greek pottery at Tel Miqne-Ekronmore probably
came from the harborcity of Ashkelon.
Like Mezad Hashavyahu, the fortress of Tel
Kabri, Area E, is situated off from the next harbor
city, Achzib (Prausnitz and Mazar 1993), even inland. Beside a few Greek sherds from the late seventh to the beginning of the sixth century B.C.from
Stratum I at Tel Dan (Pakman 1992: fig. 5:12-14),
there is no evidence at all that Greeks at Tel Kabri
could have distributed Greek pottery farther inland.
The northernpart of the Acco plain, the land Cabul
of the Bible, during this period formed part of the
kingdom of Tyre (Gal 1990). The Kabri fortress
probably was a strongholdat the southeasternborder
of the kingdom against the highlands of Galilee, as
already argued in the preliminary reports (Kempinski and Niemeier 1993a: 184; 1993b: 259; Niemeier
1994: *34-*35) and accepted by P. W. Haider
(1996: 71).
GREEK MERCENARIES
TEXTUAL

IN THE ORIENT:

EVIDENCE

There are several records about Greek warriors

and mercenaries of the Archaic period active in the
Levant. In the Assyrian sources of the eighth century B.C. and the beginning of the seventh century
B.C., when the Assyrian kings were extending their
power westward to the MediterraneanSea, to Palestine, Phoenicia, North Syria, and Cilicia, we find
mention (Braun 1982a: 14-21; Kearsley 1999: 11922), among the opponents of the Assyrians in these
campaigns, of men from the Mediterraneannamed
"Ionians"-a term generally used for Greeks (Braun
1982a: 1). There is no exact information about their
role, but among them may have been mercenaries
employed by the states against which the Assyrian
expansion was directed. In Assyrian documents of
Sargon II, a man named "Yamani,"probably a soldier in the guard of King Azuri of Ashdod, is mentioned in connection with conflicts between the
Assyrians and Ashdod in 711 B.C. (Luckenbill 1927:
??30, 62-63, 79-80; Oppenheim 1969: 285-86).

2001

ARCHAIC GREEKS IN THE ORIENT

The name Yamani has been thought to mean "Ionian," and Yamani has been interpretedas a possible
Greek condottiere or mercenary (Olmstead 1923:
218; Bengtson 1937: 150-51); some scholars have
thought that he came from Cyprus, because he is
alternatively named "Yadna" = the Cypriot (Olmstead 1923: 218; Smith 1929: 58; Hall 1929: 277;
Mazzarino 1947: 121-23; J. M. Cook 1962: 64-65).
Yamani is, however, possibly a regular Assyrian
gentilic meaning "the Ionian," since similar names
occur among the contemporaryAssyrians from Nineveh, and they certainly were not Greeks (Tadmor
1958: 80 n. 217; 1978: 175; Rollig 1971: 644; Spalinger 1973: 97; Elayi and Cavigneaux 1979: 5963).18 Thus the Yamani of Ashdod was not necessarily a Greek, and the use of the name "Yamani"
proves no more than that Greeks were at that time
familiar in the Levant (Braun 1982a: 16-17).
The best-known Greek mercenaries of the Archaic period in the eastern Mediterraneanare those
active in Egypt. Herodotus (II.152-54) and Diodorus (1.66.12-67.2) report that Psammetichus I
(664-610 B.c.), the first pharaoh of the 26th (Saite)
Dynasty, employed Carian and Ionian warriors,who
had come ratheraccidentally during raids to the Nile
Delta, to help him fight against his rivals; reportedly he later settled them in Stratopeda (camps) in
the eastern Delta on the Pelusiac branch of the Nile
(R. M. Cook 1937: 231-32; Kienitz 1953: 57; Gyles
1959: 20-21; Thissen 1977: 898-99; Boardman
1980: 114-15; Braun 1982b: 35-37, 43-44; Kammerzell 1993: 110-11; Bettalli 1995: 54-61; Haider
1996: 92-93, 95-102, Sullivan 1996: 185-87). Herodotus does not mention, however, that Psammetichus I first came to power as an Assyrian vassal king
(Spalinger 1976: 138). After Psammetichus'sfather,
Necho I, the Assyrian vassal king of Sais (Kitchen
1973: 400, ?360; Spalinger 1974: 323; Haider 1988:
158), had been beaten and probably killed in battle
by king Tantamani of Kush (Spalinger 1974: 323;
1976: 133; Haider 1988: 158; Sullivan 1996: 182),
Psammetichus escaped to his overlord Ashurbanipal
and returnedwithin the same year with a victorious
Assyrian army and, after the defeat of Tantamani,
was invested with the territories of Sais, Memphis,
and Athribis (Kitchen 1973: 393 n. 883; Haider
1988: 159-60, Sullivan 1996: 182). No Carian or
Greek mercenaries are mentioned in the Assyrian
18Contra,see Haider1996:81-82 withn. 128.

17

sources about the reconquest of Egypt. However, in

a much later source, Polyainos's Strategica (VII.3) of
the middle of the second century A.D., it is told that
when Psammetichus overcame Tementhes (= Tantamani)19 in a battle at Memphis, the Carian Pigres
was his advisor and he had many Carianmercenaries
(Kammerzell 1993: 114-15). Although the value of
this text as a historical source was for a long time
controversial, recent investigations concede a high
degree of historical reliability to it (Haider 1988:
178-82). Pigres is indeed a personal name existing
only in Caria and Lycia (Sundwall 1913: 179-80,
288; Aly 1950), and a grave stele from Memphis in
Brussels is, with some probability,that of the Pigres
mentioned by Polyainos (Masson and Yoyotte 1956:
pl. 9; Ray 1982: 190; Kammerzell 1993: 145-48,
165, 174, 179). Since the Carians were the mercenaries par excellence in the Mediterranean,and since
the lyric poet Archilochos of Paros (Fragment40D)
already by about the middle of the seventh century
B.C. used "mercenary"and "Carian" as synonyms
(Haider 1988: 174; Kammerzell 1993: 109), it appears possible that Greeks were also among the Carian mercenaries mentioned by Polyainos (Haider
1996: 93). If the battle mentioned by Polyainos happened in 664 B.C.(Kees 1919; 1931: 663, 682; Helck
1975; Spalinger 1976: 137-38; Haider 1988: 18182), these Carians served in the Assyrian army, and
it was only throughthe conjectures of the Greek historiography that Psammetichus replaced the Assyrians as the main opponent of Tantamani(Freedy and
Redford 1970: 476-77 with n. 69).
The Assyrian sources also indicate the presence
of Carian and Ionian mercenaries in Egypt. The annals of Ashurbanipalreportthat King Gyges of Lydia
sent troops to Egypt to support Psammetichus (Spalinger 1976: 134-36; Haider 1988: 164-74; Kammerzell 1993: 111-14; Sullivan 1996: 184). The
Lydian expansion had brought almost all of western
Anatolia-with the exception of some Ionian harbor
cities but including Caria-under the rule of Gyges
and his successors (Roebuck 1959: 50-53; Huxley
1966: 52-53; Jeffery 1976: 211; Boardman 1980:
95-97; Haider 1988: 174). There is evidence that at
that time Lydia had large contingents of Ionian and
Carian mercenaries (Haider 1988: 174; Kammerzell 1993: 111-12; Bettalli 1995: 75-82). The introduction of coinage in Lydia in the last quarterof the
19SeeHelck 1975.

18

WOLF-DIETRICHNIEMEIER

seventh century B.C. (Roebuck 1959: 295-96;

Boardman 1980: 101-2) has been explained by the
necessity to pay out regular sums to large bodies of
people, the mercenaries, in standard amounts. The
quick spreading of coinage in the Greek world indicates that among this group of people were also
Greeks (Murray 1980: 223-26). There is some debate about when Gyges sent troops to Egypt, between Psammetichus'sattainingthe autocracyin 656
B.C. and Gyges's death, the date of which has been
recently corrected from 652 to between 645 and
643/2 B.C. (Spalinger 1978; Haider 1988: 166-69)
or in the first years of Psammetichus's reign, between 664 and 657 B.C. (Spalinger 1976: 143;
Haider 1988: 170-71; Kammerzell 1993: 112-14).
Gyges's troops may well be identical with the Carians and Ionians of Herodotus'sreport(Bettalli 1995:
58). Greek mercenaries continued to serve during
the entire 26th Dynasty in the Egyptian army
(Boardman 1980: 115-17; Braun 1982b: 49-52;
Bettalli 1995: 61-63; Haider 1996: 102-13). The
foreign mercenaries, beside the Ionians and Carians,
Syrians, and other Asiatics, enjoyed a certain degree
of autonomy and sometimes caused problems for
their Egyptian officers. On a statue dedicated to the
cataract gods, a commander of mercenary troops at
Elephantine on the southern frontier reports about a
rebellion and says, "as thou didst deliver me from
the difficult situation caused by the troops of Asiatics, Greeks, Syrians and others ... " (Schafer 1904:
155-58; Redford 1992: 443-44).
Greek mercenaries also served in the Near East.
The possible presence of Greek mercenaries in the
Assyrian army has been mentioned above. For the
presence of Greek mercenaries in the Babylonian
army, evidence is found in the poem of Alcaeus of
Mytilene in which he welcomes back his brother
Antimenidas, who had fought for the Babylonians.20
"You have come from the ends of the earth dear Antimenidas, with the gold-bound ivory heft of the
sword with which fighting for the Babylonians who
dwell in houses of bricks four hands long, you performed a mighty deed and saved them all from
grievous troubles by slaying a warrior who wanted
but one palm's breadth of five royal cubits of stature." The juxtaposition of the names of Ashkelon
and Babylon in another fragment (Edmonds 1958:
404, Fragment 134) has suggested the conjecture
that Antimenidas took part in the capture of Ash20Translation:Edmonds 1958: 403-4, Fragment 133.

BASOR 322

kelon by the Babylonians in 604 B.C. (Quinn 1961;

Boardman 1980: 52; Braun 1982a: 22; Bettalli 1995:
49-50; Haider 1996: 93-94; Stager 1996a: 61*).
Other scholars have thought that Antimenidas participated in one of the campaigns against the kingdom of Judahbetween 601 and 586 B.C.(Page 1955:
223-24; Momigliano 1980: 91).
Greek mercenaries were also employed by the
kingdom of Judah. In the Judaean border fortress
Arad in the northernNegev, numerous ostraca with
Hebrew inscriptions of the time just before the destruction of the fortress by the Babylonians around
600 B.C.were found in the archive of the commander
Eliashib (M. Aharoni 1993: 82-84). Many personal
names with the theophoric element-yahu demonstrate that the garrison consisted predominantly of
Judaeans, but ten ostraca mention KTYM (Kittim),
interpretedto indicate mercenaries (Albright 1969:
568-69; Y. Aharoni 1981: 12-13 and passim). Since
the Jews associated Kittim (originally Kition in Cyprus) with Yawan = Ionia/Greece (Braun 1982a: 3),
the Kittim mercenaries of the Arad ostraca probably
were Greeks (Braun 1982a: 22; Weippert 1988: 617;
Wenning 1991: 214-15). Another ostracon of this
group mentions a different ethnic title, probably
connected with Cyprus or Eastern Greece: QRSY
(Kerosite) (Y. Aharoni 1981: 35-37, Inscription 18;
Garfinkel 1988: 29-30, 32-34).
Mercenaries from different countries were employed by Tyre, as the detailed description of the
forces and trade of Tyre in Ezekiel 27 indicates. This
description follows a Phoenician model (Maisler
1952: 83-84; Ruger 1961; Smend 1989: 164-66,
240) and refers to the situation before the beginning
of the siege of Tyre by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II, dated between 603 (Wiseman 1985:
28) and 585 B.C. (Katzenstein 1973: 328, 330).
Among them were men from Prs, Lwd, and Pwt
(Ezek 27.11). Lwd has been almost unanimously
identified with Lydia (Simons 1959: 56-57, ??15051; Zimmerli 1967: 375; Zadok 1985: 213; Hamilton 1990: 344-45; Diakonoff 1992: 174; Haider
1996: 71),21 and Pwt with Libya (Simons 1959: 56,
?149, 75-76, ?198; Zimmerli 1967: 373; Zadok
1985: 252; Westermann 1986: 114; Hamilton 1990:
336; Haider 1996: 71). The role of Greek mercenaries in Lydia has already been mentioned. As to
Libya, Haider (1996: 71) thinks that the term Pwt
may indicate here the ethnic group which at that time
21Doubting only Westermann 1986: 118.

2001

19

ARCHAIC GREEKS IN THE ORIENT

Fig. 2. ArchaicGreekbronzegreave foundat Carchemish(Woolley1921: pi. 25a; courtesy

of the BritishMuseum,London).

was economically and politically the most important

one in Libya: the Greeks in Cyrenaica, designated in
the Neo-Babylonian sources as Putu-Iaman= "Libya
of the Ionians" or "Ionian Libya" (Edel 1978: 1516). Diakonoff (1992: 177-81) suggests a different
interpretationof Pwt, reading it as Pot and regarding this as a Phoenician renderingof the Greek Pontos = sea, indicating that the mercenaries from Pot
were island Greeks. The term Prs has always been
enigmatic. The connection with Persia suggested by
J. Simons (1959: 72-73, ?193) is problematic for
linguistic (Haider 1996: 71-72) and historical reasons (Diakonoff 1992: 174 with n. 29). Therefore
Diakonoff thinks that Prs is wrong and should be
read Trs = Asian Thrace. Haider accepts the reading
Prs but connects it with Para, the name of one of the
leading tribes of Caria. Although Ezekiel (27.13, 19)
knows Ionians only as trading partners importing
slaves and bronze vessels to Tyre, Carian and Greek
mercenaries most probably were in the pay of Tyre.

GREEK MERCENARIES

IN THE ORIENT:

ARCHAEOLOGICAL
REPRESENTATIONAL

AND
EVIDENCE

As to the archaeological evidence for the presence of Greek mercenaries in the Near East, there
are only two Archaic Greek weapons known, both
found at Carchemish: a bronze greave (fig. 2) of
E. Kunze's "hocharchaische Stufe" (ca. 630/620560/550 B.C.) (Kunze 1991: 24-40, 99 p.) and a
bronze shield of the second half of the seventh century B.C., decorated with concentric animal friezes
and a Gorgon head in the center (fig. 3).22 Together
with the greave, arrowheadsand the bones of horses
and men were found in the West Gate of the Inner
Town. It is tempting to connect these finds with the
22See also Kunze 1956: 48-50; Boardman1980: 51,
fig. 20.

20

WOLF-DIETRICHNIEMEIER

??
:
-?i.......?-*"
..., -; : Z?*k

,'
...,

??
/*;

?,/

P
?..
*v' i ,....

*,

?-?? .???r,
..i
???-???-?;-?iI
..........,

i?--

1II
?5

T
?X?/ ?i
%;--?I?r*
?.j

c??

L?2

-r

:ii-.

1
"5? ..J

ri.?:

,,?
-??J,
:?

-???:
-???.. it
'."'."I*?
\i)t.*,
1a;.?t
,.1 t*?;
...:.:j
t
,
"'~'"""L
*I
f-j..j:::::t?-......;:
.1??$=
??'*''*,
r
'3.r'???*'?? *,
t??,' ,

''

?I,

?:-.?C1
?C

--- ??-

. ????

ic?i

.. ??
r

?1`2,

-??-

?...-

BASOR 322

*,rcv L
I/:"?'
?,
p

*,r?*LI;j

qr?
?t7
*?
?
C
tr
; i'
o
ai,
Q

II

_._..

t
"
;i:
4r

rr

??-?\.-?

:? r

t:

fii
:LI

I'\

I ),i

r' F?

Itl
I:
fi"

Fig. 3. ArchaicGreekbronzeshield foundat Carchemish(Woolley1921: pi. 24; courtesyof

the BritishMuseum,London).

conquest of Carchemish by Nebuchadnezzar II of

Babylon in 605 B.C., but they may also come from
an earlier siege (Woolley 1921: 79). The shield was
found in the unusual well-built House D of the
Outer Town, probably the seat of a dignitary of the
city with close contacts to Egypt, as indicated by
the finds of Egyptian objects of art, clay seal impressions with the cartouche of Necho II, and a
bronze ring with its bezel in the form of the cartouche of Psammetichus I (Woolley 1921: 121-29,
figs. 43-46, pls. 21b-c, 22a; Bettalli 1995: 65). The
burnt House D suffered a warlike destruction, evidenced by the finds of hundreds of arrowheads,
numerous javelin heads, a sword, and the shield
(Woolley 1921: 125, pls. 22b, 32a). The seal impressions of Necho provide evidence that House D
was destroyed in 605 B.C. Boardman (1980: 51,
115) has supposed that the shield was owned by a
Greek mercenary in the pay of Necho, and Braun
(1982b: 49) believes that the two Greek weapons

make it certain that Greek mercenaries fought in the

battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C., in which Necho
was defeated by NebuchadnezzarII of Babylon and
abandonedthe Egyptian intervention in Syria.
As to artistic representationsof Greek mercenaries in the Near East, Kunze (1930: 156-57 n. 4;
1958: 118-25) claimed the conical crested helmets
as original Greek types. If this were true, the warriors wearing conical crested helmets representedon
a bas-relief at Karatepe in Cilicia (ca. 730 B.C.)
(Bossert et al. 1950: pl. 16.83; Borchhardt 1972:
pl. 27.2)23 and on a wall painting of the eighth century B.C.at Til Barsip (Thureau-Danginand Dunand
1936: 50, pl. 49 bottom row, right) could be identified as Greek mercenaries. However, it appears
more likely that the helmets are of Anatolian and/or
Assyrian origin (Stier 1950: 214-18; Snodgrass
23Forthe date,see Bossertet al. 1950:62; Borchhardt
1972: 102-3.

2001

ARCHAIC GREEKS IN THE ORIENT

21

Fig. 4. Cypro-Phoeniciansilver bowl from Amathus (Barnett1977: fig. 3; courtesy of the

BritishMuseum,London).

1964: 11-14; Borchhardt 1972: 101-2; Bettalli

1995: 44-45). On the relief of a bronze belt of the
late eighth century B.C. from Fortetsa near Knossos
in Crete (Boardman 1980: 73, fig. 61), probably the
work of an immigrantoriental workshop (Boardman
1980: 57), chariot warriors are attacked by archers.
The chariot warriorsare wearing helmets of oriental
type. The helmets of the archershave been identified
by A. M. Snodgrass (1964: 12-13) as early Corinthian ones. On a splendid Cypro-Phoenician silver
bowl of the late eighth century to the first quarterof
the seventh century B.C. from Amathus (fig. 4), a citadel under strong enemy attack is represented.24The
attackersare horsemen and archers with dresses and
helmets of Assyrian type, and-next to the righthand tower-there are four hoplites wearing kilts,
"Ionic" helmets, round shields, delicately incised
with their blazons, and each wielding a spear above
his head. These are undoubtedly East Greek hoplites
(Myres 1933: 35-36; Barnett 1977: 166). "That
there are similarly armed men among the defenders

is in accord with their mercenary habit" (Myres

1933: 36). Whether the scene representedis a mythological (Barett 1977: 168-69) or a real one
(Myres 1933: 37; Markoe 1985: 51-52), there is no
doubt that the Amathus bowl reflects warlike events
in the Near East around 700 B.C. in which Greek
hoplites were involved.
POSTS OF GREEK MERCENARIES
IN THE ORIENT

Is there archaeological evidence for the presence

of Greek mercenaries at those sites where they were
based according to the records? This question is
difficult to answer. The identification of Herodotus's
Stratopeda has long been debated by scholars who
repeatedly collated two passages of Herodotus, that
on the Stratopeda(2.154) and that on Pelusiac Daphnae (2.30), where-as he reportswithout specifically
mentioning Greek mercenaries-guards were stationed by Psammetichus I against the Arabs and the
Syrians (Bettalli 1995: 63-64). Almost all scholars
have
identified Daphnae with the site of Tell De24Onthis bowl, see Myres1933withpls. 1-3; Barnett
1977:164-69, pls. 48:2,fig. 3; Boardman1980:50, fig. 19; feneh, excavated by Petrie (1888: 47-96). The equaMarkoe1985:51-52, 172-74 Cy4, pls. on pp. 248-49.
tion of Tell Defeneh/Daphnae with the Stratopeda

22

WOLF-DIETRICHNIEMEIER

(Petrie 1888: 48) and similar proposals, i.e., Stratopeda as a suburb of, or an appendage to, Daphnae
have, however, been rejected by a series of scholars
(R. M. Cook 1937; How and Wells 1964: 175; Austin 1970: 20 with n. 1 on p. 53; Boardman 1980: 133;
Oren 1984: 38). The military character of the fortress of Tell Defeneh is clear. The presence of weapons is reported, among them a considerable number
of arrowheads (Petrie 1888: pl. 39). Only some
Greek pottery fragments of the seventh century B.C.
have been found at Tell Defeneh; most of the Greek
pottery is of the sixth century B.C. (R. M. Cook
1954: 5-13, 32-38, 40-44; Boardman 1980: 13334), i.e., later than the reign of Psammetichus I.
Beside painted East Greek and Attic pottery, there
are Samian, Lesbian, and Athenian trade amphorae
(Boehlau 1898: 144; Grace 1971: 68-69; Boardman
1980: 134). A local Greek pottery workshop of the
sixth century B.C.at, or near, Tell Defeneh produced
decorated East Greek situlae (R. M. Cook 1954: 32;
Boardman 1956: 62). No Greek kitchen ware is
known from Tell Defeneh.
In Sinai, on the edge of the Delta Plain, the
Israeli North Sinai Expedition has investigated an
extensive fortress of 200 by 200 m similar in type to
that at Tell Defeneh/Daphnae, erected in the late
seventh century B.C. and identified with Migdol,
which is mentioned in Jer 44.1, 46.4, and Ezek
29.10, 30.6, together with Tahpanhes and Noph as
garrisons with Jewish soldiers who served in Egyptian border fortresses (Oren 1984: 30-35; 1993:
1392-93). As the excavator, E. Oren, argues, the
Semitic name Migdol, meaning "tower," "fort," or
"camp," is likely to be interchangeable with the
Greek Stratopeda, and Migdol and Stratopeda may
be one and the same place (Oren 1984: 38). The pottery from Migdol falls into three distinctive categories: local Egyptian pottery of the Saite period,
Phoenician and Palestinian late Iron Age vessels,
and Archaic East Greek ceramics (Oren 1984: 1328). As to the Greek pottery, there were large quantities of imported complete and fragmentary Greek
trade amphoraeof the late seventh to the second half
of the sixth century B.C. of Chian, Samian, Lesbian,
and Corinthiantypes, as well as some Athenian amphorae (Oren 1984: 24-27, figs. 22:1-6, 23:5-6,
24:1, 32-41, 52-53), some imported East Greek
cups (Oren 1984: 20, figs. 23:1, 4; 51), and imitations of East Greek pottery locally produced in Nile
clay including cups (Oren 1984: 27, figs. 23:2, 42),
amphoraeof Lesbian and Samian types, as well as a

BASOR 322

cooking pot (Oren 1984: 27). Some 500 m east of

the fortress, a cemetery with cremation burials in
"Egyptianjars topped with lids and accompanied by
Greek amphoras as burial gifts" was found (Oren
1984: 30, figs. 52-53; 1993: figs. on p. 1392). This
new burial custom was possibly introduced to the
eastern Delta by Greeks serving in the fortress (Oren
1984: 30). The fortress of Migdol apparently accommodated Greek, Phoenician, and Jewish mercenaries (Oren 1984: 35-38). We do not know where
the Greek mercenaries in the pay of Babylonia,
among them Alcaeus's brother Antimenidas, were
based. At Arad no Greek finds were made, but the
Kittim mercenaries may have been in transit (Braun
1982a: 22).
As to Mezad Hashavyahu and Tel Kabri, the ancient names of which we do not know with certainty,
there are no written records about the presence of
Greek mercenaries. Both are, however, well comparable to Migdol: They are fortified strongholds (although much smaller than Migdol); and while the
local ceramics at Tel Kabri and probably also at
Mezad Hashavyahu form the great majority of the
pottery ensemble,25 we have at both sites imports of
decorated East Greek pottery,26East Greek transport
amphorae,27and Greek cooking pots (see above); at
Mezad Hashavyahu, moreover, there are Greek
lamps (Naveh 1962b: fig. 8:1-4). Cooking pots and
lamps alien to the area in which they were found certainly were not merchandise. Therefore, the Greek
cooking pots at both sites and lamps at Mezad
Hashavyahu provide evidence for the actual presence of Greeks. As to the fortified settlement of Tel
Batash/Timnah Stratum II in which, as mentioned
above, the fragments of one or two Greek cooking
pots were also found, Greek mercenaries may have
been stationed, as suggested by Haider (1996: 7525Lehmann1994:*23-*26, andin the finalpublication
of the Kabriexcavations,whichis in press.Unfortunately,
at MezadHashavyahuthe proportionbetweenthe Greek
and the abundantlocal pottery(Naveh 1962b: 100-105,
figs. 4-6) is unknown.
26MezadHashavyahu:Naveh 1962b:figs. 7-10, pls.
10-11. Tel Kabri:Niemeier1990:xxxIv-xxxv, fig. 22:12; 1994:*31-*33, fig. 19:2-7. Formorepotteryandsome
corrections,see the finalpublicationof the Kabriexcavations, in press.
27MezadHashavyahu:Naveh 1962b: fig. 6:1-5. Tel
Kabri:Niemeier 1990: xxxv, fig. 22:3; Niemeier 1994:
*33, fig. 19:9. More examplesare publishedin the final
publicationof the Kabriexcavations,in press.

2001

ARCHAIC GREEKS IN THE ORIENT

76). Except in Egypt (Bettalli 1995: 26; Haider

1996: 111-12), the Greek mercenaries did not form
large units of common men but were single members of the elite (Bettalli 1995: 26, 108-9; Kyrieleis
1996: 109). They certainly formed only relatively
small groups within the Near Eastern armies (Bettalli 1995: 104), as the Amathus bowl (fig. 4) also
illustrates. Moreover, in garrisons with Greek soldiers, we should not expect to find Greek domestic
pottery in greater quantities. Warriorsmust be mobile and will not bring too many personal belongings
with them. When a Greek cooking pot got broken, it
probably was replaced by a local one.
As to Mezad Hashavyahu, the excavator, Naveh,
originally thought that the Greeks who settled the
fortress were mercenaries of Psammetichus I, that it
was conquered by Josiah of Judah a few years before 609 B.C., and that it was abandoned when the
Egyptian army of Necho II advanced along the
coast in 609 B.c. (Naveh 1962b: 99).28 This complicated scenario has been criticized by scholars who,
because of the coexistence of Ionian and Judaean
finds and the absence of Egyptian finds and of destruction levels, have suggested that Mezad Hashavyahu was from the very beginning a Judahite
fortress with Ionian mercenaries in Josiah's pay
(Cross 1962: 42; Strange 1966: 136-39; Austin
1970: 16 with n. 1 on p. 53). There is indeed no
evidence for two different phases of occupation:
Only in one room (4) was an architectural change
distinguished (Naveh 1962b: 93), and this can have
other reasons than a change in occupation (Wenning
1989: 178). The Greek pottery was found in dumps
as well as in contexts of both occupation phases assumed by Naveh (Wenning 1989: 178-79). Later,
Naveh corrected himself and now sees only one
phase of occupation (Naveh 1977: 863). According
to his most recent statement, six test pits dug within
the fortress area "showed the same picture: a floor,
and below it, either the natural kurkar bedrock or
the sand fill used in leveling the area. No structural
changes were distinguished in the fortress. All the
evidence found indicates that it was only in existence for a short period" (Naveh 1993: 586). Boardman (1964: 75; 1980: 51), Lloyd (1975: 21), and
Bettalli (1995: 65) have suggested that the Greeks
of Mezad Hashavyahu were Necho's mercenaries
who were dislodged by the Babylonians in 605/

23

604 B.C. The Hebrew ostraca demonstrate,however,

that Mezad Hashavyahuwas under Judahitecontrol.
According to Wenning's (1989: 182-92; 1991: 21314) convincing suggestion, Mezad Hashavyahu was
erected by King Jehoiakim during the brief period
of Judahite autonomy from Babylonian rule in 600598 B.C. and was abandoned when Nebuchadnezzar II attacked Judaea in 598 B.C. As a second, less
probable possibility, Wenning (1989: 192-93) sees
that Mezad Hashavyahubelongs in the time of Zedekiah, 597-588 B.C. In that case, however, Mezad
Hashavyahu would have been a Babylonian stronghold, and Zedekiah would have been put in charge
of the supply of the fortress. Wenning's main argument for his date of ca. 600 B.C. or a little later is
the occurrence of a North Ionian Late Wild Goat
Style fragment (Wenning 1989: 185-86, figs. 6-7 =
Naveh 1962b: fig. 10:1, pl. 10A). In the exports of
Ionian pottery, the North Ionian Late Wild Goat
Style started to replace the South Ionian Middle
Wild Goat II Style by ca. 600-590 B.C. (Schaus
1986: 291; Cook and Dupont 1998: 56). The Ionian
mercenaries at Tel Kabri most probably were in the
pay of Tyre (see above) which benefited from the
dissolution of the mighty Assyrian empire during
Ashurbanipal'slast years of reign (he died in 627
B.C.) and was able to retain its former territories on
the mainland (Katzenstein 1973: 294-97).
Like the end of Mezad Hashavyahu and the destruction of Tel Batash/Timnah Stratum II (Mazar
and Kelm 1993: 155-57), that of the Phoenician
stronghold of Tel Kabri, Area E, is probably connected with Nebuchadnezzar II. The Greek pottery
from Tel Kabri shows a close relationship to that
from the destruction levels at the end of the Iron
Age II phase at Ashkelon and Tel Miqne-Ekron
(Waldbaum and Magness 1997: 27-33) which has
been convincingly attributed by the excavators to
the Babylonian invasions led by NebuchadnezzarII.
According to the Babylonian Chronicle in the British Museum, the conquest of Ashkelon is firmly
dated to the month of Kislev in the first year of the
reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, i.e., to November/
December 604 B.c. (Wiseman 1956: 28, 68-69;
Stager 1996a: 72* with n. 1; 1996b: 58, 77 with n. 3;
Waldbaum and Magness 1997: 37). The dates proposed for the fall of Tel Miqne-Ekron are in the
same year (Waldbaum and Magness 1997: 37-38),
one year later in 603 B.C. (Malamat 1979: 208; Gitin
28Naveh'soriginalscenariois still followedby Haider 1997: 98-99), in 601/600 or even after 595 B.C.
when the chronicle ends (Na'aman 1992: 41-44).
(1988:204-6; 1996:75-76).

24

WOLF-DIETRICHNIEMEIER

BASOR 322

As Gitin (1998b: 276 n. 2) has recently argued, it

is improbable that the Babylonian destruction of
Ekron happened after 595 B.C., since according to
the text of Jeremiah 27 describing a meeting in
Jerusalem in 594 B.C. at which a rebellion against
Babylonia is planned without the presence of representatives from Philistia, at that time the Philistines
may no longer have posed a threat to Babylonia. I
agree with Gitin that the most convincing date is
604 B.C. when the Babylonians destroyed Ashkelon
and Philistia apparently came totally under their
control. The Phoenician fortification of Tel Kabri,
Area E, probably was destroyed when the Babylonians conquered the Phoenician mainland before
Nebuchadnezzar'slong siege of Tyre which started
in 603 or 585 B.C. (see above). Since there was a series of Babylonian campaigns along the Phoenician
coast at the end of the seventh and in the first two
decades of the sixth century B.C. (Wiseman 1985:
21-41),29 other destruction dates are also possible.

the second half of the seventh century B.C. At that

time Greek merchants (and their families-see the
Pesaphore loomweight from Tall Sukas) may have
lived in some of the harbor cities such as Al Mina,
Ras el-Bassit, Tall Sukas, and Ashkelon. More
clearly, textual and archaeological evidence points
to the presence of another group of Greeks: mercenaries who first arrived in the eighth century B.C.,
were in the pay of the differentpowers present in the
seventh century Levant (Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt,
Judah, and Tyre), and made a profitable living amid
the rise and fall of empires. Not infrequently they
may have fought against each other as members of
different armies as illustrated on the Amathus bowl
(fig. 4). They were members of the elite who had
been driven out of their native country by war, exile following staseis (conflicts between aristocratic
families), or economic problems, typical phenomena
of the crises of the early Greek polis (Seibert 1979:
7-26; Stein-Holkeskamp 1989: 81-84),30 or had
pursued a search for an alternative way of aristocratic life centered on Homeric values like courage,
CONCLUSION
honor, and glory (Bettalli 1995: 26, 108-9). On
The evidence for Greek presence in the Iron their return they transferredforeign ideas and conAge IIB-C period in the Levant is not overwhelm- cepts to their homeland (Burkert 1992: 25; Kyrieleis
ing. There is no site comparable to Naukratiswhich, 1996: 109-10) and thus became, along with other
from at least 620 B.C. onward, became a Greek trad- mobile elements such as itinerant Oriental mering city with temples dedicated to different Greek chants, craftsmen, seers, and healers, mediators in
gods (Boardman 1980: 118-33; Braun 1982b: 37- the continuing Oriental influx to Greece (Burkert
43, Sullivan 1996: 189-90). Convincing signs of 1992: passim).
some Greek presence in the Levant do not antedate
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank the Dorot Foundationand S. the W. E AlbrightInstituteof ArchaeologicalResearch,

Gitin for the honorableinvitationto be the firstAnnual andthe Al-QudsUniversityfor theirhospitality.
TrudeDothanlecturer,as well as the HebrewUniversity,
30Forthe case of Antimenidasmentionedabove, see
Seibert1979:20-22; Stein-Holkeskamp
1989:82-83.

29Cf.the mapStager1996b:fig. on p. 58.

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