Coastal Objects from Persian Period Tell en-Naṣbeh in Judah: Phoenician Interconnectivity with the Achaemenid Province of Yehud

Abstract

An unusual ceramic fragment and two glass conoid stamp seals from Tell en-Naṣbeh were published in 1947 with few details. No narrative or identification was given for the pottery fragment, the seals are described in a list of artifacts in a figure but not illustrated nor discussed in the volume’s chapter on seals. I identify these objects as Phoenician imports: a clay fragment of a satyr mask; and two stamp seals likely originating along the coast between Sidon and Tel Dor. Recognizing these pieces as Phoenician exports allows for further elucidation of contacts between the province of Yehud and the Mediterranean coast in the Persian period, long suggested by the Greek fine wares from the site. Conceptualizing interregional exchange between the southern Levantine coast and the Judean hills helps bridge the gap between international and local commerce in the Achaemenid period southern Levant, and suggests differences in routes of exchange from those of the late Iron Age. These new findings reverse the relative silence afforded the pieces in their original publication.