Antiquities Exhibits

The Phoenicians as a politically, religiously, and perhaps even ethnically distinct entity on the Levantine coast emerged at the end of the Late Bronze Age about 1200 BCE, as one of the successor cultures to the Canaanites.  From their homeland on the coast of the Levant, the Phoenicians spread throughout the Mediterranean and its islands including Cyprus, Sicily and Malta. Some scholars have observed that Iron Age Phoenicia was not a nation, but rather a collection of cities built around natural harbors along the coast. While they shared a common culture, these small states remained independent, competing with each other in the international marketplace.  "Depending on how evidence is weighed [based on Ugaritic texts and classical sources], Phoenician religion might be presented on the one hand as inclusive and diverse – a “conservatively” polytheistic society easily able to incorporate or syncretize new deities, customs and traditions or on the other hand as highly place-spe...

Kypriaka Chronika: Tales of Ancient Cypriote Ceramics in West Coast Collections. February 9 - April 28, 2019 at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem, Oregon. The exhibition features 26 ceramic vessels and figurines that date from the Early Bronze Age to Early Iron Age (ca. 2500 to 475 BCE). The exhibits include a bichrome ware horse and rider from the Cypro-Archaic Period from 700-600 BCE as a votive off ering for a tomb. Other animal forms produced during this period include bulls, birds, and fishes. Cypriot Bichrome ware is characterized by black and red lines defining geometric, floral or zoomorphic decorations. Examples of this pottery have been found all over the Levant but neutron activation analysis has shown the composition matched Cyprus-made pottery indicating its export to Palestine and other areas. Cypriot bichrome ware horse and rider 700-600 BCE. Image courtesy of the Hallie Ford Museum of Art in Salem, Oregon.