Tell Sukas

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Tell Sukas
Tell Sukas is located in Syria
Tell Sukas
Shown within Syria
Alternative nameShuksi, Suksi
Locationnear Jableh, Syria
RegionCanaan
Coordinates35°18′23″N 35°55′20″E / 35.306318°N 35.922203°E / 35.306318; 35.922203
TypeTell
Part ofTown
Area1.9 hectares (200,000 sq ft)
History
MaterialClay, Limestone
Abandonedc. 69 BC
PeriodsLate Bronze Age, Iron Age
Site notes
Excavation dates1958–1963
Archaeologists
ConditionRuins
ManagementDirectorate-General of Antiquities and Museums
Public accessYes

Tell Sukas (ancient Shuksi or Suksi) is a Late Bronze Age archaeological mound on the Eastern Mediterranean coast about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south of Jableh, Syria.

Overview[]

Tell Sukas was located at the center of the fertile plain of Jableh on a hill with access to two natural harbors.[1] There is evidence of an earlier Neolithic settlement at the site dating back to the seventh or sixth millennium BC.[2] The site was identified as ancient Suksi, which was mentioned in the Ugarit tablets and was probably the southernmost port of the Kingdom of Ugarit.[3] The Bronze Age settlement was probably destroyed along with the capital, Ugarit, during the Bronze Age collapse.[4] The site was reused shortly thereafter and commercial activity at the Iron Age settlement can be traced again to at least the tenth century BC,[1] when it became the port of Luhuti,[5] A Phoenician settlement was established in the eighth century BC[6] and the town thrived as a Greek trading outpost between c. 850 BC and c. 550 BC, when it was destroyed by the Babylonians.[3][7] Recent excavations reveal that the site was inhabited again by the Phoenicians between 380 and 69 BC until it was destroyed again, possibly by an earthquake. It was later re-occupied for a short period by the Crusaders.[2]

Excavation[]

The site was excavated in 1958–1963 by the Danish Carlsberg Expedition to Phoenicia under . Excavations uncovered an early Iron Age cemetery south of the tell which was dated to between the 13th and 10th century BC. Excavations also uncovered a large seventh-century Phoenician temple. The abundance of Greek pottery and the discovery of Greek burial grounds suggest that the city became a permanent Hellenic outpost by 600 BC.[1]

References[]

Citations[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Aubet, 2001, p. 63
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Fischer-Hansen, 1991, p. 44
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Bromiley, 1995, p. 272
  4. ^ Drews, 1995, p. 14
  5. ^ Claudia E. Suter, Christoph Uehlinger (2005). Crafts and Images in Contact: Studies on Eastern Mediterranean Art of the First Millennium BCE. p. 133. ISBN 9783525530047.
  6. ^ Horden; Purcell, 2000, p. 404
  7. ^ Tuplin, 1996, p. 36

Bibliography[]

  • Aubet, Maria Eugenia (2001). The Phoenicians and the West: Politics, Colonies and Trade. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521795432.
  • Fischer-Hansen, Tobias (1991). Recent Danish Research in Classical Archaeology: Tradition and Renewal. Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN 9788772891217.
  • Bromiley, Geoffrey W. (1995). The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume 4. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802837844.
  • Drews, Robert (1995). The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe ca. 1200 B.C. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691025919.
  • Horden, Peregrine; Purcell, Nicholas (2000). The Corrupting Sea: A Study of Mediterranean History. Wiley. ISBN 9780631218906.
  • Tuplin, Christopher (1996). Achaemenid Studies. Franz Steiner Verlag. ISBN 9783515069014.
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