Phoenicians, islands and the making of the Mediterranean

Originally from the eastern Mediterranean, the Phoenicians were celebrated sailors and traders whose networks stretched across vast territories. By the late eighth and early seventh centuries BCE, they had already settled on numerous islands and coastal headlands, in settlements that flourished as the centre of Phoenician culture shifted towards Carthage in North Africa. This lecture explores the cultural expressions of island life and examines how these communities helped shape the Mediterranean world of the first millennium BCE. Nicholas C. Vella is Professor of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Malta. He holds a doctorate in Phoenician archaeology from the University of Bristol (UK) and was Rome Scholar at the British School at Rome. His research focuses on the history and archaeology of the Mediterranean, with particular interest in Phoenician ritual practices, archaeological landscapes, and the history of archaeological thought and practice. As a field archaeologist, he is actively involved in excavations in Malta, including a student training excavation at a Roman villa in Bidnija, and co-directs the research excavation at Latnija, Mellieħa (IslandLab project),…

Voy Palma — Phoenicians, islands and the making of the Mediterranean