(Archaeology): Marketplace of Ashkelon (Philistine City)

The Philistine Marketplace at Ashkelon

Ancient Economics Revealed

Biblical Archaeology Society Staff   •  12/13/2013

A WINDOW INTO ANCIENT ECONOMICS AT PHILISTINE ASHKELON. At the Philistine marketplace in Ashkelon, people visit the wine and butcher shops and examine a shipment of Greek pottery, placed next to some local Philistine cooking pots. An Egyptian official stands nearby as silver is weighed on the scale. The artifacts found at the marketplace in Philistine Ashkelon illuminate ancient economics. Credit: Balage Balogh/ArchaeologyIllustrated.com

 

Perhaps at first glance, a study of ancient economics does not sound as interesting as examining ancient battles or treasure-filled tombs. Yet arguably the results of such a study are more valuable for reconstructing daily life for the average person. The seventh-century B.C.E. (Iron Age) marketplace at Philistine Ashkelon—the only archaeologically-demonstrated marketplace in the ancient Near East—provides a window into ancient economics. In “Buy Low, Sell High: The Marketplace at Ashkelon” in the January/February 2014 issue of BAR, Daniel Master and Lawrence Stager examine what was traded and by whom at this Philistine sea port.

Unlike other coastal cities with ports separate from the city, Ashkelon—one of the five cities of the Philistine Pentapolis mentioned in the Bible—was situated directly on the sea, with its marketplace overlooking the Mediterranean. Not surprisingly, the economy of Ashkelon was based on maritime trade. Experienced seafarers, the Philistine merchants traveled far and wide, crossing the Mediterranean world and forging economic and political ties as they went.

For the rest, see:
http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/daily-life-and-practice/the-philistine-marketplace-at-ashkelon/