Abstract
In the ancient world, the presence of exotic fish in locations distant from the sea would have signified their importance as luxury foods for social elites. Of special interest in this respect is the Red Sea parrotfish (scarus Sp.), which, while consumed regularly around the Red Sea basin, would have been considered an exotic fish when found at great distances from its point of origin. Recent archaeological excavations in the Negev Desert of the southern Levant have yielded surprising and unprecedented quantities of parrotfish remains, found in the landfills of Byzantine sites located some 200 km from the Red Sea (Tepper et al. 2018; Bar-Oz et al. 2019). These sites (Elusa, Soubeita, Oboda, and Nessana), which date from the fourth through seventh centuries CE, are located along the main system of ancient trade routes that connected the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea with the Mediterranean region and Europe (fig. 1). The remains recovered from these sites testify to the historical importance of this fish in Byzantine society and economy, as well as to the development of sophisticated trade networks, which facilitated the supply of Red Sea fish to distant inland locations.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 216-225 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Near Eastern Archaeology |
Volume | 82 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Dec 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was carried out with the support of the European Research Council under the EU?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant 648427) and the Israel Science Foundation (Grant 340-14). The authors wish to thank Yitzchak Yoffe and Kellila Joffe, NYU and ISAW, for organizing the conference that stimulated this joint project. We are also grateful to our students, S?ra Lantos and Racheli Blevis, and to our colleagues, Irit Zohar, Omri Lernau, Nimrod Marom, Yotam Tepper, and Lior Weissbrod, for inspiring the discussion.
Funding Information:
This research was carried out with the support of the European Research Council under the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant 648427) and the Israel Science Foundation (Grant 340-14). The authors wish to thank Yitzchak Yoffe and Kellila Joffe, NYU and ISAW, for organizing the conference that stimulated this joint project. We are also grateful to our students, Sára Lantos and Racheli Blevis, and to our colleagues, Irit Zohar, Omri Lernau, Nimrod Marom, Yotam Tepper, and Lior Weissbrod, for inspiring the discussion.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, University of Chicago Press. All rights reserved.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Archaeology
- History
- Archaeology