The Golden Centuries.
Tiny Arwad
come sailing along his best period as a Phoenician city. Arwad possessed a twin
harbour facing eastwards the mainland; its northern and southern bays were
separated by a natural jetty some 60 meters in length, which was augmented in
antiquity by an ashlar stone construction with blocks of 3-5 meters. As the
later massive Roman fortifications suggest, the Phoenician Iron Age city must
have been protected by a fortified defence wall that ringed the island. Arwad
was densely populated; its city centre, like that of Tyre , was marked by multi-stored houses
(Strabo 16,2,13). The high ground now occupied by medieval fortifications
undoubtedly marks the ancient city’s acropolis and the site of its main
sanctuaries. The main cemeteries were probably located on the mainland opposite
– in the region of Tortose. On the island itself a small cremation cemetery may
also have been located in the southern periphery.
Arwad was
heavily dependent upon the mainland for its raw materials and agricultural
staples. The water supply was ensured, at least in part, by the emplacement of
extramural cisterns cut into the island’s rocky counterscarp. There is even a
story by Strabo that the Arvadites traced an underwater source out of which
flowed sweet water. In times of thread they put a clock of lead upon that
source and they managed to catch the sweet water through a leathern pipe to the
surface. Plinius confirms that story, when he is talking about lifting sweet
water from the sea, which was done in Arwad, Gades and the Chelidonian isles
(2.227).
The
previous texts are an adapted version of some texts from G.E.Markoe,
Phoenicians, Los Angeles ,
2000.
It looks
like that the Phoenician towns made a division of labour. Ezechiel XXVII about Tyre :
“The residents of Sidon
and Arwad were your oarsmen and your wise men, o Tyre , they were at your ships as sailors. The
elder men of Gebal and her artisans were there to repair any damage.”
The
cooperation was further intensified, because Ezechiel says also:
“The sons of Arwad and their army guarded
your walls on all sides and contributed to your beauty.”
Arwad
expands on the mainland its possessions. From the north to the south:
Sigo/Siyannu,
Shukshu/T.Sukas, Paltos/Arab al-Mulk, Balanea/Baniyas, Ušnu/T.Daruk, Carnos/Qrn/T.Qarnun,
Antaradus/Tortose, Enhydra/T.Gamqa, Marathos/Mrt/Amrit, Mariamme/Maryamin/Bonin
and perhaps Simira/Sumur/T.Kazil.
In this
period Arwad is ruled by a board of tradesmen. We don’t know the name of any
king. They will appear in the next period, when the Assyrians came to disrupt
the wealth and prosperity of Arwad.
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