The volume under review has been in the making for approximately twenty years and aims to correct and refocus past and contemporary approaches to the studies of the Phoenician agency in the Mediterranean in the first millennium BCE. Often, because of the Hellenocentric vision of antiquity, the Phoenicians received little credit for their role in the shaping of the Mediterranean, and this book seeks to recover their heritage.

The volume opens with an introduction in which the author delineates the scope of her work. López-Ruiz argues that, in the eighth century BCE, the Phoenicians “set in motion the new connectivity networks” and created “a first, truly connected Mediterranean” (p. 2). This robust activity was not random but a concerted effort by the Levantine city-states, primarily Tyre, to search for metals and other resources such as timber, murex shells, and salt. Then, López-Ruiz engages with contemporary scholarship in assessing a series of terminologies and concepts. The author seeks to reveal the Phoenicians’ agency in the spread of technological innovations and artistic styles in the communities from Cyprus to Iberia. In fact, it is suggested that it was the Phoenicians themselves that actively promoted what came to be known as the “orientalizing” phenomenon. Assistive in this regard was “the Orientalizing kit” which comprised several innovations, including those in pottery and terracotta production, the use of symbolic and decorative motifs, ivory carving, masonry techniques, burial forms and rituals, wine production and distribution, and alphabetic writing, among others.

Of particular interest to López-Ruiz is the way the Phoenicians, frequently referred to as “Near Eastern” and “Levantine,” have been absent from many discussions of the ancient Mediterranean, instead solely focusing on the Greeks and their contributions (pp. 6-9). The author intends to unveil Phoenician contributions as “makers” of ancient Mediterranean trade networks and “cultural trends” (p. 9). Having thus charted the course of the book, López-Ruiz finally takes up the issue of “Phoenicoskepticism.” Contrary to the widely held opinion that the Phoenicians were not an ethnic group and that Phoenicia as a geographical and historiographical unit never existed, the author argues the Phoenicians did indeed have a unified group identity even if such a notion had never been expressed internally in epigraphic materials. As evidence, López-Ruiz mentions Carthaginian coins of the fifth century BCE bearing the palm tree (called phoenix in Greek) “as a symbol of Phoenician representation on the international stage” (p. 17). The author notes that “a Tyrian, a Sidonian, or a Carthaginian was no less Phoenician than an Athenian, a Corinthian, or a Syracusan was Greek” (p. 19). Such a strong statement sets the tone for the rest of the volume.

In Chapter 1, López-Ruiz addresses Phoenician expansion in the Mediterranean and seeks to “dispel some stereotypes that stem from explicit or implicit comparison of Phoenician and Greek activity abroad” (p. 23). She notes the lack of post-colonial theoretical basis for the Phoenicians and calls for “decolonization” of Phoenician studies from the burden of outdated terminology (i.e., “emporion,” “trading post”, and “apoikia”). López-Ruiz reorients scholarship to look at Phoenician settlements not as smaller alternatives to Greek expansion but as “a web of interconnected city-states” (p. 38). In addition, she calls for a more thorough look at Phoenicians as farmers, and not only merchants and sailors. Such an inquiry, aided with the help of bioarchaeology, among other disciplines, already suggests that Phoenicians introduced Levantine modes of viticulture and olive farming, at least to Iberia and Italy. These conclusions further emphasize the deliberate character of Phoenician exploration in the Mediterranean. Finally, Phoenician religious networks, represented mostly by sanctuaries dedicated to Baal/Melqart and Astarte, supported their maritime and economic activities as they served as points of culture sharing and transfer and “strengthened communications, facilitated the spread of the news, and promoted business” (p. 42).

Chapter 2 begins with a critique of “Greek exceptionalism”, which still permeates as an interpretive model, largely because of the admiration for classical Greek culture. According to López-Ruiz, such a tendency seriously complicates our attempts to study Greek interactions with other groups in the seventh-eighth centuries BCE. As a test case, López-Ruiz chose three archaeological sites: Al-Mina in Syria, Lefkandi in Euboea, and Pithekoussai in the Bay of Naples (and a few others) to show how Greek agency and presence were overstated, and those of Phoenicians were “sidelined or altogether rejected” (p. 46). In the rest of the chapter, López-Ruiz engages in a robust critique of the preeminent trends in current scholarship regarding the emphasis on Greek and Roman cultural trajectories in the Western Mediterranean, to the detriment of Phoenicians. She points out that “we need to overcome the sclerotic Mediterranean model of the classics, dominated by Greek and Roman cultures, which allow “others” (Phoenicians] to enter only as a concession” (p. 61).

Chapter 3 is the last chapter of Part I of the book, and López-Ruiz makes a strong case for a more definitive Phoenician attribution of the artifacts frequently seen as “Orientalizing,” “Levantine,” or “Near Eastern.” One approach she is taking is reclassification and scrupulous refining of the terms “orientalization,” “orientalizing,” “oriental,” and “Phoenicianizing.” The entire concept of “orientalizing” is seen by López-Ruiz as severely limiting and vague as the term “obscures historical actors” (p. 67) and ignores Phoenician contributions in the Mediterranean. A reader will appreciate the art-historical aspect of research, especially as applied to the production of Levantine ivories and bronze work. These two classes of artifacts have been routinely labeled “Levantine” or “Oriental,” the terms which are, according to López-Ruiz, insufficiently obfuscating their Phoenician origins. She advocates a more nuanced approach, with better defined almost synonymous terms “Orientalization” and “Phoenicianizing,” which denote “the Levantine-inflected cultural traits adopted by many local groups who came into contact with Phoenicians in the Iron Age” (p. 77). These cultural traits comprise an “Orientalizing kit” which the Phoenicians used in marketing their goods. The kit encompassed Levantine symbols and motifs, new technologies for the production of pottery and metalwork, monumental sculptures, terracotta figurines, new forms of burials, etc. (p. 82). Anticipating a potential critique of her position, López-Ruiz asks a rhetorical question, “But is it Phoenician art?” (pp. 84-9). The answer provided is straightforward; if we speak of Near Eastern art and associated products, whether we call them Phoenician, they are still “within the parameters of products the Phoenicians marketed” (p. 89).

Chapter 4 introduces the second part of the book titled “Follow the Sphinx” and opens the discussion of Phoenician activities in the western Mediterranean. López-Ruiz traces their beginning to the tenth century BCE, and it was then when indigenous and Phoenician trading routes linked the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The focus of this chapter is on Iberia and the surrounding areas. Whereas the region attracted the Phoenicians primarily by its metal deposits, the author notes one should not overlook agricultural and marine resources as well. López-Ruiz notes that the Phoenician role in trading pursuits did not “come easily” because of the “fixation with the classical past and with racial purity among powerful European nations” of Spanish archaeologists (p. 95). When they did recognize the Phoenician agency behind the exploration of Iberia, they did so enthusiastically. Throughout the chapter, various findings from the region are discussed, including settlements of various size, art objects from Tartessus (including warrior stelae, funerary finds, pottery, metalwork, ivories, sanctuaries and religious symbols), and language and script. All of them suggest that the orientalizing process was pervasive in the region. The last part of the chapter examines artifacts from North Africa. The same orientalizing process that affected Iberia is not attested there, however. The indigenous people from North Africa did not show much interest in what the Mediterranean trade had to offer, thus limiting the hybridization of their culture with the Phoenician culture and its “orientalizing kit.”

A similar interpretative approach continues in Chapter 5, where the focus is on the Central Mediterranean. López-Ruiz discusses trade networks and settlement patterns of Iron-Age Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, and southern Italy and Etruria. She points out major similarities between the Sardinian and Iberian “hybrid” cultures. Nuragic and Phoenician interactions were characterized by the local “receptivity and adaptation” (p. 131) in the face of constant and pervasive presence of the Levantines on the island. Colonized primarily in the western part by the Phoenicians, Sicily presents a peculiar case where Phoenician, Greek, and local cultures came into contact. However, the locals did not produce “their own fully fledged local versions of oriental decorative motifs or invest in elaborating orientalizing bronzes and jewelry…” (p. 141) thus proving a point that they would adopt innovations and imported styles only to the degree it served their own interests, whether economic or political. Malta did not incorporate any local adaptations of the “orientalizing kit” and both Phoenician and local products thrived alongside each other, producing a well-functioning hybrid culture. The last thirty or so pages of the chapter are dedicated to Levantine relations in southern Italy and Etruria. There, López-Ruiz discusses Levantine imports in southern Italy, Etruscan orientalizing features, including those found in tombs, bowls, funerary artifacts, sanctuaries, iconography and religious symbolism, and writing. The author has to concede that the full history of the Phoenician presence in Italy will never be recovered with an implication that the degree of orientalizing there is subject to conjecture. Italy was not colonized by Phoenicians as other islands were, and López-Ruiz admits that the Phoenician agency is often “diluted in a sea of uncertainties, technicalities, and granulated analysis of orientalizing art and imports, leaving the Greeks… as the only viable, “reifiable” [sic] category and external cultural force acting in early Italy” (p. 172).

Chapter 6 is concerned with the Aegean and the economic and cultural competition between Greeks and Phoenicians. One of the central questions López-Ruiz is trying to answer is “What exactly is Greek or Near Eastern within orientalizing Greek art?” (p. 175). The answer is not easy, as it is almost impossible to distinguish between the origin of a particular object and the identity of those who carried it over sea or land. Throughout the chapter, the author seeks to unravel layers and layers of Grecocentrism that have affected the study of the Aegean. Several key iconographic representations are described and analyzed in this chapter, including sphinxes, griffins, animals, floral motifs, and deities. Also, several thematic selections and adaptations on various media are scrutinized, including metalwork, ivories, various “exotica” items, faience and glass objects, terracotta votive offerings, pottery, temple architecture, monumental sculpture, and sphinxes. In each case, López-Ruiz is demonstrating the degrees to which many of the objects are affected by orientalizing, Phoenician influence, either directly or indirectly, as with the sphinxes, an Egyptian elite cultural export disseminated by Phoenicians and adopted by local communities.

Chapter 7 is a departure from the rest of the monograph as it considers language. Here, López-Ruiz analyzes the ways orientalizing made its mark on the Greek alphabet and language. The copying of the Phoenician alphabet was not a chance development, but a deliberate choice caused by historical realities (p. 227). The importance of Phoenician writing and language has been downplayed historically in favor of Greek exceptionalism, even though the Greek has benefitted significantly from the orientalizing Phoenician influence. In the shapes, the order of the Greek letters, in the direction of writing, and even the name of the alphabet itself – one can find signs of adaptation from the Levantine culture almost everywhere. López-Ruiz imagines the fast and furious spread of Phoenician writing and the subsequent adoption of the Phoenician language in the broader Mediterranean. The only missing confirmation of this phenomenon is the lacunal nature of the writing heritage itself, which the author concedes. Part of the problem is the fragile character of the writing medium (papyrus); the lack of interest in preserving the Phoenician legacy by medieval archivists and scribes/copyists is another factor. Of interest to linguists is a discussion of loanwords in Greek. The author cites many examples of Akkadian and Northwest Semitic roots in many Greek words, although there are no direct examples from the Phoenician. Eventually, López-Ruiz has to acknowledge that the direct evidence is mostly missing as we have very few surviving examples of the Phoenician language, and numerous conclusions in this chapter are made on the assumption that since there were so many orientalizing features adopted in the Mediterranean, to expect anything else in the realm of linguistics would be “absurd” (p. 248).

The island of Cyprus is the focus of Chapter 8. López-Ruiz concedes that the term “orientalization” is hardly meaningful there as Cyprus was so tightly integrated into the Near Eastern world and its culture was more “Phoenicianized” than others as it was mostly affected by Canaanites and Phoenicians. This position stands in contrast to the previously dominant “Mycenaean dogma” or “Achaean theory” which saw large migrations of Greek speakers on the island. Many Cypriot communities have the Greek and Phoenician artifacts so closely intertwined that it is next to impossible to “uncritically accept the traditional classifications along ethnic-cultural lines…” (p. 257). López-Ruiz points out that several Levantine-inspired artifacts have been found on Cyprus as she investigates several areas of concern, including pottery styles, metalwork, jewelry, minor arts, sacred spaces and rituals, the pantheon, languages and scripts, and Egyptianizing statuary. The latter topic deserves a few words. López-Ruiz sees examples of Egyptianizing statues as a manifestation of “Phoenician Egyptianizing art” and postulates that this concept should be explored when considering other places in the Mediterranean featuring Levantine-style adaptations. Cyprus participated actively in the early Iron Age Mediterranean exchange; at the same time, it is also noted that the culture of the island was “fiercely local” (p. 251). Although Cypriots emulated the Levant “idiosyncratically,” they were rather unique compared to other entities in the Mediterranean as they maintained their own script.

The final chapter of the book concerns the Phoenician homeland. López-Ruiz suggests that the two most visible Phoenician contributions to the Levantine cultural landscape were in the areas of the Phoenician language/script and architectural features, especially the “Proto-Aeolic” capitals. The latter are covered in detail, with the subsequent conclusion that the capitals were wrongly ascribed to the Israelites in the past scholarly literature and should be associated with the Phoenician culture. The discussion of the language and the script begins with a review of the transition from the Canaanites to the Phoenicians in the Late Bronze Age. Having established themselves as an advanced and prestigious culture in the Ancient Neat East, the Phoenicians invented the alphabet. The prestige of the Phoenician language and script eventually led to the adoption of them elsewhere in the Levant. López-Ruiz even calls the Phoenician script the “culturally hegemonic script of the time” (p. 304). Among the existing sources that the author cites is the Hebrew Bible and various time markers derived from it. This reviewer would have liked to see more nuance in handling biblical writings and historiography, as these areas are far from being a settled matter. Tyre is the major focus of the chapter and other cities are mentioned primarily in passing, and the author at times uses the Tyrians and the Phoenicians interchangeably.

The volume closes with an epilogue highlighting the need to rethink the study of the ancient Mediterranean, extensive notes, a bibliography, acknowledgements, and an index.
Overall, the monograph is a masterclass in historiographic and cultural research aiming to upend common stereotypes regarding Phoenicians and their role “in the making of the Mediterranean.” It demonstrates solid, up-to-date research and a thoughtful approach to a variety of topics, including archaeology, linguistics, sociology of the past, and ethnicity. One issue this reviewer has questions about is the proposal that the Phoenicians self-identified as “Phoenicians.” The corroboration of this idea would have been welcome; simply suggesting that this may have been the case in lieu of the missing evidence is insufficient. The book will undoubtedly be of interest to a scholarly audience first and foremost, but an informed readership will appreciate its scope and erudition as well.