What came first, the phoenician or the egg?

: Examining the geographic distribution and artistic evolution of decorated ostrich eggs in the Mediterranean 1st Millennium BCE.

Abstract

Evidence from the Near Eastern Bronze Age establishes precedence for decorated ostrich eggs as a luxury and artistic medium, continuing into the Mediterranean Iron Age (c. 1,200 – 400 BCE). From the mid-1st Millennium BCE, their distribution is primarily across the western half of the Mediterranean in areas of Phoenician cultural influence. Throughout this period, they occur mostly in funerary contexts. Individual finds often display decoration that hybridises local fashions of the time with broader Mediterranean cultural traditions.
Current evidence places the impetus for the eggs’ stylistic development and distribution on Phoenician-Punic culture. However, the globalised nature of the 1st Millennium Mediterranean economy requires us to consider their diachronic development and distribution from the perspective of demand by consuming cultures. Therefore, this paper creates the first comprehensive catalogue of its kind to assesses the eggs’ geographic distribution and stylistic evolution within the 1st Millennium Mediterranean to reconsider socio-economic dynamics across the Mediterranean during this period.

Date of Award	21 Mar 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Tamar Hodos (Supervisor) & Shelley J Hales (Supervisor)