Regev/Painting the Mediterranean, 4. Canaanite-Phoenician Style and Corpus

The Syrian and Aramean Styles - Egypto-Phoenician Corpora - Other Elements in the Phoenician Corpora Until now, discussion has concentrated on items and elements included in the Phoenician corpus. It is now time to investigate the details of those elements that composed the Canaanite-Phoenician corpus. As often is the case when dealing with the Canaanite-Phoenicians, elements that scholars should have incorporated into their artistic and religious symbolism have instead been associated with other cultures on a superficial level. As a result, the layers of borrowed influences from several sources and the complexity of many elements comprising the Canaanite-Phoenician style and corpus have been overlooked. In particular, elements borrowed from Mesopotamian, Syrian, and Egyptian styles but adapted to produce a Canaanite-Phoenician version need to be acknowledged as integral parts of the Canaanite-Phoenician corpus. Some elements of Egyptian origin are acknowledged to constitute Aegyptiaca in Canaanite-Phoenician contexts, but not all of them. Some better- and lesser-known examples of Canaanite-Phoenician elements are described in depth below. Items that have already been described extensively in other studies will be covered briefly. They include metal objects, glass, faience, and ivory. Similarly, perishable items will be given only brief consideration, because they disintegrated over time, leaving insufficient evidence to describe the trade network they would have been part of: for example, the purple dye industry. Items that are being identified as part of the Canaanite-Phoenician corpus for the first time, however, will be given more space.