2,700-year-old carved shell found in Italy - but made in Syria, Lebanon, or Palestine ... trade & trade routes- civilization #art #beauty

Carved Grooved Clam Shell (700-600 BC), Vulci, Italy.

 

A woman's face peeks out from this clam shell, and the waves on the shell's back are swirling like the woman's cloak blowing in the wind. 

 

The bark once held perfume or was used to mix makeup. 

 

The approximately 2,700-year-old shell was found in Italy. It wasn't made in Italy; the face and other decorations were carved in what is today Syria, Lebanon, Israel or Palestine. 

 

Decorated shells were sold to Italy in the west and Iraq in the east. But the scallops were actually brought from elsewhere, from the warm clear waters of the Red Sea or other parts of the Indian Ocean.

 

On the lower edge of the shell you can see faint patterns that were once black. There are water lilies in the middle and on both sides, an Egyptian-looking sphinx, and a lion with a human head and bird wings.

 

British Museum

 

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The Middle East and Egypt

In the Middle East of the early Bronze Age the two great civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt are flourishing. They have sophisticated writing systems, bronze technologies and highly developed public administrations. The first literatures are flowering, and already some of the most spectacular structures in all world history, the Great Pyramids, have been built in the Nile valley.

 

What is happening in Syria in 2500 BCE

 Agriculture has probably been practiced for longer here than anywhere else in the world. By this time, important trade routes run through Syria and Canaan between Mesopotamia to the east and Egypt to the south, both by land and sea. These trade routes have brought the influences of Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations into the region, and small city-states now scatter the region. The city of Byblos, on the Syrian coast, is an important port, is home of a thriving shipping trade with Egypt and other Mediterranean regions.

Palestinians construct new protest village in south Hebron

(MaanImages/Stringer) 

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=563453

HEBRON (Ma’an) -- Palestinians and foreign solidarity activists on Saturday set up a new protest village in the south Hebron hills, and vowed to remain there despite Israeli forces moving to dismantle the structures.

Early Saturday, activists set up steel-framed tents near the Palestinian village of al-Tuwani, calling the encampment "Canaan".

Younis Arar, coordinator of the popular committees in the southern West Bank, told Ma'an that soldiers assaulted the 30 activists who had gathered in the area.

"We began building the tents and were surprised when a large force of the Israeli army began attacking us and destroying tents and hitting us ... We will try and build Canaan village again," Arar said.

A military spokeswoman said soldiers evacuated illegal structures, and responded with riot dispersal means when around 100 Palestinians "rioted" in the area.

A Ma'an reporter said three journalists were detained, and the military spokeswoman said five Palestinians and five Israelis were arrested for entering the area after it was declared a closed military zone.

Yatta popular committee spokesman Ibrahim Rabee told Ma'an the protest camp was a stand against Israeli policies in the region.

"We are establishing Canaan on our land after our homes and water wells were demolished, and our people displaced," he said.

The south Hebron hills lies in an area of the West Bank under full Israeli military control, and its residents say Israel does not allow any building permits and demolishes homes and infrastructure, while supporting Israeli settlements in the area.

Just south of al-Tuwani, Israel has established a closed military zone where the state wants to evict eight Palestinian villages to make way for a army training ground.

The Canaan protest camp is the fifth such initiative in recent weeks.

In January, the Bab al-Shams village was set up in an area where Israel plans to build the "E1" settlement, severing the West Bank from Jerusalem.

Then, locals established the al-Karamah (Dignity) village in Beit Iksa, northwest of Jerusalem, which is set to be tightly encircled by Israel's separation wall.

A week later, activists set up the Al-Asra, or prisoners, protest village in the village of Anin, northwest of Jenin.

Last Saturday, Palestinians established the "Al-Manatir neighborhood" encampment in an area of Burin village that activists say is slated for confiscation by a neighboring settlement.

Israeli forces have moved to evacuate each of the camps and dismantle their structures.