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Aspects in Commerce and Trade in North Sinai
During the Byzantine Period –
In the Light of the Evidence of Bowls and Amphorae
Abstract
Introduction
This thesis is based on the findings of the North Sinai Survey, which took place
between 1972-1982, directed by Prof. Eliezer D. Oren and on behalf of the
Archaeology Division at Ben Gurion University of the Negev. This survey identified
599 Byzantine sites, 46 of which were excavated in the vicinity of Ostrakine, a major
site in North Sinai.
Goals of the thesis are:
1. A reconstruction of the history of the settlements, in light of historical sources
and the evidence provided by ceramic finds.
2. A reconstruction of economic and settlement models in a unique environment
in the desert area located between Egypt and Palestine and the accessibility of
that area to sea trade, a low carrying capacity potential, bad access,
transferability, and low quantities of drinking water.
3. An analysis of the economy of Northern Sinai and its importance in the
economic system of the Mediterranean Sea countries during the Byzantine
Period.
4. A comparison of models of settlement and economy
in the region of Northern Sinai, during the Byzantine and other periods and
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Northern Sinai and other regions in the Mediterranean Sea basin during the
Byzantine Period.
The thesis structure
This thesis consists of three parts:
1. Background (Chapters 1-5):
- a history of the research of North Sinai during the Hellenistic, Roman and
Byzantine periods and the modern era.
- the administration, religion and economic history of North Sinai and
neighboring regions such as Egypt and Palestine.
- the geographical and environmental background of North Sinai in reference to
the Byzantine period and today.
-
the cities mentioned in historical references dating to the Byzantine period,
their description and identification.
- the presentation of an archeological survey.
2. Finds and Conclusions (chapters 6-8)
This section, the descriptive part of the thesis, presents Byzantine sites in North
Sinai as well as pottery types and settlement models in the Byzantine period as
compared to similar models in the Roman and Early Moslem period in North
Sinai. Ceramic types and economy models will be compared to other sites and
areas in the Mediterranean Sea basin.
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3. Appendixes:
In this section the following is presented:
- a site list.
- pottery types according to the sites in North Sinai in which they were found.
The area of the survey
This consists of the region between Raphia (the international border between Israel
and Egypt) and Suez Canal, from the Mediterranean Sea to the charcoal hills in
central Sinai. The length of the survey strip is 250 KM and the width of it is 20 KM
(Map 1).
Chapter 1 - History of the research
This chapter is divided:
1. A short description of the ancient historians who described the region of
North Sinai (Map 5). The descriptions relate to nature, natural phenomena and
historical reports.
2. A description of modern research of the area, especially the archaeological
activity In North Sinai, since Cledat's researches in 1910 till the recent
excavations of today.
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Chapter 2 - Historical Background
In this chapter the historical background of North Sinai, Palestine and Egypt
from the fourth century CE until the end of the seventh century CE is presented
together with their administrative, cultural economical and religious aspects. During
the Byzantine period North Sinai was made up of two administrative units. The border
was near Bitylion. North East of Bitylion the region was part of the Palestine
province. In the year 409 the province of Palestine was divided and the northeastern
area of North Sinai became part of the Palestine Prima province. The area located
west to Bitylion was part of Aegyptus Herculia till the year 382. From the year 382 till
539 this area was part of Augustamnica province, and later on, it was part of
Augustamnica I province.
At the beginning of the Byzantine period the majority of the population in
North Sinai were pagans, During the Byzantine period most of the local population
converted to Christianity.
Special references are given to those dramatic events, which had a great
influence on the population during the Byzantine period, for example, a major plague
which was responsible for many fatalities during the year 541 CE. This epidemic
started out in Pelousion and spread all over the world, killing thousands, including
victims in North Sinai. Similarly, Phocas's, and the Persian wars and the Arab
Conquest are discussed.
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Chapter 3 - Geographical and Environmental Background
This chapter deals with the geographical and environmental descriptions made
by various ancient historians and geographers. According to these I assume that
during the Byzantine period, similar to the present time, North Sinai was a desert
covered with active dunes that limited transportation and the development of
agriculture. This area, then as today, had a limited quantity of water and land for
agricultural use. The North Sinai shoreline was relatively long and important to its
economy. Many of its residents made their livelihood from the sea.
The main environmental difference between North Sinai during the Byzantine
period and today may be found in the western region of North Sinai. During the
Byzantine period, two water passages existed: the Pelusiac Branch of the Nile as well
as the canal that connected the Nile and the Red Sea. These two passages dried up
after the Byzantine period and do not exist today.
These geographical and environmental descriptions enabled me to point to the
economic and production capabilities of North Sinai during the Byzantine period as
well as its carrying capacity potential.
The carrying capacity potential is divided into levels of agricultural feasibility (Map
13-14). In North Sinai only 10% of the area has a high level of carrying capacity
potential (agricultural feasibility), this is the reason that 42% of the settlements are
located in this region. In the low carrying capacity potential area, another 10% of the
sites were defined as sites located near salt marshes (Map 11) and I can assume that
the residents made their living from digging and selling salt and gypsum.
Fishermen populated other sites located on the seashore. All the remaining sites were
made up of wandering pastoral people (Map 10).
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Chapter 4 - The Cities in North Sinai during the Byzantine Period.
In this chapter there are descriptions of different cities as related to in
historical sources. These sites were identified and the economical aspects of each city
were discussed.
Chapter 5 - Archeology Survey: method and data research North Sinai as a test case.
This chapter highlights different survey systems and different data processing
systems. The North Sinai survey used the relativity survey system and the
combination of both survey and excavations in important sites.
Chapter 6 - Economic and Settlement Models in
North Sinai during the Byzantine Period
This chapter provides archeological models based on data obtained in
archeological surveys. The subject of how to define the importance of the sites is the
basic problem of these models, whether to rely upon the size of the site or on the
quantity of the finds uncovered at the site. In my thesis I emphasize that in North
Sinai it is best to make use of a combination of these two options.
The first model examined was the "Nearest Neighbor Test". This test examined the
model of arrangement of the site in the spatial organization and the connection
between the sites. Based on this model it seems that there are three different areas in
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North Sinai, defined as having a high level of carrying capacity potential - clustered
point pattern:
1. The northeast area of the survey.
2. Mount Casion
3. The Pelusiac branch and the canal connecting the Nile and the Red Sea.
Another area can be defined as low carrying capacity potential - random point pattern.
The second model examined, was the "Central Place Theory" as developed by
Christaler. I investigated this theory from different aspects: the size of the sites (Map
25), the number of the finds (Map 24) and according to the Madaba Map definition
(Map 27). From these tests I can assume that the primeval site in North Sinai was
Pelousiom. The secondary site was Rhinocurura. The third group is made up of
smaller cities located in this region, the majority of which are mentioned in historical
sources. Last in this hierarchy are the agriculture, fishing, pastoral, salt and gypsum
mining villages (Illustration 1).
Some of the characteristics of these settlements during the Byzantine period were
compared to those found in the region during the Roman and Early Moslem periods.
The large cities existed throughout all these periods. The differences existed in the
smaller centers. During the Roman period 343 sites appeared to have been occupied
(Map. 28). During the Byzantine period the number reached 599 sites (Map. 30) and
dropped back to 339 sites during the early Muslim period (Map. 30). Although the
greatest number of sites existed during the Byzantine period, this period has the
smallest number of new settlements (Graph 6). During the Roman period 70% of the
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sites are new sites. During the Byzantine period only 55% of the sites are new sites
while during the early Muslim period 65% are new sites.
The location of the sites dated to the Roman and the Byzantine periods are more or
less in the same area. Differences occurred in some locations between the Byzantine
and the early Muslim periods. These differences occurred mainly because the Pelusiac
Branch and the Nile-Red sea canal dried up and because of the large sand banks in
the Bardawil Lagoon (Maps 33-34). There were no great differences in the centroid
and the center of gravity during the Byzantine period compared to those of the Roman
and Early Moslem periods (Map 35). The differences that did exist between them
were due to the establishment or abandonment of sites.
Chapter 7 –The Analysis of Pottery As
a Basis for an Economic Study.
In this thesis I concentrated on the analysis of two particular typed of vessels:
bowls and amphorae. The typology, chronology and the source of the bowls in this
study are well known. In contrast the knowledge of the chronology and the sources of
some types of amphorae are not clear. The identification of amphorae holds great
importance in the economic research of this period because of their use as containers
for liquids. Despite the fact that amphorae themselves were not the major item of
trade, their economic importance lay in their contents.
In this chapter I also present pottery found in the excavation of Qasrawet
(Plate 1) and Ostrakine (Plates 2-4) as well as surveyed sites (Plate 5-6).
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Chapter 8 –The Pottery Types
In this chapter I present the variety of the pottery types found in North Sinai
and dated to the Byzantine period. 2951 bowls were found in North Sinai. These
bowls were imported from different sources: North Africa, Phocae, Cyprus, Egypt,
Asia Minor, and Israel. These bowls are divided into 153 types.
Imported bowls were found all over North Sinai and in all kinds of settlements. The largest
quantities and varieties of bowl types were found in cities. There were a variety of bowls
from different sources and their rates of recurrence were different according to each
area in North Sinai: North African and Phocaean Bowls were found particularly in the
northwest area of North Sinai and in Mount Casios, and in limited quantities in the
other areas of North Sinai (Maps 36-37). Cypriot bowls have been found all over
North Sinai, but especially in high numbers in Mount Casios (Map 38). Egyptian
bowls were found especially in western North Sinai but in far lower quantities in the
northeast parts (Map 39). Palestinian bowls were found mostly around El-Arish (Map
40).
It is also clear that at the beginning of the Byzantine period most of the import in
bowls came from North Africa (Graphs 24, 27). During the 5th century this trade
declined and an increase occurred in the import of bowls from Cyprus and Phocae.
The import of bowls from Cyprus reached its peak during the 6th century, towards the
end of 6th century this trade went down and instead there was an increase in imported
bowls from Egypt (Graphs 25-26, 28).
When I compare the bowls sources in North Sinai to other areas in the region,
I see that the quantities of the bowls from different sources are similar to those found
in Egypt during the same time, but different in comparison to the sites in Israel. There
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is a particular difference in the frequency of the Cypriot and the Phocae bowls during
the 5th and the 6th centuries and the frequency of the Palestinian and Egyptian Bowls
during the 6th and the 7th centuries.
3954 amphorae were found in North Sinai. These amphorae were imported
from 17 different sources and were divided into 174 types. They contained a variety
of liquids, mainly olive oil and wine. . These amphorae were used only once and were
imported from the country of source. Amphorae were found all over North Sinai, in a
variety of settlements. Much larger quantities and varieties of amphorae types were
found in cities than in other sites due to the cities; function as commercial centers
(Map 53, Graph 31).
Palestinian and Antiochian amphorae were scattered all over North Sinai
(Maps 46, 50). While the frequency of the Egyptian amphorae declined they were
found mainly in the west area (Map 47). The amphorae originating in North Africa
and the Aegean areas were found in large numbers in the northwest of North Sinai and
were rarer in all other parts of North Sinai (Maps 48, 51). The remaining types of
amphorae found in North Sinai have no parallels.
Half of the amphorae found in North Sinai originated in Palestine (Graph 3233). During the Byzantine period a change occurred in the trade between Palestine
and North Sinai: Until the 6th century most of the trade took place with the south
coast (“Gaza” and “Carrot” jars). During the second half of the 6th century trade with
the south coast area declined and most of the trade took place with other regions of
Palestine (“Palestinian Globular Sack” jars) (Graph 29). During the Byzantine period
there was a large quantity of trade between North Sinai and North Africa. One sixth of
the amphorae found in North Sinai are North African amphorae but because the North
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African amphorae were much larger than amphorae from other sources about 1/3 of
the total commerce was with North Africa (Graph 34). Another source of amphorae
was Antioch. One sixth of the amphorae found in North Sinai were derived from
Antioch. Just few Egyptian amphorae were found in North Sinai, and I assume that
most of the trade with Egypt was in solids goods.
Comparing the amphorae’s source in North Sinai to other regions, I can see
that the rate of recurrence of the amphorae in North Sinai is different from those in
Palestine and Egypt.
Chapter 9 – Pottery From Sites in North Sinai Categorized by Type
In this chapter I categorize and present the range of pottery types found in
sites in North Sinai. Pottery found in North Sinai was derived mainly from the cities.
It should be noted that the sources of the amphorae and bowls are the same as for
those found in the North Sinai survey.
Bowls appear to be particularly common in villages surveyed as compared to
the higher quantities of amphorae found in the cities. This appears to be due to the fact
that the economy of the villages is not based on international trade. A similarity in
pottery types and sources can be found in clustered villages.
In the sites (villages and the cemeteries) located close to the Pelusiac Branch
of the Nile and the canal that connected the Nile and the Red Sea, most to the pottery
was found to be of Egyptian origin.
In the fisherman's villages the quantity of bowls and amphorae was found to
be the same as in the other villages in North Sinai. The single exception appears to be
bowls and amphorae found in the fisherman's villages in Mount Casion.
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In the sites located near salt marshes I found high quantity of amphorae. I
assume that this may provide a hint that amphorae were used in the process of mining
salt.
In the pastoral sites similar amounts of amphorae and bowls were found. This
category is characterized by a large number of Palestinian and Egyptian bowls, a fact
that may be due to the movement of nomads.
Chapter 10 -Trade Between North Sinai and Other Areas
In this chapter I present the different trading patterns of each area in the
Mediterranean basin. Most of the economic and trade relations of North Sinai took
place with Palestine, as can be seen on the quantities of amphorae discovered. There
were also trade relations with Egypt, particularly in the form of bowls and dry goods
that weren't transported in amphorae.
The trade with North Africa was also apparent from the large quantities of
amphorae and bowls originating there. On the other hand trade with Cyprus and Asia
Minor is represented by large quantities of bowls and very small amounts of
amphorae.
The people of North Sinai also had economic relations with Syria, Lebanon,
Antioch, settlements in Aegean area and the Black sea area.
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The key words:
North Sinai, The Byzantine period, Archeological Survey, Models, Site, Settlements,
Bowls, Amphorae, Trade and Economy.
Notes:
1. References are not cited here but in the main thesis in Hebrew.
2. Map, graph, and table numbers referred to in the abstract are found in the
Hebrew thesis.