Читать книгу A Companion to the Achaemenid Persian Empire, 2 Volume Set - Группа авторов - Страница 138

In spite of the Achaemenid policy of centralization, some of the Phoenician cities retained a local dynasty and Samaria and Judea were partially ruled by local governors. The Phoenician cities flourished because of their key position between East and West. But unfortunately, due to either the large‐scale building activities during the Hellenistic period or the fact that most coastal cities (Sidon, Tyre, Gaza) are still inhabited, it is difficult today to find large Achaemenid areas and therefore to reconstruct a city plan of this time in the Levant. Nonetheless, it seems that, as in Iron Age Palestine, well‐planned cities with intersecting streets were the rule. Portions of them can be reconstructed in al‐Mina, Beirut, Acco, Tel Abu Hawam, Shiqmona, Tel Megadim, Dor, Tel Michal/Makhmish, Ashdod, and Ashkelon.

Some cities, such as Arwad, Sidon, Tyre, Acco, Tel Abu Hawam, Tel Megadim, Dor, Heshbon, or Lakhish, were protected by a fortification wall of the offset‐inset or the casemate type. Most of them date to the pre‐Achaemenid era. Large forts or citadels, such as in Rishon Lezion, Tell el‐Hesi, Tell Jemmeh, or Tell el‐Kheleifeh had a strategic and administrative function.

The prototype of an east Mediterranean harbor consists of one or two naturals bays, defensible from rocks or islands located nearby. The natural location of Sidon is marked by four bays. According to the prevailing wind, the harbors could be approached from the north or the south. Minet al‐Beyda, Tell Sukas, Byblos, Sidon, Acco, Atlit, Dor, or Jaffa and the islands of Arwad and Tyre were of international importance. They had some undersea quays and moles, which were made out of large stone blocks placed on top of one another without mortar. The mortar technique was invented in the Roman period and serves as a chronological indicator, as these walls are very difficult to date. Shipwrecks of the Achaemenid time have been discovered in Shave Zion, Atlit, or Ma’agan Mikha’el (Nunn 2000a,b, 2001; Stern 2001).