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This chapter argues that Eusebius conveys a narrative of Greek descent (in Books 1-6) that begins with the Phoenicians and Egyptians in order to highlight the lateness and dependency of the Greeks upon these ‘barbarian’ nations, and to portray them as embodying negative national character traits. Thus, the Praeparatio can be seen as part of the anti-Greek tradition of historiography that arose among subject peoples (such as Egyptians and Jews) following the conquests of Alexander the Great, but which continued well into the Roman Empire, especially with Philo of Byblos. His narrative is bolstered by a euhemerist interpretation of ancient myths and a critique of allegorical interpretations.

Our knowledge of Phoenicia during the Achaemenid period has made important progresses during the last thirty-five years thanks to new epigraphic discoveries and researches: the succession of several kings has been précised as well as the chronology of their reigns and the extent of their kingdoms. Although all of them used the Phoenician language and writing in their administration, each kingdom kept its originality within the huge Achaemenid empire with various orientations of their political, economic and religious spheres. Their political, economic and cultural influence was very strong on Persian period Cisjordan, especially in Galilee, the Sharon plain and Ashkalon.

The Twenty-second Dynasty. Examines a possible coregency of Shoshenq I with Pasebkhanut II; Iuput, the last in a succession of Theban pontiffs; funereal innovations during Shoshenq I's reign, from 'Yellow' coffins to cartonnage shell; links to Byblos and the Levant; Biblical references; Nile level records at Karnak recording kings and pontiffs of second part of the Third Intermediate Period; the importance of the god's city Herakleopolis and possibly the origin there of the Twenty-second Dynasty during this period.

In the years around 1500 BC Crete experienced not just massive economic changes but very significant political changes. The arrival of a Greek dynasty on the island occurred around the time that many settlements such as Arkhanes were abandoned; Knossos alone survived among the great palaces, and one Minoan site after another was destroyed. Earthquakes and fires have been blamed; so too have invaders from Greece. Since no one really knows who was to blame, clever attempts have been made to integrate the explanations with one another, and to argue that the Greeks took advantage of chaos within Crete to seize charge; or perhaps the Cretans were in need of strong leaders who would take charge, and turned to the Greeks. Unarguably, though, Minoan Crete was drawn into the developing world of the Mycenaean Greeks. An area which had been of relatively minor importance in the trade networks of the Early and Middle Bronze Age now became the focus of political and possibly commercial power in the Aegean: the great centres of Mycenaean culture and power were a line of settlements along the edges of eastern Greece, and a little way inland, from Iolkos (Volos) in the north, through Orchomenos, Thebes, Mycenae, Tiryns, and down to Pylos in the south-west. Early signs of success were already visible in the early fifteenth century, when the kings of Mycenae were laid to rest in Grave Circle A (as it has come to be known), their faces covered by masks of hammered gold that seem to copy their bearded features, and which suggest an attempt to imitate the infinitely grander gold masks of the buried Pharaohs. Still, Mycenae ‘rich in gold’ retained its special role and reputation. By the twelfth century BC, if we are to believe the evidence of Homer’s ‘Catalogue of Ships’ (an archaic text incorporated in the Iliad), these statelets generally recognized as their leader the wanax or ruler of Mycenae. Descriptions of the Minoans merge imperceptibly with accounts of the Mycenaeans.

This chapter examines the references to the deity (or deities) ʾEl ʿElyon in Gen. 14:19, 20, and 22. Using archaeological evidence in the form of Phoenician, Aramaic, and Hittite inscriptions, this chapter specifically looks at the northern Phoenician origin of the deity and his peculiar epithet “Creator of Heaven and Earth” as evidence of the antiquity of this text. Finally, this chapter provides evidence that the name of YHWH in verse 22 is a later gloss.

Often reviled in the Bible as overly wealthy traders and false worshipers, the Phoenicians appear in the biblical accounts under the label of their principal cities, Tyre and Sidon. Native inscriptions and new archaeological efforts provide information on Phoenician royal politics, religion, and colonial ambitions as far west as the south of Spain and the far northwestern African coast. The name “Phoenicians” first appears in the Homeric corpus in the eighth century BCE, though it is never clear that any particular group called themselves “Phoenicians” during the Iron Age. Nevertheless, the cities of Sidon, Tyre, Byblos, and others constitute a coherent group of city-states that comfortably fit under the Phoenician label. Though excavation has been sparse at key sites, new research has revealed a plethora of data on Phoenician burial customs, art, and architecture.