About

The objective of the project is to determine how marble was used in the early Byzantine (4th-7th c. AD) southern Levant and what trade in this raw material looked like in this region. During this time period the most important quarrying centers were located in western Asia Minor, Greece, North Africa and Egypt, from where marble was exported by sea to other parts of the Mediterranean World. Marble was one of the most expensive building and finishing materials in antiquity, and was used in both public and private buildings. Thus, studying it is an important element of knowledge about the ancient economy and market. So far, the utilisation and trade of this material in southern Levant between the 4th and 7th c. AD has not been the subject of synthetic research. This region in the early Byzantine period was one of the most crucial and fastest developing parts of the Mediterranean world. It also played the role of a major producer of wine and textiles, and also of a great importer of luxury goods, including marble. Thus, our knowledge of the entire branch of trade in the early Byzantine period is still sketchy.

The research will address a number of scientific problems. The most important of these is to determine: What kind of marble objects (architectural elements, liturgical elements, etc.) were used in early Byzantine southern Levant? In what spaces and buildings was this material used and who mainly used it? What did the southern Levantine marble supply system look like? One of the major and unresolved issues is to investigate the origin of the raw material, which reached ports on the Levantine coast by sea. Was it primarily marble from Proconessos, or were the quarries at Dokimeion, Ephesus, Aphrodisias, Thasos, and Paros also key supply points at that time?

In order to answer these questions, various research activities are undertaken by specialists in archaeology, petrography, archaeometry, history and geographical information systems. Identification of the place and manner of marble utilisation is based on data about all published finds of marble objects from archaeological sites. As part of this task, an online public database was constructed. It contain descriptive and geolocation data. The database is used to systematise and classify marble objects, and, at the same time, it will make it possible to perform statistical analyses.  The efforts to reconstruct the mechanisms related to marble trade will also take into account information from written sources. These will include inscriptions, historical and hagiographic texts written in Latin, Greek and Syriac language. Like artefacts from archaeological sites, this information are also collected in an online database. So prepared database of marble objects and source texts which mention them is a reference tool for archaeologists, historians, art historians, as well as conservators and specialists in cultural heritage management.