Sami El-Jammal- Research on Bronze Objects from Sidon

As part of my second master’s thesis, I am conducting a research on the bronze objects of the Persian period found in Sidon, focusing on the metallurgical production in the city-state and the role of bronze metallurgy in Sidonian society in particular and in Phoenician society in general. The work was supervised by Dr. Pascal Butterlin, in collaboration with Dr. Claude Serhal, director of excavations in Sidon.

The study took place in the Institute of the Near East (IFPO) in Beirut after getting the approval of the General Directorate of Antiquities (DGA) and the Ministry of culture. For two weeks, starting on the first of February, I carried out an inventory on the bronze objects found on site from different excavations including drawings for iconographical studying and photographing. The research covers 115 bronze objects ranging from jewelry, statuettes to tools and slags.

The research funding was of great importance and value for not only my master’s thesis in general but also for my personal professional development in particular. It allowed me first and foremost to physically travel to Lebanon and pursue my study and therefore complete my research that i would have otherwise trouble completing because of the harsh financial challenges i’m facing as a Lebanese student.
On a more professional and personal note it has increased my competence and experience in terms of inventory work from building a catalog to identifying objects, taking dimensions, drawing and photographing which were at times quite challenging. Moreover, being able to complete this research will contribute immensely to my PhD project in the near future developing my master’s thesis topic on the scale of the Lebanese and Syrian coast, including all the phoenician city-states and archaeological sites on the coast. The project aims to carry out a synthesis of the metallurgical production in the phoenician city-states and to address the question of metals trade in the region, particularly in the eastern Mediterranean.