From Sacred to Everyday

The volume is the outcome of intermittent studies on the archaeological pottery assemblage excavated from Chhim, an ancient village site in the mountains of central Lebanon. It is the first such comprehensive presentation of common wares and amphorae from the rural hinterland of Phoenicia in classical Antiquity and the Late Antique period. Unbecoming at first glance, these ceramics, which are the fabric of everyday life, as well as Hellenistic Phoenician tableware, have told their own story. Presented in the cultural and economic context of central Phoenicia, taking into consideration local and regional histories, as well as evolving pottery-making traditions over time, these relatively modest vessels have mirrored a dynamic transition of Chhim from an isolated, if hallowed, hilltop sanctuary to a pulsing production site, one of the biggest producers of olive oil in the Sidon hinterland, and subsequently to a deserted village sinking into oblivion.