From Sacred to Everyday: Common Wares and Amphorae from Chhim in the Sidon Hinterland

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.