Phoenician silver dish

The Phoenicians were a nation of sailors and wily merchants. They founded coastal trade settlements all around the Mediterranean and supplied luxury items to countless countries. Around 700 BC, much of the Phoenicians’ merchandise was being produced in in Cyprus; later on, Etruria became another important production centre. Richly decorated bowls and dishes were popular items of merchandise, displaying unprecedented artistic quality and technical skill. This silver-gilt Phoenician dish was found in the grave of an Etruscan prince. The metal has been beaten thin. A great deal of Phoenician art consists of a mix of Egyptian and Assyrian influences, a consequence of their far-flung trade network. This dish is decorated with Assyrian images of ibexes, armed horsemen and chariots. In the middle stands a suckling gazelle amid a forest of papyrus reeds from which two birds are flying away − a typical Egyptian scene.