The first three centuries of the first millennium B.C. in the Mediterranean were characterized by a great mobility of ships, goods, men and ideas. The coasts of the eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus, the so-called Levant, became an integral part of the economic and cultural system of the central-western Mediterranean (Sicily and Sardinia, North Africa and the Tyrrhenian area and Spain). Traces of the Levantine presence are increasingly evident in the archaeological excavations of the Tyrrhenian area and add to the well-known documentation of Ischia, among the first meeting places between local communities, the Greeks of Euboea and the “Levantini”. But who were the Levantini of which they speak? Who were the “phonikes”, the Phoenicians, who sailed in this part of the Mediterranean even before founding their colonies? The presentation will propose a journey back, visiting a Near East whose multiculturalism is the basis of its past and contemporary wealth.
After the greetings of the mayor of Lacco Ameno Giacomo Pascale and Dr Alessandra Vinciguerra, president of the W. Walton Foundation and Giardini La Mortella will speak Professor Ida Oggiano.
The event will be moderated by Dr Mariangela Catuogno, Scientific Director of the Kepos Project.
