A new paper titled “Rethinking the Iron Age Carmel Coast: A Coastal and Maritime Perspective”, authored by Ehud Arkin Shalev, Ehud Galili, Paula Waiman-Barak and Assaf Yasur-Landau, was recently published in the Israel Exploration Journal. 

The inclusion of anchorages, harbors and shipwreck data in the analysis of settlement patterns holds unique potential when applied to the Iron Age Carmel coastline. The region was limited in resources such as arable land, metal deposits and cedar wood, but showed a wide variety of commercial
maritime interfaces. This paper deals with this changing coastscape from the end of the Bronze Age to the era of Neo-Assyrian domination, highlighting socio-political and ecological aspects as drivers of change. In light of this, and supported by recent findings from underwater excavations and surveys,
it is suggested that early harbors in the southern Levant should be viewed as symbols of power rather than as purely functional elements. This may have changed with the arrival of the Neo-Assyrian empire, whose role in shaping the Levantine coastline is only starting to emerge.