Abstract EN:

During the hellenistic and roman periods, the northern coast of palestine was a well-defined entity that we propose to call "the phoenico-palestinian coast". This appellation brigs out the essential feature of the region, namely the fact that its history and cultural identity were deeply imprinted with the phoenician heritage. From the archaeological and literary sources, on which this study mostly rests, one can derive an idea of the diverse relations between the three elements successively examined: the sites, the littoral itself and the sea. The coastal sites include several cities amongst which akko-ptolemais, a real maritime metropolis, dora, their smaller dependencies, as well as the carmel range. The littoral is considered in the light of its geographical position, its political history and its economy that combined continental and maritime activities. The mediterranean exerted a decisive influence by providing the region with an opening on to the outside world; its impact on the mentality of the population contributes to the development of a religious and cultural syncretism, typical of the phoenico-palestinian coast.