Corals in the Desert: Recent Discoveries of Red Sea Corals in Byzantine and Early Islamic Sites in the Negev Desert

Corals have been commercially exploited for many centuries all over the world (Jiménez and Orejas 2017). Traditionally, they have been regarded as mystical objects and hybrid organisms. Their skeletons have commonly been used as remedies and as amulets or jewelry, and they have represented an exotic...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Bar-Oz, Guy 1967- (Author) ; Shafir, Roee (Author) ; Ṭeper, Yotam (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: University of Chicago Press 2021
In: Near Eastern archaeology
Year: 2021, Volume: 84, Issue: 3, Pages: 238-245
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Negev / Corals / Red Sea / Commerce / Aristoteles 384 BC-322 BC / Plinius Caecilius Secundus, Gaius 61-114 / Theophrastus 369 BC-288 BC
IxTheo Classification:HA Bible
KAC Church history 500-1500; Middle Ages
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Corals have been commercially exploited for many centuries all over the world (Jiménez and Orejas 2017). Traditionally, they have been regarded as mystical objects and hybrid organisms. Their skeletons have commonly been used as remedies and as amulets or jewelry, and they have represented an exotic and valuable resource throughout human history. In the Greco-Roman literature a number of classical authors, such as Aristotle (fourth century BCE, History of Animals 5.16; Ogle 1882) and Pliny (first century CE), referred to the natural history of corals and classified them as enigmatic creatures. Since corals are animals that lack locomotion or perception, Theophrastus also classified them as hybrids of plants and stones (On Stones 53:38; Caley and Richards 1956).
ISSN:2325-5404
Contains:Enthalten in: Near Eastern archaeology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1086/715343