Abstract
In this paper we present the analysis of archaeobotanical material retrieved by means of flotation from well-secured features during recent excavation work carried out in 2019 and 2020 by the German-Israeli Tell Iẓṭabba Excavation Project in the Seleucid-founded town of Nysa-Scythopolis. Founded under Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–164 bce) and destroyed by the Hasmonaeans in the later years of John Hyrcanus (in 108/07 bce), the site offers a unique opportunity for observing the dietary habits of its settlers. The large sample size, namely the largest well-secured Seleucid assemblage ever analyzed in the southern Levant, together with its versatile provenance exhibit previously unknown information for the Hellenistic southern Levant vis-à-vis a unique case-study of high resolution systematic archaeobotanical analysis. The botanical assemblage from Tell Iẓṭabba gives a clearer picture of botanical dietary practices in Hellenistic Palestine. By presenting the archaeobotanical data of the published Hellenistic assemblages from the southern Levant, we offer a comprehensive overview of the agrarian resources cultivated and consumed as food at the time and period.
Highlights
The study of organic remains as a means of reconstructing ancient diet in the Hellenistic southern Levant is patchy
Our research focuses on the Hellenistic period, as the site of Tell Iẓṭabba provides us with a unique situation in chronological terms
The archaeobotanical assemblage from Tell Iẓṭabba represents the largest well-secured Seleucid assemblage ever analysed in the Hellenistic southern Levant
Summary
The study of organic remains as a means of reconstructing ancient diet in the Hellenistic southern Levant is patchy. Classical archaeology has favoured the study of monumental physical remains such as architecture, sculpture, or iconographic sources (Hölscher 2006), and data from natural sciences are neglected. The analysis of organic remains from archaeological sites provides a unique insight into the dietary preferences of their inhabitants. For example, when it comes to the study of animal bones, the Communicated by S.
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