JERUSALEM, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Israeli archaeologists uncovered an ancient Persian city from 2,500 years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said Thursday.
The ruins, situated in today's Mediterranean city of Nahariya in northern Israel, include residential areas with buildings and streets, a commercial and industrial area, worship buildings, and a large storage area, said the IAA.
Pottery bowls, jugs, amphorae and other items brought by the Phenicians, who were ancient seafarers, from distant places were found at the site, according to the archaeologists.
They noted that despite the tense relations between the Persian Empire and ancient Greece during that period, the city's residents maintained trade relations with Greece, many times through the Phoenicians who dominated maritime trade in the eastern Mediterranean.
The ties also included the exchange of knowledge and construction technologies, the researchers found.
The city was multicultural, combining an organization typical of Persian rule, with technologies influenced by the culture of Greek cities, they added.
For example, a plastered facility for processing liquids, found by the team in the industrial area, was built with concrete casting, a technology that was not common in the Persian period but was identified with Greek influences in later periods. ■
