Rhodian Amphora and the Eastern Mediterranean in the Hellenistic Period

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Although many thousands of Rhodian stamped amphora handles have been found at the various sites in and around the Mediterranean, the discovery of more than 200 handles from the excavations at Akoris in Middle Egypt by the Japanese mission has thrown new light on the role of the Rhodians and their products in the history of the Eastern Mediterranean during the third and second century B.C. All of the handles derived from the fill of the large limestone blocks, which seem to have been bound for Alexandria. In both Akoris and Alexandria the amount of the imported Rhodian amphorae did not diminish sharply after the surrender of the Rhodians and the establishment of free port at Delos after the Third Macedonian War. This Phenomenon strongly suggests the vital endurance of the Rhodian commercial activity in later Hellenistic Period. It also indicates the close economic tie of the metropolitan city and the peripheral village in the Ptolemaic Egypt.