ABSTRACT
Unlike classical texts and epigraphic materials that provide narrative information regarding the history of Persian-period Phoenician societies, numismatic finds from Phoenicia help reconstruct a social history through means that are far less clear and that require additional interpretative steps. In this chapter, we will outline current trends, methodologies, and problems in the study of Phoenician coinage. We will also conduct an overview of the geographical distribution of monetary means in Achaemenid Phoenicia and provide a description of the activities of the main production centers in Phoenicia: Arwad, Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre. 1 Finally, we will synthesize our findings by describing such socio-historical processes and phenomena under way in Persian-period Phoenician city-states as trade, economic development, and relationship with the Persian empire.
