Ugarit and the Southern Levantine Sea-Ports
The texts studied in this paper show that the extent of the commercial and political relationships between Ugarit and the Phoenician cities, particularly Tyre, was far superior to that of the ties with the Southern Levantine sea-ports. However, the importance of the commercial ties between Ugarit and Ashdod may be defined using the written sources. In fact, if our interpretation of RS 19.96 is correct, the intensity of the contacts between both cities even led to the establishment of an Ashdodite merchant station in Ugarit, from which their commercial affairs were structured.
A Bronze Age Shipwreck at Ulu Burun (Kaş): 1984 Campaign
Excavation of a Late Bronze Age shipwreck, tentatively dated to the 14th century B. C., was begun by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Ulu Burun near Kaş, Turkey, in 1984. The ship carried a large cargo of raw goods: copper and tin ingots in the so-called "oxhide" shape, round glass ingots, unworked elephant and hippopotamus ivory, figs (or a fig product), myrrh or frankincense, orpiment, and probably olive oil and wine. Manufactured cargo comprised Cypriot pottery; it is not yet known if Mycenaean and Syro-Palestinian pottery on board was cargo or for shipboard use. The wreck also yielded gold and silver jewelry of Canaanite types, a Mycenaean seal, bronze tools and weapons, haematite weights, stone artifacts, and beads of glass, faience and amber. More than half a dozen stone anchors were carried. Hull construction is similar to that of later Graeco-Roman ships. Comparison of artifacts from the Ulu Burun wreck with those from land sites suggests that the ship was sailing from east to west.
Fortune and Responsibility in Calderón's La gran Cenobia
La gran Cenobia deals with the war between Queen Zenobia of Palmyra and the Emperor Aurelian. Calderón de la Barca draws most of his information from historical sources; the dramatist, however, changes history and adapts it to his own dramatic purpose. The theme of Fortune gives unity to the play. Aureliano is portrayed as a tyrant who, to prove his independence from Fortune, behaves tyrannically, causing his eventual downfall. Cenobia believes that Fortune controls her life, but does not acknowledge that her own actions contribute to her misfortune. The analysis concludes that Fortune, as depicted in this play, is not an omnipotent and blind force, but what one has forged with his or her own actions coupled with the actions of others and circumstance.