Parian and Pentelic marble in the pre-Roman Levant. An archaeometric and archaeological study of two sculptures from the National Museum of Damascus (Syria)

Abstract

This article examines two rare examples of marble sculptures of pre-Roman date from the Levant, now housed in the National Museum in Damascus (Syria). Although their place of origin and archaeological context are unknown, it seems probable that both were recovered from the Phoenician coast. The sculptures’ uniqueness stems not only from their moment of creation and their material, but in particular also their form and function. To contextualise them against the wider background of marble use in the Persian- and Hellenistic-period Levant, archaeometric investigations were conducted on marble samples removed from the two sculptures. The multi-analytical approach, integrating standard thin section petrography, cathodoluminescence microscopy (CL) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), as well as X-ray diffraction (XRD) and stable C and O isotope measurements, clearly indicates the island of Paros and Mount Pentelikon in Greece as the origin of the marble used for both pieces. These results further reduce the lacuna in our knowledge regarding marble use in the Levant before the Roman period.