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Balage Balogh/archaeologyillustrated.com

A FLURRY OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY. Merchants from across the Near East bought and sold wares at the Ashkelon marketplace. With an Egyptian official supervising transactions at the scales, a shipment of East Greek pottery (lower left) was sold along East Street. These luxurious ceramics competed with the local cooking ware (above the Greek pottery) made just outside of the city. After purchasing new oinochoai—wine jugs—many shoppers visited the nearby wine shop to purchase wine to fill them. At the butcher shop next door, skinned sheep were sold off piece by piece.