About Phoenician Almuñécar
The significance of Phoenician Almuñécar is undisputed. According to the Greek geographer Strabo, Sexi was the first place the Phoenicians landed in Western Europe before crossing the Straits of Gibraltar, reaching the famed mineral resources of Tartessos and founding Gadir (Cadiz). This first expedition took place in the early ninth century BC based on current archaeological evidence, or roughly 1100 BC according to the ancient sources.
The aristocratic cemetery of Cerro San Cristobal in Almuñécar consists of 20 graves containing treasures like the Apophis Vase and other pieces from the Egyptian royal collection. ‘Laurita’ is the oldest Phoenician necropolis so far discovered in the West, with the tombs dating to around 850-770 BC.
Sexi’s prominence rose in Roman times, and today’s Almuñécar is a flourishing coastal resort town with a monument on the seafront paying tribute to its Phoenician past.
Despite its lack of raw materials and a mountain range separating it from the interior, Sexi was located at the mouth of two rivers to the east and west, with an abundance of fertile agricultural land and a favourable climate for growing crops like wheat, olives and grapes.
Excavations show that the centre of the Phoenician settlement was exactly where Almuñécar’s castle and the Cave of the Seven Palaces museum now stand, on a promontory dominating the town that may have originally been a small island jutting out to sea.
Intriguingly, the earliest Phoenician wheel-turned ceramics were found alongside handmade indigenous pottery, suggesting that the first settlers lived peacefully within an existing local community, which they soon came to dominate and establish as the town of Sexi.
The chance discovery in 1962 of the Cerro San Cristóbal necropolis containing Egyptian alabaster cremation urns from the royal collections of the pharaohs stunned Phoenician scholars around the world, suggesting that Sexi and its ruling class enjoyed close commercial relations with Egypt, a civilisation still at the height of its power.
These were most likely diplomatic gifts from the Egyptian royal house to the Phoenician family dynasties controlling trade in Sexi (and probably its founders), proof of both their status and the settlement’s commercial importance.
These families must have been involved in the export of silver, bronze, copper, lead and tin to their homeland and Egypt, with ancient Almuñécar a key player in the system of precious metals extraction that first brought the Phoenicians to southern Spain.
Apart from this, Sexi had a thriving industry producing salted fish and fermented fish sauce (later the hugely popular and expensive Roman garum). This is clear from the quantity of bones discovered, later depictions of tuna on Sexitan coins, and the impressive salting facilities in Almuñécar, still open to visitors and originally built by the Phoenicians.
Sexi was a major western European commercial centre involved in the production and trade in metals, ceramics, preserved foods and similar Phoenician staples by sea and river, connecting the Mediterranean to established local communities.
Ancient Almuñécar is central to the story of the Phoenicians in Spain due to the illuminating finds at its two necropolises, Cerro de San Cristóbal and Puente de Noy, both located roughly a kilometre away from the settlement’s urban centre and separated from it by rivers.
The Cerro de San Cristóbal necropolis was accidentally discovered in 1962 by construction workers building houses on a hill for the town’s fishermen. Elaborate shaft tombs up to five metres deep were uncovered containing alabaster cremation urns inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphics and cartouches of various pharaohs.
Most of the Phoenician heirlooms from the Cerro de San Cristóbal necropolis would have disappeared into private hands had local doctor Laura de Prieto Moreno not decisively stepped in and alerted authorities to the discovery, an intervention that led to the necropolis being christened ‘Laurita’ in her honour.
Apart from its Egyptian alabaster urns, the opulent grave goods found in Laurita’s tombs include typically Phoenician red slip plates, mushroom-lip and trefoil (three-spouted) mouth jugs, jewellery and lamps, as well as imported Greek tableware and decorated ostrich eggs from North Africa - further evidence of Sexi’s status in international trade.
The Puente de Noy cemetery mainly contains later Punic-era burials, except for two monumental Phoenician chamber tombs, similar to those at Trayamar and also dating from the seventh century BC, with the high social rank of the deceased clear from the sophisticated architecture and ostentatious carved lion sculptures guarding the family vaults.
These two necropolises undoubtedly represent the tip of the iceberg in terms of Almuñécar’s Phoenician burials from the eighth and seventh centuries BC, and the oldest tombs are now probably covered by the urban building work that led to the original discoveries.
The Apophis Vase
The Apophis Vase is a burial urn originally belonging to the Egyptian pharaoh Apophis I, who reigned for 40 years in the 16th century BC. This is confirmed by the two hieroglyphic inscriptions on the vase’s neck and rim, which makes it the oldest written document or object found on the Iberian Peninsula.
The veined gray marble vase probably arrived in Spain during the eighth century BC as a diplomatic gift from the Egyptian royal house to one of the Phoenician family dynasties which controlled trade in ancient Sexi. This exotic vessel would originally have contained perfumed ointment or aromatic balm, seen as pleasing to the gods and reflecting the high social status of the recipient.
Burial urns, also known as canopic jars, were sacred and valuable objects used to contain the organs of the deceased and aid their journey into the afterlife. The Apophis Vase is striking for the precision and symmetry of its carving, making it a unique and priceless testament to the Phoenician presence in Southern Spain nearly 3,000 years ago.
Seven Palaces
Address
Opening Hours
Opening hours vary depending on the time of year, please consult the Ayuntamiento de Almuñécar website for the latest timetable.
Adults: €4, Children and Pensioners: €2.50, Groups: €2
The archaeological museum Cueva de Siete Palacios (Cave of the Seven Palaces) is located in the heart of historical Almuñécar on the site of a 1st century AD Roman public building. Established in 1984, the museum includes finds from both the Phoenician Cerro de San Cristobal (‘Laurita’) necropolis and the later Phoenician/Punic Puente de Noy necropolis.
The highlight of the Cave of the Seven Palaces is undoubtedly an alabaster Egyptian vase dating from the 17th century BC and originally belonging to the Pharaoh Apophis I. The vase was imported by the Phoenicians and found in the Laurita necropolis where the elite tombs date from around 850-770 BC.
The engraved hieroglyphic script on the Vase of Apophis is the oldest written text found in Spain.
.jpg){kind=link}