Silver exchanged by weight for its intrinsic value was the most important measure of value and means of payment in the southern Levant, starting from the Middle Bronze Age II–III through the Iron Age (~1700/1650‒600 BC). Since silver is not available locally in the Levant, its ongoing use as currency in the region triggered long-distance trade initiatives, and its availability or lack thereof had a direct impact on the economy. The continued use is evidenced in 40 silver hoards found in various sites across the region. A comprehensive study of lead isotopes and chemical analyses of samples obtained from 19 hoards enabled us to trace the origin of silver in the millennium during which it was extensively used as currency in the southern Levant and to identify constantly changing silver sources and concomitant trade routes. The results indicate that silver originated initially in Anatolia and Greece (~1700/1650–1600 BC) and shortly after from an unknown location in the Aegean/Carpathian/Anatolian sphere (~1600–1200 BC). After the collapse of Late Bronze Age Mediterranean trade routes, during Iron Age I (~1200–950 BC), there was a period of shortage. Silver trade was revived by the Phoenicians, who brought silver to the Levant from Sardinia and Anatolia (~950–900 BC), and later from Iberia (~900–630 BC). Further change occurred after the Assyrian retreat from the Levant, when silver was shipped from the Aegean (~630–600 BC). Following the devastation caused by the expanding Babylonian empire, silver consumption in the Levant practically ended for a century. Considering the isotopic results, combined with a detailed study of the context, chronology, and chemical composition, we demonstrate that all these factors are essential for the reconstruction of developments in the supply of silver in the southern Levant, and more generally. The changes in trade routes closely follow political and social transformations for over a millennium; exchange in this case was not only, not even mainly preconditioned by the environmental/geographic circumstances, as has often been argued for the Mediterranean. From an analytical point of view, we offer a protocol for the provenance of silver in general.

从青铜时代中期 II-III 到铁器时代（公元前 1700/1650-600 年），按重量换取其内在价值的白银是黎凡特南部最重要的价值衡量标准和支付手段。由于黎凡特当地无法获得白银，因此白银在该地区持续用作货币引发了长途贸易活动，而白银的供应或缺乏对经济产生了直接影响。在该地区不同地点发现的 40 个银窖藏证明了人们的持续使用。对铅同位素的全面研究和对 19 个宝藏样本的化学分析使我们能够追踪千年以来白银的起源（在此期间白银在黎凡特南部被广泛用作货币），并确定不断变化的白银来源和随之而来的贸易路线。结果表明，白银最初起源于安纳托利亚和希腊（约公元前 1700/1650-1600 年），不久之后又起源于爱琴海/喀尔巴阡/安纳托利亚圈的一个未知地点（约公元前 1600-1200 年）。青铜时代晚期地中海贸易路线崩溃后，在第一铁器时代（约公元前 1200-950 年），出现了一段短缺时期。腓尼基人复兴了白银贸易，他们将白银从撒丁岛和安纳托利亚（约公元前 950-900 年）带到黎凡特，后来又从伊比利亚（约公元前 900-630 年）带到黎凡特。亚述人从黎凡特撤退后，白银从爱琴海（约公元前 630-600 年）运来，发生了进一步的变化。在巴比伦帝国扩张造成的破坏之后，黎凡特的白银消费几乎停止了一个世纪。 考虑到同位素结果，结合对背景、年代和化学成分的详细研究，我们证明所有这些因素对于重建黎凡特南部乃至更广泛的白银供应发展至关重要。一千多年来，贸易路线的变化密切伴随着政治和社会的变革。在这种情况下，交换不仅，甚至主要不是以环境/地理条件为先决条件，正如地中海地区经常被争论的那样。从分析的角度来看，我们提供了一般白银来源的协议。