Abstract
In 1860-61, at the request of Napoleon III, Ernest Renan carried out a "Mission de Phénicie" (Mission to Phoenicia), which would later be the subject of a major publication and, in a way, the birth certificate of Phoenician archaeology and epigraphy. And yet, at the end of his Introduction, Renan claims to have lived for a year in the intimacy of Antiquity. He thus bases his scientific authority on a close, empathetic relationship with his object of study. Yet, in the conclusion, he admits to a certain failure of his mission in the face of a Phoenician past that has been literally pulverized, and he ends with a lyrical flight of fancy on the "Greek miracle" that prefigures the famous "Prayer on the Acropolis". So we'll have to ask ourselves exactly what "intimacy" Renan was looking for, and explore the hypothesis that Phoenicia is merely a stage between Athens and Jerusalem.
