Studies on trade in the Byzantine and Islamic east Mediterranean have persistently focused on interregional trade, especially the exchange of prestige goods, and much less on what can be perceived as the more mundane business of how local networks operated at the regional level. However, a fuller consideration of commercial systems and their social implications requires a more complete presentation and analysis of the available data, much of which is archaeological for the period in question (ca. fifth to eighth centuries CE). This paper will detail different categories of material, from ceramics and glass to base coinage, in order to map out in greater detail the geographical reach and level of activity in regional trade networks in Syria-Palestine between the Byzantine and early Islamic periods. Work to date reveals that local networks were especially vibrant in this period, and probably a significant factor in the prosperity of Syria-Palestine at that time, facilitating not only local exchange but also, on a wider scale, the transportation of goods from outside the immediate region.

Crucial to this trade system at the local level was the shop. Archaeological evidence for a shop-based market system has expanded greatly in recent years, giving a detailed insight into the system of exchange within an urban context. However, its social function as an urban institution has been, by comparison, little considered. This paper will reflect on the shops, their keepers, the suppliers and the patrons as a system of economic exchange and cultural interaction in post-classical Syria-Palestine. Attention will focus on how the physical centrality of the shop was matched by its defining social role on a daily basis; therefore, the study of the shop and its contents also promises to offers a fascinating insight into the changing social outlook in towns. Recent discoveries reveal that in areas as diverse as weights and measures to language a tangible change can be observed as Byzantium gave way to Islam in the towns of seventh and eighth century Syria-Palestine. Hence the study of trade is not only a matter of economic history, but also a key to comprehending social transformations at the end of antiquity.