Name:_______________________________
Civilization / Era:
PHOENICIANS
Date:_______________________________
Political Characteristics
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Time Period:
1200 BC – 500 BC
Related Key Concepts
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1.2. The Neolithic Revolution and Early
Agricultural Societies
1.3. The Development and Interactions of
Early Agricultural, Pastoral, and Urban Societies
Most Important Thing to Remember:
Big-time Merchants
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A lot of colonies
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Good navy
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Technological Characteristics (Cultural)
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1st alphabet – consonant letters
representing sounds (Greeks would
later copy and add vowels)
Triremes – fast galley warships
rowed by up to 170 men & featuring
battering ram to sink enemy boats
Canaanites originally, settling a strip of land in
today’s Lebanon.
Contact w/ Mycenaean Greeks likely a reason
for new name: Phoenicians
(perhaps due to skill in dye/cloth)
Before 1000 BC, Byblos is most important
city-state, a major goods distribution center.
After 1000 BC, Tyre surpasses Byblos thanks
to King Hiram’s trade/alliance w/ King
Solomon of Israel. Monopolized coastal trade.
-City on island w/ 2 harbors, canal, palace
complex, huge market, temple to gods
-Weakness: Relied on mainland for food
City-states faced constant aggression from
Assyrians, Neo-Babylonians, & Persians.
701 BC – Tyre destroyed by Assyrians,
population exiled. Sidon becomes prominent
city-state.
814 BC – Carthage founded as colony at tip of
Africa most central in Mediterranean Sea
Constant conflict over trade routes/colonies
with Greeks, who fought them over Sicily.
Carthage shows early citizen political
participation:
-2 judges annually chosen from upper classes
-Senate made up of leading merchant families
-Assembly of citizens called on occasionally
500 BC – Carthage credited at 400,000 pop.
Carthage serves as military protector of most
Phoenician city-states, expecting some tribute.
Achievements (Cultural)
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Interaction with Environment
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Located in today’s Lebanon on strip
of land on coast
Most cities built on top of hill or on
island for natural protection
Carthage noted for its location in
center of Mediterranean
(hilltop citadel, 2 harbors, high walls,
watch tower, huge chain to close off
harbor)
Phoenician city-states mentioned in
Homer’s Iliad & Odyssey (700 BC)
Credited as most ancient explorers:
-Hanno – sea captain who sailed
through Gibraltar and down West
African coast
-Phoenicians may have sailed up
Atlantic coast of Spain, France, and
even to England.
Religious Characteristics (Cultural)
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Economic Characteristics
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City-states (Byblos, Berytus, Sidon,
Tyre, etc.) engaged in thriving trade
of raw materials, food, luxury goods.
Central location in Middle East was
crossroads for most trade routes, land
and sea.
Mainland cities begin long period of
colonizing Mediterranean Sea
region beginning with Tyre’s copper
colony on Cyprus in 900 BC.
Phoenician colonies form a triangle:
-N. Africa (Libya-Morocco)
-SE Coast of Spain/Gibraltar
-Sardinia, Sicily, Malta islands
Worshipped male storm-god Baal &
female fertility goddess Tanit
Evidence of sacrifice of own sons and
children in times of crisis
Use of tophets – walled enclosure
burial grounds to house urns of
cremated remains
Social Characteristics
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Class hierarchy in place:
1. Chief/king of each city-state
2. Elite merchant families
3. Middle-class craftsmen
4. Common dependent laborers
Carthage featured central square of
gov’t offices, winding streets/apts,
suburbs of wealthy villas, fields, &
gardens
Very ethnically diverse society, with
much interracial marriage
Carthage relied on hired mercenaries
to fight in army, while citizens served
in gov’t or navy.