The
Phoenicians
When and Where?
• 1830 B.C. – 510 B.C.
• Present day Lebanon
Ancient days:
was a bridge
(strip of land)
between Egypt
and
Mesopotamia
The
Phoenicians
Geography
• Lived in northern Canaan
(Canaanites)
• Western end of Fertile Crescent
• Along Mediterranean Sea
• Present Day Lebanon
• Mountains border region to north
and east
How have we learned about them?
•Bible
•Other ancient peoples
•Ruins of cities and ships
The Phoenicians
• Semitic-speaking people (Semitic –
languages of Southwest Asia and
North Africa)
• Settled in small city-states
(Northern Canaan)
• Canaan – crossroads for soldiers,
shepherds, and merchants
Why is this important?
New ideas
The Phoenicians
• Not a great military power
• Often ruled by foreign
governments
2 Groups of Phoenicians
• Canaanites: desert south
and east; herders
• Philistines: eastern
Mediterranean (near
Greece); traders & ship
builders
Growth of Trade
• Could not grow
enough food to feed
their people
• Overland trade –
blocked by mountains
& hostile neighbors
Trade
• Few natural resources so
they turned to the sea…
fish and trade
• One resource was
abundant…
Cedar
Trees
Trade
• Mountains produced cedar forests
• Built ships of cedar: strong and
fast
• Began coastal trading
• By 900 B.C. they dominated
Mediterranean sea trade
Phoenician Sailors
• Some sailors were artisans
who carried work with them
on ships
• Ships became traveling
workshops
Sailors
• Sailors and explorers plotted
course using sun and stars – no
maps or modern technology
• Sailed beyond Gibraltar
• Some believe they sailed around
west coast of Africa
• Some believe they sailed across
Atlantic
Phoenician City-States
• By 1200 B.C. – began
building cities between
mountains and sea
• Independent city-states
• Did not call themselves
“Phoenicians”
• Never united
Why?
Mountains
separated
them!
Zahle
Jounieh
Phoenician City-States
Did not get along
Why?
Search for profit led to
jealousy and quarrels
over trade
Major City-States
• Tyre
• Byblos
• Beirut
• Sidon
Byblos
Byblos
Byblos
Byblos
Byblos
Beirut
Beirut
Beirut
Beirut
Beirut
Sidon
Sidon
Sidon
Tyre
Tyre
Tyre
Tyre
City-States
• Shared common language and religion
but quarreled (trade profit)
• Ruled by king who was also priest
• Rich merchants forced kings to share
power with councils of merchants
• Councils soon told kings what to do
City-States
• Surrounded by walls
• Crowded
• Buildings close together; made
of stone or brick (roof gardens)
• Port – outside walls; center of
activity
Phoenicians became…
• Carpenters and cabinet
makers (wood)
• Metal workers (learned
from Egypt &
Mesopotamia)
Cities became…
• Cloth dying centers
• Soon gained a monopoly on
purple dye and cloth
• Purple dye
• ”Phoenician” = “of purple
merchants”
Legend
• God named Melqart was walking
along seashore with Tyrus and a dog
• dog picked up shellfish called Murex
• dog’s mouth turned purple
• Tyrus refused marriage unless
Melqart gave her a gown of purple
Religion
• Polytheistic
• Gods closely tied to nature
• Gods met people on hills and
under trees at first
• Later built temples
Temples
• Entrance hall
• Main hall
• Holy of holies (most
sacred chamber)
Holy of Holies
• Most sacred
• Image of god
• Alter for sacrifices: wine,
perfume, animals, humans
Afterlife
• Believed in afterlife
• At first – buried in urn
(ornamental vases)
• Later – embalmed
(influenced by Egyptians)
Phoenicians learned to make
agreements (business):
• Treaties: agreements between
states or countries
• Made treaties agreeing to ship
others’ goods in exchange for
guaranteed Phoenician
independence
Phoenician Colonies
• With new wealth (from trade) they
began to build permanent settlements
• Est. trading colonies throughout the
Med.
• Colony – region controlled by a distant
country
• Carthage – famous Phoenician colony
in North Africa
Carthage
• Phoenician sailors and traders
built post and colonies
(permanent settlements) along
northern Africa
• Carthage – founded in 814 B.C.;
present day Tunisia
Legend of Carthage
• City was found by Phoenician
princess (Dido)
• Dido ruled Tyre
• Her brother (wanted throne)
killed her husband
• She fled to North Africa and
built Carthage
Contributions
Phoenician coins were minted by
individual city states
Tyre
•
•
•
•
•
Wealth from Trade
Lumber
Silverwork
Ivory carvings
Slaves
Glass objects: glass-blowing (the art of
heating and shaping glass
• Purple dye (expensive)
• Purple cloth – popular with the wealthy
The Alphabet
• Ideas spread through trade
• Most important gift – idea of alphabet
• Did not invent alphabet but passed on
to Mediterranean areas
• Alphabet: set of letters that can be
combined to form words
• Made writing easier
• Phoenicians borrowed a simple version of
Egyptian hieroglyphics from Canaanites
• Each of the 22 Phoenician alphabet symbols
represented a different sound
• Later modified by other civilizations
• The Greeks eventually adopted this alphabet;
then the Romans
• Page 105 in textbook shows alphabet
Travel and trade
encouraged cultural
diffusion