Phoenicians
Ch. 3 Sec. 4
Origins
• Phoenician society developed from the earlier
Canaanites
• Canaanites were people who lived in parts of
Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria
• Phoenician city-states emerge around 1150BC
and the rulers were Priest-Kings
Farming and Manufacturing
• Phoenicians manufactured a number of goods
• Weavers created cloth that they colored with
a rare purple dye made from tiny snails
• Skilled workers made pottery and glass and
metal objects
• They used trees to make furniture and other
items
Phoenician Traders
• They had few natural resources of their own, they
traded with other cultures for resources and goods
• Import: A good or service sold within a country that
is produced in another country. Most Phoenician
imports were raw materials: Gold, silver, tin, copper,
iron, ivory and precious stones
• Exports: A good or service produced within a country
and sold outside the country’s borders. Phoenicians
exported: Logs, wine, olive oil, salt, fish.
Phoenicians and the Sea
• Navigation: The art of steering a ship from
place to place.
• Phoenician sailors developed a thorough
knowledge of wind patterns and ocean
currents to be able to sail
• Phoenician sailors are believed to be the first
people to use the North star to help guide
them
Colonies and City-States
• Colony: An area ruled by a distant country
• Phoenician sailors stopped in many harbors in the
Mediterranean to refuel with supplies
• These refueling stations soon became colonies
• Carthage: A Phoenician colony developed into its
own city-state and soon developed its own colonies.
• Carthage grew strong from wealth and would
eventually challenge the Roman Empire
Legacy of the Phoenicians
• Culture Diffusion: the spreading of cultural traits from one
region to another.
• Phoenicians developed an alphabet.
• The alphabet had 22 symbols, each standing for a consonant
sound
• People who traded with the Phoenicians learned this alphabet
• 500BC Greeks added letters to represent vowels.
• Around 100BC Romans adopt the Greek alphabet and change
some letters and added some letters
• The Roman alphabet is similar to ours today.