PHOENICIAN
CIVILIZATION
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Phoenicia 1200 BC–539 BC
Facts About PhoeniciaPhoenicia was on the western
part of the Fertile Crescent
and was on the coast of the
Mediterranean Sea. The
capital of Phoenicia was
Byblos from 1200 B.C –
1000 B.C and then Tyre
from 1000 B.C-539 B.C.
Today Phoenicia was where
modern day Cyprus,
Lebanon, Israel and Syria
are located.
GeographyMap of Phoenicia
(Purple Area)
Phoenician Religion
• The religion the
Phoenicians believed in
was Canaanite religion.
Canaanite religion was
polytheistic meaning they
worshiped more than one
god. They believed in
the after life. Canaanite
religion was practiced
from the early Bronze
Age to the first
centuries of the
Common Era.
Chief god of Carthage
Storm god
Phoenician Government
• Phoenicians had their
civilization divided into
city/states.
Independent
governments ran each
city/state. Some times
city/states worked
together some times
they did not. A king
ran each city/state.
Phoenician Military
• The Phoenicians were
generally a very peaceful
civilization. The first
Phoenician military was
created in 550 B.C
because the Greeks
were pushing the
Phoenicians back to the
western part of Sicily.
70 years of battles
followed. Then
Phoenicia returned to its
peaceful life style.
Phoenician Soldier
Phoenician Culture
• The Phoenicians
invented a version of a
phonetic alphabet. The
oldest find with the
Phoenician alphabet on
it dated back to the 11th
century B.C at the
latest time. The Greeks
adopted the Phoenician
alphabet in to their
society. They changed
some of the letters in to
vowels.
Phoenician Achievement
• The Phoenicians invented
a version of the alphabet
with no vowels. Then,
Greeks added the vowels
later. The Phoenicians
traded many things such as
gold, silver, tin, wood, glass,
slaves, purple dye, wine
and hunting dogs. They
were very good sailors,
making it easy for them to
trade because they could
cross the Mediterranean
Sea.
Phoenician Legacy
• The Phoenicians
invented the ancestor to
the modern day
alphabet. The
Phoenicians were also
some of their time’s
greatest traders. The
Phoenicians traded a lot
of purple dye from the
shell of the murex sea
snail to the Greeks to
dye their clothing purple.
Phoenician Quiz
1. The purple dye the Phoenicians traded came from what
kind of snail?
2. What year was the Phoenician military created?
3. What was the Phoenician’s religion?
4. Name three things the Phoenicians traded?
5. What body of water was Phoenicia located near?
6. What were the first and second capitals of Phoenicia?