Chapter 3 – Section 4 The Phoenicians

1. Chapter 3 – Section 4The Phoenicians

2. The Phoenician People • Phoenician civilization began along a thin strip of land along the Mediterranean coast. • Fearless sailors who for hundreds of years dominated sea trade • Phoenicians society was developed by the earlier Canaanites – lived in now Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria • Egypt had a strong influence on Canaan and even ruled them in 1500 B.C. • In 1150 B.C., Phoenician society emerged after Egyptian rule • Phoenicians city-states were ruled by priest-king. They shared power with leading merchant families and a citizen assembly.

3. Farming and Manufacturing • There was very little flat land to farm • They manufactured cloth with a rare purple dye from tiny sea snails, made pottery and glass and metal objects • Used trees to make wood furniture and other items

4. Phoenicians Traders • They had very few natural resources • They imported mostly raw materials from other cultures • Raw materials were gold, silver, tin, copper, iron, ivory, and precious stones • Crafterworkers used the raw materials to make bronze and silver bowls, iron tools and weapons, and gold jewelry • They exported these items as well as pine, cedar logs, wine, olive, oil, salt, fish and other goods

5. Phoenician Trade Routes

6. Phoenicians and the Sea • Many people depended on the Phoenicians for their trade • Phoenicians sailed their ships by a sail or by rowers using oars • They were experts at navigation, the art of steering a ship from place to place • First to use the North Star to help calculate location

7. Exploring Unknown Waters • Phoenicians traveled many routes • South and west pasted Egypt • North and west past the Balkan and Italian peninsula • Islands of Sardinia and Sicily • End of the Mediterranean Iberia (today Spain and Portugal • Went north in the Atlantic Ocean to Britain • Historians believe that Phoenicians were driven to explore in order to find silver and gold for greater wealth

8. Colonies and City-States • As Phoenicians traveled they found shelter at many ports, which served as trading stations • Later, areas with fertile land or other resources, Phoenician settlers began to live there. • These areas grew into colonies, an area ruled by a distant country • When Phoenicia came under attack in 800 B.C., by Assyrians, many Phoenicians went to these colonies • A few Phoenician colonies developed into wealthy city states. One was Carthage on North African coast.

9. Legacy of the Phoenicians • As Phoenicia did not survive, Greece and Rome absorb key elements of their culture. This process is known as cultural diffusion • Their legacy was the spread of their culture and a new way of writing • Phoenician standard for weight and measures was passed to the Greeks • The Greeks also adopted their alphabet, a small set of letters or symbols, each of which stands for a single sound • The Phoenician alphabet contained 22 symbols representing a consonant sound. Made writing easier

10. The Alphabet • 750 B.C., the Greeks were using it • 500 B.C., the Greeks added letter to represent vowels • Gave letters names • Alphabet comes from first 2 letters in the Greek alphabet – alpha and beta • 100 B.C. Romans adopted it – Change some, but looks like todays alphabet