Chapter 6.1 The Phoenicians

1. Chapter 6.1The Phoenicians World History Grade 8

2. Canaan • Strip of land that connected ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia • Ideas and goods were carried across it • Part of modern day Lebanon and Israel • Two groups settled there and created small kingdoms – the Phoenicians and the Hebrews • The Phoenicians lived in the northern section

3. Canaan

4. The Phoenicians • Largely a peaceful civilization • Interested in trade and learning • Most of what is known of them comes from the Bible, writings of other ancient peoples, and the ruins of their cities and ships • Originated from a group of people known as the Canaanites, herders who came from the desert south and east of Canaan

5. The Growth of Trade • By 1200 BC, cities had been built along a narrow strip of land between the mountains and sea • Even though the soil was rich, the amount of food grown could not feed all the people • Many Phoenicians turned to the sea to make a living • Nearby mountains had strong cedar trees, which were used to build fast ships

6. Trade • Many Phoenicians started out as coastal traders • Eventually they controlled trade on the Mediterranean Sea • Traded cedar logs, cloth, glass trinkets, and perfume for gold and other metals • Many of their ships were floating workshops, workers could bring their tools and work aboard the ship

7. Trade • Sailors explored and plotted courses by using the sun and stars • Traveled to places nobody else would dare to go • Brought Middle Eastern culture to unexplored areas of the western Mediterranean • Possibly sailed around Africa to reach India • Possibly sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas

8. Trade • They learned the value of making agreements • Surrounded by larger, more powerful civilizations • Created peace treaties • Agreements between states or countries • Promised to supply free shipments of goods • The other countries promised to let Phoenicians remain independent

10. Phoenician Cities • Phoenicia was never a united country • Split in 2 by mountains • Stayed a collection of independent city-states • Largest were Tyre, Byblos, Beirut, and Sidon • The city-states spoke the same language and practiced the same religion but sometimes argued over profit, trade, and resources • Phoenicians identified themselves by their city-state, other civilizations called them “Phoenicians”

11. Cities • Originally ruled by a king who was also the city-state’s high priest • Power was then shared with wealthy merchant families • Eventually the merchant families told the kings what to do • Most cities were surrounded by large stone walls • Shops were inside the city walls • Lots of carpenters and cabinetmakers due to abundant lumber • Metalwork was learned from the Egyptians and Mesopotamians

12. Cities • Cities were very crowded • Narrow streets • Buildings close together • Stone or brick buildings, some with roof gardens • High and narrow doors and windows • Port was outside of city and center of activity • Goods were stored in great warehouses • Papyrus, gold, and linen from Egypt • Pottery from Mesopotamia • Copper and hides from Cyprus

13. Cities • Cities were important cloth-dyeing centers • Phoenician means “of purple merchants” • Purple dye made from murex – a shellfish

14. Religion • Polytheistic – gods & goddesses were closely tied with nature • At first only worshiped on hills and under trees • Eventually built temples • Each had an entrance, a main hall, and a holy of holies, or most sacred chamber, where a sacred stone of the god was kept • Sacrifices of wine, perfume, animals, and even people were made on a stone altar • Only priests could sacrifice • Thought to keep the gods friendly and strong

15. Religion • Believed in life after death • Originally buried their dead in clay urns • Eventually borrowed mummification from Egypt and placed their dead in stone coffins in hillside cemeteries

16. Carthage • Trading posts and colonies – or permanent settlements – along the coast of North Africa • The most powerful became Carthage • Great trading city • Ships from Carthage may have sailed to the British Isles to find tin

17. The Alphabet • Originally used a system of picture writing • Difficult to keep trade records • Borrowed simple version of Egyptian hieroglyphics and turned it into an alphabet • 22 symbols, or letters • Much easier to keep trade records • Carried it to other cultures • The Greeks borrowed it and made some changes, then the Romans • Our language is based on the Roman alphabet