Chapter 3 – Section 4The Phoenicians

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.

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

Phoenicians TradersThey 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

Phoenician Trade Routes

Phoenicians and the SeaMany 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

Exploring Unknown WatersPhoenicians 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

Colonies and City-StatesAs 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.

Legacy of the PhoeniciansAs 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

The Alphabet750 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