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 farmThey 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 resourcesThey imported mostly raw materials from other

culturesRaw materials were gold, silver, tin, copper, iron,

ivory, and precious stonesCrafterworkers 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 tradePhoenicians sailed their ships by a sail or by

rowers using oarsThey were experts at navigation, the art of

steering a ship from place to placeFirst 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 stationsLater, areas with fertile land or other resources,

Phoenician settlers began to live there.These areas grew into colonies, an area ruled by a

distant countryWhen Phoenicia came under attack in 800 B.C., by

Assyrians, many Phoenicians went to these coloniesA 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 it500 B.C., the Greeks added letter to represent

vowelsGave letters namesAlphabet comes from first 2 letters in the Greek

alphabet – alpha and beta100 B.C. Romans adopted it – Change some, but

looks like todays alphabet