Phoenicians: Masters of Trade and Innovation in Ancient History

1. Phoenicians

2. History of Lebanon • 2 Centuries after Hammurabi’s reign, Babylonian empire fell to Nomadic Warriors • Fertile Crescent broke into small kingdoms • New people moved into the regions

3. Phoenician Location • Present day Lebanon • 33.50º North • 35.50º East • Popular cities: • Tyre • Byblos • Sidon

4. Geography • Narrow coastal planes • Beeka Valley separates • Borders Israel & Syria

5. Climate • Mediterranean • Mild to cool • Wet winters • Dry, hot summers • Mountains  heavy rain & snow

6. Resources • Snails - most valuable dye • 60,000 snails to 1 pound • Cedar trees- hard, usable wood

7. Wealth from Trade • Purple dye • Cedar trees

8. Relying on Trade Cedar is other valuable resource Relied on Trade Traded goods from other lands • Own colonies too Competed with other city-states Interacted through trade

9. Excellence in Sailing Desired trade Traveled Mediterranean Coasts Narrow, single sailed vessels with longs oars

10. Colonies 1100-700 BCE, founded trading colonies 300 cities in Africa’s Med. Coast • Carthage was greatest

11. The Alphabet Only 22 symbols First appeared around 900 BCE Passed on to other cities Many common people could master Literacy became widespread

12. Culture • Shared & collected ideas • Purple dye for royalty • Based on trade & ships • Alphabet

13. Technology & Tools • Boats: single-sailed vessels with long oars • Alphabet: started with the Phoenicians • Weapons, cloth, wine, slaves, glass, and ivory

14. Peace and War • Peaceful society • Focused on trade

15. Law & Order • Hierarchy Status • “Kings and Priests still had much more power of the trades.” • Alphabet & Laws

16. Social Status • King + Priests • Wealthy Commoners • Free Commoners • Slaves • Typical Social Status

17. Summary • Most powerful traders in Mesopotamia area • Invented alphabet • Started the importance of sailing • Created the royal purple color

18. Fun Facts • Purple dye- made from the squeezing of 60,000 smelly snail glands • Traded- anything and everything believed valuable • “Later, Carthage rivaled Rome in power.”

19. Location • Phoenicia was centered in the north of ancient Canaan • It was a coastal area along the Mediterranean Sea • Modern Day Lebanon, Syria, Palestinian Territories and Israel

20. Important cities • Arvad • Byblos • Berytus • Sidon • Tyre • Caesarea • Tripoli • Baalbek • Carthage

22. Government • Individual city-states • Each city-state had an independent government • The king, the temple priests, and the council of wealthy merchants were the main sources of power

23. religion • They worshipped gods and goddesses sacred to specific city-states • Each god and goddess represented a different aspect of life

24. FAMILY LIFE • The men had control over the family • Men could sell their wives or the children to pay off debts • Women were held high in the family • Only priests and scribes could read and write

25. Economic system • They had a trade-based economy • Their main good was a purple dye derived from snails found on the Tyre island • Due to the dye’s scarcity and the time in which it took to make, it became very expensive

26. Economic system • They established trading colonies along the Mediterranean coast • They also traded: • Wine • Glass • Timber • Olive oil • Precious metals

27. Social classes

28. Cultural Development • Spoke a Semitic language • A seagoing culture where trade was the center of civilization • Were skilled architects • Wealthy trading towns whose centers were the temples

29. City Structure • Urban, small trading towns along the Mediterranean coast • Temple was the center of the city • Built buildings up to 6 stories high

30. Rights of slaves • Laws protected slaves from mistreatment • Slaves could earn their own money, purchase property, and own their own freedom • A freed slave could reach high office in the community

31. Rights of women • No evidence of polygamy • In the case of divorce, the woman was given her possessions • Had fundamental rights • Women could press charges, make trading contracts, invest in trading, and adopt heirs

32. Technology • The Phoenician Empire had many advancements in: • shipbuilding • pottery • iron-working • literature • alphabet

33. Phoenician alphabet • First appeared around 900 B.C. • Made an alphabet with 22 symbols • The Greeks adopted the alphabet and added 4 symbols

34. Human-environment interactions • Phoenicia’s location on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea enabled trade with other coastal regions • Also, Phoenicia’s lack of natural resources encouraged its people to trade goods for necessary items

35. COOPERATION • Phoenicians were never interested in conquest • They focused on autonomy and trade • Became the naval and trading power in the region

36. cooperation • The Phoenicians initial trading partners were the Greeks • Established strategic commercial trading outposts • They chose peace over war but were defensive

37. CONFLICT • They were successively conquered by the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans • The rise of Greece destroyed Phoenicia’s eastern Mediterranean trade routes

38. conflict • The Persians then conquered the Phoenicians because of the loss of trade power • Phoenicians retreated to Carthage • There they prospered until the were destroyed by Romans in the Punic Wars

39. Fall of Phoenicia • The Phoenician empire fell when Alexander the Great defeated Persia. • Over time all of the city states were conquered • Phoenicia and its culture disappeared • It later became Syria

40. Summary • They failed to use all of their elements of national power • They succeeded economically, but did not use their wealth to protect their own borders • They made contributions which were fundamental in future civilizations

41. Technology The Alphabet, Bireme, and Glass

42. The Alphabet • First used Cuneiform • Began using alphabet around 1050 BCE • Quicker to learn and easier to use for trading

43. Bireme • Ships important to Phoenician society • Made improvements on Unireme to make the Bireme • 1st appeared in 8th century BCE

44. Glass • Egyptians first to use glass beads, produced naturally • Phoenicians developed techniques make it artifically • Developed even better technique, glass-blowing, under Roman rule

45. Economy Maritime Trade, Trade Empire, Exports

46. Maritime Trade • Most of trade conducted across Mediterranean Sea at ports • Many colonies became trade centers, such as Carthage

47. Trade Empire • Phoenicians controlled trade around Mediterranean between 1200-800 BCE • Many city-states continued to be predominant powers long after this

48. Exports • Main Export: Tyrian Purple powder • Manufactured in Sarepta and Mogador from the Murex snail shells • Trading Partners with Greece • Traded slaves, wood, glass and purple powder

49. Human-Environment Interaction The Sea, Dyes

50. The Sea • The Phoenicians were particularly good when it came to the sea • Because of this they became a strong naval and trading power of the region