Chapter 3: The Fertile Crescent

1. Chapter 3: The Fertile Crescent Section 4 The Phoenicians

2. Section 4The Phoenicians Important Vocabulary Import: a good or service sold within a country that is produced in another country Export: a good or service produced within a country and sold outside the country’s border Navigation: the art of steering a ship from place to place Colony: an area ruled by a distant country Cultural Diffusion: the spreading of cultural traits from on region to another Alphabet: a small set of letters or symbols each of which stands for a single sound

3. Important InformationThe Phoenicians • The Phoenician civilization began in the western boundary of the Fertile Crescent • The Phoenicians were fearless sailors who guided ships full of trade goods through the water • They dominated the sea trade across the Mediterranean • Phoenician society developed from earlier Canaanites • Canaanites were people who lived in parts of what are now Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria • Phoenician society began to emerge around 1150 BC • Rulers of Phoenician city-states were priest-kings • Each priest-king shared government power with leading merchant families and citizen assembly.

4. There was little flat land for farming for the Phoenicians • The Lebanon mountains are Phoenicia’s eastern border • The mountains sloped down close to the Mediterranean coast • Phoenicians manufactured many goods. • Weavers created cloth that was dyed with a purple dye made from tiny sea animals • This cloth was sold for very high prices • Crafts workers made pottery and glass and metal objects • Wood furniture and other items were made from the trees • Phoenicians traded goods with other cultures due to their lack of natural resources • Phoenicians brought back many imports • Most imports were raw materials, including gold, silver, tin, copper, iron, ivory, and precious stones.

5. These raw materials were used to make many items such as bronze and silver bowls, iron tools, and weapons • Traders shipped these goods as exports to ports across the Mediterranean • Many people depended on Phoenicians to ship their trade goods across the Mediterranean Sea. • Phoenicians used the sea to trade goods. They were experts at navigation • Phoenician sailors are believed to be the first people to use the North Star to guide their voyages • Phoenician sailors showed great courage by sailing far into unknown waters • Sailors found many sheltered harbors along the coast.

6. These places were first served only as trading stations to pick up food, water, and other supplies. • Areas with fertile land or other resources attracted Phoenician farmers and other settlers. • These settlements grew into colonies • A few Phoenician colonies developed into wealthy city-states • Carthage was one of the city-states that prospered • Carthage was later destroyed by the Romans • Key elements of Phoenician culture were absorbed by Greece and Rome • The legacy included spread of culture and a new way of writing • The Phoenicians linked diverse peoples and cultures around the Mediterranean region • Greeks used the Phoenician standard of weights that later spread throughout the entire Mediterranean and into today’s society

7. Greeks also adopted the Phoenician way of writing • The Phoenicians developed an alphabet that had 22 symbols. Each symbol stood for a consonant sound • Instead of having to memorize hundreds of cuneiform symbols, a person only had to know 22 • People that traded with the Phoenicians learned their alphabet in order to communicate with them • Around 500 BC the Greeks added letters to represent vowels • They also gave the letters names • The word alphabet comes from the first two letters in Greek • Alpha Beta • Around 100 BC, the Romans adopted the Greek Alphabet. The Romans changed some letters that look much like ours today