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Phoenician Civilization: A History from Beginning to End
Discover the remarkable history of the Phoenician Civilization...
As the tee-shirt slogans say, “If you can read this, thank the Phoenicians.” The Phoenician achievements include creating the world’s first alphabet, which consisted of 22 consonant letters. If you’re sipping wine as you read, that’s another reason to thank the Phoenicians. From their travels, they learned which grapes were most suited for winemaking and spread those vines to the places along their trading routes.
The Phoenicians were the masters of the Mediterranean Sea, traders whose purple dye colored the royal raiment of the elite, whose horse-headed ships sailed forth from the rich and sophisticated city-states of Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre, and who may have, according to the historian Herodotus, even circumnavigated Africa. These people were so wealthy that when empires came to conquer, they paid tribute rather than go to war, a method which worked for a time—that is until the armies of the Persians under Cyrus the Great and Alexander the Great came to the city walls.
Conquered, many of the Phoenicians left for Carthage. Once again, the Phoenician acumen for trading and making money created yet another powerful city, one so affluent that up-and-coming Rome grew envious and acquisitive. What Rome wanted, Rome took; the Punic Wars, which took place over a century starting in 264 BCE, saw the erosion of Phoenician influence and wealth and the rise of the Roman Empire.
Discover a plethora of topics such as
So if you want a concise and informative book on the Phoenician Civilization, simply scroll up and click the "Buy now" button!
As the tee-shirt slogans say, “If you can read this, thank the Phoenicians.” The Phoenician achievements include creating the world’s first alphabet, which consisted of 22 consonant letters. If you’re sipping wine as you read, that’s another reason to thank the Phoenicians. From their travels, they learned which grapes were most suited for winemaking and spread those vines to the places along their trading routes.
The Phoenicians were the masters of the Mediterranean Sea, traders whose purple dye colored the royal raiment of the elite, whose horse-headed ships sailed forth from the rich and sophisticated city-states of Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre, and who may have, according to the historian Herodotus, even circumnavigated Africa. These people were so wealthy that when empires came to conquer, they paid tribute rather than go to war, a method which worked for a time—that is until the armies of the Persians under Cyrus the Great and Alexander the Great came to the city walls.
Conquered, many of the Phoenicians left for Carthage. Once again, the Phoenician acumen for trading and making money created yet another powerful city, one so affluent that up-and-coming Rome grew envious and acquisitive. What Rome wanted, Rome took; the Punic Wars, which took place over a century starting in 264 BCE, saw the erosion of Phoenician influence and wealth and the rise of the Roman Empire.
Discover a plethora of topics such as
So if you want a concise and informative book on the Phoenician Civilization, simply scroll up and click the "Buy now" button!
69 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 16, 2022
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159 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 14, 2024
PHOENICIAN CIVILIZATION A History from Beginning to End. They were master traders who went everywhere and learned as they went. They turned Egyptian hieroglyphics into letters. It’s a shame that I never was taught anything about them in school. The first time I ever heard of them was watching a Gallagher video tape sometime in the late 1980’s. I thought that he made it up. I had no way to know otherwise.
Read
July 27, 2024"The Phoenicians lived in a time when the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Macedonians, and the Persians were the masters of the ancient world at one time or another. Those fierce armies overpowered the existing military forces until, with time, they could no longer maintain their empires and were subjugated by the next mighty army.
"But for the Phoenicians, who built a commercial empire on the strength of the Levant’s craving for glass, bronze, jewels, purple dye, and costly goods, trade seemed to give them immunity against the territorial ambitions of neighboring dynasties and leaders. They built up a profitable network of city-states and colonies by sailing the Mediterranean Sea on ships that were better built and better manned than those belonging to other peoples and tribes. Even the Phoenicians’ rivals conceded that they were unmatched in their navigating skills. The Phoenicians were sufficiently confident of those nautical abilities that they could depart from their coastal cities and venture out into the open waters, the Atlantic, and along the coast of Africa.
"That venturesome spirit was characterized later in their history, but right from the beginning, the Phoenicians were a seafaring people. They made a dramatic first impression in history, coming to the world’s attention as the Canaanites, the tribe famous in Biblical Old Testament lore as the occupants of the land of milk and honey promised by the god of the Israelites to his people. Despite this perceived hostility between the Israelites who came to take the land and the Canaanites who occupied it, the two Semitic groups shared cultural and linguistic roots."
................................................................................................
"The Phoenician innovations advanced the civilizations of the ancient world and, at the same time, advanced their profits as well. They were rich enough to hire mercenaries to fight their battles and rich enough to pay the tribute demanded by conquerors. As one city-state faded in supremacy, another rose to take its place, for the importing and exporting of goods was a matter upon which even enemies were in accord: they felt that they must have what the Phoenicians could provide.
"However, as the centuries advanced, military leaders who had a consuming greed for land and power became more expert in their methods. By the time Alexander the Great left his homeland in search of conquest, the Phoenician city-states were in varying stages of power. When Tyre refused Alexander’s calculated request to be allowed to sacrifice at the temple within their fortified city, he laid siege to the occupants. Seven months later, his Macedonian troops had breached the walls, killing thousands within and enslaving many more.
"Bereft of their far-reaching empire, the remnants of the Phoenicians took refuge in Carthage, a former colony which had become rich in trade. Before long, the Romans had aspirations to conquer, and they set their sights on Carthage. The Punic Wars unfolded over a century of combat that ended with the sacking of Carthage, its people made slaves. So dire was the destruction of the city that some claimed that the Romans had sown the earth around Carthage with salt to render its soil forever unfertile. There is no truth to the legend, but its existence testifies to the bitter legacy that has traveled through the annals of history when the tale of Carthage is told."
................................................................................................
"What is true is that the Phoenicians were an advanced civilization whose contributions to humanity are vast and lasting, touching our lives even today and bridging the distance between the ancient and the modern world."
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
"No one is exactly sure where the Phoenicians came from. Equally uncertain is what they called themselves. They appear in the Old Testament as the Canaanites, a word which also meant “merchants,” a translation which tells us that, even early on, they were known for their commercial talents.
"The Canaanites appeared for the first time on the stage of the ancient world sometime around the year 3000 BCE. They probably originally hailed from the Persian Gulf region but came to settle in the Levant, an area along the eastern Mediterranean Sea comprising modern-day Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.
"According to scholars, the Canaanites were probably never a united kingdom but were instead composed of different ethnic groups. Archeological evidence obtained from burial sites of the Canaanites during the Late Bronze Age supports this view of a diverse population who observed a wide variety of burial customs. It’s not surprising then that there were various branches of the Canaanites. What they did have in common was language—they spoke Semitic languages which were all closely related.
................................................................................................
"A statue erected by the Pharaoh Merneptah, who ruled from 1213-1203 BCE, attested that Canaan was plundered “into every sort of woe.” Tangentially, the text says that the Pharaoh’s armies had also laid waste to Israel.
"As the Hittites and Amorites rose to power, the Egyptians could not retain their hold on Byblos, which then fell under the invaders’ control. By 1200 BCE, the Canaanites were encountering powerful enemies and were driven out of the countries they had lived in as the Arameans and Neo-Hittites in the north, the Israelites from the south, and the Sea Peoples from the east came for plunder and conquest. As a result, their boundaries were narrowed to a shrunken strip of land in Lebanon."
This lacks clarification, and clarity, both.
What "Sea Peoples from the east", exactly? Not Mongol, since they were not "Sea Peoples", ever. Chinese, or Japanese, extremely unlikely, as too Southeast Asians. So is "sea" referred to in that description is a smaller one, such as Caspian Sea, or Black Sea, or Persian Gulf? The last mentioned was probably part of Persia, so that' too is an unlikely description applying to them.
................................................................................................
"Despite the minimized borders, the Canaanites flourished in the five chief cities where most of the people lived—in Sidon, Tyre, Byblos, Arwad, and Berytus, now Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. These cities became the foundation of the Phoenician power base.
"By this time, one branch of the Bronze Age Canaanites of 3000-1200 BCE had evolved into the Iron Age Phoenicians of 1200-333 BCE, and there appears to be a constant in that evolution: both the name “Canaan” and “Phoenician” refer to a purple-red color, demonstrating that despite the differences in time periods, both the Canaanites and the Phoenicians shared one word in common. That one word, meaning “purple merchant,” refers to one of the Phoenicians’ most celebrated trading items, a dye which created clothing that was the color purple, a color which would eventually come to signify that its wearer was someone of great renown and, eventually, of royalty. Perhaps the color purple was among the first status symbols, and no wonder; the Phoenician traders brought luxury goods from their trade routes to whet the exotic appetites of those who could afford the very best."
Is that the author's personal bias, or one shared generally across West, that "the color purple" is assumed as "the very best"?
................................................................................................
"By the eighth century BCE, the Greeks were introduced to the alphabet that the Phoenicians had created; vowels were added, and other adaptations were made. The most commonly used alphabet today, the Latin alphabet, is derived from the Greek alphabet, which in turn was adapted from the Phoenician alphabet. The Cyrillic scripts used in Eastern Europe and Asia are also derived from the Greek alphabet. Similarly, the Arabic script used in the Middle East and Africa can be traced back to the Aramaic script, which in turn was based on the Phoenician alphabet. Thus, the majority of written languages today have their roots in the ancient Phoenician script."
Hence the never-quite-phonetic nature of all these scripts outside of India, unlike the extremely scientific Devanaagarie script of Sanskrit, used by two other Indian languages since - Marathi and Hindi - although most, not all, Indian languages differ only in appearances of their scripts, not in logic.
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
......................................................
......................................................
December 30, 2022 - July 20, 2024.
......................................................
......................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
Table of Contents
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
Introduction
Origins
Innovations of the Phoenicians
The Phoenician City-States
The First to Plough the Sea
Phoenician Culture, Art, and Religion
The Alliance with Israel
The Conquerors Come
Carthage
Conclusion
Bibliography
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
REVIEW
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
Introduction
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
"The Phoenicians lived in a time when the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Macedonians, and the Persians were the masters of the ancient world at one time or another. Those fierce armies overpowered the existing military forces until, with time, they could no longer maintain their empires and were subjugated by the next mighty army.
"But for the Phoenicians, who built a commercial empire on the strength of the Levant’s craving for glass, bronze, jewels, purple dye, and costly goods, trade seemed to give them immunity against the territorial ambitions of neighboring dynasties and leaders. They built up a profitable network of city-states and colonies by sailing the Mediterranean Sea on ships that were better built and better manned than those belonging to other peoples and tribes. Even the Phoenicians’ rivals conceded that they were unmatched in their navigating skills. The Phoenicians were sufficiently confident of those nautical abilities that they could depart from their coastal cities and venture out into the open waters, the Atlantic, and along the coast of Africa.
"That venturesome spirit was characterized later in their history, but right from the beginning, the Phoenicians were a seafaring people. They made a dramatic first impression in history, coming to the world’s attention as the Canaanites, the tribe famous in Biblical Old Testament lore as the occupants of the land of milk and honey promised by the god of the Israelites to his people. Despite this perceived hostility between the Israelites who came to take the land and the Canaanites who occupied it, the two Semitic groups shared cultural and linguistic roots."
................................................................................................
"Unlike most empires, the Phoenicians belonged to city-states rather than a unified country like the Egyptians or the Persians. Their city-states, a collection of ports where commerce flourished, were celebrated for their wares: Byblos, Arwad, Sidon, and Tyre were preeminent as centers of finance, learning, culture, and trade. The Phoenicians were so adept at sailing and trade that it was only natural for them to establish colonies along their routes; Spain, Sicily, and Carthage (Tunisia) soon joined the pantheon of profitmaking which characterized the Phoenicians’ merchant prowess in the lands of antiquity.
"The Phoenicians were able to turn their trade routes into a uniquely versatile vehicle to exchange not only trade but learning as well. When they refined the cumbersome Egyptian hieroglyphs into a streamlined alphabet that could easily be used for accounting purposes throughout their trade network, they brought this innovative means of communication to all their various stops. The Greeks would later add vowels to the Phoenician consonants, and the alphabet would evolve for the forthcoming generations to use."
................................................................................................
"The Phoenician innovations advanced the civilizations of the ancient world and, at the same time, advanced their profits as well. They were rich enough to hire mercenaries to fight their battles and rich enough to pay the tribute demanded by conquerors. As one city-state faded in supremacy, another rose to take its place, for the importing and exporting of goods was a matter upon which even enemies were in accord: they felt that they must have what the Phoenicians could provide.
"However, as the centuries advanced, military leaders who had a consuming greed for land and power became more expert in their methods. By the time Alexander the Great left his homeland in search of conquest, the Phoenician city-states were in varying stages of power. When Tyre refused Alexander’s calculated request to be allowed to sacrifice at the temple within their fortified city, he laid siege to the occupants. Seven months later, his Macedonian troops had breached the walls, killing thousands within and enslaving many more.
"Bereft of their far-reaching empire, the remnants of the Phoenicians took refuge in Carthage, a former colony which had become rich in trade. Before long, the Romans had aspirations to conquer, and they set their sights on Carthage. The Punic Wars unfolded over a century of combat that ended with the sacking of Carthage, its people made slaves. So dire was the destruction of the city that some claimed that the Romans had sown the earth around Carthage with salt to render its soil forever unfertile. There is no truth to the legend, but its existence testifies to the bitter legacy that has traveled through the annals of history when the tale of Carthage is told."
................................................................................................
"What is true is that the Phoenicians were an advanced civilization whose contributions to humanity are vast and lasting, touching our lives even today and bridging the distance between the ancient and the modern world."
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
......................................................
......................................................
July 20, 2024 - July 27, 2024.
......................................................
......................................................
"But for the Phoenicians, who built a commercial empire on the strength of the Levant’s craving for glass, bronze, jewels, purple dye, and costly goods, trade seemed to give them immunity against the territorial ambitions of neighboring dynasties and leaders. They built up a profitable network of city-states and colonies by sailing the Mediterranean Sea on ships that were better built and better manned than those belonging to other peoples and tribes. Even the Phoenicians’ rivals conceded that they were unmatched in their navigating skills. The Phoenicians were sufficiently confident of those nautical abilities that they could depart from their coastal cities and venture out into the open waters, the Atlantic, and along the coast of Africa.
"That venturesome spirit was characterized later in their history, but right from the beginning, the Phoenicians were a seafaring people. They made a dramatic first impression in history, coming to the world’s attention as the Canaanites, the tribe famous in Biblical Old Testament lore as the occupants of the land of milk and honey promised by the god of the Israelites to his people. Despite this perceived hostility between the Israelites who came to take the land and the Canaanites who occupied it, the two Semitic groups shared cultural and linguistic roots."
................................................................................................
"The Phoenician innovations advanced the civilizations of the ancient world and, at the same time, advanced their profits as well. They were rich enough to hire mercenaries to fight their battles and rich enough to pay the tribute demanded by conquerors. As one city-state faded in supremacy, another rose to take its place, for the importing and exporting of goods was a matter upon which even enemies were in accord: they felt that they must have what the Phoenicians could provide.
"However, as the centuries advanced, military leaders who had a consuming greed for land and power became more expert in their methods. By the time Alexander the Great left his homeland in search of conquest, the Phoenician city-states were in varying stages of power. When Tyre refused Alexander’s calculated request to be allowed to sacrifice at the temple within their fortified city, he laid siege to the occupants. Seven months later, his Macedonian troops had breached the walls, killing thousands within and enslaving many more.
"Bereft of their far-reaching empire, the remnants of the Phoenicians took refuge in Carthage, a former colony which had become rich in trade. Before long, the Romans had aspirations to conquer, and they set their sights on Carthage. The Punic Wars unfolded over a century of combat that ended with the sacking of Carthage, its people made slaves. So dire was the destruction of the city that some claimed that the Romans had sown the earth around Carthage with salt to render its soil forever unfertile. There is no truth to the legend, but its existence testifies to the bitter legacy that has traveled through the annals of history when the tale of Carthage is told."
................................................................................................
"What is true is that the Phoenicians were an advanced civilization whose contributions to humanity are vast and lasting, touching our lives even today and bridging the distance between the ancient and the modern world."
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
"No one is exactly sure where the Phoenicians came from. Equally uncertain is what they called themselves. They appear in the Old Testament as the Canaanites, a word which also meant “merchants,” a translation which tells us that, even early on, they were known for their commercial talents.
"The Canaanites appeared for the first time on the stage of the ancient world sometime around the year 3000 BCE. They probably originally hailed from the Persian Gulf region but came to settle in the Levant, an area along the eastern Mediterranean Sea comprising modern-day Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.
"According to scholars, the Canaanites were probably never a united kingdom but were instead composed of different ethnic groups. Archeological evidence obtained from burial sites of the Canaanites during the Late Bronze Age supports this view of a diverse population who observed a wide variety of burial customs. It’s not surprising then that there were various branches of the Canaanites. What they did have in common was language—they spoke Semitic languages which were all closely related.
................................................................................................
"A statue erected by the Pharaoh Merneptah, who ruled from 1213-1203 BCE, attested that Canaan was plundered “into every sort of woe.” Tangentially, the text says that the Pharaoh’s armies had also laid waste to Israel.
"As the Hittites and Amorites rose to power, the Egyptians could not retain their hold on Byblos, which then fell under the invaders’ control. By 1200 BCE, the Canaanites were encountering powerful enemies and were driven out of the countries they had lived in as the Arameans and Neo-Hittites in the north, the Israelites from the south, and the Sea Peoples from the east came for plunder and conquest. As a result, their boundaries were narrowed to a shrunken strip of land in Lebanon."
This lacks clarification, and clarity, both.
What "Sea Peoples from the east", exactly? Not Mongol, since they were not "Sea Peoples", ever. Chinese, or Japanese, extremely unlikely, as too Southeast Asians. So is "sea" referred to in that description is a smaller one, such as Caspian Sea, or Black Sea, or Persian Gulf? The last mentioned was probably part of Persia, so that' too is an unlikely description applying to them.
................................................................................................
"Despite the minimized borders, the Canaanites flourished in the five chief cities where most of the people lived—in Sidon, Tyre, Byblos, Arwad, and Berytus, now Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. These cities became the foundation of the Phoenician power base.
"By this time, one branch of the Bronze Age Canaanites of 3000-1200 BCE had evolved into the Iron Age Phoenicians of 1200-333 BCE, and there appears to be a constant in that evolution: both the name “Canaan” and “Phoenician” refer to a purple-red color, demonstrating that despite the differences in time periods, both the Canaanites and the Phoenicians shared one word in common. That one word, meaning “purple merchant,” refers to one of the Phoenicians’ most celebrated trading items, a dye which created clothing that was the color purple, a color which would eventually come to signify that its wearer was someone of great renown and, eventually, of royalty. Perhaps the color purple was among the first status symbols, and no wonder; the Phoenician traders brought luxury goods from their trade routes to whet the exotic appetites of those who could afford the very best."
Is that the author's personal bias, or one shared generally across West, that "the color purple" is assumed as "the very best"?
................................................................................................
"By the eighth century BCE, the Greeks were introduced to the alphabet that the Phoenicians had created; vowels were added, and other adaptations were made. The most commonly used alphabet today, the Latin alphabet, is derived from the Greek alphabet, which in turn was adapted from the Phoenician alphabet. The Cyrillic scripts used in Eastern Europe and Asia are also derived from the Greek alphabet. Similarly, the Arabic script used in the Middle East and Africa can be traced back to the Aramaic script, which in turn was based on the Phoenician alphabet. Thus, the majority of written languages today have their roots in the ancient Phoenician script."
Hence the never-quite-phonetic nature of all these scripts outside of India, unlike the extremely scientific Devanaagarie script of Sanskrit, used by two other Indian languages since - Marathi and Hindi - although most, not all, Indian languages differ only in appearances of their scripts, not in logic.
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
......................................................
......................................................
December 30, 2022 - July 20, 2024.
......................................................
......................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
Table of Contents
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
Introduction
Origins
Innovations of the Phoenicians
The Phoenician City-States
The First to Plough the Sea
Phoenician Culture, Art, and Religion
The Alliance with Israel
The Conquerors Come
Carthage
Conclusion
Bibliography
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
REVIEW
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
Introduction
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
"The Phoenicians lived in a time when the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Macedonians, and the Persians were the masters of the ancient world at one time or another. Those fierce armies overpowered the existing military forces until, with time, they could no longer maintain their empires and were subjugated by the next mighty army.
"But for the Phoenicians, who built a commercial empire on the strength of the Levant’s craving for glass, bronze, jewels, purple dye, and costly goods, trade seemed to give them immunity against the territorial ambitions of neighboring dynasties and leaders. They built up a profitable network of city-states and colonies by sailing the Mediterranean Sea on ships that were better built and better manned than those belonging to other peoples and tribes. Even the Phoenicians’ rivals conceded that they were unmatched in their navigating skills. The Phoenicians were sufficiently confident of those nautical abilities that they could depart from their coastal cities and venture out into the open waters, the Atlantic, and along the coast of Africa.
"That venturesome spirit was characterized later in their history, but right from the beginning, the Phoenicians were a seafaring people. They made a dramatic first impression in history, coming to the world’s attention as the Canaanites, the tribe famous in Biblical Old Testament lore as the occupants of the land of milk and honey promised by the god of the Israelites to his people. Despite this perceived hostility between the Israelites who came to take the land and the Canaanites who occupied it, the two Semitic groups shared cultural and linguistic roots."
................................................................................................
"Unlike most empires, the Phoenicians belonged to city-states rather than a unified country like the Egyptians or the Persians. Their city-states, a collection of ports where commerce flourished, were celebrated for their wares: Byblos, Arwad, Sidon, and Tyre were preeminent as centers of finance, learning, culture, and trade. The Phoenicians were so adept at sailing and trade that it was only natural for them to establish colonies along their routes; Spain, Sicily, and Carthage (Tunisia) soon joined the pantheon of profitmaking which characterized the Phoenicians’ merchant prowess in the lands of antiquity.
"The Phoenicians were able to turn their trade routes into a uniquely versatile vehicle to exchange not only trade but learning as well. When they refined the cumbersome Egyptian hieroglyphs into a streamlined alphabet that could easily be used for accounting purposes throughout their trade network, they brought this innovative means of communication to all their various stops. The Greeks would later add vowels to the Phoenician consonants, and the alphabet would evolve for the forthcoming generations to use."
................................................................................................
"The Phoenician innovations advanced the civilizations of the ancient world and, at the same time, advanced their profits as well. They were rich enough to hire mercenaries to fight their battles and rich enough to pay the tribute demanded by conquerors. As one city-state faded in supremacy, another rose to take its place, for the importing and exporting of goods was a matter upon which even enemies were in accord: they felt that they must have what the Phoenicians could provide.
"However, as the centuries advanced, military leaders who had a consuming greed for land and power became more expert in their methods. By the time Alexander the Great left his homeland in search of conquest, the Phoenician city-states were in varying stages of power. When Tyre refused Alexander’s calculated request to be allowed to sacrifice at the temple within their fortified city, he laid siege to the occupants. Seven months later, his Macedonian troops had breached the walls, killing thousands within and enslaving many more.
"Bereft of their far-reaching empire, the remnants of the Phoenicians took refuge in Carthage, a former colony which had become rich in trade. Before long, the Romans had aspirations to conquer, and they set their sights on Carthage. The Punic Wars unfolded over a century of combat that ended with the sacking of Carthage, its people made slaves. So dire was the destruction of the city that some claimed that the Romans had sown the earth around Carthage with salt to render its soil forever unfertile. There is no truth to the legend, but its existence testifies to the bitter legacy that has traveled through the annals of history when the tale of Carthage is told."
................................................................................................
"What is true is that the Phoenicians were an advanced civilization whose contributions to humanity are vast and lasting, touching our lives even today and bridging the distance between the ancient and the modern world."
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
......................................................
......................................................
July 20, 2024 - July 27, 2024.
......................................................
......................................................
February 23, 2022
Phoenicians were more than smart ancient people who ruled the Mediterranean before the grandeur of Rome took over the world under the sandals. They were brilliant seafaring merchants, navigating the open waters with the direction of the Polaris, the occupants of Canaan, the biblical land of honey and milk, the high-end manufacturer of Tyrian purple, and the inventor of the alphabet. They were adventurous and impetuous, wild and civilized, just as Dido, the queen of Phoenician Carthage, was to Aeneas and General Hannibal to his Roman enemy force.
As aforesaid, Phoenicians were Canaanite of Semite groups that shared the same cultural and linguistic roots with Jews. Interestingly, Phoenicia was not a single country but a confederate of city-states located along the eastern Mediterranean Sea, comprising modern-day Syria, Israel, and Lebanon about 3,000 B.C. Phoenicians sailed across unknown seas of antiquity, always bringing seeds of vine tree with them to sow them on foreign lands, propagating the bliss of wine everywhere they went. So they went to North Africa and established their city-state called Carthage, located in what is now known as Tunisia, and planted vine trees producing melliferous wine. Perhaps it’s the aura that the land of vine trees infatuated Aeneas, a Trojan prince, destined to become the founder of the Roman race, in the person of sultry queen Dido. Sure, Dido was a Baal worshipper. So was Hannibal because Phoenicians regarded Baal, the dignitary in the circles of hell, to Christians, as the god of fertility and weather, with El, the father of all gods, and Astarte, the progenitor of Greek Artemis and Aphrodite. Moreover, human sacrifices of children during natural disasters or wars were performed, while sacred prostitution to honor their gods Adonis and Astarte, just as Babylonian women did in the temple of Ishtar. It seems that except for the Jews, the ancient peoples from the Middle East, near the Middle East, and the Mediterranean seem to regard physical pleasure as the essential component of euphoria that accounted for sacred ecstasy in the worship of their deities.
Such is my impression of ancient Phoenicians whom Alexander the Great couldn’t even dominate. Romans destroyed Phoenician city-state Carthage, after which it was said that a priest cursed Phoenicians, sprinkling grain of salt on the conquered land, lest they arise again, evermore. Whether it was true, the curse proved not as effective as the Romans wished because the Phoenician legacy continues in the form of cultural influence as aforesaid.
As aforesaid, Phoenicians were Canaanite of Semite groups that shared the same cultural and linguistic roots with Jews. Interestingly, Phoenicia was not a single country but a confederate of city-states located along the eastern Mediterranean Sea, comprising modern-day Syria, Israel, and Lebanon about 3,000 B.C. Phoenicians sailed across unknown seas of antiquity, always bringing seeds of vine tree with them to sow them on foreign lands, propagating the bliss of wine everywhere they went. So they went to North Africa and established their city-state called Carthage, located in what is now known as Tunisia, and planted vine trees producing melliferous wine. Perhaps it’s the aura that the land of vine trees infatuated Aeneas, a Trojan prince, destined to become the founder of the Roman race, in the person of sultry queen Dido. Sure, Dido was a Baal worshipper. So was Hannibal because Phoenicians regarded Baal, the dignitary in the circles of hell, to Christians, as the god of fertility and weather, with El, the father of all gods, and Astarte, the progenitor of Greek Artemis and Aphrodite. Moreover, human sacrifices of children during natural disasters or wars were performed, while sacred prostitution to honor their gods Adonis and Astarte, just as Babylonian women did in the temple of Ishtar. It seems that except for the Jews, the ancient peoples from the Middle East, near the Middle East, and the Mediterranean seem to regard physical pleasure as the essential component of euphoria that accounted for sacred ecstasy in the worship of their deities.
Such is my impression of ancient Phoenicians whom Alexander the Great couldn’t even dominate. Romans destroyed Phoenician city-state Carthage, after which it was said that a priest cursed Phoenicians, sprinkling grain of salt on the conquered land, lest they arise again, evermore. Whether it was true, the curse proved not as effective as the Romans wished because the Phoenician legacy continues in the form of cultural influence as aforesaid.
April 13, 2023
The Phoenicians were master seafarers and skilled traders. They traded in many things including purple dye, wine, bronze, glass and luxury goods. Many city states were formed due to their trading in different places. I had some rudimentary knowledge about the Phoenicians but have always been fascinated by them.
One of their legacies was the creation of an alphabet with twenty two consonants using sounds - the Greeks added vowel sounds later. Since the Phoenician merchants traveled and traded this spread to many places and eventually it influenced many written languages used today.
The book was concise but gave me plenty of information and was an enjoyable read.
One of their legacies was the creation of an alphabet with twenty two consonants using sounds - the Greeks added vowel sounds later. Since the Phoenician merchants traveled and traded this spread to many places and eventually it influenced many written languages used today.
The book was concise but gave me plenty of information and was an enjoyable read.
October 27, 2025
Pueblo impresionante. De un nuevo alfabeto y dominio de los mares a una brillante cultura!
Tan brillante fue su cultura, que otros pueblos fueron atraídos para conquistarlos. Babilonia, Persia, Grecia y finalmente Roma, conquistaron a los fenicios mediante las armas. Los fenicios los sedujeron con su cultura y tecnologías. Su explendor y derrotas, tampoco escaparon a la narrativa bíblica. El Profeta Ezequiel les dedica us espacio en la narrativa histórica de la ciudad de Tiro, como un ejemplo acerca de que luego del esplendor, el orgullo y la arrogancia (Ezequiel 26:15,17) viene la caída. La narrativa histórica de este libro es muy amena y absorbente.
Tan brillante fue su cultura, que otros pueblos fueron atraídos para conquistarlos. Babilonia, Persia, Grecia y finalmente Roma, conquistaron a los fenicios mediante las armas. Los fenicios los sedujeron con su cultura y tecnologías. Su explendor y derrotas, tampoco escaparon a la narrativa bíblica. El Profeta Ezequiel les dedica us espacio en la narrativa histórica de la ciudad de Tiro, como un ejemplo acerca de que luego del esplendor, el orgullo y la arrogancia (Ezequiel 26:15,17) viene la caída. La narrativa histórica de este libro es muy amena y absorbente.
October 26, 2022
A short but informative read that explains much without boredom
As the title suggests, this book is short, sweet and to the point. Not being overly long I found the book whet the tongue and left a taste of wanting to learn more. So, I’m now wanting to find a much more comprehensive book that can satisfy my peaked appetite and curiosity.
Essentially, if a books such as this can achieve one’s interest to learn more then I would say the book was a success !!!!
As the title suggests, this book is short, sweet and to the point. Not being overly long I found the book whet the tongue and left a taste of wanting to learn more. So, I’m now wanting to find a much more comprehensive book that can satisfy my peaked appetite and curiosity.
Essentially, if a books such as this can achieve one’s interest to learn more then I would say the book was a success !!!!
February 12, 2022
The Mediterranean was their bath tub
Full of little know facts and insights about the overlooked Phoenician civilization being squeezed out by the Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek and Roman empires. They were a major political and cultural nurturing player.
Full of little know facts and insights about the overlooked Phoenician civilization being squeezed out by the Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek and Roman empires. They were a major political and cultural nurturing player.
Read
March 28, 2022My interest in history
I like that I knew Rome destroyed Carthage but didn't know it was Phoenician colony. We all still owe respect to them. Plus my DNA includes North Africa so perhaps I may have an ancestor in Phoenicia.
I like that I knew Rome destroyed Carthage but didn't know it was Phoenician colony. We all still owe respect to them. Plus my DNA includes North Africa so perhaps I may have an ancestor in Phoenicia.
August 4, 2023
nice overview
I enjoy the short histories of ancient civilizations. In this book , historians equate Canaanites with Phoenicians. I am not sure of this connection but don’t have clear reasons to disagree.
I enjoy the short histories of ancient civilizations. In this book , historians equate Canaanites with Phoenicians. I am not sure of this connection but don’t have clear reasons to disagree.
October 20, 2023
An Ancient People of The Sea
An account of a ancient Canaanite people whom we know through wine, glass, purple, and writing. It expertly tells the story of these ingenious traders.
An account of a ancient Canaanite people whom we know through wine, glass, purple, and writing. It expertly tells the story of these ingenious traders.
May 4, 2024
Pretty good
Basically covers the Phoenicians from the beginning to the end. Maps would really have helped. And, some may disagree with this, it seemed like they took the stories from the Bible and treated them like historical facts rather than one side's version of events.
Basically covers the Phoenicians from the beginning to the end. Maps would really have helped. And, some may disagree with this, it seemed like they took the stories from the Bible and treated them like historical facts rather than one side's version of events.
April 28, 2025
Awesome, as usual.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the history of the Phoenician Civilization and increasing my knowledge of world history. Please continue your outstanding works
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the history of the Phoenician Civilization and increasing my knowledge of world history. Please continue your outstanding works
January 20, 2022
the Phoenicians were not the Canaanites
The Phoenicians were much more likely the people of Tyre of modern day Lebanon another example of bad Wikipedia research
The Phoenicians were much more likely the people of Tyre of modern day Lebanon another example of bad Wikipedia research
January 28, 2022
An introduction to Phoenician Civilization.
May 17, 2022
Easy history
Read it to get a fine feel of the millennia and seafaring histories that predated and foreshadowed great commerce empires like the Vikings and China.
Read it to get a fine feel of the millennia and seafaring histories that predated and foreshadowed great commerce empires like the Vikings and China.
May 24, 2024
Fascinating
I have often wondered how we got our alphabet and now I know. What an amazing culture! They were so far ahead of their time.
I have often wondered how we got our alphabet and now I know. What an amazing culture! They were so far ahead of their time.
April 16, 2023
Much of this book is excellent but they allow unscientific ideas from religious writings to taint its accuracy. It stretches the story to try to make the unscientific seem possible. Doesn't work for me! I feel that makes me doubt much of the rest questionable.
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