Phoenicians: Lebanon's Epic Heritage

by Sanford Holst

This is the most complete history of the Phoenicians assembled to date (2005 edition, there is a new edition of this book) and includes research by leading scholars of the Mediterranean. Since the Phoenicians were involved with the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians in many of the great events of antiquity, this detailed account brings those epic events to life as never before. These shipbuilders from Lebanon became famous sea traders whose cedar was used in early Egyptian temples and placed in the Great Pyramids. Archaeology and classical sources show how they were involved with the beautiful Minoan civilization on Crete, and with the Sea Peoples who influenced the fall of the Mycenaeans and Hittites. They founded colonies as far as Spain and Morocco, and circulated the first alphabet. They competed with the rising Classical Greeks, and lost cities to Alexander the Great. Successful campaigns by Hannibal of Carthage were followed by an epic loss to newly-emerging Rome. This book has 113 sources, freshened with many maps and pictures.

Genres: History, Lebanon, Nonfiction

374 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2005

About the author

Sanford Holst is a historian whose books bring the ancient Mediterranean to life. He wrote Amazon’s #1 book on the Phoenicians, as well as its fresh new second edition. Another of his books explores the influence of Solomon’s Temple on the sudden rise of the Knights Templar. He has presented academic papers at universities around the world, and is a member of the Royal Historical Society in London. He has explored archives and historic sites all across the Mediterranean and benefited from the work of many local experts. His informative websites are read by more than half a million people each year.

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting read, but is more speculation and theory than actual history. The Phoenicians left very little in the way of written records, so rather than present the bare facts the author has weaved one possible picture of what the Phoenicians may have been like based on the facts that we do have.

What results is an entertaining possibility, possibly influenced by the authors modern political bias, a lot of which can be neither proved nor disproved by what we currently know.

So why read this book? For the critical reader there's a lot of actual history in between the speculation if you are interested in the Phoenicians, but there's a better audience for this book: fantasists.

Whether you write fantasy fiction or play fantasy games, this book offers a logically crafted civilization different from any that we have more detailed information about, but which could have possibly fit into our history.

Whether or not it really did is irrelevant in this case, as it provides a ready made culture with which most are unfamiliar, yet which has a feeling of verisimilitude often lacking in cultures created entirely from the imagination.

Also, the book is simply entertaining to read, as long as you keep in mind its weaknesses.

[Dallas Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book disappointed me in a few ways.

First, the author demonstrates a heavy bias, pretending to understand motivations from ancient events with very little evidence, and inserting speculation and opinion throughout the book.

Second, while there is a rather healthy 9-page bibliography, there are no footnotes and nearly no in text citations, making it difficult to trace the sources and sometimes leaving you wondering if there are any.

Third, the writing is clumsy, awkward and too familiar at times. At best this makes it more readable and at worst makes it feel unprofessional and even lacking as a historical work.

That being said, I still would recommend this book (with a grain of salt) to anyone wanting to learn more about the Phoenicians. To be fair to the author, our information about this group of people is limited in many ways. He presents what we have learned about them through excavation as well as historical accounts from the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians. He presents a theory here and there that do have some good evidence behind them in my opinion as well.

[Steve Cran]

Phoenician were known mostly for their trading empire in the meditaerranean basin. From theeir humble beginning on the Lebanese coast they started out as settlers eking a living from fishin in the mediterranean. Later on they would use dugout logs to go lout further into the sea and catch more fish. As their boat making ability improved they would sail out further and explore different locations. THese were trading opportunities. They would trade fish in exchabnge for fancy cloths gold and spices. Later on they would nstart trading their cedar logs off to counties like Egypt. In fat it was Phoenician lumber and know how that built the temple to Horus in Egypt. The Phoenicians would several times over create a massive trading empire. How did they do it and what was their secret?

Their first principal was peaceful resolution of differences. For most of their history the Phoenician had no military whatsoever. If there was a problem they always tried to resolve their problem with negotiation. When that failed they would get their citizens and wealth and abandon the city state.

Their second principal was internationl trade. They did business with everybody. Because of them them goods from all over the world were sent all over the world. In fact it was the Phoenicians who introduced the Egyptians to the Maltese stonesmiths who would later on build the pyramids.

The third principal was relgious tolerance. They allowed Gods from other nations to be housed in their territory. Egyptian Goddess Hathor took up residence in a Phoenician tmeple in byblos. The Phoenicains always did their best to blend in with the locals and appear almiost indistinct

THe fourth principal was creating partnerships. If faces with a problem the Phhoenicians would partner up with other peoples facing a similiar problem. A good example of this is when they were threatended by the Egyptians and the Hittites. The Pheoinicians partnered up with the Kaska from Norhtern Turkey and transferred them ship to atack many parts in the Middle East. Including Egyopt and the Hittites.
The village was also a partnershp of everyone when it came to a business venture . Everyone played their part and everyone got paid.

Respect for women was the fifth. Women played a role in leadership and inpreparing the ships for their shipments.
Last they had equality and privacy. They would never share their secrets.

The Phoebnicians set up colonies al over the Aegfean sea and helped for the Minoan society with the Cretans. That later fell due to Volcanic activity and Mycenean aggression. They would recover after the invasion of the sea peoples. Whom they helped by shipping them from Northern Anatolia to the Aegean Islands, Greece, Hittite Empire and Egypt.

The Phoenicians were a rare society who knew how to get along. The book has a good bibliography and it is easy to read. You will learn a lot from reading this book.

[Joseph Calev · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent overview of Phoenician society. I learned a tremendous amount about the Phoenicians, though I would have preferred a more neutral stance.

[Samar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanted to know more about Lebanese/Phoenician history and this book delivered in a clear and informative tone that fleshes out this mysterious, sprawling society. Well-organized and easy to follow along, this is a great introduction to the general points of Phoenician history. However, some of the author’s views on contemporary Lebanon and its current socio-political turmoil felt slightly naive and shallow - best to stick to the historical elements.

[Parker Samelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done history of the Phoenician people and their history and heritage.

[Simona · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a delightful book that is backed up by archeology and academic research rather than by emotions and ideology.

[Kevin O'Connell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book I've read twice.

Read it once as an introduction to the very ancient history of the Med; read it a second time after taking in tomes on Egypt, Persia, Rome, Greece, and etc., as a digestive.

It is easy enough to read. Some basic knowledge of the ancient Mid East would be useful, but isn't necessary. It has a lot of information, and is well organized. Several themes are consistently and clearly pointed out throughout the book, such as the Phoenicians adaptability to others' customs as a basis for their long term success.

Tracing the beginnings of the Phoenicians, right back to 3500 BCE and the foundations of Byblos, the book ties together the oldest history of the eastern end of the Mediterranean. A lot of mysteries of that time are explained in this work, including the vanished megalith builders of Malta, the succession of civilizations on Crete, and the origins of the Sea Peoples. Also, the author treats the Phoenicians as a single polity, with at least some centralized decision-making, not a congeries of separate trade ports. The narrative describes a Phoenician trading empire that spanned the Med that began with a shipment of the famous Cedars of Lebanon to the Egyptian pharaohs. Egyptians, Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians; these rose and fell while the Phoenicians traded and survived and founded colonies throughout the Great Sea, including their great new city Carthage. After three thousand years, Tyre falls to an invader as Alexander takes conquers the eastern cities. Then came Rome, Hannibal et Cannae ergo Cato "Carthago delenda est", Scipio, end of story.

It is possible that not all author's ideas are entirely accepted, such as the Sea People origin question. He does make a solid case, and that makes the Phoenicians out as really devious, but necessarily so in a world of predatory land powers.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot of ancient history from this book. The author did a great job of telling the story of thousands of years of history. The Phoenicians are a fascinating people, and so different from most other ancient cultures that I have heard about.

[Scott Brewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prespective changer. The whole world makes sense now.