Earlier, the earth was inhabited by many people living in ancient states that no longer exist. But who are the Phoenicians? Where did they live and what did they do?
Definition
The Phoenicians are an ancient people who inhabited Phoenicia. This state was located in the east of the Mediterranean coast, on the territory of modern Lebanon, on the Levantine coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
The Phoenician civilization became very culturally advanced and great in its time. It reached its maximum peak in 1200-800 BC. e.
Origin
According to the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, the Phoenicians came from the northwestern part of Arabia. Namely, from the coastal region of the Red Sea. Initially, they spoke a Semitic language, so they were called Semites and attributed to this group. After some time, the Greeks began to call them Phoenicians. It is assumed that this word comes from the ancient Greek "foinikes", which means purple, because in the coastal part of the state there was a special mollusk that gives a red dye, which subsequently the people actively used, coloring things and products inmatching shades of magenta.
History of existence
Now that we understand who the Phoenicians are, it is better to take a closer look at the chronology of the events of this ancient state.
It is also interesting that Phoenicia appeared so long ago that historians still have some questions about the life and history of the people.
Initially, the Semites appeared on the Levantine coast of the Mediterranean about V millennia ago as part and continuation of the Canaanite civilization and culture. In the early period of the life of civilization, it was called Canaan. But around 1500 B. C. e. in Phenicia, its own separate culture was born.
The state began to develop gradually. Subsequently, the people called Phoenicians built one of the most ancient cities in the world - Byblos (or, as other peoples called it, Gubl or Gebal). The city grew, and its economy and trade reached a high level. It was from him that the name of the Bible came from.
But closer to the second millennium, Phoenicia became even larger and occupied the entire east of the Mediterranean coast. The city of Sidon appeared, now famous for Homer's Iliad, in which he admired the inhabitants of that place because they make magnificent handicraft items.
The Phoenicians were excellent artisans and merchants, but not warriors. Throughout their existence, they suffered sieges from the Greeks, then from Assyria, which was able to conquer Phoenicia and forced the peoplepay tribute for two centuries. After that, the state fought for independence for a long time, until it eventually became the fifth province of Persia in 539 BC. e.
And in 332 BC. e. Alexander the Great finally captured eastern Phoenicia. Nevertheless, the western part of the state and the city of Carthage continued to exist for some time.
Phoenician language and writing
Initially, people spoke only Phoenician (until about the 10th century AD). When Phoenicia reached its peak, the alphabet also appeared in it. Thus, writing began to appear. This Phoenician type of alphabet was much more convenient than the hieroglyphics of Ancient Egypt or cuneiform in Mesopotamia. One phoneme - one letter. Throughout the existence of the language, the number of letters varied from 30 to 22, but there was no transmission of vowel phonemes.
It can be said that it was in Ancient Phoenicia that the active use of alphabetic writing began. Due to active trade, good ties with neighboring states and a convenient geographical location, the language spread throughout the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, not a single literary monument of Phoenicia has survived to this day, because they made notes on papyri, which, under the conditions of that climate, very quickly collapsed.
From the Phoenician writing there were two versions of the alphabet: Greek and Aramaic, because the system of transferring phonemes by letters turned out to be very convenient. And in the 7th century, the Phoenicians switched to Arabic and Aramaic.
Trade and travel
Phoenicia - very great, developedstate of the past. As already mentioned, the main occupation of the Phoenicians was maritime trade. Many trade routes passed through the country. Around the same time as the invention of Canaanite writing, large keeled ships for navigation began to be made. But their ships were indeed very durable for the time.
It is believed that the Phoenicians are the first people who were able to circumnavigate the entire continent of Africa. Herodotus also writes in his literary work that it was they who in the 7th century. BC e. trieres were invented. It is even known that the Phoenicians traveled to the shores of present-day England.
Phoenicia was also famous for its cedar forests, which supplied wood to Mesopotamia and Egypt. They used these coniferous trees for shipbuilding. Unfortunately, such logging in what is now Lebanon led to the destruction of cedar forests.
The Phoenicians made olive oil and wine. They made purple dye from shellfish, each of which brought only a drop of dye. That is why all things and products of red color were very expensive. They also successfully produced glass and glass products, which were famous throughout the Mediterranean. Dried fish was a particularly popular trade item among the Phoenicians.
But papyrus, gold, copper, animal skins, incense, wool, spices, cotton, linen, ivory and much more were brought to Phoenicia itself from other states.
The largest city-states were Carthage, Sidon, Tyre. They are for the most partstretched and developed the whole country.
Religion
To better understand who the Phoenicians are, you should also learn a little about the spiritual life of their society. In Phoenicia, paganism ruled, and the people themselves worshiped different gods. There were also sacrifices, which today causes a lot of controversy. Neighboring peoples with the Phoenicians considered such customs very cruel.
The victims were mainly infants under the age of 5 months. It is not known exactly how often this was practiced. But the numerous ashes in the tafeta are not an indicator of the mass nature of child sacrifices. There is an assumption that children were cremated, regardless of whether they died from another cause or were sacrificed to the gods.
But who are the Phoenicians and is it possible, despite everything, to consider them a great people? One thing can be said for sure: thanks to Phenicia, we received many inventions and a special contribution to world culture, so the strength and power of this ancient state should not be underestimated.
