Transcript Phoenician
Phoenicians 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 Phoenician Location Present day Lebanon 33.50º North 35.50º East Popular cities: Tyre Byblos Sidon Geography Narrow coastal planes Beeka Valley separates Borders Israel & Syria Climate Mediterranean Mild to cool Wet winters Dry, hot summers Mountains heavy rain & snow Resources Snails - most valuable dye 60,000 snails to 1 pound Cedar trees- hard, usable wood Wealth from Trade Purple dye Cedar trees 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 Excellence in Sailing Desired trade Traveled Mediterranean Coasts Narrow, single sailed vessels with longs oars Colonies 1100-700 BCE, founded trading colonies 300 cities in Africa’s Med. Coast Carthage was greatest The Alphabet Only 22 symbols First appeared around 900 BCE Passed on to other cities Many common people could master Literacy became widespread Culture Shared & collected ideas Purple dye for royalty Based on trade & ships Alphabet Technology & Tools Boats: single-sailed vessels with long oars Alphabet: started with the Phoenicians Weapons, cloth, wine, slaves, glass, and ivory Peace and War Peaceful society Focused on trade Law & Order Hierarchy Status “Kings and Priests still had much more power of the trades.” Alphabet & Laws Social Status King + Priests Wealthy Commoners Free Commoners Slaves Typical Social Status Summary Most powerful traders in Mesopotamia area Invented alphabet Started the importance of sailing Created the royal purple color 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.” 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 Important cities Arvad Byblos Berytus Sidon Tyre Caesarea Tripoli Baalbek Carthage 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 religion They worshipped gods and goddesses sacred to specific city-states Each god and goddess represented a different aspect of life 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 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 Economic system They established trading colonies along the Mediterranean coast They also traded: Wine Glass Timber Olive oil Precious metals Social classes King Merchant aristocrats Businessmen, craftsmen, dealers, shopkeepers, entrepreneurs Normal working men Slaves 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 City Structure Urban, small trading towns along the Mediterranean coast Temple was the center of the city Built buildings up to 6 stories high 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 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 Technology The Phoenician Empire had many advancements in: shipbuilding pottery iron-working literature alphabet Phoenician alphabet First appeared around 900 B.C. Made an alphabet with 22 symbols The Greeks adopted the alphabet and added 4 symbols 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 COOPERATION Phoenicians were never interested in conquest They focused on autonomy and trade Became the naval and trading power in the region cooperation The Phoenicians initial trading partners were the Greeks Established strategic commercial trading outposts They chose peace over war but were defensive 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 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 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 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 Technology The Alphabet, Bireme, and Glass The Alphabet First used Cuneiform Began using alphabet around 1050 BCE Quicker to learn and easier to use for trading Bireme Ships important to Phoenician society Made improvements on Unireme to make the Bireme 1st appeared in 8th century BCE Glass Egyptians first to use glass beads, produced naturally Phoenicians developed techniques make it artifically Developed even better technique, glass-blowing, under Roman rule Economy Maritime Trade, Trade Empire, Exports Maritime Trade Most of trade conducted across Mediterranean Sea at ports Many colonies became trade centers, such as Carthage Trade Empire Phoenicians controlled trade around Mediterranean between 1200-800 BCE Many city-states continued to be predominant powers long after this 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 Human-Environment Interaction The Sea, Dyes 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 Dyes The Phoenicians became famous and wealthy for their dyes, specifically for: Reds- from kermes, tiny bugs that live in oak trees Blues- African indigos Royal Purple- most famous and important, came from the Murex sea-snail's shells Important Individuals The Kings of the Phoenicians The Kings of the Phoenicians Many kings stood out in the Phoenician empire Hiram I – developed the city Tyre into one of the most important cities of the Phoenician empire Ithobal I – expanded much of the Phoenician empire and established colonies overseas Kings (cont.) Elulaios – Assyria captured Tyre under his riegn but he headed many revolts against the Assyrians Baal-Eser II – was ruler when Phoenicia was at its height of influence and exceeded any other empire Pygmalion – built the colonies Kition, Social Instiutions Religion and Sciences, Government Religion and Sciences The Phoenicians were polytheists and they built many temples to worship their gods They were also great administrators, accountants, and engineers. They built the first temple in Jerusalem in the mid-900’s Government The Phoenicians had three different power bases to maintain control: First came the kings Followed by the temple and the priests And finally the councils of elders Conflicts Early Wars, The Punic Wars Early Wars Phoenicia was split into many city-states, which fought for control of the seas and trade In 675 and 640 BCE, the Assyrians invaded and defeated the city-states Tyre and Sidon on the Eastern Mediterranean The Babylonians attacked Tyre in 585 BCE ,13 years of fighting, ended with compromise in 572 BCE Early Wars The Eastern Phoenicians allied with Greeks against Persia and Egypt Persia and Egypt won the fighting in 539 BCE The Eastern city-states thus went under control of Cyrus the Great, emperor of Persia The Punic Wars The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage between 264 and 146 BCE In 813 BCE, the Phoenicians founded Carthage, a colony in North Africa which became a predominant city-state Carthage and Rome were powerful cities in the 200s and 100s which led to their conflicts in the Punic Wars The Punic Wars The First Punic War was a conflict over the control of Sicily between 264 and 241 BCE The Second Punic War was a series of campaigns led by Hannibal, leader of Carthage, against Roman Italy from 218 to 201 BCE The Third Punic War was the Siege of Carthage by the Romans from 149 to 146 BCE Bibliography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenicia http://phoenicia.org/trade.html http://phoenicia.org/cities.html http://www.geocities.com/soho/lofts/2938/histcult.html http://www.democracyinlebanon.org/Documents/CDLDocumentaries/Phoenicians(NatGeo).htm http://store.fantazpets.com/images/puzzles/boats/phoeni cian.jpg http://www.oldandsold.com/a1photos/grecian_urns_articl es15_pottery_rs.jpg http://www.unrv.com/provinces/syria.php http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0860355.html Saggs, H.W.F. The Babylonians Heath, D.C. World History Bibliography Gore, Rick, and Robert Clark. "Who were the Phoenicians?" National Geographic. National Geographic. 11 Nov. 2008 <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature2/?fs= www3.nationalgeographic.com>. "Lebenon." The World Factbook. 6 Nov. 2008. Central Intelligence Agency. 11 Nov. 2008 <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/le.html>. “Phoenician.” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Steven, Mark A. ed. 1 vol. Massachusetts: Springfield 2000. Khalaf, Salim G. "A Bequest Unearthed, Phoenicia,." Phoenician Encyclopedia. Sept. 1996. Encyclopedia Phoeniciana. 11 Nov. 2008 <http://www.phoenicia.org/>.