The Phoenicians rise from semi-nomadic hunter gatherers who settle the coasts of today's Lebanon to become the foremost merchant and trading culture of the ancient world.
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Although the seafaring fleets prosper for centuries, the height of Phoenician power comes c. 1200 - 600 BCE.
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Semitic speakers, the early Phoenicians are centered in Arwad, Syria. At the height of power their range extends to Mount Carmel in Israel.
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The ambitious Phoenicians immediately follow the Canaanites of the Bronze Age, whose dominion ends during the Bronze Age collapse. They build on the beginnings of the Canaanite network.
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Early Canaanites evolve from the copper age culture of the Ghassulians. The Phoenicians consider themselves Canaanites in the ancient world, and it's thought the division between the two is a modern interpretation.
The Phoenicians easily slip into the roles of primary merchant mariners of the Levant. The people are a collection of city states, not united under one leader. Settlements are run by oligarchies of wealthy trading families.
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The most important sites for the Early Bronze Age people are Byblos and Sidon-Dakerman. The site of Byblos is first inhabited in the Neolithic period c. 8800 BCE, and continuously inhabited from c. 5000 BCE.
Few administrative records have been found, and most of the information about the Phoenicians comes from the cultures who interact with them. The early Greeks call them φοῖνιξ phoînix, the word for a Phoenician person, purple dye or the date palm.
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The Phoenicians are famous for Tyrian purple, a dye extracted from the mucus glands of certain rock snails. The rock snails originate in the Indo-European ocean. Most murex species live in intertidal or shallow subtidal waters among rocks and coral.
Many snails have to die for just a narrow purple trim so the color is too expensive for ordinary people. The color purple is associated with royalty and high status ever after.
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Tyre is reputed to be the birthplace of Europa, for whom Europe is named. A Phoenician princess, she's the mother of King Minos of Crete, after she's abducted by Zeus, who takes the form of a bull.
Besides Tyrian purple, the Phoenicians are famous for wood. The Lebanese cedar (Cedrus libani) comes to light in the second millennium BCE. The Phoenicians use the wood to build a massive fleet of ships.
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By the mid-14th century BCE, Phoenician city-states are called "favored cities" by the Egyptians. Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, and Byblos are the major coastal trade centers. Byblos is leader among them. It's famous for metal work such as bronze, and it's also a terminal point for tin and lapis lazuli.
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Nahr al-Kabir and the Orontes rivers lead inland from the coast. The Phoenicians control the prosperous cities. Ancient powers like the Egyptians consider takeover action as Phoenician wealth and influence grows.
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Already in the fifteenth century BCE, the Pharoah takes coastal towns for their links to the interior. Egypt tries for control of trade routes to Mesopotamia and access to the great cedar forests.
The Phoenicians tell tales of great monsters guarding the forests. This facade is shattered when the Epic of Gilgamesh, written c. 2000, features the legendary king defeating the forest giant.
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The desire for wood escalates throughout the Egyptian and Mesopotamian lands. The Early Greeks want their share too. The Phoenicians create their civilization on the laws of supply and demand. Powers compete to build ships and construct forts, palaces and city centers.
Between 1350 and 1300 BCE, capture of strategic cities by the Hittites and Amorites means territory losses for Egypt. The seeds of disaster are sown, and about a century later the Bronze Age collapse devastates major civilizations.
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The collapse affects most of the Eastern Mediterranean (North Africa and Southeast Europe). Civilizations including the Near East and Egypt, eastern Libya, the Balkans, the Aegean, Anatolia, and the Caucasus are all but wiped out.
The Phoenicians fill the gap gladly. They reach the height of their influence c. 1200 BCE and during the following centuries. The recovery of the Mediterranean countries after the Bronze Age devastation is credited to Phoenician trade and commerce.
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Always opportunists, they take advantage of the niche markets and promote the flow of merchandise. They establish colonies throughout the Mediterranean and Aegean, North Africa and Spain. The Eurasian Iron Age is the time of their greatest achievements.
Among the most important contributions of the Phoenicians is an alphabetic writing system. When adopted by the Greeks, it becomes the basis of the Western alphabet(s).
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Phoenicians raise ship-building to new standards. The cutwater is a sharp point allowing ships to cut through water with ease. Due to the engineering advances, Persian and Assyrian royalty use Phoenician ships themselves.
Phoenician sailors are known to be especially skilled seafarers. They're among the first people to use stars to navigate.
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One of the most significant events of the 1st millennium BCE is the founding of Carthage, North Africa by the Phoenicians. The city becomes a major center of trade and commerce.
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