Phoenicians History of Lebanon w 2 Centuries

Phoenicians

History of Lebanon w 2 Centuries after Hammurabi’s reign, Babylonian empire fell to Nomadic Warriors w Fertile Crescent broke into small kingdoms w New people moved into the regions

Phoenician Location w Present day Lebanon w 33. 50º North w 35. 50º East w Popular cities: w Tyre w Byblos w Sidon

Geography w Narrow coastal planes w Beeka Valley separates w Borders Israel & Syria

Climate w Mediterranean w Mild to cool w Wet winters w Dry, hot summers w Mountains heavy rain & snow

Resources w Snails - most valuable dye w 60, 000 snails to 1 pound w Cedar trees- hard, usable wood

Wealth from Trade w Purple dye w Cedar trees

Relying on Trade w Cedar is other valuable resource w Relied on Trade w Traded goods from other lands w Own colonies too w Competed with other city-states w Interacted through trade

Excellence in Sailing w Desired trade w Traveled Mediterranean Coasts w Narrow, single sailed vessels with longs oars

Colonies w 1100 -700 BCE, founded trading colonies w 300 cities in Africa’s Med. Coast w Carthage was greatest

The Alphabet w Only 22 symbols w First appeared around 900 BCE w Passed on to other cities w Many common people could master w Literacy became widespread

Culture w Shared & collected ideas w Purple dye for royalty w Based on trade & ships w Alphabet

Technology & Tools w Boats: single-sailed vessels with long oars w Alphabet: started with the Phoenicians w Weapons, cloth, wine, slaves, glass, and ivory

Peace and War w Peaceful society w Focused on trade

Law & Order w Hierarchy Status w “Kings and Priests still had much more power of the trades. ” w Alphabet & Laws

Social Status w w w King + Priests Wealthy Commoners Free Commoners Slaves Typical Social Status

Summary w Most powerful traders in Mesopotamia area w Invented alphabet w Started the importance of sailing w Created the royal purple color

Fun Facts w Purple dye- made from the squeezing of 60, 000 smelly snail glands w Traded- anything and everything believed valuable w “Later, Carthage rivaled Rome in power. ”

Location w Phoenicia was centered in the north of ancient Canaan w It was a coastal area along the Mediterranean Sea w Modern Day Lebanon, Syria, Palestinian Territories and Israel

Important cities w w w Arvad Byblos Berytus Sidon Tyre Caesarea w Tripoli w Baalbek w Carthage

Government w Individual city-states w Each city-state had an independent government w The king, the temple priests, and the council of wealthy merchants were the main sources of power

religion w They worshipped gods and goddesses sacred to specific city-states w 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 w They had a trade-based economy w Their main good was a purple dye derived from snails found on the Tyre island w Due to the dye’s scarcity and the time in which it took to make, it became very expensive

Economic system w They established trading colonies along the Mediterranean coast w They also traded: w w w Wine Glass Timber Olive oil Precious metals

Social classes King Merchant aristocrats Businessmen, craftsmen, dealers, shopkeepers, entrepreneurs Normal working men Slaves

Cultural Development w Spoke a Semitic language w A seagoing culture where trade was the center of civilization w Were skilled architects w Wealthy trading towns whose centers were the temples

City Structure w Urban, small trading towns along the Mediterranean coast w Temple was the center of the city w Built buildings up to 6 stories high

Rights of slaves w Laws protected slaves from mistreatment w Slaves could earn their own money, purchase property, and own their own freedom w A freed slave could reach high office in the community

Rights of women w No evidence of polygamy w In the case of divorce, the woman was given her possessions w Had fundamental rights w Women could press charges, make trading contracts, invest in trading, and adopt heirs

Technology w The Phoenician Empire had many advancements in: w shipbuilding w pottery w iron-working w literature w alphabet

Phoenician alphabet w First appeared around 900 B. C. w Made an alphabet with 22 symbols w The Greeks adopted the alphabet and added 4 symbols

Human-environment interactions of the w Phoenicia’s location on the coast Mediterranean Sea enabled trade with other coastal regions w 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 w 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 w The Phoenician empire fell when Alexander the Great defeated Persia. w Over time all of the city states were conquered w Phoenicia and its culture disappeared w It later became Syria

Summary w They failed to use all of their elements of national power w They succeeded economically, but did not use their wealth to protect their own borders w They made contributions which were fundamental in future civilizations

Technology The Alphabet, Bireme, and Glass

The Alphabet w First used Cuneiform w Began using alphabet around 1050 BCE w Quicker to learn and easier to use for trading

Bireme w Ships important to Phoenician society w Made improvements on Unireme to make the Bireme w 1 st appeared in 8 th century BCE

Glass w Egyptians first to use glass beads, produced naturally w Phoenicians developed techniques make it artifically w Developed even better technique, glass-blowing, under Roman rule

Economy Maritime Trade, Trade Empire, Exports

Maritime Trade w Most of trade conducted across Mediterranean Sea at ports w Many colonies became trade centers, such as Carthage

Trade Empire w Phoenicians controlled trade around Mediterranean between 1200 -800 BCE w Many city-states continued to be predominant powers long after this

Exports w Main Export: Tyrian Purple powder w Manufactured in Sarepta and Mogador from the Murex snail shells w Trading Partners with Greece w 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 w The Phoenicians became famous and wealthy for their dyes, specifically for: w Reds- from kermes, tiny bugs that live in oak trees w Blues- African indigos w 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 w Many kings stood out in the Phoenician empire w Hiram I – developed the city Tyre into one of the most important cities of the Phoenician empire w Ithobal I – expanded much of the Phoenician empire and established colonies overseas

Kings (cont. ) w Elulaios – Assyria captured Tyre under his riegn but he headed many revolts against the Assyrians w Baal-Eser II – was ruler when Phoenicia was at its height of influence and exceeded any other empire w Pygmalion – built the colonies Kition,

Social Instiutions Religion and Sciences, Government

Religion and Sciences w The Phoenicians were polytheists and they built many temples to worship their gods w They were also great administrators, accountants, and engineers. w They built the first temple in Jerusalem in the mid-900’s

Government w The Phoenicians had three different power bases to maintain control: w First came the kings w Followed by the temple and the priests w And finally the councils of elders

Conflicts Early Wars, The Punic Wars

Early Wars w Phoenicia was split into many city-states, which fought for control of the seas and trade w In 675 and 640 BCE, the Assyrians invaded and defeated the city-states Tyre and Sidon on the Eastern Mediterranean w The Babylonians attacked Tyre in 585 BCE , 13 years of fighting, ended with compromise in 572 BCE

Early Wars w The Eastern Phoenicians allied with Greeks against Persia and Egypt won the fighting in 539 BCE w The Eastern city-states thus went under control of Cyrus the Great, emperor of Persia

The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage between 264 and 146 BCE w In 813 BCE, the Phoenicians founded Carthage, a colony in North Africa which became a predominant city-state w Carthage and Rome were powerful cities in the 200 s and 100 s which led to their conflicts in the Punic Wars

The Punic Wars w The First Punic War was a conflict over the control of Sicily between 264 and 241 BCE w The Second Punic War was a series of campaigns led by Hannibal, leader of Carthage, against Roman Italy from 218 to 201 BCE w The Third Punic War was the Siege of Carthage by the Romans from 149 to 146 BCE

Bibliography w http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Phoenicia w w w w w 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(Nat. Geo). htm http: //store. fantazpets. com/images/puzzles/boats/phoeni cian. jpg http: //www. oldandsold. com/a 1 photos/grecian_urns_articl es 15_pottery_rs. jpg http: //www. unrv. com/provinces/syria. php http: //www. infoplease. com/ce 6/history/A 0860355. html Saggs, H. W. F. The Babylonians Heath, D. C. World History

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