Phenicia - the disappeared state of the Ancient East. It reached its highest peak at the turn of the II-I millennia BC. At that time, the Phoenicians, excellent sailors, dominated the Mediterranean, monopolizing international trade. Along with this, they expanded their influence in the region through colonization. Subsequently, some Phoenician colonies left a deep mark in the history of human civilization.
Revival of interest
In 1860, the French historian Renan Ernest discovered in Lebanon ancient ruins overgrown with grass. He identified them as the Phoenician city of Byblos. In 1923, his compatriot Pierre Monte unearthed four royal tombs there with intact copper and gold ornaments. In addition, texts with unknown writings were found in them. Soon, linguists deciphered them. Thus, the scientific world got the opportunity to learn more about the disappeared civilization, which until then had been mentioned only by ancient authors and the Bible. Since then, interest in the Phoenicians has not diminished. Almost every ten years, the discovery of new secrets associated with this ancient people is reported.
Seaside cities
Like many state formations of antiquity, Phenicia was not a united country, but separate cities ruled by kings. Its territory almost coincided with the territory of modern Lebanon. In ancient times, this narrow strip of the Mediterranean coast was covered by vast forests in which pines, cedars, mulberries, beeches, oaks, figs, date palms and olives grew.
The first settlements were founded here a very long time ago. Mostly their population was engaged in fishing and gardening. As archeology testifies, at the turn of the 4th-3rd millennia BC, the first Phoenician cities appeared here, protected by powerful defensive walls.
The largest and most influential of them were Sidon, Ugarit, Byblos, Arvad and Tyr. Their inhabitants even then had the glory of skilled craftsmen, resourceful merchants and bold sailors. It can be said that the creation of the Phoenician colonies began on the territory of Phenicia itself, since the city of Tire was founded by the Sidonians. True, later he not only freed himself from submission to Sidon, but also surpassed him in many ways.
Cruel Religious Cults
The Phoenicians were polytheists, like the vast majority of their neighbors. The main deities in their pantheon were Astarte, the goddess of fertility, and Baal, personifying the forces of nature and considered the god of war. In addition, each city-state, including the Phoenician colonies, had its heavenly patrons.
Researchers note the extreme cruelty that was inherent in the cults of these deities. Traditional sacrifices were not limited to slaughtering animals. Quite often, especially in times of mortal danger, the Phoenicians burned their own children to appease the deities, and when laying the walls of a new city, babies were buried under its gates and towers.
Lords of the sea
It is no accident that the Phoenicians in ancient times were considered great navigators. Their 30-meter ships were built from solid Lebanese cedar wood. These vessels were keel, and not flat-bottomed, which increased speed and allowed them to make long voyages by sea. The Phoenicians borrowed a mast from the Egyptians, carrying a direct sail on two shafts.
However, ships with a wide deck, high stern and bow could sail both under sails and oars. Rowers were located along the sides, and two large oars were strengthened at the stern, with which they deployed the ship. Such developed and advanced shipbuilding at that time to a large extent contributed to the formation of Phoenician colonies in the Mediterranean basin.
Merchant ships
Most of the merchant fleet in the Mediterranean (II-I millennium BC) were Phoenician ships. Merchants did everything to preserve their trade secrets. There is a known case when they flooded their own ship, if only to hide from strangers following it where and with what goods they were sent.
Merchants were constantly in search of places where they could sell their goods and buy slaves without too much risk, as well as places where they mined valuable metals. In other countries, the Phoenicians brought the goods of artisans from Sidon, Biblus and Tire, specializing in:
- making linen and woolen fabrics;
- forging, engraving of gold and silver products;
- ivory and wood carvings;
- glass production, the secret of which was revealed by the Venetians only in the Middle Ages.
However, cedar and, of course, the purple fabric, which was fabulously expensive, were the most famous export goods, because a huge amount of mollusks went for its staining.
In constant search of new markets for the sale of their goods, the Phoenicians reached the shores of Spain, North Africa, the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Malta, Sicily, Cyprus. They were not interested in creating a powerful empire. Making big profits is the reason that led the Phoenicians to take dangerous sea voyages. Wherever their ships reached, the Phoenician colonies were founded.
Profitable slave trade
Unlike other ancient states, Phenicia almost did not wage aggressive wars. The source of its prosperity, however, was not only the successful commercial operations of merchants. The Phoenicians did not disdain the profitable slave trade, which went hand in hand with sea robbery.
Ancient authors, including Homer, repeatedly mentioned their deceit and abduction of gullible people who were tricked into ships and then sold into slavery. The location of the Phoenician colonies contributed to the prosperity of piracy in the Mediterranean, and the slave trade.
Slave labor was widely used in workshops, harbors, and ships. Slaves worked as rowers, movers and laborers. In addition, they were sent to numerous Phoenician colonies, as well as to Sidon, Byblos, Tire and other Phoenician cities.
North African coast
As already mentioned, the territory of Phenicia occupied a narrow coastal strip of land. However, this location was extremely advantageous in ancient times. Land and sea trade routes crossed here. From this, the Phoenicians were able to derive maximum benefit. Over time, having gained rich experience in sea travel and having accumulated enough funds, they began to build large ships that could make long voyages.
Moving along the coast to the west, they founded at the beginning of the 9th century BC the largest Phoenician colony on the African coast - Carthage. The initiative in the development of new territories belonged primarily to the residents of Sidon and Tire. However, Carthage was not the first Phoenician colony in North Africa. In the XII century BC, the city of Utica was founded here, which existed until the VII century BC.
To the shores of the Atlantic
Phenicia and the southern coast of Spain are separated by 4 thousand kilometers. However, this did not stop the ancient mariners. On their large ships, they crossed the Mediterranean Sea and entered the Atlantic Ocean. In the south-west of the Iberian Peninsula, where the Phoenician colony of Hades (Gadir) was founded, high-quality ore was mined. In addition to it, merchants exported silver, lead, and tin from here, and in return they brought pine, cedar, embroidered products, glass, linen, and purple fabrics. Over time, the Phoenicians actually monopolized Spanish silver, which in large quantities was imported into Phenicia.
North and south
Having settled in the Mediterranean basin, the Phoenicians were among the first to venture through Gibraltar and head north. They reached the shores of the largest European island - Great Britain. Tin, an unusually valuable metal in ancient times, was mined here.
The Phoenician sailors were not to take courage. In search of promising new markets, they took risks, setting off on long and unsafe sailings. In the V century BC, 60 ships sailed from the shores of North Africa, where the Phoenician colonies were located. The expedition was led by Gannon, a sailor from Carthage.
His flotilla marched along the west coast of the African continent. Information about what they met on the way is preserved in the retelling of Aristotle. The purpose of the journey itself was the foundation of new colonies. Now it’s hard to say how far Gannon managed to advance south. Presumably, his ships reached the shores of modern Sierra Leone.
But long before that, during the time of King Solomon, who ruled Israel in the 10th century BC, the Phoenicians, along with his subjects, crossed the Red Sea from north to south. As some researchers suggest, they even managed to reach the Indian Ocean.
Where were the Phoenician colonies
The history of mankind can be safely called the history of wars. The more powerful powers subjugated the less militant. The latter included Phenicia. Its inhabitants knew how to trade well, but they turned out to defend their cities much worse.
Egyptians, Assyrians, Hittites, Persians and other peoples constantly threatened the prosperity of the Phoenician cities. Therefore, the threat of invasion, along with the search for promising markets, encouraged the Phoenicians to leave their homes, migrating overseas: to Cyprus, Malta, the Balearic Islands, Sicily.
Thus, by the 9th century BC, they settled throughout the Mediterranean. What were the names of all the Phoenician colonies? say is not possible. Firstly, there were at least 300 of them. Secondly, no historian can vouch for the fact that today we know everything about this aspect of the history of Phenicia. However, some cities are still worth mentioning:
- Kalaris and Olbia on the island of Sardinia;
- Lilibey in Sicily;
- Hades on the Iberian Peninsula.
And a few colonies on the North African coast:
- Utica
- Leptis;
- Carthage;
- Tipasa;
- Gadrumet;
- Sabrafa;
- Hippon.
The largest Phoenician colony
When in the 9th century BC the first immigrants from Tire landed in North Africa to establish a new settlement there, no one assumed that later it would become a powerful state of the Ancient World. It's about Carthage. This city was the most famous Phoenician colony. Therefore, it is worth getting to know his story better.
The founding of Cart Hadasht
The Phoenician sailors have long chosen a convenient bay in the depths of the Gulf of Tunisia. They often went there, fixed ships, and even built a small sanctuary. However, only at the beginning of the 9th century BC, immigrants laid here the city of Cart Hadasht (the Phoenician name of Carthage).
Ancient sources contain a legend about how this happened. King Tira Mutton, before his death, bequeathed power to his son Pygmalion and daughter Elissa, also known as Dido. But each of them wanted to rule alone. Elissa, having married an influential and wealthy priest, enlisted the support of the city aristocracy. However, her brother relied on the masses who proclaimed him king.
After the death of her husband, who was killed on the orders of Pygmalion, Elissa boarded the ship with her loyal members of the city council and sailed away in search of a place to establish a new city. In the end, they landed in a convenient bay in northern Africa.
Elissa won the favor of local tribes with gifts and asked to sell her a plot equal in size to the skin of a bull. Like the true daughter of her people, the exiled queen went to the trick. By her order, the skin was cut into many thinnest strips, which enclosed a place that significantly exceeded the area that was previously agreed upon.
Today we know that the city of Carthage (Cart Hadasht) was the most famous Phoenician colony. But in the year of its foundation, it was just a small settlement, spread out on top of a hill and the adjacent seashore.
The peak of the power of Carthage
Over time, a new colony of the Phoenicians expanded, and its convenient location attracted a lot of other immigrants to the city: Italics, Greeks, Etruscans. Private and state slaves worked in numerous shipyards of Carthage, participating in the construction of an artificial port. It consisted of two parts (civilian and military), connected by a narrow duct. From the sea, the city was a whole forest of masts. In the era of its highest prosperity, the Carthaginian power occupied a significant territory, which included not only the entire Western Mediterranean, but also the original Phoenician cities, united to defend themselves from the Greeks.
Thus, by the end of the VIII century BC, the largest Phoenician colony was the city of Carthage. He gained independence from the mother country in the 7th century BC. he engaged in the colonization of territories. On the island of Ibiza, the Carthaginians founded their first dependent city. However, their main problem was the Greeks, trying to gain a foothold in Sardinia, Corsica and Sicily. While Carthage competed with the cities of Hellas for hegemony in the Mediterranean basin, the power of Rome was imperceptibly strengthened for him. The time has come, and their clash has become inevitable.
Punic Wars
In the III century BC, Rome felt that it was strong enough to fight Carthage, which monopolized trade in the Mediterranean Sea. If before they were allies, now disagreements over commercial interests have made them enemies. The first war, called Punic (the Romans called the Phoenicians the Puns), began in 264 BC. With interruptions, it continued until 241 BC, ending unsuccessfully for Carthage. He not only lost Sicily, but also had to pay a huge indemnity.
The second military conflict, which began in 218 BC, is associated with the name of Hannibal. The son of the Carthaginian commander, he was the greatest strategist of antiquity. Uncompromising hostility to Rome prompted him to start a new war when he served as commander-in-chief of Carthage troops in Spain. However, the military talent of Hannibal did not help to win the military conflict. Carthage lost many colonies and, under the terms of the contract, was obliged to burn its fleet.
The third and last Punic war lasted only three years: from 149 to 146 BC. As a result, Carthage disappeared from the face of the earth - by order of the Roman commander Emilian Scipio, the city was looted and burned to the ground, and its former territories became the province of Rome. This dealt a heavy blow to the Phoenician trade, from which it was no longer able to recover. Phenicia finally left the historical scene in the 1st century BC, when its eastern territories in the Middle East, previously plundered and subordinated by Alexander the Great, were captured by the army of the Armenian king Tigran the Great.
The trace of ancient civilization in the modern world
The Phoenicians, like excellent merchants, kept scrupulous business records, using the alphabetical script they created for this purpose. Over time, other nations appreciated its merits. Thus, the Phoenician alphabet formed the basis of Greek and Latin script. On the basis of the latter, in turn, writing has developed, which is used today in many countries of the world.
However, not only the alphabet today reminds us of the sunken civilization of the Ancient East. There are still some cities that were once Phoenician colonies. And their modern names sometimes coincide with those that were given to them at the foundation many centuries ago, for example, Malaga and Cartagena in Spain or Bizerte in Tunisia. In addition, the Sicilian city of Palermo, Spanish Cadiz and Tunisian Souss in ancient times were also founded by the Phoenicians, but under other names.
In addition, genetic studies have shown that about 30% of the Maltese are descendants of the Phoenician colonists. Thus, this ancient nation still did not completely disappear. His trace on our planet can be found in the modern world.