Phoenicia

Phoenicia

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Archaeologists excavating near ruins on the island of Sardinia discovered an Iron Age scarab amulet that originated from ancient Phoenicia.

About Phoenicia

  • Phoenicia was an ancient region at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. 
  • It covered the land where the country of Lebanon is today. 
  • The people who lived there were called Phoenicians. They traded with many other peoples and set up many colonies.
  • The Phoenicians lived on the seacoast and made their living from the sea. They were skilled shipbuilders and navigators. 
  • Their trade routes reached as far as Spain and the British Isles. 
  • The Phoenicians traded wood, linen, dyes, and wine. 
  • They also carved wood and ivory and worked with metals and glass. 
  • The art of glassblowing was probably invented in Phoenicia.
  • The Phoenicians spoke a language that was similar to Hebrew. They had their own form of writing and an alphabet of 22 letters. 
  • The Phoenician alphabet was the source of the Greek alphabet and of the Latin alphabet, which most people use today.
  • Historians think that the Phoenicians arrived in Phoenicia in about 3000 BCE. They probably came from the region of the Persian Gulf, to the southeast. 
  • They built the cities of Sidon, Tyre, and Berot (modern Beirut). 
  • The Phoenicians set up colonies all around the Mediterranean. Carthage, in North Africa, was a very successful colony. Eventually Carthage became a power in its own right.
  • Decline:
    • Over the centuries a number of foreign powers controlled all or parts of Phoenicia. They included Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia. 
    • The Macedonians, led by Alexander the Great, conquered Phoenicia in 332 BCE. 
    • In 64 BCE Phoenicia became a part of the Roman Empire.

Source: PM

Phoenicia FAQs

Q1: What was Phoenicia?

Ans: Phoenicia was an ancient region at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea.

Q2: In which crafts were the Phoenicians skilled?

Ans: They carved wood and ivory and worked with metals and glass.

Q3: What important invention is believed to have originated in Phoenicia?

Ans: The art of glassblowing was probably invented in Phoenicia.

Q4: What was the Phoenician language similar to?

Ans: It was similar to Hebrew.

Q5: Which major cities were built by the Phoenicians?

Ans: They built the cities of Sidon, Tyre, and Beirut (ancient Berot).

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