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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.Â
- It covered the land where the country of Lebanon is today.Â
- 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.Â
- Their trade routes reached as far as Spain and the British Isles.Â
- The Phoenicians traded wood, linen, dyes, and wine.Â
- They also carved wood and ivory and worked with metals and glass.Â
- 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.Â
- 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.Â
- They built the cities of Sidon, Tyre, and Berot (modern Beirut).Â
- 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.Â
- The Macedonians, led by Alexander the Great, conquered Phoenicia in 332 BCE.Â
- 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).