The Phoenicians were a Semitic people who settled in the current territory of Lebanon, between 1200 BC. C. and 539 BC approximately . They are considered the founders of maritime trade .
These inhabited the eastern coast of the Mediterranean , especially the area currently occupied by Lebanon. This is a mountainous and wooded territory , with a narrow strip of land between the mountains and the sea that does not allow the development of extensive agricultural activities.
From that narrow strip of land, the Phoenicians extended their trade routes along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic of Africa. On these routes they founded colonies and factories , but they did not establish a territorial or political power.
In brown, the location on the map of the Phoenicians.
Characteristics of the Phoenicians
The main characteristics of the Phoenicians are the following:
- They established cities, colonies, and factorieson the eastern Mediterranean coast, North Africa, and southern Spain. Some of them are Byblos, Tire, Sidon, Carthage, Tangier, Sardinia and Sicily . They also established neighborhoods, known as concessions , in foreign cities from where they handled trade.
- They were great navigators. The forests of the Lebanon and Antilíbano mountain ranges provided them with abundant quality wood , with which they developed a type of fast and light boat with a double row of oars and a central sail that facilitated their movements through the sea.
- In their travels they not only carried out commercial activities, but also left records of their observations on the geography of the coasts, the marine currents, the winds and the best routes to navigate. These were inherited by the Greeks , through whom such knowledge spread and lasted until modern times.
- While they have traditionally been considered the inventors of alphabetic writing, it is likely that they just simplified different forms of registration that already existed. The truth is that they developed a simple type of writing with few lettersthat forms the basis of modern Western writing systems.
Political and social organization of the Phoenicians
Political organization
The Phoenicians constituted a thalassocracy , that is, a nation that based its power on maritime dominance . Their commercial networks controlled the Mediterranean and its coasts for 4 centuries.
They did not form a unified state, but were organized into independent city-states . The government was exercised in some cases by a king , accompanied by a council of merchants and, in other cases, by a council of elders who delegated their authority to magistrates.
Social organization
The Phoenician was a society of merchants and navigators . These activities were carried out by family dynasties that spent most of the year at sea and gathered in Phoenician cities during times of religious festivals.
The ruling elites were those who made up these families. Below them, in terms of political power, were artisans , small merchants , farmers and fishermen .
Phoenician economy
The Phoenician economy was based on trade and the artisan production of some highly valued goods, such as purple-dyed cloth and bronze objects.
Through their extensive commercial network they distributed the productions of the other states of the Mediterranean region. They transported and exchanged goods such as metals, ebony and ivory from Africa throughout the Mediterranean basin ; slaves, horses, precious stones and textiles from Syria ; honey and oil from Judea ; sheep, spices and gold from Arabia .
During much of Phoenician history, commercial activity was carried out through the exchange of goods , since the currency only began to be minted in the 4th century BC. C.
Religion of the Phoenicians
The Phoenician cities did not have a homogeneous religion, probably due to the influence of the various cultures of the territories they visited. So, l os gods varied among the various Phoenician cities , although they shared some characteristics. For example, the goddess of fertility was called Astarte in Sidon and Ba’alat Gubal in Byblos.
In the cities there were temples, like the one of Melkart-Baal-Tsor in Tire, where every year great religious festivals were celebrated. Offerings to the god came to these temples from distant colonies. Human sacrifices were made and the faithful sometimes offered their own children to the gods.
Priestly dynasties existed , both men and women, who transmitted the activity from generation to generation.
