Was an ancient civilization composed of independent city-states which lay along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea stretching through what is now Syria, Lebannon and northern Israel.
At first, they traded mainly with the Greeks, trading wood, salves, glass and powdered Tyrian purple. Tyrian Purple was a violet-purple dye used by the Greek elite to color garments. In fact, the word Phoenician derives from the Ancient Greek word phoinios meaning purple. Phoenicia was an ancient civilization composed of independent city-states which lay along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea stretching through what is now Syria, Lebannon and northern Israel. The island city of Tyre and the city of Sidon were the most powerful states in Phoenicia with Gebal/ Byblos and Baalbek as the most important spiritual/religious centers. Phoenician city-states began to take form c. 3200 BCE and were firmly established by c. 2750 BCE. These kingdoms especially the Phoenicians started to trade throughout the Mediterranean region. Phoenicia (foh-NEE-shee-ah) Phoenicia is the Greek name for the country and people living on the coast of Syria in ancient times at the east end of the Mediterranean Sea. It is believed that economic opportunity and population pressures forced them out into the seas. Phoenician Secrets is at Amazon-USA. . and at Amazon-UK. The Phoenicians were the great sea-traders of the ancient Mediterranean, famous for cedar ships, the alphabet, purple cloth, Carthage, Hannibal and cities in Lebanon. Yet they also created a strong and unique society that interacted with the great societies of antiquity such as Greece, Rome, Egypt, Persia and others. The Phoenicians of the Iron Age (first millennium B.C.) descended from the original Canaanites who dwelt in the region during the earlier Bronze Age (3000-1200 H.C.), despite classical tradition to the contrary. Phoenicia was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550 BC to 300 BC. Byblos was the ancient Phoenician port city of Gebal (called Byblos by the Greeks) on the coast of the Mediterranean sea in what is, today, Lebanon.
http://www.timemaps.com/civilization/Phoenicians http://www.ancient.eu/phoenicia/ http://www.ancient.eu/phoenicia/ http://lebanon2000.com/ph.htm http://www.phoenician.org/index.html http://www.phoenicia.org/history.html http://www.timemaps.com/civilization/Phoenicians http://www.ancient.eu/phoenicia/
what are phoenicians in ancient history