—, The Greek historian believed that the Phoenicians originated from. Also believed that the homeland of the Phoenicians was Bahrain.

This theory was accepted by the 19th-century German classicist who said that: 'In the Greek geographers, for instance, we read of two islands, named Tyrus or, and, which boasted that they were the mother country of the Phoenicians, and exhibited relics of Phoenician temples.' The people of in in particular have long maintained origins, and the similarity in the words 'Tylos' and 'Tyre' has been commented upon.

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The civilization during the period 2200–1600 BCE, as shown by excavations of settlements and. However, some claim there is little evidence of occupation at all in Bahrain during the time when such migration had supposedly taken place. Canaanite culture apparently developed in situ from the earlier culture. Ghassulian itself developed from the, which in turn developed from a fusion of their ancestral and cultures with (PPNB) farming cultures, practicing the, during the which led to the in the.

Is attested as an archaeological site from the. The Late Bronze Age state of is considered quintessentially Canaanite archaeologically, even though the Ugaritic language does not belong to the proper.

Phoenician alphabet [ ]. Phoenician king of Byblos, c.

1000 BC The Phoenician alphabet consists of 22 letters, all. Since around 1050 BC, this script was used for the writing of, a Northern language. It is believed to be one of the ancestors of modern alphabets. By their maritime trade, the Phoenicians spread the use of the alphabet to, North Africa, and Europe, where it was adopted by the who developed it into an alphabetic script to have distinct letters for as well as. The name 'Phoenician' is by convention given to inscriptions beginning around 1050 BC, because,, and other were largely indistinguishable before that time. The so-called, engraved on the sarcophagus of king from about 1000 BC shows essentially a fully developed Phoenician script. The Phoenicians were among the first state-level societies to make extensive use of: the family of, spoken by,,,, and, was the first historically attested group of languages to use an alphabet, derived from the script, to record their writings.

The Proto-Canaanite script uses around 30 symbols but was not widely used until the rise of in the 13th and 12th centuries BC. The Proto-Canaanite script is derived from. High point: 1200–800 BC [ ] remarked in The Perspective of the World that Phoenicia was an early example of a 'world-economy' surrounded by empires. The high point of Phoenician culture and sea power is usually placed c.

Archaeological evidence consistent with this understanding has been difficult to identify. A unique concentration in Phoenicia of silver hoards dated between 1200 and 800 BC, however, contains with lead isotope ratios matching ores in Sardinia and Spain.

This metallic evidence agrees with the biblical memory of a western Mediterranean that supplied with silver via Phoenicia, during the latter's heyday (see 'trade', below). Warship (probably built by Phoenicians) with two rows of oars, relief from, c.

700 BC Many of the most important Phoenician settlements had been established long before this:, in,,,, and, the capital of, all appear in the. The league of independent city-state ports, with others on the islands and along other coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, was ideally suited for trade between the area, rich in natural resources, and the rest of the ancient world. Around 1200 BC, a series of weakened and destroyed the adjacent and empires. In the resulting power vacuum, a number of Phoenician cities rose as significant maritime powers.

Phoenician societies rested on three power-bases: the king; temples and their priests; and councils of elders. First became the predominant center from where the Phoenicians dominated the Mediterranean and Erythraean (Red) Sea routes. It was here that the first inscription in the Phoenician alphabet was found, on the sarcophagus of (c. [ ] Later, in gained in power. One of its kings, the priest (887–856 BC), ruled Phoenicia as far north as Beirut, and part of Cyprus. Was founded in 814 BC under of Tyre (820–774 BC). [ ] The collection of city-states constituting Phoenicia came to be characterized by outsiders and the Phoenicians as Sidonia or Tyria.

Phoenicians and Canaanites alike were called Sidonians or Tyrians, as one Phoenician city came to prominence after another. Decline: 539–65 BC [ ] Persian rule [ ]. This section does not any. Unsourced material may be challenged and. (August 2011) () Persian King conquered Phoenicia in 539 BC.

The Persians then divided Phoenicia into four vassal kingdoms:,,, and. They prospered, furnishing fleets for Persian kings. Phoenician influence declined after this. In 350 or 345 BC, a rebellion in Sidon led by was crushed. Its destruction was described.

Macedonian rule [ ] took Tyre in 332 BC after the. Alexander was exceptionally harsh to Tyre, executing 2,000 of the leading citizens, but he maintained the king in power.

He gained control of the other cities peacefully: the ruler of Aradus submitted; the king of Sidon was overthrown. The gradually ousted the remnants of Phoenicia's former dominance over the Eastern Mediterranean trade routes. Phoenician culture disappeared entirely in the motherland.

Carthage continued to flourish in North Africa. It oversaw the mining of iron and from Iberia, and used its considerable naval power and mercenary armies to protect commercial interests. Rome finally destroyed it in 146 BC, at the end of the. Following Alexander, the Phoenician homeland was controlled by a succession of Macedonian rulers: (323 BC), (320), (315), (301), and (296).

Between 286 and 197 BC, Phoenicia (except for Aradus) fell to the Ptolemies of Egypt, who installed the high priests of as vassal rulers in Sidon (,, ). In 197 BC, Phoenicia along with Syria reverted to the. The region became increasingly Hellenized, although Tyre became autonomous in 126 BC, followed by Sidon in 111. Syria, including Phoenicia, was seized and ruled by king of from 82 until 69 BC, when he was defeated. In 65 BC, finally incorporated the territory as part of the. Phoenicia became a ca.

Demographics [ ] Genetic studies [ ]. Phoenician plate with red, 7th century BC, excavated in,,. In the centuries after 1200 BC, the Phoenicians were the major naval and trading power of the region. Phoenician trade was founded on the Tyrian purple dye, a violet-purple dye derived from the of the sea-snail, once profusely available in coastal waters of the eastern Mediterranean Sea but exploited to local extinction. 's excavations at in present-day revealed crushed Murex shells and pottery containers stained with the dye that was being produced at the site. The Phoenicians established a second production center for the dye in, in present-day. Brilliant textiles were a part of Phoenician wealth, and Phoenician was another export ware.

To Egypt, where grapevines would not grow, the 8th-century Phoenicians sold: the wine trade with Egypt is vividly documented by the shipwrecks located in 1997 in the open sea 50 kilometres (30 mi) west of. Pottery kilns at in and produced the large terracotta jars used for transporting wine. From Egypt, the Phoenicians bought gold. Additionally, great cedar logs were traded with lumber-poor Egypt for significant sums. Sometime between 1075 and 1060 BC an Egyptian envoy by the name of Wen-Amon visited Phoenicia and secured seven great cedar logs in exchange for a mixed cargo including '4 crocks and 1 kak-men of gold; 5 silver jugs; 10 garments of royal linen; 10 kherd of good linen from Upper Egypt; 500 rolls of finished papyrus; 500 cows' hides; 500 ropes; 20 bags of lentils and 30 baskets of fish.' Those logs were then moved by ship from Phoenicia to Egypt. The Peutinger Map showing Tyre and Sidon in the 4th century From elsewhere, they obtained other materials, perhaps the most important being from (at least) and the.

Tin was required which when smelted with copper from Cyprus created the durable metal alloy bronze. The archaeologist Glenn Markoe suggests that tin 'may have been acquired from by way of the Atlantic coast or southern Spain; alternatively, it may have come from northern Europe ( or ) via the and coastal '. States that there was a highly lucrative Phoenician trade with Britain for tin via the whose location is unknown but may have been off the northwest coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Professor Timothy Champion, discussing Diodorus Siculus's comments on the tin trade, states that 'Diodorus never actually says that the Phoenicians sailed to Cornwall. In fact, he says quite the opposite: the production of was in the hands of the natives of Cornwall, and its transport to the Mediterranean was organised by local merchants, by sea and then over land through France, well outside Phoenician control.'

Detailed map of Phoenicia (: תַּרְשִׁישׁ‎) occurs in the Hebrew Bible with several uncertain meanings, and one of the most recurring is that Tarshish is a place, probably a city or country, that is far from the Land of Palestine by sea where trade occurs with Palestine and Phoenicia. Download Dragon Ball Absalon Episodes. It was a place where Phoenicians reportedly obtained different metals, particularly silver, during the reign of Solomon.

The, the Vulgate and the Targum of Jonathan render Tarshish as Carthage, but other biblical commentators read it as perhaps in ancient Hispania (Iberian Peninsula). Albright (1941) and Frank M. Cross (1972) suggested Tarshish might be or was Sardinia because of the discovery of the Nora Stone and Nora Fragment, the former of which mentions Tarshish in its Phoenician inscription.

Thompson (2003) identified a concentration of hacksilver hoards dating between c. 1200 and 586 BC in Palestine(Cisjordan). This silver-dominant Cisjordan Corpus is unparalleled in the contemporary Mediterranean, and within it occurs a unique concentration in Phoenicia of silver hoards dated between 1200 and 800 BC. Hacksilber objects in these Phoenician hoards have lead isotope ratios that match ores in Sardinia and Spain.

This metallic evidence agrees with the biblical memory of a western Mediterranean Tarshish that supplied Solomon with silver via Phoenicia. Assyrian records indicate Tarshish was an island, and the poetic construction of points to its identity as a large island in the west — the island of Sardinia. The Phoenicians established commercial outposts throughout the Mediterranean, the most strategically important being in North Africa, southeast of Sardinia on the peninsula of present day Tunisia. Ancient Gaelic mythologies attribute a Phoenician/Scythian influx to Ireland by a leader called.

Others also sailed south along the coast of Africa. A Carthaginian expedition led by explored and colonized the Atlantic coast of Africa as far as the; and according to Herodotus, a Phoenician expedition sent down the by pharaoh of Egypt ( c. 600 BC) even Africa and returned through the after three years. Using gold obtained by expansion of the African coastal trade following the Hanno expedition, Carthage minted gold staters in 350 BC bearing a pattern, in the reverse exergue of the coins, which has controversially argued could be interpreted as a map. According to McMenamin, the Mediterranean is represented as a rectangle in the centre, a triangle to the right represents India in the east, and an irregular shape on the left represents America to the west.

In the, the Phoenicians traded with the. Through the Somali city-states of,,,, and, trade flourished.

Phoenician ships [ ] The Greeks had two names for Phoenician ships: hippoi and galloi. Galloi means tubs and hippoi means horses. These names are readily explained by depictions of Phoenician ships in the palaces of Assyrian kings from the 7th and 8th centuries, as the ships in these images are tub shaped ( galloi) and have horse heads on the ends of them ( hippoi). It is possible that these hippoi come from Phoenician connections with the Greek god equated with the Semitic God '. Depictions [ ] The gates (850 BC) are found in the palace of, an Assyrian king, near Nimrud.

They are made of bronze, and they portray ships coming to honor Shalmaneser. The bas-relief (7th century BC) shows the transportation of timber (most likely cedar) from Lebanon. It is found in the palace built specifically for, another Assyrian king, at Khorsabad, now northern Iraq. Important cities and colonies [ ] From the 10th century BC, the Phoenicians' expansive culture led them to establish cities and colonies throughout the Mediterranean. Canaanite deities like and were being worshipped from Cyprus to Sardinia, Malta, Sicily, Spain, Portugal, and most notably at Carthage ( Qart Hadašt) in modern Tunisia. Modern • (modern ) • (modern ) • Igigili (modern ) • (modern ) • (modern ) • Iol (modern ) • Tipasa (modern ) • Timgad (modern ) • Kition (modern ) • Idalion (modern ) • (modern ) Modern Italy • • Karalis (modern ) • • • • • • Lilybaeaum (modern ) after the and its destruction • • • Zyz (modern ) Modern • • (modern ) • • (modern ) The islands of • (modern ) • Għajn Qajjet • • • Qallilija • in Modern • Cerne Modern Portugal • Baal Saphon or Baal Shamen, later romanized as (modern, ) • was probably a Phoenician trading post, rather than a settlement. Modern Spain • (modern ) and its dependencies in the 3rd century BC.

Main articles:,, and The Phoenician alphabet was one of the first (consonantal) alphabets with a strict and consistent form. It is assumed that it adopted its simplified linear characters from an as-yet unattested early pictorial developed some centuries earlier in the southern Levant. It is likely that the precursor to the Phoenician alphabet was of Egyptian origin, since from the southern Levant resemble Egyptian hieroglyphs or an early alphabetic writing system found at in central Egypt.

In addition to being preceded by proto-Canaanite, the Phoenician alphabet was also preceded by an alphabetic script of Mesopotamian origin called. The development of the Phoenician alphabet from the Proto-Canaanite coincided with the rise of the Iron Age in the 11th century BC. This alphabet has been termed an — that is, a script that contains no — from the first four letters aleph, beth, gimel, and daleth. Sarcophagus of in the The oldest known representation of the Phoenician alphabet is inscribed on the sarcophagus of King of Byblos, dating to the 11th century BC at the latest. Phoenician inscriptions are found in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus and other locations, as late as the early centuries of the Christian Era.

The Phoenicians are credited with spreading the throughout the Mediterranean world. Phoenician traders disseminated this writing system along Aegean trade routes, to Crete and Greece. The Greeks adopted the majority of these letters but changed some of them to vowels which were significant in their language, giving rise to the first true alphabet. The is classified in the subgroup of Northwest.

Its later descendant in is termed. In Phoenician colonies around the western Mediterranean, beginning in the 9th century BC, Phoenician evolved into Punic. Punic Phoenician was still spoken in the 5th century AD:, for example, grew up in and was familiar with the language.

Art [ ] Phoenician art lacks unique characteristics that might distinguish it from its contemporaries. This is due to its being highly influenced by foreign artistic cultures: primarily, Greece and. Office For Mac 2011 Keygen Download For Mac. Phoenicians who were taught on the banks of the and the gained a wide artistic experience and finally came to create their own art, which was an amalgam of foreign models and perspectives. In an article from published on January 5, 1879, Phoenician art was described by the following: He entered into other men's labors and made most of his heritage.

The of Egypt became, and its new form was transplanted to on the one side and to Greece on the other. The rosettes and other patterns of the cylinders were introduced into the handiwork of Phoenicia, and so passed on to the West, while the hero of the ancient epic became first the, and then the of Hellas. Religion [ ]. See also: The religious practices and beliefs of Phoenicia were cognate generally to their neighbours in, which in turn shared characteristics common throughout the. 'Canaanite religion was more of a public institution than of an individual experience.' Its rites were primarily for city-state purposes; payment of taxes by citizens was considered in the category of religious sacrifices.

Unfortunately, much of the Phoenician sacred writings known to the ancients have been lost. Like their Hebrew cousins the Phoenicians were known for being very religious. While there remain favourable aspects regarding Canaanite religion, several of its reported practices have been widely criticized, in particular, temple prostitution, and child sacrifice. 'Tophets' built 'to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire' are condemned by God in 7:30-32, and in 23:10 (also 17:17). Notwithstanding these and other important differences, cultural religious similarities between the ancient Hebrews and the Phoenicians persisted.

Figure of with raised arm, 14th–12th century BC, found at ancient ( Ras Shamra site), a city at the far north of the Phoenician coast. Does not appear as elaborated compared with existent literature of their cousin Semites in Mesopotamia. In Canaan the supreme god was called, which means 'god' in common.

The storm god was, meaning 'master'. Other gods were called by royal titles, as in meaning 'king of the city', or for 'lord'. On the other hand, the Phoenicians, notorious for being secretive in business, might use these non-descript words as cover for the secluded name of the god, known only to a select few initiated into the inmost circle, or not even used by them, much as their neighbors the ancient Hebrews used the word (: 'Lord') to place a cover over the name of their God. The Semitic pantheon was well-populated; which god became primary evidently depended on the exigencies of a particular city-state or tribal locale. Due perhaps to the leading role of the city-state of Tyre, its reigning god was prominent throughout Phoenicia and overseas.

Also of great general interest was (: ), (: ), a fertility goddess who also enjoyed regal and matronly aspects. The prominent deity of developed from a nature for agriculture into a god of health and healing. Associated with the fertility and harvest myth widespread in the region, in this regard Eshmun was linked with Astarte; other like pairings included Ishtar and in Babylon, and and in Egypt. Religious institutions of great antiquity in, called marzeh ( MRZH, 'place of reunion'), did much to foster social bonding and 'kin' loyalty.

These institutions held banquets for their membership on festival days. Various marzeh societies developed into elite, becoming very influential in the commercial trade and governance of Tyre. As now understood, each marzeh originated in the congeniality inspired and then nurtured by a series of ritual meals, shared together as trusted 'kin', all held in honor of the deified ancestors.

Later, at the Punic city-state of Carthage, the 'citizen body was divided into groups which met at times for common feasts.' Such festival groups may also have composed the voting cohort for selecting members of the city-state's. Was based on inherited Phoenician ways of devotion.

In fact, until its fall embassies from Carthage would regularly make the journey to Tyre to worship, bringing material offerings. Transplanted to distant Carthage, these Phoenician ways persisted, but naturally acquired distinctive traits: perhaps influenced by a spiritual and cultural evolution, or synthesizing, or transforming under the stress of political and economic forces encountered by the city-state. Over time the original Phoenician exemplar developed distinctly, becoming the Punic religion at Carthage. 'The Carthaginians were notorious in antiquity for the intensity of their religious beliefs.' 'Besides their reputation as merchants, the Carthaginians were known in the ancient world for their superstition and intense religiosity. They imagined themselves living in a world inhabited by supernatural powers which were mostly malevolent. For protection they carried of various origins and had them buried with them when they died.'

At Carthage as at religion was integral to the city's life. A committee of ten elders selected by the civil authorities regulated worship and built the temples with public funds. Some priesthoods were hereditary to certain families. Punic inscriptions list a hierarchy of cohen (priest) and rab cohenim (lord priests). Each temple was under the supervision of its chief priest or priestess.

To enter the Temple of one had to abstain from sexual intercourse for three days, and from eating beans and pork. Private citizens also nurtured their own destiny, as evidenced by the common use of theophoric personal names, e.g., Hasdrubal, 'he who has Baal's help' and Hamilcar [Abdelmelqart], 'pledged to the service of Melqart'. The city's, Elissa or, was the widow of Acharbas the high priest of Tyre in service to its principal deity. Dido was also attached to the fertility goddess. With her Dido brought not only ritual implements for the worship of Astarte, but also her priests and sacred prostitutes (taken from Cyprus).

The agricultural turned healing god was worshipped at Carthage, as were other deities. Melqart became supplanted at the Punic city-state by the emergent god, which perhaps means 'lord of the altars of incense' (thought to be an epithet to cloak the god's real name). Later, another newly arisen deity arose to eventually reign supreme at Carthage, a goddess of agriculture and generation who manifested a regal majesty,.

The name (BL HMN) has attracted scholarly interest. The more accepted is to 'heat' (: HMN). Modern scholars at first associated Baal Hammon with the Egyptian god of, both the Punic and the Egyptian being gods of the sun. Both also had the ram as a symbol. The Egyptian Ammon was known to have spread by trade routes to Libyans in the vicinity of modern Tunisia, well before arrival of the Phoenicians. Yet Baal Hammon's derivation from Ammon no longer may considered the most likely, as Baal Hammon has since been traced also to Syrio-Phoenician origins, confirmed by recent finds. Baal Hammon is also presented as a god of agriculture: 'Baal Hammon's power over the land and its fertility rendered him of great appeal to the inhabitants of Tunisia, a land of fertile wheat- and fruit-bearing plains.'

'In Semitic religion El, the father of the gods, had gradually been shorn of his power by his sons and relegated to a remote part of his heavenly home; in Carthage, on the other hand, he became, once more, the head of the pantheon, under the enigmatic title of Ba'al Hammon.' Tophet funerary stelae, showing (below moon and sun) a symbol of Tanit, queen goddess of Carthage Prayers of individual Carthaginians were often addressed to Baal Hammon. Yet this deity was recipient of the very troubling practice of child sacrifice. (late 1st century BC) wrote that when had attacked Carthage (in 310) several hundred children of leading families were sacrificed to regain the god's favour.

Modernly, the French novelist 's 1862 work graphically featured this god as accepting such sacrifice. Sign of, one of several variations. The goddess during the 5th and 4th centuries became queen goddess, supreme over the city-state of Carthage, thus outshining the former chief god and her associate, Baal Hammon. Tanit was represented by 'palm trees weighed down with dates, ripe pomegranates ready to burst, lotus or lilies coming into flower, fish, doves, frogs..' She gave to mankind a flow of vital energies.

Tanit may be in origin, or at least assimilated to a local deity. Another view, supported by recent finds, holds that Tanit originated in Phoenicia, being closely linked there to the goddess.

Tanit and Astarte: each one was both a and a goddess. As Tanit was associated with Ba'al Hammon the principal god in Punic Carthage, so Astarte was with in Phoenicia. Yet Tanit was clearly distinguished from Astarte. Astarte's heavenly emblem was the planet Venus, Tanit's the crescent moon. Tanit was portrayed as chaste; at Carthage religious prostitution was apparently not practiced.

Yet temple prostitution played an important role in Astarte's cult at Phoenicia. Also, the Greeks and Romans did not compare Tanit to the Greek nor to the Roman as they would Astarte.

Rather the comparison of Tanit would be to and to, regal goddesses of marriage, or to the goddess of child-birth and the hunt. 160 – c.220), the Christian theologian and native of Carthage, wrote comparing Tanit to, the Roman mother goddess of agriculture. Tanit has also been identified with three different Canaanite goddesses (all being sisters/wives of ): the above '; the virgin war goddess '; and the mother goddess 'Elat. Her being a goddess, or symbolizing a psychic, accordingly it is difficult to assign a single nature to Tanit, or to clearly represent her to consciousness.

A problematic theory derived from proposes that as Carthage passed from being a Phoenician trading station into a wealthy and sovereign city-state, and from a monarchy anchored to Tyre into a native-born Libyphoenician oligarchy, Carthaginians began to turn away from deities associated with Phoenicia, and slowly to discover or synthesize a Punic deity, the goddess Tanit. A parallel theory posits that when Carthage acquired as a source of wealth substantial agricultural lands in Africa, a local fertility goddess, Tanit, developed or evolved to eventually become supreme. A basis for such theories may well be the religious reform movement that emerged and prevailed at Carthage during the years 397-360. The catalyst for such dramatic change in Punic religious practice was their recent defeat in war when led by their king Himilco (d. 396) against the Greeks of Sicily. Such transformation of religion would have been instigated by a faction of wealthy land owners at Carthage, including these reforms: overthrow of the monarchy; elevation of Tanit as queen goddess and decline of Baal Hammon; allowance of foreign cults of Greek origin into the city ( and ); decline in child sacrifice, with most votive victims changed to small animals, and with the sacrifice not directed for state purposes but, when infrequently done, performed to solicit the deity for private, family favors. This bold historical interpretation understands the reformer's motivation as 'the reaction of a wealthy and cultured upper class against the primitive and antiquated aspects of the Canaanite religion, and also a political move intended to break the power of a monarchy which ruled by divine authority.'

The reform's popularity was precarious at first. Later, when the city was in danger of immanent attack in 310, there would be a marked regression to child sacrifice. Yet eventually the cosmopolitan religious reform and the popular worship of Tanit together contributed to 'breaking through the wall of isolation which had surrounded Carthage.' 'When the Romans conquered Africa, Carthaginian religion was deeply entrenched even in Libyan areas, and it retained a great deal of its character under different forms.' Tanit became Caelestis, 'and Caelestis was supreme at Carthage itself until the triumph of Christianity, just as Tanit had been in pre-Roman times.' Regarding Berber (Libyan), it has also been said: '[Berber] belief in the powers of the spirits of the ancestors was not eclipsed by the introduction of new gods--Hammon, or Tanit--but existed in parallel with them. It is this same duality, or readiness to adopt new cultural forms while retaining the old on a more intimate level, which characterizes the [Roman era].'

Such Berber ambivalence, the ability to entertain multiple mysteries concurrently, apparently characterized their religion during the Punic era also. After the passing of Punic power, the great Berber king (r. 202–148), who long fought and challenged Carthage, was widely venerated by later generations of Berbers as divine. Deities [ ] Attested 1st millennium BC [ ]. Cadmus fighting the dragon. Side A of a black-figured from, c.

560 – 550 BC, Phoenician culture had a huge effect upon the cultures of the Mediterranean basin in the early Iron Age, and had been affected by them in turn. For example, in Phoenicia, the tripartite division between, and seems to have influenced the Greek division between, and. The region probably embraced the whole southern part of the Iberian Peninsula. In various Mediterranean ports during the classical period, Phoenician temples sacred to were recognized as sacred to Greek. Stories like the, and the coming of also draw upon Phoenician influence. The recovery of the Mediterranean economy after the late ( c.

1200 BC) seems to have been largely due to the work of Phoenician traders and merchant princes, who re-established long distance trade between Egypt and Mesopotamia in the 10th century BC. There are many countries and cities around the Mediterranean region that derive their names from the Phoenician Language. Below is a list with the respective meanings: •: City in Algeria, SW of Carthage. From Phoenician: Iltabrush •: City in Sardinia: From Phoenician Bis'en •: City in Spain: From Phoenician Gadir • (Idalion): City in Central Cyprus: From Phoenician Idyal •: City in Sicily: From Phoenician Eryx •: Island in the Mediterranean: From Phoenician Malat ('refuge') •: City in West Cyprus: From Phoenician Aymar •: City in Algeria: From Phoenician: Idiqra • Spain: From Phoenician: I-Shaphan, meaning 'Land of '.

Later Latinized as •: City in Tunisia: From Phoenician Qart Hadašt meaning 'New City', •: City in Spain ((: Νέα Καρχηδόνα;: Carthago Nova;: Cartagena)) A colony of Carthage, which also gave rise to. Relations with the Greeks [ ] Trade [ ].

Bowl with mythological scenes, a and the representation of a king vanquishing his enemies; Electrum, Cypro-Archaic I, 8th–7th centuries BC, from, Cyprus. Towards the end of the Bronze Age (around 1200 BC) there was trade between the Canaanites (early Phoenicians), Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece. In a shipwreck found off of the coast of Turkey (the Ulu Bulurun wreck), Canaanite storage pottery along with pottery from Cyprus and Greece was found.

The Phoenicians were famous metalworkers, and by the end of the 8th century BC, Greek city-states were sending out envoys to the Levant (the eastern Mediterranean) for metal goods. The height of Phoenician trade was circa the 7th and 8th centuries BC. There is a dispersal of imports (ceramic, stone, and faience) from the Levant that traces a Phoenician commercial channel to the Greek mainland via the central Aegean. Athens shows little evidence of this trade with few eastern imports, but other Greek coastal cities are rich with eastern imports that evidence this trade. Al Mina is a specific example of the trade that took place between the Greeks and the Phoenicians.

It has been theorized that by the 8th century BC, Euboean traders established a commercial enterprise with the Levantine coast and were using Al Mina (in Syria) as a base for this enterprise. There is still some question about the veracity of these claims concerning Al Mina. The Phoenicians even got their name from the Greeks due to their trade. Their most famous trading product was purple dye, the Greek word for which is phoenos. Alphabet [ ] The Phoenician phonetic alphabet was adopted and modified by the Greeks probably in the 8th century BC (around the time of the hippoi depictions).

This most likely did not come from a single instance but from a culmination of commercial exchange. This means that before the 8th century, there was a relationship between the Greeks and the Phoenicians. Though there is no evidence to support the suggestion, it is probable that during this period there was also a passing of religious ideas. [ ] The legendary Phoenician is credited with bringing the alphabet to Greece, but it is more plausible that it was brought by Phoenician emigrants to, whence it gradually diffused northwards.

Connections with Greek mythology [ ] In both Phoenician and Greek mythologies, is a Phoenician prince, the son of Agenor, the king of in. Herodotus credits Cadmus for bringing the Phoenician alphabet to Greece approximately sixteen hundred years before Herodotus' time, or around 2000 BC, as he attested: These Phoenicians who came with Cadmus and of whom the Gephyraeans were a part brought with them to Hellas, among many other kinds of learning, the alphabet, which had been unknown before this, I think, to the Greeks. As time went on the sound and the form of the letters were changed.

—, Due to the number of deities similar to the 'Lord of the Sea' in classical mythology, there have been many difficulties attributing one specific name to the sea deity or the 'Poseidon–Neptune' figure of Phoenician religion. This figure of 'Poseidon-Neptune' is mentioned by authors and in various inscriptions as being very important to merchants and sailors, but a singular name has yet to be found. There are, however, names for sea gods from individual city-states. Yamm is the god of the sea of, an ancient city-state north to Phoenicia. Yamm and Baal, the storm god of Ugaritic myth and often associated with Zeus, have an epic battle for power over the universe.

While Yamm is the god of the sea, he truly represents vast chaos. Baal, on the other hand, is a representative for order. In Ugaritic myth, Baal overcomes Yamm's power.

In some versions of this myth, Baal kills Yamm with a mace fashioned for him, and in others, the goddess Athtart saves Yamm and says that since defeated, he should stay in his own province. Yamm is the brother of the god of death, Mot.

Some scholars have identified Yamm with Poseidon, although he has also been identified with. Plato [ ] In his, Greek philosopher Plato contends that the love of money is a tendency of the soul found amongst Phoenicians and Egyptians, which distinguishes them from the Greeks who tend towards the love of knowledge. In his Laws, he asserts that this love of money has led the Phoenicians and Egyptians to develop skills in cunning and trickery () rather than wisdom ( ). In his Histories, Herodotus gives the Persian and Greek accounts of a series of kidnappings that led to the Trojan War.

While docked at a trading port in Argos, the Phoenicians kidnapped a group of Greek women including King Idacus's daughter, Io. The Greeks then retaliated by kidnapping Europa, a Phoenician, and later Medea.

The Greeks refused to compensate the Phoenicians for the additional abduction, a fact which Paris used a generation later to justify the abduction of Helen from Argos. The Greeks then retaliated by waging war against Troy. After Troy's fall the Persians considered the Greeks to be their enemy. Ancient sources [ ] In the Bible [ ] Hiram (also spelled Huran), the king of Tyre, is associated with the building of.

Says: 'Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the place of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.' 2:14 says: 'The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father [was] a man of Tyre, skillful to work in gold, silver, brass, iron, stone, timber, royal purple (from the Murex), blue, and in crimson, and fine linens; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him.' This is the architect of the Temple, of lore. Later, reforming prophets railed against the practice of drawing royal wives from among foreigners: execrated, the princess from in who became a consort of King and introduced the worship of her god Baal. Long after Phoenician culture flourished, or Phoenicia existed as a political entity, Hellenized natives of the region where Canaanites still lived were referred to as 'Syro-Phoenicians', as in the 7:26: 'The woman was a Greek, a Syro-phoenician by birth'. The word itself derives from Greek biblion, which means 'book' and either derives from, or is the (perhaps ultimately Egyptian) origin of, the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal.

Legacy [ ] The legacy of the Phoenicians are many and varied and include: • The spread of the throughout the Mediterranean extended literacy beyond a narrow caste of. • They re-opened the trade routes in the Eastern Mediterranean that connected the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations after the long hiatus of the recovered, beginning the ' trend later seen in. • They invented a more and flatter than any people prior to the, and in this were an inspiration to Greek. [ ] • They pioneered the development of multi-tiered oared shipping throughout the Mediterranean region, being the first people exploring beyond the.

• They were the first Eastern Mediterranean people to colonise the Western Mediterranean in any significant way (The may have preceded them in ), opening up and trade in this region. • Greeks,, and Romans freely admitted what they owed to the Phoenicians, and Phoenician influence can be traced in the and worlds from the 8th century BC onwards. • It is possible that, the founder of, was of Phoenician heritage. Writes that Crates once chastised Zeno, crying out, 'Why run away, my little Phoenician?' See also [ ].