The Phoenicians made purple dye from murex shells and they were famous for their cloth industry. (Their name Phoenician is derived from the Greek word for purple-red). The Phoenicians also traded with the Greeks. In return, they imported Egyptian papyrus (a type of paper made from the papyrus plant which grows in the Nile). The Phoenicians exported cedarwood to Egypt. They may have also sailed to southwest England in search of tin. They also sailed past the Straits of Gibraltar and around western Africa. The Phoenicians were merchants who sailed around the Mediterranean. Because their ships were vulnerable to storms the Phoenicians normally sailed between March and October. Phoenician sailors usually sailed within sight of the coast.
Instead, they were steered by large oars. A typical Phoenician merchant ship was 30 meters long and 7 meters wide and had a crew of about 20. Merchant ships were broader to carry cargo. A man played a flute to help the oarsmen row in time. The Phoenicians are believed to have invented the bireme, a ship with two rows of oars and the trireme with three rows. However, in battle, the ship would rely on its oars. They built warships with masts and sails. They made tools and weapons from bronze and they carved ivory plaques that were used to decorate furniture. This alphabet was passed onto the Greeks and is the basis of the alphabet we use today. The Phoenicians are also famous for their alphabet, which they invented about 1200 BC. Carthage grew into a great empire that rivaled Rome. They also founded colonies in North Africa. Phoenician cities were usually built on islands off the coast or on promontories to make them easier to defend.Īfter 1000 BC the Phoenicians founded colonies on Cyprus, Sicily, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands, and southern Spain.
The greatest were Tyre, Byblos, and Sidon. Instead, they were divided into a number of city-states.
However, the Phoenicians were not a single state.
With the mountains as a natural barrier, they looked to the sea to expand. The Phoenicians lived on a strip of fertile land between the sea and the Lebanon mountains. They were a great trading people and they were at their peak between about 1200 BC and 800 BC. The Phoenicians were people who lived in what is now Lebanon.
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