Hello everyone. This video is about the Phoenicians and their culture. Let’s dive in!
Who were the Phoenicians?
They were a Semite population living in Canaan which is current Lebanon and Israel in ancient times at their height in between 1100 to 200 BC.
Why were Phoenicians important ? What is their legacy?
They have created a thalassocracy which means a maritime empire and were the first geographical maritime explorers. They have explored and created colonies in the Mediterranean sea and they have explored the west African coast, beyond Gibraltar. There are theories suggesting the Phoenicians have reached America in their search for new territories.
They have invented the imperial or royal purple, the Tyrin.
They have created the first phonetic alphabet, much superior than hieroglyphs or cuneiform writing. The Phoenician alphabet was later taken on by Greeks and Romans.
Tyrin purple
What is the Tyrin purple?
Phoenicians were renowned for producing a special dye, the purple dye which brought their name. Phoenix in Greek means purple hence the name Phoenicians. They have discovered that through decomposing Murex snails found on Mediterranean beaches one can obtain a purple dye. For thousands of years the only way to obtain the Tyrin purple was through decomposing of marine snails called Murex. These snails grow only in Mediterranean sea and Phoenicians were the only who were manufacturing this special dye.
Phoenicians started to produce the Tyrin or royal purple dye around 1500 BC.
In Tyrin , main Phoenician city, there were many holes with putrefied Murex. The need for this commodity was so high at some point that Phoenician cities were filled with rotten Murex even in the streets and the smell was horrible. 12000 rotten Murex were necessary to obtain the purple dye to cover for a handkerchief.
This purple dye was so expensive, only the rich were able to afford it and therefore it is called royal or imperial purple. The Tyrin purple was worth its weight in gold, and it was the main commodity of Phoenicians, and it was produced exclusively by Phoenicians.
The royal purple was worn by Charlemagne or by Constantine the Great and it was the color clothes for emperors or royals.
The Phoenicians were one of the nations living in Canaan. They did not have a kingdom but rather they had independent cities on Mediterranean coast such as Tyr, Sidon, Byblos or Carthage. They were harbors and they had intense trade with neighboring nations.
They are mentioned in the Bible especially with the story of Jezebel who was a false prophet and ended up punished by fenestration.
The Phoenicians invented the Silent Trade. They were trading with populations speaking other languages than their own as follows : they would drop products on a beach then they would live. Those they were trading with would take the merchandise and they would drop other products at their turn. If Phoenicians felt the merchandise was not enough, they would live it on the beach waiting for the traders to add more.
Phoenicians would trade cedar wood, vine, olive oil and their most important commodity the purple dye , called the imperial or royal purple or the Tyrin purple.
Phoenicians were very good navigators, and their ships were simple with rowing and one sail. They needed three years to navigate from Canaan to Iberic Peninsula and back to their homes. They were sailing close to the shore and during daytime only.
They have created a Thalassocracy which means they were dominating the sea and trade through their ships and sailing superiority and they created colonies throughout the Mediterranean sea such as : Malaga, Cadiz, Ibiza, Palermo, Cagliari, Malta Island and the last but not least: Carthage . (from the Phoenician Kart-Hadasht, New City or Land, founded by Queen Elissar of Tyre or Dido). Carthage has created its own colonies such as New Carthage and others.
First alphabet
The most important legacy that Phoenicians left us is the invention of the first phonetic alphabet. While Egyptians were using hieroglyphs and Sumerians were using cuneiform writing the Phoenicians created a writing using a letter for each sound in spoken language. The Phoenician sailors ported this alphabet to the Greeks and Romans which modified this alphabet slightly, but we are still using this alphabet indirectly.
Seas explorers and top navigators
Hannon the Phoenician was one of the first geographical explorers. The Carthage senate sent him to explore and create new colonies. Phoenicians created a thalassocracy , a sea empire and they were looking for expansion. Hannon lived in the 5th century BC and in 505 BC he explored the west African coast. Hannon left Carthage with 60 ships each with 50 rowing guys and carrying 30.000 people with the intent to create a new colony. After passing the Gibraltar straight he created a first colony Thymaterion and he went further south, following the shore.
He explored the Canary islands and the west coast of Africa up to the Tropic of Cancer, he established friendship with locals and he entered with his ships on the Senegal river. Running out of supplies, he returned to Carthage following the shore on his way back.
The Punic Wars
Punic Wars were a series of wars ( between 264 and 146 BC) that were fought between the Roman Republic and Ancient Carthage. Carthage was a growing economical and political power in the Mediterranean sea and so was the Roman Republic. The Romans wanted to eliminate the influence of Carthage and be the only ones at the table and they started the Punic wars. The term Punic comes from Phoenician.
The First Punic War broke out on the island of Sicily in 264 BC. The fighting, which consisted predominantly of naval warfare, largely took place on the waters of the Mediterranean surrounding Sicily. The conflict began because Rome’s imperial ambitions had been interfering with Carthage’s ownership claims of the island of Sicily. Carthage was the dominant power of the western Mediterranean at the time, and had an extensive maritime empire; meanwhile, Rome was a rapidly expanding state that had a powerful army but a weak navy. The conflict lasted for 23 years and caused substantial materiel and human losses on both sides; the Carthaginians were ultimately defeated by the Romans. By the terms of the peace treaty, Carthage paid large war reparations to Rome and Sicily fell to Roman control—thus becoming a Roman province.
The Second Punic War began in 218 BC and witnessed Hannibal’s crossing of the Alps and invasion of mainland Italy. There was also extensive fighting in Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal); on Sicily; on Sardinia; and in North Africa. The successful Roman invasion of the Carthaginian homeland in Africa in 204 BC led to Hannibal’s recall. He was defeated in the Battle of Zama in 202 BC and Carthage sued for peace. A treaty was agreed in 201 BC which stripped Carthage of its overseas territories, and some of their African ones; imposed a large indemnity, to be paid over 50 years; severely restricted the size of its armed forces; and prohibited Carthage from waging war without Rome’s express permission. Carthage ceased to be a military threat.
Hannibal Barca
Hannibal is regarded as one of the greatest lead generals in history, the way he approached his battles is studied in military schools. He passed the Alps and invaded Italy, taking Romans by surprise. He occupied South Italy for 15 years. This is considered a military achievement. Hannibal is often regarded as one of the greatest military tacticians in history and one of the greatest generals of Mediterranean antiquity, together with Philip of Macedon, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Scipio Africanus and Pyrrhus. Plutarch states that Scipio supposedly asked Hannibal “who the greatest general was”, to which Hannibal replied “either Alexander or Pyrrhus, then himself”.
Military historians called Hannibal the “father of strategy”, because Roman armies adopted elements of his military tactics into their own strategic arsenal. His adversary in the Second Punic war was Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus who was a Roman general and later consul who is often regarded as one of the best military commanders and strategists of all time. His greatest military achievement was the defeat of Hannibal at the Battle of Zama (near modern Zama, Tunisia) in 202 BC. The victory was one of the feats that earned him the nickname he is best known for: Africanus.
Rome declared war on Carthage again in 149 BC in the Third Punic War. This conflict was fought entirely on Carthage’s territories in what is now Tunisia and largely centered around the Siege of Carthage. In 146 BC the Romans stormed the city of Carthage, sacked it, slaughtered most of its population and completely demolished it. The previously Carthaginian territories were taken over as the Roman province of Africa. The ruins of Carthage lie 16 kilometers (10 mi) east of modern Tunis on the North African coast.
Did Phoenicians discover America?
There is a theory of Phoenician discovery of the Americas suggests that the earliest Old World contact with the Americas was not with Columbus or Norse settlers, but with the Phoenicians (or, alternatively, other Semitic peoples) in the first millennium BC.
The Sargasso sea was described by ancient historians and its discovery credit is given to Phoenicians. Some historians of ancient world described a portion of the Atlantic as being covered with seaweed, citing a now-lost account by the 5th-century BC Carthaginian Himilco the Navigator. In the 19th century some artefacts found in US were considered to have Phoenician alphabet writings and belief in an Israelite visit to the Americas became a part of Mormonism. However some of these artefacts were later on considered to be fake and this issue is still in debate. Technically speaking, the Phoenicians ships were able to sail near to the shore but the adventure of crossing the Atlantic was maybe too advanced for that time but who knows?