Phoenicia

Lebanon, 2500–64 BCE. Draft, not yet reviewed

The Phoenicians were an ancient Semitic-speaking people who inhabited city-states in Canaan along the Levantine coast of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily in present-day Lebanon. Phoenician society was organized into independent city-states, notably Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre. Renowned for seafaring and trade, the Phoenicians established one of antiquity's most extensive maritime networks, active for over a millennium. The Phoenician cities flourished most in the 9th century BC, but subsequently declined under the expansion of empires such as the Neo-Assyrian and Achaemenid.

Seat of power: Sidon

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• Each retained political autonomy, and there is no evidence of a shared national identity.
• While kingship was common, powerful merchant families likely exercised influence through oligarchies.
• Through trade and colonization, the Phoenicians extended their influence across the Mediterranean, from Cyprus to the Maghreb and Iberian Peninsula, leaving behind thousands of inscriptions.
• They founded colonies and trading posts throughout the Mediterranean, and among these, Carthage in the Mediterranean Maghreb developed into a major power by the 7th century BC.

Picture

Byblos, also known as Jbail, is an ancient city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon.

Image: Orient at de.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.0 de, file

Sources

• Phoenicia (Wikipedia)
• Phoenicia (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.