Trading Peoples Chapter 3:i

The Aramaeans settled in central Syria circa 1200 B.C.

Damascus The Aramaeans established their capital at Damascus, one of the oldest, continually inhabited cities in the world.

The Aramaeans quickly gained control of the rich overland trade between Egypt and Mesopotamia. [Image source:

As a result, the Aramaean language quickly became the dominant language for trade and communication. [Image source:

The Aramaic alphabet is very similar to several other alphabets. [Image source:

Hebrew and Arabic are closely related to the Aramaic language. [Image source:

Much of the Old Testament of the Bible was written in Aramaic.

Jesus preached in Aramaic.

Between ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia lay the land of Canaan. Today we know this area as modern-day Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. CANAAN

The Phoenicians, a Semitic people from the Arabian Peninsula, settled in northern Canaan circa 3000 B.C. Phoenicians

Southern Canaan was settled by the Philistines, who migrated from the eastern Mediterranean.

The Romans called southern Canaan Palestine, meaning “land of the Philistines.”

Considered one of the Sea Peoples, the Philistines were engaged in maritime trade in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. [Image source: Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 1996, p.33]

The shortage of arable soil for farming forced the Phoenicians to turn to the sea to earn a living.

[Image source: The Phoenicians harvested timber from the cedar forests of Lebanon to build strong, fast ships.

By 1200 B.C., the Phoenicians established powerful trading cities along the coast of the Levant.

The city-state of Tyre often provided the leadership for a confederation, or loose union, of independent Phoenician city- states.

-Ezekiel 27:32b-33 “Who was ever... like Tyre in the midst of the sea? When your wares came from the seas, you satisfied many peoples; with your great abundance and merchandise you enriched the kings of the earth.”

The Phoenicians became expert navigators, plotting their voyages by means of the sun and the stars.

The Phoenicians ventured as far as the coast of western Africa and the British Isles, establishing colonies along the way.

Phoenician traders exchanged cedar logs, purple-dyed textiles, and jewelry for precious metals.

Phoenician traders kept records of complex business transactions with an improved alphabet - a series of written symbols that represent sounds. [Image source:

The Phoenician alphabet consisted of 22 characters, each one representing a consonant. [Image source:

Th Phncn lphbt ws s s t mstr, mrchnts n lngr ndd th srvcs f spclly trnd scrbs t kp rcrds. The Phoenician alphabet was so easy to master, merchants no longer needed the services of specially trained scribes to keep records.

The Phoenician alphabet became the foundation for several other alphabets, among them Greek. [Image source:

The Phoenicians established a network of trading posts and colonies throughout the Mediterranean Basin. [Source: World History: Patterns of Civilization (Prentice-Hall]

colony a settlement of people outside their homeland, linked with the parent country by trade and (sometimes) direct government control

Geologist Mark McMenamin believes that Phoenicians from Carthage may have sailed as far as the New World. [Image source:

As evidence, he cites what he believes to be a map at the bottom of the obverse of a fourth century coin minted in Carthage. [Image source: America?

Because they spread their culture where ever they ventured, the Phoenicians are sometimes referred to as the “Carriers of Civilization.”

This whole process of influencing others by trade or contact is called Cultural Diffusion.

The kingdom of Lydia was well situated to prosper from the trade that passed between the Black and Mediterranean seas. AEGEAN SEA

By the late-600s B.C., Lydia had developed into a wealthy and independent kingdom. [Image source:

King Croesus of the kingdom of Lydia. [Image source: mh/mermnads/croesus.htm]

The Lydians are believed to have been the first people to set prices and develop a system using coins as a medium of exchange. [Image source:

Soon, the concept of money spread beyond Lydia as other realms began to stamp their own coins and use them as a medium of exchange.