1. Chapter 3 – Section 4 The Phoenicians

2. The Phoenician People
Phoenician civilization began along a thin strip of land along the Mediterranean coast.
Fearless sailors who for hundreds of years dominated sea trade
Phoenicians society was developed by the earlier Canaanites – lived in now Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria
Egypt had a strong influence on Canaan and even ruled them in B.C.
In 1150 B.C., Phoenician society emerged after Egyptian rule
Phoenicians city-states were ruled by priest-king. They shared power with leading merchant families and a citizen assembly.

3. Farming and Manufacturing
There was very little flat land to farm
They manufactured cloth with a rare purple dye from tiny sea snails, made pottery and glass and metal objects
Used trees to make wood furniture and other items

4. Phoenicians Traders They had very few natural resources
They imported mostly raw materials from other cultures
Raw materials were gold, silver, tin, copper, iron, ivory, and precious stones
Crafterworkers used the raw materials to make bronze and silver bowls, iron tools and weapons, and gold jewelry
They exported these items as well as pine, cedar logs, wine, olive, oil, salt, fish and other goods

5. Phoenician Trade Routes

6. Phoenicians and the Sea
Many people depended on the Phoenicians for their trade
Phoenicians sailed their ships by a sail or by rowers using oars
They were experts at navigation, the art of steering a ship from place to place
First to use the North Star to help calculate location

7. Exploring Unknown Waters
Phoenicians traveled many routes
South and west pasted Egypt
North and west past the Balkan and Italian peninsula
Islands of Sardinia and Sicily
End of the Mediterranean Iberia (today Spain and Portugal
Went north in the Atlantic Ocean to Britain
Historians believe that Phoenicians were driven to explore in order to find silver and gold for greater wealth

8. Colonies and City-States
As Phoenicians traveled they found shelter at many ports, which served as trading stations
Later, areas with fertile land or other resources, Phoenician settlers began to live there.
These areas grew into colonies, an area ruled by a distant country
When Phoenicia came under attack in 800 B.C., by Assyrians, many Phoenicians went to these colonies
A few Phoenician colonies developed into wealthy city states. One was Carthage on North African coast.

9. Legacy of the Phoenicians
As Phoenicia did not survive, Greece and Rome absorb key elements of their culture. This process is known as cultural diffusion
Their legacy was the spread of their culture and a new way of writing
Phoenician standard for weight and measures was passed to the Greeks
The Greeks also adopted their alphabet, a small set of letters or symbols, each of which stands for a single sound
The Phoenician alphabet contained 22 symbols representing a consonant sound. Made writing easier

10. The Alphabet 750 B.C., the Greeks were using it
500 B.C., the Greeks added letter to represent vowels
Gave letters names
Alphabet comes from first 2 letters in the Greek alphabet – alpha and beta
100 B.C. Romans adopted it – Change some, but looks like todays alphabet