The crisis that swept the Eastern Mediterranean in the XIII-XII centuries. BC, was reflected in Phoenicia. The invasions of the Jewish and Aramaic tribes reduced the territory of the Canaanites, who were increasingly concentrated in Phoenicia itself. During one of the raids of the Philistines, Sidon was destroyed, the inhabitants of which moved to Tire. But still, Phenicia was less than many other countries in this region affected by the events. They even helped her. The death of some and the decline of other great powers led to the temporary flourishing of small states, including the Phoenician city-states, freed from Egyptian domination.

Rise of the city-state of Tyre

Internal and external position of the state

Ugarit perished north of Phoenicia. Tyre, which was probably already heavily involved in the western connections of the East Mediterranean coast before, now became the main center of western trade and western travel. In addition, it was in this city that, after the temporary destruction of Sidon, a particularly large population gathered, and this demographic tension had to be “removed” by the eviction of some of the “extra” people across the sea. This caused the beginning of the active colonization of Tyre. As a result of the first stage of colonization, Tyrian colonies arose in various places in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. The gold and silver that flowed into Tire from the remote regions of the Western Mediterranean and the north of the Aegean enriched this city. Tire became the "London of antiquity". It retained its position as a major trading center even after the Phoenicians were forced out of the Aegean Sea. This did not prevent active Phoenician trade with Greece. Trade with the West was largely provided by the preserved network of trading posts and colonies. These colonies became part of the Tyrian state, paying tribute to the Tyrian king.

In the X century. BC. King Hiram of Tire made an alliance with the kings of the Israel-Jewish kingdom David and his son Solomon. The king of Tire supplied timber to Jerusalem for the construction of palaces and a temple, and artisans who built the Jerusalem temple together with the subjects of Solomon. For this, he received bread, wine and oil from Palestine, which was extremely important in the conditions of the constant need of Phenicia for food products. Equally important was the creation of a trading "community" between the monarchs. Solomon's ship was included in the fleet of Hiram, trading with distant Tarshish in southern Spain, and from there gold, silver, exotic animals and birds valued at eastern courts were delivered to Phenicia and Palestine. In return, the Tyrian king gained access to the port of Ezion-Geber on the Red Sea and thus the opportunity to sail to the gold-rich Ophir, the exact location of which is unknown, but which was most likely located somewhere in the area where the Red Sea exited into the Indian Ocean.

Gold teapot handle with glass insert. 600-500 AD BC.

After the collapse of the unified Hebrew state, Tire continued to contact the northern kingdom - Israel, and in the south, Tire merchants still used the caravan road from Gaza to the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, judging by the finds along the road of inscriptions of these merchants. Extensive trade with Tarshish and Ophir, domination over a far-flung colonial power gave the Tyrian kings a lot of money and contributed to the transformation of Tyre into the strongest city in southern Phoenicia. As a result, the dominance of this city over other city-states of the zone, including Sidon restored after the Philistine raid, arises to one degree or another.

The traditional point of view is that in the ninth or even in the tenth century. BC. a united Tyro-Sidon kingdom arose. His king acted primarily as the “king of the Sidonians” (as he is called not only in one of the biblical books and in the annals of the Assyrian kings, but also in the dedicatory inscription of the royal governor), but his capital was Tire. More recently, a different opinion was expressed: in the southern part of Phenicia, a federation of cities headed by Tyre arose.

Internal contradictions and the founding of Carthage

Phoenician blessing goddess. 8th century BC.

The wealth and outward splendor of Tyr hid sharp internal contradictions. A fierce social and political struggle unfolded there. Hiram's grandson, Abdastart, was killed by the sons of his nurse, and the eldest of them, enthroned, reigned 12 years. After that, he, in turn, was eliminated, and the former dynasty, represented by three more monarchs, apparently returned to the throne. But the last of them, Felet, was also overthrown and killed, and the priest of Astarte, Ithobaal, who became the founder of a new dynasty, seized power. Itobaal's speech reflects the struggle between the royal power and, apparently, a rather powerful priesthood. Another similar clash, which took place under the great-grandson of Ithobaal, Pygmalion, this time led to the victory of the king and the execution of the priest Melqart Acherb. The widow of Acherba and sister of the king, Elissa, with a group of nobles who supported her and her late husband, fled from Tyre and became the founder of Carthage in Africa.

The foundation of Carthage fits into the already begun second stage of the Phoenician colonization. The colonization itself (at this stage) was caused both by general economic reasons and by specific socio-political ones that developed precisely in Tyre. First of all, this is the internal struggle that we are talking about now. A fairly significant group of nobility opposed the king. These people involved in their struggle the "plebs", i.e. the lower strata of the community. Perhaps they included those Tyrian "cultivators" who, most likely under Ithobaal, rose up in arms. Their demand was for new lands in the colonies. Defeated in this struggle, the aristocrats, together with part of the “plebs” who supported them, went overseas and created new settlements there. This was apparently beneficial to the kings of Tyre, who thus got rid of internal enemies and potential rivals. No wonder it was Itobaal, who ruled in the first half of the 9th century. BC, set about founding new cities, creating Botris in Phoenicia itself and Ausa in Africa, hoping, perhaps, to send his enemies there.

Phoenician or Carthaginian head-shaped glass pendant. 4th-3rd centuries BC.

Being a consequence of the acute political situation in Tire itself, colonization at the same time generally met the interests of the ruling circles of this city, and not only it. It is necessary to take into account the role of Tire in the economy of the then Middle East. From the time of the first stage of colonization, Tire was the main point of communication between Western Asia and the vast and rich regions of the Western Mediterranean. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, economic development had reached such a level that it was necessary to unite various economic regions within the framework of single empires. Colonization was a means of connecting to the Middle Eastern economy the resources of those countries that were beyond the immediate reach of imperial overlords. But this, enriching the Phoenician cities, especially Tire, created a great danger for them. Unable to seize directly Tarshish or North-West Africa, Sardinia or Sicily, the imperial lords sought to establish their control over that country in the East, where these Western resources mainly came, i.e. over Phoenicia. The decline did not allow this country to restore the political role that it played in the era of the New Kingdom.

At this time, it remained the main point of Phoenician-Egyptian contacts, but this time independent of the pharaohs. In the first half of the XI century. BC. the king of this city, Cheker-Baal, whose predecessors kowtowed before the pharaoh, proudly asserted the independence of not only his own, but also that of his father and grandfather. The first pharaohs of the XXII dynasty, perhaps, tried to restore political control over Byblos, but unsuccessfully: if such control existed (this is disputed in science), then for a very short time, hardly longer than the reign of the first two pharaohs of this dynasty - Sheshenq I and Osorkon . A much greater danger was approaching Phoenicia from the east. It was Assyria.

Relations of Phenicia with Near Eastern empires

Fight between Phoenicia and Assyria

The golden head of the Egyptian deity Bes who was popular with the Phoenicians. OK. 6th-5th centuries BC.

Even at the turn of the XII-XI centuries. BC. Tiglath-Pileser I received tribute from Byblos, Sidon and Arvad and himself visited Arvad and Tsumur (Simir), which was not so long ago the center of Egyptian power in this region. The Phoenician cities were forced to pay tribute to Ashur-natsir-apal II and his successors Shalmaneser III and Adad-nerari III. The Phoenicians tried more than once to fight the Assyrian kings. Some cities, in particular Arvad, participated in the anti-Assyrian coalition led by the Damascus king in the middle of the 9th century. BC. Perhaps the danger from Assyria was caused by the union of the Tyrian king Itobaal and the Israeli king Ahab, sealed by the marriage of Ahab with the Tyrian princess Jezebel. But all efforts were in vain, and the son of Ithobaal, Baleazar, was forced to pay tribute to Shalmaneser.

The situation became even more aggravated when the Assyrians moved from spectacular, but still sporadic campaigns to the creation of an empire. The campaigns of Tiglath-pileser III (744-727 BC) led to the subjugation of Phoenicia. Its northern part, except for the city of Arvad, located on an island, was attached directly to Assyria itself, and the rest of the cities became its tributaries. The episodic tribute turned into a permanent tax paid by the Phoenicians to the Assyrian king. Local dynasties in the cities were preserved, but next to the kings of Tire and other cities, special representatives of the Assyrian king were placed, without whose knowledge the local monarchs could not only take any initiative, but even read correspondence. The Tyro-Sidonian state (or the southern Phoenician federation headed by Tyr) collapsed. In any case, in the VII century. BC. in the face of Assyrian power, these cities acted separately.

Phoenician ivory board with a carved sphinx. OK. 8th century BC.

The Phoenicians tried more than once to free themselves from the heavy Assyrian yoke, but these attempts ended very badly. The uprising of Sidon ended with a new destruction of the city and the deprivation of even an illusory independence. The disloyalty of Tyr cost him the loss of all possessions on the mainland (Tyr itself, like Arvad, was on the island). Part of the Phoenician population was taken away from their homeland: thus, the population of the southern city of Akhzib, which at one time was subordinate to Tyr, completely changed. After the destruction of Sidon, its inhabitants were also taken away from Phoenicia. True, a little later Sidon was restored and inhabited by the Phoenicians. The Assyrians did not completely destroy Phoenicia, as this was contrary to their interests.

Phenicia and Babylonia

The subjugation of Assyria marked the beginning of a new era in Phoenician history, when the cities of Phoenicia, except for a short time, never regained full independence. The fall of Assyria set them free. But the legacy of this first Middle Eastern empire immediately became the subject of a scramble for new predators. Sais Egypt and the Neo-Babylonian kingdom put forward claims to it. The Phoenician cities, like other small states of this region, did not have the strength to play an independent role in the unfolding drama, they could only bet on one or another card. Tire staked on Egypt, and this led to a thirteen-year siege of the city by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylonians were unable to take Tire, but the city was nevertheless forced to recognize the authority of the Babylonian king. At the same time, part of the Tyrian population, as well as the inhabitants of Byblos, was resettled in Mesopotamia. For some time, the kings of Tire, Sidon, and Arvad were at the court of Nebuchadnezzar. Perhaps it was then that a peculiar situation developed in Tyre, when the throne turned out to be empty and power passed to the Sufetes for 7-8 years, after which the previous dynasty was restored to the throne.

Phoenicia as part of the Achaemenid Empire

Phoenician lion head from Sulcis (Sardinia). Alabaster. OK. 4th-3rd centuries BC. Stored in the Baraccio Museum, Rome, Italy.

After the capture of Babylon by the Persians, the Phoenician cities immediately recognized the dominance of Cyrus. Later, they became part of the fifth satrapy (“District”), which covered all Asian territories south of Asia Minor and west of the Euphrates. According to Herodotus, all this satrapy paid the Persians a tribute of 350 talents of silver. This was a relatively small amount, considering that 500 talents came from Cilicia alone to the Achaemenids, and 1760 in total from Asia Minor. In addition, it is not known what proportion of these 350 talents fell on Phoenicia. The autonomy of the Phoenician cities was preserved, their own kings continued to rule there, and the Persians did not interfere in their internal affairs. It was beneficial for the Achaemenids to attract the Phoenicians to themselves, since their ships made up an essential part of the Persian fleet: it was not without reason that when the Phoenicians did not obey the order to move against Carthage, Cambyses had to abandon his intention to subjugate this city. On the other hand, the relatively mild Persian domination was beneficial to the Phoenicians, since the power of Persia helped them in their competitive struggle, especially with the Greeks. In the Greco-Persian wars, the Phoenicians actively supported the Persians, and Herodotus, among the few local commanders he mentioned who were subordinate to the Persians at the Battle of Salamis, singled out the Sidonian Tetramnest, the Tyrian Matten and the Arvadian Merbal. During the reign of the Achaemenids, Sidon came to the fore among the Phoenician cities. His ships were the best in the Persian navy. For some “important” deeds, Xerxes or Artaxerxes I handed over to the Sidonian king “forever” (which did not prevent the Sidonians from losing it later) the cities of Dor and Jaffa and the entire fertile Sharon Valley on the Palestinian coast. With the advent of the coin, the name of the king of Persia was minted on the reverse only on the Sidon one, which also speaks of Sidon's ties with the Achaemenids, which are somewhat different than those of the rest of the Phoenicians.

The emergence of its own coin

The appearance of the coin in the middle of the 5th century. BC. was a sign of beginning changes in the life of the Phoenicians. The Phoenician economy has long had a commodity character. The Phoenicians traded both their own goods (handicrafts, timber, wine, although they did not always have enough for themselves), and mostly foreign ones, being the main transit merchants of the Mediterranean. The scope of their trade covered the territory

• from Assyria to Spain,
• from South Arabia to Italy,
• from Egypt to Asia Minor, including Greece, Etruria, own colonies.

However, until the middle of the 5th c. BC. it was essentially an exchange of goods, and when necessary the Phoenicians used the Greek coin. From the middle of the 5th c. BC. Tire, Sidon, Byblos, Arvad have their own silver and bronze coins. The Phoenician economy is no longer only commodity, but also monetary, as if foreshadowing the development of the monetary economy in the era of Hellenism. At the same time, the Phoenicians used their own standard, different from others, including the very common Attic.

Revolt of the Phoenicians against Persian domination

Another sign of the emerging changes was the first attempt in the history of Phoenicia to somehow coordinate its policy and create a semblance of a confederation within the Achaemenid state. To this end, the Sidonians, Arvadians and Tyrians built a “triple city” (Tripolis, as the Greeks called it) in the northern part of the country, where they lived, however, in separate quarters at a short distance from each other. Here, apparently, the Phoenician kings and their advisers gathered to consider matters common to all Phoenicians. How effective these meetings were, we do not know. It is possible that at such a meeting in 349 BC. The Phoenicians decided to rebel against the Persians.

Figurine of a lying woman. Found in Arslan-Tash, Syria. IX-VIII centuries BC.

Over time, irreversible processes took place in the Achaemenid state, leading to its weakening. Under these conditions, the benefits of Persian domination became increasingly dubious. The Persian kings used Phoenicia as a springboard for military operations against Egypt and Cyprus, and these wars disrupted the free trade navigation in the Eastern Mediterranean. The military power of the Achaemenids was declining, and they could no longer be a reliable shield for the Phoenicians in the fight against competitors, and the further development of the commodity-money economy increasingly connected the Phoenician merchants with their Hellenic counterparts.

Therefore, the rule of the Achaemenids became more and more painful for the Phoenicians, and in 349 BC. they rebelled. The soul of the uprising was Sidon, which had previously been the main support of the Persians in Phoenicia. During the uprising, differences in the interests of the Sidon king and the citizens of Sidon were revealed. The latter were interested in an uncompromising struggle against the Persians, while the king at the decisive moment conspired with Artaxerxes III and betrayed the city. In 345, Persian troops entered Sidon. The townspeople offered them courageous resistance, but were broken. The city was again destroyed and burned, and Artaxerxes even sold its conflagration for a few talents. 40 thousand people died in the flames, and the king took many others into slavery. The following year, Artaxerxes submitted to Artaxerxes and the rest of the Phoenician cities. For the third time in its history, Sidon was soon restored, and some part of the inhabitants, apparently, was returned to it. After that, for some time he was placed under the "direct" control of the satrap of Cilicia Mazdeus, but then again came under the rule of his own king Abdastart. Thus, even the suppression of the uprising did not lead to a radical change in the internal situation of Phoenicia.

The internal structure of Phoenicia

Power system

The internal history of Phoenicia after the invasion of the "peoples of the sea" in its main features was a direct continuation of the previous period. As in the 2nd millennium BC, the political system of the Phoenician cities was a hereditary monarchy, and in each city the throne, it seems, belonged to representatives of one royal family, although it could pass (and more than once passed) to different branches of this family. The decision of all foreign policy issues was concentrated in the hands of the king (and, when subordinated to the kings of Assyria, Babylon, Persia, relations with them). During wars, kings led the army and navy, or sent their men to command. Within the state, they carried out administrative-judicial and military-police functions. With the advent of the coin, it was issued not by the city, but by the king. The king was, apparently, in a special way associated with the deity. But this did not mean that the figure of the king itself had a sacred character. He remained a secular figure. Next to the king stood the high priest, who could be the second person in the state, which was the priest of Melqart in Tire under the kings Methene and Pygmalion. Quite sharp contradictions could arise between these two persons. As a result, the throne could end up in the hands of a priest, as happened in Tire under Ithobaal and in Sidon under Eshmunazar. But even so, it seems that the dualism of secular and spiritual power was soon restored.

In the Phoenician cities of the 1st millennium BC, as before, the existence of a community is noted, with the will of which the king in many cases had to reckon. The community expressed its will through the meeting "at the gates" of the city and the council, which was clearly an organ of the communal aristocracy. The exact distribution of the powers of the king and the community is unknown. But the available facts suggest that the authority of the latter extended to the capital city itself, and outside of it the tsar acted completely independently.

Under the rule of the kings, in addition to the capital, there were other cities. The colonies founded by Tyre, with the exception of Carthage, were part of the Tyrian state for a long time. In Phenicia itself there were more or less vast territories subject to one or another Phoenician king. Civil communities probably also existed in the subordinate cities, but the system of relations between the community of the capital and the rest is not attested. Probably, in the Phoenician states there was a certain political dualism, in which royal power and a system of communities coexisted, which seem to be unrelated to each other. The king shared power with communal bodies directly in the cities themselves, but not outside them or in general in the state.

Socio-economic relations

Such political-administrative dualism corresponded to the duality in socio-economic terms. In Phoenicia, the existence of two sectors of socio-economic life is clearly visible.

The tsarist sector included a forest. Both the Tyrian and Byblian kings cut down cedars, cypresses, pines and sent them to Egypt or Palestine, without asking anyone and obviously based on their property rights. If the king did not have a monopoly on the forest (there is no information about private logging, but their absence is not proof), then he still provided himself with the lion's share in the production and export of this most important product of Phoenicia. The royal sector also included ships and the maritime trade conducted on them. The king also owned some land, the products of which he could put into trade. The king also had craft workshops. Thus, the tsarist sector covered all branches of the economy.

Naturally, people also entered the tsarist sector. First of all, they are slaves. For all the inaccuracy of the use of the word “slave” in the ancient East, one can be sure that some of those whom the sources call so were real slaves, for example, the lumberjacks of the Biblian king Cheker-Baal, who worked under the supervision of overseers, and the Tyrian king Hiram, whose earnings, paid Solomon, went to the king himself as their master.

Along with them, there were people in Phoenicia who nevertheless occupied a slightly different position and were more like "royal people." Such are the oarsmen, sailors, and helmsmen, some of whom were strangers who came into the city, as in Tire, where the inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad act as oarsmen. Among the "royal people" were artisans, like the tinkerer (and in fact the master of the "general profile") Hiram, whom his royal namesake sent to build the Temple in Jerusalem. Apparently, foreign soldiers who served together with their own citizens also belonged to this kind of people. In the VI century. BC. in Tyre, they were citizens of Arvad, and in the 4th century. in Sidon, the Greeks.

Only fragmentary information opens the way for the formation of a layer of "royal people". The sailors, especially the rowers, who did the hardest work at sea, were foreigners, as were the warriors. But they came out from different layers of a strange city. Ezekiel refers to the oarsmen as the "inhabitants" of Arvad, and the warriors as the "sons" of the same city. The last expression denoted precisely the citizens of the city. As for the artisans, they could be local residents, but socially inferior, like the aforementioned coppersmith Hiram, who was only half Tyrian.

For all its importance, the tsarist sector was not the only one in the economy either. So, part of the trade, both sea and land, was carried out by private merchants. There were undoubtedly artisans and landowners who were not part of the royal sector, which is proved by inscriptions on various items and on vessels containing agricultural products. There is no information about the relationship between these sectors. But indirect indications suggest that the king was not the supreme owner of all the land. If he wanted to "round off" his possessions at the expense of the peasants, he had to resort to lawsuits. The implementation of such intentions should not have been easy. And we know about the uprising of the farmers of Tyre, which most likely took place under Ithobaal.

Internal social structure of Phoenician cities

Thus, both in socio-economic and political terms, in the Phoenician cities, there is a duality of royal and communal institutions. The community itself, of course, was not a single entity. It distinguishes the aristocracy and the "plebs", as the Latin author calls it (the corresponding Phoenician terms were "powerful" and "small"). But both of them were “sons” of the city, i.e. its citizens. In addition to them, there were also "residents" of the city. They, apparently, were not part of the civil collective, but were free people, because otherwise it is not clear how the "inhabitants" of Arvad could become rowers on the ships of Tyr. Perhaps the "residents" included "royal people", although they could be the third category of the population of the state.

Phoenician glass head pendant. OK. 400-200 AD BC.

The complexity of the socio-political structure of the Phoenician cities was reflected in that acute internal struggle, which has already been partly mentioned. Kings and priests clashed, sharp conflicts torn apart the camp of the “powerful”. The latter dragged the “small ones” into their internecine strife, and sometimes they themselves rose to defend their interests. It is even known about the uprising of slaves in Tyre, which occurred during the war of the Tyrians with the Persians, i.e., probably during the uprising of 348-344. BC, in which Tire also took part. For some time, the slaves even took possession of the city, but then the power was in the hands of a certain Straton (Abdastart), who became the founder of a new dynasty. Thus, the Phoenician society, as far as we can judge by the scarce data of the sources, "fits" into the general structure of the societies of ancient Western Asia. Those changes that began to be outlined in the V-IV centuries. BC. (the appearance of a coin and an attempt to create a Phoenician confederation) did not radically change the character of Phoenicia. Deeper transformations took place in it after its conquest by Alexander.

After the defeat in 333 BC. army of Darius III Alexander the Great moved to Phoenicia. Most of the Phoenician cities submitted to him without a fight. True, the Sidonian king Abdastart II would have preferred to remain loyal to Darius, but was forced to follow the "people's will." The Tire community, in the absence of the king, who was in the Persian fleet, took the fate of the city into their own hands, especially since the entire mainland of the state was already in the hands of the conqueror. The Tyrians wished to remain neutral in the war, but Alexander demanded that he be allowed into the city. The Tyrians refused. The siege began. After many months of siege and brutal assault, the city for the first time in its history in 332 BC. was taken by the enemy army. With the capture of Tyre, Alexander established his control over all of Phoenicia. The Macedonian conquest opened in Phoenicia, as in other countries of the Middle East, a new era of history - the Hellenistic one.

Phoenician colonization

Phoenician head. Limestone. 10th century BC. Stored in the Museum of Cadiz, Spain.

A characteristic feature of ancient history was forced emigration, caused by the "scissors" between population growth and the low level of development of productive forces. One of the forms of forced emigration was colonization, i.e. foundation of new settlements in foreign lands. Phoenician colonization played a significant role in the history of the ancient Mediterranean. The history of Phoenician colonization can be divided into two phases. The main causes and conditions of colonization at its first stage have already been mentioned:

• it is the occurrence of a relative overpopulation in Tyre,
• the collapse of the Mycenaean sea power, which made it possible to sail westward more intensively,
• the use by the ruling circles of Tire of this situation to get rid, on the one hand, of the "undesirable" elements of the population, and on the other, to strengthen on the most important trade routes and in places where precious metals were mined.

The colonization of Phenicia is divided into two phases −

1. second half of the 12th - first half of the 11th century BC. - there is a gradual penetration into new lands, outposts are formed, connections with the locals are unstable;
2. IX-VII centuries BC. - a more serious stage of colonization. Construction of cities and formation of trade links with local residents.

First stage of colonization

The first stage of colonization covers the second half of the 12th - the first half of the 11th century. BC. The Phoenicians moved in two ways -

1. one went to Rhodes, then along the western coast of Asia Minor to Thasos,
2. the other is from Rhodes along the southern edge of the Aegean archipelago to Sicily, thence to the northern salient of Africa, and finally along the African coast to southern Spain.

Gold-bearing Thasos and silver-rich Spain were the main goals of the colonists. On the way to them, the Phoenicians created intermediate points. Such points arose on the island of Melos in the Aegean Sea, on Cythera south of the Peloponnese, on the eastern and southern coasts of Sicily, in North Africa (Utica). An ancient legend tells of a three-time attempt by the Tyrians to settle in southern Spain, and this is apparently due to the resistance of the local population. Only for the third time, on a small island off the coast, already beyond the Pillars of Hercules (Strait of Gibraltar), the Phoenicians founded a city that received the characteristic name Gadir - “fortress”, later the Romans called this city Hades. Apparently, in the interval between these attempts, in order to create a springboard for penetration into Spain in northwestern Africa, also already behind the Pillars of Hercules, Lyke was founded.

Figurine of a Phoenician woman with an Egyptian hairstyle. Ivory. OK. IX-VIII centuries BC.

At this stage, Phoenician colonization was predominantly commercial in nature. The most important goal of the Phoenicians was precious metals. In response, they sold oil, various knick-knacks, all kinds of small maritime goods, fabrics. The nature of these commodities has meant that there are few material traces of Phoenician trade. Yes, and it was, most likely, a “silent” exchange, when the participants in the transaction laid out their goods until both parties agreed to take them. In some cases, the Phoenicians themselves exploited the mines, as was the case in Thasos.

At this time, the Phoenicians founded both simple strongholds for conducting trade or ensuring its safety, and trading posts without a permanent population, and anchorages. Temples played an important role, often predating the founding of cities, as they did in Gades and Lyx, giving merchants a sense of divine protection and a safe market. Some temples, as in Thasos, could also act as organizers of production. Then real cities with a permanent population were created, like Gadir (Gades) in Spain and Utica in Africa.

Second stage of Phoenician colonization

A gap of approximately two centuries separates the first stage of colonization from the second. The economic and political problems that arose in the East, which have already been mentioned, led to the resumption of colonial expansion. The beginning of the second stage of it falls, apparently, in the second quarter of the 9th century. BC.

Tartessian "Winged Cat" from Spain. 750-575 AD BC. Stored at the Getty Villa Museum, Los Angeles, USA.

In the Eastern Mediterranean, the possibilities for Phoenician expansion were limited. Here the large centralized states again gained strength, and in the Aegean basin the movements of the Greeks and Thracians led to the displacement of the Phoenicians from the already occupied islands. In Greece itself, in the conditions of the beginning formation of the policy, there was also no place for Phoenician colonization. Therefore, if the Phoenicians settled there, they did not form independent organizations and quickly Hellenized. In other countries, they could create separate trading quarters, like the Tire camp in Memphis in Egypt. And only in Cyprus did the Phoenicians establish colonies in the southern part of the island. Cyprus became the base for their further advance to the west. Through this island, the Phoenicians moved to the Western Mediterranean.

In the Western Mediterranean, the scope of Phoenician colonization changed during its second phase. Now it includes Sardinia. It attracted the colonists with its mineral wealth, soil fertility, and strategic position, which opened the way to Italy, Corsica, Gaul, and Spain. In the IX-VII centuries. BC. on the southern and western coasts of Sardinia, a number of Phoenician cities arose - Nora, Sulkh, Bitia, Tharros, Kalaris. Relatively early, the Phoenicians began to settle inside the island.

The second new area of ​​colonization was the small but very important islands between Sicily and Africa: Melita (Malta) and Gavlos (Gozo). The Tyrians settled there in the 8th century. BC. These islands were the most important points of communication between the metropolis and the westernmost outskirts of the Phoenician world.

In southern Spain, by the end of the 8th century. BC. the Tartessian state was formed, which entered into various contacts with the Phoenicians. The strengthening of these contacts required the creation of new points on the Iberian Peninsula. And now, on its southern coast, but already east of the Pillars of Hercules, the Phoenicians created in the VIII-VII centuries. BC. many settlements of various sizes and significance. These were both relatively large cities, like Malaca or Sexy, and relatively small villages, whose names we do not know and which are now called by the names of modern settlements, like Tuscanos or Chorrera. The creation of colonies on the Mediterranean, and not the Atlantic, as before, the coast of southern Spain was apparently caused by the policy of the Tartessian monarchs, who did not want to strengthen competitors in the immediate vicinity of the center of power, which was located at the mouth of the river. Betis (Guadalquivir), which flows into the Atlantic Ocean immediately west of the Pillars.

in Sicily in the 8th century. BC. with the beginning of the Greek colonization, the Phoenicians left the eastern and southern coasts and concentrated in the western part of the island. The cities of Motia, Solunte and Panormus created there provided links with the already colonized areas of Sardinia and Africa. In the central part of North Africa, where Utica was founded even earlier, several new Phoenician cities have now arisen, including Carthage (Karthadasht - New City). In the north-west of this mainland, south of Lix, the Phoenicians settled around the bay, which bore the eloquent Greek name Emporik (Trade).

The second stage of the Phoenician colonization covered the IX-VII centuries. BC, with colonization gaining its greatest scope probably in the second half of the 9th century. BC, when the Tyrians began to withdraw colonies to Sardinia and radically expand their presence in Africa, founding Carthage and, perhaps, other cities. The territory of colonization has changed, now covering the extreme west of Sicily, the south and west of Sardinia, the Mediterranean coast of southern Spain, the islands of Melita and Gavlos, the central and extremely western part of North Africa. Still the main goal of the Phoenicians is metals. However, now we are talking not only about gold and silver, but also about the iron, lead, and tin necessary for the production itself. Another goal of colonization at this stage was the acquisition of land: it was not for nothing that the center of colonization activity largely moved from Spain, where the Tartessians made it impossible to settle in the fertile Betis valley, to the center of the Mediterranean basin - to fertile Sardinia and the Tunisian ledge of Africa famous for its land wealth. The colonization itself took on a much greater scope, and the mass of migrants increased.

The inner life of the colonies

Lead weight with the symbol of Tanita, the Phoenician goddess of the moon. 5th-2nd centuries BC.

In the colonies, along with trade, crafts, agriculture and, of course, fishing began to develop. The number of cities has increased. Along with them, small settlements arose - some of them developed a diversified economy, while others focused on any one industry. The Phoenicians began to penetrate into the interior regions of certain territories.

The relationship between the colonists and the local population has changed. The latter has now developed so much that it was not limited to "silent" exchange and began to enter into a wide variety of contacts with aliens. These contacts eventually covered the entire economic, political and cultural sphere. Where there were conditions for this, local variants of an “orientalizing” civilization arose. Such was the Tartessian, which developed in the south of the Iberian Peninsula in the VIII-VI centuries. BC. There was also a reverse influence of the local population on the colonists, which led to the emergence of local offshoots of the Phoenician culture. The surrounding inhabitants thus acted as an important component of the colonization process.

The withdrawal of colonies, and to a large extent, trade was due to the support and even the initiative of the government. Under these conditions, the cities and towns that arose became part of the Tyrian state, although it is now difficult to establish the forms and degree of dependence on the metropolis. It is known that in Cypriot Carthage there was a governor of the king, who called himself his slave and bore the title of bitch. Apparently, in the Phoenician cities of Cyprus, close to Phoenicia, the power of the king was felt quite strongly. It was more difficult to maintain strict control over the more distant colonies, and yet Utica's attempt to evade tribute caused a punitive expedition from Tyre. Later, the Carthaginians sent special residents to their colonies to control the life of these cities. It is possible that they borrowed this practice from the metropolis, and in this case it can be assumed that the Tyrian authorities sent similar residents to their colonies. There was one important exception to this rule - African Carthage. It was founded in 825-823. BC, but not at the initiative of the Tyrian king, but by a group of opposition nobles led by the king's sister Elissa. She became the queen of the city. There could no longer be any talk of the political subordination of Carthage to Tyr, although the Carthaginians maintained spiritual ties with the metropolis throughout their history.

The decline of Phoenicia as a mighty power

The political subordination of Phoenicia to the Assyrians could not but affect the fate of the Tire state. As early as the end of the 8th - beginning of the 7th centuries. BC. the Phoenician cities in Cyprus were subordinate to Tire: its king fled to the island, obviously to his possessions, from the attack of Sennacherib. But already the successor of Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, treated the Phoenician kings of Cyprus as his own subjects, regardless of Tyre or Sidon. Apparently, it was in the first half of the 7th century. The Phoenicians of Cyprus came out from under the rule of Tyre. The events of the 80-70s of the 6th century dealt the final blow to the state. BC, when, after a long siege in 574, Nebuchadnezzar subjugated Tire, where even at some point royal power was eliminated. And soon after that, the Tartessians launched an offensive against the Phoenician colonies in Spain, apparently using the fact that they had lost the support of the mother country. Some Phoenician settlements perished there. The colonial power created by Tyr seems to have ceased to exist. Its place in the Western Mediterranean was taken by another Phoenician power, led by Carthage.

Three glorious and equally ancient rival cities were given to the world by ancient Phoenicia - Carthage, Tire and Sidon. These cities were famous for their experienced sailors, dexterous merchants, and skilled artisans.

Tire (modern city of SUR in Lebanon

Tire (from the Semitic "king" - "rocky island") - the famous Phoenician city, one of the major trading centers in history, arose in the 4th millennium BC. e. on two islets located near the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea and separated by a narrow strait. Opposite the island Tyre on the mainland was its mainland quarter - Paletir.

The founding of the city goes back to the activity of the gods. According to legend, the god Usoos sailed on a log to the island, set up two stones and sprinkled them with the blood of sacrificial animals. According to another legend, the island floated on the waves: there were two rocks on it and an olive tree grew between them, on which an eagle sat. The island was supposed to stop when someone sailed to it and sacrificed an eagle. This was done by the first navigator Usoos, and so the island was attached to the bottom.

Triumphal Arch
Local priests told Herodotus that their city was founded in the 23rd century ago, that is, in the middle of the 28th century. One way or another, the city was a maritime, fishing and trading city. The penetration of the Phoenicians into the Mediterranean basin began with him, the Tyrian settlers founded Carthage.
The oldest mention of Tyre is in the Tell el-Amorn correspondence. The prince of Tyre, Adimilku, in humiliated terms, asks his overlord for help against Sidon and the Amorites; he was locked up on the island, he has neither water nor firewood. In the papyrus Anastasi (XIV century BC), Tire is mentioned as a large "city in the sea, to which water is brought by ships and which is richer in fish than in sand."
The oldest settlement was really on the island; on the mainland there were only suburbs and cemeteries. There was no water on the island; it was carried out from Ras al-Ain to the coast, from where it was delivered by ship to the city (the remains of the water pipe between Tell Mashuk and Ras al-Ain still exist), during sieges it was necessary to collect rainwater in cisterns. The island had two harbors - Sidon in the north and Egyptian in the southeast; the latter is now covered with sand, and part of the island has been washed away by the sea.

Tyr. Roman ruins
Tire came to the fore among the Phoenician cities in the 12th century BC. e. after the destruction of Sidon by the Philistines; in trade, he began to play a major role. Almost all the Phoenician colonies in the western half of the Mediterranean (Byblos, Hades, Utica, Carthage, etc.) date back to Tyre; they recognized his hegemony, considered his god Melqart theirs, and sent an annual tribute to his temple.

Melkart, the god of sailors and fishermen, the patron of Tyr, was a resilient reveler god in a lion's skin (for which he was often identified with Hercules), accompanied by a friend-servant Iolaus. In Libya, he unsuccessfully fought with the monster Tiffon and died. But every year in Tire they celebrated his resurrection. In the very fate of this city there was something of the fate of its divine patron. Throughout its history, it was attacked by the fiends of the ancient world - Ashurnasirpal, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great - everyone wanted to taste a salty fish, and even more Phoenician gold.

Under Assargaddon, Tire first submitted to Assyria, then joined Egypt, was besieged, but, apparently, not conquered, although Assargaddon depicted the king of Tyr Baal along with Taharka on a rope at his feet on the Senjirli bas-relief (Berlin Museum). Constant sieges and wars weakened the city. The slaves took advantage of this and organized a riot, the victim of which fell to know; Abdastart (in Greek - Straton) was chosen as king.

Biblical prophets hated Tire and often foretold its imminent death. The prophet Isaiah sees Tire destroyed 140 years ahead (Isaiah 23:13). Ezekiel also predicts the destruction of Tyre (Ezek. 26:312). The prophet Zechariah says that the city will be destroyed by fire (Zechariah 9:4).

Soon, however, the Tyrians preferred to replace the Babylonian dominion with the Persians. Tire endured this protectorate calmly and supplied the kings with a large fleet. After 70 years, in the reign of Cyrus, Tire is completely restored.
In 335 BC. e. Alexander the Great came to the walls of Tire with an army and asked to be allowed into the city, allegedly to sacrifice to Melkart. The refusal of the Tyrians led to a seven-month siege, with the filling of the isthmus from the coast to the island. The townspeople defended themselves desperately and not without success; the dam would hardly have helped Alexander if he had not been able to assemble a large fleet from the Phoenician cities hostile to Tyre.

As a result, 8,000 citizens died; King Azimilk and the nobles who escaped in the temple were spared, 30,000 citizens were sold into slavery, but the city was not destroyed and 17 years later held out against Antigonus for fifteen months, being under the rule of the Ptolemies. During the Hellenistic period, Tire was one of the centers of education (historians Menander, Diy, Porfiry came out of it). During the Jewish War, the city opposed the Jews.

Christianity in Tyre arrived early; the Apostle Paul lived here for a week (Acts XXI, 3); the city soon became an episcopal copy (St. Dorotheus and others). During the period of persecution, some of the Tire Christians suffered martyrdom; under Diocletian alone, 156 martyrs suffered here. The great early Christian philosopher Origen died in Tire (although his teaching was recognized as heresy by the official church); his tomb was shown as early as the 6th century.

It was the Tyrians who brought the preaching of Christianity to Abyssinia. In Old Testament times, the Tyrians helped the Jews build Solomon's temple. In New Testament times, the first remarkable temple under Constantine the Great was built by the Bishop of Tyre, Peacock, and solemnly consecrated in 314. Eusebius of Caesarea describes in detail another temple in Tyre, in the southeast of the city, consecrated by him in 335, and a council was held in Tire in the case of Athanasius Alexandria.

In the Middle Ages, Tire was one of the main cities of the East and played a big role, being considered impregnable.
It was only through strife among the Mohammedans that King Baldwin II managed to subdue him. With the assistance of the Venetian fleet (1124), a Frankish diocese was founded in the city (Wilhelm, Bishop of Tyre, historian). Saladin unsuccessfully besieged him. In 1190 Frederick Barbarossa was buried here.

Tire was finally destroyed by Muslims in 1291. Since then, the city has fallen into decay, despite the efforts of Fa-hreddin to raise it.
Now standing on the site of Tira Sur (Lebanon) is a small town of no importance, since trade has passed to Beirut.

Sidon

Sidon (Arabic: صيدا‎‎ - Saida) is the third largest city in Lebanon.

Located on the Mediterranean coast, 25 miles north of Tire and 30 miles south of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. Another ancient Phoenician city south of the mouth of the Nar-elawali, in a narrow seaside plain, takes its name from the Phoenician sidon, "fishing." The date of its foundation is unknown.

It is quite possible that it dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. e. Together with the rest of Syria, Sidon was probably under the political and no doubt cultural influence of Babylonia for much of its history. During the conquests of the pharaohs of the 18th dynasty, it fell under Egyptian rule, but was ruled by its own kings. From one of them - Zimrida - two letters to the pharaoh (Amenhotep III or IV) have come down to us. In this correspondence, he complains about the Bedouins taking over his area.

Pharaoh instructed him to investigate the affairs of the Amorites, but the king of Tyre, in reports to the pharaoh, called him a traitor who had made an alliance with the Amorites. Thus, already at this time there was a rivalry between Tire and Sidon. Moreover, throughout their centuries-old history, these two Phoenician cities, inhabited by the same people and speaking the same language, believing in the same gods (unlike Tire, the goddess of the Moon, Astarte, was the patroness of Sidon), competed and quarreled together. Zimrida, at enmity with Tyr, tried not to allow his king to the court. During this period, Sidon was the first city of Phoenicia: the book of Genesis (X, 15) calls it "the firstborn of Canaan", and later in the Bible the Phoenicians are often called Sidonians; likewise, only Sidon knows the Homeric epic.

Meanwhile, under the Seleucids, Tire indicated himself on his coins as the "mother of the Sidonians." The blow to the greatness of Sidon was dealt a rout by the "Ascalonians", that is, the Philistines during their devastating movement against Egypt in the XII century, under Ramses III. Tire becomes the head of Phoenicia.

royal necropolis

Sarcophagus of Alexander
For a long time, Sidon did not even have kings (among the cities subject to Babylon, "great Si-don" and "small Sidon" are mentioned). The kingdom of Sidon was restored by Sennacherib in order to create a counterbalance to Tire. He planted Itobal in Sidon (701 BC) and subjugated the cities to the south (Bethsaida, Sareita, Mahaliba, Ecdippa, Akko) to him. However, the next king, Abdmilkot, rebelled against Assyria, resulting in the destruction of the city by Assargaddon by the Assyrian army (678 BC). The inhabitants of Sidon were taken prisoner, and in its place a colony "Irassurakhidzin" ("City of Assargaddon") arose.
In Persian times, there was again a royal dynasty in Sidon, from which an inscription has been preserved on the island of Delos.

The city underwent a new defeat under Artaxerxes in 342 BC. e., who took part in the general uprising of Asian and Cypriot cities against the Persians. King Tenn, the ruler of Sidon, who at first acted successfully, at the decisive moment changed and went over to the side of the enemy. The city was burned, up to 40 thousand citizens died in the flames. Hatred of the Persians as a result of this cruelty forced Sidon to make an alliance with Alexander the Great and even help him in the fight against Tyre.
. Sidon was restored to its rights and possessions; Abdalonim appointed king. Probably, among his successors were the Tabnits and Eshmunazars, under whom the state again reached its former prosperity and received from one of the Ptolemies Dora, Joppa and the Saron fields. Under the rule of the Seleucids, Hellenism in Sidon achieved great success, so that Strabo could even point to the learned Sidonians - the philosophers Boeth and Diodotus.

In Roman times, the city enjoyed self-government, had a senate and a popular assembly, was called navarchy, metropolis and Colonia Aurelia. From the 3rd century BC e. the autonomous era of Sidon begins; many silver and bronze tetradrachms and didrachms appear with Phoenician and Greek emblems, and under the emperors - with Latin ones, and with the image, among other things, of the patroness of the city of Astarte.

Sea fortress (kalyat al-bahr)
Christianity penetrated into Sidon in apostolic times (Acts XXVII, 3); Bishop of Sidon was present at the First Council of Nicaea.

Mithra kills the bull. Relief from the Sanctuary of Mithras in Sidon

The terrible earthquake of 501 AD e. caused the heaviest damage to the well-being of the city, and in 637 Sidon surrendered to the Arabs without resistance. During the Crusades, the city often changed hands, was repeatedly fortified and ruined. At the beginning of the 17th century, under the Druze emir Fakhreddin, Sidon was the harbor of Damascus; his trade (especially in silk) flourished, the city was decorated and grew rich; the Egyptian government also patronized him.

At present, the rise of Beirut and the clogging of the once famous harbor (due to the fact that the walls that closed it from the sea have been pulled apart) have led to the complete decline of the ancient city. Now Sidon is proud of the gardens that stretch far around; oranges, lemons, apricots, bananas, almonds are bred and exported. In these gardens, royal tombs of the 4th century BC were discovered. BC e. The tombs dug in the limestone mountains dominating the city are badly damaged by thieves.

The Phoenicians are a people of merchants, sailors and pirates (they learned maritime science from the Cretans and Mycenaeans, early began to build ships with a keel and frames and warships with a bow ram. Sailing on the high seas, they deepened their knowledge of navigation and began to offer maritime transport services Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, and Israelites, commissioned by Pharaoh Necho around 600 B.C.

We do not know who commanded this grandiose campaign, because the Phoenicians, like the Carthaginians, deliberately did not leave any documents. All data was strictly classified as a trade secret. That is why we cannot unconditionally trust the reports that they allegedly reached the shores of America. But there is no doubt that the Phoenician ships visited England, the Canaries, the Persian Gulf and India. In the Mediterranean, the Phoenicians were the main merchants, on its shores they founded trade and port centers. Chief among these centers was

Carthage

Carthage is the most famous place in Tunisia. This city was founded in 814 BC. e. It is located 35 kilometers from the capital. Here was the center of the trading empire of the Phoenicians, which included almost the entire Mediterranean, trade routes through the Sahara and Western Asia converged here, the famous battles of the Punic wars thundered here.

A beautiful legend is connected with the founding of the city. When the Phoenician ship landed on the coast of North Africa, the local king was not happy with such guests who wished to stay on his territory for a long time. Then the queen of the Phoenicians asked the king for just a little for the settlement - a territory that could be covered with just one bull skin.

The local king was delighted at the "stupidity" of the Phoenician queen and gladly agreed to such conditions. At night, the Phoenicians took an ox skin, cut it into thousands of thin ropes, and tying them all together, they got a rope of such length that it was quite enough to draw the border of a fairly large city.

From the Punic era there were ports, the remains of streets, city buildings and Tophet, where the ashes of thousands of human bodies were found, sacrificed to the deity Baal.

Most of the structures of Carthage that have survived to this day date from the 1st century - the Roman period. The ruins of the Baths of Anthony, one of the largest bath complexes of the Roman period, have survived to this day. On the eastern slope of the Odeon hill, you can see a Roman house from the 3rd century, called the house of the Aviary because of the mosaic depicting birds. Nearby are fragments of the 3rd century Odeon, built under Septimius Severus for poetic competitions, and the 2nd century theater, which now hosts performances of the international festival

The date of its foundation is known for certain. From 820 to 774 BC e. (according to the royal annals transmitted by Menander) the king of Tire was Pygmalion. In the seventh year of the reign of Pygmalion (according to Timaeus and others), his sister, Dido-Elissa, began the construction of the first structures. It was in 814 BC. e.

Soon this colony became completely independent and already established its own colonies in the Western Mediterranean.

The Carthaginians have always claimed that they were the discoverers of the Canary Islands, the island of Madeira. It can be assumed that the northeast winds helped them to reach America. At the turn of the VI and V centuries. BC e., around 500, the Carthaginians organized a large trading and colonial expedition to the shores of West Africa.

Under the command of the navigator Hannon, sixty large ships set off, each of which had 50 oars. Thirty thousand men and women were brought to the coast of Cameroon.

In the III century. BC e. the Romans began a naval war with Carthage for the mastery of Sicily, which produced a lot of grain. Not yet having any fleet, the Romans sent their first landings on rafts. In the middle of the raft, a capstan was mounted, driven by three bulls. From the capstan wheels with blades began to rotate. These rafts did not have rudders and moved literally at the behest of the waves.

But a lucky break was on the Roman side. In 261 BC. e. The Carthaginian penthera was wrecked off the coast of northeastern Sicily. The Romans copied its design, and in a few months they built one hundred and sixty ships.

Difficult to control, these penthers in the very first naval battle became victims of powerful blows from the sharp Carthaginian rams. But already in 260 BC. e. in the second battle at Milazzo, in the northwest of the Strait of Messina, the Romans managed to defeat the Carthaginian fleet, using a new tactic: boarding with the help of deck-mounted "crow" bridges falling on someone else's ship. The Carthaginians were defeated. And in further naval battles, this Roman tactic invariably brought victories.

Thus began the era of the Punic Wars, which eventually led Carthage to defeat. In 218 BC. e. The army of the Carthaginian commander Hannibal invaded the territory of the Roman Republic. In December 218 BC. e. Hannibal defeated the Romans at Ticinus and Trebia, then at Trasimene Lake (217) and inflicted the most severe defeat at Cannae (216). In 211 Hannibal's army invaded Italy. "Hannibal at the gate!" the Romans shouted in panic. All this time was marked by strange and frightening celestial signs: comets and meteorites.

One of the most intense meteor showers at that time, frightened the Roman senators. They turned to the priests, who, after consulting the Sibylline books, predicted the possibility of protection from Hannibal in a way strange for our time. All that was required for this was to bring to Rome a sacred stone, personifying the "mother of the gods." It was a large cone-shaped meteorite, which was kept in the castle of Pessinus in Asia Minor (modern central Turkey).

A magnificent Roman delegation was sent to King Attalus with a request to give the sacred stone. The king agreed only after the earthquake, which was considered a sign. Soon the stone was delivered by ship to Rome and placed in the temple of Victory Perhaps the "mother of the gods" provided moral support to the Romans, who soon expelled Hannibal from Italy. Most likely, a clever political trick worked.

The fact is that in a moment of extreme danger, not trying to crush a formidable opponent, the Romans sent a military expedition to ... Africa. Finding that the Roman legions were standing at the gates, the Carthaginian merchants in a panic demanded that Hannibal return immediately. The talented commander was an executive servant and, immediately curtailing all military operations, went to save his native city. But the war didn't end there.

"Carthage must be destroyed," said Senator Cato at the end of each of his speeches. And Carthage was destroyed.
As often happens in history, the cause of the death of the unique and original Carthaginian civilization was not the art of war and not the superiority in manpower from the enemy, but the elementary human meanness and pettiness of several powerful scum.
As a result, it so happened that the Carthaginian corrupt merchant government did not pay salaries to mercenary troops. They raised an uprising, it was brutally suppressed ...

Excavations of Carthage
Hannibal's victories, as a result of the intrigues of his rivals, were represented by defeats, and he was forced to retire into exile. The Romans chased him literally all over the world. As a result, betrayed by all former friends, the great commander was forced to commit suicide in order to avoid shameful captivity.

As a result, when the Roman legions approached the walls of the city, there was no one to defend it. Having captured the city, the pedantic Romans broke the walls, palaces and temples surrounding it literally stone by stone, scattered the stones, and diligently sterilized the earth with salt, so that even grass would not grow there ...

So now there are not so many visitors to the coast of Tunisia. Tourists are shown the baths of Antonnin, an amphitheater, a hill where small urns with the ashes of the first-born of the city nobility are buried at a depth of six meters, the top of Mount Birsa and the National Museum, where on full moon nights it seems that the goddess Tanit in a silver dress still reigns over her defeated possessions . In the summer, an international festival is held in Carthage, which is organized in the ancient Roman amphitheater under the open

The scientific world became acquainted with the Phoenician civilization only in the 19th century, but since then not even a decade has passed without discovering another secret in it. It turns out that the ancient inhabitants of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea invented the alphabet, radically improved shipbuilding, laid routes to the very limits of the world known in their era, even significantly pushed these limits. In a certain sense, they became the first "globalizers" - they connected Europe, Asia and Africa with an all-penetrating web of trade routes. But as a reward for all this, the Phoenicians were known as heartless, deceitful, unscrupulous people and, moreover, fanatics, bringing human sacrifices to their gods. The latter, however, was true.
.

However, the findings of scientists were not very impressive, so for many years Phoenicia was again forgotten. It was not until 1923 that the famous Egyptologist Pierre Monteux continued excavations at Byblos and discovered four intact royal tombs with gold and copper decorations. Texts were also found there, written no longer in Egyptian hieroglyphs, but in an unknown alphabetic script. Soon linguists - by analogy with later Hebrew, as well as some other types of writing - managed to decipher it. Thus began the study of ancient Phenicia.

The Phoenicians are one of the most influential and least understood ancient civilizations. Between 1550 - 300 BC they dominated the Mediterranean. They invented the alphabet that people still use today and founded the first cities in Western Europe. But at the same time, they never had a single state, but only independent city-states connected by a common culture. Initially emerging from present-day Lebanon and Syria, the Phoenicians established colonies throughout the Mediterranean. It was they who founded Carthage, which threatened the very existence of the Roman Empire.

1. Phoenician blood

The Phoenician civilization has long since disappeared and been forgotten, but the genetic legacy of these ancient sailors lives on today. Chris Tyler Smith of National Geographic tested the DNA of 1,330 men in former Phoenician settlement sites (Syria, Palestine, Tunisia, Cyprus and Morocco). Analysis of their Y-chromosome revealed that at least 6 percent of the genome of the modern male population of these places is Phoenician.

2. Inventors of the alphabet

The Phoenicians developed the basis for the modern alphabet in the 16th century BC. By 3000 BC, the Egyptians and Sumerians had developed complex symbolic writing systems. The Phoenician merchants were inspired by these early attempts at symbolic speech and wanted to develop a version of the script that was easier to learn and use. These traders found that words were made up of a small number of repeated sounds, and these sounds could only be represented by 22 characters arranged in various combinations.

Although the Phoenician language contains vowels, they were removed from their writing system. Today, a similar lack of vowel sounds can still be found in Hebrew and Aramaic, both of which were heavily influenced by the Phoenician alphabet. By the VIII century BC. the Greeks adopted the Phoenician system and added vowels. The Romans also used the Phoenician alphabet and developed it into an almost modern version of the Latin alphabet.

3. Child sacrifice

Much of what is known about the Phoenicians today was actually gleaned from the historical records of their enemies. One of the most enduring facts that was used in anti-Phoenician propaganda was that they practiced child sacrifice. Josephine Quinn of Oxford argues that there is indeed truth behind these dark myths. In order to win divine favor, the Phoenicians sacrificed babies, cremated them and buried them with gifts to the gods and the corresponding ritual inscriptions in special cemeteries.

Child sacrifice was not really common and was only used by the society's elite due to the high cost of cremation. Archaeologists have discovered graves of child sacrifices around Carthage in present-day Tunisia and other Phoenician colonies in Sardinia and Sicily. Urns with carefully burned tiny bodies are buried in them.

4. Phoenician purple

Purple is a dye that was extracted from the molluscs of needlefish. It first appeared in the Phoenician city of Tyre. The difficulty of making the dye, the rich hue and resistance to fading made it a desirable and expensive commodity. The Phoenicians gained worldwide fame and wealth with purple, as this dye was valued more than gold of the same weight. It became popular in Carthage, from where it in turn spread to Rome.

The Romans passed a law forbidding all but the elite of the Empire to wear purple robes. As a result, purple clothes came to be considered a sign of power. Even for senators, it was a great success to get permission to wear a purple stripe on their toga. The purple trade ended in 1204 after the sack of Constantinople.

5. Sailors

According to legend, the Phoenicians reached Britain, sailed around the southern tip of Africa and reached the New World thousands of years before Columbus. British adventurer Philip Beale, 52, set out to find out if such long voyages were possible on ancient Phoenician ships. The explorer hired archaeologists and shipbuilders to design and build a Phoenician 20-meter, 50-ton ship based on an ancient wreck found in the western Mediterranean.

Philip Beal set off on a journey from the island of Arwad off the coast of Syria. He passed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea, sailed along the east coast of Africa and rounded the Cape of Good Hope. After that, he passed by ship along the western coast of Africa, entered the Strait of Gibraltar and returned to Syria. The six-month expedition, costing over £250,000 and covering 32,000 kilometers, proved that the Phoenicians could have sailed Africa 2,000 years before Bartolomeu Dias did so in 1488.

6 Rare European DNA

In 2016, analysis of a 2,500-year-old Phoenician found in Carthage led to the discovery of rare European genes. Called the "Young Man from Bursa", the man belonged to the U5b2c1 haplogroup. This genetic marker is inherent in the people of the north of the Mediterranean coast, probably the Iberian Peninsula. U5b2c1 is one of the oldest known European haplogroups. Today, this rare genetic marker can be found in only 1 percent of Europeans.

7. Lebanese Treasures

In 2014, archaeologists excavating in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon made one of the most important discoveries regarding Phoenician artifacts in half a century. They unearthed a 1.2-meter statue of a priest dating from the 6th century BC. It was adorned with a bronze symbol representing the Phoenician goddess Tanit, whose shape was strikingly similar to the Egyptian ankh.

In addition to the artifact, archaeologists have found previously unknown underground chambers built in the third millennium BC, and 20 graves dating back to the second millennium BC. Along with artifacts, hidden chambers and graves, the researchers found 200 kilograms of charred wheat and 160 kilograms of beans.

8. Iberian colonization

According to legend, the Phoenicians founded the Spanish city of Cadiz in 1100 BC. Until 2007, this was just a myth, but archaeologists suddenly discovered the remains of a wall and traces of a temple dating back to the 8th century BC. They also unearthed Phoenician pottery, vessels, bowls and plates. During excavations under the Comedy Theater of Cadiz, archaeologists discovered two skeletons that lifted a veil of mystery over the complex history of the Phoenician colonization of the Iberian Peninsula.

Spanish geneticists analyzed the DNA and found that one person was a "pure" Phoenician and died around 720 BC. Another skeleton, buried at the beginning of the 6th century BC, had DNA that is common in Western Europe. This suggests that his mother was originally from the Iberian Peninsula.

9. Phoenician pendant

In September 2015, the Canadian government returned an ancient Phoenician pendant to Lebanon. This is a tiny glass pendant no larger than a fingernail, which was confiscated by the Canadian Border Patrol from smugglers on November 27, 2006. The glass bead depicts the head of a bearded man. An expert from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts verified its authenticity and dated the pendant to the 6th century BC. The expert also confirmed that the pendant was made in contemporary Lebanon.

10 Azores Outpost

The Azores are located one and a half thousand kilometers from the coast of Western Europe. When the Portuguese arrived in this place in the 15th century, the islands were considered untouched by mankind. However, archaeological evidence leads some scholars to believe that the Phoenicians reached the archipelago thousands of years ago.

In 2010, researchers from the Portuguese Association for Archaeological Research in Nuno Ribeiro reported the discovery of a mysterious stone carving on Terceira Island, suggesting that the Azores were inhabited thousands of years earlier than previously thought. They discovered several structures dating back to the 4th century BC, which they considered the remains of Carthaginian temples built in honor of the Phoenician goddess Tanit.

Source: listverse.com

Phoenicia owned only a small piece of land. On the other hand, the ships of the Phoenicians plowed the entire Mediterranean Sea, visited the shores of Spain, North Africa, and, possibly, even went out into the Atlantic Ocean. In all the ports of the Mediterranean, Phoenician merchants carried on intensive trade, and Phoenician pirates became famous for their desperate courage. It was with the sea that the life of the Phoenicians was inextricably linked, and Phenicia itself can be called the first great sea power of antiquity, and our today's article is about it.

Where is Phoenicia

But let's first answer the question of where ancient Phenicia was located on the map. Phoenicia was located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea on the territory of such modern countries as Lebanon and Syria. During the reign, the territory of Phoenicia was transformed into the Roman province of "Syria", and later the Phoenicians completely merged with the Syrian population.

Phenicia on the world map.

History of Phoenicia

Who were the first Phoenicians is not known for certain. Although their ancestors lived on the territory of the state of Phoenicia as early as the 3rd millennium BC. e. as evidenced by archaeological excavations.

Herodotus and other ancient historians name the islands in the Persian Gulf as the place of origin of the Phoenicians. Indeed, many modern researchers note the similarity of the Canaanite languages ​​(which the Phoenicians actually spoke) and South Arabian. The separation may have occurred in the 4th millennium BC. That is, when part of the South Arabian tribes settled on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, the place is excellent in every respect. Nature gave the ancient Phoenicians all the opportunities for a fertile life, the land, although there was not much, but the one that was famous for its fertility, moist sea winds brought rain, thereby making artificial irrigation unnecessary. From ancient times, dates, olives, grapes grew in the gardens and vegetable gardens of the Phoenicians, and goats and sheep ran through the meadows. In a word, the favorable climate of Phoenicia was, of course, one of the main assets of this country.

Favorable conditions for life led to the fact that approximately in the III millennium BC. e. large and developed cities begin to appear on the territory of Phoenicia: Ugarit and Arvad in the north, Tire and Sidon in the south, Byblos in the center. Soon the Phoenician cities turned into cultural and commercial centers of the ancient world, and their appearance actually means the beginning of the heyday of the Phoenician civilization.

As for the origin of the name "Phoenicia", according to one version, it comes from the ancient Greek word "φοινως" which means "purple", the fact is that it was Phenicia that was the supplier of purple paint, which was made from special mollusks living off its coast . According to another version, the name "Phoenicia" comes from the Egyptian word "fenehu", which means "ship builder".

Phoenicia reached its greatest dawn with the release of its inhabitants to the sea. The Phoenicians began to build their famous large keel ships, up to 30 meters in length, also equipped with a ram and a direct sail.

This is what a Phoenician ship looked like. On these ships, the Phoenician navigators plowed the Mediterranean Sea, while the Phoenician merchants began to conduct intensive trade in all ports of the Mediterranean.

And now the Phoenicians begin to establish their first colonies: Cadiz on the coast of Spain, Utica on the African coast (modern Tunisia), Palermo in Sicily. On the islands of Sardinia and Malta, the remains of ancient Phoenician colonies have also been preserved. But the most famous in history was the Phoenician colony of Carthage, which at one time even gave a light to the Romans (see the Punic wars). But the intensive shipbuilding of the Phoenicians had one of the unpleasant side effects - the disappearance of the cedar forests of Lebanon, cut down almost to the root as a shipbuilding material.

The Phoenician trade and sea freemen ended in the 8th century BC. e., when Phoenicia was conquered by Assyria. The Phoenicians surrendered almost without resistance, they were more likely to pay tribute to their more powerful neighbors, provided that they did not interfere with their trade, than to wage bloody wars for independence.

With the fall of Assyria, Phoenicia became part of the empire, then it was captured by the troops of Alexander the Great. Here it is worth remembering the largest city of Phoenicia - Tyre, which at that time survived a long siege, and did not want to surrender to the famous Macedonian commander.

Then Phoenicia was captured by the Armenian king Tigranes, and then by the already invincible Romans, who turned this territory into the Roman province of Syria. At this time, Phenicia leaves the historical scene.

Culture of Phoenicia

Perhaps the most significant cultural heritage of ancient Phenicia for the whole world is the alphabet. Yes, it was the Phoenicians who were the first to come up with the alphabet in its classical sense, spread it throughout the then ecumene, and so it became the basis of all writing systems that exist today.

The Phoenician alphabet is the first alphabet in history.

Also, the Phoenicians became famous for the production of purple paint, which, as we wrote a little higher, may have given them their name. Why was purple dye so important? The fact is that the ancient Greeks and many other peoples of the Mediterranean considered purple to be sacred, and purple fabrics were in great demand among them.

Fine items made of gold and silver made by skilled Phoenician artisans, Phoenician wine made from the best Phoenician grapes, the famous glass from the Phoenician city of Sidon, the production secrets of which were owned by a narrow circle of people, were also highly valued. In addition to their goods, the Phoenicians intensively traded in what they exported from Greece, Egypt, Asia Minor, and their ports were centers of international transit trade.

Regarding the political structure, ancient Phoenicia was not a monolithic state, but, like ancient Greece, it was a collection of independent city-states. Each Phoenician city-polis was, in fact, a separate small state, headed by a local king.

The cities of Phoenicia were surrounded by a wall, in the center of the city there was always a sanctuary and the residence of the ruler. Since the area of ​​the city was limited, the houses were built tightly to each other. The houses themselves in Phoenicia were usually built of clay, and were two-story, the owners lived on the upper floors, various stocks, kitchen utensils and slaves lived on the lower floors.

Outside, Phoenician houses were painted with special colored plaster. Also, in the center of the streets of the Phoenician cities, special drainage channels were dug to keep the city relatively clean.

The power of the Phoenician kings was not absolute, it was limited by the councils of city elders. And for many government positions, applicants were even appointed through elections, and, interestingly, only rich citizens could take part in the elections, the poor did not have the right to vote (in our opinion, a rather wise system, because the votes of the “golotba” could be bribed with various handouts than more than once used in history, both of the past and very recent times, including, alas, in our country). As we can see, although the head of the Phoenician city-polis was nominally a king, by its nature Phoenician society was more inclined towards democracy than oriental despotism.

Religion in Phoenicia

The religion of ancient Phoenicia was part of the pagan Semitic cults, which were sent by a special caste of priests, occupying a special position in Phoenician society. Interestingly, the famous Jewish Temple of Solomon was built in the image of the Phoenician temples, and engineers from the Phoenician city of Tyre took direct part in its construction (the wise King Solomon, knowing how high the Phoenician art in construction, invited the best craftsmen from there).

That's just the difference between the Phoenician and Jewish religion was cardinal, if the Jews believed in one God, then the Phoenicians worshiped a whole pantheon of gods. Many of the Phoenician gods were taken from the religion of ancient Egypt and ancient Greece, receiving only Phoenician names: Moloch, Melqart, Astarte, etc.

Phenicia, video

And in conclusion, an interesting documentary film about the history of ancient Phenicia.