Thomas-Phoenicia

=**Phoenicia 1200-500 BCE**= Phoenicians were "Semitic-speaking Canaanites living on the coast of modern Lebanon and Syria in the first millennium B.C.E. From major cities such as Tyre and Sidon, Phoenician merchants and sailors explored the Mediterranean, engaged in widespread commerce, and founded Carthage and other colonies in the western Mediterranean." (The Earth and Its Peoples.)
 * Social || * Carthage had a population of 400,000 people with great ethnic diversity
 * Merchant aristocracy was more open than aristocracy by birth ||
 * Political || * It is suspected that wealthy merchant families controlled politics
 * Small city states such as Byblos, Berytus, Sidon, and Tyre located in narrow strip in present-day Lebanon between mountains and eastern Mediteranean.
 * King Hiram (ascended throne in 969 B.C.E.) helped Tyre rise to power to replace Byblos as the strongest city.
 * Strong, expansive economy increased political power around the known world.
 * Tyre was easy to defend due to its island location, thereby allowing it to flourish without threat of being conquered.
 * Phoenicia dealt with foreign aggression (Assyria, Neo-Babylonia, Persia) by allowing themselves to be submissive to foreign powers.
 * EMPIRE
 * 900s BCE, establish colony on Cyprus
 * 700 BCE, "Phoenician Triangle"-string of settlements in Western Mediterranean
 * North African Coast, South and Southeast Spain (including the Strait of Gibraltar), Sardinia, Sicily, Malta
 * 800 BCE, Carthage
 * In Carthage, military command was separated from civilian command. ||
 * Religious || * Hiram allied with King Solomon of Israel and sent skilled Phoenician workers and cedar wood to help the Temple in Jerusalem.
 * Carthaginians worshipped Baal Hammon (male storm god) and Tanit (female fertility figure)
 * Human sacrifices performed in times of crisis. ||
 * Intellectual || * Perhaps the Phoenician's most important development was that of an alphabetic system of writing, which is the basis for many modern alphabets.
 * "Alphabetic" means that each symbol represents a sound
 * Tyre had a giant palace complex complete with treasury, archives, and a temple. ||
 * Technologica l || * Many maritime advances
 * Keeled Hull ships
 * Celestial Navigation
 * fast, maneuverable, oar-powered warships with battering rams on bow
 * Murex snail dye ||
 * Economic || * Close proximity to Mediterranean creates sea-based, widespread commerce.
 * Raw Materials
 * Cedar and Pine
 * Metals
 * Incense
 * Papyrus [[image:http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PkwoL2H7ldo/TRZpVitKKrI/AAAAAAAABdQ/1BLGgzTeqtQ/s1600/murex_sp.jpg width="283" height="221" align="right" caption="The murex snail shell was used to create expensive purple dyes." link="http://www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html"]]
 * Food and Drink
 * Wine
 * Spices
 * Salted Fish
 * Luxury Goods
 * Carved Ivory
 * Glass
 * Expensivly dyed, purple textiles
 * By allying with Solomon, Tyre gained silver and food supplies and trade routes to the east and south. ||

producing activities || 4/5 || of substantial wealth by some groups || 4/5 || media type="youtube" key="ROmU_9uwuXg" height="315" width="420"
 * CIVILIZATION REQUIREMENT || SCORE ||
 * Cities as administrative centers || 5/5 ||
 * A political system based on control of a defined territory rather than a kinship connection || 5/5 ||
 * many people engaged in specialized, non-food
 * status distinctions based largely on accumulation
 * monumental architecture || 4/5 ||
 * system of records (writing) || 5/5 ||
 * long distance trade || 5/5 ||
 * major advances on science || 3/5 ||
 * major advances in the arts || 2/5 ||