Home | Category: Hittites and Phoenicians
CITY STATES OF THE PHOENICIANS
The Phoenicians established a great early civilization in the first millennium B.C. and were contemporaries of the later Mesopotamian civilizations. Originating on the coasts of present-day Lebanon and Israel, they developed an alphabet that was modified and adopted by much of the world and were traders and expert sailors. Ancient Phoenicia was made up of a loose conglomeration of independent city-states, the most prominent being Tyre, Sidon , and Byblos.
Phoenicians were not the original inhabitants of Tyre, Sidon and Byblos. Around 2500 B.C., major ports on the Phoenicians coast — Byblos, Sidon, Tyre and Beirut — emerged as independent city states. Excavations in these places have revealed mysterious burials of people in layers of sand brought from a sand dune somewhere else. Some people were buried with weapons in brick graves. Later children were found buried in clay pots. Metals used to make weapons dated to 1950 B.C. came from what is now Turkey, Cyprus and Syria, an indication that there was already a flourishing metals trade at that time.
Starting around 1500 B.C., Phoenicians settled a stretch of the Mediterranean coast in present-day Lebanon, Israel, and Gaza. Some settled in the great city states of Byblos, Sidon and Tyre, which may have been first settled by people other than themselves. The Phoenicians could not capture the city-states of Aradus, Sidon and Tyre. Instead they employed a if-you-can't-beat-em-join-em strategy and over time came to dominate them. Beirut was a small Phoenician outpost.
Websites : PhoeniciaOrg is the largest compilation and repository of studies on the Phoenicians on the web. It covers extensive and inclusive Canaanite Phoenician information i.e. the origin, history, geography, religion, arts, thinkers, trade, industry, mythology, language, literature, music, wars, archaeology, and culture of this people. Mesopotamia and the Near East: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Mesopotamia sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, University of Chicago isac.uchicago.edu ; University of Chicago Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations nelc.uchicago.edu ; University of Pennsylvania Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations (NELC) nelc.sas.upenn.edu; Penn Museum Near East Section penn.museum; British Museum britishmuseum.org ; Louvre louvre.fr/en/explore ; Metropolitan Museum of Art metmuseum.org/toah ; Ancient Near Eastern Art Metropolitan Museum of Art metmuseum.org; Archaeology Websites Archaeology News Report archaeologynewsreport.blogspot.com ; Anthropology.net anthropology.net : archaeologica.org archaeologica.org ; Archaeology in Europe archeurope.com ; Archaeology magazine archaeology.org ; HeritageDaily heritagedaily.com; Live Science livescience.com/
Byblos
Byblos (23 miles north of Beirut) is the source of the word Bible. One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world it was called Byblos (Greek for "papyrus") by the ancient Greeks not because it was a source of papyrus (that came from Egypt) but because it was the center in the papyrus trade. The first Christian texts were printed on papyrus that was sold out of Byblos and the name of city was attached to the name of the text itself.
Byblos Byblos was first known a Gebal. The Giblites used flat axes to cut timber from nearby mountains. As early as 3200 B.C., Egyptians imported cedars from Canaanite (Phoenician) traders in Byblos.
Archeologists have uncovered evidence of human habitation dating to 5000 B.C. Around 3000 B.C., an important Canaanite timber shipping city emerged at Byblos. Lumber and oil from harvested cedars was traded with Egypt for gold, alabaster, papyrus rolls, papyrus rope and linen. The Egyptians used cedar wood to build tombs, monuments and boats for the pharaohs. Oils were used in perfumes and mummification. This trade endured for over 2,000 years.
Byblos was burned to ground around 2100 B.C., most likely by aggressive Mesopotamian Amorites. Some of the oldest examples of the Phoenician alphabet have been found here. Over the centuries, it was occupied by Phoenicians, Persians, Hellenist Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamlukes and Turks.
Byblos Archaeological Site
The ruins of ancient Byblos today is an archeological site consisting primarily of foundations and short walls. Different structures were built by different civilizations and unless you are an archeologist you will have trouble telling the difference. Among the ruins are the remains of a third millennium B.C. city gate, a 4,500-year-old wall, the Temple of the Obelisk (where 1,306 offerings have been uncovered, including bronze human figures covered with gold leaf), Bronze Age buildings and houses, and Royal tombs (from which the earliest example of the Phoenician alphabet was found).
The Byblos archaeological site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to UNESCO: “The ruins of many successive civilizations are found at Byblos, one of the oldest Phoenician cities. Inhabited since Neolithic times, it has been closely linked to the legends and history of the Mediterranean region for thousands of years. Byblos is also directly associated with the history and diffusion of the Phoenician alphabet. [Source: UNESCO World Heritage Sites, =]
“The coastal town of Byblos is located on a cliff of sandstone 40 km North of Beirut. Continuously inhabited since Neolithic times, Byblos bears outstanding witness to the beginnings of the Phoenician civilization. The evolution of the town is evident in the structures that are scattered around the site, dating from the different periods, including the medieval town intra-muros, and antique dwellings. Byblos is a testimony to a history of uninterrupted construction from the first settlement by a community of fishermen dating back 8000 years, through the first town buildings, the monumental temples of the Bronze Age, to the Persian fortifications, the Roman road, Byzantine churches, the Crusade citadel and the Medieval and Ottoman town. Byblos is also directly associated with the history and diffusion of the Phoenician alphabet. The origin of our contemporary alphabet was discovered in Byblos with the most ancient Phoenician inscription carved on the sarcophagus of Ahiram. =
Byblos is an important site because: 1) It bears an exceptional testimony to the beginnings of Phoenician civilization. Since the Bronze Age; it provides one of the primary examples of urban organization in the Mediterranean world; and 3) it is directly and tangibly associated with the history of the diffusion of the Phoenician alphabet (on which humanity is still largely dependent today), with the inscriptions of Ahiram, Yehimilk, Elibaal and Shaphatbaal. =
Byblos
Sidon
Sidon (25 miles south of Beirut) is port built by the Phoenicians on a promontory facing an island. In ancient times it was the home of a Phoenician purple dye factory (a 300-foot-long mound of murex shells remains from this) and merchants who got very rich trading it. Sidon was also a center of Phoenician glass making. Some archaeologists believe that the practice of glassblowing was developed in Sidon in the first century B.C.
Sidon was established after Byblos and was eventually eclipsed by its colony Tyre. It was at it peak during the time of Homer, who referred to the Phoenicians as the Sidonians and described them as "well skilled in deft handiwork" in the “Iliad” and said they made silver bowls that were the "Coolest in all the earth”. In the “Odyssey” he called the Phoenicians men famed from their ships and greedy knaves that brought countless trinkets.
Eshmoun (one kilometer from Sidon) contains a Phoenician temple complex dedicated to the Phoenician healing god Eshmoun, who, according to legend, was originally a human man who mutilated himself and died in an effort to escape the advances of a goddess, and then was brought back to life by the goddess in the form of a god. Waters from the sacrificial basins at the temple were reported to have miraculous healing powers.
Situated in a lush valley with citrus groves and built in the 7th century B.C., the archaeological site include Phoenician walls, inscriptions, pyramid-like structures, and channels for the temple’s healing waters and sacred basins. There are also carved Persian bull's heads; Hellenistic statues, stone sphinxes, friezes of cock sacrifices; an Astarte (Venus) sanctuary guarded by lions; and a Roman-era a nymphaeun with nymph statues.
Archaeology at Sidon
According to Archaeology magazine: “Although the modern town of Sidon sits directly on top of the ancient one, a multinational team has been working for more than a decade to uncover the many layers of the city's rich history. [Source: Andrew Lawler, Archaeology magazine, July-August 2012]
Wedged between a road and decaying old houses perched on a hill, sits a massive excavation site. A century ago, this was the location of an American school and, after that, until a decade ago, was simply a vacant lot. But Lebanese archaeologist Claude Doumet-Serhal and her multinational team have transformed this apparently unremarkable spot into a window on the rich ancient history of the port city of Sidon. "In this little piece of land we have everything, a slice of civilization," she says. "It's very exciting." The reason for Doumet-Serhal's enthusiasm is easy to see. In the shade of nearby bushes are piles of Roman bases, columns, and capitals. Crumbling houses sit atop the remains of a medieval wall within view of a ruined Crusader-era castle. Just beyond lies another thirteenth-century castle, overlooking the rocky shore of the Mediterranean Sea along Lebanon's coast.
Sidon is so old that, according to the Book of Genesis, it was named after the great-grandson of Noah. In antiquity, the city attracted an impressive array of visitors, both welcome and unwelcome, including the first-century B.C. king of Judea, Herod the Great; Jesus and St. Paul; the armies of Alexander the Great in the fourth century B.C.; the twelfth-century A.D. Norwegian king Sigurd; and the Mongols of Central Asia a century later.
Sydon
Tyre
Tyre (60 miles south of Beirut) was the most powerful of the Phoenicia’s city. It possessed what would be a model for future Phoenician cities: a defensible island or peninsula, a protected anchorage and easy access to agricultural areas on the mainland.
Tyre (60 miles south of Beirut) was mentioned in the Bible. Located on an island that has since been joined to the land and known to the Phoenicians as the "Queen of the Waters," it was founded in the third millennium B.C. and prospered as a trading city between the 10th century B.C., when it became the capital of all Phoenicia, to the 6th century B.C.
Tyre was a center of the Phoenician glass and purple industry. Factories there produced purple dye from sea snails. It was also a major trading center with colonies in Sicily, Spain and North Africa. Around 950 B.C., Hiram I joined two islands and built an all but impregnable citadel on the sea. Hiram I was a friend of David and Solomon. He supplied both with timber and craftsmen. Some of the timber was used to build the first great temple of Jerusalem.
History of Tyre
. According to UNESCO: “According to legend, purple dye was invented in Tyre. This great Phoenician city ruled the seas and founded prosperous colonies such as Cadiz and Carthage, but its historical role declined at the end of the Crusades. There are important archaeological remains, mainly from Roman times.[Source: UNESCO World Heritage Sites, =]
“Located on the southern coast of Lebanon, 83 km south of Beirut, the antique town of Tyre was the great Phoenician city that reigned over the seas and founded prosperous colonies such as Cadiz and Carthage and according to legend, was the place of the discovery of purple pigment. =
“From the 5th century B.C., when Herodotus of Halicarnassus visited Tyre, it was built for the most part on an island reportedly impregnable, considered one of the oldest metropolises of the world, and according to tradition founded in 2750 B.C. Tyre succumbed to the attack of Alexander of Macedonia who had blocked the straits by a dike. First a Greek city, and then a Roman city were constructed on this site, which is now a promontory. =
“Tyre was directly associated with several stages in the history of humanity, including the production of purple pigment reserved for royalty and nobility, the construction in Jerusalem of the Temple of Solomon, thanks to the material and architect sent by the King Hiram of Tyre; and the exploration of the seas by hardy navigators who founded prosperous trading centres as far away as the western Mediterranean, that ultimately assured a quasi-monopoly of the important maritime commerce for the Phoenician city. The historic role of Tyre declined at the end of the period of the Crusades. =
Tyre
Tyre is associated with the important stages of humanity. Astute navigators and merchants, the Phoenicians were reputed to have given birth to the great figures of mythology including Cadmos, credited for the introduction of the alphabet to Greece and his sister, Europe, who gave her name to the European continent. Tyre rapidly became the most important centre for maritime and land commerce in the eastern Mediterranean. The Phoenician remains reflect the power, influence and wealth of the merchants of Tyre who navigated the Mediterranean waters and filled their warehouses with goods from their extensive colonies all around the Mediterranean coasts. =
Tyre Archaeological Site
Archaeological Tyre was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. Located mostly on the end of a peninsula, it contains impressive Roman ruins and a few remains from the Phoenician era, including a first millennium B.C. cemetery that was revealed in 1991 by clandestine excavations. Among the objects discovered were funerary jars, jewelry and inscribed stele.
Tyre is divided into three major sites: Area One, Area two and Area Three. Among the points of interest in Area One, which is located on the former Phoenician island, are civic buildings, colonnades, public baths, mosaic streets, and a rectangular arena. Near the beach at the far end of the site are the columns of the Palaestra, an arena where the athletes trained. The "islands" offshore are the remains of a Phoenician breakwater. Little remains of the Phoenician era. Most of the ruins date the Roman period or later.
Ras el-Ain (4 miles from Tyre) was Tyre's main source of water in Phoenician times. Artesian wells gush up in stone reservoirs that have been maintained over the centuries. Once of the reservoirs fed a Roman aqueduct that carried water to Tyre. A short portion of the aqueduct can be seen near the reservoirs and connues be used in a modern water system.
According to UNESCO: “In the modern town of Soûr, the property consists of two distinct sites: the one of the town, on the headland, and the one of the Necropolis of El Bass, on the continent. The site of the town comprises important archaeological vestiges, a great part of which is submerged. The most noteworthy structures are the vestiges of the Roman baths, the two palaestrae, the arena, the Roman colonnaded road, the residential quarter, as well as the remains of the cathedral built in 1127 by the Venetians and some of the walls of the ancient Crusader castle. The sector of Tyre El Bass, constituting the principal entrance of the town in antique times, comprises the remains of the necropolis, on either side of a wide monumental causeway dominated by a Roman triumphal arch dating from the 2nd century AD. Among the other vestiges are an aqueduct and the hippodrome of the 2nd century, one of the largest of the Roman world. [Source: UNESCO World Heritage Sites, =]
Tyre, the Phoenicians and the Bible
Tyre was mentioned several times in the Bible. The prophet Ezekial called it a "city renowned, that was mighty on the sea” and said “in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected beauty...all the ships of the sea with their marines were in thee to occupy thy merchandise..." (Ezekiel 27:1-25). Isaiah described it as the "crowning city" whose "merchandary princes" and "whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth."
Ezekial mentioned oil, oak, embroidered linen, silver, ivory and purple dye traded in Tyre. Describing it riches he wrote: "Tarnish was they merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded...many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee...horns of ivory and ebony...emeralds...fine linen...honey, and oil, and balm...wine...and white wool...precious stones, and gold." In the early 6th century B.C. King Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Tyre for 13 years but was unable to conquer it. Later it had a large Christian community. The city prospered under the Byzantines and later was occupied by Arabs, Mamluks and Ottoman Turks.
Canaanites and to a lesser extent Phoenicians are mentioned frequently in the Bible. Isaiah and Ezekiel wrote about the Phoenicians. Sarepta was wear Elijah came after fleeing a famine in Israel and there brought a Phoenician boy back from the dead to thank his mother for her hospitality (I Kings 18:8-24).
Phoenician ships brought Solomon gold from Ophir, sandalwood, ivory, peacocks and things "so king Solomon exceeded all the king...in riches" Ophir is believed to have been in India.
Nebuchadnezzar’s Siege of Tyre
Nebuchadnezzar II (ruled 604-561 B.C.) took Babylon from the Assyrians, repelled the Persians, captured Jerusalem, enslaved the Jews, revived Babylon and created a Neo-Babylonian empire. He was also a major figure in The Bible
After Jerusalem fell, Nebuchadnezzar turned his arms against Tyre. After Egypt this city had probably been the mainspring of the coalition against Babylon. The punishment intended for Tyre was the same as that of Jerusalem, but Nebuchadnezzar did not succeed as he did with the capital of Juda. The position of Tyre was immeasurably superior to that of Jerusalem. The Babylonians had no fleet; therefore, as long as the sea remained open, Tyre was impregnable. [Source: J.P. Arendzen, transcribed by Rev. Richard Giroux, Catholic Encyclopedia |=|]
The Chaldeans lay before Tyre thirteen years (585-572), but did not succeed in taking it. Ethobaal II, its king, seems to have come to terms with the King of Babylon, fearing, no doubt, the slow but sure destruction of Tyrian inland trade; at least we have evidence, from a contract-tablet dated in Tyre, that Nebuchadnezzar at the end of his reign was recognized as suzerain of the city.
Although there is a gap in the Babylonian Chronicle extending from the 11th year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign (594–593) to the 3d year of Neriglissar's (557–556), it is known from an inscription that Nebuchadnezzar led his armies in an invasion of Egypt in 568. Notwithstanding the little success against Tyre, Nebuchadnezzar attacked Egypt in 567. He entered the very heart of the country, ravaged and pillaged as he chose, apparently without opposition, and returned laden with booty through the Syrian Provinces. But no permanent Egyptian occupation by Babylon was the result.
Alexander the Great’s the Siege of Tyre
As Alexander headed down the Mediterranean coast in the Levant, nearly all the cities that were under Persian control surrendered and opened their gates to Alexander. The only city that put any resistance was Tyre, a former Phoenician island fortress off the coast of present-day Lebanon.
The seige of Tyre was one of the defining moments of Alexander’s campaign. In the early 6th century, King Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Tyre for 13 years but was unable to conquer it.In 332 B.C., Alexander the Great captured Tyre by using ship-mounted battering rams and catapults to blast a hole in the fortress wall and gangplanks and two large siege towers to launch the assault. Alexander's army had spent seven months building a half mile causeway to the island, with debris from an abandoned mainland city, only to be bombarded with stones and arrows when they got near. The Tyrians also launched a boat with blazing cauldrons to set fire to the attackers. This tactic only delayed the inevitable.
The victory over Tyre added Lebanon as well as Palestine, Syria and Egypt to Alexander's empire. Alexander was reportedly so enraged by the loss of time and men used to capture Tyre that he destroyed half the city, and rounded up its residents, who were either massacred or sold into slavery. Seven thousand people were slaughtered after the capture, 2,000 young men were crucified and 30,000 people were sold into slavery.
See Separate Article: SIEGE OF TYRE AND ALEXANDER THE GREAT IN PHOENICIA factsanddetails.com
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons, The Louvre, The British Museum
Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Mesopotamia sourcebooks.fordham.edu , National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, especially Merle Severy, National Geographic, May 1991 and Marion Steinmann, Smithsonian, December 1988, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Discover magazine, Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, BBC, Encyclopædia Britannica, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Time, Newsweek, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “History of Warfare” by John Keegan (Vintage Books); “History of Art” by H.W. Janson Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.
Last updated June 2024