jjares reviewed The Phoenicians: A Captivating Guide to the History of Phoenicia and the Impact Made by One of the Greatest Trading Civilizations of the Ancient World on + 3296 more book reviews
The Phoenicians are mentioned so often in other books (and in the Bible), so I was delighted to have the opportunity to read about them in this short work. Thanks for the timeline; it helped place the time of the Phoenicians. I found it very interesting that the Phoenicians emerged from the nomadic Canaanites. They were survivors of the Bronze Age Collapse.
It was surprising to see that the Phoenicians were an economic power, but not a military one. Thus, over time, they became vassals of more powerful empires (Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Macedonian Greeks with Alexander the Great, etc.,). The Phoenicians founded the coastal city-states of Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre.
Phoenicians were polytheistic peoples -- they worshipped more than one god. They started out as an agricultural tribe but could not completely feed their people. After a while, they started trading for goods they needed and before long, they were a maritime economy. They started out trading with the Greeks (glass, wood and their rare, powdered Tyrian purple dye).
It was surprising to see that the Phoenicians were an economic power, but not a military one. Thus, over time, they became vassals of more powerful empires (Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Macedonian Greeks with Alexander the Great, etc.,). The Phoenicians founded the coastal city-states of Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre.
Phoenicians were polytheistic peoples -- they worshipped more than one god. They started out as an agricultural tribe but could not completely feed their people. After a while, they started trading for goods they needed and before long, they were a maritime economy. They started out trading with the Greeks (glass, wood and their rare, powdered Tyrian purple dye).
