How Did Phoenicians Contribute To Ancient Civilization
956 Words4 Pages
Phoenicians
Cameron Hawkins
Coach Pittman/Ancient History
Ancient Civilization Research Paper
December 6th, 2015
On my honor as a Brentwood Academy Student, I have neither given nor received help on this work.
I pledge that the work and ideas in this paper, unless otherwise cited, are mine alone.
Cameron Hawkins
There were many ancient civilizations that made huge contributions to society today. One of these civilizations is Phoenicia. Phoenicia was a civilization that was very ahead of its time. They made advances in technology that no other people would have thought of. They came up with new ways to trade, and because of this, they became a powerful presence in the ancient world. To fully understand how the Phoenicians influenced…show more content… Phoenicia was a pretty common location for trading, and because of this, the region of Phoenicia became a trading crossroads. It also became a very common meeting place as it was a place where many travellers would stop on the way to either Mesopotamia or Egypt. Egypt posed the most influence on early Phoenicia, and by the 1900s B.C., the two countries were trading on a regular basis. Not only was Egypt influencing Phoenicia, but Babylonians had some influence on Phoenicia. Phoenicians soon learned how to write in cuneiform, a form of writing that was used by the Babylonians for trade. Phoenicians were controlled by the Hittites for a short time also. Soon enough, the Phoenician city-states gained their independence around 1000 B.C. This is when the Phoenician states reached their peak of power. Phoenicians spread their influence throughout the Mediterranean for a long while, even reaching Carthage. Some historians still believe that their sphere of influence also included some of Greece. Even though Phoenicia became a huge power in the ancient world, all good things come to an end. Around 800 B.C., the Assyrians captured the city-states of Phoenicia. The Assyrians occupied most of the Phoenician states and ruled over them for the next 2 centuries. When the Assyrians fell in 612 B.C., the Phoenician states started to be ruled over by some of Babylonia. During this time they also were…show more content… They enjoyed to be artistic and create things that looked interesting. They were known for their artistic work in metal, wood, and glass. As said earlier in the essay, the Phoenicians took the color purple very seriously. Wearing a purple robe back then was like wearing a very expensive designer outfit today. The Phoenicians worshipped a god called Baal. The Phoenicians believed that if one worshipped this god, then they would get fertility and be able to grow crops. Baal had differentiating names for each city-state, but each Phoenician technically worshipped the same god, as all of their gods were combined into one. Phoenicians lived in city-states, a system where each area had their own ruler, and they were never technically united. The Phoenicians’ language was a semitic language that was largely similar to Hebrew. Their alphabet was made up of 22 symbols. The Phoenician alphabet was an early version of what the English alphabet is today. But later, Aramaic became the official language of Phoenicia. Little is known about the original language of Phoenicia. Phoenician culture was a key part of what made Phoenicia what they