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Phoenicia was an ancient civilization in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal plains of what is now Lebanon. Phoenician civilization was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread right across the Mediterranean during the first millennium BC. Though ancient boundaries of such city-centered cultures fluctuated, the city of Tyre seems to have been the southernmost. Sarepta between Sidon and Tyre, is the most thoroughly excavated city of the Phoenician homeland. Although the people of the region called themselves the Kena'ani, the name Phoenicia became common thanks to the Greeks who called the land Phoiniki - Φοινίκη (Phoiníkē; see also List of traditional Greek place names). This term had been borrowed from Ancient Egyptian Fnkhw "Syrians". The Greek word for Phoenician was synonymous with the colour purple/red or crimson, (phoinix), through its close association with the famous dye Tyrian purple (cf also Phoenix). The dye was used in ancient textile trade, and highly desired. The Phoenicians became known as the 'Purple People'. The Phoenicians often traded by means of a galley, which is a man-powered ship.
The Phoenicians, most likely a Semitic people, spoke the Phoenician language. In addition to their many inscriptions, the Phoenicians, contrary to some reports, wrote many books that have not survived. Evangelical Preparation by Eusebius of Caesarea quotes extensively from Philo of Byblos and Sanchuniathon. Furthermore, the Phoenician Punic colonies of North Africa continued to be a source of knowledge about the Phoenicians. Saint Augustine knew at least a smattering of Punic and occasionally uses it to explain cognate words found in Hebrew. The name of his mother, Saint Monica, is said to be of Punic origin as well.
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A Bequest Unearthed, Phoenicia - Guide to the origin, history, geography, culture, industry, crafts, trade, language, and wars of the Canaanite Phoenicians.
Meta Description: [ The largest, comprehensive comilation of studies about the Phoenicians, Punic, Canaanites. ]
Ancient Phoenicia - The Reluctant Empire - Articles on its history with images..
Hellenes and Phoenicians - As written by Herodotus.
History of Phoenicia - A nation that was not a centralised one, like Greece, but a congeries of homogeneous tribes, who had never been amalgamated into a single political entity, and who clung to the idea of separate independence by George Rawlinson, 1889 by subscription.
Meta Description: [ History of Phoenicia Book by George Rawlinson; 1889 ]
History of the Phoenicians - Chronicles the history from 3000 B.C. to 634 A.D. on the invasions, sieges and plunders.
Meta Description: [ Comprehensive studies on of everything Canaanite Phoenicians in Lebanon, Israel, Syria, world ]
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Phoenicia - An in-depth article on the history.
Meta Description: [ The history of Phoenicia and the Phoenicians, Phoenician city states and Phoenician colonies ]
Phoenicia's Hall of Maps - Indicates the names of cities, the colonies, and trading posts.
Meta Description: [ Comprehensive studies on of everything Canaanite Phoenicians in Lebanon, Israel, Syria, world ]
Phoenician Colonies - An article on colonization strategy with images and a map.
Meta Description: [ Comprehensive studies on of everything Canaanite Phoenicians in Lebanon, Israel, Syria, world ]
Phoenician History Timeline - A chronological list of events.
Meta Description: [ Comprehensive studies on of everything Canaanite Phoenicians in Lebanon, Israel, Syria, world ]
Phoenicians - The history and culture.
Table of the Phoenician Alphabet - Names of letters, phonetics, derivatives and modern equivalents.
Meta Description: [ Comprehensive studies on of everything Canaanite Phoenicians in Lebanon, Israel, Syria, world ]
The Ancient World -Phoenicians - Explorers, including images.
The Carthaginian Attack on Sicily - An excerpt from the writings of Herodotus, 480 B.C.E.
The Phoenician Experience - Summarizes research into the Phoenicians, their ships and sea trade, and their cities.
Meta Description: [ The Phoenicians, their cedar ships and sea trade in the ancient Mediterranean, Phoenician alphabet, Phoenicians, Carthage and cities in Phoenicia, Lebanese history and legends, Lebanon's epic heritage by Sanford Holst ]
Tyre - A thorough, historical account of the ancient city.
| Lebanon geneticists trace link to Phoenicians - 22 Nov 08 | |
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