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The Nora Stone, found in Sardinia, Italy, in the 18th century, is the most ancient Phoenician inscription ever found outside the Phoenician heartland (c. 8th–9th century BC). It is indicative of the expansive trade network the Phoenicians established in ancient times. (National Archaeological Museum, Cagliari, Italy)
The name Phoenicia is an ancient Greek exonym that did not correspond precisely to a cohesive culture or society as it would have been understood natively. [7] [8] Therefore, the division between Canaanites and Phoenicians around 1200 BC is regarded as a modern and artificial division. [6] [9]
The name Phoenicia is an ancient Greek exonym that did not correspond precisely to a cohesive culture or society as it would have been understood natively. [8] [9] Therefore, the division between Canaanites and Phoenicians around 1200 BC is regarded as a modern and artificial construct. [7] [10]
Phoenicia was an ancient Semitic civilization originating in the coastal strip of the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. [6] [7] The Phoenicians were organized in city-states along the northern Levantine coast, including Tyre, Sidon and Byblos. [8]
Archaeological evidence of prehistoric human settlement on the island of Sardinia is present in the form of nuraghes and other prehistoric monuments, which dot the land. The recorded history of Sardinia begins with its contacts with the various people who sought to dominate western Mediterranean trade in classical antiquity: Phoenicians, Punics and Romans.
The Phoenicians founded the colony of Gadir (now Cádiz) near Tartessos. The foundation of Cádiz, the oldest continuously inhabited city in western Europe, is traditionally dated to 1104 BC, though, as of 2004, no archaeological discoveries date back further than the 9th century BC.
The Phoenician colonial system was motivated by economic opportunity, not expansionist ideology, and as such, the Phoenicians lacked the numbers or even the desire to establish an "empire" overseas. The colonies were therefore independent city-states, though most were relatively small, probably having a population of less than 1,000.
Ancient Greek authors sometimes referred to the mixed Punic inhabitants of North Africa ('Libya') as 'Liby-Phoenicians'. [16] It is unclear what term, if any, the Carthaginians used to refer to themselves. The Phoenician homeland in the Levant was natively known as 𐤐𐤕 (Pūt) and its people as the 𐤐𐤍𐤉𐤌 (Pōnnim).