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The Phoenicians were an ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon. They developed a maritime civilization which expanded and contracted throughout history, with the core of their culture stretching from Arwad in modern Syria to Mount Carmel. The Phoenicians extended their cultural influence through trade and colonization throughout the Mediterranean, from Cyprus to the Iberian Peninsula, evidenced by thousands of Phoenician inscriptions.

The Phoenicians directly succeeded the Bronze Age Canaanites, continuing their cultural traditions after the decline of most major Mediterranean basin cultures in the Late Bronze Age collapse and into the Iron Age without interruption. They called themselves Canaanites and referred to their land as Canaan, but the territory they occupied was notably smaller than that of Bronze Age Canaan. 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. Therefore, the division between Canaanites and Phoenicians around 1200 BC is regarded as a modern and artificial construct.

The Phoenicians, known for their prowess in trade, seafaring and navigation, dominated commerce across classical antiquity and developed an expansive maritime trade network lasting over a millennium. This network facilitated cultural exchanges among major cradles of civilization, such as Mesopotamia, Greece and Egypt. The Phoenicians established colonies and trading posts across the Mediterranean; Carthage, a settlement in northwest Africa, became a major civilization in its own right in the seventh century BC.

The Phoenicians were organized in city-states, similar to those of ancient Greece, of which the most notable were Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos. Each city-state was politically independent, and there is no evidence the Phoenicians viewed themselves as a single nationality. While most city-states were governed by some form of kingship, merchant families probably exercised influence through oligarchies. After reaching its zenith in the ninth century BC, the Phoenician civilization in the eastern Mediterranean gradually declined due to external influences and conquests such as by the Neo-Assyrian Empire and Achaemenid Empire. Yet, their presence persisted in the central, southern and western Mediterranean until the destruction of Carthage in the mid-second century BC. — Read more about Phoenicia, its mythology and language

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Temple of Azizos in Bziza

The Roman temple of Bziza is a well-preserved first century AD building dedicated to Azizos, a personification of the morning star in ancient Arab polytheism. This Roman temple lends the modern Lebanese town of Bziza its current name, as Bziza is a corruption of Beth Azizo meaning the house or temple of Azizos. Azizos was identified as Ares by Emperor Julian.

The tetrastyle prostyle building has two doors that connect the pronaos to a square cella. To the back of the temple lie the remains of the adyton where images of the deity once stood. The ancient temple functioned as an aedes, the dwelling place of the deity. The temple of Bziza was converted into a church and underwent architectural modification during two phases of Christianization; in the Early Byzantine period and later in the Middle Ages. The church, colloquially known until modern times as the Lady of the Pillars, fell into disrepair. Despite the church's condition, Christian devotion was still maintained in the nineteenth century in one of the temple's niches. The temple of Bziza is featured on multiple stamps issued by the Lebanese state. (Full article...)

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Phoenician mythology • show another

A relief of Allani ("Allatum") from Yazılıkaya.

Allani, also known under the Akkadian name Allatu (or Allatum), was the Hurrian goddess of the underworld. She was also associated with the determination of fate. She was closely linked with Išḫara, and they could be invoked or receive offerings together. She also developed connection with other underworld deities from neighboring cultures, such as Mesopotamian Ereshkigal (who eventually came to be equated with her), Anatolian Sun goddess of the Earth and Lelwani, and possibly Ugaritic Arsay. It is presumed she was chiefly worshiped in western areas inhabited by the Hurrians, though the location of her main cult center is uncertain. She is attested in texts from sites such as Tigunani, Tuttul and Ugarit. She was also incorporated into the Mesopotamian pantheon, and was venerated in Ur, Nippur and Sippar. Hittite sources mentioning her are known too. (Full article...)

List of mythology articles
Sanchuniathon Baal El (deity) Astarte Adon Eshmun Melqart Resheph Tanit Dea Gravida Hadad Yam (god) Moloch Marqod Kothar-wa-Khasis Heliopolitan Triad Kotharat Anat Asherah Dumuzid Nikkal Qetesh Shahar (god) Shalim Shapash Taautus Baʽalat Gebal

Images

Image 1Painting by Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini (1731) titled Young Hannibal Swears Enmity to Rome (from Punic people)
Image 2Skull of King Tabnit of Sidon (reigned c. 549 BC – c. 539 BC), now in the Istanbul Archaeology Museums (from Phoenicia)
Image 3Tomb of King Hiram I of Tyre, located in the village of Hanaouay, in southern Lebanon (from Phoenicia)
Image 4Achaemenid-era coin of Abdashtart I of Sidon, who is seen at the back of the chariot, behind the Persian King (from Phoenicia)
Image 5Sicily at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War (from Punic people)
Image 6Major Phoenician trade networks (c. 1200–800 BC) (from Phoenicia)
Image 7Phoenicians build pontoon bridges for Xerxes I of Persia during the second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC (1915 drawing by A. C. Weatherstone). (from Phoenicia)
Image 8Face bead; mid-4th–3rd century BC; glass; height: 2.7 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (from Phoenicia)
Image 9Phoenician faces. Glass from Olbia, 4th century BC. The bold pools of color and detailed hair give a Greek impression. (from Phoenicia)
Image 1019th-century depiction of Phoenician sailors and merchants. The importance of trade to the Phoenician economy led to a gradual sharing of power between the King and assemblies of merchant families. (from Phoenicia)
Image 11Sarcophagus of Ahiram, which bears the oldest inscription of the Phoenician alphabet. National Museum of Beirut. (from Phoenicia)
Image 12An Etruscan tomb (c. 350 BC) depicting a man wearing an all-purple toga picta (from Phoenicia)
Image 13Oinochoe; 800–700 BC; terracotta; height: 24.1 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City, US) (from Phoenicia)
Image 14Map of Phoenician (yellow labels) and Greek (red labels) colonies around 8th to 6th century BC (with German legend) (from Phoenicia)
Image 15Ruins of the Punic and then Roman town of Tharros (from Punic people)
Image 16Two bronze fragments from an Assyrian palace gate depicting the collection of tribute from the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon (859–824 BC). British Museum. (from Phoenicia)
Image 17Ruins of the ancient Phoenician city of Motya, Sicily, present-day Italy (from Phoenicia)
Image 18Phoenician metal bowl with hunting scene (8th century BC). The clothing and hairstyle of the figures are Egyptian. At the same time, the subject matter of the central scene conforms with the Mesopotamian theme of combat between man and beast. Phoenician artisans frequently adapted the styles of neighboring cultures. (from Phoenicia)
Image 19Phoenician sarcophagi found in Cádiz, Spain, thought to have been imported from the Phoenician homeland around Sidon. Archaeological Museum of Cádiz. (from Phoenicia)
Image 20Figure of Ba'al with raised arm, 14th–12th century BC, found at ancient Ugarit (Ras Shamra site), a city at the far north of the Phoenician coast. Musée du Louvre. (from Phoenicia)
Image 21Female figurines from Tyre (c. 1000–550 BC). National Museum of Beirut. (from Phoenicia)
Image 22Earring from a pair, each with four relief faces; late fourth–3rd century BC; gold; overall: 3.5 x 0.6 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (from Phoenicia)
Image 23A naval action during Alexander the Great's Siege of Tyre (332 BC). Drawing by André Castaigne, 1888–89. (from Phoenicia)
Image 24The Capuan bust, reputedly of Hannibal (from Punic people)
Image 25Map of Phoenicia, trade routes and the Phoenician colony of Carthage (from Punic people)
Image 26Mortise and tenon joinery in the Mazarron 1 Phoenician shipwreck. Phoenicians pioneered the pegged mortise and tenon joinery, which came to be known as Phoenician joints (from Phoenicia)
Image 27aDNA of ancient Mediterranean (incl. 30 Punic) samples clustering with contemporary populations (from Punic people)
Image 28Stela from Tyre with Phoenician inscriptions (c. 4th century BC). National Museum of Beirut. (from Phoenicia)

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Gisco was a Carthaginian general who served during the closing years of the First Punic War (264–239 BC) and took a leading part in the events which sparked the Mercenary War. He was a citizen of the city state of Carthage, which was located in what is now Tunisia. His date of birth and age at death are both unknown, as are his activities prior to his rise to prominence towards the end of the First Punic War.

When the Carthaginians conceded defeat in the war in 241 BC, Gisco was commander of the major base of Lilybaeum (modern Marsala) on Sicily, subordinate to Hamilcar Barca, the overall Carthaginian commander on the island. On being ordered to negotiate a peace treaty, Hamilcar retired to Carthage in a rage, leaving Gisco, as the next most senior commander, in charge of negotiations with the Romans. These resulted in the Treaty of Lutatius, which ended the war. By this time the troops whom he had sent from Sicily to Africa to be repatriated were in a mutinous state over a pay dispute, and Gisco, who had a good reputation with them, was hastily recalled to deal with the situation. The discontent seemed to have abated when, for some unknown reason, discipline broke down. Several soldiers insisted that no deal with Carthage was acceptable, a riot broke out and dissenters were stoned to death. Gisco and his staff were taken prisoner and his treasury was seized. (Full article...)

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Phoenician inscriptions & language • show another

The Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions, also known as Northwest Semitic inscriptions, are the primary extra-Biblical source for understanding of the societies and histories of the ancient Phoenicians, Hebrews and Arameans. Semitic inscriptions may occur on stone slabs, pottery ostraca, ornaments, and range from simple names to full texts. The older inscriptions form a Canaanite–Aramaic dialect continuum, exemplified by writings which scholars have struggled to fit into either category, such as the Stele of Zakkur and the Deir Alla Inscription.

The Northwest Semitic languages are a language group that contains the Aramaic language, as well as the Canaanite languages including Phoenician and Hebrew. (Full article...)

List of Phoenician inscription articles
Ahiram sarcophagus Byblian royal inscriptions Osorkon Bust Baal Lebanon inscription Baalshillem Temple Boy Cippi of Melqart Marseille Tariff Phoenician language Nora Stone Yehawmilk Stele Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum Eshmunazar II sarcophagus

Did you know (auto-generated) • load new

... that Muhammad Khaznadar's museum was said to have "surpassed every other museum in the world" in Phoenician and Carthaginian antiquities?
... that Bochart's 1646 Geographia Sacra seu Phaleg et Canaan was the first full-length book devoted to the Phoenicians?
... that alongside a 7th-century BC Phoenician shipwreck, two additional wrecks from various historical periods were unearthed in Bajo de la Campana, situated off the coast of Cartagena, Spain?
... that the deity of the Phoenician sanctuary of Kharayeb remains unidentified due to the absence of names of specific gods in unearthed inscriptions?
... that the earliest-known Phoenician inscriptions were found near Bethlehem?
... that the sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II, the Phoenician king of Sidon, is one of only three ancient Egyptian sarcophagi unearthed outside Egypt?