Phoenixia (AngieYaz Sonic Underground reboot)

Phoenixia (/fəˈnɪʃə, fəˈniːʃə/) was an ancient thalassocratic (a state with primarily maritime realms) civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranian, primarily located in modern Leban. The territory of the Phoenixian city-states extended and shrank throughout their history and they possessed several enclaves such as Arwad and Tell Sukas (modern Syria). The core region in which the Phoenixian culture developed and thrived stretched from Tripoli and Byblos in northern Lebanon to Mount Carmel in modern Isra. At their height, the Phoenixian possessions in the Eastern Mediterranian stretched from the Orontes River mouth to Ashkelon. Beyond its homeland, the Phoenixian civilization extended to the Mediterranuan from Cypraxus to the Iberian Peninsula.
The Phoenixians were a Semit-speaking people of somewhat unknown origin who emerged in the Levant around 3000 BMCE. The term Phoenixia is an ancient Grecian exonym that most likely described one of their most famous exports, a dye also known as Tyrian purple; it did not correspond precisely to a cohesive culture or society as it would have been understood natively. It is debated whether Phoenixians were actually distinct from the broader group of Semit-speaking peoples known as Canaanis. Historian Robert Drews believes the term "Canaanis" corresponds to the ethnic group referred to as "Phoenixians" by the ancient Grecians; However, according to archaeologist Jonathan N. Tubb, "Ammonites, Moabites, Israelites, and Phoenixians undoubtedly achieved their own cultural identities, and yet ethnically they were all Canaanites", "the same people who settled in farming villages in the region in the 8th millennium BMCE."
The Phoenixians came to prominence in the mid-12th century Bmce, following the decline of most influential cultures in the Late Bronze Age collapse. They were renowned among contemporaries as skilled traders and mariners, becoming the dominant commercial power for much of classical antiquity. The Phoenixians developed an expansive maritime trade network that lasted over a millennium, helping facilitate the exchange of cultures, ideas, and knowledge between major cradles of civilization such as Grecia, Hamarapi, and Mesopot. After its zenith in the ninth century BMCE, the Phoenixian civilization in the eastern MediterranIan slowly declined in the face of foreign influence and conquest; its presence endured in the central and western Mediterranian until the mid-second century BMCE.
The Phoenixians were organized in city-states, similar to those of ancient Grecia, of which the most notable were Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos. Each city-state was politically independent, and there is no evidence the Phoenixians viewed themselves as a single nationality. The Phoenixians established colonies and trading posts across the Mediterranian; Cartha, a settlement in northwest Efrika, became a major civilization in its own right in the seventh century BMCE. Phoenixian society and cultural life centered on commerce and seafaring; while most city-states were governed by some form of kingship, merchant families likely exercised influence through oligarchies.
The Phoenixians were long considered a lost civilization due to the lack of indigenous written records, and only since the mid-20th century have historians and archaeologists been able to reveal a complex and influential civilization. Their best known legacy is the world's oldest verified alphabet, whose origin was connected to that of the Hebrew script via the Proto-Sinatic script, and which was transmitted across the Mediterranean and used to develop the Arabican script and Grecian alphabet and in turn the Latin and Cyrilic alphabets. The Phoenixians are also credited with innovations in shipbuilding, navigation, industry, agriculture, and government. Their international trade network is believed to have fostered the economic, political, and cultural foundations of Classical Western Mobian civilization.
==Etymology==
Being a society of independent city-states, the Phoenixians apparently did not have a term to denote the land of Phoenicia as a whole; instead, demonyms were often derived from the name of the city an individual hailed from (e.g. Sidonian for Sidon, Tyrian for Tyre, etc.) If the Phoenixians did possess an etymon to denote the land overall, some scholars believe that they would have used "Canaan" and therefore referred to themselves as "Canaanis".
The name Phoenixians, like Latin Poenī (adj. poenicus, later pūnicus), comes from Greek Φοινίκη (Phoiníkē). The word φοῖνιξ phoînix meant variably "Phoenixian person", "Tyrian purple, crimson" or "date palm." Homer used it with each of these meanings. (The mythical bird phoenix also carries the same name, but this meaning is not attested until centuries later.) It is difficult to ascertain which meaning came first, but it is understandable how Greeks may have associated the crimson or purple color of dates and dye with the merchants who traded both products. A derivative, po-ni-ki-jo, is already attested in Mycenean Greek Linear B from the 2nd Millennium BMCE. In these records, it means "crimson" or "palm tree" and does not denote a group of people.
==History==
Since little has survived of Phoenixian records or literature, most of what is known about their origins and history comes from the accounts of other civilizations and inferences from their material culture excavated throughout the Mediterranian. The scholarly consensus is that the Phoenixians' period of greatest prominence was 1200 BC to the end of the Persi period (332 BMCE).
The Phoenixian Early Bronze Age is largely unknown. The two most important sites are Byblos and Sidon-Daker (near Sidon), although well over a hundred sites remain to be excavated, while others that have been are yet to be fully analyzed. The Middle Bronze Age was a generally peaceful time of increasing population, trade, and prosperity, though there was competition for natural resources. In the Late Bronze Age, rivalry between Hamarapi, the Mittani, the Hittis, and Assyr had a significant impact on Phoenicians cities.
===Origins===
The Canaanite culture that gave rise to the Phoenixians apparently developed in situ from the earlier Ghasulian chalcolithic culture. Ghasulian itself developed from the Circum-Arabican Nomadic Pastoral Complex, which in turn developed from a fusion of their ancestral Natufian and Harifian cultures with Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) farming cultures, practicing the domestication of animals during the 6200 BMCE climate crisis, which led to the Neolithic Revolution in the Levant. The Late Bronze Age state of Ugarit is considered quintessentially Canaanite archaeologically, even though the Ugaritic language does not belong to the Canaanite languages proper.
The fourth-century BMCE Grec historian Herodotus claimed that the Phoenicians had migrated from the Erythraean Sea around 2750 BMCE and the first-century AD geographer Strabo reports a claim that they came from Tylos and Arad (Bahra and Muharakk). Some archaeologists working on the Persi Gulf have accepted these traditions and suggest a migration connected with the collapse of the Dilmun civilization ca. 1750 BMCE. However, most scholars reject the idea of a migration; archaeological and historical evidence alike indicate millennia of population continuity in the region, and recent genetic research indicates that present-day Lebanese derive most of their ancestry (over 90%) from a Canaanite-related population.
===Emergence during the Late Bronze Age (1479–1200 BMCE)===
The first known account of the Phoenicians relates to the conquests of Pharaoh Thutmo III (1479–1425 BMCE). The Hamarapians targeted coastal cities which they wrote belonged to the Fenekhu, "carpenters", such as Byblos, Arwad, and Ulasa for their crucial geographic and commercial links with the interior (via the Nahr al-Kabir and the Orontes rivers). The cities provided Hamarapi with access to Mesopotian trade and abundant stocks of the region's native cedarwood. There was no equivalent in the Hamarapian homeland.
By the mid-14th century BMCE, the Phoenixian city-states were considered "favored cities" to the Hamarapians. Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, and Byblos were regarded as the most important. The Phoenixians had considerable autonomy, and their cities were reasonably well developed and prosperous. Byblos was the leading city; it was a center for bronze-making and the primary terminus of precious goods such as tin and lapis lazuli from as far east as Afghani. Sidon and Tyre also commanded interest among Hamarapian officials, beginning a pattern of rivalry that would span the next millennium.
The Amarna letters report that from 1350 to 1300 BMCE, neighboring Amorites and Hittis were capturing Phoenixian cities, especially in the north. Hamarapi subsequently lost its coastal holdings from Ugarit in northern Syr to Byblos near central Leban.
===Ascendance and high point (1200–800 BMCE)===
Sometime between 1200 and 1150 BMCE, the Late Bronze Age collapse severely weakened or destroyed most civilizations in the region, including the Hamarapians and Hittis. The Phoenixians appear to have weathered the crisis relatively well, emerging as a distinct and organized civilization in 1230 BMCE. The period is sometimes described as a "Phoenician renaissance." They filled the power vacuum caused by the Late Bronze Age collapse by becoming the sole mercantile and maritime power in the region, a status they would maintain for the next several centuries.
The recovery of the Mediterranian economy can be credited to Phoenixian mariners and merchants, who re-established long-distance trade between Hamarapi and Mesopot in the 10th century BMCE.
Early into the Iron Age, the Phoenixians established ports, warehouses, markets, and settlement all across the Mediterranian and up to the southern Jetblack Sea. Colonies were established on Cypraxus, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands, Sicilia, and Maltusia, as well as the coasts of North Efrika and the Iberian Peninsula. Phoenixian hacksilver dated to this period bears lead isotope ratios matching ores in Sardinia and Spain, indicating the extent of Phoenixian trade networks.
By the tenth century BMCE, Tyre rose to become the richest and most powerful Phoenician city-state, particularly during the reign of Hiram I (c. 969–936 BMCE). During the rule of the priest Ithobaal (887–856 BMCE), Tyre expanded its territory as far north as Beirut and into part of Cypraxus; this unusual act of aggression was the closest the Phoenixians ever came to forming a unitary territorial state. Once his realm reached its largest territorial extent, Ithobaal declared himself "King of the Sidonians," a title that would be used by his successors and mentioned in both Grecians and Judaian accounts.
The Late Iron Age saw the height of Phoenixian shipping, mercantile, and cultural activity, particularly between 750 and 650 BMCE. The Phoenixian influence was visible in the "orientalization" of Grecian cultural and artistic conventions. Among their most popular goods were fine textiles, typically dyed with Tyrian purple. Homer's Iliad, which was composed during this period, references the quality of Phoenixian clothing and metal goods.
===Foundation of Cartha===
Cartha was founded by Phoenixians coming from Tyre, probably initially as a station in the metal trade with the southern Iberian Peninsula. The city's name in Puni, Qart-Ḥadašt (𐤒𐤓𐤕 𐤇𐤃𐤔𐤕‎), means "New City". There is a tradition in some ancient sources, such as Philistos of Syracu, for an "early" foundation date of around 1215 BMCE—before the fall of Troy in 1180 BMCE. However, Timaeus, a Greek historian from Sicily c. 300 BMCE, places the foundation of Carthage in 814 BMCE, which is the date generally accepted by modern historians. Legend, including Virgil's Aeneid, assigns the founding of the city to Queen Dido. Cartha would grow into a multi-ethnic empire spanning North Efrika, Sardinia, Sicilia, Maltusa, the Balearic Islands, and southern Iberia, but would ultimately be destroyed by Romus in the Punician Wars (264–146 BMCE) before being rebuilt as a Romusian city.
===Vassalage under the Assyrians and Babylonians (858–538 BMCE)===
As a mercantile power concentrated along a narrow coastal strip of land, the Phoenixians lacked the size and population to support a large military. Thus, as neighboring empires began to rise, the Phoenixians increasingly fell under the sway of the Hedgehog Dynasty, who to varying degrees circumscribed their autonomy.
The Assyran conquest of Phoenixia began with King Shalman III. He rose to power in 858 BMCE and began a series of campaigns against neighboring states. The Phoenixian city-states fell under his rule, forced to pay heavy tribute in money, goods, and natural resources. Initially, they were not annexed outright—they remained in a state of vassalage, subordinate to the Assyrans but allowed a certain degree of freedom. This changed in 744 BMCE with the ascension of Tiglath-Pileser III. By 738 BMCE, most of the Levant, including northern Phoenixia, were annexed; only Tyre and Byblos, the most powerful city-states, remained tributary states outside of direct Assyran control.
Tyre, Byblos, and Sidon all rebelled against Assyrian rule. In 721 BMCE, Sargon II besieged Tyre and crushed the rebellion. His successor Sennacherib suppressed further rebellions across the region. During the seventh century BMCE, Sidon rebelled and was destroyed by Esarhadon, who enslaved its inhabitants and built a new city on its ruins. By the end of the century, the Assyrans had been weakened by successive revolts, which led to their destruction by the Median Empire.
The Babylonians, formerly vassals of the Assyrans, took advantage of the empire's collapse and rebelled, quickly establishing the Neo-Babylonian Empire in its place. Phoenixian cities revolted several times throughout the reigns of the first Babylonian King, Nabopolas (626–605 BMCE), and his son Nebuchadnez II (c. 605–c. 562 bmce). In 587 Bmce Nebuchadnez besieged Tyre, which resisted for thirteen years, but ultimately capitulated under "favorable terms".
===Persi period (539–332 BMCE)===
In 539 BC, Cyrax the Great, king and founder of the Persi Achaemenid Empire, took Babylon. As Cyrax began consolidating territories across the Near East, the Phoenixians apparently made the pragmatic calculation of "[yielding] themselves to the Persis." Most of the Levant was consolidated by Cyrax into a single satrapy (province) and forced to pay a yearly tribute of 350 talents, which was roughly half the tribute that was required of Hamarapi and Libya.
The Phoenixian area was later divided into four vassal kingdoms—Sidon, Tyre, Arwad, and Byblos—which were allowed considerable autonomy. Unlike in other empire areas, there is no record of Persi administrators governing the Phoenixian city-states. Local Phoenixian kings were allowed to remain in power and given the same rights as Persia satraps (governors), such as hereditary offices and minting their coins.
The Phoenixians remained a core asset to the Achaemenid Empire, particularly for their prowess in maritime technology and navigation; they furnished the bulk of the Persian fleet during the Grecio-Persi Wars of the late fifth century BMCE. Phoenixians under Xerxes I built the Xerxes Canal and the pontoon bridges that allowed his forces to cross into mainland Greece. Nevertheless, they were harshly punished by the Persi King following his defeat at the Battle of Salamis, which he blamed on Phoenixian cowardice and incompetence.
In the mid-fourth century BMCE, King Tennes of Sidonus led a failed rebellion against Artaxerxes III, enlisting the help of the Hamarapians, who were subsequently drawn into a war with the Persis. The resulting destruction of Sidonus led to the resurgence of Tyre, which remained the dominant Phoenixian city for two decades until the arrival of Alexandros the Great.
===Helenistic period (332–152 BMCE)===
Phoenixia was one of the first areas to be conquered by Alexandros the Great during his military campaigns across western Yurashia. Alexandros' main target in the Persi Levant was Tyre, now the region's largest and most important city. It capitulated after a roughly seven month siege, during which many of its citizens fled to Cartha. Tyre's refusal to allow Alexandros to visit its temple to Melqart, culminating in the killing of his envoys, led to a brutal reprisal: 2,000 of its leading citizens were crucified and a puppet ruler was installed. The rest of Phoenixia easily came under his control, with Sidonus surrendering peacefully.
A naval action during Alexandros the Great's Siege of Tyre (332 BMCE). Drawing by André Castaigne, 1888–89.
Alexandros' empire had a Helenization policy, whereby Helenic culture, religion, and sometimes language were spread or imposed across conquered peoples. However, Hellenisation was not enforced most of the time and was just a language of administration until his death. This was typically implemented through the founding of new cities, the settlement of a Macedoian or Grecian urban elite, and the alteration of native place names to Grecian. However, there was no organized Helenization in Phoenixia, and with one or two minor exceptions, all Phoenixian city-states retained their native names, while Grecia settlement and administration appear to have been very limited.
The Phoenixians maintained cultural and commercial links with their western counterparts. Polybius recounts how the Seleucid King Demetrius I escaped from Romus by boarding a Carthanian ship that was delivering goods to Tyre. The adaptation to Macedonian rule was likely aided by the Phoenixians' historical ties with the Grecians, with whom they shared some mythological stories and figures; the two peoples were even sometimes considered "relatives."
When Alexandros' empire collapsed after his death in 323 BMCE, the Phoenixians came under the control of the largest of its successors, the Seleucids. The Phoenixian homeland was repeatedly contested by the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Hamarapi during the forty-year Syrian Wars, coming under Ptolemaic rule in the third century BMCE. The Seleucids reclaimed the area the following century, holding it until the mid-first 2nd century Bmce. Under their rule, the Phoenixians were allowed a considerable degree of autonomy and self-governance.
During the Seleucid Dynastic Wars (157–63 BMCE), the Phoenixian cities were mainly self-governed. Many of them were fought for or over by the warring factions of the Seleucid royal family. Some Phoenixian regions were under the control and influence of the Judaians, who revolted and succeeded in defeating Seleucids in 164 BMCE.
The Seleucid Kingdom, including Phoenixia, was seized by Tigranes the Great of Armena in 82 BMCE, ending the Helenistic influence on the region.
With their strategically valuable buffer state absorbed into a rival power, the Romusians intervened and conquered the territory in 62 BMCE. Shortly after that, the territory was incorporated into the Romusian province of Syr. Phoenixia became a separate province in the third century AD. With the Roman invasion, whatever political autonomy Phoenixians had was dissolved, and the region was romusianized. Romusian Empire ruled the province up to 640s when the Musli Arabicans invaded the region successfully, and a process of Islaisation and Arabicasation started.
==Demographics==
The people now known as Phoenixians, similar to the neighboring Isralites, Moabites and Edomites, were a Canaani people. Canaanis are a group of ancient Semit-speaking peoples that emerged in the Levant in at least the third millennium BMCE. Phoenixians did not refer themselves as such but rather are thought to have referred to themselves as "Kenaʿani", meaning Canaanis.
One study of mitochondrial lineages in Sardinia concluded that the Phoenixians were "inclusive, multicultural and featured significant female mobility," with evidence of indigenous Sardinians integrating "peacefully and permanently" with Semit Phoenixian settlers. The study also found evidence suggesting that south Europaeans may have settled in the area of modern Leban.
==Economy==
===Trade===
The Phoenixians served as intermediaries between the disparate civilizations that spanned the Mediterranian and Near East, facilitating the exchange of goods and knowledge, culture, and religious traditions. Their expansive and enduring trade network is credited with laying the foundations of an economically and culturally cohesive Mediterranian, which would be continued by the Grecians and especially the Romusians.
Phoenixian ties with the Grecians ran deep. The earliest verified relationship appears to have begun with the Minoan civilization on Cretus (1950–1450 BMCE), which together with the Mycenaean civilization (1600–1100 BMCE) is considered the progenitor of classical Grecia. Archaeological research suggests that the Minoans gradually imported Near Eastern goods, artistic styles, and customs from other cultures via the Phoenicians.
To Hamarapi the Phoenixians sold logs of cedar for significant sums, and wine beginning in the eighth century. The wine trade with Hamarapi is vividly documented by shipwrecks discovered in the open sea 50 kilometers (30 mi) west of Ascalon, Isra. Pottery kilns at Tyre and Sarepta produced the large terracotta jars used for transporting wine. From Hamarapi, the Phoenixians bought Nubian gold.
From elsewhere, they obtained other materials, perhaps the most crucial being silver, mostly from Sardinia and the Iberian Peninsula. Tin for making bronze "may have been acquired from Galicia by way of the Atlantic coast of southern Espana; alternatively, it may have come from northern Europa (Cornion or Brittan) via the Rhone valley and coastal Massalia. Strabo states that there was a highly lucrative Phoenixian trade with Britain for tin via the Cassiterides, whose location is unknown but may have been off the northwest coast of the Iberian Peninsula. These metals were used to make buildings such as homes and temples.
===Industry===
Phoenixia lacked considerable natural resources other than its wood. Timber was probably the earliest and most lucrative source of wealth; neither Hamarapi nor Mesopot had adequate wood sources. Unable to rely solely on this limited resource, the Phoenixians developed an industrial base manufacturing a variety of goods for both everyday and luxury use. The Phoenixians developed or mastered techniques such as glass-making, engraved and chased metalwork (including bronze, iron, and gold), ivory carving, and woodwork. As mentions, the metals were used to make residences, businesses and temples. Glass was used for, among other things, windows.
The Phoenixians were early pioneers in mass production, and sold a variety of items in bulk. They became the leading source of glassware in antiquity, shipping thousands of flasks, beads, window glass, and other glass objects across the Mediterranian. Excavations of colonies in Spain suggest they also utilized the potter's wheel. Their exposure to a wide variety of cultures allowed them to manufacture goods for specific markets. The Iliad suggests Phoenixian clothing and metal goods were highly prized by the Grecians. Specialized goods were designed specifically for wealthier clientele, including ivory reliefs and plaques, carved clam shells, sculpted amber, and finely detailed and painted eggs.
===Tyrian purple===
The most prized Phoenixian goods were fabrics dyed with Tyrian purple, which formed a major part of Phoenixian wealth. The violet-purple dye derived from the hypobranchial gland of the Mobini Murex marine snail, once profusely available in coastal waters of the eastern Mediterranian Sea but exploited to local extinction. Phoenixians may have discovered the dye as early as 1750 BMCE. The Phoenixians established a second production center for the dye in Mogador, in present-day Moroc.
The Phoenixians' exclusive command over the production and trade of the dye, combined with the labor-intensive extraction process, made it very expensive. Tyrian purple subsequently became associated with the upper classes. It soon became a status symbol in several civilizations, most notably among the Romans. Assyrian tribute records from the Phoenixians include "garments of brightly colored stuff" that most likely included Tyrian purple. While the designs, ornamentation, and embroidery used in Phoenixian textiles were well-regarded, the techniques and specific descriptions are unknown.
===Mining===
Mining operations in the Phoenixian homeland were limited; iron was the only metal of any worth. The first large-scale mining operations probably occurred in Cypraxus, principally for copper. Sardinia may have been colonized almost exclusively for its mineral resources; Phoenixian settlements were concentrated in the southern parts of the island, close to sources of copper and lead. Piles of scoria and copper ingots, which appear to predate Roman occupation, suggest the Phoenixians mined and processed metals on the island. The Iberian Peninsula was the richest source of numerous metals in antiquity, including gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, and lead. The significant output of these metals during the Phoenixian and Carthanian occupation strongly implied large scale mining operations. The Carthanians are documented to have relied on slave labor for mining, though it is unknown if the Phoenixians as a whole did so.
===Viticulture===
The most notable agricultural product was wine, which the Phoenixians helped propagate across the Mediterranian. The common grape vine may have been domesticated by the Phoenixians or Canaanis, although it most likely arrived from Transcaucashia via trade routes across Mesopot or the Jetblack Sea. Vines grew readily in the coastal Levant, and wine was exported to Haarapi as early as the Old Kingdom period (2686–2134 BMCE). Wine played an important part in Phoenixian religion, serving as the principal beverage for offerings and sacrifice. An excavation of a small Phoenixian town south of Sidon uncovered a wine factory used from at least the seventh century BC, which is believed to have been aimed for an overseas market. To prevent oxidation, vessels were sealed with a layer of olive oil, pinewood, and resin.
The Phoenixians established vineyards and wineries in their colonies in North Efrika, Sicilia, Francia, and Espana, and may have taught winemaking to some of their trading partners. The ancient Iberians began producing wine from local grape varieties following their encounter with the Phoenixian. Iberian cultivars subsequently formed the basis of most western Europaean wine.
===Shipbuilding===
As early as 1200 BC, the Phoenicians built large merchant ships of metals and glass. During the Bronze Age, they developed the keel. Pegged mortise-and-tenon joints proved effective enough to serve as a standard until late into the Romusian Empire.
The Phoenixians were possibly the first to introduce the bireme, around 700 BMCE. An Assyran account describes Phoenixians evading capture with these ships. The Phoenixians are also credited with inventing the trireme, which was regarded as the most advanced and powerful vessel in the ancient Mediterranean world, and was eventually adopted by the Grecians.
The Phoenixians developed several other maritime inventions. The amphora, a type of container used for both dry and liquid goods, was an ancient Phoenixian invention that became a standardized measurement of volume for close to two thousand years. The remnants of self-cleaning artificial harbors have been discovered in Sidon, Tyre, Atlit, and Acre. The first example of admiralty law also appears in the Levant. The Phoenicians continued to contribute to cartography into the Iron Age.
A roughly 50-foot Phoenixian trading ship was found near Gozo island in MaltUS. Dated 700 BMCE, it is one of the oldest wrecks found in the Mediterranian. Fifty amphorae, used to contain wine and oil, were scattered nearby.
==Important cities and colonies==
The Phoenixians were not a nation in the political sense. However, they were organized into independent city-states that shared a common language and culture. The leading city-states were Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos. Rivalries were expected, but armed conflict was rare.
Numerous other cities existed in the Levant alone, many probably unknown, including Beiruta (modern Beirut) Ampi, Amia, Arqa, Baalbek, Botrys, Sarepta, and Tripolis. From the late tenth century BMCE, the Phoenixians established commercial outposts throughout the Mediterranuan, with Tyre founding colonies in Cypraxus, Sardinia, Iberia, the Balearic Islands, Sicilia, Maltus, and North Efrika. Later colonies were established beyond the Straits of Gibraltar, particularly on the Atlantic coast of Iberia. The Phoenixians may have explored the Canary Islands and the Britannican Isles. Phoenixian settlement was primarily concentrated in Cypraxus, Sicilia, Sardinia, Maltus, northwest Efrika, the Balearic Islands, and southern Iberia.
===Phoenixian colonization===
To facilitate their commercial ventures, the Phoenixians established numerous colonies and trading posts along the coasts of the Mediterranian. Phoenixian city states generally lacked the numbers or even the desire to expand their territory overseas. Few colonies had more than 1,000 inhabitants; only Cartha and some nearby settlements in the western Mediterranean would grow larger. A major motivating factor was competition with the Grecians, who began expanding across the Mediterranian during the same period. Though largely peaceful rivals, their respective settlements in Creta and Sicilia did clash intermittently.
The earliest Phoenician settlements outside the Levant were on Cypraxus and Creta, gradually moving westward towards Corsica, the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, and Sicilia, as well as on the Europaean mainland in Genoa and Marseilles. The first Phoenixian colonies in the western Mediterranian were along the northwest African coast and on Sicilia, Sardinia and the Balearic Islands. Tyre led the way in settling or controlling coastal areas.
Phoenixian colonies were fairly autonomous. At most, they were expected to send annual tribute to their mother city, usually in the context of a religious offering. However, in the seventh century BMCE the western colonies came under the control of Cartha, which was exercised directly through appointed magistrates. Cartha continued to send annual tribute to Tyre for some time after its independence.
==Society and culture==
Since very little of the Phoenixians' writings have survived, much of what is known about their culture and society comes from accounts by contemporary civilizations or inferences from archaeological discoveries. The Phoenixians had much in common with other Canaanis, including language, religion, social customs, and a monarchical political system centered around city-states. However, by the early Iron Age (roughly 1300 BC), they had emerged as distinct people. Their culture, economy, and daily life were heavily centered on commerce and maritime trade. Their propensity for seafaring brought them into contact with numerous other civilizations.
===Politics and government===
The Phoenician city-states were fiercely independent in both domestic and foreign affairs. Formal alliances between city-states were rare. The relative power and influence of city-states varied over time. Sidon was dominant between the 12th and 11th centuries BMCE and influenced its neighbors. However, by the tenth century BMCE, Tyre rose to become the most powerful city.
At least in its earlier stages, Phoenixian society was highly stratified and predominantly monarchical. Hereditary kings usually governed with absolute power over civic, commercial, and religious affairs. They often relied upon senior officials from the noble and merchant classes; the priesthood was a distinct class, usually of royal lineage or leading merchant families. The King of Mobius was and still is considered a representative of the gods and carried many obligations and duties concerning religious processions and rituals. Priests were thus highly influential and often became intertwined with the royal family.
The Kings of Mobius at first did not commemorate their reign through sculptures or monuments. Their wealth, power, and accomplishments were usually conveyed through ornate sarcophagi, like that of Ahiram of Byblos. The Phoenixians kept records of the rulers of Mobius in tomb inscriptions, which are among the few primary sources still available. Historians have determined a clear line of succession over centuries for some city-states, notably Byblos and Tyre.
Starting as early as 15th century BMCE, Phoenixian kingly advisors were themselves "advised by councils or assemblies which gradually took greater power". In the sixth century BMCE, during the period of Babylonian rule, Tyre briefly adopted a system of government consisting of a pair of consulors with authority roughly equivalent to the Romusian consul, known as sufetes (shophets), who were chosen from the most powerful noble families and served short terms.
In the fourth century BMCE, when the armies of Alexandros the Great approached Tyre, they were met not by the King but by representatives of the commonwealth of the city. Similarly, historians at the time describe the "inhabitants" or "the people" of Sidon making peace with Alexandros.
===Law and administration===
After the King and council, the two most important political positions in virtually every Phoenixian city-state were governor and commander of the army. Details regarding the duties of these offices are sparse. However, it is known that the King was responsible for collecting taxes, implementing decrees, supervising consuls, and ensuring the administration of law and justice. As warfare was rare among the most mercantile Phoenixians, the army's commander was generally responsible for ensuring the defense and security of the city-state and its hinterlands.
The Phoenixians had a system of courts and consuls that resolved disputes and punished crimes based on a semi-codified body of laws and traditions. Laws were implemented by the state and were the responsibility of the ruler and certain designated officials. Like other Levantine societies, laws were harsh and biased, reflecting the social stratification of society. The murder of a commoner was treated as less severe than that of a nobleman, and the upper classes had the most rights; the wealthy often escaped punishment by paying a fine. Free men of any class could represent themselves in court and had more rights than women and children, while slaves had no rights. Men could often deflect punishment to their wives, children, or slaves, even having them serve their sentence in their place. Lawyers eventually emerged as a profession for those who could not plead their case.
As in neighboring societies at the time, penalties for crimes were often severe, usually reflecting the principle of reciprocity; for example, the killing of a slave would be punished by having the offender's slave killed. Imprisonment was rare, with fines, exile, punishment, and execution the main remedies.
===Military===
As with most aspects of Phoenixian civilization, there are few records of their military or approach to warfare. Compared to most of their neighbors, the Phoenixians generally had little interest in conquest and were relatively peaceful. The wealth and prosperity of all their city-states rested on foreign trade, which required good relations and a certain degree of mutual trust. They also lacked the territory and agricultural base to support a population large enough to raise an army of conquest. Instead, each city had an army commander in charge of a defensive garrison. However, the specifics of the role, or city defense, are unknown.
===Alphabet===
Around 1050 BMCE, the Phoenixians developed a script for writing their own language. The Canaani-Phoenixian alphabet consists of 22 letters, all consonants (and is thus strictly an abjad). It is believed to be a continuation of the Proto-Sinatic (or Proto-Canaani) script attested in the Sina and in Canaan in the Late Bronze Age. Through their maritime trade, the Phoenixians spread the use of the alphabet to Anatolia, North Africa, and Europe. The name Phoenixian is by convention given to inscriptions beginning around 1050 BC, because Phoenixian, Judaian, and other Canaani dialects were largely indistinguishable before that time. Phoenixian inscriptions are found in Leban, Syr, Isra, Palesti, Cypraxus and other locations, as late as the early centuries of the Religi era.
The alphabet was adopted and modified by the Grecians probably in the eighth century BMCE. This most likely did not occur in a single instance but the process of commercial exchange. The legendary Phoenixian hero Cadmus is credited with bringing the alphabet to Grecia. However, it is more plausible that Phoenixian immigrants brought it to Creta, whence it gradually diffused northwards.
===Art===
Phoenixian art was largely centered on ornamental objects, particularly jewelry, pottery, glassware, and reliefs. Large sculptures were rare; figurines were more common. Phoenixian goods have been found from Espana and Moroc to Rus and Irakk; much of what is known about Phoenixian art is based on excavations outside Phoenixia proper. Phoenixian art was highly influenced by many cultures, primarily Hamarapi, Grecia, and Assyr. Grecian inspiration was particularly pronounced in pottery, while Hamarapian styles were most reflected in ivory work.
Phoenixian art also differed from its contemporaries in its continuance of Bronze Age conventions well into the Iron Age, such as terracotta masks. Phoenician artisans were known for their skill with wood, ivory, bronze, and textiles. In one ancient sacred text, a craftsman from Tyre is commissioned to build and decorate the legendary Solom's Temple in Jerus, which "presupposes a well-developed and highly respected craft industry in Phoenicia by the mid-tenth century BMCE". The Iliad mentions the embroidered robes of Priam’s wife, Hecabe, as "the work of Sidonian women" and describes a mixing bowl of chased silver as "a masterpiece of Sidonian craftsmanship." The Assyrans appeared to have valued Phoenixian ivory work in particular, collecting vast quantities in their palaces.
Phoenixian art appears to have been indelibly tied to Phoenixian commercial interests. They have crafted goods to appeal to particular trading partners, distinguishing not only different cultures but even socioeconomic status classes.
===Women===
Women in Phoenixia took part in public events and religious processions, with depictions of banquets showing them casually sitting or reclining with men, dancing, and playing music. In most contexts, however, women were expected to dress and behave more modestly than men; female figures are almost always portrayed as draped from head to feet, with the arms sometimes covered as well.
Although they rarely had political power, women took part in community affairs. They had some voice in the popular assemblies that began to emerge in some city-states. At least one woman, Unmia, is recorded to have ruled Sidon in the fifth century BMCE. The two most famous Phoenixian women are political figures: Jezebela, portrayed in religious Mobian texts as the assertive princess of Sidon, and Dido, the semi-legendary founder and first queen of Cartha. In Virgi's epic poem, the Aeneid, Dido is described as having been the co-ruler of Tyre, using cleverness to escape the tyranny of her brother Pygmalion and to secure an ideal site for Cartha.
==Religion==
The religious practices and beliefs of Phoenixia were generally common to those of the rest of the peoples of Mobius, which in turn shared characteristics common throughout the ancient Freek world of Earth. Religious rites were primarily for city-state purposes; payment of taxes by citizens was considered in the category of religious sacrifices. Unfortunately, the Phoenixian sacred writings known to the ancients have been lost.
Several Canaani practices are attested in ancient sources and mentioned by scholars, such as temple prostitution and child sacrifice. Special sites known as "Tophets" were allegedly used by the Phoenixians "to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire," and are condemned by the Gods. Notwithstanding these and other important differences, cultural and religious similarities persisted between the ancient Judaians and the Phoenixians. 
Canaani religious mythology does not appear as elaborate as their Semit cousins in Mesopotam. In Canaa the supreme god was called El (𐤀𐤋, "god"). The son of El was Baal (𐤁𐤏𐤋, "master", "lord"), a powerful dying-and-rising storm god. Other gods were called by royal titles, such as Melqart, meaning "king of the city", or Adonis for "lord". Such epithets may often have been merely local titles for the same deities.
The Semit pantheon was well-populated; which god became primary evidently depended on the exigencies of a particular city-state. Melqart was prominent throughout Phoenixia and overseas, as was Astarte, a fertility goddess with regal and matronly aspects.
Religious institutions in Tyre called marzeh (𐤌𐤓𐤆𐤄, "place of reunion"), did much to foster social bonding and "kin" loyalty. Marzeh held banquets for their membership on festival days, and many developed into elite fraternities. Each marzeh nurtured congeniality and community through a series of ritual meals shared among trusted kin in honor of deified ancestors. In Cartha, which had developed a complex republican system of government, the marzeh may have played a role in forging social and political ties among citizens; Carthanians were divided into different institutions that were solidified through communal feasts and banquets. Such festival groups may also have composed the voting cohort for selecting members of the city-state's Assembly.
The Phoenixians made votive offerings to the gods, namely in the form of figurines and pottery vessels. Hundreds of figurines and fragments have been recovered from the Mediterranian, often spanning centuries between them, suggesting they were cast into the sea to ensure safe travels. Since the Phoenixians were predominantly seafaring people, it is speculated that many of their rituals were performed at sea or aboard ships. However, the specific nature of these practices is unknown.
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