Phoenicia

Because of their many accomplishments, the ancient Phoenicians are often written about, but comprehensive works about them are comparatively rare. This history by George Rawlinson, first published in 1889, is one of the exceptions. His vivid portrait shows them to be incredibly daring navigators; intrepid merchants who brought the essentials and amenities of civilization to western Asia, southern Europe, and northern Africa; courageous and resourceful defenders of their great cities against the most powerful empires of the ancient world; designers and builders of the first ships capable of sailing the open ocean; inventors of the world’s first practical alphabet; skilled craftsmen whose services and products were sought after by foreign kings and nations. Their merchants were honored and respected for their honesty and the quality of their goods. They were developers of much of the mining and metallurgical technology that made the Bronze Age possible.Specific accomplishments of the Phoenician league of independent city states which still resonate in our own era, include the design and decoration of the Temple of Solomon, one of the architectural wonders of the world. They were the first to circumnavigate Africa, two thousand years before the Portuguese managed the feat. They founded the great Carthaginian state that contended with Rome for domination of the Mediterranean basin. They conducted the heroic defenses of Tyre against the Assyrians, Persians and Alexander the Great, yet their pragmatic approach to foreign relations enabled them to survive and prosper in spite of the invasions by a series of overwhelmingly powerful and ruthless conquerors. Their essential pragmatism was probably the reason their ancient culture and religion (a pagan religion marred by alleged child sacrifice and temple prostitution) were, in the end, quietly absorbed into those of Greece, Rome, and, ultimately, Christianity without a serious struggle. Pragmatism may also be the reason that they never created a great literature that would have perpetuated their renown. For them, the alphabet was merely a practical tool of commerce. Read more