The+Phoenician+Traders

The Phoenician Traders  by Connie
“…The Phoenicians turned to the sea and by the eleventh century B.C. had become the greatest traders, shipbuilders, navigators, and colonizers before the Greeks.” From Civilization Past & Present.

“By about 2500 B.C.E. Phoenician merchants and ships already dominated trade in the Mediterranean basin.” From Traditions & Encounters.

These are some quotes from several very credible sources that mentioned the greatnesss of the Phoenician achievements. Even today, people look at what the Phoenicians were able of, and use that knowledge as a guide to their economic lives. Dr. Habib Chamoun-Nicolas wrote a book called “Negotiate like a Phoenician”, relating the skills that the ancient people had in ancient history to what we should aim to achieve in present day to succeed. Dr. Habib Chamoun talks extensively about the alphabets that the Phoenicians have “invented”, and the Phoenicians’ ability and wisdom for negotiation. Another important work done about the Phoenicians was by Sanford Holst. Sanford Holst presented at the Annual Conference of the World History Association that he slightly doubts the accuracy in the timing of the events of the Phoenicians. However he introduced the Phoenicians with respect and spoke greatly of their well known advantages and abilities. From all these general impressions presented so far, we can see that the Phoenicians are much appreciated and admired by the majority of the world. **The location of the Phoenicians gave them the time to succeed in trade and therefore thrive as a civilization.** Read on to figure out exactly how they did it.

Around 1200 BC, A group of people settled in a piece of land in the Mediterranean filled with deserts. The land was too dry and agriculture simply wasn’t possible, so these people lived on fishing. This location, however, was very convenient for trade. It is a junction to both land and sea routes. And with the extra amount of time that they spent on sea instead of farming, these people developed incredible navigational skills, created a trade web and made many colonies and settlements. They successfully developed a culture based on navigation and trade. People today call this cultural group the Phoenicians. ￼￼ ￼ ￼

(http://syrialooks.blogspot.com/)

When the Phoenicians first started to navigate, they were timid and careful like all other starters. They hugged the shores and rarely lost sight of land before they were sure of their direction. Their canoes were made out of tree trunks, hollowed out very simply with hatchets and fire. ￼ (http://www.archis.nl/aB2002/ABeng/D5309.htm)

**The Phoenicians developed a complex alphabet writing system.** It was a semitic language in cuneiform script, similar to Hebrew and Moebite. An alphabet system was crucial and was definately a plus for the Phoenicians. It helped them with record keeping and organization in trade and commerce. Without the alphabets, the Phoenicians wouldn’t have been able to develope such a mercantile society. (http://phoenicia.org/alphabet.html)

￼ (http://www.designingwithtype.com/items/itemsPhoenician.html)

**Sailing very regularly, the Phoenicians also developed other skills. Their became extremely efficient storers**. Merchandise and weapons were all very neatly arranged in an incredibly small space. This was an advantage to efficiency overall.The Phoenicians were also able to adopt to different tates of different buyers in different countries. This was a skill that helped the Phoenicians in succesful and stable commerce and trade.

**After spending alot of their time on the ocean, the Phoenicians developed many skills and knowledge on the ocean, which they used greatly in their advantage.** They knew the charaterisitcs of the seasons and how the weather and tides change accordingly. The characterisitcs of different currents and winds also helped them prevent accidents and use in their advantage. They also knew how to use astronomy to give them direction. The Phoenicians were credited with the discovery of the Polaris. The Polaris was very bright and helped them as a guide in direction. The characteristics that they have familiarised from their experience on ocean helped them greatly in navigation.

The Phoenicians also came up with incredible technology. **The Phoenicians are known for their ship designs which they designed accordingly to their knowledge on the ocean.** The war galleys often had a sharp metal spike at its head as a chief weapon. They were also often Bireme or Triemes, meaning that they had multiple floors of oars, giving a ship double or triple the speed and strength. Surviving through war meant surviving as a civilization, and great designs for war galleys was definately a great advantage the Phoenicians had in order to survive.

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The merchant ships that the Phoenicians often sailed with cheaper square sails to save money. Any navigator would need the skill and knowledge like a Phoenician to sail with simple square sails and depend completely on the wind. When the wind didn’t serve, the captain would switch to oars. Merchant ships also commonly had attached small boats to keep cargo and people safe.

￼ (http://phoenicia.org/ships.html)

Now that we’ve gone through how the Phoenicians traded, we’ll talk about WHAT the Phoenicians traded. Phoenicia was located right beside Egypt, and consequently they traded with them very frequently for manufactured goods such as pottery and cups. The Phoenicians also traded with Western Africa for ivory and animal skins such as lion skin, leopard skin, and deer skin. No only did they trade objects and good, slaves were also and important merchandise for the wealthy society.

**Example/Support** With the specialization and expertise on navigation, many phoenicians navigators and explorers are very well known today. Such as Himlico and Hanno. **With great knowledge of the ocean, Hanno the Navigator explored into the Africas in very early times.** http://instructors.cwrl.utexas.edu/herring/node/393

The Phoenians settled in a piece of land meant for navigation. They navigated and traded, and developed many skills and knowledge. Trade and navigation supplied the Phoenicans with materials and good that they lacked, and also gave them different ideas and methods of civilization. It gave these people a specificed purpose in a specific area, and with a grown population, they were able to become an organized civilization. It gave them a common culture and way of life to share.


 * The Phoenician and Their Origins. (and other links related) (2008). In Phoenicia.org. Retrieved May 6, 2008, from http://phoenicia.org/originphoenicians.html

Phoenicia. (2008). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 6, 2008, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9059753**

Wallbank, T. Walter. Civilization Past & Present. 6th ed. 1987.

Bentley, Jerry and Herbert Ziegler. Traditions & Encounters. New York: McGraw Hill, 2000.