Allan Shumaker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> What do we know of the origins of the Phoenicians?
> Most of these references are from 5th and 6th
> centuries BC. Any possible connection to the
> mysterious 'sea people' that appeared in the
> eastern med about 1100BC?

Hi Allan,

A couple of extracts that might be of interest ...

From Phoenicians (Peoples of the Past) by Glenn E. Markoe (2000, British Museum Press):

"[...] As Egyptian and Near Eastern documents record, the preceding Late Bronze Age was a time of economic prosperity for Tyre and its neighbours. Although our knowledge of the period is limited - confined largely to references in ancient correspondence from Syria (Ugarit) and Egypt (Amarna) - the evidence, nonetheless, points to the existence of a group of active, indeed flourishing, commercial emporia along the Phoenician coast. In many respects, they were not unlike their Iron Age successors; both were governed by the same basic institutions and swayed by the same commercial concerns.

"Indeed, the archaeological and epigraphical record for the Late Bronze and succeeding Iron Age offers a growing body of evidence for continuity - in the fields of religion, economy, language, and culture. In comparing the Early Iron Age with its precursor, very little is, in fact, entirely new. The early Byblian Phoenician alphabetic script was the product of earlier developments in the Canaanite realm; distinctive Phoenician ceramic and masonry techniques, too, had earlier antecedents; even the celebrated purple-dye industry of the Phoenicians had its roots in the Late Bronze Age.

"From all archaeological indications, the transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age along the Phoenician coast was not accompanied by abrupt or radical change in population make-up or political organization. For reasons not yet fully understood, the massive disruptions caused elsewhere in the Levant by the marauding 'Sea Peoples' in the early twelfth century BC appear to have had a minimal affect upon the Phoenician coastal centres. For all intents and purposes, the Phoenician cities of the Iron Age - from Tyre north to Arwad - were the direct descendants of their Canaanite precursors.

"A common thread unites the disparate histories of the Phoenician cities - maritime trade. Confined to a narrow coastal strip with limited agricultural resources, the sea formed their natural outlet. Early on, they realized its potential for economic growth - not only as a vehicle for commercial exchange but as a channel for prospecting abroad [...]" (pp. 12).



From Canaanites (Peoples of the Past) by Jonathan N. Tubb (1998, British Museum Press):

"[...] Passing reference has been made to the Phoenicians in previous chapters, and this is not the place to pursue their culture in detail, but a number of points are relevant. First, it is important to realize that these extraordinary people who occupied the Syro-Lebanese coast in the first millennium BC, whose artistic creations were in such demand throughout the whole of the ancient Near East and beyond, and [who were renowned for their] trading ventures [...] were no more or less than 'latter-day Canaanites'. In order to understand the 'Phoenician phenomenon' of the first millennium, therefore, it needs to be appreciated that all of the characteristics that made the Phoenicians renowned were already present in the Canaanite culture of the preceding Middle and Late Bronze Ages. The foundations of their expertise in artistry and craftsmanship lay, for example, in the finely constructed and elegant wooden furniture from Jericho in the Middle Bronze Age, or in the highly accomplished jewellery from Tell el-‘Ajjûl in southern Palestine, dating to the same period. Even the Phoenician alphabet, which was to transform written communication, can trace its origins to a Canaanite initiative in the early second millennium BC. Indeed, it is not even a question of the Phoenicians having ‘derived’ their artistic heritage from the Canaanites. They were Canaanites and fully a part of the same cultural continuum which embraced the whole of the Levant from the beginning of the third millennium BC, if not before.

"During the Late Bronze Age Palestine and coastal Lebanon/Syria came under the control of the Egyptian empire, and, to a certain extent, independent commercial activities were held in check. Only to an extent, however, for the cities of the coastal plain, in particular, responded to the new situation with great enthusiasm, boosting the levels of their craft output to an all-time high. This earned them international respect, prosperity and, most importantly, a measure of autonomy. Already by the fourteenth century BC, the Canaanites were seeking markets away from their own shores, as George Bass’s excavations of a Canaanite merchant ship, wrecked off the southern coast of Turkey, have brilliantly demonstrated.

"What then happened to transform the Canaanites of the Lebanese coast in the second millennium into the seafaring Phoenicians of the first? Most probably a combination of factors, but most significant, without doubt, was the decline and eventual withdrawal of the Egyptian empire. Around 1200 BC the Levant and Egypt itself experienced a ferocious series of attacks, by both land and sea, by the Sea Peoples. In Syria the great Canaanite commercial centre of Ugarit was destroyed, and few cities along the Levantine coast seem to have escaped destruction at this time. It is, however, interesting to note that there is no evidence to suggest that the Lebanese coastal cities of Tyre, Sidon or Byblos were destroyed, and it might well be suggested that there was some element of collaboration between the Sea Peoples and the inhabitants of these cities. Following the land and sea battles in the reign of Ramses III, the subsequent settlement of the Sea Peoples on the southern coastal strip and the withdrawal of the Egyptian empire shortly after, the political map was to change irreversibly. The absence of the Egyptians meant they soon came into contact with the Israelites, who were ready to extend their territory from the Judean hill country into the plains. In north and central Syria the Aramaeans were moving into key positions and expanding into Transjordan. Following this period of great confusion and shifting borders, the only part of real Canaanite territory left was the area on the coast, north of Acco and south of Tell Sukas, including the cities of Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, Aradus and Marathus, and, from this point on, this 'enclave' is referred to as 'Phoenicia'.

"Faced with such isolation and virtually no agricultural hinterland, the people of this region capitalized on the skills they had already developed, turning out art and craft objects of superb quality – ivory carvings, metalwork, jewellery and glass. They also extracted and processed, on an industrial scale, the secretion from the internal gland of a shell, called the murex, producing a dye which was to create the most valuable and sought-after purple fabrics. It is from the Greek word for this dark purple colour, Phoinikes, that the Phoenicians have acquired their name.

"Ultimately, it was to the sea that the Phoenicians turned to provide the mainstay for their economy, transforming their natural harbours into major ports capable of handling international shipping. They built some of the finest ships the ancient world had ever seen, and embarked on a programme of trading expeditions which resulted not only in commercial contacts but also in the establishment of colonies. One of the first colonies was Kition in Cyprus, but it was Carthage, on the coast of Tunisia, which was to become the most enduring Phoenician centre, developing a trade network of its own, the importance of which was long to outlive that of the homeland [...]" (pp. 140-142).