Allan Shumaker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> I found this comment interesting:
> "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."
>
> From this it would seem that the Phoenicians did
> not derive from the Sea People but it does open
> the possibility that they may have acqired some of
> the seafaring knowledge from them.

Allan,

Sorry to just keep quoting various extracts at you, but my trail of books leads me to Philip J. King and Lawrence E. Stager's Life in Biblical Israel (2001), which includes the following snippet:

"[...] The Philistines, Phoenicians, and Syrians controlled most of the Levantine coast. The Egyptian relief in the mortuary temple of Rameses III (1182-1151) at Medinet Habu in Luxor depicts the battle between the Egyptians and the Sea Peoples at the entrance to the Nile Delta. The Philistine ships are portrayed with raised prow and stern and only one mast. 'The Sea Peoples' craft have gently curving hulls ending in nearly perpendicular posts capped with bird-head devices facing outboard. Raised castles are situated at both bow and stern' [1]. The Sea Peoples' vessels depicted at Medinet Habu are considered the prototypes of the Phoenician 'hippos' ships, so-called by the Greeks because the prow was in the form of the head of a horse (Greek hippos).

"Several maritime innovations are attributed to the Sea Peoples, including loose-footed rigging (brail), which allows the ship to tack into the wind and maneuver in unfavorable wind conditions; the crow's nest perched at the top of the mast; and the composite anchor, whose wooden flukes provide better anchorage, especially in sand [2].

"Ships equipped with double banks of oars were a Phoenician invention. It is hard to know whether the Sea Peoples influenced the Phoenicians in naval technology, or vice versa. The Phoenicians were outstanding navigators of antiquity, well known for shipbuilding and maritime trade. Beside the 'hippos' ships, there were other types of Phoenician vessels: the 'round' model with asymmetrical bow and stern on merchant ships; and the 'long' model with pointed ram on warships. Phoenician ships were tall, with a high mast and an upper and a lower deck. Assyrian reliefs of the late eighth and early seventh centuries depict these Phoenician merchant ships, with two banks of oars. They also have masts [...]" (pp. 179, 182).




[1] Wachsmann, Seagoing Ships and Seamanship in the Bronze Age Levant, 171-72.

[2] Avner Raban and Robert R. Stieglitz, "The Sea Peoples and Their Contributions to Civilization", Biblical Archaeology Review 17 (1991): 34-42, 92; Wachsmann, Seagoing Ships and Seamanship in the Bronze Age Levant, 175.