Phoenicians: The World’s Best Civilization

The greatest civilizations need mainly two things: resources, and trade. The Phoenician civilization had both. They had a great trading system and lots of resources. The Phoenicians were once called the greatest civilization. The Phoenicians had multiple characteristics. They were known for their trade, arts, and history. Through trade, arts, and their vast history, the Phoenicians are known as the best civilization of their time.   The Phoenicians are mostly known for their trade. They are called the carriers of civilization. This is because the Phoenicians were known for their sea-trade. The Phoenicians created a rich sea-trading empire which spanned the then known world and they became known as one of the greatest traders of their time. They mostly traded with the Greeks. They traded wood, slaves, glass and a Tyrian purple powder (This powder was used by the Greek elite to color clothes and other garments and was not available anywhere else). Without trade with the Greeks they would not be known as Phoenicians, because the word for Phoenician is taken from the Ancient Greek word phoinikèia meaning “purple.” The Phoenicians mainly relied on Tyrian purple powder for their trade because it was so rare. The Phoenicians had many commercial outputs. Their main outpost was located in North Africa, the city was called Carthage. The Phoenician Empire was an early idea of a world-economy. The vast culture and the sea power made the Phoenicians have a good economy. Many of the important cities were: Byblos, Tyre, Sidon, Simyra, Aradus, and Berytus. The Phoenicians sometimes traded cedar (they made boats out of the wood and traded some of the cedar away.) The Phoenicians traded many of these tall Lebanon cedar’s to Egypt, Egypt badly needed trees. They also traded glass. They were the first ones to create transparent glass. The Phoenicians also imported items like tin and silver from Spain and Great Britain. These items together made bronze. The Phoenicians weren’t just traders. They were artists. They did not have a certain style they were know by. Instead they were influenced by other civilizations. These civilizations included Egypt, Greece, and Assyria. The Phoenicians were taught by the Egyptians and that is mostly why their art looks similar. Many of these arts were made of their deities or gods. Their gods included Baal, Mot, and Yam. The Phoenicians influenced the Greek gods. They were just called different names.