Information of Interest
More about Phoenicians
Contents:
1. Phoenicians and Canaan
2. Phoenicians and Israel
3. Silver Hoards
4. ISRAELITE SEA-FARERS
5. PHOENICIAN AND HEBREW SYMBIOSIS. Cadmos
6. HERCULES
7. The PUNI Clan of Issachar and the Phoenicians
8. THE PHOENICIANS AND HYCSOS.
9. Psalm 107 and the Sea-Storm
10. Phoenicians in Scandinavia and Walrus Ivory
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1. Phoenicians and Canaan
Phoenicia was a name given by the Greeks to an Ancient Maritime Civilization in the Levant. "Each city-state was a politically independent unit, and there is no archaeological evidence proving that the Phoenicians viewed themselves as a single nationality." It was centered on the coastal areas of modern day Lebanon and included parts of what are now northern Israel and western Syria reaching as far north as Arwad near Tartus in Syria.In the south it bordered on the Philistine region and Edom. Ethnically the Phoenicians were a mixture of Canaanites, Israelites, Edomites, and others. Its main cities were Tyre and Sidon. Other early settlements included Byblos, Simyra, Aradus (Arwad), Berytus (Beirut), Sarepta, Tripoli, and Dor on the coast of Israel in the territory of Manasseh.
The Ancient Hebrews used the Phoenician alphabet which was later passed on to the Greeks. "The high point of Phoenician culture and sea power is usually placed c. 1200 - 800 BC." The Phoenicians also settled in Cyprus. They later established settlement in North Africa such as Utica and Carthage, in Malta, Sardinia, southern France, and Spain. In Greek tradition some of their early cities, such as Thebes, had originally been planted by Phoenicians.
The city of Tarshish in southwest Spain was taken over by the Phoenicians who founded the nearby city of Gades (Cadiz) and mined silver in the region.
Ezekiel chapter 27 goes into detail concerning the international mercantile activities of Tyre.
Phoenician articles of trade included wood, slaves, glass and powdered Tyrian purple. The Phoenicians are credited with invention of glass-blowing.
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2. Phoenicians and Israel
Tyrian purple was derived from the murex shell. This produced both a violet-purple dye and various shades of blue depending on the mode of production. The Tsitsit or blue thread that the Israelites were obliged to attach to the the corners of all four cornered garments (Numbers 15:38) was made from this dye. A secondary Phoenician point of production of the dye was at Mogador in Morocco.
The Talmud ascribes the production of the dye for use in Tsitsit to the Tribe of Zebulon.
Israelite Tribes who neighbored the Phoenician Canaanites included Asher, Dan, Zebulon, and Manasseh.
[Concerning Zebulon having had an outlet to the Mediterranean see Kiel ("Daat Mikra") on Joshua 19:11 n.68: Zebulon , Josephus Ant.5.1.22, and others.]
Herodotos relates that the Phoenician ships would set out from ports on the Red Sea south of Israel and sail down the east coast of Africa and then after passing the Cape of Good Hope continuing northward unto they reached the Straits of Gibraltar and Tartesus (Tarshish of the Bible and Tarsis in Phoenicians). They then continued eastward through the Mediterranean back to their base. The whole trip took three years since they stopped to sow and harvest grain on the way. The Bible also speaks of ships of Hiram of Tyre undertaking such a journey and taking three years to complete it.
"And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion geber, which is beside Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
"And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
"And they came to Ophir and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon" (1-Kings 9:26-28).
"For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish..(2-Chronicles 9:1).
King Solomon had embarked on maritime enterprises in partnership with the presumably more experienced sea faring Phoenicians. Almost a hundred years after the demise of Solomon his descendant King Jehoshaphat (ca.867-851) of Judah (1-Kings 22;48-49, 2-Chronicles 20;35-37) and King Ahaziah of ten-tribed northern Israel attempted to renew the sea connection and "made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold". This was done through partnership of Judah in the south with the northern kingdom of Israel. The ships were all wrecked, apparently while still at port at Ezion Geber. King Ahaziah the son of Ahab of Israel offered to send his servants with the servants of the king of Judah and to renew the attempt but the king of Judah declined.
cf.
"And Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion Geber.
"Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with your servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not" (1-Kings 22:48-49).
"And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly.
"And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish and they made the ships in Ezion Geber.
"Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish" (2-Chronicles 20:35 37).
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3. Silver Hoards
King Solomon's Silver? Southern Phoenician Hacksilber Hoards and the Location of Tarshish
Christine M. Thompson and Sheldon Skaggs
https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue35/6/2.html
Extracts of Interest:We collected samples from 48 silver artefacts found at four sites in southern Phoenicia, located between today's Yarkon River and Akko (Gilboa 2005), for a range of analyses including ore-provenance studies based on lead isotope analyses.The tendency to equate the 'Tarshish of scripture' with the similar-sounding, silver-rich kingdom of Tartessos of mythic history (Herodotus 1.163; Bochart Phaleg, 1646, iii. 7), with its suspected borders near today's Huelva and Seville, is complicated by inscriptions that oblige us to consider island locations, in a statement attributed to Esarhaddon, the Assyrian king proclaims that the kings of islands as far as Tarshish began paying tribute to him in the late 7th century BC (Pritchard 1955, 290 and infra).
The well-known colonial settlements eventually established in the southern Iberian Peninsula include, of course, Cadiz and also a concentration of what are usually characterised as agricultural sites along the Andalusian coast east of Gibraltar to Almeria (Markoe 2000); less well known perhaps is the evidence cited for a 7th-century settlement as far north as Alacer do Sal [near Lisbon in Portugal] on the Atlantic coast - about 250 miles north of Cadiz (Tavares 1993; Soares and Tavares da Silva 1980).
The consistencies established between our artefact samples and western Mediterranean ores... In his work on the texts of 1 Kings 10.22, Lipi ski noticed that while the original Hebrew mentions metallic utensils q(w)pym and t(w)kyym as part of the cargo from Tarshish, and that these might be understood as 'knives and razors', they were incorrectly rendered in later Greek translations as 'carved and hewn stones', and 'apes and peacocks' in Targum Jonathan. Apparently relying on dubious sources and misunderstandings, the historian Josephus working in the 1st century AD similarly included 'Ethiopians and monkeys' among the goods from Tarshish in his description of Solomon's wealth (Lipi ski 2004, 225-6 and 262, citing Antiquitates Judaicae VIII, 7, 2-4, 181-186).
.... but at least by c. 800-750 the Phoenicians (Sidonians) in Homer were already 'famed for their ships', associated with metals and treasures generally, but also emphatically with silver gifting and craftsmanship, and characterised as trading in trinkets (athurmata).
Nuanced reinforcement is found in Esarhaddon's 7th-century inscriptions that categorise Tarshish as an island, and appear to point towards its location in the west.
All the kings from the lands surrounded by sea- from the country Iadanana (Cyprus) and Iaman, as far as Tarshish, bowed to my feet.
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4. ISRAELITE SEA-FARERS
Isaiah 23 speaks of Phoenician Power.
Phoenician civilization spread across the Mediterranean between 1500 BC and 300 BC.
A Carthaginian expedition led by Hanno the Navigator explored and colonized the Atlantic coast of Africa as far as the Gulf of Guinea. The names Guinea and Ghana are derived from the Egyptians term for Canaan.
IN THE BOOK OF KINGS (1-Kings 9;26 28) it relates how under King Solomon a fleet was fitted out to sail from the Red Sea around Africa to Ophir (either in Peru of South America or an area of Southern Africa) and to return via Tarshish on the Atlantic Ocean. Phoenician sailors, "shipmen that had knowledge of the sea", lent by Hiram king of Tyre were to accompany the Israelite subjects of Solomon.
"And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion geber, which is beside Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
"And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
"And they came to Ophir and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon."
(1-Kings 9:26 28).
"For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish..(2-Chronicles 9:21).
King Solomon had embarked on maritime enterprises in partnership with the presumably more experienced sea faring Phoenicians. Almost a hundred years after the demise of Solomon his descendant King Jehoshaphat (ca.867-851) of Judah (1-Kings 22;48-49, 2-Chronicles 20;35-37) and King Ahaziah of ten-tribed northern Israel attempted to renew the sea connection and "made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold". This was done through partnership of Judah in the south with the northern kingdom of Israel. The ships were all wrecked, apparently while still at port at Ezion Geber. King Ahaziah the son of Ahab of Israel offered to send his servants with the servants of the king of Judah and to renew the attempt but the king of Judah declined*32.
The important point for our discussion is that the said incident may be understood to indicate that Northern Israelites were expected to fulfill the role formerly held by Phoenician navigators. It also shows that both the Kingdom of Judah as well as that of northern Israel attempted to expand their trading contacts far to the west by way of the sea. The personal seal of an Israelite from Northern Israel has been found depicting what appears to be a "Phoenician"-type ship, it bears the name "Oniyah" meaning "Ship of God".
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5. PHOENICIAN AND HEBREW SYMBIOSIS
Nahum Slouschz wrote a book "Les Hebreo-Pheniciens" (i.e. 'The Hebrew-Phoenicians'), Paris, 1909, in which he analyzed the inter-connections between the Phoenicians and the ancient Israelites. According to Slouschz the Phoenicians in Classical mythology were represented by the figures of Cadmos and Hercules. Cadmos was based on an earlier tradition regarding the Phoenician forerunners whereas Hercules (called Melquart by the Phoenicians) symbolized them within Historical Classical times.
CADMOS:
In Mythology Cadmos was the son of Agernor. Agenor and Belus had been the sons of Poseidon and Libya. Belus became king of Egypt, Agenor of Phoenicia. Agenor had four children, Europa, Cadmos, Phenix, and Cilix. The god Zeus abducted the daughter of Agenor, Europa, so Agenor sent her brothers,i.e. his sons, in search of her. Of the three, Cilix settled in Cilicia (an important province now in southeast Turkey and several times under ancient Israelite rule); Phenix settled in Phoenicia; Cadmos went west founding Thebes in Greece, some say Carthage in North Africa, and places in southern Europe.
Cadmos and the name of his sister, Europa, show an early Phoenician related connexion with the west.
Agenor (father of Cadmos) represents Phoenicia. He was the son of Poseidon. Another son of Poseidon (Neptune) was Albion who according to Greek tradition founded a kingdom in Britain37. The hinterland of Phoenicia is known as Lebanon. "Albion" (i.e. Britain in Classical terms) is synonymous in meaning with "Lebanon" .. Both words indicate "whiteness" and both derive from the same root38.
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6. HERCULES
The Phoenician god called Melquart was identified as the Greek Hercules. A consensus of the various accounts has it that Hercules was born in Tyre. He journeyed and conquered in the west. He subdued barbarian peoples, overthrew tyrants, destroyed wild beasts which ravaged the lands, abolished cruel customs, and everywhere introduced the basic arts of civilization. Hercules traversed Greece, equipped a fleet, went to Africa where he killed the cruel Antee (Giantess?), introduced art and agriculture, built a city of a hundred gates, then continued to the Atlantic shores establishing two colonies: one on each side of the Straits of Gibraltar; then he subdued and settled Spain and continued his way into Gaul and Italy; and some say he established settlements on the North Sea shore of what later became Germany. These traditions were all related by the Greeks at some time well after the events had taken place and in Greek eyes the Phoenicians-proper were the same as the Israelite Tribes as well as the Edomites who inhabited the Phoenician coast.
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7. The PUNI Clan of Issachar and the Phoenicians
The Phoenicians-proper appear to have referred to themselves as "Tyrians", or "Sidonians", etc. or as "Canaanites" and so they are termed in the Bible. The Romans called the Phoenicians "Poenes" or "Puni" and the "Punic" Wars were those fought between the Phoenician-descended Carthaginians and the Romans. The PUNI (or Phuni, descendants of Phua) were an important clan in the Israelite Tribe of Issachar (Numbers 26;23.24) which, as related, at one stage conquered the important "Phoenician" mother city of Sidon. The Phoenicians were also known as the "PUNI" and PUNI is a clan name amongst the Tribe of Issachar:
"Of the sons of Issachar after their families...of Pua, the family of the Puni..." (Numbers 26;23).
The Hebrew name Pua (Phua or "Puni") is derivable from a root denoting a certain plant used to make red dye. The name "Phoenician" has the same connotation. "Phoenix" (from which the term 'Phoenician' is derived) is apparently Greek and is said to mean "RED" after one of the dyes the Phoenicians were famous for producing.
4. ISRAELITE SEA-FARERS
Isaiah 23 speaks of Phoenician Power.
Phoenician civilization spread across the Mediterranean between 1500 BC and 300 BC.
A Carthaginian expedition led by Hanno the Navigator explored and colonized the Atlantic coast of Africa as far as the Gulf of Guinea. The names Guinea and Ghana are derived from the Egyptians term for Canaan.
IN THE BOOK OF KINGS (1-Kings 9;26 28) it relates how under King Solomon a fleet was fitted out to sail from the Red Sea around Africa to Ophir (either in Peru of South America or an area of Southern Africa) and to return via Tarshish on the Atlantic Ocean. Phoenician sailors, "shipmen that had knowledge of the sea", lent by Hiram king of Tyre were to accompany the Israelite subjects of Solomon.
"And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion geber, which is beside Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
"And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
"And they came to Ophir and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon."
(1-Kings 9:26 28).
"For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish..(2-Chronicles 9:21).
King Solomon had embarked on maritime enterprises in partnership with the presumably more experienced sea faring Phoenicians. Almost a hundred years after the demise of Solomon his descendant King Jehoshaphat (ca.867-851) of Judah (1-Kings 22;48-49, 2-Chronicles 20;35-37) and King Ahaziah of ten-tribed northern Israel attempted to renew the sea connection and "made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold". This was done through partnership of Judah in the south with the northern kingdom of Israel. The ships were all wrecked, apparently while still at port at Ezion Geber. King Ahaziah the son of Ahab of Israel offered to send his servants with the servants of the king of Judah and to renew the attempt but the king of Judah declined*32.
The important point for our discussion is that the said incident may be understood to indicate that Northern Israelites were expected to fulfill the role formerly held by Phoenician navigators. It also shows that both the Kingdom of Judah as well as that of northern Israel attempted to expand their trading contacts far to the west by way of the sea. The personal seal of an Israelite from Northern Israel has been found depicting what appears to be a "Phoenician"-type ship, it bears the name "Oniyah" meaning "Ship of God".
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5. PHOENICIAN AND HEBREW SYMBIOSIS
Nahum Slouschz wrote a book "Les Hebreo-Pheniciens" (i.e. 'The Hebrew-Phoenicians'), Paris, 1909, in which he analyzed the inter-connections between the Phoenicians and the ancient Israelites. According to Slouschz the Phoenicians in Classical mythology were represented by the figures of Cadmos and Hercules. Cadmos was based on an earlier tradition regarding the Phoenician forerunners whereas Hercules (called Melquart by the Phoenicians) symbolized them within Historical Classical times.
CADMOS:
In Mythology Cadmos was the son of Agernor. Agenor and Belus had been the sons of Poseidon and Libya. Belus became king of Egypt, Agenor of Phoenicia. Agenor had four children, Europa, Cadmos, Phenix, and Cilix. The god Zeus abducted the daughter of Agenor, Europa, so Agenor sent her brothers,i.e. his sons, in search of her. Of the three, Cilix settled in Cilicia (an important province now in southeast Turkey and several times under ancient Israelite rule); Phenix settled in Phoenicia; Cadmos went west founding Thebes in Greece, some say Carthage in North Africa, and places in southern Europe.
Cadmos and the name of his sister, Europa, show an early Phoenician related connexion with the west.
Agenor (father of Cadmos) represents Phoenicia. He was the son of Poseidon. Another son of Poseidon (Neptune) was Albion who according to Greek tradition founded a kingdom in Britain37. The hinterland of Phoenicia is known as Lebanon. "Albion" (i.e. Britain in Classical terms) is synonymous in meaning with "Lebanon" .. Both words indicate "whiteness" and both derive from the same root38.
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6. HERCULES
The Phoenician god called Melquart was identified as the Greek Hercules. A consensus of the various accounts has it that Hercules was born in Tyre. He journeyed and conquered in the west. He subdued barbarian peoples, overthrew tyrants, destroyed wild beasts which ravaged the lands, abolished cruel customs, and everywhere introduced the basic arts of civilization. Hercules traversed Greece, equipped a fleet, went to Africa where he killed the cruel Antee (Giantess?), introduced art and agriculture, built a city of a hundred gates, then continued to the Atlantic shores establishing two colonies: one on each side of the Straits of Gibraltar; then he subdued and settled Spain and continued his way into Gaul and Italy; and some say he established settlements on the North Sea shore of what later became Germany. These traditions were all related by the Greeks at some time well after the events had taken place and in Greek eyes the Phoenicians-proper were the same as the Israelite Tribes as well as the Edomites who inhabited the Phoenician coast.
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7. The PUNI Clan of Issachar and the Phoenicians
The Phoenicians-proper appear to have referred to themselves as "Tyrians", or "Sidonians", etc. or as "Canaanites" and so they are termed in the Bible. The Romans called the Phoenicians "Poenes" or "Puni" and the "Punic" Wars were those fought between the Phoenician-descended Carthaginians and the Romans. The PUNI (or Phuni, descendants of Phua) were an important clan in the Israelite Tribe of Issachar (Numbers 26;23.24) which, as related, at one stage conquered the important "Phoenician" mother city of Sidon. The Phoenicians were also known as the "PUNI" and PUNI is a clan name amongst the Tribe of Issachar:
"Of the sons of Issachar after their families...of Pua, the family of the Puni..." (Numbers 26;23).
The Hebrew name Pua (Phua or "Puni") is derivable from a root denoting a certain plant used to make red dye. The name "Phoenician" has the same connotation. "Phoenix" (from which the term 'Phoenician' is derived) is apparently Greek and is said to mean "RED" after one of the dyes the Phoenicians were famous for producing.
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8. THE PHOENICIANS AND HYCSOS.
Further indications of the way in which ancient historians sometimes confused between the Canaanite Phoenicians proper and the Hebrew Israelites relates to the Hycsos. The Hycsos were shepherd kings or foreign rulers who at one stage gained control of Egypt. They had originally come from Canaan and ultimately were expelled or left. It has been suggested above that the Hycsos were actually Hebrews or an Egyptian clique of Hebraising tendencies who relied on Israelites for administrative and cultural purposes. Jules Africanus said that the Hycsos were Phoenicians which is also consistent with the Hycsos having been Hebrews. The emigration of part of the Hycsos to Syria is confirmed by Manethon, Polemon (Eusebius), Syncellus, Tacitus (Hist.v;-ii), and Aboul-feda (Histoir Anteislamique). The Hycsos were probably Hebrew Israelites as discussed above. The identities and cultures of the Hycsos (whoever they were), of the Israelite Hebrews, and of the Phoenicians were to some extent interwoven. There is a connection between the Hycsos as Israelites and Celtic tradition. The Irish and Scottish sources relate how their ancestors were princes of foreign origin in Egypt at the time of the Exodus, rendered assistance to the Israelites, had Israelites in their forces and were considered as connected with the Israelites in Egyptian eyes...
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9. Psalm 107 and the Sea-Storm
"Others there are who go to sea in ships and make their living on the wide waters.
These men have seen the acts of the LORD and his marvelous doings in the deep.
At his command the storm-wind rose and lifted the waves high.
Carried up to heaven, plunged down to the depths, tossed to and fro, in peril, they reeled and staggered like drunken men, and their seamanship was all in vain.
So they cried to the LORD in their distress.
The storm sank to a murmur and the waves of the sea were stilled.
They were glad then that all was calm, as he guided them to the harbour they desired.
Let them thank the LORD for his enduring love and for the marvelous things he has done for men.
Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders."
Psalm 107:23-32 (NEB version):
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10. Phoenicians in Scandinavia and Walrus Ivory
Other aspects of so called "Phoenician" civilization such as alphabetical writing, ivory working, architectural innovations, etc. are now accredited by some researchers, at least equally, to Israelites.
See for instance, opinions attributed to Y.Shiloh and references in Ilan Sharon "Phoenician and Greek Construction Techniques at Tell Dor, Israel" in BASOR (Bulletin of American Schools of Oriental Research) no.267, August 1987, p.37.
An Assyrian inscription from 879 BCE lists part of the booty taken from Phoenician cities and includes walrus-ivory: The nearest place walrus ivory could have been obtained was in Scandinavia!
"The tribute of the seacoast from the inhabitants of Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, Mahallata, Maiza, Kaiza, Amurru, and Arvad in the sea: gold, silver, tin, copper, copper containers, linen garments with multicoloured trimmings, large and small monkeys, ebony, boxwood, ivory from walrus tusk, a product of the sea,..".