Phoenician History
Phoenicia was an ancient Mediterranean civilization that gave rise to many independent and significant city-states in what is now modern day Lebanon, Syria, and northern Israel. The city-states of Phoenicia began to settle in 3200 BCE and took form in roughly 2750 BCE. These city-states thrived from 1500 to 332 BCE largely due to their skilled maritime trading society. To that end, Phoenician artifacts have been found as far away as Britain, showing the civilization's huge span of trade. Among the items of trade, purple dye was a famous commodity of Phoenicia in its time; the famous Greek historian Heroditus refers to them as "purple people" because the worker's skin would often be affected in the processing of the dye. The most significant cities of Phoenicia were Sidon and Tyre. Also important were Baalbek and Byblos, which were the known to be the largest religious centers. Phoenicia was known as Canaan in its time and is mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible as being the land that Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt.
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Between roughly 800 BCE and 600 BCE Phoenicia began a period of colonization. One of the settlements founded just before this period, Carthage, would go on to be one of the wealthiest city-states of its time.
After centuries of thriving, Phoenicia's story came to a halt at the hands of Alexander the Great. In the year 334 BCE, Alexander and his army began a conquest that would bring an end to Pheonicia's four greatest cities. Beginning with Byblos and Sidon, Alexander began to strip Phoenicia of it's power. To end his conquest, Alexander arrived at Tyre's doorstep. Tyre was prepared to submit peacefully to Alexander's forces but, despite the possibility of peace, a religious concern led to the end of the Tyrians. When Alexander planned to offer a sacrifice in Tyre, the Tyrians would not allow it because it was a Tyrian custom that no outsiders made offerings in their temple. In response, Alexander sent members of his regime to Tyre to demand surrender. The Tyrians in turn killed his soldiers and threw their bodies over the city walls. Alexander was infuriated and began a seven month siege on Tyre. By the end of the siege, the city of Tyre was captured, 30,000 civilians were killed or sold into slavery, and the Phoenician civilization had come to its end. Only those who could bribe Alexander were allowed to escape with their lives; their destination: Carthage.
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Carthage
Carthage was founded in 813 BC by Phoenician. Carthage is located in Northern Africa in modern day Tunisia. Carthage's growth accelerated exponentially upon the pilgrimage of the survivors of Tyre after its destruction in 332 BCE. Shortly thereafter, Carthage became the most powerful trading center in the Mediterranean world. It was only a matter of time until Carthage would be at ends with Rome. Upon colonizing in Siciliy, Rome reacted by launching an attack on the Carthaginians and thus began the First Punic War (264-241 BCE). Following this war, a civil war ensued, dividing the mercenaries who wanted their pay and the government that refused to give it. The Mercenary War lasted from 241 to 237 BCE. After resolving it's own conflict, the Romans persisted in their opposition against Carthage, resulting in the Second and Third Punic Wars. After the Third Punic War (149-146 BCE), Carthage was left in ashes by the Romans.
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