ÑFarch.dir 174 Colored marble floor from Tyre, 5th-6th cent. B.C.
ÑFarch.dir 201 THE CITY
Phoenician settlements were usually located on the coast, in the vicinity of a promontory or island, so that different landing places could be used in relation to the direction of the wind. The central area was often occupied by sacred buildings, with the residential and artisan quarters laid out around them. The tophet was located in an outlying area, but still within the walls. The necropolises were situated outside them. The position of the acropolis, surrounded by its own fortifications, varied in accordance with the topography of the site, as it had to be set on high ground.
ÑFarch.dir 202 THE HOUSE
The most common type of Punic private dwelling was entered through a door on the street and had a central court, onto which the various rooms faced. The roofless court allowed light and air to penetrate into the bedrooms. Houses belonging to wealthier families had porticoes on all four sides of the court and were often built on two stories. In these houses the walls were covered with painted plaster and had moldings made of both stone and plaster. The floors were decorated with mosaics of white and colored marble. Each house had arrangements for both the supply and drainage of water.
ÑFarte.dir 31 The handicrafts of Phoenicia and Carthage consisted for the most part of small objects, made out of precious materials and carefully worked. They are fine examples of ancient art. Undoubtedly there are numerous points of contact between Phoenician objects and Carthaginian ones, but it is also possible to detect some significant differences.
ÑFarte.dir 36 At Carthage and the other colonies of the Mediterranean we find a considerably higher output of stelae and figured razors than in Phoenicia, and in fact Eastern prototypes of the latter are completely absent. In the case of the sneering masks and scarabs, the ones found in the West are completely different from those in the East, since the Phoenician colonies in the West were subject to the influence of the local populations and the classical world, resulting in innovations in art that were lacking in the Phoenician motherland.
ÑFarte.dir 37 IVORIES
The Phoenicians attained such a level of perfection in the working of ivory that their works were appreciated and sought after throughout the Near East. Thrones, beds, and various kinds of furniture were covered with finely worked ivory. The parts made of ivory were often embellished through the application of blue enamel and above all gold leaf. A number of individual objects were also made out of ivory, including some typically Phoenician thuribles, of which various bronze and terra-cotta examples are known as well.
ÑFarte.dir 171 Sicilian bronze figurine - Punic, 6th cent. BC - Catania, Museo Archeologico
ÑFarte.dir 172 Terra-cotta vase in the form of an elephant - Naples, Museo Nazionale
ÑFarte.dir 173 Ornament of a royal bed, ivory, 8th cent. BC
ÑFarte.dir 174 Phoenician ring, 19th cent. BC - Beirut, National Museum
ÑFarte.dir 175 Piece from Punic necklace, 4th - 3rd cent.BC - Cagliari, Museo Nazionale
ÑFarte.dir 176 Punic goldwork from the 2nd cent. AD - Sassari, Museo Sanna
ÑFarte.dir 177 Pair of marble sarcophagi, 4th - 3rd cent. BC
ÑFarte.dir 178 Stele of Ras Shamara, 19th - 18th cent. BC - Paris, MusÄe du Louvre
ÑFarte.dir 179 Stele from Sulcis with image of Phoenician temple and offerer
ÑFarte.dir 180 Punic stele in the Greek style, 3rd - 2nd cent. BC - Sassari, Museo Sanna
ÑFarte.dir 182 Punic mask for exorcisms - Sassari, Museo Sanna
ÑFarte.dir 183 Reproduction of Punic votive razor from the 3rd cent. BC
ÑFarte.dir 201 JEWELRY
Jewelry was one of the most significant and characteristic products of Phoenician and Carthaginian arts and crafts. Most of them are made out of gold, although there are also examples in silver, bronze, semiprecious stone, and multicolored glass. The beads for necklaces were made out of precious metal and out of semiprecious stone and multicolored glass, with pendants of gold and silver in a variety of shapes. Bracelets were often made of thin plates of metal held together by hinges with an internal pin. Rings were of various different shapes, some of them set with scarabs or semiprecious stones engraved with typical Egyptian and Phoenician motifs, such as hawks, griffins, and palmettes.
ÑFarte.dir 202 SARCOPHAGI
The production of stone sarcophagi with the image of the dead person on the upper part soon spread to Phoenicia from Egypt. Among the various iconographies we find that of the priest and of the woman, in which Egyptian influences are combined with Greek ones.
ÑFarte.dir 203 STELAE
Stelae were used in the tophet to mark the urns that contained the ashes of young people. In the oldest phases the religious image was mainly geometric, while later on these tended to be supplanted by such anthropomorphic motifs as a priest carrying out a sacrifice or a believer at prayer.
ÑFarte.dir 204 TERRA-COTTA MASKS
The most common types of mask included sneering ones, Negroid ones, and those in the form of a silenus.
The sneering type is undoubtedly the most common and reproduces a beardless face with deeply marked stripes on the forehead and cheeks, large projecting ears, eyeholes in the shape of sickles with their points facing downward, and a large grimacing mouth. The Negroid type has features typical of the North African peoples: a strongly flattened nose, a mouth with large lips, and ears with highly developed lobes. The last type reveals the influence of the Greek world and its masks depicting the bearded faces of sileni, with animal-like ears and small eyes.
ÑFarte.dir 205 RAZORS
This type of object is typical of the Punic West, there being no trace of it in Phoenicia. They have only been found in tombs, where they must have served a ritual or magical function. Made chiefly out of bronze, they have a slender body of a rectangular shape with a handle shaped, in the later examples, like the neck of a swan or ibis. The motifs depicted on the razors are of a religious character, representing deities like Melkart or animals and magic symbols.
ÑFdivini.dir 201 BES
A deity of Egyptian origin in the form of a monstrous dwarf. He was later equated with the faun of the Graeco Roman world.
ÑFdivini.dir 202 ASHTAROTH (ASTARTE)
A very ancient goddess, worshiped in the Canaanite culture and identified with the Earth Mother. Later her cult had a particularly strong following in Tyre and Sidon.
ÑFdivini.dir 203 MELKART
He was the most important deity of Tyre, as the meaning of his name, ╟king of the city,╚ indicates. Melkart was also worshipped in the colonies that Tyre founded elsewhere in the Mediterranean, and thus his cult spread to Kition, Gades, and above all Carthage.
ÑFdivini.dir 204 ESHMUN
Eshmun had an especially strong following in Sidon. The Greek sources equate him with Asclepius. Unfortunately no representations have survived that can be attributed to this god with any degree of likelihood.
ÑFdivini.dir 205 BA'AL HAMMON
Along with Tanit, he was the tutelary deity of the tophet, and the most important god in the Carthaginian pantheon. The most credible interpretation of the meaning of his name is ╟lord of the altar of perfumes,╚ in reference to the practice of offering incense, something that was extremely widespread in antiquity.
ÑFdivini.dir 206 TANIT
This goddess appeared in Carthage toward the end of the fifth century BC. In the inscriptions that have been found Tanit is called the ╟face of Ba'al,╚ confirming the close relationship between the two divinities.
ÑFeco.dir 171 Scene of sea trade taken from a bronze bas-relief from the 9th cent. BC
ÑFeco.dir 172 The Phoenician coast, panorama
ÑFeco.dir 173 Transport of timber, bas-relief from the 7th cent. BC - Paris, MusÄe du Louvre
ÑFeco.dir 174 Trade among the Phoenicians, reproduction from a bronze bas-relief
ÑFeco.dir 175 Cedar from the Lebanon
ÑFeco.dir 176 Shells for dyeing fabrics
ÑFeco.dir 177 Shell for dyeing fabrics
ÑFeco.dir 178 Pieces of Punic necklace, 4th - 3rd cent.BC - Cagliari, Museo Nazionale
ÑFeco.dir 179 Glass amphora, 1st cent. BC - Beirut, National Museum
ÑFeco.dir 180 Tools for working glass
ÑFeco.dir 181 Alabastron, 7th-6th cent. BC - Beirut, National Museum
ÑFeco.dir 182 Necklace of glass paste, 4th-3rd cent. BC - Cagliari, Museo Archeologico
ÑFeco.dir 201 The territory of Phoenicia, squeezed between the mountains of Lebanon and the sea, did not permit an intensive development of agriculture. Vines, olives, figs, and date palms were the most widely grown shrubby crops, but the Phoenician cities always suffered from a shortage of cereals, which they had to import from the nearby kingdoms of Juda and Israel. Exploitation of the cedar, pine, and cypress forests was of great importance to the Phoenician economy, allowing them to export valuable timber to the surrounding countries and to develop the shipbuilding industry of which the Phoenicians were undisputed masters. The Phoenicians were also famous among the peoples of antiquity for the manufacture of textiles, and in particular the dying of cloth. They also developed great skills in the working of glass, metal, and ivory.
ÑFeco.dir 202 TIMBER
Since very ancient times the Egyptian pharaohs had imported trunks of cedar from the land of Phoenicia for the construction of ships and temples. Between the tenth and the eighth century BC numerous Assyrian emperors sent military expeditions into Lebanon to procure the timber needed for the construction of sacred buildings. After being skillfully felled by Phoenician woodcutters, the gigantic trunks of the cedars were transported by river down from the mountains to the coastal cities. Here the trunks were carried by sea to Palestine, Egypt, and Syria, from where they were exported to other destinations.
ÑFeco.dir 203 DYING OF CLOTH
Textile dying was one of the Phoenicians' main industrial activities. Their skill lay in their ability to dye cloth in an indelible way, bestowing a much greater value on it. The favorite color was purple, obtained from a special kind of shellfish present in large quantities on the shoals of the Mediterranean. The dye was produced in the following manner: after removal of the shell, the molluscs were left to macerate in large tubs. The resulting pigment was diluted with seawater to obtain the intensity of color required, which could range from dark red to purple.
ÑFeco.dir 204 GLASS
Glass was discovered and manufactured in Egypt during the second millennium BC, but it was the Phoenicians who were responsible for spreading knowledge of it among the peoples of the Mediterranean and for developing the technology to allow the production of transparent glass. The glass paste was made by high-temperature fusion of calcium silicate, a substance available in abundance on the beaches of Lebanon. The ease with which the raw material could be obtained allowed the development of this industry and the manufacture of a vast range of objects, from amulets to ointment jars that were brightly colored with mineral pigments.
ÑFfenicia.dir 201 Unquestionably the most significant legacy of Phoenician civilization was the invention of the alphabet. The oldest records of this script, made up of twenty-two alphabetical signs, date from the thirteenth century BC. Sometime between the ninth and eighth century BC, the Phoenician alphabet was adopted by the Greeks, who added new signs to indicate vocals.
ÑFfenicia.dir 202 Through the process of colonization, the Greeks and Phoenicians spread the alphabet through the Western Mediterranean. Both the Etruscan and Latin alphabets, for instance, were based on the Greek one, while the Phoenician alphabet was used in North Africa, Sicily, and Spain.
ÑFfunerar.dir 171 View of the necropolis of Utica
ÑFfunerar.dir 172 Interior of Phoenician tomb
ÑFfunerar.dir 173 Phoenician tomb, detail of the entrance, Kerkouane
ÑFfunerar.dir 201 The Phoenicians generally cremated their dead, a practice that they spread to all the areas that they colonized, with the sole exception of Carthage where corpses were buried instead. There, however, the rite changed again during the Hellenistic period, with a return to the practice of cremation.
ÑFfunerar.dir 202 TOMBS
There were various types of tomb in the Phoenician and Punic world. The well tombs consisted of large chambers excavated underground and connected with the surface by a well, with steps cut into its sides to facilitate access. The dromic tombs, always cut out of rock, were made up of a single chamber to which access was provided by a passage with a flight of steps (dromos). Pit tombs were dug out of the earth without any particular constructions; in some cases the grave had a border and was covered by slabs of stone. In the Hellenistic period (third-second century bC), funeral monuments were erected in North Africa that mixed local elements with Punic, Greek, and Egyptian ones. There were two different types: circular mausoleums or mounds and towers.
ÑFmappa.dir 201 TYRE
ÑFmappa.dir 202 SIDON
ÑFmappa.dir 203 MOYTA
ÑFmappa.dir 204 NORA
ÑFmappa.dir 205 CARTHAGE
ÑFmil.dir 171 Horseman, terra-cotta. 8th cent. BC - Beirut, National Museum
ÑFmil.dir 172 Phoenician dagger, reproduction of an example from the 19-18th cent. BC
ÑFmil.dir 173 Knife with geometric decoration, 18th cent. BC - Beirut, National Museum
ÑFmil.dir 174 Disc depicting Phoenician horseman, 4th cent. BC - Carthage, National Museum
ÑFmil.dir 177 Reproduction of disc with war elephant
ÑFmil.dir 178 Phoenician chariot, detail from a patera from the XV-XIV cent. BC - Paris, MusÄe du Louvre
ÑFmil.dir 201 In Carthage the commander in charge of the army was usually a member of the aristocracy, elected by the senate, and supported by a small number of high-ranking officers, always Carthaginian by birth, who were placed in command of individual corps. At first the army was conscripted essentially from full citizens of the capital and the other North African cities ruled by Carthage. Later the contingents from the cities were replaced by armies made up of Libyans, i.e. subject African peoples, and mercenaries. The crews of warships, on the other hand, were made up entirely of Carthaginian citizens.
ÑFmil.dir 202 ARMS
Evidence of the arms used by Carthaginian infantry is provided by stelae, on which helmets, cuirasses, round shields, spears, and swords are represented. There were various types of sword, including the curved ones used by mercenaries from Spain and the long slashing swords of the Celtic mercenaries.
The light infantry used the sling, while the cavalry relied on the short sword. The numerous arrowheads found in Carthage testify to the existence of units of archers as well.
ÑFmil.dir 203 WARSHIPS
For a people like the Phoenicians, constantly voyaging by sea, the warship was of fundamental importance. Carthage, in particular, possessed many types of warship. There were at least three officers in charge of each vessel, while there were never more than thirty sailors and the number of oarsmen varied in relation to the size of the ship, rising to as many as three hundred in the quinquereme.
In battle the fleet was organized into squadrons, each consisting of twelve ships. In addition there were fast boats used for liaisons and to rescue the crews of rammed ships, with the result that a fleet would normally have as many as a hundred and twenty ships, or even more.
ÑFmil.dir 204 THE CHARIOT ARMED WITH BLADES
These chariots were drawn by a pair of horses and manned by the charioteer and an escort, probably an archer. Sharp blades were attached to the front of the chariot and the wheels. Its purpose was to break up the order of enemy ranks and thereby make the task of the foot soldiers easier. In order to be effective, however, the chariot armed with blades needed large and level spaces to maneuver, and for this reason it was eventually replaced by the battle elephant.
ÑFmil.dir 205 FIGHTING ELEPHANTS
Battle elephants served the same function as the chariot armed with blades but were also able to operate on uneven ground. In battle formation they were placed in front of the infantry and launched at great speed against the enemy lines, with the aim of creating confusion. Unlike the elephants used by Pyrrhus, which were armed with small towers containing picked archers, it seems that the Carthaginian elephants carried only a single rider. The stables built into the walls of Carthage were able to hold around three hundred elephants.
ÑFmozia.dir 171 Mozia, the coast
ÑFmozia.dir 172 Mozia Open-Air Museum , stone sarcophagi
ÑFmozia.dir 173 Mozia, the Cothon
ÑFmozia.dir 174 The walls of Mozia, graphic reconstruction
ÑFmozia.dir 201 Founded by the Phoenicians at the end of the eighth century BC, the city, set on a small island not far off the coast, still has many constructions dating from the period of Carthage's presence in Sicily. These include the ring of fortifications that runs right round the island, the choton or artificial harbor, and much of the built-up area: the so-called ╟potter's shop,╚ the industrial quarter, and the temple buildings of the sacred area of ╟Cappiddazzu.╚ Finally there is the tophet, a sacrificial area that was subjected to a massive intervention in the second half of the sixth century BC, considerably altering its appearance. In 397 BC Moyta was totally destroyed by the Syracusans.
ÑFmozia.dir 202 THE FORTIFICATIONS
The fortifications of Moyta were rebuilt many times over the course of the centuries, the last time probably on the eve of the siege by Dionysius of Syracuse in 397 BC. On this occasion the walls were reinforced with square towers of over 10 m on a side, set at regular intervals. The curtain of walls was pierced by two monumental entrances. The bases of the walls were built out of blocks of large size and laid without mortar, whereas air-dried bricks were used for the upper parts and curved battlements ran along the top.
ÑFmozia.dir 203 THE COTHON
The cothon, protected by the fortified structures of the ╟south gate,╚ was linked to the sea by a canal that was 30 m long and over 5 m wide. While the access canal dates from the end of the sixth century BC, the internal basin could not have been completed before the end of the following century.
ÑFnora.dir 171 Nora: the peninsula of Capo di Pula
ÑFnora.dir 172 Nora: the archeological area
ÑFnora.dir 173 Nora: the Roman Temple
ÑFnora.dir 174 Nora: colomns of patrician house
ÑFnora.dir 175 Nora: the archeological area
ÑFnora.dir 201 The city was probably founded by the Phoenicians at the beginning of the seventh century BC. Two complexes from the Punic phase have survived outside the city, the burial ground and the tophet, set respectively on the isthmus that connects the peninsula with the mainland and the stretch of beach leading to the isthmus itself. As a result of the structures built over it during the Roman era and the effects of erosion and bradyseism, we know little about the Carthaginian city: however it is possible to identify a number of dwellings from that period on the southeastern shore.
ÑFnora.dir 202 A large sacred area is located at the end of the promontory. In it have been found a religious shrine dating from no earlier than the fifth century BC and a temple, the so called sanctuary of Aesculapius, whose visible structure is certainly from the Roman era but presents traces of earlier phases datable to the Punic period. It appears that the harbor had three berthing places, although the main one must have been located on the northwestern shore of the promontory. All these structures are now underwater.
ÑFrel.dir 171 Oath Taking of the Two Kings, 10th cent. BC - Beirut , National Museum
ÑFrel.dir 172 Scene of religious offering, 4th cent. BC - Beirut, National Museum
ÑFrel.dir 173 Female deity, ivory statuette - end of 2nd millennium BC - Beirut, National Museum.
ÑFrel.dir 174 Group representing Demeter and Kore, 3rd-2nd cent. BC - Beirut, National Museum
ÑFrel.dir 175 Votive stele with priest and child, 4th cent. BC - Tunis, MusΘe du Bardo
ÑFrel.dir 201 SACRED PROSTITUTION
The custom of sacred prostitution was linked to the cult of Ashtaroth in particular. On Cyprus and in the coastal sanctuaries of the western Mediterranean, prostitution was practiced in a systematic manner by temple slaves. They did so in honor of the goddess, with the sum paid by clients always going into the coffers of the temples, which amassed great wealth in this manner.
ÑFrel.dir 202 Worship took the form of a rite officiated by the priest. It is possible to deduce from the numerous inscriptions found in Phoenicia that the kings also had priestly functions and personally officiated at liturgical ceremonies during festivals or at other moments of special importance, while everyday religious activities were carried out by ordinary priests, who were helped to celebrate the rite by several other people. Among the minor figures who assisted the priests were sacred prostitutes of both sexes.
ÑFrel.dir 203 Sacrifice represented the preeminent aspect of Carthaginian religious life and was carried out in the tophet, where, according to the sources, children were sacrificed. That Phoenicians and Carthaginians believed in life after death is clearly demonstrated by the presence of votive offerings among the objects buried in tombs. The fact that numerous amulets, which had the function of protecting the dead person from ╟evil spirits,╚ have been found in tombs suggests the importance that was placed on magic.
ÑFrel.dir 204 SACRIFICE
The sacrifice of children by burning them alive is recorded both in the Bible and by the classical authors, but it is likely that this was actually a kind of initiation after death, in which children who had met a premature end were ╟offered╚ to Ba'al-Hammon and Tanit, so that they would protect them in the afterlife. However it is possible that in wholly exceptional cases, such as during the siege of Carthage in 146 BC, the sacrifice of live children was actually carried out in order to propitiate the gods.
ÑFsidone.dir 171 Sidon, 19th-century view
ÑFsidone.dir 172 Citadel of Sidon, 19th-century view
ÑFsidone.dir 173 Sidon, 19th-century view
ÑFsidone.dir 174 The Citadel, view
ÑFsidone.dir 175 Sidon, 19th-century view
ÑFsidone.dir 201 The city of Sidon is set on a small promontory studded with a series of little islands. It has two modest watercourses and appears to have been inhabited since the fourth millennium. As far as the structure of the settlement in the Phoenician era is concerned, we know that the acropolis was set on the promontory that is now occupied by a castle. There was probably an official Assyrian residence in Sidon, while it is certain that the city was the seat of a Persian governor who had an important palace built there. On the outskirts of Sidon there was an industrial district reserved for the dying of textiles. The importance of this activity to the city's economy is testified by the fact that the pile of shells used in the dying process reached a height of 40 meters.
ÑFstoria.dir 201 Earliest records of Phoenician writing.
ÑFstoria.dir 202 Early 12th cent. BC:
Invasion of the ╟Sea Peoples╚; destruction of Sidon.
ÑFstoria.dir 203 1112-1074 BC:
The Assyrian King Tiglathpileser I leads military expeditions in the Syro-Palestinian region.
ÑFstoria.dir 204 969-935 BC:
Hiram is ruler of Tyre; urban layout of the city; cooperation with Solomon of Jerusalem.
ÑFstoria.dir 205 883-859 BC:
The Assyrian King Assurnasirapli II leads military expeditions in the Syro-Palestinian region.
ÑFstoria.dir 206 9th cent. BC:
Foundation of Kition (Citium) on the island of Cyprus.
ÑFstoria.dir 207 814/13 BC:
Foundation of Carthage in North Africa by Elissa, princess of Tyre, otherwise known as Dido.
ÑFstoria.dir 208 745-727 BC:
Tiglathpileser III annexes northern Phoenicia to the Assyrian empire.
ÑFstoria.dir 209 721-705 BC:
Sargon II steps up military pressure on Phoenicia and leads military expeditions to Cyprus.
ÑFstoria.dir 210 705-681 BC:
The Assyrian ruler Sennacherib defeats a coalition of Syrian and Phoenician cities.
ÑFstoria.dir 211 681-668 BC:
The Assyrian king Esarhaddon destroys Sidon.
ÑFstoria.dir 212 668-626 BC:
Assurbanapal completes the Assyrian annexation of Phoenicia.
ÑFstoria.dir 213 609-605 BC:
The Pharaoh Nekao extends his control over the Syro-Palestinian area.
605 BC:
Beginning of Babylonian domination over Phoenicia.
ÑFstoria.dir 214 586-573 BC:
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieges and subdues Tyre.
ÑFstoria.dir 215 555 BC:
Beginning of Persian domination over Phoenicia.
ÑFstoria.dir 216 490-480 BC:
The Phoenicians join the Persians on military expeditions into Greece.
ÑFstoria.dir 217 332 BC: Alexander the Great conquers Tyre and subjugates Phoenicia.
ÑFstoria.dir 218 PHOENICIA
The history of Phoenicia is generally considered to have begun in the twelfth century BC, notwithstanding the existence of much older settlements, since it was in this period that Phoenician cities began to take on their own characteristics and attain independence from the neighboring areas. It was between the twelfth and the eighth century BC that Phoenicia reached the height of its splendor: in this phase, which saw the supremacy of the cities of Sidon and Tyre, international trade on a large scale was developed with the most important markets in the Near East and Aegean, and colonization of the coasts of the central and western Mediterranean commenced with the foundation of numerous colonies, of which Carthage was undoubtedly the most important.
ÑFstoria.dir 219 This favorable period was brought to an end in the latter part of the eighth century BC when first Assyria and then Babylonia started to move into the Syro-Palestinian area. Economic and political revival did not come until the fifth century, when the Phoenician kings managed to take advantage of their good relations with the emperors of Persia. The history of Phoenicia concluded with the conquest of Tyre by Alexander the Great in 333-2 BC. The process of Hellenization of the region, already begun under Persian domination, destroyed all traces of Phoenician independence, against the background of a Mediterranean now completely permeated by Greek culture.
ÑFstoria.dir 220 COLONIZATION
Ever since the beginning of the 1st millennium BC the Phoenicians had sailed their ships to the most remote parts of the Mediterranean. They first reached Cyprus, where they founded the colony of Kition, and then headed into the Aegean, establishing good relations with the Greeks, and to Egypt. Moving further out into the eastern Mediterranean, Phoenician sailors set off to explore more and more distant lands in search of new markets. In this way they reached the Italian peninsula and its larger islands, North Africa, and Spain, founding new cities from the end of the ninth century bC onward.
ÑFstoria.dir 221 At the northernmost tip of Sicily they established the settlements of Moyta (Mozia), Panormus (Palermo), and Solus; in Sardinia, Karalis (Cagliari), Nora, Bithia, Sulci, Mount Sirai, and Tharros; in North Africa, along with Carthage and Utica, a settlement was built on the small island of Rachgoun, while the colonies of Lixus and Mogador were founded in the Atlantic sector. In Spain, finally, Gades (Cadiz) was settled on the other side of the Straits of Gibraltar, while numerous centers arose on the coast of Andalusia, including Guadalhorce, Malaka (Malaga), Toscanos, Morro de Mezquitilla, and Chorreras.
ÑFstoria.dir 222 THE NAME
The ancient inhabitants of the cities on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, corresponding to modern Lebanon, never called themselves ╟Phoenicians.╚ This name was given to them by the Greeks, with whom they soon came into contact in the course of their voyages. The most common explanation for the origin of the name is the one linking the people to the dye known as Tyrian purple (phoinix in Greek), since the dying of cloth, in this purple color, was one of the most typical activities of the Phoenician peoples. The Phoenicians, however, described themselves as Canaanites, from the land of Canaan, the ancient name for the Syro-Palestinian region, or simply referred to their individual cities of origin.
ÑFstoria.dir 223 1300 b.C.
ÑFstoria.dir 224 1200 b.C.
ÑFstoria.dir 225 1000 b.C.
ÑFstoria.dir 226 800 b.C.
ÑFstoria.dir 227 600 b.C.
ÑFstoria.dir 228 400 b.C.
ÑFstoria.dir 229 200 b.C.
ÑFtempio.dir 171 Stele with image of Phoenician temple
ÑFtempio.dir 172 Stele from Sulcis with image of Phoenician temple and offerer
ÑFtempio.dir 201 Initially religious rites were conducted chiefly in the mountains, in the vicinity of water, trees, and stones, which were considered sacred. Most temples consisted of a sacred enclosure open to the sky, with a small chapel in the middle containing a betilo, or sacred pillar. An altar for sacrifices stood in front of the chapel. The sanctuary generally contained a sacred spring or pool as well.
ÑFtempio.dir 202 City temples had a different layout, with the typical tripartite structure consisting of an antecell, cell, and sanctum sanctorum. An example of this can be be seen in the temple at Kition, probably dedicated to Ashtaroth. Another type of religious building that was common in Carthage during the Hellenistic period had a cell preceded by a portico with two columns that stood on a socle with a flight of steps. The roof was terraced and had an entablature with no pediment.
ÑFtempio.dir 203 THE TOPHET
This was a sanctuary open to the sky in which urns containing the ashes of cremated children and inscribed with dedications to Ba'al Hammon and Tanit were set during religious ceremonies. Many of the Phoenician colonies in the West had a tophet, but undoubtedly the most important tophet in the Punic world was the one at Carthage, used from the beginning of the city's history and right up until its destruction.
ÑFtempio.dir 204 The most ancient phase is represented by a small chapel consisting of a square room with the sanctum sanctorum carved out of the rock. In front of the chapel there was a courtyard with an altar, entered through a sort of labyrinth made up of three concentric curved walls.
ÑFtiro.dir 171 The Isthmus of Tyre, 19th-century view
ÑFtiro.dir 172 Tyre, 19th-century view
ÑFtiro.dir 173 The port of Tyre in a 19th-century view
ÑFtiro.dir 174 Colored marble floor from Tyre, 5th-6th cent. AD
ÑFtiro.dir 201 Almost nothing is left of the Phoenician city of Tyre, having been successively effaced by Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Crusader constructions. Modern Tyre is very different from the ancient one. Today, in fact, the city is linked to the mainland by a tongue of land that has formed over the centuries from the accumulation of debris on the pier that was erected by Alexander the Great during the siege of 332 BC. In antiquity, however, the city stood on an island of over 50 hectares, facing the coast and surrounded to the north and south by two long reefs that protected the two harbors, a natural one known as the ╟Sidonian,╚ and an artificial one, called the ╟Egyptian.╚
ÑFtiro.dir 202 The two harbors were linked by a canal that ran through the built up area. By the middle of the ninth century BC, Tyre had already been fortified, with high walls punctuated by towers and two large gates that provided access to the two harbors. Inside there were three main temples, of which one, dedicated to the god Melkart, was described by Herodotus as having columns of gold and capitals of emerald.
