The siege of Tire by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. and the destruction of Carthage by the Romans in 146 BC. are two events that sign the end of a civilization. Over the previous millennia, the Phoenicians gradually grew to become one of the most influential peoples around the Mediterranean, so much so that before their fall we can speak of a true Phoenician superiority over the sea. But how did this civilization, originating from a small coastal region in the Middle East, extend its influence to dominate most of the Mediterranean Sea? As early as 7500 BC. men begin to settle in Phoenicia, we then see the first dwellings and the first villages rise from this time. Over the centuries, the population and techniques evolve, we gradually see the appearance within the villages of paths, religious centers and increasingly large habitats, agriculture, livestock and crafts also develop. As in Egypt or in Mesopotamia before, the first cities emerge around 3300 in Phoenicia, the first of them is surely Byblos; this one develops very quickly thanks to the trade which it maintains with Egypt. Taking advantage of its numerous forest resources, it became the first supplier of cedar wood to the pharaohs, which they needed so much for the construction of ships or buildings. Religion also helps to strengthen the ties between the city of Byblos and Egypt, Baalat is then the supreme goddess of the city and the protector of its kings, at the time already she is assimilated to Hathor, one of the most ancient Egyptian goddesses, so the two states share a common deity. But Byblos is not alone, other cities quickly follow it like Tyr, Sidon or Arwad, although none maintains such a privileged relationship with the pharaohs. Unfortunately, the prosperity experienced by the region suffered an upheaval at the end of the third millennium, at which time a semi-nomadic people from Syria, the Amorites, attacked the cities of Mesopotamia, Phoenicia and Egypt. Byblos does not receive any help from the latter since it is experiencing many troubles itself, the city is then ransacked and looted before falling into the hands of the Amorites, who mix with the local population, while relations with the pharaohs are cut off. Between 2000 and 1900 BC. the troubles calm down and Phenicia regains its prosperity at the same time as Egypt, exchanges them with the pharaohs, Mesopotamia and the Aegean Sea then resume more beautiful while Byblos reaches an impressive wealth. Egypt then extends on the Palestinian coasts and the Phoenician cities are more and more influenced by its culture; in Byblos, the elites use Egyptian titles and adopt hieroglyphic writing. King Ibshemuabi, for example, does not hesitate to call himself "governor" or pharaoh. We talk a lot about Byblos here because it is the best known and most powerful city of this era, but it is far from alone. At the same time, more secondary cities such as Sidon, Tyr, Arwad, Beirut or Ugarit also stand out, they often base their power on trade and their position as an intermediary between Mesopotamia, the Aegean Sea and Egypt, most of these cities accept the domination of other powers like the Hittites or the Egyptians who provide them with peace and protection. Over time, the power of Byblos dwindles to the benefit of other Phoenician cities, around 1300 it is only one city among others, while Sidon, Beirut and Ugarit stand out more and more. After several centuries of evolution under a multitude of different influences, we can begin to speak of a Phoenician identity from 1200 BC. ; in addition, at this time the Phoenician cities are freed from external powers thanks to the invasions of the peoples of the sea, peoples about whom we do not know much, except that they caused the fall of the Mycenaean civilization in Greece, the Hittite empire and the weakening of Egypt, these peoples of the sea also surely mixed with the peoples of Phenicia, which must have encouraged the appearance of a common identity centered around the sea. The first characteristic of this Phoenician civilization, and surely the best known, is its writing system; it was in Byblos that this alphabetic writing was developed for the first time, it is composed of 22 signs, only consonants because vowels were not written at the time. This reduced number of signs makes this writing particularly accessible, anyone can theoretically learn it unlike hieroglyphs, for example, whose learning was a real job. In terms of religion, each city develops its own pantheon and chooses its own deities; these pantheons are generally dominated by a couple, therefore a god and a goddess who are the protectors of the city, to which are added other more secondary divinities. Some of these deities are taken from other cultures, as we have seen with the goddess of Byblos who is likened to an Egyptian goddess, and can be taken from several cities; overall, the pantheons allow cities to assert their difference from others, since the Phoenician world is far from being united politically. Another characteristic, the Phoenician cities are each directed by their own king; these have a religious role, since they serve as intermediaries between the people and the deities and ensure the maintenance of the temples, a military role, since they direct their armies and their fleets themselves, a diplomatic role, since he maintains a relationship with the other Phoenician and foreign kings, as well as some other judicial and commercial roles. To limit the power of these sovereigns, the cities host several assemblies including a council of elders and an assembly of the people, the population therefore has a say in the direction of the city. The Phoenicians are great sailors and great traders, many men go to sea to earn a living. With them, they bring their culture and their customs, distribute the products made in Phenicia and sometimes even settle where they trade. This is how we see many Phoenicians integrating into other civilizations and influencing them, while alphabetic writing spread among the Aramaic and Hebrew populations, before the Greeks themselves adopt the latter, which they will later modify to add vowels. Subsequently, this writing system will impose itself everywhere around the Mediterranean via Phoenician and Greek colonization. Throughout their history, the Phoenicians stood out as great traders and great navigators, but these characteristics developed even more from 1200 BC. From this time, the city of Tire gradually gained in power and began to impose itself as the economic center of Phenicia alongside Sidon, it would also seem that the two cities were, for a time, ruled by the same kings. Be that as it may, the Phoenicians launched great explorations towards the west of the Mediterranean between the 10th and 8th centuries BC. ; they lead them to the Strait of Gibraltar, which they even manage to cross. These explorations obviously have a commercial purpose, they allow the Tyrians to discover peoples with whom to trade and regions rich in raw materials, mainly metals. Over time, the Tyrians establish relationships with certain peoples, they exchange handicrafts for raw materials, then, when they have found a friendly clientele, they settle down by founding trading posts or colonies. These Tyrian installations generally remain in contact with their mother city, to which they send tribute. Thus, we see Tyrians and Sidonians settling in Spain, Sicily, Northern Syria, Sardinia, Cyprus or North Africa, with the founding of the famous Carthage. These trading posts allow the Phoenicians to exchange fabrics, wine or oil in the Aegean Sea and in Italy, to get supplies of copper, iron or silver with the mines of Cyprus, Sardinia or Spain , to buy ivory or slaves in North Africa, or even horses from Anatolia. From the 8th century, Greek colonization is added to this process, we then see the birth of rivalries or cooperation between Phoenicians and Greeks, this is for example the case in Sicily where Greek communities are welcomed within the Phoenician colonies. . However, these two colonizations do not have the same objectives nor the same causes; while the Phoenicians simply seek to establish safe trade routes through their trading posts subject to a mother city, the Greeks really seek to settle by founding settlements completely autonomous from Greece. Be that as it may, the Mediterranean world was then shared between two peoples, Phoenicians and Greeks, but the rise of a Phoenician colony was about to upset this balance. As we have seen, Carthage was founded by Tire during the 9th century. Its central position in Phoenician trade quickly offered it a major role: ships from Spain followed the current until they stopped in Carthage or Sicily. During the 6th century, Tire lost Sidon, its provinces on the coast as well as its colonies of Cyprus for the benefit of the Assyrian empire, the metropolis then lost importance within the commercial system which it had itself created, while the western colonies assert themselves more and more. At this time, the commercial activity of Carthage gains in importance while the city develops. Soon enough she begins to fill the void left by Tyr; during the 6th century the Phoenician counters of the Iberian peninsula experienced a serious decline and some of them were even abandoned, we then see Carthage intervene by redistributing the populations in the most important and most strategic sites. From this moment therefore, Carthage reclaims the Tyrian colonies and begins to expand in North Africa at the expense of the local tribes, it then arises as the protector of the Phoenician trading posts against the Greeks and pirates. In 560, for example, Carthage allied itself with the Etruscans and pushed back the Greeks of Alalia, in Corsica, who threatened the trade by their actions of pillage and piracy. Earlier, Carthage had already secured the loyalty of the Phoenician colonies in Sicily, later it also took control of Sardinia and signed a treaty with Rome in 509 BC . which assures Carthage of its control of the Mediterranean. Thus, Carthage is gradually positioned as the center of Mediterranean trade, it becomes the new mother city of most Phoenician colonies, in order to remain so it does not hesitate to develop a navy capable of dominating the seas. Moreover, the Carthaginians do not hesitate to sink all the foreign ships which seek to go to ore-producing regions, such as Sardinia or the south of Spain, even if they are Etruscan ships with which they are allies. Be that as it may, Carthage acquired a powerful military fleet which was added to its already dominating commercial fleet. During all this time, the city continues to maintain privileged relations with Phenicia, the Carthaginians continue in particular to pay homage to the divinity of Tyr. To these religious ties are added diplomatic ties, since Carthage remains at least symbolically a subject of Tire for a long time, and commercial ties, the Tyrians also derive advantages from the Carthaginian domination of the Mediterranean: the two cities have the same business interests and complement each other. Proof of the important relations between Phenicia and Carthage, Arrian, a Roman writer of the 2nd century of our era, affirms that a Carthaginian embassy was sent each year to Tire on the occasion of religious festivals; another example of the link between mother city and colony, Herodotus, Greek historian of the 5th century BC, explains that the Persians, after the conquest of Egypt, wanted to conquer Carthage but that the Phoenicians, who represented the majority of the fleet Persian, would have refused to attack one of the cities they founded because an important link unites the mother cities and their daughters. Be that as it may, Carthage will continue throughout its existence to maintain close relations with its founding city and Phenicia in general. Culturally, Carthage is a continuation of Phenicia, for example it continues to use Phoenician writing. In itself, the Punic civilization is a western continuity of the Phoenician civilization, the two are very similar and there is nothing strange in that since the first is the heiress of the second. Thus, in several millennia of history, the Phoenicians, this people from a tiny part of our world, were able to influence it for eternity. Phenicia, influenced by all the great Eastern civilizations, thus welcomed one of the most important and mysterious peoples in the history of the Mediterranean; their alphabet, both practical and easy to use, laid the first stones of Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Arabic, their omnipresence on the sea allowed the meeting between a multitude of civilizations and incredible cultural exchanges, while their domination over this same sea, through their colonies and their navy, has made it possible to mark their legend for the millennia that follow. We are talking about a people who knew how to stand out from their contemporaries, the Greeks already notified their ingenuity in the works of Homer, while their fall mingles with the extraordinary stories of the great civilizations that made the world we live in today. today; who does not know the story of the siege of Tire by Alexander the Great, and who has not been intrigued by the rivalry between Rome and Carthage? The story of the Phoenicians is still very mysterious for historians and often unknown to many, but it deserved at least this video in order to popularize it; for those who would like to go further, there are always my sources in the description, and with that, I'll give you an appointment for a next episode of history.
