Civilization

Phoenicia

Also Known As Canaanites

Phoenicia

Phoenicia was a thalassocratic civilization of Semitic speaking city states along the Levantine coast of the eastern Mediterranean, in present day Lebanon, that flourished from roughly 2000 to 64 BC. Its city states, including Tyre, Sidon and Byblos, built a trading network across the Mediterranean and founded colonies such as Carthage on the North African coast. Its most enduring legacy is the development of one of the earliest verified alphabets, derived from the Proto-Sinaitic script, which spread across the Mediterranean and gave rise to the Greek alphabet, and in turn to the Latin and Cyrillic scripts.

Facts

Region

The Levantine coast of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily present day Lebanon, with colonies across the Mediterranean including Carthage on the North African coast. 1

Start Year

2000 BCE 1

End Year

64 BCE 1

FAQs

What did the Phoenicians call themselves and their land?

They called themselves Canaanites and their land Canaan.

The name Phoenicia comes from outside observers. The Phoenicians were Semitic-speaking people living in city states in Canaan along the Levantine coast of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily in present-day Lebanon, and according to the lead section of the Wikipedia article on Phoenicia they referred to themselves as Canaanites and their land as Canaan. This is why the Canaanites are recorded on this page as an alternative name for the civilization.

Connections

In Era

The Iron Age

Related To

Carthage

Source Wikipedia: Phoenicia

In the Other Atlases