Phoenician sea routes on the map. Material on the topic "the great journeys of the Phoenicians." "Novoselovskaya secondary school"

Phenicia - narrow strip east coast Mediterranean Sea, bounded in the east by the Lebanese ridge.

ABOUT Phoenicians first told by Homer. From the end of the 2nd beginning of the 1st millennium BC, the Phoenicians were engaged in maritime trade, at the same time they founded settlements throughout the Mediterranean (the most significant of them is Carthage). Like all sailors of antiquity, they never voluntarily moved away from the shore beyond its visibility, never sailed in winter or at night.

When Phoenician society became a slave-owning society, it increasingly began to need an influx of new slaves, and this further increased the desire to sail to overseas countries.

So, no later than 15 centuries BC The Phoenicians began to visit Crete. Moving westward from there, they began the discovery of the Central Basin of the Mediterranean Sea. From the islands of the Aegean Sea the Phoenicians moved to southern shores Balkan Peninsula, crossed the Strait of Otranto and went around Apulia and Calambria. Simultaneously with the Cretans or a little later, the island of Sicily was discovered, and then they discovered and colonized Malta in the 8th century BC. Having crossed the Strait of Tunis, they moved west and traced almost 2000 km coastline North-West Africa, opening the Atlas mountainous country to the Strait of Gibraltar. Coming to the strait, the Phoenicians for the first time received a correct idea of ​​the length of the Great Sunset Sea (3,700 km).

Simultaneously with their penetration to the west, the Phoenicians began to explore the African coast and east direction. They discovered the gulfs of Hammamet, Little Sirte with the islands of Kerkennah and Djerba and Greater Sirte.

According to ancient Greek authors, the Phoenicians were the first to enter Atlantic Ocean. They discovered the entire western coast of the Iberian Peninsula, entering the mouths of such rivers as the Guadiana, Tagus, Douro, and Minho. There is a possibility that the Phoenicians also became familiar with the shores of the Bay of Biscay all the way to the Brittany Peninsula.

The Phoenicians built ships for expeditions organized by their neighbors, who owned the shores of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, and entered their service.

IN 600 BC egyptian pharaoh Necho ordered a group of Phoenician merchants to go to sailing around Africa. The historian Herodotus, who visited Egypt, spoke about this voyage, 150 years later, with such details that he himself considered incredible. But it is precisely these details that confirm the authenticity of the event. So, Herodotus, who did not have modern presentation about the globe and solar system, the part of the story that said that when the Phoenicians skirted Africa from the south, moving from east to west, they had the sun on the right side, that is, in the north, seemed implausible. It is clear to us that it is precisely this circumstance that confirms that the Phoenicians actually crossed the equator, sailed through the waters of the Southern Hemisphere and rounded Africa from the south. They circumnavigated Africa within three years, which is quite plausible given the capabilities of the shipping technology of that time, as well as the fact that they stopped for 2-3 months every year to sow and harvest grain.

Around 850 BC, Carthage was founded by the Phoenicians - the greatest shopping mall that time. In 500 BC, Carthage, having arisen as a Phoenician colony, itself began to look for colonies. For this purpose, the Carthaginians organized a large naval expedition under the leadership of the Carthaginian admiral Hanno. He led a flotilla consisting of 60 ships carrying 30 thousand colonists.

Along his route, Hanno founded cities and left some people and ships in each of them.

This journey of the Carthaginians was reflected in the “Periplus” (description of the voyage) of the naval commander Hanno, from which we learned that, having passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, they followed for two days along Atlantic coast Africa, founding cities along the way. We rounded Cape Green and soon entered the mouth of the Gambia River. A few days later, the travelers reached the bay, which they called the Western Horn (probably Bissagos Bay), then the Southern Horn (now Sherborough Bay in Sierra Leone) and finally landed on the coast of what is now Liberia.

Thus Hanno reached Equatorial Africa. As far as is known, he was the first Mediterranean inhabitant to visit West Africa and describe it.

The results of his remarkable voyage were used only to a minimal extent: Carthaginian traders followed his route to Kerna and organized the “Golden Road” (gold trade) with the hinterland of West Africa.

The Carthaginians are also credited with the discovery of the Azores, but there is no indication in literary monuments that they visited these islands. But in 1749, the Swede Johan Podolin reported the discovery of a treasure of ancient coins on the island of Kovru, including Carthaginian ones.

At the same time as Hanno, another navigator of Carthage - Gimilkon- made a long voyage along the western shores of Europe and, apparently, reached the southwestern tip of England (Isles of Scilly).

Thus, Phoenicians And Carthaginians were the first peoples of antiquity to sail on the open sea and ocean without a compass. There is no doubt that their voyages should have enriched the Phoenicians with much information regarding the physical properties of the ocean, but nothing from their area of ​​​​knowledge has reached us. Apparently they were of the opinion that the Atlantic and Indian Oceans form one continuous water surface.

Phenicia was located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea (now the territory of Lebanon). Phenicia consisted of many separate cities with surrounding lands belonging to them, and they were ruled by kings. Such cities are called policies - city-states. Among the Phoenician city-states, Byblos, Tire and Sidon stood out especially. The Phoenician cities never united into a single state.

The Phoenicians always tried to keep their discoveries secret. At the turn of the 6th century BC, another Phoenician sailor, Hanno, sailed along the coast of West Africa and probably reached Cameroon. The report on this voyage (“Pericles”) was put on public display in the main temple of Carthage.

Subsequently, the coast of Central, Eastern and Southern Africa turned into one huge white spot for European sailors for almost one and a half thousand years. Until the 15th century, no one dared to sail along the western coast of Africa towards the equator along a route long familiar to the Phoenicians.

Phenicia is a very interesting state, which was one of the first to prove the importance international trade. Occupying only a narrow strip of land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Lebanese Mountains, without rich land resources, arable fields and pastures, the Phoenicians managed to become one of the most influential states in the region through trade. Unable to properly engage in agriculture and cattle breeding, the Phoenicians grew grapes and olives on the slopes of the Lebanese mountains. Wine was made from grapes, and fragrant oil was made from olives. The Lebanese mountains were also rich in timber, which served as material for the creation of a powerful merchant and military fleet.
The Phoenicians began to trade with neighboring countries wine, oil, building timber, glassware and purple-dyed fabrics. Developing sea trade routes, the Phoenicians sailed further and further along the northern and south coast Mediterranean Sea. On their way to the coast, they founded small settlements that served as trading posts and staging posts for Phoenician ships. So the Phoenicians founded colonies on the islands of the Mediterranean Sea - Cyprus, Sicily, Sardinia and the Balearic Islands. The Phoenicians colonized the northern coast of Africa and the southern coast of modern Spain. In those days, ships usually sailed not on the open sea, but along the coastline. The location of the colonies allowed the Phoenicians to control all maritime trade.
Enriching themselves at the expense of their colonies, Phoenician sailors gradually began to go far beyond the Mediterranean Sea. They came up with the design of a ship with a keel, which made it more stable, maneuverable and fast in sea conditions. The speed and capacity of their ships gave them an advantage when attacking small settlements and stealing prisoners into slavery. Often, the Phoenicians did not even have to attack anyone, since they cunningly lured small children onto their ships, promising to give them beautiful gifts, and then immediately set sail. For one child you could get a bull or a silver jug. The slave trade brought huge profits. In search of new goods and slaves, the Phoenicians sailed further and further from their home.
The Phoenicians were the first of the Mediterranean peoples to reach the shores of what is now England and here they obtained tin, which was very valuable at that time. Through exchange, they also received on the Atlantic coast the amber that was so highly valued at that time, delivered here by land from the Baltic states. The Phoenicians reached west coast Africa and even made a probably successful attempt to circumnavigate the African continent. The most ambitious undertaking should be considered the maritime expedition of the Phoenicians, which they carried out on behalf of the Egyptian king Necho at the end of the 7th century. BC. Within three years they circumnavigated Africa and returned through the Strait of Gibraltar, accomplishing this remarkable feat more than two thousand years before Vasco da Gama.
During this period of heyday of Phoenician navigation, the sea route became a means of communication between Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as countries that were outside Gibraltar. Control of international maritime trade made Phenicia perhaps the very first maritime trading power.

About 4000 years ago, tribes first appeared in the Mediterranean, namely its eastern part, who Ancient Greece They gave it a special name - the Phoenicians. They went down in history primarily as the most famous navigators of the past.

It is known that the name of the country - Phenicia - literally sounds like a beautiful adjective - "purple". And this analogy arose for a reason: the tribes mined a bright dye for fabrics - purple - which became established as the color of kings. But there is a second meaning - “fenehu”, which means shipbuilders. It is also justified: the Phoenicians knew how to create ships so strong that they were not afraid of even the strongest sea storms and storms. Sailing was provided by slave rowers arranged in two rows. Having laid the foundations of shipbuilding, these brave people were considered the inventors of the first galleys - multi-tiered rowing boats.

The Threat of Extinction and Carthage

The Phoenician colonies occupied almost the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea; their possessions also included part of the Atlantic coast and North Africa. Many trading cities were founded there, in particular Carthage, which had a profitable geographical position and became the largest trading center with other countries, as well as the protection of the Phoenician colonies during the intensified struggle with the Greeks and Tartessites.

Travels of famous navigators

The tribes, known as talented traders, smart lenders and resourceful city builders, also gained fame as the best navigators known not only to Ancient Phenicia, but to the whole world. They sailed the Mediterranean and Atlantic, off the northern lands of Europe and the western African coasts, were the first to travel around the entire African continent, which lasted 2.5 years. This truly enormous undertaking took place on behalf of the Egyptian king in the 7th century BC, a millennium before Vasco da Gama, and proved that the sea surrounds Africa on all sides, excluding the junction with Asia.

There was also a message about the sun, which was on the right, and not on the left, because the travelers were in the other hemisphere of the Earth, which almost for the first time gave reason to assume that the planet had a unique shape - a ball, although at that time it was difficult to believe in it. There were also rare and unattainable at that time expeditions to the south through the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean, this is even mentioned in the Bible. Moreover, these sailors were the first to see the shores of modern Great Britain and they brought tin and Baltic amber there.

Around 500 BC e. The Phoenician fleet sailed west through the Strait of Gibraltar and, having founded several small colonies on the Moroccan coast, went a little further south, reaching the Gulf of Guinea. The travels of the Phoenician sailors are significant expanded ancient geographical knowledge, despite the fact that the Phoenicians kept many discoveries secret - and history confirms this: until the 15th century, almost no one risked sailing along the western part of the African continent.

Other achievements of the Phoenicians: some interesting facts

It's safe to say that No other people made so many discoveries in ancient times. And, even despite the fact that not in all cases it was the Phoenicians who were the authors of inventions, it was they who introduced them into life, thereby changing the course of civilization:

• created an alphabet which began a triumphant journey through the world, displacing virtually all other forms of writing; It is interesting that all the letters of the alphabet, which numbered more than two dozen, were consonants;
• first in the world came up with the idea of ​​preserving fish from spoilage using salt, supplying the most distant countries; By the way, it was salt, which at that time was valued, without exaggeration, worth its weight in gold, that the Phoenicians owe their outstanding wealth;
• they began to extract paint from shellfish, which became a symbol of royal luxury, and this achievement happened by accident: the shell was accidentally chewed by a dog;
• again the first in the world began to produce glass in furnaces from ordinary sand and soda; masks were made from the resulting glass, which were used to cover the faces of the then dead;
• They brought grapes and olives to North Africa, which then came to Spain, where they are still grown, bought papyrus from the Egyptians and invented fighting machines.

Thus, the legacy of this civilization had a huge impact on further development humanity.

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Phoenician sailors and their voyages

Culture of Ancient Phenicia

Also very high level The culture and science of the ancient Phoenicians was developed: they had their own alphabet, which was eventually adopted by the Greeks. The peak of the Phoenician civilization dates back to approximately 1 thousand BC. AD

Ancient Phenicia did not have good fertile lands; constant rains due to the Mediterranean climate also did not allow the Phoenicians to engage in farming. The only way out for the inhabitants of the country was to engage in navigation, which significantly expanded trade relations with other peoples, and the abundance of forests allowed them to build ships on their own.

Shipping and trade relations

The Phoenicians built very strong ships that were not afraid of storms or storms. It was the Phoenicians who were the first to model and build ships with a keel, equipped with planking on the sides of the vessel - this significantly increased their speed.

Their ships were also equipped with special compartments for transporting cargo, which were located above the deck. Thanks to the strength of their ships, the Phoenicians had the opportunity to enter the Atlantic Ocean, which at that time was not available to many Mediterranean sailors.

The Phoenicians' maritime strategy was striking in its thoughtfulness: they built special bays along the coast so that in the event of a storm, ships could remain safe. With the help of navigation, the ancient Phoenicians were able to establish their colonies in places where their ships could reach.

One of the most famous cities, colonized by Phoenician sailors, was Carthage, which over time became the center to which all Phoenician colony cities were subordinate. Naturally, the title of the best navigators at that time was identical to the title of the best merchants.

What did the Phoenicians trade?

The Phoenicians sold in other countries what their country was rich in: primarily red fabrics (the Phoenicians learned to extract red dye from shellfish thrown ashore by a storm), transparent glass produced by Phoenician artisans, wood from Lebanese cedars, grape wine and olive oil. oil.

The Phoenician sailors also did not return home empty-handed: they bought grain and sheets of papyrus in Egypt, and silver and copper in Spain.

Also, the main product of the Phoenicians were slaves, whom they bought in other countries and sold at home so that they could build new ships. Also, slaves shackled were used by Phoenician sailors for rowing.

Sometimes Phoenician sailors did not hesitate to commit robbery: as soon as an opportunity presented itself, they captured other people’s ships and plundered small port cities.

Driven from the sea by the Greeks

However, as a result of internal strife and a significant shortage of material for the construction of new ships, the Phoenicians were ousted from the trade and maritime business by the Greeks, who also learned to build stronger and more advanced ships.

But despite this, the Phoenicians managed to make a real revolution in the shipbuilding business of that time. They laid the main foundations of shipbuilding, which were used until the 19th century, when sailing ships began to displace the first steamships.

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Phenicia is a narrow strip of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, bounded in the east by the Lebanese ridge.

ABOUT Phoenicians first told by Homer. From the end of the 2nd beginning of the 1st millennium BC, the Phoenicians were engaged in maritime trade, at the same time they founded settlements throughout the Mediterranean (the most significant of them is Carthage). Like all sailors of antiquity, they never voluntarily moved away from the shore beyond its visibility, never sailed in winter or at night.

When Phoenician society became a slave-owning society, it increasingly began to need an influx of new slaves, and this further increased the desire to sail to overseas countries.

So, no later than 15 centuries BC The Phoenicians began to visit Crete. Moving westward from there, they began the discovery of the Central Basin of the Mediterranean Sea. From the islands of the Aegean Sea, the Phoenicians moved to the southern shores of the Balkan Peninsula, crossed the Strait of Otranto and circled Apulia and Calambria. Simultaneously with the Cretans or a little later, the island of Sicily was discovered, and then they discovered and colonized Malta in the 8th century BC. After crossing the Strait of Tunis, they moved west and traced almost 2000 km of coastline of North West Africa, opening the Atlas mountainous country to the Strait of Gibraltar. Coming to the strait, the Phoenicians for the first time received a correct idea of ​​the length of the Great Sunset Sea (3,700 km).

Simultaneously with their penetration to the west, the Phoenicians began to explore the African coast in an eastern direction. They discovered the gulfs of Hammamet, Little Sirte with the islands of Kerkennah and Djerba and Greater Sirte.

Phoenician sailors

They discovered the entire western coast of the Iberian Peninsula, entering the mouths of such rivers as the Guadiana, Tagus, Douro, and Minho. There is a possibility that the Phoenicians also became familiar with the shores of the Bay of Biscay all the way to the Brittany Peninsula.

The Phoenicians built ships for expeditions organized by their neighbors, who owned the shores of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and entered their service.

IN 600 BC Egyptian pharaoh Necho ordered a group of Phoenician merchants to go to sailing around Africa. The historian Herodotus, who visited Egypt, spoke about this voyage, 150 years later, with such details that he himself considered incredible. But it is precisely these details that confirm the authenticity of the event. Thus, Herodotus, who did not have a modern understanding of the globe and the solar system, seemed implausible to that part of the story that said that when the Phoenicians skirted Africa from the south, moving from east to west, they had the sun on the right side, then there is in the north. It is clear to us that it is precisely this circumstance that confirms that the Phoenicians actually crossed the equator, sailed through the waters of the Southern Hemisphere and rounded Africa from the south. They circumnavigated Africa within three years, which is quite plausible given the capabilities of the shipping technology of that time, as well as the fact that they stopped for 2-3 months every year to sow and harvest grain.

Around 850 BC, the Phoenicians founded Carthage, the greatest trading center of that time. In 500 BC, Carthage, having arisen as a Phoenician colony, itself began to look for colonies. For this purpose, the Carthaginians organized a large naval expedition under the leadership of the Carthaginian admiral Hanno. He led a flotilla consisting of 60 ships carrying 30 thousand colonists.

Along his route, Hanno founded cities and left some people and ships in each of them.

This journey of the Carthaginians was reflected in the “Periplus” (description of the voyage) of the naval commander Hanno, from which we learned that, having passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, they followed for two days along the Atlantic coast of Africa, founding cities along the way. We rounded Cape Green and soon entered the mouth of the Gambia River. A few days later, the travelers reached the bay, which they called the Western Horn (probably Bissagos Bay), then the Southern Horn (now Sherborough Bay in Sierra Leone) and finally landed on the coast of what is now Liberia.

Thus, Hanno reached Equatorial Africa. As far as is known, he was the first Mediterranean inhabitant to visit West Africa and describe it.

The results of his remarkable voyage were used only to a minimal extent: Carthaginian traders followed his route to Kerna and organized the “Golden Road” (gold trade) with the hinterland of West Africa.

The Carthaginians are also credited with the discovery of the Azores, but there is no indication in literary monuments that they visited these islands. But in 1749, the Swede Johan Podolin reported the discovery of a treasure of ancient coins on the island of Kovru, including Carthaginian ones.

At the same time as Hanno, another navigator of Carthage - Gimilkon- made a long voyage along the western shores of Europe and, apparently, reached the southwestern tip of England (Isles of Scilly).

Thus, Phoenicians And Carthaginians were the first peoples of antiquity to sail on the open sea and ocean without a compass. There is no doubt that their voyages should have enriched the Phoenicians with much information regarding the physical properties of the ocean, but nothing from their area of ​​​​knowledge has reached us. Apparently, they were of the opinion that the Atlantic and Indian oceans form one continuous surface of water.

Phoenician warships and merchant ships. Assyrian relief from the palace of Sennacherib in Nineveh. VIII-VII centuries BC.

Relying on their colonies, Phoenician and Carthaginian sailors gradually began to go far beyond the Mediterranean Sea.

During the heyday of Phoenician and Carthaginian navigation, the sea became a means of communication between the three continents of the Mediterranean and distant countries located outside of Gibraltar.

The Phoenicians were the first of the Mediterranean peoples to reach the shores of what is now England and obtain tin here.

By exchange, they received on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean the amber that was so highly valued at that time, delivered here by dry route from the Baltic States.

Carthaginian sailors, entering the ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar, which they called the “pillars of Melqart” (the supreme god of Tire), also repeatedly sailed along west bank Africa.

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The description of one of these sea expeditions of the brave Carthaginian sailors has reached us in Greek translation.

This is the so-called journey of Hanno, dating back to around the 6th or 5th century. BC

Phenicia - a land of seafarers

Although the description of the expedition of the Carthaginian sailor looks like an entertaining adventure novel, nevertheless, all of its information, according to authoritative researchers, corresponds to reality.

We can trace the expedition's path step by step, comparing data about this journey with what we know about the geography of the west coast of Africa.

Along with expeditions to the northwest and southwest, Phoenician cities sent sea expeditions to the south, using the help of the Egyptians and sometimes Israel and Judea.

Here Phoenician ships probably reached the Indian Ocean through the Red Sea.

The Bible reports on one of these sea voyages when it talks about an expedition to the gold-rich country of Ophir, organized by Hiram, king of Tire, and Solomon, king of Israel.

But the most ambitious undertaking should be considered the maritime expedition of the Phoenicians, which they carried out on behalf of the Egyptian king Necho at the end of the 7th century. BC e.

Within three years they circumnavigated Africa and returned through the “pillars of Melqart,” accomplishing this remarkable feat more than two thousand years before Vasco da Gama.

Message-report “The Journey of the Phoenician Sailors” or “The Voyage of the Phoenicians” 5th grade

The Phoenicians were the best sailors of the Ancient World, tireless traders and explorers. Most everyone geographical discoveries committed in Ancient world, belong specifically to the Phoenicians. Phoenician sailors founded many colony cities in Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa all the way to the Strait of Gibraltar. Although Phenicia itself was located precisely in Asia Minor, on the territory of modern Lebanon. The Phoenicians furrowed the entire Mediterranean Sea length and breadth.

I imagined myself as a Phoenician sailor. I live a thousand years BC, that is, three thousand years ago. We have been sailing for nine months now and have already reached the shores of Spain. Mine hometown I will see Tire, the capital of our Phenicia, only in a year.

The ship on which I sail as a sailor is large - such ships cannot be found in any country. It is equipped with a deck, a ram on the bow, and is built from the strongest Lebanese cedar. The tail of the ship is carved from wood in the shape of a scorpion's tail! We're going sailing.

If we had rowed, we would not have reached Spain in a year.

There are 29 of us on the team. On the ship we brought goods from afar to sell: sheep's wool from the Bedouins, copper dishes from our homeland. Here we will need to load up with tin, which is being transported from distant cold islands in the north. And then forward, on the way back. At home we will sell the goods very profitably.

Here, in Spain, another new colony of my fellow countrymen will be founded.

Phenicia in the 1st millennium BC.
Sea voyages of the Phoenicians

Enriching themselves at the expense of their colonies, Phoenician and Carthaginian sailors gradually began to go far beyond the Mediterranean Sea. During this period of heyday of Phoenician and Carthaginian navigation, the sea route became a means of communication between the three continents of the Mediterranean and more distant countries that were outside Gibraltar.

The Phoenicians were the first of the Mediterranean peoples to reach the shores of what is now England and here they obtained tin, which was very valuable at that time. Through exchange, they also received on the Atlantic coast the amber that was so highly valued at that time, delivered here by dry route from the Baltic States.

Carthaginian sailors, entering the ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar, which they called “the pillars of Melqart” (the supreme god of Tyre), also repeatedly sailed along the western coast of Africa.

The description of one of these sea expeditions of the brave Carthaginian sailors is also known to us in the Greek translation. This is a journey called Hanno's journey, dating from around the 6th or 5th century. BC. Although the expedition of the Carthaginian sailor is described as an entertaining adventure novel, nevertheless, all of its information, according to the judgment of authoritative historians, corresponds to reality. We can trace the expedition's route step by step on a map, comparing data about this journey with what we know about the geography of the west coast of Africa.

Using the help of the Egyptians, and sometimes Israel and Judea, the Phoenician cities sent sea expeditions not only to the northwest and southwest, but also to the then less accessible south.

In this case, the Phoenician ships probably even reached the Indian Ocean through the Red Sea.

One such sea voyage is well written about in the Bible, which tells of an expedition to the gold-rich country of Ophir, organized by Hiram, king of Tire, and Solomon, king of Israel.

But the most ambitious undertaking must be considered the maritime expedition of the Phoenicians, which they carried out on behalf of the Egyptian king Necho at the end of the 7th century. BC. Within three years they circumnavigated Africa and returned through the “pillars of Melqart,” accomplishing this remarkable feat more than two thousand years before Vasco da Gama.

World History" Volume 1.

edited by Yu.P. Frantseva, State Publishing House of Political Literature, 1953.

Phenicia is one of the oldest countries, which was located on the Mediterranean coast, on the territory of modern Syria, Israel and Lebanon. The population of the country managed to build a powerful civilization, the basis of which was maritime trade and craft.

Culture of Ancient Phenicia

The culture and science of the ancient Phoenicians were also developed at a very high level: they had their own alphabet, which was eventually adopted by the Greeks. The peak of the Phoenician civilization dates back to approximately 1 thousand BC. AD

Ancient Phenicia did not have good fertile lands; constant rains due to the Mediterranean climate also did not allow the Phoenicians to engage in farming. The only way out for the inhabitants of the country was to engage in navigation, which significantly expanded trade relations with other peoples, and the abundance of forests allowed them to build ships on their own.

Shipping and trade relations

The Phoenicians built very strong ships that were not afraid of storms or storms. It was the Phoenicians who were the first to model and build ships with a keel, equipped with planking on the sides of the vessel - this significantly increased their speed.

Their ships were also equipped with special compartments for transporting cargo, which were located above the deck. Thanks to the strength of their ships, the Phoenicians had the opportunity to enter the Atlantic Ocean, which at that time was not available to many Mediterranean sailors.

The Phoenicians' maritime strategy was striking in its thoughtfulness: they built special bays along the coast so that in the event of a storm, ships could remain safe. With the help of navigation, the ancient Phoenicians were able to establish their colonies in places where their ships could reach.

One of the most famous cities colonized by Phoenician sailors was Carthage, which over time became the center to which all Phoenician colony cities were subordinate. Naturally, the title of the best navigators at that time was identical to the title of the best merchants.

What did the Phoenicians trade?

The Phoenicians sold in other countries what their country was rich in: primarily red fabrics (the Phoenicians learned to extract red dye from shellfish thrown ashore by a storm), transparent glass produced by Phoenician artisans, wood from Lebanese cedars, grape wine and olive oil. oil.

The Phoenician sailors also did not return home empty-handed: they bought grain and sheets of papyrus in Egypt, and silver and copper in Spain.

Also, the main product of the Phoenicians were slaves, whom they bought in other countries and sold at home so that they could build new ships. Also, slaves shackled were used by Phoenician sailors for rowing.

Sometimes Phoenician sailors did not hesitate to commit robbery: as soon as an opportunity presented itself, they captured other people’s ships and plundered small port cities.

Driven from the sea by the Greeks

However, as a result of internal strife and a significant shortage of material for the construction of new ships, the Phoenicians were ousted from the trade and maritime business by the Greeks, who also learned to build stronger and more advanced ships.