PhoeniciansOne of the great enigmas of the ancient world, the Phoenicians were both lauded and despised in antiquity. They were celebrated as learned scribes who passed on the modern alphabet, as skilled seafarers and explorers, and as gifted artisans and engineers. Historical sources show they were also perceived as unscrupulous profiteers and cheaters, and as a morally corrupt race of people who prostituted their daughters and butchered their infant children in sacrifices to their gods. But who were the real Phoenicians, and what do we know of their origins and culture? The heartland of the Phoenician empire consisted of a narrow coastal strip between the Lebanon mountains and the Mediterranean sea, a slightly extended version of modern Lebanon. The Phoenicians who lived along this coastline explored and colonized far away lands. But in many ways the Phoenician civilization is lost and many facts about it are unknown since not a single Phoenician manuscript has survived in the original or in translation. Digging deep into the historical and archaeological sources, Glenn Markoe reconstructs what we presently know about these mysterious people and their maritime culture. He fleshes out Phoenicia, giving accounts of its history, cities, economy, language and literature, religion, and its commercial expansion abroad. This richly illustrated book includes photographs of Phoenician artifacts and excavations, along with many maps and drawings. Unlike other works that have treated the Phoenician culture as an Early Iron Age phenomenon, Markoe focuses on the continuity in tradition that characterized Phoenician history over a period of more than 1200 years, from the beginning of the Late Bronze Age (c 1550 b.c.)--when Phoenician cities first emerged--to the start of the Hellenistic period around 300 b.c. This book provides a comprehensive, unified view of a culture consisting of many disparate ethnic and geographical entities. |
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User Review - setnahkt - LibraryThingBefore reading this book, what I knew about Phoenicians was accumulated from ancient Egyptian, Biblical, and Classical sources with an occasional bad pun thrown in. As author Dr. Glenn Markoe shows ... Read full review
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Contents
Maps | 6 |
History | 14 |
The City | 68 |
Commerce and Industry | 93 |
Language and Literature | 108 |
Religion | 115 |
Material Culture | 143 |
Commercial Expansion Abroad | 170 |
Epilogue | 190 |
Acknowledgements | 219 |
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Common terms and phrases
According activity Anatolia ancient appears archaeological Arwad associated Assyrian attested Baal beginning bowls burials Byblos Carthage Carthaginian central centre century BC city's clearly close coast coastal colonial commercial construction continued cultural Cypriot Cyprus deity depicting documented earlier early east eastern economic Egypt Egyptian established evidence excavations extended fact fifth century finds foreign foundation fourth gold Greek harbour historical imported influence initial inscriptions involved Iron Age island Italy king known Late Bronze Age later located mainland major marked Mediterranean military northern offering originally period Persian Phoenician cities political port pottery presence primary probably production Punic recent record region remains revealed royal sanctuary Sardinia served settlement seventh century Sicily Sidon silver situated sixth sources southern stone suggests Tell temple texts town trade tradition Tyre Tyrian urban variety vessels walls western
Bibliographic information
| Title | Phoenicians Volume 2 of Peoples of the past |
| Author | Glenn Markoe |
| Edition | illustrated, revised |
| Publisher | University of California Press, 2000 |
| ISBN | 0520226143, 9780520226142 |
| Length | 224 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Ancient / General Social Science / Archaeology |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |