Social Studies Quarter 1: The People of Phoenicia

Hanno the Navigator

Hanno the Navigator was the head of a fleet of 60 ships to explore and colonize the northwestern coast of Africa. Hanno preferred sailing his ships far from the shoreline, which made sailing very dangerous. He also sailed at night, using the stars to navigate. Because the compass wasn't invented yet, Phoenicians like Hanno had to rely on stars and landmarks for navigation of their ships.

Lebanon Conflicts

Lebanon, which borders the Mediterranean Sea, has faced many conflicts throughout its history. They have had two civil wars, one that began in 1958 and another that started in 1975, and they are currently facing border disputes (arguments about land) with their neighboring countries, Israel and Syria.

Phoenician Alphabet

Originally, the Phoenicians developed an alphabet because they needed a fast and simple way to record their transactions. Writing was initially done horizontally from right to left with no spaces between words. Eventually, they added dots and dashes to separate words. They started with wax tablets, but they eventually used Egyptian papyrus for writing. This alphabet was one of the most important contributions the Phoenicians made to the wold.

Phoenician Social Structure

Phoenicia did not have a central government, and each city-state was allowed to worship its own gods at the temples, and to honor their king. The social structure of Phoenicia was very simple: The king was in charge of everything, followed by a middle class made of workers and merchants. The lowest class was made up of servants.

Phoenician Traders

The Phoenician traders contributed to cultural diffusion (the spreading of cultures) by bringing new items from their Mediterranean neighbors back to Phoenicia. They brought back silver, ostrich plumes, ivory, tin and paper from Egypt called papyrus. They also traded cats with Egypt and other countries.

Tyrian Purple

The Phoenicians created the color purple by squeezing the gland of a murex snail to get several drops of a yellowish liquid. When this yellowish liquid was exposed to the sunlight, it turned into a blueish-red dye. They would put this dye on cloth and the cloth would turn purple.

Seahorses

The Phoenicians told a story about a hippocampus, which was an animal with a horse's head and a fish tail. Although the word was originally made up, it is now used to describe seahorses. These unique creatures usually live in shallow water close to land. One interesting fact about seahorses is that the male seahorses give birth to the babies, not the females.

The Cedar of Lebanon

The cedars of Lebanon where very important the the Phoenicians because they used the strong, straight-growing trees to build trading ships. Other countries bought the trees from them because they didn't have any for building temples and palaces. The cedar tree is displayed on the Lebanese flag to honor the part it played in the history of its people.

Languages of Lebanon

There are three major languages spoken by the people of Lebanon: English, Arabic, and French.