Phoenicia
Daphne Wang, Leo Tun, Samuel Powers, Stephanie Pecaut
Geographer
The Phoenician Civilization is located on a lot of the Mediterranean coast. Mostly the south-western coast with most of the islands in that area as well. Tunisia, the coasts of Algeria, the north Moroccan coast, south Spain, the tip of Italy and Most of Libya’s Coast and islands in the middle of the sea are all places where Phoenicia's civilization used to be. Also most of the very western Mediterranean Coast where Lebanon and Turkey are was once a Phoenician colony. Where they geographically lucky? You could say so but it depends on what you definition of geographically lucky is. If being next to a sea and having rivers run through your territory with a really nice type of wood and Murex shells, I would say they are lucky, geographically.
The Phoenician's had many natural resources. I will list some of the more important ones such as Murex shells, cedarwood, water, clay, stone, among others. The Murex shells were used for dye and they used so many the Murex shells became extinct. Cedarwood, clay, and stone were all building materials. Water of course was used for drinking and a trading path.
The Phoenician's geographic luck lead to their success in some ways.
Murex=Purple Dye=Trading Item=Money=Success
Water=Drink and Trading Path=Money=Success
Cedarwood=Ships and buildings=Water trade and homes=Success
As you can see the natural geography/resources leads to their success in some ways.
Map of Phoenicia
This is most of Phoenicia.
Map of Phoenicia
This is the rest of Phoenicia.
Historian
The specific event that changed the course of the Phoenician civilization for better or worse was that they were defeated and controlled by various civilizations. They were controlled by the Assyrians, then the Babylonians,Persians, and then the Macedonian Greeks.
Because the Phoenicians used the Murex to make lots of Royal Purple(purple dye) they drove them to extinction. The darker the cloth was with the dye the more expensive the cloth was.
Anthropologist
The Phoenicians also had a complex religion. There religion was related Hebrew, but not that much. They worshiped a main god named Baal. They elected two sufetes at a time. (The Greek called them kings). But recent research shows there government was a republic of sorts. It was a very complex government.
Archeologist
The Phoenicians were first an advanced group of people then grew to be an amazing civilization. They were located at what is now known as Lebanon. They have known to inhabit this land since 3000 BC. Ever since they were established, they have advanced and specialized in many ways.
One thing this civilization specialized in were Ivory and wood carving. As well as Silver, Gold, and many other precious metal carving. Sculpture was also a common art form. This civilization was a very artistic one indeed.
When this civilization fell, what they left was a very interesting legacy. Phoenicians were amazing explorers. They explored places no one else even dared to go. Legend has it that the Phoenicians were hired by an Egyptian pharaoh to explore lands that the Egyptians could not go. They were also credited for their merchants and merchandise.
Phoenicians were Polytheistic, which means they worshipped many gods. Phoenician mythology is very similar to those of Greek mythology. By this I mean that the gods the Phoenicians worshiped are very similar to Greek mythology. This is likely because of Greek influence.
Phoenicians were the first to do many things. For example, they were the first to blow glass. And the glass blowing industry has been around for many centuries. If you don’t know what glass blowing is, it is the making of glass products. For example, Glass vases and things such as that. Glass blowing is another form of art. It requires concentration and attention to detail.