Here are some informative and useful books about the phoenicians and the history of phoenicia. Nazam anhar has written the first phoenician adventure story for children. List of books and articles about phoenician history online. Sanford holst, used here with permission the greeks adopted this phoenician alphabet, and added vowels to it.
C, the phoenicians, as disseminators of alphabetic writing and as intermediaries between cultures, played a unique role in the history of. It was in the sixth grade of the old adams school at rexburg, idaho, during the school year, 192930. Politics, colonies and trade, by maria eugenia aubet. Phoenicia, ancient region corresponding to modern lebanon, with adjoining parts of modern syria and israel. The facts, history and reasoning of the previous paragraphs produce a conclusion. Palaeohebrew wasis nothing but canaanite phoenician in both language and script. His writing style helped too, by keeping the book light and easy to read. Browse the amazon editors picks for the best books of 2019, featuring our favorite reads in more than a dozen. Phoenician writing became one of the most widely used writing systems, spread by phoenician merchants across the mediterranean world, where it. Herodotuss story of the foundation of greek thebes by the tyrian prince cadmus may be more myth than history, but the detail about the alphabet is true. While not all languages utilize a writing system, those with systems of inscriptions can complement and extend capacities of spoken language by enabling the creation of durable forms of speech that can be transmitted across space e. The phoenicians were the first statelevel society to make extensive use of the semitic alphabet. It was this concept that the hebrews borrowed from the egyptians to create their first true phonographical alphabet in history.
Rare phoenician publications, byblos mart bookworms corner. He thinks that the process of writing a book is arduous, he enjoys writing but for him it is very hard. The phoenician theory of new world origins reexamined. Even after they had adapted the phoenician alphabet to their own purposes, the greeks continued to call their writing system phoinikeia. Feb 12, 2014 there is a lot of mystery surrounding the origins of the phoenicians. Taking readers from the ancient world to today, this monumental book argues that the notion of these sailors as a coherent people with a shared identity, history. In some cases, each hieroglyphic symbol represented one, two or three of the 24 egyptian language consonants as phonograms. Two of my favourite books on the phoenicians are actually written by an. Topics covered include early phoenician enterprise, rise of tyre to the first rank among the cities, phoenicias contest with assyria, and her position as assyrias. The phoenician alphabet, called by convention the protocanaanite alphabet for inscriptions older than around 1050 bc, is the oldest verified alphabet. Sanchuniathon ancient phoenician writer britannica. This book is the first ive read on the subject of phoenician history and im really glad thats the case.
Phoenician alphabet project gutenberg selfpublishing. Histories of phoenicia or of the phoenicians were written. Hebrew conversation paleo hebrew, learn hebrew, ancient. The phoenician alphabet is a continuation of the protocanaanite alphabet, by convention taken to originate around 1050 bc. Phoenician is, indeed quite close to ancient hebrew and someone with good hebrew c. The phoenician madelynn scoppa the phoenician is a fictional story published in 20 by nick kyme. The phoenician writing consisted of only 22 signs, because the phoenician language had fewer consonants than the earlier semitic languages. Like hebrew and arabic, phoenician was written from right to left, and vowels were omitted.
A handbook for biblical hebrew and related languages, article. Phoenician civilization spread across the mediterranean between 1500 bc and 300 bc. Bibliography related content books cite this work license. I have read other books about phoenicians in the past and was never really impressed. The history of the phoenicians according to tradition, the city was founded as a colony in 814 bc by phoenicians under the leadership of the legendary queen dido. George rawlinsons classic account of the phoenicians, one of the most important and compelling of ancient civilizations and one of the least familiar to the general public is here reissued in its first paperback edition. A theory that says the ancient phoenicians were the first. Holst has done a phenomenal job in writing as well as researching the phoenicians. Phoenicians book explores the intriguing history of the phoenicians and the ancient. Hence, the language and script of the original bible should be called biblical phoenician. The origins of most alphabetic writing systems can be traced back to the phoenician alphabet, including greek, etruscan, latin, arabic and hebrew, as well as the scripts of india and east asia. Rawlinsons comprehensive history of the phoenician empire is a must read for. From this phoenician citys name were derived the greek word biblia books and the english word bible.
All information about him is derived from the works of philo of byblos flourished ad 100. By enrico mattievich this book is a historical nonfiction winners book. Browse the amazon editors picks for the best books of 2019, featuring our favorite. Like most of the charles river editor books, it only claims to be a brief introduction to the culture. Taking readers from the ancient world to today, this monumental book argues that the notion of these sailors as a coherent people with a shared identity, history, and culture is a product of modern nationalist ideologiesand a notion very. Phoenician colonies reached the western mediterranean, most notably carthage, and even the atlantic ocean.
The phoenician alphabet is the oldest verified consonantal alphabet, or abjad. Phoenician artisans, who were skilled architects, were imported by the egyptians, and hiram, king of tyre, lent assistance to solomon in building. Phoenician alphabet wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. A cohesive historical narrative must be stitched out of incompletely. There are university courses, mostly archeology, that teach ugaritic. Oldest hebrew and samaritan script and language were. Furthermore it is particularly valuable because its author, sanchuniathon, was a free man who did not hesitate to denounce myths. What are the most comprehensive books about phoenicia. Phoenician literature is related to ugaritic literature, together with which it constitutes canaanite literature. Founded in 2006, historum is a history forum dedicated to history discussions and historical events.
Hebrew writing raw kelly hebrew bible study notebook, bible study tips, scripture study, scripture memorization, bible lessons, book of matthew, matthew 24, bible notes, bible scriptures. Thus greek made its alphabet especially adaptable to other languages. The phoenician theory is also supported in a book written in 1871, by john denison baldwin, an american anthropologist. The phoenician alphabet has been classified as an abjad because it records only consonant sounds with the addition of matres lectionis. In in search of the phoenicians, josephine quinn sets out to interrogate the manifold meanings that the ethnic identity phoenician conjured up for the ancient greeks and romans, as well as the inhabitants of early modern european and mediterranean nationstates. Her conclusion, in brief, is that the phoenicians did not in fact exist as a selfconscious collective or people. The phoenician alphabet contains 22 letters, all of which are consonants, and is described as an abjad, with matres lectionis being used for some vowels in certain late varieties. In fact, phoenician history contained in his book is the oldest noncoded document of the western worlds historical archives. In search of the phoenicians makes the startling claim that the phoenicians never actually existed. These few fragments comprise the most extended literary source. The phoenician alphabet contains 22 letters, all of which are consonants, and is described as an abjad, 3 with matres lectionis being used for some vowels in certain late varieties. It was used for the writing of phoenician, a northern semitic language, used by the civilization of phoenicia. From the earliest scratches on stone and bone to the languages of computers and the internet, a history of writing offers a fascinating investigation into the origin and development of writing throughout the world. Language, writing, numbers language texts the forerunners alphabet and reading numeral system the language phoenician was a semitic language, more precisely belonging to the group of canaanite languages which includes hebrew, phoenician, philistine, moabite, etc.
Perhaps the most significant contribution of the phoenicians was a syllabic writing, developed in about bc at byblos. Egyptian hieroglyphs are a logophonetic system of writing were used in three ways. Charles cutler was the principal and the teacher of the class, and i was a pupil. For some looking for a quick overview of the phoenician history, this is quite good. Writing is a medium of human communication that involves the representation of a language with symbols. The carthaginians themselves became a dominant maritime power in the western mediterranean, until its final destruction by rome in 146 bc, following their defeat in the punic wars.
How did the phoenician alphabet become the greek alphabet. It has become conventional to refer to the script as protocanaanite until the mid11th century bc, when it is first attested on inscribed bronze arrowheads, and as phoenician only after 1050 bc. Even in antiquity it was acknowledged that it was the phoenicians who had brought the alphabet to europe. List of books and articles about phoenician history. The authors knowledge and passion for the subject made the read a very rewarding and pleasant experience. Our community welcomes everyone from around the world to discuss world history, historical periods, and themes in history military history, archaeology, arts and culture, and history in books and movies. In search of the phoenicians princeton university press. There are few history books so compelling as to leave you wanting to read more. Commencing with the first stages of information storage, fischer focuses on the emergence of complete writing systems in mesopotamia in the fourth millennium bc. It was used for the writing of phoenician, a northern semitic. Ancient origins articles related to phoenician in the sections of history, archaeology, human origins, unexplained, artifacts, ancient places and myths and legends.
Ahayah yashiya learn ancient phoenician paleo hebrew. Our first examples of the phoenician alphabettechnically an abjad, containing only consonantsappear around the 11th. Phoenician writing, like hebrew, used only consonantal lettering, leaving vowel sounds to be inferred by the reader. Many other mysteries are also resolved in this well written and enjoyable. Its people left few written records, but they are known to have been expert navigators and some of the greatest traders in history skills which brought them. Now the phoenicians who came with cadmus, and to whom the gephyraei belonged, introduced into greece upon their arrival a great variety of arts, among the rest of that writing, whereof the greeks till then had, as i think, been ignorant. Taking these facts to their logical conclusion i believe that the minoans who survived, became the. Topics covered include early phoenician enterprise, rise of tyre to the first rank among the cities, phoenicias contest with assyria, and her position as assyrias tributary, phoenicias recovery of independence, phoenician manufactures and works of art.
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. Its inhabitants, the phoenicians, were notable merchants, traders, and colonizers of the mediterranean in the 1st millennium bce. Phoenician writing became one of the most widely used writing systems, spread by phoenician merchants across the mediterranean world, where it evolved and. Excavations at ras shamra ancient ugarit in syria in 1929 revealed phoenician documents supporting much of sanchuniathons information on phoenician mythology and.
History of the phoenician civilization by george rawlinson. Phoenician literature the literature of the phoenicians. To write a history of phoenicia as a distinct civilization was, and still is, a major challenge. Their greatest contribution to western civilization, however, was the development of a standardized phonetic alphabet, which was a great improvement over the more ambiguous cuneiform and hieroglyphic.
Phoenician mythology project gutenberg selfpublishing. Christensen, an american archeologist, speculated that the mulekites, who are mentioned in the book of mormon, were probably of phoenician ethnic origin. The phoenician alphabet has always held a slightly enigmatic place in the history of writing. Fully to appreciate the historical significance of these longundeciphered phoenician and sumerian inscriptions in britain, and their associated evidence, it is necessary to have some general acquaintance with the results of my researches into the racial origin and previously unknown early history and world activities of the phoenicians for a. After bc the phoenician writing spread in all directions.
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