PHOENICIA fĭ nĭsh’ ə (Φοινίκη, G5834). KJV PHENICIA (Acts 21:2), PHENICE fĭ nī’ sĭ (Acts 11:19; 15:3). A narrow strip of land along the E coast of the Mediterranean, stretching about 120 m. N from Mt. Carmel.
1. Name. The Eng. proper name “Phoenicia” derives from the Gr. phoinīkē (attested no earlier than Homer’s Odyssey, c. 750 b.c.), which in turn derives from the Gr. phoinīkes “Phoenicians” (no earlier than Iliad, c. 800 b.c.). Both terms depend upon the Gr. word phoinix, “purple dye,” to describe the people and their land. This word has been found in the Mycenean Linear B tablets, which date from c. 1200 b.c. The Egyp. word fnḫw, sometimes claimed to mean “Phoenicians,” is prob. unrelated to the Gr. It has been claimed that the Gr. term phoinīkes, “Phoenicians,” which describes them as “those of the purple dye” (phoinix), is a loan tr. of the native Sem. kena’anī, “Canaanite,” since a Hurrian word kinaḫḫi appears to mean “purple dye.” According to the theory, the Hurrian term for the dye was first applied to the land (kena’an, “land of purple”) and then to the people. But it is just as possible that the two namings, both by foreign groups, were mutually independent.
2. Geography. The land of the Phoenicians was a long, narrow strip extending from the river called today Nahr el-Kebir in the N to Mt. Carmel in the S, a distance of c. 120 m. At its widest, this strip measured only c. 5 m. from the Mediterranean Sea on the W to the foothills of the Lebanon mountain range on the E. The vegetation in the fertile plain consisted of evergreen shrubs, pine, oak, mulberry and beech trees, grape vines, fig trees, date palms, and olive trees, wheat and barley, onions, and garlic. The region was quite fertile in antiquity and was cultivated from an early date. The Lebanon mountain range runs 105 m. parallel to the coast, from the Nahr el-Kebir in the N to the Nahr el-Qasimiyeh in the S. The mountains are of gray limestone and include some peaks as high as 11,000 ft. above sea level. The winter temperatures on the slopes are decidedly lower than on the plain. The vegetation of the slopes differs accordingly from that of the plain. The trees consist entirely of evergreens: cedars, pines, cypress, and two varieties of juniper. Another type of tree whose wood was highly prized is called ’almug in Ugaritic and Hebrew, and elammakku in Akkadian. According to 1 Kings 10:11ff. (cf. 2 Chron 9:10ff.), the merchant marine of Hiram of Tyre and Solomon of Israel imported almug timber from Ophir. But Ugaritic texts from two centuries earlier indicate the cultivation of the almug in the Lebanon itself, as do Akkad. and Sumer. texts from the same period and earlier. The Lebanon was heavily forested in antiquity, but the continuous exporting of cedars and other timber to Egypt, Israel, and even to the E to Assyria and Babylonia resulted in progressive denudation of the range. Today, all that remains of the once rich forests of Lebanon are two small groves of cedars of not more than a few hundred trees.
Considering the limitations set upon them by the narrowness of their coastal plain, it is not surprising that the Phoenicians sought to augment their food production through overseas trade. The Phoenicians were famous in the ancient world as sailors (cf. Isa 23). They developed sea trade in the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and quite possibly also in the Atlantic Ocean. Underwater exploration and investigation of Bronze Age shipwrecks indicate that Phoen. ships carried on trade between Minoan Crete and the Near E mainland powers. Phoenicians established colonies in the western Mediterranean in Carthage, in Malta, in Sardinia, and in southern Spain. The principal exports of Phoenicia were timber, purple dye, glassware, and finished goods. In return they sought gold, silver, ivory, and other luxury items, but also wheat and barley to supplement their own limited production (cf. 1 Kings 10:22). Such accomplished merchants were the Phoenicians that the term “Canaanite” soon became synonymous in Heb. with “merchant.”
3. History. Herodotus (i, 1, and vii. 89) once thought that the seafaring Phoenicians arrived overland from the Persian Gulf area by way of the Red Sea and founded the Phoen. cities such as Sidon. Contemporary documentary evidence does not appear earlier than the third millennium. Excavations conducted by the French of the ruins of ancient Gebal (Byblos) have shown that in late Neolithic times (c. 3500 b.c.), Phoenicia was inhabited by a “Mediterranean” race, which used circular huts and buried their dead in big earthen pots. This civilization disappeared in the latter half of the fourth millennium b.c. The “Mediterranean race” was supplanted by several new groups. One, coming from the N, brought with them a characteristic type of weapon. Semites came from the E, from Mesopotamia and Arabia (c. 3000 b.c.). By the middle of the third millennium, Semites dominated the population of N Mesopotamia, Syria, and the Lebanon. It is likely that they bestowed on the countryside names from their own language, such as “Lebanon” and “Sidon” (meaning “fishery”). These Semites of the period c. 2500-1700 b.c. are usually called “Amorites,” although they should not be confused with the “Amorites” of the OT, which were a much smaller clan from a later period. The 18th cent. witnessed a flourishing trade between Phoenicia and Egypt in timber and artistic commodities. By this time also, the Phoenicians had established the coastal colonies of Ugarit, Acre, Dor, and Joppa. The Phoen. cities now numbered at least the following: Gebal (Byblos), Sidon, Tyre, Ugarit, Arvad, Beirut, Ṩumur, Ulluza, Dor, and Joppa. For several centuries beginning c. 1500 b.c. Phoenicia was controlled by the Egyp. 18th and 19th dynasties, although the northernmost Phoen. cities such as Ugarit, Arvad, Sumur, and Ulluza came under the political and military power of the Hitt. emperor Suppiluliuma I in the middle of the 14th cent. (c. 1350) b.c. The Egyp. Pharaoh Thutmose III (c. 1490-1435 b.c.) led his armies northward through Pal. and into Phoenicia. Among the northern cities that he claimed to have captured was Arvad. Still all did not go well for the Egyptians under his successors, Amenophis II and III. Letters written to Amenophis III from two of his loyal vassals, Rib-addi of Gebal (Byblos) and Abi-Milki of Tyre, show that by c. 1400 b.c. the three cities of Sumur, Beirut, and Sidon had disaffected and were blockading Phoen. cities still loyal to the pharaoh. A prime fomenter of rebellion among the northern Phoen. cities seems to have been a man by the name of Abdi-ashirta. He was followed in this policy during the reign of Amenophis IV (Akhenaton) by his son, Aziru, who professed loyalty to Egypt, but was in fact allied by treaty with the Hitt. emperor Suppiluliuma I. Quite naturally, it was the southernmost city of the Phoen. coast, Tyre that remained loyal longest to the Egyptians. Its king, Abi-Milki, complained in a letter to Pharaoh Amenophis IV (Akhenaton) that even Sidon, his immediate northern neighbor, was flirting with Aziru and the rebellious cities to the N. Many of the rebels were characterized by the loyalists as ḫapiru, a term that seems to have designated footloose groups of nomads and mercenary soldiers in the employ of local dynasts. From c. 1380, when the Hitt. emperor Suppiluliuma I conquered N Syria, until after the Battle of Kadesh between the Hittites and Egyptians (c. 1287), the two major powers contended for control of Phoenicia. Five Hitt. kings (Suppiluliuma I, Muršili II, Muwatalli, Muršili III, and Hattušili III) ruled over loyal vassals in N Syria and the northern two-thirds of the Phoen. cities. Under the successors of Hattušili III (Tudhaliya IV, Arnuwanda III, and Suppiluliuama II) Hitt. influence in Syria and Phoenicia deteriorated. About 1190 b.c., invading hordes of “sea peoples” swept over the Hitt. lands to the N and the Phoen. cities, bringing destruction to the sites of Byblos, Arvad, and Ugarit. Hittite influence (and apparently also Egyp. influence) in this region came to an abrupt end. The surly treatment accorded to Wenamon (c. 1100 b.c.), the Egyp. envoy from Thebes, by the Phoen. princes of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos indicates the lack of prestige enjoyed by the pharaohs in the N. Another foreign power that invaded Phoenicia briefly c. 1100 b.c. was Tiglathpileser I, king of Assyria. He conquered Arvad, but only temporarily. In the 10th cent. Phoenicia enjoyed its golden age. This was the age of the famous King Hiram I of Tyre (c. 981-947), a contemporary of the Israelite kings David and Solomon. The Phoen. alliance with Israel was begun already under David (2 Sam 5:11; 1 Kings 5:1) and continued with Solomon. Under its terms, Hiram supplied Israel with materials and craftsmen for the construction of the palace and Temple (1 Kings 5; 2 Chron 2), and ships and seamen for the development of the Israelite merchant marine operating out of the Red Sea port of Ezion-geber (1 Kings 9). On her part, Israel exported grain, oil, and wine to Tyre and ceded to Hiram twenty cities along a contested border in the northwestern corner of Israel (1 Kings 9:10-14). Under Hiram, sea trade and exploration enjoyed a remarkable growth. A long breakwater was constructed at Tyre. Hemmed in on all sides by strong land powers (Hittites in the N, Arameans in the E, Israelites and Philistines in the S), the Phoenicians were forced to carry out whatever expansion they required along the sea lanes to the W. Among these lanes were: (1) the route to Egypt, (2) a second via Cyprus to Crete and Sicily, (3) a third to North Africa, and (4) a fourth to Spain. By c. 1000 b.c., they had founded colonies in Utica in N Africa and Gades (modern Cadiz) in Spain. By c. 900 b.c., colonies had been established in Asia Minor (Karatepe), Cyprus (Kition), and Sardinia (Nora, Tharros). By c. 850 b.c., the important colony at Carthage (Phoen. qrt ḥršt “new city”) had been founded on a site close to the SE of Utica in N Africa. By c. 800 b.c., there were still others on Sicily (Motya) and Tunisia. There is some evidence to suggest that Phoen. ships reached as far N in the Atlantic as Cornwall in England. Nearly a cent. later than Hiram I, a high priest named Ethbaal gained the throne, who continued the alliance with the kingdom of Israel by the marriage of his daughter Jezebel to Ahab, the son of Omri (1 Kings 16:31). The reign of Ahab witnessed heavy penetration of the worship of the Phoen. Baals into Israel and the outbreak of violence between the party of religious innovation and the loyalist party of Yahweh worshipers (1 Kings 18:3, 4, 25-40; 19:10). The leader of the loyalist party was the prophet Elijah. The reign of Ahab in Israel also witnessed continuing battles with the Arameans of Damascus, which distracted the small western states from the growing menace of Assyrian power in the E. Ashurnasirpal II of Assyria (c. 884-859 b.c.) campaigned in the W and received tribute from the Phoen. cities of Tyre, Sidon, Gebal (Byblos), and Arvad. Temporary respite was found in 853 b.c., when the western powers were able to unite in a league to oppose the advance of Shalmaneser III (858-824 b.c.) of Assyria. In a pitched battle at Qarqar, N of Hamath on the Orontes River, the twelve kings of the western league checked the advance of the Assyrian king. The heaviest contributors of chariots and infantry to this league were Ahab of Israel and Hadad-ezer of Damascus. Four Phoen. cities contributed troops: Arvad, Arqa (Irqanata), Ushnata, and Siyannu. Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre to the S apparently remained uncommitted, fearing a later Assyrian reprisal. That reprisal in fact came twelve years later in 841, when Shalmaneser III besieged Damascus and marched to the Mediterranean coast at the Nahr el-Kalb. His route took him first to the coast at Carmel in the S and from thence northward past Tyre and Sidon. Two victory monuments were set up at Carmel (“Baal-rosh”) in the S and at the Nahr el-Kalb (Lycus, or Dog River) in the N. In 803 b.c., Adad-nirari III (809-782) of Assyria claimed Tyre and Sidon among his vassals. Tribute was paid to Tiglath-pileser III (745-727) of Assyria c. 741 b.c. by Hiram II of Tyre and Shibitti-Baal of Byblos. A few years later, taxes were collected from Metenna of Tyre, who committed them to a resident Assyrian supervisor for delivery to the Assyrian depot at Calah. In 734 b.c., Tiglathpileser captured the fortress of Kaspuna, which guarded the approaches to Tyre and Sidon, now allied with one another in defense. During the reign of Shalmaneser V (727-722) of Assyria, King Luli of Sidon attempted to unite all the Phoen. cities, including those on Cyprus, under his own control. The Assyrians, who had left the Phoen. cities alone for the time being while they made of the kingdoms of Israel and Syria organized conquered provinces, could not tolerate this defiance. In 701 b.c., Sennacherib, king of Assyria (704-681), led his armies through the Phoen. cities of Sidon, Beth-zaith, Zarephath, Mahalab, Byblos, Arvad, Tyre (i.e., associated Uzu), Akhzib, and Acco. Sennacherib installed as a native puppet ruler over the conquered cities a man named Ethbaal (Tuba’lu). Phoenician prisoners were deported to Nineveh to build his new palace and to Opis (on Tigris River near later Seleucia) to construct the fleet to be used against the Babylonian rebel Merodach-baladan. During the twenty-four years, from 701 to 677, the larger Phoen. cities preserved their independence from Assyria. In 677, the king of Sidon led a revolt, which was crushed by Esarhaddon, king of Assyria (681-669), who utterly destroyed the city of Sidon and placed the remaining cities under the rule of Baali of Tyre. This ruler together with Milki-asapa of Byblos and Mattan-Baal of Arvad contributed contingents of troops to Esarhaddon’s expeditionary force for the invasion of Egypt in 669 b.c. Ashurbanipal of Assyria (668-626) found it necessary to suppress treasonous conduct by Baali of Tyre in 665 prior to his own advance into Egypt. When Baali died, Azi-Baal was made king of Tyre, and Yakin-ilu was appointed to rule Arvad. When the Assyrian empire collapsed with the fall of Nineveh in 612 b.c., the Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadrezzar II (604-562) assumed the role of foreign aggressor among the Phoen. cities. He besieged Tyre for thirteen years (585-573, cf. Ezek 26-29) and received its capitulation in 572. Its king was carried away prisoner to Babylon, and, although the city maintained a measure of autonomy throughout the Neo-Babylonian and Persian periods, its expanding power was gone, and its shipping and colonial activity was assumed by others, including its own colonies (the Punic cities) in the W. By a naval victory over the Etruscans in 535 b.c., these Punic kinsfolk finally closed the western Mediterranean to the Phoenicians. After the Pers. king Cyrus II (559-529) conquered Babylon in 539, Phoenicia became a part of a new empire and gave valuable assistance to the Pers. monarchs in their naval battles against the Egyptians and the Greeks. Phoenician fleets supported Cambyses (530-522) against Egypt, and Xerxes (485-465) in 480 against the Greeks. Encouraged by their Pers. patrons, the formerly disunited Phoen. cities formed a new federation, consisting originally of Sidon, Tyre, and Arvad, which met in annual conventions of delegates at the newly founded city of Tripolis in the N. The total number of delegates was 300. Sensing the immanent collapse of the Pers. empire, this league organized a rebellion in 351. The rebellion was premature and only resulted in the tragic destruction of Sidon. When the collapse of the Pers. empire finally came under the attacks of Alexander the Great in the year 333 and following, the city of Tyre refused to submit to him and was utterly destroyed, the conqueror having constructed an artificial causeway that joined the island city to the mainland. Tyre and Sidon were rebuilt and flourished again in Hel. and Rom. times (cf. Matt 15:21), but the distinctive cultural character of Phoenicia had been replaced by Hellenism. Under the Seleucid kings (323-64 b.c.), Sidon and Tyre were centers of Gr. philosophy and lit. and produced some of the great literary figures of the age, such as Zeno the Stoic, Antipater of Sidon, and Meleager of Gadara. In 64 b.c., the Rom. general Pompey conquered Syria and Phoenicia. From 64 to 31 b.c., the Rom. proconsuls were unable to maintain the peace in these areas. The Parthians with their capital in Ctesiphon in Mesopotamia constantly harrassed the new provinces. In 31 b.c., the Rom. Octavian (later known as Augustus) defeated Mark Antony at Actium and initiated the era called Pax Romana (“the Roman peace”). Peace and relatively low taxes brought prosperity to Phoenicia. New roads were built, encouraging international trade with its markets for Phoen. glassware, dyed stuffs, wine, dates, and wheat flour. The peace was maintained by Rom. garrisons at Beirut and Baalbek. In the NT, Phoenicians are included among the early followers of Jesus (Mark 3:7ff.; 7:24ff.). When Christianity began to expand beyond the borders of Pal., it extended early into Phoenicia (Acts 11:19; 15:3; 21:2).
4. Religion. Knowledge of Phoen. religion is derived from various sources. Cuneiform texts composed in Akkadian and Ugaritic, dating from c. 1700-1200 b.c., contain allusions to Phoen. deities, theology, and ritual found in the pages of the OT, and statements of the Phoen. author Sanchuniathon of Beirut (c. 1050 b.c.), which were passed on via the writings of Philo of Byblos to the Christian historian Eusebius. The works of Sanchuniathon and Philo of Byblos are themselves lost. What is known of them comes only from Eusebius. In addition, native Phoen. inscrs. of the 9th and 8th centuries supply some information. The picture that these sources supply is of a pantheon of fertility deities. The head of the pantheon and king of the gods was a male deity named El, whose wife-consort bore the name Asherah. The young god, who was most influential among the people, was called Hadd, the son of Dagān. Because of his immense popularity and influence, he was often referred to by his epithet Ba’al, a common Phoen. noun meaning “lord.” Hadd (Ba’al) was associated with two other young deities, the goddesses ’Anat and ’Ashtart, who at an early stage in the development of Phoen. religion were fused into a single goddess. Other deities mentioned in the texts are: the sea-god, Yamm; the god of death, Mot; the moon-god, Yarih; the sun-god, Shapsh; the god of pestilence, Resheph; the god of healing, Eshmun; and the city god of Tyre, Melqart, who developed into a god of all maritime activities. In later times, a male deity who was the consort of Ashtart and who strongly resembled the Sumero-Babylonian deity Dumuzi-Tammuz was known by the epithet Adōnī (Gr. Adonis, “my lord”). He was a vegetation and fertility god who was supposed to die when the summer heat began. It is clear from later sources that he was conceived of as dying and rising aga in annually, but there is no proof as yet that the Hadd (or Baal) of the second millennium b.c. texts was likewise conceived. The religion of the Phoenicians involved statues and other pictorial representations of their deities, as well as the practice of human sacrifice and ritual prostitution (both male and female). As such it was roundly condemned by Moses (Lev 18), Elijah (1 Kings 18; 19), and the later Heb. prophets (Jer 3:2).
Bibliography W. F. Albright, “The Role of the Canaanites in the History of Civilization,” in The Bible and the Ancient Near East (1961); V. Maag, “Syrien-Palästina” in Kulturgeschichte des alten Orient, ed. by H. Schmökel (1961); D. Harden, The Phoenicians (1962); M. Liverani, Storia di Ugarit (1962); H. Donner and W. Röllig, Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften, 3 vols. (1962-1964); J. Gray, The Canaanites (1964); H. Klengel, Geschichte Syriens im 2. Jahrtausends v. u. Zeit (1965).