The Phoenicians Continued

            We pick up where we left off last month’s bulletin article concerning the Phoenicians unprecedented sea-faring abilities. In Homer’s writings, The Iliad and The Odyssey, the Phoenicians are described as a sea travelling people who were associated with the ancient practice of slave trade. Scholars have argued that Homer was just bias against the Phoenicians and that his claims were false. It is interesting that the Bible described the Phoenicians in the same exact way; seafarers and slave traders (Is. 23:1-4; Joel 3:4-6). The focus of this bulletin article will be the extent of their colonies/trade posts across the Mediterranean world.

            The first permanent settlement established by the Phoenicians was on the island of Cyprus, not far from the cities of Tyre and Sidon. Most historians believe that Canaanites (from whom Phoenicians descended) were trading with people of Cyprus as early as 1650 B.C., due to Cyprus’ abundant supply of copper. The Phoenicians clearly continued this trade. What archaeology has found is a major change in daily life and burial practices took place around 1100 B.C., which were not present on the island prior. A common Phoenician burial practice, that of burying an infant in a Levantine jar, has been unearthed at several locations on Cyprus. Burial practices are not easily changed; and these jars being found point to Phoenicians living on the island with the aboriginal people. The most compelling evidence for Phoenicians living on Cyprus is the temple of Kition, which is the largest Phoenician style temple found to date. This was not the only Phoenician temple on the island, but several have been found that follow the same design as temples in Tyre and Sidon. If we consider why the Phoenicians colonized or set up a trade post on Cyprus, it makes logical sense. If your nation revolves around open sea trade, would you not need places to break up a long journey? Cyprus seems to have been the ancient “truck stop” for Phoenician merchants trading around the Mediterranean Sea.

            Crete, home to the ancient civilization of the Minoans, was the next location to be inhabited by Phoenicians. The island of Crete has the largest number of Phoenician potteries in the Aegean world. A large cache of Phoenician storage potteries dated to 900 B.C. have been unearthed at Kommos, pointing to the probability that this site was used as a loading/unloading base for Phoenician goods. More solid evidence for Phoenicians inhabiting Crete is the remarkable Near-eastern metal workings found on the island. Bronze vessels and jewelry from Phoenicia or Syria have been found in several tombs on Crete. One bronze bowl, found at the Tekke tomb, had a Phoenician inscription etched into it that signified the person buried within was the owner of the bowl. The Cretans had their own language, why would they display their ownership of a bowl with a Phoenician inscription? Just like on Cyprus, archaeologists have also unearthed a drastic change in funerary rites and temple design that coincided with the dates of the Phoenician pottery and metal working being introduced. Phoenician cippus, which are stone funerary monuments, have been found on Crete. These funerary monuments have no parallel in Aegean funerary practices, which simply means Greeks did not bury their dead in this manner. Based on archaeological findings on this island, the evidence points that a Phoenician colony was established, and the residents lived peacefully with the indigenous population on the island. Ezekiel wrote this concerning Tyre’s domain, “Your borders are in the midst of the seas” (Ezek. 27:4). Both the island settlements at Cyprus and Crete show the accuracy of Ezekiel’s statement!

-Brandon Foresha