Phoenicia: Origins

At the dawn of history in the Middle East, a people speaking a Semitic language moved westward and occupied a very narrow coastal strip of the E Mediterranean. Recent excavations of the Phoenician city of Byblos have somewhat clarified the date of settlement by revealing that trade existed between Egypt and Byblos c.2800 b.c. and also that other important Phoenician centers existed at this time at Jerusalem, Jericho, Ai, and Megiddo. In the 2d millennium the Phoenicians were pushed by the Jews farther westward along the Mediterranean.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Decline
• Phoenician Culture
• Phoenician Dominance
• Origins
• Bibliography

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