Phoenician Society: Seafaring and Maritime Knowledge

Phoenician Society oceangoing and Maritime KnowledgeDiscuss the role of oceanfaring and maritime knowledge inwardly Phoenician society and its expansion.IntroductionAs a people the Phoenicians endured for several(prenominal) three thousand years and were already flourishing by 3,000 B.C. however it was non until about 1100 B.C., with the demise of the existing dominant peoples in the ara, that the Phoenicians came to the fore as a significant force. From this time, until around 600 B.C., they dominated the Mediterranean by trading and establishing colonies bingle of the most important being Carthage. The success of their culture seems mainly to apply been due to the proximity of the Mediterranean that support dependence on soaring and business. Indeed, as Holst1 indicates, international trade formed part of the guiding principles on which the Phoenician civilization was beed that also included a commitment to resilient partnerships, peaceful stoppage of disputes, e ton us, privacy, religious freedom and respect of women. Although the majority of Phoenician trade was initially land based, a significant amount began to take place by sea2 testified by the wealth of tire that, on with Byblos, Sidon, Arados and Simyra, were the main radical-based Phoenician sea ports. Initially, Phoenician sea trade was mainly with the Greeks involving glass, slaves and Tyrian purple dye made from a sea shell called Murex and textiles coloured with much(prenominal) dyes formed one of the main Phoenician exports. Most of the major Mediterranean countries were involved in trade with the Phoenicians that included such commodities as cotton, timber, wool, precious stones, embroidery, wine, corn and various other foodstuff including spices whereas countries as far away as Spain traded metals such as tin, iron and lead.3The Importance of barterTrade and colonisation originally centred on bartering indigenous timber as well as fishing skills, the latter of which is though t to have provided the competence for later on seafaring abilities.4 The far reaching sea trade of the Phoenicians took two forms with existing Phoenician colonies and countries in navig subject reach. The colonies provided a means by which the home solid ground could be assured of supplies of goods deemed essential. In this respect, Cyprus became a colony to ensure the supply of wood and copper, Sardinia and Spain for delectationful metals. In return for such goods, Phoenicia supplied such finished items as cotton and linen, pottery, ornaments, weapons, and glass. It was not, as yet, just with the Mediterranean that trade occurred but also with the Propontis and ports within the Black Sea.5 The dominance of Phoenicians in seafaring has not gone without criticism however as early reports of such supremacy in Homers Odyssey, and also by Herodotus, has been viewed by some modern commentators as erroneous.6 The extent of Phoenician preeminence in this respect seems to have been se ttled by Basss underwater excavations of the Cape Gelidonya wreck that highlights the extent of Phoenician trade.7 The archaeological certainty from this excavation seems therefore to support the dominance of Phoenician seafaring from 1200 B.C. onwards. The recent discovery of two exceptionally large Phoenician merchant ships adds foster center field to this view.8It is probable that the Phoenician maritime empire was preceded by trade with various outposts throughout the Mediterranean or otherwise began as safe anchorage points a pertinacious the coast.9 It was only later that these places became colonies set up to protect Phoenician interests that required ships of war which, unlike merchant vessels were employed all year round,10 to protect two colonies and trade routes. The Phoenician character of many of these ports was lost due to the rise and dominance of other business offices such as the Greeks and Romans that has masked the extent of Phoenician influence. Importantly, trade by sea was linked to specialist product areas that otherwise would not have come together that allowed the Phoenicians to establish a rate of exchange to their advantage.11 theodolite of various metals available in the we staring(a) Mediterranean by sea, such as Spanish silver, thus allowed the Phoenicians to link the demand in the east, from countries like Assyria etc., to the mad material centres of the west. The Phoenicians also took advantage of turning the raw materials transported from the west into quality refined goods to be later exported. These products, because they tended to be more refined and better quality than what most other countries could supply, were therefore much sought after and such goods have been found in western ports such as Carthage.12 Moreover, the position sea route through the Mediterranean provided the best means of direct and efficient transport of materials and products and the extent of this trade along the Mediterranean is confirmed by the particular that Phoenician coins came to be manu pointured in Tyre from the fifth century B.C. onwards.13The Extent of Phoenician Trade LinksIt is thought that the growth in Assyrian power and pressure on the coastal cities first led the Phoenicians to turn to seafaring.14 In this respect, Assyrian power is thought to have blocked access to resources to the east to the extent that the Phoenicians were stimulate to turn west towards the Mediterranean for raw materials.15 opposites, however, contend that it was the growth in Assyrian wealth and power that stimulated Phoenician interest in Mediterranean seafaring because of the increased demands for products.16 This could have likewise been hastened by the economic growth and increased demand of Tyre and other Phoenician ports for raw materials. It is likely, however, that rather than one cistron there was a set of interrelated events involving political, historical, economic criteria that led to the Pheonician exploitation of the Mediterranean. Indeed, Tyre and associated ports were ideally situated to act as a conduit through which the products and resources of the Mediterranean and countries to the east could be exchanged.17 Moreover, a massive investment in time and resources would have been required to mount expeditions throughout the Mediterranean by sea that suggests Tyre was economically and politically secure.The exploits of the Phoenicians in the Mediterranean should not be viewed as exploration as most of the main sea routes had been charted during the Bronze Age. Rather the Phoenicians were able to use and improve their maritime skills to become the dominant force in the Mediterranean for six hundred years. Yet, there are reports that they ventured much further overseas which suggest exploration was part of a general outlook. For example, Herodotus reports that they sailed down the Red Sea to circumnavigate Africa returning via the Straits of Gibraltar.18 Some even propose that they may hav e voyaged as far as southern Britain to acquire Cornish tin but this was probably based on indirect rather than direct trade.19 In this respect, reports of a tin ingot discovered in a Cornish harbour similar to those of ancient Crete remain controversial.20 The Veneti of Brittany may also have actually been Phoenicians who controlled the trade route to Britain and were thought to be adept seafarers.The control of trade routes seems to have been a characteristic of Phoenician dominance in that this allowed more exclusive access to resources around and outside the Mediterranean that helped to reinforce Phoenician power. The interest in regions outside the Mediterranean is supported by the notion that some coastal ports such as the present Portuguese port known as Peniche is claimed to derive from the Greek for Phoenicia.21 Moreover, there are many Phoenician stay to be found along the Portuguese coast.22 Such exploits beyond the Mediterranean may have partially been encouraged by the fact that the Greeks had prevented Carthage from gaining access to the home ports.23 Indeed, it may have been the rise in Greek power that led to Carthage becoming such an important city port for the Phoenicians in the central Mediterranean and could have been a factor leading, in the 8th century B.C., to Carthage succeeding Tyre as the main Phoenician city. There is also some point that the Phoenicians may have even reached some of the Atlantic islands such as the Azores and Canaries.24 Ultimately, it was the rise in Greek power in the east, the barrier of the Atlantic in the west and the rise of Rome that bought an end to Phoenician power.25 In sum, the Phoenician influence along the Mediterranean coastline appears to be both a consequence of with child(p) initiative and impressive seafaring skills that was instigated by the promise of trade and pressures from the rise in other Mediterranean powers to the east.Types of BoatsThe initial attempts in seafaring by Phoenicians are t hought to have been quite crude based on prompt between islands by means of rafts followed by more sophisticated but still crude sailing vessels inspired by the need to fish.26 The first boats seemed to have consisted of a keel, a rounded hull and a raised computer prog hammer in for the steersman with the oars intersecting the bulwark.27 This formed a template for a subsequent craft where four upright rowers operated curved oars in a boat that lacked a rudder with a mast held aloft by two ropes secured at the front and rear of the vessel. The mast, however, seems not to have been use for a sail, but to support a cover structure from which an archer or other attacker was able to launch missiles. From this, a larger vessel evolved with a low bow and raised stern with a rudder with a pointed prow and oars on each side of about fifteen to twenty in number that the Greeks referred to as triaconters and penteconters that are represented on coins but were shown without a mast so must h ave been a type of refined rowing boat. Around 700 B.C. further advances occurred in ship construction in that, instead of being situated on one level, rowers were now placed on two levels thus doubling the number of oarsmen. These vessels were known as biremes by the Greeks and incorporated two steering oars issuing from the stern some with a mast and yardarm to support a sail that came in two forms one designed for war, the long ship, and another, with a more rounded prow used for the purpose of trade.28 Inspired by the Greek example, the Phoenicians also went on to develop their own stochastic variable of the trireme with three levels of rowers.29 The size of these vessels can be gauged by the fact that the top level consisted of 31 rowers.30 The Phoenicians have also been credited with inventing both the keel and ram as well as the caulking of planks with bitumen though some believe that the ram or beaked prow is said to have been adopted by the Phoenicians from the Mycenaean s It was the use of an adjustable sail, more oarsmen and a double steering oar that led to increased speed and manoeuvrability allowing the furthest points of the Mediterranean to be reached and it was the round-shaped merchant ships called gaulos that was mainly relied on in this respect.31 Such innovations to ship construction illustrate the commitment of the Phoenicians to seafaring and their seafaring skills were so renowned throughout the ancient world that Phoenician ships and sailors were very much co-opted into foreign war fleets.32NavigationThe Phoenicians are thought to have invented the art of navigation. They used oars when there was little or no wind and large unbowed sails at other times. Although they on the face of it practiced coastal navigation, the distribution of ports indicates that more long distance open sea voyages were also undertaken.33 The fact that the Phoenicians had important centres at Sardinia, Sicily and Ibiza suggests that they often sailed the h igh seas. This would have involved extended periods at sea essential for the effective transportation of goods. They would probably, however, have employed short coastal journeys to travel from one port to the next but relied on deep sea navigation for seven-day voyages34 and in places like the Aegean, with the many islands and dangerous currents, oars would have been used rather than sails. It is thought that the Phoenicians were also able to sail at night and used the Pole star and knowledge of astronomy for navigation. This knowledge along with the fact that, given favourable viewing conditions, land is nearly always visible anywhere in the Mediterranean -allowed the Phoenicians to use their seafaring skills to good effect.ConclusionThe Phoenicians obviously depended on seafaring skills in order to extend trade links and their influence throughout the Mediterranean and beyond. This seems to have gone mass in hand with a need to develop more sea worthy vessels and navigational abilities to venture further into the open seas. Evidence from historical documents, such as found in Herodotus and others, indicate the extent of Phoenician maritime skills that evolved in tandem with the foundation of ever distant colonies and trading outposts. These skills seem to have been further encouraged by the advantages that came from the home ports being located where raw material from the west, which were in demand by countries in the Levant, could be traded for finished products. The Phoenicians were able to exploit this further by producing high quality manufactured goods that were exported to all areas thus increasing their economic power and wealth that allowed more sophisticated ships to be built for longer voyages. This tendency is reflected in the progressive growth in Phoenician influence and colonisation from east to west from about 12,000 B.C. onwards. Trade went first, however, with colonisation following when the fortune arose. Ultimately, however, Phoenicia n influence may have declined in the Mediterranean due to an over-reliance on seafaring that was unable to compete with more land based powers. In other words, their greatest strength eventually became their greatest weakness.BibliographyAubert, M. E. (2001) The Phoenicians and the West Politics, Colonies and Trade. Cambridge University Press Cambridge.Boardman, J. Edwards, I. E. S., Hammond N. G. L. 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Hedges Oxford.1Footnotes1 Holst, 20052 See, for example, Judgement of Ezekiel 26-1 Judgement on Tyre in Greenberg, 19973 Perrot and Chipiez, 18934 Culican, 19915 Tilley 2004 p. 766 Tilley, 2004 p. 777 Bass, 19728 Tilley, 2004 p. 789 Harden, 1962 p. 158.10 Moscati and Grassi, 2001 p.85.11 Harrison 1988 p. 4212 See, for example, Boucher-Colozier, 195313 Hill, 191014 Frankenstein, 197915 Aubert, 2001 p. 7016 Culican 1991 p. 48617 Harrison, 198818 see de Slincourt, 195919 Harden, 1962 p. 17120 Hencken, 1932.21 Guthrie, 1970 p. 10322 Tilley, 2004 p. 8023 Harden, 1962 p.17124 See, for example, Diodorus Siculus 1935 v. 20 Harden, 194825 Boardman et al. 1991 p. xvi.26 Rawlinson, 2004 p. 122.27 Ibid.28 Perrot and Chipiez, 1893 p. 3429 Basch, 196930 Casson, 1971 p. 9531 Barnett, 195832 Grayson,1991 p. 22033 Aubert, 2001 p. 16734 Moscati and Grassi (2001) p. 84