Phoenician Cities
Overview
The term "Phoenician" is actually a later Greek word - these peoples call themselves Canaanites and identify primarily with their individual cities: Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, Arwad, and others along the Levantine coast. These are the master mariners and merchants of the Bronze Age world.
The Great Port Cities
Tyre
The island fortress-city, wealthy and proud. Famous for:
- Purple dye - Extracted from murex shells, Tyrian purple is worth more than gold
- Shipbuilding - Cedar from nearby Lebanon makes Tyrian ships the finest
- Glass-making - Tyrian glass is prized throughout the known world
- Trade networks - Tyrian merchants sail from Cyprus to Crete and beyond
Sidon
Ancient rival and sometime partner to Tyre. Known for:
- Craftsmanship - Sidonian metalwork and ivory carving
- Maritime prowess - "Sidonian" is often used as a general term for skilled sailors
- Purple dye - Competing with Tyre for the luxury market
Byblos
Perhaps the oldest of the Phoenician cities, with ancient ties to New Kingdom Egypt:
- Papyrus trade - The Greek word "biblos" (book) comes from Byblos, the papyrus port
- Cedar trade - Gateway to the Lebanon cedar forests
- Egyptian connection - Centuries of close trade relationship with Egypt
- Copper imports - Major hub for copper from Cyprus
Arwad
The northern city, built on an island:
- Strategic position - Controls northern Levantine coast
- Naval power - Strong fleet for both trade and defense
- Piracy - The line between Arwadian merchant and raider can be thin
Economy & Maritime Power
The Phoenician cities are merchant kingdoms. Their wealth comes from:
- Shipbuilding and sailing - Multi-oared merchant galleys and swift warships
- Purple dye production - Labor-intensive and enormously profitable
- Metalworking - Particularly bronze, gold, and silver crafts
- Timber - Cedar from the mountains of Lebanon
- Glass production - A Phoenician innovation
- Trade intermediation - Connecting New Kingdom Egypt, Hittite Empire, Mycenaean Kingdoms, and Cyprus
Trade goods handled: Everything. Phoenician merchants carry tin from the Tin Routes, copper from Cyprus, grain from Egypt, wine and oil from the islands, amber from the north, ivory from Africa, silver from Anatolia.
Political Situation
The Phoenician cities are caught between the great powers:
Egyptian Influence
New Kingdom Egypt claims suzerainty over much of Canaan and the coast. Some cities pay tribute to Egypt; others maintain independence through careful diplomacy.
Hittite Pressure
The Hittite Empire extends its influence southward, particularly in northern Syria. Some Phoenician cities play the great powers against each other.
Independence Through Commerce
The cities maintain autonomy primarily because they're too valuable to conquer and too useful as neutral trading partners. But this balance is precarious.
Inter-City Relations
The Phoenician cities are rivals as much as partners:
- Competition for trade routes and markets
- Dynastic disputes and alliances
- Occasional warfare between cities
- But also cooperation against common threats (pirates, great power pressure)
Religion
Each city has its own patron deities, but many gods are shared:
- Baal (various aspects) - Storm god, fertility, power
- Anat - War goddess, fierce and powerful
- Astarte - Love, fertility, the sea
- El - The father god, ancient and wise
- Yam - The sea, powerful and dangerous
- Mot - Death, drought, the underworld
The Canaanite gods are passionate and immediate. Sacrifice is important - both animal sacrifice and (rarely, in times of crisis) human sacrifice.
Temple complexes are centers of both worship and commerce. Temple treasuries and priesthoods are deeply involved in trade and banking.
Society & Culture
Phoenician society is organized around:
- Merchant families - The true power in the cities
- Skilled craftsmen - Organized into guilds and workshops
- Sailors and shipbuilders - The backbone of city wealth
- Priests - Powerful and wealthy, especially in Byblos
- Kings - Rulers, but often dependent on merchant elite
Values
- Pragmatism - Profit and survival over ideology
- Seamanship - The sea is both highway and boundary
- Craft excellence - Reputation is built on quality goods
- Deal-making - Every negotiation is an opportunity
- Flexibility - Adapt to circumstances and partners
Language & Writing
The Phoenician cities use various scripts:
- Alphabetic Cuneiform - The innovation from Ugarit (to the north) is spreading
- Traditional Cuneiform - For international correspondence
- Egyptian Hieratic - For dealing with Egypt
- Various local scripts
Multiple languages are common among merchants: Canaanite dialects, Egyptian, Akkadian, some Hittite, and Aegean Greek.
For Player Characters
The Phoenician cities are ideal bases for merchant characters:
Advantages:
- Access to multiple trade networks
- Relatively open to foreigners
- Excellent shipbuilding and crews available
- Established banking and credit systems
- Information flows through these ports
- Mixture of cultures and languages
Challenges:
- Intense competition from local merchants
- Caught between great powers
- Guild systems can be restrictive for outsiders
- Piracy is a constant threat
- Political instability as powers shift
- Local merchant families are deeply entrenched
Getting Established:
- Demonstrate value or unique trade connections
- Prove trustworthiness through successful small deals
- Connect with a temple or merchant house
- Marry into a local family (traditional approach)
- Offer skills or goods not readily available locally
Current Situation (c. 1250 BCE)
The Phoenician cities are prosperous but uneasy:
- Egyptian control is loosening but not gone
- Hittite interest is increasing
- Peoples from the Islands are making the seas more dangerous
- Internal rivalries between cities are sharpening
- Some see opportunity in the changing times; others fear instability
The merchants whisper: "When empires stumble, fortunes can be made - or lost."
Connected Locations