Phoenicia was the name given to a group of seafaring Canaanite city-states on the coast of what is now Lebanon and neighboring parts of Syria and Israel, including Tyre, Sidon and Byblos. Its people were skilled sailors, shipbuilders and traders, and from about the early first millennium BCE they founded colonies around the Mediterranean, the most famous of which was Carthage. The Phoenicians were known for their purple dye, glass and timber, especially the cedars of Lebanon. They also developed a phonetic alphabet that was adapted by the Greeks and became the ancestor of the Latin alphabet. The cities came under the control of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians and later Alexander the Great and the Romans.
Before and after
- 26th century BCEThe Great Sphinx
- c. 2,560 BCEConstruction of Great Pyramid of Giza
- c. 2,510s BCEConstruction of Pyramid of Menkaure
- from 26th century BCE to 20th century BCELagash
- from c. 2,500 BCE to 64 BCEPhoenicia
- from c. 2,498 BCE to 2,345 BCEFifth Dynasty of Egypt
- c. 2,360 BCEOrigins of Pyramid of Unas
- from c. 2,345 BCE to 2,181 BCESixth Dynasty of Egypt
- from c. 2,334 BCE to 2,154 BCEAkkadian Empire
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- from c. 2,601 BCE to 1,901 BCEThe Indus Valley cities reach maturity
- c. 1,051 BCEThe Phoenician alphabet spreads
- from c. 753 BCE to 476 CEAncient Rome
- 7th century BCEConstruction of Hanging Gardens of Babylon
- from 312 BCE to 63 BCESeleucid Empire
- from 279 BCE to 1480Construction of Lighthouse of Alexandria
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 25th century BCE.