Phoenicians &

Hebrews Prepared By:

Mia Amor M. Tapulayan

● The name “ Phoenicia” comes from the “Phoenix”-- the name of a famous purple dye extracted from a special variety of shell

● Southeast of Asia Minor, along the Eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, was the Land of Phoenicia .● The land is dry and hilly, the Phoenicians turned to the sea, becoming:- Sailors- Shipbuilders- Merchants

Phoenician seafarers spread ideas

●The ports of Tyre and Sidon were busy centers of trade.

●Phoenicians was famous for its tall cedar trees used in shipbuilding.

●They visited North Africa, Greece, Crete and other Mediterranean islands, Italy , Sardinia, Spain and even pushed out as far as England.

King Hiram(969-936 B.C ) of Tyre

● most famous Phoenician monarchs● He was a good friend of King Solomon of the Jews.

1. They established colonies in various parts of the Mediterranean world.

2. They introduced not only the Asian goods to the countries of the Mediterranean but also the cultural influences of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Palestine, Persia and India.

Phoenician Contributions to Civilization

3. Invention of the Alphabet.

● Their alphabet contained 24 letters, all consonants.● the first two words in the alphabet aleph (ox) and beth (house).

Jews ● were a pastoral Semitic people who originally lived in Arabian Desert and later migrated to Mesopotamia ● At God’s command Abraham led them out of the city of Ur and settled in Palestine, then called Canaan .

● some Hebrews moved to Egypt because of famine.

● Pharaoh Rameses II conquered Palestine .

● About 1290B.C the Hebrews of Egypt fled to the Sinai Peninsula.

● their flight to freedom was called “EXODUS” led by Moses .

● On mount Sinai, Moses received the Ten Commandments from God .

A Hebrew kingdom is established

● About 1020 B.C. they established a kingdom under the first Israelite king Saul.

● David king Saul’s successor was a poet defeated the Philistines

and made Jerusalem the royal capital.

● In Jerusalem Solomon built a palace and a magnificent temple for Yahweh .

Temple of Jerusalem

Fall of the Jews

● After Solomon died, the Hebrew kingdom broke into two . -- The northern part was conquered by the Assyrians .-- The southern part was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar.

● In 70 A.D., the Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire was crushed by Emperor Titus. He slaughter more than 1million Jews and drove the rest into exile.

● The Jews became refugees, and went to other countries in Asia and Europe ( “diaspora” ).

● It was not until 1948, when the modern state Israel was founded, that they had a homeland again.

Jewish Contributions to Civilization

1. Monotheism the belief in one God.

2. Judaism and Christianity the Jews in Israel cradled two major religions.

3. The Bible it is the world’s greatest book.

4. Great men and women.

5. Modern Banking and Finance. the Jews developed modern banking and the lending of money for business.

References :● Zaide, Gregorio F. et.al.(2006)World History.

All Nations Publishing Co. Inc.,

● Perry, Marvin (1988) A History of the World.Houghton Mifflin Company, Cachos Hermanos Inc.,

● Foe, Jonathan C. et.al.(2006)Making Sense of World History.Bookmark, Inc.,San Antonio Village, Makati City, Philippines