Chapter 6: The Phoenicians and the Hebrews

-         Area that connects Mesopotamia and Egypt by the Mediterranean Sea (MS) is today Israel and Lebanon.

-         Area was called Canaan and served as meeting point of two cultures.

-         Two mostly peaceful groups called the Phoenicians (PH) and Hebrews (HB) lived in this area and contributed trade and ideas to world.

Section 1: The Phoenicians

-         Lived mostly in N. Canaan.

-         Two main groups: Canaanites and Philistines.

-         Canaanites were farmers and herders and Philistines were trades and shipbuilders.

The Growth of Trade

-         Cities grew in the area and most relied on sea for food and living.

-         Cedar trees from area were used in shipbuilding and trade.

-         PH were the best sailors of the their time and went very far.

-         PH signed treaties (agreements with other nations) to give free shipping for continued independence.

The Cities of Phoenicia

-         Area was not unified due to mountains and was made up of city-states.

-         All city-states spoke same language and had same religion.

-         Cities were ruled by kings and councils of merchants.

-         Cities had ports and walls and were very crowded.

-         One of most important products was valuable purple dye that came from a sea creature.

Gods and Goddesses

-         PH believed in many gods of nature and built temples to honor them.

-         Priests made sacrifices in most sacred chamber called the holy of holies.

Carthage

-         PH set up trading posts and colonies (permanent settlements) in N. Africa.

-         Most important of these was Carthage.

The Alphabet

-         PH passed on alphabet to different people they traded with.

-         PH alphabet adapted hieroglyphs to become 22 letters to spell words.

-         PH alphabet is basis of Greek, Roman, and English alphabet.

Section 2: The Hebrews

-         Hebrews’ religion today is called Judaism.

-         Most HB were nomadic herders and traveling merchants who went all over area.

God of Abraham

-         The story of HB is written in the Bible.

-         Abraham made a covenant (agreement) with the one true God that if he and his descendants (offspring) were to worship God then God would give them Canaan forever.

-         One of Abraham’s descendents named Jacob had 12 sons that became the 12 tribes of the HB.

-         HB were first to believe in one all-powerful, just, and right god that did not have human feelings or needs.

-         Abraham and family settled in Canaan but moved to Egypt to get food.

Moses and the Ten Commandments

-         Eventually HB became enslaved.

-         HB leader named Moses was able to end the enslavement and lead the HB out of Egypt into the Sinai Desert were God provided for them.

-         This escape from Egypt was called the Exodus.

-         While the HB were in the desert, they received a series of laws from God and the most important of these became the 10 Commandments.

-         The HB also renewed their covenant with God and agreed to obey.

-         10 Commandments showed that HB believed in social justice (that everybody had a right to be treated fairly.

The Promised Land

-         Joshua took over when Moses died shortly before HB returned to Canaan.

-         In Canaan, HB became mostly farmers and had some trouble with poor land.

Kings

-         Temporary leaders called judges were first leaders of Hebrews after Joshua but HB eventually wanted permanent king.

-         First kings were Saul, David, and Solomon.

-         David wrote many Psalms in the Bible and helped to unite HB and defeat Canaanites.

-         Solomon made a lot of treaties with foreign nations and built the First Temple.

-         After Solomon died kingdom started to separate and was conquered.

The Prophets

-         Prophets (people who claimed they had messages from God) tried to provide guidance for HB and remind them to live by God’s laws.

-         Prophets were frequently ignored and 586 BC they were conquered by Babylonians and many were taken to Babylonia.

-         The First Temple was destroyed and HB needed to find some other way to worship God while away from Canaan.

-         HB met on sabbath (day of rest) and tried to worship God together.

-         HB wrote down teachings and laws of Moses in five books called the Torah.

-         Other writings have been added and this now forms the Old Testament.

Major Contributions

-         HB were first to believe in one true and just God that people still believe in today.