Phoenicia
FERTILE CRESCENT PROJECT
PHOENICIA
Contributions to civilizations
Science:
Glassmaking was a skill that Phoenicians were good at. Glass is created with clay, which shaped to cool down and scraped to make a glass bottle. Also, jewelry and fancy glass bottles were made because the clay glass bottle process took too long.
Math:
They created numbers, including the number 0. Pythagoras was a Phoenician/Greek merchant and is specifically known for his geometry Pythagorean Theorem.
Medicine:
The Phoenicians used natural substances like olive oil, garlic, weeds , myrths that were applied to heal cuts. Tools were used to clean out debris in the eye, and surgery in the head to allow the pressure to release.
Arts:
The Phoenicians were skilled carvers and metal crafters. They made jewelry, glass, clay, ivory, etc. They colored cloth purple with dye obtained from murex shells. They used their skills to trade these items to other civilizations, earning tons of money, which helped them become a wealthy civilization.
Language/Literature:
The Phoenicians spoke a form of Aramaic/ Canaanite language. Phoenician words are found in Greek and Latin classical literature as well as in Egyptian, Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic and Hebrew writings. They wrote in Cuneiform at first, then developed an improved alphabet script. The alphabet contained 22 letters, without any vowels.