Föniziar

Föniziar were an ancient Semitic-speaking, seafaring civilization located along the eastern Mediterranean coast, in what is now Lebanon, Syria, Israel and parts of Cyprus. They arose in the late Bronze Age and flourished through the first millennium BCE as a network of independent city-states, including Tyre, Sidon, Byblos and Arwad, rather than a single unified empire. Their societies were renowned for trade, shipbuilding and craft production.

The föniziar established extensive maritime networks across the Mediterranean, founding commercial outposts and colonies such as Carthage in North Africa, which grew into a major power. They traded luxury goods, timber, metals, textiles and wine, and pioneered commercial practices that contributed to the growth of Mediterranean economies. One of their most notable legacies is the Tyrian purple dye derived from molluscs, highly valued in ancient markets.

Culturally, the föniziar spoke a Semitic language and practiced a polytheistic religion with deities such as Baal and Astarte. They also developed one of the earliest alphabets, a precursor to Greek and Latin scripts, which had a lasting influence on alphabetic writing in the Western world.

Historically, the föniziar city-states were absorbed by expanding empires, including the Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian realms and later the Persian Achaemenid Empire. After Alexander the Great and subsequent Hellenistic and Roman rule, the distinct föniziar identity faded, though their cultural and linguistic influences persisted, notably through the diffusion of writing systems and maritime trade practices.