Sea voyages of the Phoenicians briefly. Material on the topic "the great travels of the Phoenicians"

Phoenicia is a very interesting state, which was one of the first to prove the importance of international trade. Occupying only a narrow strip of land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Lebanese mountains, without rich land resources, arable fields and pastures, the Phoenicians managed to become one of the most influential states in the region through trade. Not being able to properly engage in agriculture and cattle breeding, the Phoenicians grew grapes and olives on the slopes of the Lebanese mountains. Wine was made from grapes, and fragrant oil was made from olives. The Lebanese mountains were also rich in timber, which served as material for the creation of a mighty merchant and military fleet.
The Phoenicians began to trade with neighboring countries wine, oil, construction timber, glassware, and purple-dyed textiles. By developing marine trade routes the Phoenicians sailed farther and farther along the northern and south coast mediterranean sea. On their way on the coast, they founded small settlements that served as trading posts and transshipment bases for the ships of the Phoenicians. So the Phoenicians founded colonies on the Mediterranean islands - Cyprus, Sicily, Sardinia and the Balearic Islands. The Phoenicians colonized north coast Africa and south coast modern Spain. In those days, ships usually sailed not on the high seas, but along the coastline. The location of the colonies allowed the Phoenicians to control all maritime trade.
Enriched at the expense of their colonies, the Phoenician navigators began to gradually go far beyond the Mediterranean Sea. They came up with the design of a ship with a keel, which made it more stable, maneuverable and fast in sea navigation. The speed and capacity of their ships gave them an advantage in attacking small settlements and stealing captives into slavery. Often, the Phoenicians did not even have to attack anyone, as they cunningly lured small children onto their ships, promising to give them beautiful gifts, and then immediately set sail. For one child, one could get a bull or a silver jug. The slave trade brought huge profits. In search of new goods and slaves, the Phoenicians sailed farther and farther from their home.
The Phoenicians were the first of the peoples of the Mediterranean to reach the shores of present-day England and here they received tin, which was very valuable at that time. By exchange, they also received on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean the amber that was so valued at that time, delivered here by land from the Baltic. The Phoenicians reached west coast Africa and even made, probably a successful attempt to circumnavigate the African continent. The most grandiose enterprise should be considered the sea expedition of the Phoenicians, which they carried out on behalf of the Egyptian king Necho at the end of the 7th century. BC. Within three years they circled Africa and returned through the Strait of Gibraltar, accomplishing this remarkable feat more than two thousand years before Vasco da Gama.
During this heyday of Phoenician navigation sea route becomes a means of communication between Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as countries that were outside of Gibraltar. The control of international maritime trade made Phoenicia probably the very first maritime trading power.

Phoenicia is a narrow strip of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, bounded in the east by the Lebanese Range.

ABOUT Phoenicians first told by Homer. From the end of the 2nd to the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, the Phoenicians were engaged in maritime trade, at the same time they founded settlements throughout the Mediterranean (the most significant of them was Carthage). Like all seafarers of antiquity, they never own will did not move away from the coast beyond its visibility, never sailed in winter and at night.

When the Phoenician society became slave-owning, it increasingly began to need an influx of new slaves, and this further strengthened the desire to sail to overseas countries.

So, no later than 15 centuries BC The Phoenicians began to visit Crete. Moving from there to the west, they marked the beginning of the opening of the Central Mediterranean Basin. From the islands Aegean Sea the Phoenicians went to southern shores Balkan Peninsula, crossed the Strait of Otranto and rounded Apulia and Calambria. Simultaneously with the Cretans, or somewhat later, they discovered the island of Sicily, and then discovered and colonized Malta in the 8th century BC. Having crossed the Strait of Tunis, they moved west and traced almost 2000 km coastline North West Africa, opening mountain country Atlas to the Strait of Gibraltar. Coming to the strait, the Phoenicians for the first time got a correct idea of the length of the Great Sunset Sea (3700 km).

Simultaneously with the penetration to the west, the Phoenicians began to explore the African coast and in eastbound. They opened the bays of Hammamet, Little Sirte with the islands of Kerkenna and Djerba and Greater Sirte.

According to ancient Greek authors, the Phoenicians were the first to go to Atlantic Ocean. They opened up the whole west coast Iberian Peninsula, entered the mouths of such rivers as the Guadiana, Tagus, Douro, Minho. There is a possibility that the Phoenicians got acquainted with the shores Bay of Biscay up to the Brittany Peninsula.

The Phoenicians built ships for expeditions organized by their neighbors, who owned the shores of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and entered their service.

IN 600 BC Egyptian pharaoh Necho ordered a group of Phoenician merchants to go to sailing around africa. About this voyage, 150 years later, the historian Herodotus, who visited Egypt, told, and with such details that he himself considered incredible. But it is these details that confirm the authenticity of the event. So, Herodotus, who had no modern idea of the globe and the solar system, that part of the story seemed implausible, which said that when the Phoenicians went around Africa from the south, moving from east to west, they had the sun on the right side, that is, in the north. For us, it is clear that it is this circumstance that confirms that the Phoenicians really crossed the equator, sailed through the waters of the Southern Hemisphere and circled Africa from the south. They circled Africa for three years, which is quite plausible, given the capabilities of the shipping technology of that time, as well as the fact that they stopped for 2-3 months every year to sow and harvest grain.

Around 850 BC, the Phoenicians founded Carthage - the greatest shopping mall that time. In 500 BC, Carthage, having arisen as a Phoenician colony, already began to look for colonies. To this end, the Carthaginians organized a large sea expedition led by the Carthaginian admiral Hanno. He led a flotilla consisting of 60 ships, on which there were 30,000 colonists.

Along the way, Hannon founded cities and in each of them left a part of people and ships.

This journey of the Carthaginians was reflected in the “Periplus” (description of the voyage) of the naval commander Hanno, from which we learned that, having passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, they followed the Atlantic coast of Africa for two days, founding cities along the way. They rounded Cape Zeleny and soon entered the mouth of the Gambia River. A few days later, the travelers reached the bay, which they called the Western Horn (probably Bissagos Bay), then the South Horn (now Sherborough Bay in Sierra Leone) and finally landed on the coast of present-day Liberia.

Thus, Gannon reached Equatorial Africa. As far as is known, he was the first inhabitant of the Mediterranean to visit West Africa and described her.

The results of his outstanding voyage were used only to a minimal extent: the Carthaginian merchants went through it to Kerna and organized the “Golden Road” (gold trade) with the deep regions of West Africa.

The Carthaginians are also credited with discovering Azores, but there are no indications in literary monuments that they visited these islands. But in 1749, the Swede Johan Podolin reported the discovery of a treasure trove of ancient coins on the island of Kovru, among which were Carthaginian ones.

Simultaneously with Hanno, another navigator of Carthage - Himilcon- committed great swim along the western coast of Europe and, apparently, reached the southwestern tip of England (the Isles of Scilli).

Thus, Phoenicians And Carthaginians were the first peoples of antiquity who swam in the open sea and ocean without a compass. Undoubtedly, their voyages should have enriched the Phoenicians with many information regarding the physical properties of the ocean, but nothing from their area of \u200b\u200bknowledge has come down to us. Apparently, they were of the opinion that the Atlantic and Indian oceans form one continuous water surface.

Phoenicia was located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea (now it is the territory of Lebanon). Phenicia was a set of separate cities with their surrounding lands, and they were ruled by kings. Such cities are called policies - city-states. Among the Phoenician city-states, Byblos, Tyre, and Sidon stood out. The Phoenician cities never united into a single state.

The Phoenicians have always tried to keep their discoveries secret. At the turn of the 6th century BC, another Phoenician navigator, Gannon, sailed along the coast of West Africa and probably reached Cameroon. An account of this voyage ("pericles") was put on public display in the main temple of Carthage.

Subsequently, the coast of the Central, Eastern and South Africa for almost one and a half thousand years, it turned into one huge white spot for European sailors. Until the 15th century, no one dared to sail along the western coast of Africa towards the equator in a route long familiar to the Phoenicians.

About 4000 years ago in the Mediterranean, namely its eastern part, tribes first appeared, which in Ancient Greece gave a special name - the Phoenicians. They went down in history as the most famous sailors of the past.

It is known that the name of the country - Phoenicia - literally sounds like a beautiful adjective - "purple". And this analogy arose for a reason: the tribes mined a bright dye for fabrics - purple - which was fixed as the color of kings. But there is also a second meaning - "Fenehu", which means shipbuilders. It is also justified: the Phoenicians were able to create ships so strong that they were not afraid of even the strongest sea storms and storms. Swimming was provided by rowing slaves arranged in two rows. Having laid the foundations of shipbuilding, these brave people were considered the inventors of the first galleys - multi-tiered rowing boats.

The Threat of Extinction and Carthage

The Phoenician colonies occupied almost the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea, their possessions also included part of the Atlantic coast and North Africa. Many trading cities were founded there, in particular, Carthage who had the advantage geographical position and became the largest trading center with other countries, as well as the protection of the Phoenician colonies during the intensified struggle with the Greeks and Tartessians.

Travels of famous sailors

The tribes, known as talented merchants, smart creditors and resourceful city builders, also gained fame as the best navigators known not only to Ancient Phoenicia, but to the whole world. They sailed the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, off the northern lands of Europe and the western African coasts, were the first to travel around the entire African continent, which lasted 2.5 years. This truly grandiose enterprise took place on behalf of the Egyptian king in the 7th century BC, a millennium before Vasco da Gama, proved that the sea surrounds Africa on all sides, excluding the junction with Asia.

There was also a report about the sun, which was on the right, and not on the left, because. travelers were in the other hemisphere of the Earth, which almost for the first time gave reason to assume a unique form of the planet - a ball, although at that time it was difficult to believe in it. There were also rare and then inaccessible expeditions south across the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, this is even mentioned in the Bible. In addition, these sailors were the first to see the shores of modern Great Britain and brought tin and Baltic amber there.

Around 500 BC e. the Phoenician fleet sailed west through the Strait of Gibraltar and, after establishing several small colonies on the Moroccan coast, moved a little south, reaching the Gulf of Guinea. Travels of the Phoenician sailors expanded ancient geographical knowledge, despite the fact that the Phoenicians kept many discoveries a secret - and history confirms this: until the 15th century, almost no one dared to swim along the western part of the African mainland.

Other achievements of the Phoenicians: some interesting facts

It's safe to say that no other people made so many discoveries in antiquity. And, despite the fact that not in all cases it is the Phoenicians who are the authors of inventions, it was they who introduced them into life, thereby changing the course of civilization:

created an alphabet who began a triumphant journey around the world, supplanting virtually all other forms of writing; it is interesting that all the letters of the alphabet, the number of which numbered more than two dozen, were consonants;
the first in the world thought of saving fish from spoilage with salt, supplying products to the most distant countries; by the way, it was salt, which at that time was valued without exaggeration worth its weight in gold, that the Phoenicians owe their outstanding wealth;
began to extract paint from shellfish, which has become a symbol of royal luxury, and this achievement happened by accident: the shell was accidentally gnawed by a dog;
again the first in the world began to produce glass in furnaces from ordinary sand and soda; masks were made from the resulting glass, which covered the faces of the then dead;
brought grapes and olives to North Africa, which then ended up in Spain, where they are still grown, they bought papyrus from the Egyptians and invented fighting vehicles.

Thus, the legacy of this civilization had a huge impact on further development humanity.

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Phoenician navigators and their travels

Culture of Ancient Phoenicia

The culture and science of the ancient Phoenicians were also developed at a very high level: they had their own alphabet, which was eventually adopted by the Greeks. The peak of the heyday of the Phoenician civilization dates back to about 1 thousand BC. AD

In ancient Phoenicia, there were no good fertile lands, the constant rains, due to the climate of the Mediterranean, also did not allow the Phoenicians to engage in agriculture. The only way out for the inhabitants of the country was the occupation of navigation, which significantly expanded trade relations with other peoples, and the abundance of forests allowed them to build ships on their own.

Navigation and trade relations

The Phoenicians built very durable ships that were not afraid of either storms or storms. It was the Phoenicians who first modeled and built ships with a keel, equipped with sheathing on the sides of the vessel - this significantly increased their speed.

Also, their ships were equipped with special compartments for the transport of cargo, which were located above the deck. Due to the strength of their ships, the Phoenicians had the opportunity to go to the Atlantic Ocean, which at that time was not available to many sailors in the Mediterranean.

The maritime strategy of the Phoenicians was striking in its thoughtfulness: they built special bays along the coast so that in the event of a storm, ships could remain safe. With the help of navigation, the ancient Phoenicians were able to establish their colonies in places where their ships could reach.

One of the most famous cities, colonized by Phoenician navigators, was Carthage, which eventually became the center to which all Phoenician colonial cities obeyed. Naturally, the title of the best navigators at that time was identical to the title of the best merchants.

What did the Phoenicians trade?

The Phoenicians sold in other countries what their country was rich in: first of all, red fabrics (the Phoenicians learned to extract red paint from shellfish thrown ashore by a storm), transparent glass produced by Phoenician artisans, Lebanese cedar wood, grape wine and olive oil. oil.

The Phoenician navigators did not return home empty-handed either: in Egypt they bought grain and papyrus sheets, in Spain - silver and copper.

Also, the main goods of the Phoenicians were slaves, which they bought in other countries and sold at home in order for them to build new ships. Also, shackled slaves were used by Phoenician sailors for rowing.

Sometimes the seafarers of Phoenicia did not hesitate to rob: as soon as an opportunity was provided, they captured other people's ships and robbed small port cities.

Forced out of the sea by the Greeks

However, as a result of internal strife and a significant shortage of material for the construction of new ships, the Phoenicians were forced out of the trade and maritime business by the Greeks, who also learned how to build durable and more advanced ships.

But despite this, the Phoenicians managed to make a real revolution in the shipbuilding business of that time. They laid the main foundations of shipbuilding, which were used until the 19th century, when sailing ships began to displace the first steamboats.

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Phoenicia is a narrow strip of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, bounded in the east by the Lebanese Range.

ABOUT Phoenicians first told by Homer. From the end of the 2nd to the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, the Phoenicians were engaged in maritime trade, at the same time they founded settlements throughout the Mediterranean (the most significant of them was Carthage). Like all seafarers of antiquity, they never voluntarily moved away from the coast beyond its visibility, never sailed in winter and at night.

When the Phoenician society became slave-owning, it increasingly began to need an influx of new slaves, and this further strengthened the desire to sail to overseas countries.

So, no later than 15 centuries BC The Phoenicians began to visit Crete. Moving from there to the west, they marked the beginning of the opening of the Central Mediterranean Basin. From the islands of the Aegean Sea, the Phoenicians crossed to the southern shores of the Balkan Peninsula, crossed the Strait of Otranto and rounded Apulia and Calambria. Simultaneously with the Cretans, or somewhat later, they discovered the island of Sicily, and then discovered and colonized Malta in the 8th century BC. Crossing the Strait of Tunis, they moved west and traced almost 2000 km of the coastline of North West Africa, opening the Atlas mountain country to the Strait of Gibraltar. Coming to the strait, the Phoenicians for the first time got a correct idea of the length of the Great Sunset Sea (3700 km).

Simultaneously with the penetration to the west, the Phoenicians began to explore the African coast in an easterly direction. They opened the bays of Hammamet, Little Sirte with the islands of Kerkenna and Djerba and Greater Sirte.

Phoenician sailors

They opened the entire western coast of the Iberian Peninsula, entered the mouths of such rivers as the Guadiana, Tagus, Douro, Minho. There is a possibility that the Phoenicians got acquainted with the shores of the Bay of Biscay up to the Brittany Peninsula.

The Phoenicians built ships for expeditions organized by their neighbors, who owned the shores of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and entered their service.

IN 600 BC Egyptian pharaoh Necho ordered a group of Phoenician merchants to go to sailing around africa. About this voyage, 150 years later, the historian Herodotus, who visited Egypt, told, and with such details that he himself considered incredible. But it is these details that confirm the authenticity of the event. So, Herodotus, who did not have a modern idea of \u200b\u200bthe globe and the solar system, seemed improbable that part of the story, which said that when the Phoenicians went around Africa from the south, moving from east to west, they had the sun on the right side, then is in the north. For us, it is clear that it is this circumstance that confirms that the Phoenicians really crossed the equator, sailed through the waters of the Southern Hemisphere and circled Africa from the south. They circled Africa for three years, which is quite plausible, given the capabilities of the shipping technology of that time, as well as the fact that they stopped for 2-3 months every year to sow and harvest grain.

Around 850 BC, Carthage was founded by the Phoenicians - the greatest trading center of that time. In 500 BC, Carthage, having arisen as a Phoenician colony, already began to look for colonies. To this end, the Carthaginians organized a large sea expedition led by the Carthaginian admiral Hanno. He led a flotilla consisting of 60 ships, on which there were 30,000 colonists.

Along the way, Hannon founded cities and in each of them left a part of people and ships.

Thus, Gannon reached Equatorial Africa. As far as is known, he was the first inhabitant of the Mediterranean to visit West Africa and describe it.

The discovery of the Azores is also attributed to the Carthaginians, but there is no indication in the literary monuments that they visited these islands. But in 1749, the Swede Johan Podolin reported the discovery of a treasure trove of ancient coins on the island of Kovru, among which were Carthaginian ones.

Simultaneously with Hanno, another navigator of Carthage - Himilcon- made a great voyage along the western coast of Europe and, apparently, reached the southwestern tip of England (the Isles of Scilli).

Phoenician military and merchant ships. Assyrian relief from the palace of Sennacherib in Nineveh. 8th-7th centuries BC.

Relying on their colonies, the Phoenician and Carthaginian navigators began to gradually go far beyond the Mediterranean.

During the heyday of the Phoenician and Carthaginian navigation, the sea becomes a means of communication between the three continents of the Mediterranean and distant countries outside of Gibraltar.

The Phoenicians were the first of the peoples of the Mediterranean to reach the shores of present-day England and here they received tin.

By exchange, they received amber, which was so valued at that time, delivered here by land from the Baltic, on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

Carthaginian sailors, entering the ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar, which they call the “pillars of Melkart” (the supreme god of Tyr), repeatedly sailed along West Bank Africa.

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A description of one of these sea expeditions of the brave Carthaginian sailors has come down to us in a Greek translation.

This is the so-called voyage of Hanno, dating from about the 6th or 5th century. BC

Phoenicia - the land of seafarers

Although the description of the expedition of the Carthaginian sailor looks like an entertaining adventure novel, nevertheless, all of his information, according to authoritative researchers, is true.

It is possible to trace the path of the expedition step by step, comparing the data on this journey with what we know about the geography of the western coast of Africa.

Along with expeditions to the northwest and southwest, the Phoenician cities also sent sea expeditions to the south, with the help of the Egyptians, and sometimes Israel and Judea.

Here the Phoenician ships through the Red Sea reached, probably, indian ocean.

The Bible tells about one of these sea voyages when it talks about an expedition to the gold-rich country of Opyr, organized by Hiram, king of Tyre, and Solomon, king of Israel.

But the most grandiose undertaking should be considered that sea expedition of the Phoenicians, which they carried out on behalf of the Egyptian king Necho at the end of the 7th century. BC e.

Within three years, they circled Africa and returned through the "pillars of Melqart", having accomplished this outstanding feat more than two thousand years before Vasco da Gama.

Message-report "Journey of the Phoenician sailors" or "Swimming of the Phoenicians" Grade 5

The Phoenicians are the best navigators of the Ancient World, tireless merchants and explorers. Most of all geographical discoveries committed in ancient world belong to the Phoenicians. Phoenician navigators founded many colonial cities in Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa to the Straits of Gibraltar. Although Phoenicia itself was located precisely in Asia Minor, on the territory of modern Lebanon. The Phoenicians furrowed the entire Mediterranean Sea up and down.

I introduced myself Phoenician navigator. I live a thousand years before our era, that is, three thousand years ago. We have been sailing for nine months already, we have already reached the coast of Spain. Mine hometown Tire, the capital of our Phenicia, I will see only in a year.

The ship on which I am sailing as a sailor is large - you will not find equal ships of this kind in any country. It is equipped with a deck, a ram on the bow, built from the strongest Lebanese cedar. The tail of the ship is carved from wood in the shape of a scorpion's tail! We are sailing.

If we had rowed, we would not have reached Spain even in a year.

We are 29 people in the team. On the ship, we brought goods for sale from afar: sheep wool from the Bedouins, copper dishes from our homeland. Here we will need to load up with tin, which is being transported from distant cold islands, from the north. And then forward, on the way back. At home, we will sell the goods very profitably.

Here, in Spain, another new colony of my countrymen will be founded.

Phoenicia in the 1st millennium BC
Sea travel Phoenicians

Enriched at the expense of their colonies, the Phoenician, Carthaginian navigators began to gradually go far beyond the Mediterranean Sea. During this heyday of Phoenician and Carthaginian navigation, the sea route became a means of communication between the three continents of the Mediterranean and more distant countries that were outside Gibraltar.

The Phoenicians were the first of the peoples of the Mediterranean to reach the shores of present-day England and here they received tin, which was very valuable at that time. By exchange, they also received on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean the amber that was so valued at that time, delivered here by land from the Baltic.

Carthaginian sailors, entering the ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar, which they called the “pillars of Melkart” (the supreme god of Tyr), also repeatedly sailed along the western coast of Africa.

Using the help of the Egyptians, and sometimes Israel and Judea, the Phoenician cities sent sea expeditions not only to the northwest and southwest, but also to the then less accessible south.

In this case, the Phoenician ships through the Red Sea probably even reached the Indian Ocean.

One of these sea trips is well written in the Bible, which tells of an expedition to the gold-rich country of Ophir, organized by Hiram, king of Tyre, and Solomon, king of Israel.

But the most grandiose enterprise must be considered the sea expedition of the Phoenicians, which they carried out on behalf of the Egyptian king Necho at the end of the 7th century. BC. Within three years they circled Africa and returned through the "pillars of Melqart", having accomplished this outstanding feat more than two thousand years before Vasco da Gama.

World history" Volume 1.

ed. Yu.P. Frantseva, State Publishing House of Political Literature, 1953.

Phoenicia

Ancient Phoenicia occupied a coastal strip along the northern part of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, bordered on the east by the Lebanese mountains, which in places approached almost close to the coast. The originality of the natural conditions of Phoenicia is reflected even in the names of the most important settlements. So, for example, the name of the city of Byblos (in Phoenician sounds like Gebal) means “mountain”, the city of Tyre (in Phoenician - Tzur) - “rock”. Possibility to engage in arable farming was limited due to the lack of good land, but even those that were available could still be used quite intensively, since the sea winds brought heavy rains. Horticulture prevailed here, olives, dates, and grapes were cultivated. The ancient Phoenicians were also engaged in fishing, which is natural for sea people. It is no coincidence that the name of one of the Phoenician cities is Sidon, which means “place fishing". Great wealth for the country was represented by the forests of mountainous Lebanon, which abounded with cedar and other valuable species.

The name "Phoenician" is already found in Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions of the middle of the III millennium BC. in the form of fenech. Later, the ancient Greeks used the word "foinikes", which meant "reddish", "dark". Hence the name of the country. In Semitic sources, there is no special name for Phoenicia and the Phoenicians. The name Kinahkhi, or according to the Greek text of the Bible, Canaan, which some scholars explain as the "land of purple", has a much wider meaning, since it also implies Palestine and partly Syria. The Egyptians also used similar general designations for these countries.

The middle of the II millennium BC. dates back to the rapid flourishing of the Phoenician cities and their transformation into a trading metropolis of the then slave-owning world. Phoenician pot-bellied ships became a mobile bridge between countries. The ships went in the direction of all four cardinal directions and returned back, heavily loaded with treasures.

The Phoenicians were primarily interested in markets and sources of raw materials. The enormous wealth that the black-bearded and purple-faced merchants extracted from sea trade made them more and more determined and brave. Often they were on the road for three years, and sometimes longer. From time to time, shipwrecks brought the Phoenicians to foreign shores. Perhaps this is how Carthage, so far from Western Asia, was founded, which at the beginning was called Kart-Hadasht, which in Phoenician means New town. phoenicia maritime travel colonization

The Phoenicians were people who gesticulated constantly, who loved to sing and talk a lot. They were also very ruthless ancient hunters of people. Homer in his poems characterized them as follows: “Men who are famous for their courts, and resourcefulness, and deceit, and greed, who remembered black sailboats with countless sparkling trinkets.” The peoples constantly got into trouble with this shiny tinsel, regardless of whether it was flags, beads or bells. Going to sail home and not long before lifting the anchors, they lured aboard the ship local residents in order to later sell them as a living commodity in the slave markets.

Phoenician colonization of the Mediterranean

In the first half of the 1st millennium BC. the Phoenician states establish and everywhere strengthen their actual power and dominance in the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean Sea is a vast inland sea that lies between three largest continents Eastern Hemisphere: Europe - in the north and west, Asia - in the east and Africa - in the south. It owes its name to its geographical location. In the west, the Mediterranean Sea connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the narrow Strait of Gibraltar. In the northeast, its bay - the Aegean Sea - is connected by the narrow Dardanelles Strait with the Sea of Marmara, through it and the Bosphorus Strait - with the Black Sea, and through the Black Sea and the Kerch Strait - with Sea of Azov. The long and narrow Apennine Peninsula (Italy) in the north and the protrusion of the African coast in the area of \u200b\u200bmodern Tunisia in the south divide the Mediterranean Sea into eastern and western parts. The Western Mediterranean ends with the Iberian Peninsula. In the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, the dominant position is occupied by the Balkan Peninsula (Greece), which is separated from peninsula the Ionian and Adriatic Seas, and from Asia Minor - the Aegean and Marmara Seas.

Numerous large and small islands are scattered throughout the Mediterranean Sea. In the Western Mediterranean are the largest islands of Corsica and Sardinia, as well as Sicily, which are a continuation of the Apennine Peninsula. Off the coast of the Iberian Peninsula are Balearic Islands. The Balkan Peninsula, with its indented shores, is surrounded by numerous island world. The indented coasts, the abundance of bays and bays, islands, along with favorable climatic conditions, contributed to the early development of navigation. Favorable climatic conditions of the Mediterranean contribute to the cultivation of a wide variety of cultivated plants, including various cereals and horticultural crops. From horticultural crops in antiquity, as at the present time, grapes and olive trees were grown everywhere. The hot and humid climate of the Mediterranean is the best way to grow these crops. Three or four thousand years ago, the development of horticulture was also facilitated by the fact that the climate was wetter than it is now. The Mediterranean at that time abounded with extensive forests, which were subsequently cut down. The Mediterranean countries were rich in minerals. Even in ancient times, copper ore was obtained from the islands of Cyprus and Sardinia and from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain); iron ore from Asia Minor, from the island of Elba and from Spain; silver was mined in Asia Minor, Greece, Spain. The development of bronze production required the extraction of tin, and it was imported from Spain or from the British Isles. Beautiful multicolored marble was available in Greece and Italy. In many places there were large deposits of high-quality clay, which favored the flourishing of pottery.

Relations with the countries of the Eastern and Western Mediterranean were of great importance for Asia Minor. The demand for copper, tin and iron increased. For the countries of the Mediterranean, connections with the advanced areas of culture in Asia Minor were of no less importance. At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. this connection was carried out mainly by Phoenician sailors. Not limited to the exchange, they, as already mentioned, were also engaged in the slave trade, thus turning the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea into an additional source of slaves for the ancient slave-owning states. Creation on Mediterranean coasts Phoenician colonies also date back to this time. Their main goal was to organize exchange, however, in some cases they are transformed into completely independent agricultural slave states. The ruling class of the Phoenician states, fearing an uprising of slaves and the poor, sought to ensure that in the cities subordinate to them, a large number"restless elements". From the writings of the Greek scientist and philosopher Aristotle (4th century BC), we know about the measures that the nobility used for this purpose in Carthage: side of the people in that they give him the opportunity to get rich. Namely, they constantly send certain parts of the people to the cities and regions subject to Carthage.

With this the Carthaginians heal their political system and give it strength." Thus, the Carthaginians learned the art of healing their political system from the metropolis - Tyre, which from time to time (perhaps from the end of the 2nd millennium BC and, in any case, from the beginning of the 1st millennium) repeatedly exiled, as, however, and other Phoenician city-states, several thousand citizens each, so that they create their colonies on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Such Phoenician colonies, the purpose of which was to secure part of the Mediterranean Sea, primarily on the island of Cyprus, where the Phoenicians firmly entrenched back in the 2nd millennium BC. But in the northern part of the Eastern Mediterranean, local sailors - Greeks, Lycians, Carians - played an important role. In the VIII - VI centuries. BC. Greeks begin to develop their own colonization policy. The Phoenicians therefore pay their main attention to the coasts that dominated the main sea routes from the Eastern to the Western Mediterranean, especially on the coast of Africa, the Phoenicians also penetrated into Sicily and the island of Malta. Phoenician colonies and separate points were formed on the coast of Spain, as well as on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean (Gades, now Cadiz). From the VIII - VII centuries. BC. repeatedly there are references to the distant and then little famous country Tarshish - obviously Tartesse in Spain, across the Strait of Gibraltar.

Sea travel of the Phoenicians

It is known that Pharaoh Neho (612-576 BC), for the organization of foreign trade and navigation, turned to the services of the Phoenicians, whose state was located on the forest-rich territory of modern Lebanon and Syria, and whose numerous fleet also served as a support for for the Egyptian pharaohs.

Phoenicia had very favorable natural conditions for the construction of the fleet: convenient bays and estuaries on sea coast, which could serve as a shelter for the fleet in stormy weather; an abundance of ship timber - forests grew near the Mediterranean coast on the slopes of the Lebanese mountains, and the famous Lebanese cedar and oak, as well as other valuable tree species, prevailed in them. The heyday of shipbuilding and maritime glory of Phenicia is marked in the history of the Mediterranean in the period 1200-700. BC. According to a lot of historical evidence, the Phoenician maritime empire relied on the developed coastal infrastructure of its seaports and fleet supply bases, and military and merchant ships plying between them had an unlimited navigation area. The Phoenicians can rightfully be judged as great navigators - they had colonies along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea, they were known far beyond the Strait of Gibraltar, including on the English Isles and even beyond the Cape of Good Hope ..

Phoenician merchant ship. Like the Viking boats, the larger Phoenician ships were also able to keep a lag to the storm surge in the passive mode of navigation. In this mode, pitching is damped by the collapse of the frames at the extremities, and a large lateral stability of the hull allows you to track the surface of the wave with a very sharp side roll, which ensures non-flooding in the middle part of the hull

In close navigation, the Phoenicians used mainly light merchant ships that had oars and a straight rake sail. Vessels intended for long-distance navigation and warships. Large merchant ships had watertight decks.

On the warships of the Phoenicians, the use of a bow underwater bulb was noted, which testified to the ability of these ships to keep moving without germination on the wave, with increased flooding of the bow decks. The size of fast ships - galleys - sometimes allowed the use of two or three rows of oars (biremes and triremes), which made the navy truly all-weather and capable of active maneuvering in dangerous coastal fairways. Since that time, in all the languages of the Mediterranean peoples, a generalized definition of a high-speed rowing vessel as a galley has been fixed.

The maritime fame of the Phoenicians speaks of the good seaworthiness of their ships and merchant ships, which is quite sufficient for long-distance navigation. Enriched at the expense of their colonies, the Phoenician, Carthaginian navigators began to gradually go far beyond the Mediterranean Sea. During this heyday of Phoenician and Carthaginian navigation, the sea route became a means of communication between the three continents of the Mediterranean and more distant countries that were outside Gibraltar.

Exceptional courage was required in those days, so that, having passed the Pillars of Hergules, as the Strait of Gibraltar was called in ancient times, to leave the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean, climb into the stormy Bay of Biscay, and sail further north from there. It must be borne in mind that through the Strait of Gibraltar, the depth of which exceeds 300 m, there is a strong surface current from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, since due to more intensive evaporation of water, the level of the Mediterranean Sea is constantly lowering, so that only the inflow of water from the Atlantic allows him to stabilize him. The matter is more complicated. IN Strait of Gibraltar there is also a deep current directed to the ocean. How amazed were the tribes that then inhabited the Western European coast, when ships of unprecedented size, having removed their purple sails, anchored near their settlements. Men descended from them who traded in such luxury goods that made the hearts of not only women beat faster. In return, they asked for tin, which was very valuable at that time, provisions and young blondes, since, among other things, these people replenished the harems of their trading partners from the East. By exchange, they also received on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean the amber that was so valued at that time, delivered here by land from the Baltic. Carthaginian sailors also repeatedly sailed along the western coast of Africa.

The description of one of these sea expeditions of the brave Carthaginian navigators is also known to us in Greek translation. This is the voyage called Hanno's voyage, dating from about the 6th or 5th century. BC. Although the expedition of the Carthaginian sailor is described as an entertaining adventure novel, nevertheless, all his information, according to authoritative historians, is true. It is possible to trace the path of the expedition step by step on the map, comparing the data about this journey with what we know about the geography of the western coast of Africa. Using the help of the Egyptians, and sometimes Israel and Judea, the Phoenician cities sent sea expeditions not only to the northwest and southwest, but also to the then less accessible south. In this case, the Phoenician ships through the Red Sea probably even reached the Indian Ocean. One of these sea trips is well written in the Bible, which tells of an expedition to the gold-rich country of Ophir, organized by Hiram, king of Tyre, and Solomon, king of Israel. But the most grandiose enterprise must be considered the sea expedition of the Phoenicians, which they carried out on behalf of the Egyptian king Necho at the end of the 7th century. BC. Within three years they circled Africa and returned through the "pillars of Melqart", having accomplished this outstanding feat more than two thousand years before Vasco da Gama.