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pheniciamore about phenicia

phenicia


  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  Phenicia 
  n  :  an  ancient  maritime  country  (a  collection  of  city  states)  at 
  eastern  end  of  the  Mediterranean  [syn:  {Phoenicia},  {Phenicia}] 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Phenicia 
  (Acts  21:2)  =  Phenice  (11:19;  15:3;  R.V.,  Phoenicia),  Gr 
  phoinix,  "a  palm",  the  land  of  palm-trees;  a  strip  of  land  of  an 
  average  breadth  of  about  20  miles  along  the  shores  of  the 
  Mediterranean,  from  the  river  Eleutherus  in  the  north  to  the 
  promotory  of  Carmel  in  the  south,  about  120  miles  in  length. 
  This  name  is  not  found  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  in  the  New 
  Testament  it  is  mentioned  only  in  the  passages  above  referred 
  to 
 
  "In  the  Egyptian  inscriptions  Phoenicia  is  called  Keft,  the 
  inhabitants  being  Kefa;  and  since  Keft-ur,  or  'Greater 
  Phoenicia,'  was  the  name  given  to  the  delta  of  the  Nile  from  the 
  Phoenician  colonies  settled  upon  it  the  Philistines  who  came 
  from  Caphtor  or  Keft-ur  must  have  been  of  Phoenician  origin" 
  (comp.  Deut.  2:23;  Jer.  47:4;  Amos  9:7).,  Sayce's  Bible  and  the 
  Monuments. 
 
  Phoenicia  lay  in  the  very  centre  of  the  old  world,  and  was  the 
  natural  entrepot  for  commerce  with  foreign  nations.  It  was  the 
  "England  of  antiquity."  "The  trade  routes  from  all  Asia 
  converged  on  the  Phoenician  coast;  the  centres  of  commerce  on 
  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris  forwarding  their  goods  by  way  of  Tyre 
  to  the  Nile,  to  Arabia,  and  to  the  west;  and  on  the  other  hand, 
  the  productions  of  the  vast  regions  bordering  the  Mediterranean 
  passing  through  the  Canaanite  capital  to  the  eastern  world."  It 
  was  "situate  at  the  entry  of  the  sea,  a  merchant  of  the  people 
  for  many  isles"  (Ezek.  27:3,  4).  The  far-reaching  commercial 
  activity  of  the  Phoenicians,  especially  with  Tarshish  and  the 
  western  world,  enriched  them  with  vast  wealth,  which  introduced 
  boundless  luxury  and  developed  among  them  a  great  activity  in 
  all  manner  of  arts  and  manufactures.  (See  {TYRE}.) 
 
  The  Phoenicians  were  the  most  enterprising  merchants  of  the 
  old  world,  establishing  colonies  at  various  places,  of  which 
  Carthage  was  the  chief.  They  were  a  Canaanite  branch  of  the  race 
  of  Ham,  and  are  frequently  called  Sidonians  from  their 
  principal  city  of  Sidon.  None  could  "skill  to  hew  timber  like 
  unto  the  Sidonians"  (1  Kings  5:6).  King  Hiram  rendered  important 
  service  to  Solomon  in  connection  with  the  planning  and  building 
  of  the  temple,  casting  for  him  all  the  vessels  for  the  temple 
  service,  and  the  two  pillars  which  stood  in  the  front  of  the 
  porch,  and  "the  molten  sea"  (1  Kings  7:21-23).  Singular  marks 
  have  been  found  by  recent  exploration  on  the  great  stones  that 
  form  the  substructure  of  the  temple.  These  marks,  both  painted 
  and  engraved,  have  been  regarded  as  made  by  the  workmen  in  the 
  quarries,  and  as  probably  intended  to  indicate  the  place  of 
  these  stones  in  the  building.  "The  Biblical  account  (1  Kings 
  5:17,  18)  is  accurately  descriptive  of  the  massive  masonry  now 
  existing  at  the  south-eastern  angle  (of  the  temple  area),  and 
  standing  on  the  native  rock  80  feet  below  the  present  surface. 
  The  Royal  Engineers  found  buried  deeply  among  the  rubbish  of 
  many  centuries,  great  stones,  costly  and  hewed  stones,  forming 
  the  foundation  of  the  sanctuary  wall;  while  Phoenician  fragments 
  of  pottery  and  Phoenician  marks  painted  on  the  massive  blocks 
  seem  to  proclaim  that  the  stones  were  prepared  in  the  quarry  by 
  the  cunning  workmen  of  Hiram,  the  king  of  Tyre."  (See  {TEMPLE}.) 
 
  The  Phoenicians  have  been  usually  regarded  as  the  inventors  of 
  alphabetic  writing.  The  Egyptians  expressed  their  thoughts  by 
  certain  symbols,  called  "hieroglyphics",  i.e.,  sacred  carvings, 
  so  styled  because  used  almost  exclusively  on  sacred  subjects. 
  The  recent  discovery,  however,  of  inscriptions  in  Southern 
  Arabia  (Yemen  and  Hadramaut),  known  as  Hemyaritic,  in  connection 
  with  various  philogical  considerations,  has  led  some  to  the 
  conclusion  that  the  Phoenician  alphabet  was  derived  from  the 
  Mineans  (admitting  the  antiquity  of  the  kingdom  of  Ma'in,  Judg. 
  10:12;  2  Chr.  26:7).  Thus  the  Phoenician  alphabet  ceases  to  be 
  the  mother  alphabet.  Sayce  thinks  "it  is  more  than  possible  that 
  the  Egyptians  themselves  were  emigrants  from  Southern  Arabia." 
  (See  MOABITE  {STONE}.) 
 
  "The  Phoenicians  were  renowned  in  ancient  times  for  the 
  manufacture  of  glass,  and  some  of  the  specimens  of  this  work 
  that  have  been  preserved  are  still  the  wonder  of  mankind...In 
  the  matter  of  shipping,  whether  ship-building  be  thought  of  or 
  traffic  upon  the  sea,  the  Phoenicians  surpassed  all  other 
  nations."  "The  name  Phoenicia  is  of  uncertain  origin,  though  it 
  may  be  derived  from  Fenkhu  the  name  given  in  the  Egyptian 
  inscriptions  to  the  natives  of  Palestine.  Among  the  chief 
  Phoenician  cities  were  Tyre  and  Sidon,  Gebal  north  of  Beirut, 
  Arvad  or  Arados  and  Zemar." 
 




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