Classical Antiquity
Phoenician City-States
1200 BC – 539 BC · peak 900 BC
The Phoenician city-states of Tyre, Sidon and Byblos dominated maritime trade networks in the eastern Mediterranean between the 12th and 6th centuries BC. They spread a consonantal alphabet that influenced Greek, Latin and many later scripts. Although often subordinated to Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians, they founded colonies such as Carthage that projected Phoenician culture into the western Mediterranean.
Capital: Tiro / Sidone / Biblo
Trade routes in use
- Amber Road (1500 BC – 500 AD)
- Incense Route (1000 BC – 400 AD)
- Phoenician Mediterranean Routes (1100 BC – 300 BC)