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Historical Period

Tyre and Sidon, the alphabet, the purple dye, and the founding of Carthage.

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Phoenicia · 1100-332 BC
The Ancient Levant

Phoenicia: Traders of the Sea

From the Canaanite ports of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos, the Phoenicians became the great seafarers of the ancient world. They spread the alphabet across the Mediterranean, dyed cloth the priceless purple that gave them their name, planted colonies from Cyprus to Spain, and founded Carthage — until they fell in turn to Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and finally Alexander. Slide across the age of the sea traders.

1100 BC
Rise of Phoenicia
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1100 BC

Rise of Phoenicia
  • Political

    The Phoenician cities rise

    As the Bronze Age powers fall, the Canaanite ports of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos emerge as independent trading cities.

10 milestones

Meanwhile

Around 1100 BC

Full Chronicle

Phoenicia: Traders of the Sea

From the Canaanite ports of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos, the Phoenicians became the great seafarers of the ancient world. They spread the alphabet across the Mediterranean, dyed cloth the priceless purple that gave them their name, planted colonies from Cyprus to Spain, and founded Carthage — until they fell in turn to Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and finally Alexander. Slide across the age of the sea traders.

  1. Rise of Phoenicia

    • The Phoenician cities rise

      As the Bronze Age powers fall, the Canaanite ports of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos emerge as independent trading cities.

  2. Rise of Phoenicia

    • The Phoenician alphabet

      The Phoenicians refine the alphabet to twenty-two letters and carry it across the sea to the Greeks.

  3. Age of Trade

    • Purple, glass, and the sea

      Phoenician workshops produce the famous purple dye and fine glass, and their ships trade across the Mediterranean.

  4. Age of Trade

    • Hiram of Tyre and Solomon

      King Hiram of Tyre allies with Solomon of Israel, sending cedar and craftsmen to build the Temple in Jerusalem.

  5. Age of Colonies

    • The westward colonies

      Phoenician traders plant colonies from Cyprus to Spain, reaching the Atlantic in search of silver and tin.

  6. Age of Colonies

    • The founding of Carthage

      Colonists from Tyre, led by tradition's Queen Dido, found Carthage on the coast of North Africa.

  7. Under Assyria

    • Under the Assyrian yoke

      The Neo-Assyrian Empire subdues the Phoenician cities, taking tribute while leaving their trade to flourish.

  8. Under Babylon

    • The long siege of Tyre

      Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon besieges the island city of Tyre for thirteen years without taking it by storm.

  9. Under Persia

    • Serving the Persian king

      Under Persian rule the Phoenician cities supply the fleets that carry the Great King's power across the sea.

  10. Macedonian Conquest

    • Alexander destroys Tyre

      Alexander the Great takes island Tyre by building a causeway to its walls, ending Phoenician independence.