VADIM S. JIGOULOV - The Phoenicians: Lost Civilizations

LOST CIVILIZATIONS

The books in this series explore the rise and fall of the great civilizations and peoples of the ancient world. Each book considers not only their history but their art, culture and lasting legacy and asks why they remain important and relevant in our world today.

Already published:

The Aztecs Frances F. Berdan

The Barbarians Peter Bogucki

Egypt Christina Riggs

The Etruscans Lucy Shipley

The Goths David M. Gwynn

The Greeks Philip Matyszak

The Indus Andrew Robinson

The Persians Geoffrey Parker and Brenda Parker

The Phoenicians Vadim S. Jigoulov

The Sumerians Paul Collins

To Maria, Aleksandra and Anastasia

Published by Reaktion Books Ltd

Unit 32, Waterside

4448 Wharf Road

London N1 7UX, UK

www.reaktionbooks.co.uk

First published 2021

Copyright Vadim S. Jigoulov 2021

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers

Page references in the Photo Acknowledgements and
Index match the printed edition of this book.

Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt. Ltd

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

eISBN 9781789144796

CHRONOLOGY

PROLOGUE

T his book explores the history and artistic heritage of the much mythologized Phoenicians, as well as the scope of their maritime and colonizing activities in the Mediterranean. Two aspects of the book will stand out from other studies of Phoenician history: the source-focused approach; and the attention paid to the various ways that biases, ancient and modern, have contributed to widespread misconceptions about who the Phoenicians were.

We will describe and analyse various sources (epigraphic, numismatic, material remains) and consider how historians have derived information about a people with little surviving literary heritage. We will also consider how the term Phoenicians was one attached by outsiders, arguing that the Phoenicians did not see themselves as belonging to a single ethnic or cultural entity; rather, they maintained their distinct identities as inhabitants of individual city-states (Sidon, Tyre, Byblos) that happened to be in close proximity to one another.

The Phoenicians are frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, and we explore ancient Jewish views on Phoenicia and its people. Finally, we consider the Mediterranean as a place of competing political and economic agendas, where we explore Phoenician colonial activities and their interaction and competition with the Greeks and others.

The book sets out to focus on aspects of Phoenicia and the Phoenicians that deserve deeper inquiry, including a critical look at the primary sources (classical, Near Eastern and biblical), the relationship between the Phoenician and Punic worlds, and the issue of cultural appropriation of the Phoenician heritage in modernity.