Kıyı

(İng. coast)

Göndermeler

Diğer

The larger of these coastal cities specialised in exporting highly sought-after commodities (such as olive oil, wine and wood) whilst importing foreign commodities such as fish and wheat from Cyprus, gems and precious stones from Egypt, and silver from Anatolia.

The Early Iron Age was therefore a period of commercial expansion for the coastal cities of Phoenicia, both at home and overseas. This period of prosperity also resulted in the emergence of urbanisation, an important innovation that would come to be synonymous with the Phoenicians. At Tyre and Sarepta, for instance, architectural innovation and a move towards urbanism led both cities to alter their layout significantly during this period.

Herodotus (4.16) provides an insight into the operation of Phoenician barter when he recounts a story that was supposedly told to him by some Carthaginian merchants. According to this account, when exchanging with a primitive North African tribe, the Carthaginians would deposit their wares on the beach for the natives to inspect. The indigenous traders would then set out a quantity of gold. Once both parties were satisfied, they would collect their goods and depart. Although this is likely to be a fictitious incident, it nevertheless reveals the Greek perception of how Phoenician barter functioned.

During the eighth century, Phoenician settlements were also founded on both the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of southern Spain, on the island of Ibiza and at a number of sites on the western coast of Portugal.