Hands-On Activity · Lesson 1.6
Charting the Network
The Phoenicians: Trade, the Alphabet, and a Connected Mediterranean
You have been given scattered evidence of Phoenician trade. Your job is to sort it, connect it, and explain why their influence spread so widely without an empire.
Sort, chart, connect, defend.
The Phoenicians left behind goods, colonies, and an alphabet instead of a large empire. Use the Evidence Cards and the map to trace how far their network reached.
Evidence Cards and Map
Nine pieces of Phoenician evidence. Each card fits best in one category, but some could fit in two. After you sort them, find where each one belongs on the map.
A Shipload of Cedar
Logs from the cedar forests near the Phoenician coast were loaded onto ships. Other peoples prized this strong timber for building their own ships.
Twenty-Two Symbols
A short inscription uses only about twenty-two symbols. Each one stands for a single consonant sound instead of a whole word or idea.
About 1100 BCEA Colony on Cyprus
Phoenician traders set up a trading post on the island of Cyprus, one of many stops in a network of colonies that stretched across the Mediterranean.
A Vial of Purple
A tiny bottle of rare, richly colored dye, still called Tyrian purple today. It was so costly that it became a symbol of royalty and wealth.
Cities Between Mountains and Sea
Tyre and Sidon sat on a narrow strip of coast, each ruled by its own king. Steep mountains rose close behind them, leaving little flat land to farm.
A Merchant Who Can Write
With a small set of letters to learn, ordinary merchants could read and write their own records, not just a small class of trained scribes.
Sailing for Tin
Phoenician sailors ventured into open, unknown waters, as far north as the British Isles, searching for metals such as tin.
Colonies in the West
Far from home, Phoenicians founded colonies and trading posts in North Africa, including Carthage, and in Spain, near sources of metal ore.
Borrowed Letters
The Greeks adopted the Phoenician letters and reshaped them, later adding vowels. Their version became an ancestor of the alphabet used in English today.
By the 700s BCEThe Phoenician Mediterranean
Use this map for Step 2. Write each card's number on or near the place it describes. Some places, such as the British Isles, lie off the edge of the map, so draw a note in the margin pointing the way.
Chart the network.
Fill in each part on screen, or print the page and write by hand.
Sort the evidence into three categories.
Write each card's number and name under the category it fits best.
Goods
Places
Writing
Where does each card belong on the map?
Name the place or region for each card. On a printed copy, also write the card number on the map itself.
| Card # | Place or region on the map | What it shows about the network |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| 6 | ||
| 7 | ||
| 8 | ||
| 9 |
Link geography to trade strategy.
Write one sentence. Think about the mountains, the coast, and the cedar forests. Use the word maritime if you can.
Why was the alphabet their most lasting legacy?
Write two sentences. Use at least one card number and compare the alphabet to the goods the Phoenicians traded.
Record what you found.
Your Evidence Log entry and checklist are part of your lesson points.
Evidence Log
Accountability Checklist
Use today's vocabulary.
Use at least two of these words in your writing.
City-State
An independent, self-governing city and the land around it, with its own ruler and laws.
Phoenician city-states such as Tyre and Sidon each acted like a small country.
Alphabet
A writing system made up of a small set of letters or symbols that each stand for a sound, making it much easier to learn than systems using hundreds of picture-symbols.
Colony
A territory settled or ruled by people from a distant country, which controls its trade and resources.
Phoenician colonies began as settlements and trading posts that expanded trade into new regions.
Maritime Trade
The exchange of goods carried out by ships traveling across seas and oceans between different ports and civilizations.
Tyrian Purple
An extremely rare and expensive purple dye made by the Phoenicians, so costly that it became a symbol of royalty and wealth.