Those Awesome Phoenicians! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Syria-Palestine

Phoenician city-states were established in areas that were suitable for trade. Each city-state was an independent political unit. The modern countries of Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon make up the area that was called Phoenicia.

Answer: papyrus

The Phoenicians called the city Gebal. Byblos was the Greek name for the city, through which papyrus was imported. It was located in the modern Lebanon. A legend exists that says that Gebal was the oldest city (although there is no evidence of this) and the place where Thoth invented writing.

Answer: cedar

The Lebanon Cedar was important to many ancient civilizations. Phoenicians used it to build military and trading ships. (The tree is is represented on the Lebanese flag).

Answer: the southern tip of Africa

There is a belief that the Phoenicians traveled to Britain to acquire tin for the smelting of bronze, but there is no archaeological evidence to back it up. They did travel along the southern coast of the Iberian peninsula. Herodotus says that an Egyptian pharaoh sent the Phoenicians down the Red Sea, and they circumnavigated Africa, returning through the Pillars of Hercules in three years.

Answer: Carthage

Carthage was founded by merchants from Tyre in approximately 814 B.C. By the third century B.C., Carthage was key a power in the Mediterranean, and Rome's chief rival for control of the sea.

Answer: False

Phoenician purple was derived from the murex shell. They found that crushed murex oozed a purple colored mucous. Cloth dyed with this mucous ranged from a deep pink color to a rich purple. This dye was also called Tyrian purple, named for the city-state of Tyre, which was one of the Phoenicians' busiest ports. Because the dye was difficult to produce, the cloth colored by it was one of their most expensive trade items. Did the purple dye prompt the Phoenicians to invent a shorter alphabet? Probably! Trade boomed, and they needed shorthand!

Answer: Greek

The word "Phoenician" is derived from the ancient Greek word "phinikeia", meaning purple. Elite Greeks would color their clothes and other garments with the powder, which was not available anywhere else.

Answer: The script contains no vowels

An "abjad" script contains no vowels. The earliest known inscriptions in Phoenician come from Byblos, and date back to approximatley 1,000 B.C.

Answer: 22

Can you imagine how much easier it was to write with this alphabet? Even with revisions, the cuneiform alphabet had over 600 symbols. The Greeks came into contact with the Phoenician alphabet, revised it, and passed it on to the Romans.

Answer: True

The Phoenicians manufactured fine goods, and traded throughout the Mediterranean world. They charted sea routes and were the first to use Polaris for navigation at night. The Greeks called Polaris the "Phoenician star."