The Phoenicians expanded throughout the Mediterranean Sea and into the Atlantic Ocean as a major maritime power. However, the history of this expansion has often been obscured by legend because of the scarcity of surviving sources and the close intermingling of mythology with historical writing. This article examines both the legendary and historical accounts of Phoenician expansion.
The Legendary Expansion of the Phoenicians
Phoenician writers employed myths and legends for various political, economic, and military purposes. Among the many surviving traditions, two myths are particularly significant.
The First Myth: Europa and Cadmus
The first myth concerns the abduction of Princess Europa, daughter of Agenor, king of Tyre, by the god Zeus—Jupiter in Roman tradition. According to the legend, Zeus transformed himself into a bull, carried Europa on his back, and crossed the sea with her, ignoring her cries for help.
King Agenor ordered his son Cadmus to search for his sister and forbade him from returning before finding her. Cadmus was accompanied by his mother, Telephassa, and his two brothers, Thasus and Cilix. Their brother Phoenix remained in the kingdom because he symbolically represented the land of Canaan.
Telephassa eventually died from grief over the loss of her daughter. Her three sons did not dare return to their homeland because of the oath they had made to their father. Cadmus and his brothers subsequently became associated with the foundation of major cities and temples along the Mediterranean coast. Mythological tradition also credits Cadmus with spreading the Phoenician alphabet throughout the Mediterranean world.
The Second Myth: Heracles and the Western Sea
The second myth is associated with the hero Heracles, the Greek equivalent of the Phoenician god Melqart. According to the legend, Heracles travelled westward in search of the Garden of the Hesperides.
He was believed to have established the two great pillars known as Abyla and Calpe, which later became known as the Pillars of Heracles. These were associated with Ceuta and the Rock of Gibraltar.
Heracles was also said to have separated the shores of Morocco and Spain, eliminated the dangers and obstacles of the inner sea—the Mediterranean—and opened maritime routes towards the outer sea, meaning the Atlantic Ocean.
These two myths reveal the Phoenicians’ desire to expand beyond their original homeland in order to serve its economic interests. They also reflect the principle of family solidarity within the household of the Phoenician king Agenor.
The myths further emphasise the role of his sons in populating existing cities, founding new settlements, and spreading the alphabet, from which many peoples—particularly the Greeks—benefited.
Most importantly, the two myths appear to have been designed to connect the origins of Europe with Phoenicia, thereby establishing a symbolic relationship between East and West. Similar traditions would later appear in legends concerning the origins of other peoples and states.
The Historical Expansion of the Phoenicians Along the Mediterranean and Atlantic Coasts
The Phoenician world consisted of a collection of independent city-states, numbering more than twenty-one. Among the most important were Byblos and Tyre.
Alongside other Phoenician cities, Byblos and Tyre played major political, social, and economic roles throughout Phoenician history. Tyre, in particular, was able to expand after the attacks of the Sea Peoples had subsided towards the end of the second millennium BCE.
Tyrian expansion extended along both the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean, across its islands, and beyond the Pillars of Heracles into the outer sea, or Atlantic Ocean. On the accompanying map, Phoenician expansion is represented in red.
Map 1: Greek and Phoenician Expansion Along the Shores of the Mediterranean
Suggested image caption: Map of Phoenician expansion throughout the Mediterranean Sea and along the Atlantic coast, showing the Phoenicians in North Africa between the legend of Elissa—Dido—and their actual maritime expansion.
The Phoenicians sailed according to carefully prepared and precisely studied plans. They also selected the most suitable seasons and conditions for navigation. They were therefore not merely pirates, as some Greek legends portrayed them.
The Greek geographer Strabo praised their knowledge, stating that the Phoenicians were among those peoples who had acquired extensive knowledge of astronomy and arithmetic and had pioneered commercial calculation and nocturnal navigation.
Their earliest maritime routes connected Byblos with the various ports of Egypt. Other major routes began in Sidon and Tyre and also led towards Egypt.
From Egypt, Phoenician ships entered the Mediterranean by following two principal routes. The northern route passed along the southern shores of Sicily and Sardinia and continued towards the Balearic Islands. The southern route followed the coast of North Africa.
The ships then returned by taking advantage of the prevailing winds, reaching northern Egypt before continuing towards the Phoenician coast.
Pliny the Elder reported that the Phoenicians reached Malta when they expanded their commercial activity westward. Malta was particularly valuable because it provided a secure refuge in the centre of the Mediterranean and possessed good natural harbours.
The strategic importance of certain Mediterranean locations explains why the Phoenicians established a stronger and more permanent presence in some areas than in others.
They reached the western Mediterranean at an early period. Greek and Roman writers dated their earliest voyages in this region to the beginning of the twelfth century BCE.
During these voyages, the Phoenicians reportedly discovered the Strait of the Pillars of Heracles, known today as the Strait of Gibraltar. They were traditionally believed to have founded Gades—modern Cádiz—in 1110 BCE.
Lixus may have been founded during the same period or perhaps slightly earlier, while Utica was established afterwards.
The Phoenicians founded so many ports and settlements that Strabo later referred to approximately 300 Phoenician cities along the coast of Morocco beyond the settlement of Lixus.
Carthage nevertheless remained the most famous Phoenician colony. Founded by settlers from Tyre, it became not only Tyre’s daughter city but also its principal political and commercial heir in the western Mediterranean.
Reference
Al-Badawiya Belkamel, Lectures on the History of North Africa, prepared for undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students, delivered since 1988.
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