Essay

__** What The World Can Learn From The Phoenicians **__

By: Aidan McCaffrey-Noviss

The story of the rise of the Phoenician “empire” can show us and our modern day society that it is possible to obtain power and wealth through non-militaristic means. The Phoenician empire started out as a small group of mostly coastal city-states in what is modern day Lebanon and Israel ([|wikipedia]). Which then grew to become one of the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful empires in the Mediterranean (Moscati, page 24). Stretching from the Middle East to modern day Spain. The most important part of this is that the empire was built up through mostly peaceful measures (Moscati, page 41). __**One can obtain prosperity without violence**.__

Our civilization, the West, could learn that technological conquest is superior to militaristic conquest. The Phoenicians focused on social advancement instead of political power. During 1050 B.C when the Hittites, Greeks and Egyptians were all fighting for power (Oppenheim, page 79), the Phoenicians were working on something much bigger. The Phoenicians are believed to be credited with creating the Alphabetical systems (Eugenia, page 13) used by most of the world to this day (excluding Eastern Asia). They created an alphabet very similar to our own (because our own is based off of theirs) that only lacked vowels ([|Phoenicia.org]). They (the Phoenicians) then succeeded in spreading it throughout most of the Mediterranean. So by not only thinking of the short term, the Phoenicians managed to gain just as much, if not more, power and influence as the other empires of the time. We could learn from this example by thinking of the future, instead of just the present. For example, instead of fighting to secure sources of Oil all over the world, we (the West) could learn by the Phoenician example and focus on scientific advancement and maybe make renewable energy affordable to the average person.

Another thing that the West could learn from the Phoenicians is the ability to expand via peaceful means rather than violent and militaristic means. The Phoenicians expanded through “colonization” rather than conquest (Holst, page 92). Between the years 1200 BC and 800 BC, the Phoenicians managed to create and empire just as large as the other powers of the era, but the Phoenician empire was very different from most. It was not created not through violent conquest, but from mostly peaceful expansion. The Phoenicians did not go and find a group of people and kick them out of the land, they would find land, settle it themselves and the people already there would usually join peacefully. We could learn from this example such as letting Quebecers have their own country (if they want it) and not occupying people who do not wish to be occupied, such as the Palestinians ([|wikipedia]) or Irish ([|wikipedia]). If we adhered to this way of thinking we could attain more peace and not have to deal as many events such as civil wars, wars of independence, or violent protests. Overall, the West should try to take a less “rulers of the world” attitude. It could be beneficial for us as a civilization.

The final thing that the Phoenicians did that we could learn from is economic expansion over military expansion. Modern-day countries throughout the world generally seem to prefer military expansion over economic expansion. North Korea, for example, has trouble feeding and housing their population ([|wikipedia]), but at the same time can afford an active nuclear weapons program and boast one of the world’s largest militaries ([|wikipedia]). The attitude and focus was not shared by the Phoenicians. The Phoenician empire is generally referred to as an “economic empire” ( Casson. page 9 ). This is because the Phoenicians did not build a kingdom of large masses of land conquered by large armies. They (the Phoenicians) had a large trading empire stretching across the Mediterranean (Tubb, page 37) conquered by large merchant navies ([|History-World]). The Phoenicians prospered without the degree of turmoil that other empires of the era had to cope with due to the fact that they (the Phoenicians) focused more on acquiring prosperity through “legal” means than through brute force (Holst, page 78). The world could learn from this example by focusing more on prosperity than on power, two terms that I think are linked too often.

In conclusion, the West and the rest of the world, can learn from the Phoenicians that technological and social development is more important than the development of power. It is possible to expand without conquest, and the latter will indeffinetally cause problems for the conquered and the conquerors. And Finally, the world should focus more on economic progress than on military progress, especially in the current recession. Overall, the world can learn from the Phoenicians that __**one can obtain prosperity without violence.

Works Cited**__ "Phoenicia.” __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 8 May 2009 []

Moscati, Sabatino. __The Phoenicians__. The John C. Winston Company, 1962.

Oppenheim, A. Leo. __Ancient Mesopotamian Civilizations__. Henry Holt and Co., 1994.

Eugenia, Maria. __The Phoenicians and the West__. HarperCollins inc., 1998 Holst, Sanford. __Phoenicia: Lebanon’s Epic Heritage__. Cord Communications Corporation, 1997.

"Palestine" __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 9 May 2009 []

"Ireland" __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.__ 10 May 2009 []

"North Korea" __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__.8 May 2009 []

"List of largest militaries" __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 9 May 2009 []

Casson, Lionel. __The Ancient Mariners__. Mcksey/Bachelor, 1978.

Tubb, Jonathon N. __Phoenicia: History of a Civilization__. Watson-Guptill, 2001.

“Phoenicians.” __History World__. 12 February 2009 []