By : Israel Davila

The Phoenicians were a people who occupied the coast of the Levant (eastern Mediterranean).

What the Phoenicians actually called themselves is unknown, though it may have been the ancient term Canaanite.

Phoenician religion was inspired by the powers and processes of nature. Many of the gods they worshiped, however, were localized and are now known only under their local names. A pantheon was presided over by the father of the gods, but a goddess was the principal figure in the Phoenician pantheon

The Phoenicians worshipped a triad of deities, each having different names and attributes depending upon the city in which they were worshipped, although their basic nature remained the same.

The Phoenicians; explorers, traders and inventors of the alphabet. The Phoenician economy was built on timber

sales, wood working, and cloth dyeing. Gradually the Phoenician city-states became

centers of maritime trade and manufacturing.

alphabet The Phoenicians are

most often credited with having invented the basic alphabet around 1200 B.C., but their exact role in its creation is under debate.

Though glass had been accidentally discovered and used 1000 years prior by the ancient Egyptians, the Phoenicians were the first to deliberately make glass on a regular basis out of sand, limestone and sodium carbonate, molding the material according to their needs. They shaped molten glass until it hardened and cooled. This discovery took place around 1500 B.C.; the Phoenicians were generous with their knowledge and helped to spread it to Egypt.

glass

Hebrew, any member of an ancient northern

Semitic people that were the ancestors of the

Jews.

These people are referred to as Israelites until

their return from the Babylonian Exile in the

late 6th century B.C.E., from which time on

they became known as Jews.

Judaism is the religion, philosophy and way of

life of the Jewish people.

Judaism is a monotheistic religion, with the

Torah as its foundational text, and supplemental

oral tradition represented by later texts such as

the Mishnah and the Talmud.

Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be

the expression of the covenantal relationship God

established with the Children of Israel.

The Hebrews had an agricultural based

economy where live-stock, fruits and

vegetables were the main source of income.

Other such goods as ceramics and jewelry

that were locally produced by local merchants

as well as exotics from the orient were

exchanged, as Israel was along one of the

ancient world's most important trade route.

Ancient Greece was a Greek

civilization belonging to a period

of Greek history that lasted from

the Archaic period of the 8th to

6th centuries BC to the end of

antiquity.

Greek religion (alternatively Hellenism)

encompasses the collection of beliefs and

rituals practiced in ancient Greece in the

form of both popular public religion and

cult practices.

The religious practices of the Greeks

extended beyond mainland Greece, to the

islands and coasts of Ionia in Asia Minor,

to Magna Graecia (Sicily and southern

Italy), and to scattered Greek colonies in

the Western Mediterranean, such as

Massalia (Marseille). Greek religion was

tempered by Etruscan cult and belief to

form much of the later Ancient Roman

religion.

The economy of ancient Greece was

characterized by the extreme importance

of importing goods, all the more so

because of the relative poverty of Greece's

soil. Beginning in the 6th century BC,

craftsmanship and commerce developed

and became increasingly more important

in the classical period.

Sheep and goats were the most common

types of livestock. Woods were heavily

exploited, first for domestic use and

eventually to build triremes. Bees were

kept to produce honey, the only source of

sugar known to the ancient Greeks.

Greek architects provided some of the

finest and most distinctive buildings in

the entire Ancient World and some of

their structures, such as temples, theatres,

and stadia, would become staple features

of towns and cities from antiquity

onwards. In addition, the Greek concern

with simplicity, proportion, perspective,

and harmony in their buildings would go

on to greatly influence architects in the

Roman world and provide the foundation

for the classical architectural orders

which would dominate the western

world from the Renaissance to the present

day.

•http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/phoe/hd_phoe.htm

•http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/phoenicia.htm

•http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/arc/profilecoin/html/religion.html

•http://www.angelfire.com/empire2/unkemptgoose/Phonecian.html

•http://www.ehow.com/info_8122796_inventions-phoenicians.html

•http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/259033/Hebrew

•http://www.ask.com/question/ancient-hebrew-economy