The Phoenicians, Great Sailors
These ancient sailors built the best keeled ships of their time.
Apr 5, 2007
The Phoenicians were known for their ships and trading prowess. Their ships were praised in the writings of Xenophon, and they were considered the best in the great naval force assembled by the Persian King Xerxes. It is said that Xerxes held a contest, a race of sorts, to determine which were the best sailors and ships in his fleet. This contest was won by the Phoenicians of Sidon, and afterwards Xerxes would not sail in any vessel other than a Sidonian ship. Before the Golden Age of Greece, the Phoencians were already great sailors, and they would remain so until the time of Cathage and beyond.
The history of the Phoenicians spans centuries. From crude dugout canoes through keeled oared boats and on to keeled ships with both sail and oars. There are images of Phoenician ships on many ancient coins. The Phoenicians of Tyre had the great benefit of being a port city at the end of great caravan routes. They exploited this to the extreme, and founded trading colonies in many locations around the Mediterranean. The Phoenicians are the forebears of the Carthaginians, and they invented double decked war galleys called biremes whose bronze “beaks” or rams were greatly feared by opposing ships. The Greeks of Corinth are said to have one upped this idea with the invention of the trireme, and by the time of the Carthaginians the idea of extra oar decks for increased power and speed had been pushed to the extreme in the form of four and five decked warships.
Being the best sailors of their times, and eager for scarce trade goods, the Phoenicians “passed the pillars of Hercules” to the Atlantic. They sailed south to trade ivory with the West Africans, and north to the British Isles seeking tin and lead. They may even have sailed the Baltic in search of Amber. Amber was among the favorite ornaments of the men of Tyre and is only plentiful on the coasts of the Baltic. Amber could have reached the middle east overland, but Phoenicians ships in the Baltic would not be an outrageous speculation. And, if one were to make such a speculation it would be a small leap from there to suggest that sighted there their ships were perhaps the inspiration for later Viking ships. It is far more certain that Bronze Age Phoenician ships regularly visited Britain to acquire tin which was, of course, critical for making bronze.
The Phoenicians were great sailors for their time, and ventured further than any before. Their ships were known for being well designed for carrying both cargo and supplies needed by the sailors. That they were very shrewd traders jealous of their trade routes is brought home by reports of Phoenician captains sinking their ships rather than be followed, selling castrated livestock so that their customers could not produce their own, and by the self evident wealth of their trading cities.
