phenicia
 腓尼基


 Phenicia
      n : an ancient maritime country (a collection of city states) at
          eastern end of the Mediterranean [syn: Phoenicia]


 Phenicia
    (Acts 21:2) = Phenice (11:19; 15:3; R.V., Phoenicia), Gr.
    phoinix, "a palm", the land of palm-trees; a strip of land of an
    average breadth of about 20 miles along the shores of the
    Mediterranean, from the river Eleutherus in the north to the
    promotory of Carmel in the south, about 120 miles in length.
    This name is not found in the Old Testament, and in the New
    Testament it is mentioned only in the passages above referred
    to.

      "In the Egyptian inscriptions Phoenicia is called Keft, the
    inhabitants being Kefa; and since Keft-ur, or 'Greater
    Phoenicia,' was the name given to the delta of the Nile from the
    Phoenician colonies settled upon it, the Philistines who came
    from Caphtor or Keft-ur must have been of Phoenician origin"
    (comp. Deut. 2:23; Jer. 47:4; Amos 9:7)., Sayce's Bible and the
    Monuments.

      Phoenicia lay in the very centre of the old world, and was the
    natural entrepot for commerce with foreign nations. It was the
    "England of antiquity." "The trade routes from all Asia
    converged on the Phoenician coast; the centres of commerce on
    the Euphrates and Tigris forwarding their goods by way of Tyre
    to the Nile, to Arabia, and to the west; and, on the other hand,
    the productions of the vast regions bordering the Mediterranean
    passing through the Canaanite capital to the eastern world." It
    was "situate at the entry of the sea, a merchant of the people
    for many isles" (Ezek. 27:3, 4). The far-reaching commercial
    activity of the Phoenicians, especially with Tarshish and the
    western world, enriched them with vast wealth, which introduced
    boundless luxury and developed among them a great activity in
    all manner of arts and manufactures. (See TYRE.)

      The Phoenicians were the most enterprising merchants of the
    old world, establishing colonies at various places, of which
    Carthage was the chief. They were a Canaanite branch of the race
    of Ham, and are frequently called Sidonians, from their
    principal city of Sidon. None could "skill to hew timber like
    unto the Sidonians" (1 Kings 5:6). King Hiram rendered important
    service to Solomon in connection with the planning and building
    of the temple, casting for him all the vessels for the temple
    service, and the two pillars which stood in the front of the
    porch, and "the molten sea" (1 Kings 7:21-23). Singular marks
    have been found by recent exploration on the great stones that
    form the substructure of the temple. These marks, both painted
    and engraved, have been regarded as made by the workmen in the
    quarries, and as probably intended to indicate the place of
    these stones in the building. "The Biblical account (1 Kings
    5:17, 18) is accurately descriptive of the massive masonry now
    existing at the south-eastern angle (of the temple area), and
    standing on the native rock 80 feet below the present surface.
    The Royal Engineers found, buried deeply among the rubbish of
    many centuries, great stones, costly and hewed stones, forming
    the foundation of the sanctuary wall; while Phoenician fragments
    of pottery and Phoenician marks painted on the massive blocks
    seem to proclaim that the stones were prepared in the quarry by
    the cunning workmen of Hiram, the king of Tyre." (See TEMPLE.)

      The Phoenicians have been usually regarded as the inventors of
    alphabetic writing. The Egyptians expressed their thoughts by
    certain symbols, called "hieroglyphics", i.e., sacred carvings,
    so styled because used almost exclusively on sacred subjects.
    The recent discovery, however, of inscriptions in Southern
    Arabia (Yemen and Hadramaut), known as Hemyaritic, in connection
    with various philogical considerations, has led some to the
    conclusion that the Phoenician alphabet was derived from the
    Mineans (admitting the antiquity of the kingdom of Ma'in, Judg.
    10:12; 2 Chr. 26:7). Thus the Phoenician alphabet ceases to be
    the mother alphabet. Sayce thinks "it is more than possible that
    the Egyptians themselves were emigrants from Southern Arabia."
    (See MOABITE STONE.)

      "The Phoenicians were renowned in ancient times for the
    manufacture of glass, and some of the specimens of this work
    that have been preserved are still the wonder of mankind...In
    the matter of shipping, whether ship-building be thought of or
    traffic upon the sea, the Phoenicians surpassed all other
    nations." "The name Phoenicia is of uncertain origin, though it
    may be derived from Fenkhu, the name given in the Egyptian
    inscriptions to the natives of Palestine. Among the chief
    Phoenician cities were Tyre and Sidon, Gebal north of Beirut,
    Arvad or Arados and Zemar."