Legends: the Kina'hna of Phoenicia

Phoenicians - The Trading Seafarers of Cheopia

Fact: The dawn of recorded history found Lebanon inhabited by its native people who it would seem called themselves the Kena'ani (Akkadian: Kinahna), the "Canaanites". Canaan was therefore earliest native name applied to the land at the eastern end of the Mediterranean. In Hebrew the word kena'ani has the secondary, and apt, meaning of "merchant", a term which well characterizes the Phoenicians because the nature of the country and its location, forced these ancient Lebanese to turn to the sea, where they engaged in trade and navigation. The words Phoenicia and Phoenicians are thought to come from the Greek word meaning purple and refer to those Canaanites which traded in purple cloth and dye with the Greeks and lived in an area which had slightly larger borders than modern day Lebanon...

Fiction:
On the central eastern shores of Cheopia lies the land of Phoenicia. Its diminuative residents who call themselves the Kina'hna were once a subject people to the Khafarian pharaohs who were freed in the aftermath of the Hittite invasion. There are about eight or nine principal Phoenician city-states. Each is an independent kingdom and has an elected council of elders to check the power of its king. Chief among the city-states are Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre. Common interest forges these cities into a Phoenician federation presently under the leadership of Tyre. Kina'hna refers to the race of 3'-tall humanoids (halflings) who are pre-eminant in these lands, whereas 'Phoenicians' refers to all residents af these kingdoms as a whole, though groups and individuals are often more identified with their specific city-states (i.e. 'Tyrians' or 'Sidonians'). Phoenicians wall their cities with cut stone, and collect fresh rainwater in clever cisterns.

City-States:

  • Byblos - Byblos has developed into the most important timber shipping center on the coast. Beacuse the pharaohs so need cedar and other wood for shipbuilding, tomb construction and funerary ritual, Omolara regularly sends gold, alabaster, papyrus rope and fine linens to exchange for them. The scribes of Byblos were the original developers of an alphabetic phonetic script, the precursor of our modern commontongue. This written language has since spread to Aegea and other civilized lands, changing forever the way we communicate.
  • Sidon - In its wealth and commercial initiative Sidon surpasses all other Phoenician city states. Glass manufacture, Sidon's most important enterprise is conducted on a vast scale and the production of purple dye is almost as important.
  • Tyre - Half of the city of Tyre is on the coast, and the other half is on an island a short distance out from the coast. Tyrians excel above all others as adventurous seafarers and are most skilled shipbuilders and naval warriors. They are known to provide naval mercenaries and to act as naval transports for the troops of other people for a price. Pearl diving is an especially lucrative skill of Tyre.

Seafaring and Navigation:

The best seafarers and ship builders of Cheopia are the Phoenicians. There grow the massive and sweet-scented trees known as cedars - a perfect material for construction of strong seaworthy ships. The Phoenicians have many nautical secrets, having divided the circle into 360 degrees and having discovered reliable celestial reference points for navigation. They are credited with being the first to circumnavigate the continent of Aegea. This was done at the behest of Pharaoh Garan-Ra IV of Omolara, and was a journey of several years duration. The Phoenician's use of natural bitumen, pitch, as a waterproofing material below the waterline and between the flush Deck Planks earned their ships the nickname 'black boat'.

Here is a typical Phoenician merchant vessel. It has strong stem posts (firm beam in prow and stern extremities of the ship) and two stern oars. The mast bears a direct sail on two curved beams. To the prow stem post they fasten a large clay amphora for a storage of potable water.

The older war-galleys of the Phoenicians are of the class which the Aegeans call triaconters or penteconters, and which are represented upon Phoenician coins. They are long open rowboats, in which the rowers sit, all of them, upon a level, the number of rowers on either side being generally either fifteen or twenty-five. Each galley is armed at its head with a sharp metal spike, or beak, which is its chief weapon of offence, vessels of this class seek to run down their enemy. More recently, these vessels have been upgraded to biremes, which are decked, have masts and sails, and are impelled by rowers sitting at two different elevations.

Phoenician ships are under the protection of the Cabeiri, and are said to have images of them at their stem or stern or both. These images are not exactly "figure-heads," as they are sometimes called. They are small and inconspicuous, being little dwarf figures, regarded as amulets that would preserve the vessel in safety. The Phoenicians call them 'pittuchim', ("sculptures"). The Cabeiri are a collection of minor deities who protect sailors and navigation, foster the vine and fruits of the field, and promote the fruitfulness of cattle. The symbol of their presence is St Elmo’s fire. Carbeiri is a kind of 'mixed up' worship of some of the Greek deities by other names. Mainly, this is Axieros/Demeter, Axiokersa/Persephone, Axiokersos/Hephaestus-Dionysus-Hades and Casmilus/Hermes. The Phoenicians seemed to have picked this up in bits and pieces when trading along the northern Aegean coast. Otherwise, the Phoenicians honor the same Egyptian gods as do the Omolarans.

Trade:

With their superior ships, the Phoenicians ply their trade with many lands both far and near. Some of Phonecia's own goods are quite distinctive and desirable.
  • Large cedars, tall and strong, of great beauty and quality are carefully harvested when commissioned by the wealthy men of other lands. Floated to their destination by Phoenician traders, these command an enormous price for their strength as a building material, and their imposing aspect. Cedarwood also has a pleasing odor, and cedarwood oil can be used as a coating that protects cloth, rope and other substances from the ravages of moisture and humidity.
  • Phoenicians are known for their brightly colored garb and particularly a distinctive shade of purple. They make it from the rotting shells of the Murex trunculus (a kind of sea-snail), a creature very common in the sea just off the Phoenician coast. Textiles colored with this dye vary from pink to dark violet. Bolts of this cloth often command a high price and garments of this hue have become a mark of royalty.
  • Glass is another notable industry of the Phoenician cities. They invented the science of glassmaking and have since remained the masters of this craft. Glass is also produced in Omolara, but whereas Omolaran glass is opaque, the clear glass of Phoenicia is clearly superior. Phoenicians are also the only practitioners of the art of blowing glass.

Transit Trade:
The principal cities of Phoenicia sit at the center of a sprawling trade-empire. In addition to exporting their own wares, the Phoenicians establish trading colony/cities (where permitted) on the shores of other lands. These become regular ports of call for their ships, and serve as launching points for caravans inland. Thusly, they conduct a cross-trade in goods and raw materials of many lands.

  • Syrtica furnishes the Phoenician merchants with coffee beans and many precious stones. Iron, adamant, and other rare metals.
  • Himyar provides her spices, cassia, and calamus, frankincense, cinnamon and ladanum. She also supplies precious stones of amber.
  • The Bedouin traffic in caravans through the central "high" desert. Though their own needs are simple, they are not adverse to acquiring some wealth of their own as guides and protectors in Phoenician joint ventures. They trade for additional luxuries with their finely-bred horses and "The flocks of Kedar" (both sheep and goats) which produce a superior quality of wool.
  • Nubia furnishes worked items of ebony, ivory and the hides of many beasts.
  • Phoenicia itself supplies corn of superior quality, called "corn of Minnith", sugar cane, honey, Balm of Gilead, fine olives, and oil.
  • Hatti provides the best items of steel. The "oaks of Bashan" which grow there are also prized for their hardness and are always used for Phoenician oars.
  • Omolara makes the finest linen, plain or excellently embroidered with bright patterns, for the sails of pleasure-boats. Omolara also trades byzantium ingots, dried figs & dates, alabaster, and many crafted items and objects of art.
  • Cervia (northern Aegea) yields silver, iron, tin, and lead which she produces in abundance. Cervia also supplies slaves and vessels of brass.
  • Burgundia (northern Aegea) gives horses (Nisaean), ponies (Scythian) and mules, the "wine of Helbon" and "white wool of Hellenia" the dainty fleeces of the sheep and lambs that fed on the upland pastures there.

Land Trade
Phoenician trading with many places is conducted by overland routes. Even where sea trade is handy and possible, there is often overland trade as well. However, Cheopia has never yet been so peaceful that prudent traders do not see the necessity of joining together in large groups, well provisioned and well armed, when they move valuable goods. There have always been robber-tribes and thievish men upon the plains, ready to pounce on the insufficiently protected traveller, and to relieve him of all his belongings. Hence the necessity of the caravan.

The traffic in slaves is one in which the Phoenicians have engaged from very early times. It is said by some that they are not above kidnapping men, women, and children in one country and selling them into another; besides which they seem to frequent regularly the principal slave marts. They often buy such people as are taken captive and sold into slavery by the neighbouring nations.

Some Fun Links:

Transit Trade, CedarLand, Ancient Maps