Homage to my hometown Tyre & Phoenicia-(warning long post:D)
Mar 2, 2018 3:52:52 GMT
Londonbus1, zipper, and 8 more like this
Post by Bombadil on Mar 2, 2018 3:52:52 GMT
Yesterday was the first time i go through a small 60's collection of Lebanese stamps, one of the sets particularly attracted my attention and i decided to post it under the Lebanese stamps sub board, then i started working on this article as an homage for my city and the Phoenician civilization . But it was just now when i opened the board to complete my post that I realized that i am the first to Post a Lebanese stamp on TSF , i was surprised not to find any posted Lebanese stamps over the years 
.
In a way this post came in time . Please excuse any grammar and structure mistakes
Some History about Phoenicia civilization & Tyre city :
Phoenicia was a maritime civilization between 1500 BC and 300 BC. A Semitic grouping that originated from the presently named regions of Lebanon, Syria and Palestine.They lived in the narrow East-Mediterranean coast and the parallel strip mountains of Lebanon.
Phoenicians as called by the Greeks (meaning ‘red’) in a reference to the unique purple dye the Phoenicians produced from Murex seashells. The Phoenicians mastered the art of navigation and dominated the Mediterranean Sea trade for over 500 years. They were known for their mighty ships adorned with horses heads in honor of their god of the sea Yamm, the brother of Mot the god of death.
The island city of Tyre(My beautiful Hometown) and the city of Sidon were the most powerful states in Phoenicia with Byblos and Baalbek as the most important spiritual and religious centers.Phoenicia thrived as a maritime trader and manufacturing center from 1500BC & 300BC and was highly regarded for their skill in ship-building, special glass-making, the production of dyes from the shells of the Murex shellfish,producing high quality textiles, carving ivory and an impressive level of skill in the manufacture of luxury and common goods.
Their small claim to land forced them out into the seas where they flourished into an impressive and unrivaled naval power as a result, they managed to expand their reach to Spain, Gibraltar and became founders of Cadiz (southern Spain). In the quest for tin, they traveled to the British Isles and reached the South of Africa.They established trade routes to Europe and Western Asia. Phoenician ships reached Africa a thousand years before those of the Portuguese.
The Ancestors of modern alphabets:
What the Phoenicians brought to the world is nothing short of impressive. The syllabic writing, developed in Byblos at around 1000 BC highly influenced the Aramaic and Greek alphabet, which was adopted by the Greeks in around 8 BC , forming the Hellenic alphabet.The great majority of the signs of this alphabet were adopted from the Phoenician script becoming the basis for the Greek alphabet and via an Etruscan adaptation the Latin alphabet.
"The Phoenician alphabetic script was easy to write on papyrus or parchment sheets, and the use of these materials explains why virtually no Phoenician writings – no history, no trading records – have come down to us. In their cities by the sea, the air and soil were damp, and papyrus and leather moldered and rotted away. Thus disappeared the literature of the people who taught a large portion of the earth's population to write. The only written documents of Phoenicians and Carthaginians are monumental inscriptions on stone, a few ephemeral letters or notes on pieces of broken pottery, and three fragmentary papyri. Thus, no Tyrian primary sources dating from Hiram I's time are available".
The Coming of Alexander the Great and the falling of Tyre was the End of Phoenicia :
Located on the southern coast of Lebanon, 83 km south of Beirut, the antique town of Tyre was the great Phoenician city that reigned over the seas and founded prosperous colonies such as Cadiz and Carthage,it was the place of the discovery of purple pigment. The name of the city means "Rock" after the rocky formation on which the town was originally built.
Hiram, Phoenician king of Tyre (reigned 969–936.BC) succeeded his father Abibaal as the new king of Tyre.He worked on the development and prosperity of his city, by expanding the two major trade ports and connecting them via a canal which crossed the city. He built new temples to Melqart and Astarte. According to the Old Testament his activity did not fail to arouse the admiration of his neighbors and contemporaries, the Israelite kings David and Solomon, with whom he maintained a close friendship, and trade links.Wishing to offer a temple to his God, King David had contacted King Hiram for the preparations of this construction. Death has deprived David of his dream, so the responsibility of carrying out this project was left to his son King Solomon, who also had to turn to Hiram to provide him with cedar wood, and make available a team of architects and masons from Tyre, in order to implement his purpose.The pact between Hiram and Solomon was honored and continued for twenty years.
King Hiram tomb still stands strong after 3,000 years ,it is located on a hill 10 km away from Tyre .
The western coast of Asia was filled with many well-fortified cities,the strongest of all was Tyre.With a formidable navy,the city was built on a small island separated from the coast by a half-mile of open water,it was a natural fortress improved by man. Its thick walls were in some places, 150 feet high.Having withstood a 13-year siege by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, Tyre was considered impregnable by its proud inhabitants .
In 332 BC Alexander the Great conquered Baalbek(in Lebanon)and marched on to subdue the cities of Byblos and Sidon. Alexander and his army drew up before Tyre in January 332 BC,upon his arrival at Tyre, the citizens followed the example set by Sidon and submitted peacefully to Alexander's demand for submission. Alexander then wished to offer a sacrifice in the holy temple of Melqart at Tyre and this the Tyrians could not allow. The religious beliefs of the Tyrians forbade foreigners from sacrificing or even attending the temple and so they offered Alexander a compromise whereby he could offer sacrifice in the old city on the mainland but not in the temple on the island complex of Tyre. Alexander sent envoys to Tyre demanding their surrender. The Tyrians killed the envoys and threw their bodies over the city great walls.
At this point Alexander ordered the siege of Tyre and was so determined to take the well protected city, he built a massive causeway,bridges and towers... from the ruins of the old city debris and trees, linking the mainland to the island. After seven months of several failed attacks and many different tactics,the town of Sidon sent Alexander naval assistance and the battle engineers were able to construct rams that finally smashed through the walls,at last the city was breached. The Macedonian soldiers, who were frustrated by the length of the siege, avenged themselves on the city and over 7,000 Tyrians died in the defense of their island. It is estimated that over 30,000 citizens of Tyre were massacred or sold into slavery.It was such a sad spectacle that the mad king presented a gift for the victors, 2000 Tyrian who survived the attack hung nailed to crosses all across the beach lane . Following the capture of Tyre, Alexander moved south to attack Gaza which also withstood a two month siege,the other city-states followed surrendered to Alexander's rule, thus ending the Phoenician Civilization rapidly .
The Greeks built a small settlement followed by the Romans who took the ruined city as a colony in 64 BCE. Rome built the roads, monuments, and aqueducts which can still be seen in the modern day and the city flourished under Roman rule but declined after the fall of the empire. It continued on as a port city under the eastern half of Rome, the Byzantine Empire, until the 7th century.
The small southern Lebanese town of Tyre (Sur) now has a population of about 140,000 , the locals call their city Bride of the Sea .
I was born and raised in Tyre,growing up near the beach created an endless spiritual and physical bond between me and the sea,there are not enough words that can describe what this beautiful city means to me . When i was 13 years i became obsessed with diving under water to look at the remains of the submerged old city and collect Roman crafts,they were mostly pieces of broken clay jars, few times some Roman and Greek coins !! My father is a professional Phoenician/Roman/Greece antique collector,he has a impressive collection of Mint condition Jars/plates/Glass/small statues/coins...
"Today, deep under asphalt streets and apartment blocks, the stone core of that fantastic causeway still stands: one of Alexander's most tangible and permanent legacies to posterity."
1966, Le Liban Inventeur de L'alphabet .
Litho. & Engr.
Scott C476....10 p - Sarcophagus of King Hiram with Early Alphabet
C477....15 p - Phoenician ship
C478....20 p - Map of the Mediterranean Sea showing Pnoenlcian travel routes and ship .
C479....30 p - Phoenician with alphabet tablet.
Regards, Bombadil
.In a way this post came in time . Please excuse any grammar and structure mistakes
Some History about Phoenicia civilization & Tyre city :
Phoenicia was a maritime civilization between 1500 BC and 300 BC. A Semitic grouping that originated from the presently named regions of Lebanon, Syria and Palestine.They lived in the narrow East-Mediterranean coast and the parallel strip mountains of Lebanon.
Phoenicians as called by the Greeks (meaning ‘red’) in a reference to the unique purple dye the Phoenicians produced from Murex seashells. The Phoenicians mastered the art of navigation and dominated the Mediterranean Sea trade for over 500 years. They were known for their mighty ships adorned with horses heads in honor of their god of the sea Yamm, the brother of Mot the god of death.
The island city of Tyre(My beautiful Hometown) and the city of Sidon were the most powerful states in Phoenicia with Byblos and Baalbek as the most important spiritual and religious centers.Phoenicia thrived as a maritime trader and manufacturing center from 1500BC & 300BC and was highly regarded for their skill in ship-building, special glass-making, the production of dyes from the shells of the Murex shellfish,producing high quality textiles, carving ivory and an impressive level of skill in the manufacture of luxury and common goods.
Their small claim to land forced them out into the seas where they flourished into an impressive and unrivaled naval power as a result, they managed to expand their reach to Spain, Gibraltar and became founders of Cadiz (southern Spain). In the quest for tin, they traveled to the British Isles and reached the South of Africa.They established trade routes to Europe and Western Asia. Phoenician ships reached Africa a thousand years before those of the Portuguese.
The Ancestors of modern alphabets:
What the Phoenicians brought to the world is nothing short of impressive. The syllabic writing, developed in Byblos at around 1000 BC highly influenced the Aramaic and Greek alphabet, which was adopted by the Greeks in around 8 BC , forming the Hellenic alphabet.The great majority of the signs of this alphabet were adopted from the Phoenician script becoming the basis for the Greek alphabet and via an Etruscan adaptation the Latin alphabet.
"The Phoenician alphabetic script was easy to write on papyrus or parchment sheets, and the use of these materials explains why virtually no Phoenician writings – no history, no trading records – have come down to us. In their cities by the sea, the air and soil were damp, and papyrus and leather moldered and rotted away. Thus disappeared the literature of the people who taught a large portion of the earth's population to write. The only written documents of Phoenicians and Carthaginians are monumental inscriptions on stone, a few ephemeral letters or notes on pieces of broken pottery, and three fragmentary papyri. Thus, no Tyrian primary sources dating from Hiram I's time are available".
The Coming of Alexander the Great and the falling of Tyre was the End of Phoenicia :
Located on the southern coast of Lebanon, 83 km south of Beirut, the antique town of Tyre was the great Phoenician city that reigned over the seas and founded prosperous colonies such as Cadiz and Carthage,it was the place of the discovery of purple pigment. The name of the city means "Rock" after the rocky formation on which the town was originally built.
Hiram, Phoenician king of Tyre (reigned 969–936.BC) succeeded his father Abibaal as the new king of Tyre.He worked on the development and prosperity of his city, by expanding the two major trade ports and connecting them via a canal which crossed the city. He built new temples to Melqart and Astarte. According to the Old Testament his activity did not fail to arouse the admiration of his neighbors and contemporaries, the Israelite kings David and Solomon, with whom he maintained a close friendship, and trade links.Wishing to offer a temple to his God, King David had contacted King Hiram for the preparations of this construction. Death has deprived David of his dream, so the responsibility of carrying out this project was left to his son King Solomon, who also had to turn to Hiram to provide him with cedar wood, and make available a team of architects and masons from Tyre, in order to implement his purpose.The pact between Hiram and Solomon was honored and continued for twenty years.
King Hiram tomb still stands strong after 3,000 years ,it is located on a hill 10 km away from Tyre .
The western coast of Asia was filled with many well-fortified cities,the strongest of all was Tyre.With a formidable navy,the city was built on a small island separated from the coast by a half-mile of open water,it was a natural fortress improved by man. Its thick walls were in some places, 150 feet high.Having withstood a 13-year siege by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, Tyre was considered impregnable by its proud inhabitants .
In 332 BC Alexander the Great conquered Baalbek(in Lebanon)and marched on to subdue the cities of Byblos and Sidon. Alexander and his army drew up before Tyre in January 332 BC,upon his arrival at Tyre, the citizens followed the example set by Sidon and submitted peacefully to Alexander's demand for submission. Alexander then wished to offer a sacrifice in the holy temple of Melqart at Tyre and this the Tyrians could not allow. The religious beliefs of the Tyrians forbade foreigners from sacrificing or even attending the temple and so they offered Alexander a compromise whereby he could offer sacrifice in the old city on the mainland but not in the temple on the island complex of Tyre. Alexander sent envoys to Tyre demanding their surrender. The Tyrians killed the envoys and threw their bodies over the city great walls.
At this point Alexander ordered the siege of Tyre and was so determined to take the well protected city, he built a massive causeway,bridges and towers... from the ruins of the old city debris and trees, linking the mainland to the island. After seven months of several failed attacks and many different tactics,the town of Sidon sent Alexander naval assistance and the battle engineers were able to construct rams that finally smashed through the walls,at last the city was breached. The Macedonian soldiers, who were frustrated by the length of the siege, avenged themselves on the city and over 7,000 Tyrians died in the defense of their island. It is estimated that over 30,000 citizens of Tyre were massacred or sold into slavery.It was such a sad spectacle that the mad king presented a gift for the victors, 2000 Tyrian who survived the attack hung nailed to crosses all across the beach lane . Following the capture of Tyre, Alexander moved south to attack Gaza which also withstood a two month siege,the other city-states followed surrendered to Alexander's rule, thus ending the Phoenician Civilization rapidly .
The Greeks built a small settlement followed by the Romans who took the ruined city as a colony in 64 BCE. Rome built the roads, monuments, and aqueducts which can still be seen in the modern day and the city flourished under Roman rule but declined after the fall of the empire. It continued on as a port city under the eastern half of Rome, the Byzantine Empire, until the 7th century.
The small southern Lebanese town of Tyre (Sur) now has a population of about 140,000 , the locals call their city Bride of the Sea .
I was born and raised in Tyre,growing up near the beach created an endless spiritual and physical bond between me and the sea,there are not enough words that can describe what this beautiful city means to me . When i was 13 years i became obsessed with diving under water to look at the remains of the submerged old city and collect Roman crafts,they were mostly pieces of broken clay jars, few times some Roman and Greek coins !! My father is a professional Phoenician/Roman/Greece antique collector,he has a impressive collection of Mint condition Jars/plates/Glass/small statues/coins...
"Today, deep under asphalt streets and apartment blocks, the stone core of that fantastic causeway still stands: one of Alexander's most tangible and permanent legacies to posterity."
1966, Le Liban Inventeur de L'alphabet .
Litho. & Engr.
Scott C476....10 p - Sarcophagus of King Hiram with Early Alphabet
C477....15 p - Phoenician ship
C478....20 p - Map of the Mediterranean Sea showing Pnoenlcian travel routes and ship .
C479....30 p - Phoenician with alphabet tablet.
Regards, Bombadil
