In Search of the Phoenicians
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- Create Date：2021-04-26 08:54:36
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Josephine Crawley Quinn
- ISBN：0691175276
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Summary
Who were the ancient Phoenicians， and did they actually exist？
The Phoenicians traveled the Mediterranean long before the Greeks and Romans， trading， establishing settlements， and refining the art of navigation。 But who these legendary sailors really were has long remained a mystery。 In Search of the Phoenicians makes the startling claim that the "Phoenicians" never actually existed。 Taking readers from the ancient world to today， this monumental book argues that the notion of these sailors as a coherent people with a shared identity， history， and culture is a product of modern nationalist ideologies--and a notion very much at odds with the ancient sources。
Josephine Quinn shows how the belief in this historical mirage has blinded us to the compelling identities and communities these people really constructed for themselves in the ancient Mediterranean， based not on ethnicity or nationhood but on cities， family， colonial ties， and religious practices。 She traces how the idea of "being Phoenician" first emerged in support of the imperial ambitions of Carthage and then Rome， and only crystallized as a component of modern national identities in contexts as far-flung as Ireland and Lebanon。
In Search of the Phoenicians delves into the ancient literary， epigraphic， numismatic， and artistic evidence for the construction of identities by and for the Phoenicians， ranging from the Levant to the Atlantic， and from the Bronze Age to late antiquity and beyond。 A momentous scholarly achievement， this book also explores the prose， poetry， plays， painting， and polemic that have enshrined these fabled seafarers in nationalist histories from sixteenth-century England to twenty-first century Tunisia。
The Phoenicians traveled the Mediterranean long before the Greeks and Romans， trading， establishing settlements， and refining the art of navigation。 But who these legendary sailors really were has long remained a mystery。 In Search of the Phoenicians makes the startling claim that the "Phoenicians" never actually existed。 Taking readers from the ancient world to today， this monumental book argues that the notion of these sailors as a coherent people with a shared identity， history， and culture is a product of modern nationalist ideologies--and a notion very much at odds with the ancient sources。
Josephine Quinn shows how the belief in this historical mirage has blinded us to the compelling identities and communities these people really constructed for themselves in the ancient Mediterranean， based not on ethnicity or nationhood but on cities， family， colonial ties， and religious practices。 She traces how the idea of "being Phoenician" first emerged in support of the imperial ambitions of Carthage and then Rome， and only crystallized as a component of modern national identities in contexts as far-flung as Ireland and Lebanon。
In Search of the Phoenicians delves into the ancient literary， epigraphic， numismatic， and artistic evidence for the construction of identities by and for the Phoenicians， ranging from the Levant to the Atlantic， and from the Bronze Age to late antiquity and beyond。 A momentous scholarly achievement， this book also explores the prose， poetry， plays， painting， and polemic that have enshrined these fabled seafarers in nationalist histories from sixteenth-century England to twenty-first century Tunisia。
Reviews
Sayani
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Who were the Phoenicians？ Did they exist as a collective group by this name？ Or is the term “Phoenician” a result of the modern notion of nationalism？ Josephine Quinn’s book makes the case for such a study。 An impressive scholarly work where Quinn breaks down this thesis using references from archaeology， numismatics， epigraphy， etymology， and ancient literature。It turns out that the people whom we have learned to be known as Phoenicians did not identify themselves with that particular name。 Qui Who were the Phoenicians？ Did they exist as a collective group by this name？ Or is the term “Phoenician” a result of the modern notion of nationalism？ Josephine Quinn’s book makes the case for such a study。 An impressive scholarly work where Quinn breaks down this thesis using references from archaeology， numismatics， epigraphy， etymology， and ancient literature。It turns out that the people whom we have learned to be known as Phoenicians did not identify themselves with that particular name。 Quinn labels this “ethnic assumption” as the product of categorization of various ethnic groups who seemingly had similar cultures， trades， languages or similar dialects， or lived in and around the same geographical area to make a sense of nationalistic identities after the advent of the Industrial Age。 This idea of Phoenicianism propagated as a Lebanese political movement after the Ottoman Empire broke down。 But through various historical findings， the author argues that this modern notion of Phoenicians as an ethnic group sharing a common history and identity is a product of European nationalist ideologies。 Throughout the first part of the book， we see how fragmentary ancient relics can be and how difficult it is to piece together the ethnic values and identities of people who are no longer present。In fact， the term “Phoenician（phoenix）” was invented by the Greeks （Latin word Punic has the same root） which can mean a bird， a palm tree， or a person from Phoenicia in Greek。 But did the people living in the ancient Levant called themselves Phoenicians？ Then who are the Canaanites or ancient Sardinians？ Quinn shows that in fact， people of that region identified themselves in terms of the cities they lived in like Tyre， Sidon， and Byblos。 These city-states often managed to keep vague identities to create a symbiosis between themselves and imperialist powers such as the Romans。 This seemingly fluid ethnic identity led to the success of several Phoenician colonies in the Levant。 This is one of the finest inferences made in the book which keeps even a non-Mediterranean history buff hooked in。 Though apart from a paragraph or two the book lacks a study of genetic analyses of the present Levantine population。 As a biologist， genealogical studies make for a good common denominator in modern conversations about "identities"。 For example， Tony Joseph's Early Indians does a fascinating coverage of both archaeological and genetic studies regarding the ancestors of Indians and how settled in the Indian subcontinent。Quinn talks a lot about identity in this book。 The self-conscious acknowledgement of belonging to a collective group of people within borders has been an active topic as seen in the rise of modern nationalist movements。 And often these movements find their inspiration from their ancestral lands， their ancient roots of origins， and pride in their ancestral culture。 The book ends with such an example where Irish writers like James Joyce were influenced by Phoenician history with respect to Irish nationalism。 Once the reader patiently traverses the details of ancient Roman coinage and various textual references by Livy or Herodotus， there is much to discover and learn from history and use it as a lens to focus on our modern political practices and problems surrounding ethnic concerns。 。。。more
Colin
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A fascinating analysis of the nature of identity and the ancient PhoeniciansQuinn makes a truly fascinating argument against the existence of any such identity as "Phoenician" in antiquity， except as an artificial one externally imposed， while considering the meaning of "identity" itself and the varying uses to which "Phoenicianism" has been applied。 A fascinating analysis of the nature of identity and the ancient PhoeniciansQuinn makes a truly fascinating argument against the existence of any such identity as "Phoenician" in antiquity， except as an artificial one externally imposed， while considering the meaning of "identity" itself and the varying uses to which "Phoenicianism" has been applied。 。。。more
Lene
，
Simplified， the author's main thesis is "There was never a people who identified as Phoenician， that identity was invented later and by other people。" This book makes a very good case for this thesis and it has taught me a lot， although not quite what I expected。 My expectations （for which I alone am responsible） were that this book would focus on the history of the Phoenicians， while a big part of the book is devoted to the history of narratives about them， and how we came to the idea that ther Simplified， the author's main thesis is "There was never a people who identified as Phoenician， that identity was invented later and by other people。" This book makes a very good case for this thesis and it has taught me a lot， although not quite what I expected。 My expectations （for which I alone am responsible） were that this book would focus on the history of the Phoenicians， while a big part of the book is devoted to the history of narratives about them， and how we came to the idea that there was a people identifying as Phoenicians at all。 。。。more
Avani
，
Some of the connections are a little tenuous， but overall a great resource for understanding Phoenician influence across the Mediterranean。
Leroy Erickson
，
There is a mathematical proof which shows that Alexander the Great did not exist and that he rode a white horse。 That proof kept running through my mind as I was reading this book。The author seemed determined， no matter what she had to do， to prove that the Phoenicians， as a separate race， did not exist and that they burned babies as an offering。 To do so she focused on how the supposed Phoenicians seemed to identify as citizens of Tyre， Sidon and other eastern Mediterranean cities instead of as There is a mathematical proof which shows that Alexander the Great did not exist and that he rode a white horse。 That proof kept running through my mind as I was reading this book。The author seemed determined， no matter what she had to do， to prove that the Phoenicians， as a separate race， did not exist and that they burned babies as an offering。 To do so she focused on how the supposed Phoenicians seemed to identify as citizens of Tyre， Sidon and other eastern Mediterranean cities instead of as Phoenicians。 This is different than， say， the Greeks who identified as citizens of Athens， Sparta， Thebes， hmmm， well let's just ignore that。She focused totally on the time period from about 600 BCE to maybe 200 CE and never mentioned the long prehistoric period in the eastern Mediterranean back to a couple of thousand years BCE。 （I'm sorry， I still like BC better。）A large part of the book covers the years after Rome had eliminated Carthage as an enemy by demolishing the city， enslaving the entire population and hauling them away。 Rome now ruled the eastern Mediterranean and northern African。 They installed colonies of former soldiers in all of those areas。 So， the people in those areas no longer identified as Phoenician。 Hmmm。 I wonder why？There are other books available now which give a totally different view of the Phoenicians。 Try "Phoenician Secrets" by Sanford Holst， for example， for a different view。 。。。more
Amanda
，
This is an amazing survey of the study of the Phoenicians。 I loved it。 I wish I could write something like it。
Luke Cullen
，
This is more an academic discussion in identity and ethnicity focusing on the ‘Phoenicians’ rather than what I was hoping for which was an examination or narrative history of what most refer to Phoenicians today。 For what it is it was a good read。 But I wanted something much different from what it was。
Brent Vincent
，
Not my normal area of historical interest， but I found this to be a fascinating book。 I didn't know much about the Phoenicians before I read this book， but what I did know was challenged by this book。 I feel I have a much better understanding of these ancient people than I did before reading。 Not my normal area of historical interest， but I found this to be a fascinating book。 I didn't know much about the Phoenicians before I read this book， but what I did know was challenged by this book。 I feel I have a much better understanding of these ancient people than I did before reading。 。。。more
Annikky
，
This is a fascinating and accomplished account about the ancient Phoenicians。 It is also rather academic， in the sense that it takes a close look at the Phoenician identity through the prism of the latest theoretical thinking and detailed physical and textual evidence。 If you are looking for a straightforward history of Phoenicia（ns）， this is not the book。 If you are looking for some fresh thinking on the topic and you don’t mind some nuanced exploration of identity， colonialism and power dynami This is a fascinating and accomplished account about the ancient Phoenicians。 It is also rather academic， in the sense that it takes a close look at the Phoenician identity through the prism of the latest theoretical thinking and detailed physical and textual evidence。 If you are looking for a straightforward history of Phoenicia（ns）， this is not the book。 If you are looking for some fresh thinking on the topic and you don’t mind some nuanced exploration of identity， colonialism and power dynamics plus detailed analysis of texts/coins/sanctuaries， it is definitely worth reading。It is not a spoiler to say that Quinn is skeptical of the Phoenicians ever having existed as a unified nation or people。 I am not a historian nor any sort of expert on Phoenicia， but I think she makes a good case。 It seems entirely plausible that we have been projecting our modern ideas into the past and overestimating how much the Phoenicians formed a coherent group。 That said， I feel like she does overstate her case somewhat。 One absence that I found startling was the lack of almost any mention of seafaring as the basis of potential common identity - and that after having established that this was the main thing Phoenicians were known for by their contemporaries （and probably the thing they still are most known for today， at least when we talk about Phoenician cities in Levant）。Be as it may， reading the book was a good exercise in examining how we interpret ancient cultures and the （unconscious） filters we apply when doing that。 I am also looking forward to Quinn writing a book where she allows herself to be a bit more free。 She clearly is a good writer and has a great sense of humour。 Unfortunately， we only get glimpses of the latter and her style is often weighed down by the - understandable - need to be exceedingly rigorous in her argumentation。 。。。more
Peter Mains
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FascinatingWhat is a nation？ Who were the Phoenicians and were there such a people？ Balmuth does a wonderful job of showing how both ancients and moderns constructed the Phoenician identity and applied it to people who had no such national consciousness。 I only wish that this book were longer and delved deeper into the legends of Tanit， Baal Hammon and Melqart。
Hotspur
，
I assume this was a thesis that found a publisher as it was well-written。 However， the academic nature， overwhelmed its merits as a history for the common reader。 The author makes her point， and then continues making it， until it is a dead horse。 This might work fine for the academic world， but it doesnt work for the average reader。 And honestly， I was not completely convinced after reading it ， that there was no widespread Phoenician cultural identity。 Yet， my principal complaint， is that as a I assume this was a thesis that found a publisher as it was well-written。 However， the academic nature， overwhelmed its merits as a history for the common reader。 The author makes her point， and then continues making it， until it is a dead horse。 This might work fine for the academic world， but it doesnt work for the average reader。 And honestly， I was not completely convinced after reading it ， that there was no widespread Phoenician cultural identity。 Yet， my principal complaint， is that as a general reader， I finished the book not really taking much away about the Phoenicians。 As an academic work， I am sure this is first rate as it is well-written and not full of academic jargon。 。。。more
Willy Marz Thiessam
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