Phoenician settlement of North Africa
The Phoenician settlement of North Africa or Phoenician expedition to North Africa was the process of Phoenician people migrating and settling in the Maghreb region of North Africa, encompassing present-day Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, from their homeland of Phoenicia in the Levant region, including present-day Lebanon and Syria, in the 1st millennium BC.
History[edit]
Causes[edit]
The Phoenicians originated in the Northern Levant sometime circa 1800 BC.[1] The causes of Phoenician emigration to North Africa as far as the Atlantic coast are debated. The Phoenicians were driven to migrate westward by a combination of factors, including overpopulation in the Levant and the appeal of trade opportunities. Another reason may have been to access metals, since the Phoenicians settled in silver-rich regions according to Ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus. The traditional theory was that the Phoenicians searched for metals in response to demands of tribute from the Assyrian Empire on the Phoenician homeland in the Levant, although Eleftheria Pappa has recently argued that "Tribute would have not been imposed on the Phoenicians on the expectation of them reaching the other end of the known world and finding rich resources of silver and exotic products." The Phoenicians began settling in North Africa even before the Assyrians imposed tribute on their homeland, as evidenced by archaeological findings such as new pottery and radiocarbon dates.[2]
Immigration[edit]
The first Phoenician settlers arrived at the North African coast around 900 BC as traders and merchants, mainly from Tyre and Sidon in modern-day Lebanon.[3][4] The settlers from Tyre established Carthage in 814 BC; its Phoenician name meaning “new town.”[5] The most concentrated Phoenician settlements were situated on the coasts of present-day Tunisia, which had several large cities, including Thapsus, Leptis and Hadrumetum in the east, and Tunis, Carthage, Utica and Hippo in the north.[6]
In the western Maghreb, the Phoenicians established more than 300 colonies and settlements.[7] These included Igilgili (Jijel), Icosium (Algiers), Iol (Cherchell), Gunugu (Gouraya), Cartennae (Ténès) in present-day Algeria, and Tingi (Tangier), Lixus (Larache), Mogador (Essaouira) and Thymiateria (Mehdya) in present-day Morocco.[6]
Phoenician immigration gave North Africa a Phoenician character. The Phoenician settlers seized the largest and best parts of the coast from the native peoples. As a result, North Africa was withdrawn from Greek civilization, and a linguistic-political line of separation was formed in the Gulf of Sirte; the Pentapolis of Cyrene and areas to the east remained within the Greek circle, whereas areas to the west of Tripoli became and remained Phoenician.[8] The descendants of the Phoenician settlers in Ancient Carthage came to be known as the Punic people. From the 8th century BC, most inhabitants of present-day Tunisia were Punic.[9]
Primary sources[edit]
Although the Phoenicians established many coastal settlements across the Maghreb, stretching from present-day Libya to Morocco, less is known about their settlement of the region due to a scarcity of historical sources. The absence of Phoenician records detailing their migrations, combined with the fact that many sites remain either partially or completely unexcavated, has resulted in a situation where scholars must primarily depend on classical sources.[7]