Phoenician Alphabet: Did you mean...?

The language of the Etruscans, like the people themselves, has remained somewhat mysterious and has yet to be fully understood. The alphabet used a western Greek script, but the language has presented difficulties to scholars because it is...

Carthage was founded by the Phoenician city of Tyre in the 9th century BCE, and along with many other cultural practices, the city adopted aspects of the religion of its founding fathers. Polytheistic in nature, such important Phoenician...

Dated to the 7th century BCE, the Arslan Tash amulet (AT1) was discovered in Arslan Tash, Syria and contains the writing of Phoenician, magic incantations. The limestone plaque includes a variety of features: incantations perceived to prevent...

Mesrop Mashtots (360/370 - c. 440 CE) invented the Armenian alphabet in 405 CE. Besides greatly increasing levels of literacy in the country, the language permitted ordinary people to read the Bible for the first time, thus helping to further...

Modern version of the Greek alphabet.

The missions of Saints Cyril and Methodius transformed the religious and cultural development of Central and Eastern Europe during the 9th century. Sent by Michael III (reign 842-867) from the Eastern Roman Empire (“Byzantine Empire”) to...

Gold sheet plaques from Pygri, the port of Etruscan Cerveteri. In both the Etruscan and Phoenician alphabet they describe the separation of a space dedicated in the temple there for Astarte. c. 500 BCE (Museo di Villa Giulia, Rome)

The Phoenician expansion between the 11th and 6th centuries BCE grew out of the maritime cities of the Levant—most notably Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos, whose skilled sailors and merchants created one of the ancient Mediterranean’s most dynamic...

Both the ancient Greeks and Phoenicians extensively colonized vast areas of Europe, along the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts. In doing so, they spread their culture, which strongly influenced the local tribes. For the Greeks, this is...

Melqart (also Melkarth or Melicarthus) was an important Phoenician god and patron deity of the city of Tyre. Associated with the monarchy, sea, colonization, and commercial enterprise, both at home and abroad the god is a significant, if...