RELIGION AND SACRIFICE

The Phoenicians worshipped a large number of gods and goddesses, and each of the city-states had its own patron deity. For example, the citizens of Tyre worshipped a god called Melqart, who was a sun god. As might be expected from a god worshipped by seafarers, Melqart was also seen as a protector of navigators. When traders from Tyre set up a new colony, they made sacrifices to Melqart and would wait for a positive sign from the god before they settled. One of the first buildings to be constructed would be a temple to the god.

Melqart's consort was the fertility goddess Astarte, who was known by various names throughout the Mediterranean, including Astoret, Asherah, and Ashratu. She was closely linked to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar and the

Carthage was Tanit. Although Tanit was the wife of the god Baal Hammon, she seems to have been seen as the more important deity. Like Astarte, Tanit was a fertility goddess.

Some historians believe that the Phoenicians practiced some form of child sacrifice. According to Greek writers such as Diodorus Siculus (first century BCE), children would be burned in sacred fires in front of their parents. Diodorus wrote that hundreds of children were sacrificed in Carthage when the city was besieged by Greek Sicilian forces in 310 BCE. Other historians dispute the view. They argue that the burnt remains of children's bones found in sacred hearths came from children who had died naturally and point out that most of the stories of child sacrifice come from cultures

This gold necklace was made by Phoenician craftsmen around the fifth century BCE.

The ruins of the Hall of the Ambassador at Ugarit. Ugarit was one of the wealthiest Phoenician cities.

In Byblos. The stone coffin of King Ahiram, who ruled in the early 10th century BCE, contained an elaborate text in the linear Phoenician alphabet.

The Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet in the eighth century BCE, making only minor changes to the shape of the letters. The Greeks expanded the 22 Phoenician consonants to 24 and made some symbols serve as vowels. After around 500 BCE, the Greeks started writing from left to right.

The Greek alphabet was adopted and adapted throughout the Mediterranean world. When it passed to the Romans, they spread it via Latin throughout the Roman Empire. The Greek alphabet was therefore destined to become the basis of all Western alphabets.