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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, Israel, and Syria, in the 1st millennium BC.

History

Causes

The Phoenicians originated in the Northern Levant sometime circa 1800 BC^[1] and emigrated to North Africa around 900 BC.^[2] The causes of Phoenician emigration to North Africa as far as the Atlantic coast are debated, but could include overpopulation in the Levant and economic opportunities and precious metals in North Africa. These precious metals in particular may have been given up to the Assyrian Empire as they expanded into the Phoenician homeland in the Levant, though whether this caused the Phonecians to need to search for more through expansion into Northern Africa has been disputed.^[3]

Immigration

The first Phoenician settlers immigrated to North Africa around 900 BC as traders and merchants, mainly from Tyre and Sidon in modern-day Lebanon.^[2]^[4] They settled predominantly in what is now Tunisia,^[5] but they also established over 300 colonies and settlements in the lands currently part of modern Algeria and Morocco.^[6] These included the settlements of Thapsus, Leptis and Hadrumetum, Tunis, Carthage, Utica, Hippo, Igilgili (Jijel), Icosium (Algiers), Iol (Cherchell), Gunugu (Gouraya), Cartennae (Ténès), Tingi (Tangier), Lixus (Larache), Mogador (Essaouira) and Thymiateria (Mehdya).^[5] These settlements displaced the local peoples, and caused the importance of the Greek culture and language to diminish in importance west of Tripoli.^[7] 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.^[8]

Continuity

In the late seventh and early sixth centuries BC, Phoenician settlements in Northern Africa grew politically distant from Phonecia. In particular, the city of Carthage became an independent entity, known as the Punics and expanded control over the western Maghreb and Europe.^[3] Evidence from Sicily shows that some western Phoenicians themselves may have identified as under the term "Phoinix",^[9] or 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍𐤌 (knʿnm, "Canaanites").^[10]

Genetic impact

1 in 17 men in coastal North Africa and Southern Europe have a Phoenician paternal ancestor, according to a 2008 study.^[11]

Primary sources

There is relatively little information about the Phonecian migration into North Africa when compared to Phonecian migration into other areas. The majority of primary sources detailing the settlements are Greece or Roman in origin and, as of the early 2020s, few archeological sites have been excavated.^[6]^: 197

References

^ Matisoo-Smith, E.; Gosling, A. L.; Platt, D.; Kardailsky, O.; Prost, S.; Cameron-Christie, S.; Collins, C. J.; Boocock, J.; Kurumilian, Y.; Guirguis, M.; Pla Orquín, R.; Khalil, W.; Genz, H.; Abou Diwan, G.; Nassar, J.; Zalloua, P. (January 2018). "Ancient mitogenomes of Phoenicians from Sardinia and Lebanon: A story of settlement, integration, and female mobility". PLOS ONE. 13 (1): e0190169. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1390169M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0190169. PMC 5761892. PMID 29320542.
^ ^a ^b Congress, Library of. "North Africa During the Classical Period". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
^ ^a ^b Terpstra, Taco (2019-04-09). Trade in the Ancient Mediterranean: Private Order and Public Institutions. Princeton University Press. pp. 41–42. ISBN 978-0-691-17208-8.
^ "North Africa - Ancient, Phoenicians, Egyptians | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
^ ^a ^b Fage, J. D.; Oliver, Roland Anthony (1975). The Cambridge History of Africa. Cambridge University Press. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-521-21592-3.
^ ^a ^b Woolmer, Mark (2017-04-30). A Short History of the Phoenicians. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 197–201. ISBN 978-1-78673-217-0.
^ Mommsen, Theodor (2018-06-03). The Provinces of the Roman Empire from Caesar to Diocletian: Including Historical Maps of All Roman Imperial Regions. e-artnow. p. 604. ISBN 978-80-268-9411-7.
^ Jongeling, K., & Kerr, R.M. (2005). Late Punic epigraphy: an introduction to the study of Neo-Punic and Latino- Punic inscriptions. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, pp. 114, ISBN 3-16-148728-1.
^ Jenkins, G. Kenneth (1974). "Coins of Punic Sicily, Part II". Schweizerische Numismatische Rundschau. 53: 27–29.
^ MacDonald, Eve (2015). Hannibal: A Hellenistic life. New Haven. p. 240 n. 8. ISBN 9780300210156.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Wilford, John Noble (2008-10-30). "Phoenicians Left Deep Genetic Mark, Study Shows". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-05-03.