History of the Phoenicians in Spain

Image: Slideshare

The Iberian Peninsula has always been a hub where a series of civilizations that have gone gradually shaping the way of being of the inhabitants of this, making its cultural wealth be enormous. In this lesson from a TEACHER we bring you the history of the Phoenicians in Spain, a town that brought with it a series of advances to the towns that were in said lands, forming a new society, which has been called Tartessian.

Index

1. When did the Phoenicians arrive in the Iberian Peninsula?
2. What were the Phoenicians looking for on the Peninsula?
3. The birth of a new society

The history of the Phoenicians in Spain begins in the 9th century BC. C moment in which the first vessels from the Syro-Palestinian coast arrived on the shores of the Mediterranean, more specifically in the areas of Malaka (Málaga) and Gadir (Cádiz).

These two cities became the first known settlements of the Phoenicians on the peninsula. This town is known for its constant commercial relations throughout the Mediterranean and is even they know some routes through the Atlantic, such as to northern Europe, the Canary Islands and part of the coast African.

At first, they would create a series of free ports, that is, some areas to be able to trade with the surrounding towns. For this they began by approaching the various kings, entertaining them with jewels from the lands of the East, in addition to giving them various other gifts. In this way, by having the caudillos on their side, they could carry out a series of commercial treaties from which they benefited greatly.

In this other lesson from a TEACHER we will discover the origin and history of the Phoenicians.

Undoubtedly, the history of the Phoenicians in Spain can be defined in two clearly separated parts, which have one factor in common: trade.

Creation of factories for tuna fishing

This animal, since the beginning of time, has been considered one of the greatest delicacies of the sea, being a great source of proteins and healthy fats. The Phoenicians managed to create in a short time a series of factories both in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, and in the north of Morocco, in order to be able to catch these fish both when leaving for the Atlantic, as well as when entering the Mediterranean.

Thus, these factories alternated, practically being the members of the Gadir colonies who had to move from one place to another to control them. From these factories, in addition to the salting that was carried out to transport the animal's meat, the famous garum was performed, a kind of sauce created with the guts of the fish and the bones, which gave a quite powerful flavor to the dishes of the moment.

In fact, some of the recipes are known even from Roman times in which it was used, being a highly appreciated material, of which we even know that in years of famine it was quite expensive.

Precious metals

On the other side of the scale, we know that the Phoenicians from the beginning of time looked for precious metals to be able to make your well-known jewelsHence, the relationship with the peoples of the Peninsula was so important.

They traded with them in the following way: the Iberian peoples had to provide the metal to the Phoenicians and, in exchange, they exchanged them for objects already manufactured.

Image: Taringa

We have to talk about a subject that until recently was considered a great truth, we refer to town of the Tartessians.

From the beginning of the excavations and the study of Roman texts and other Greek authors, we know that there were elements of Tartesos, a population that many authors did not hesitate to qualify as their own civilization and even a Empire.

It was a society product of a intense acculturation, that is to say, with the passage of time the towns that were in the surroundings of the Phoenician colonies, began to copy all the elements of that society: the way they dress, the objects they used, the gods they worshiped. Arriving at a time that they had little of their past.

This made will begin to work on their own metals, because they had learned the Phoenician techniques and thus began to make objects similar and even better to those brought from the Syro-Palestinian coast, this is called art orientalizing.

Thus, when the first Romans began the exploration of the territory, they found a series of towns in the south of the peninsula that were totally different from those of the north and center of the plateau, which were much more "backward" technically speaking and who, being so similar, did not hesitate to think that it was all the same town.

After the fall of Tire and Sidon to Nebuchadnezzar, the Phoenician colonies became autonomous and they became part of the peoples of the Peninsula. In addition, at the outbreak of the Punic Wars, they would be taken over by the Carthaginians, like much of the Iberian Peninsula.

Image: Easy Classroom

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