There is a new article out on the Phoenicians. I found it in the October/04 issue of National Geographic. It mentions lots of the old stuff (trade, ships, various cities), and some new stuff as well.

Apparently, there was a new idea put forth by Maria Eugenia Aubet (author of The Phoenicians and the West). She felt that along with teaching the Phoenicians how to build harbors, moorings, docks and piers, the Sea Peoples (about 1200 BC) may have interbred with them and been a basic part of the Phoenician's gene pool. Towards the end of the article, however, they report on DNA studies which disprove this idea....they apparently did NOT interbreed.

In Lebanon today, they don't use the term, "Phoenician". It is looked on more as the same meaning as "Christian", and the Jordanians seem to prefer referring instead to dates, such as "Middle Bronze Age" or "Early Iron Age". Some Jordanians are hoping that the DNA studies mentioned in this article will prove that Jordanian Christians and Jordanian Muslims share the same heritage. Near the end of this article, they report that this study has confirmed that. Because both religious sects share the same gene pool, it is hoped that the two groups will get along better in the future.

Based on two 7th century BC Phoenician ships found near Cartagena, Spain, the Phoenicians used mortise-and-tenon joints to build their ships, like the Romans after them. These ships were much stronger than ships made after the fall of the Roman Empire. They also found a wooden anchor, filled with lead.

They also report on a 4,000 year old layer of sand found in Sidon, in which originally elite warriors were buried, but subsequently more common people were included. Oddly, this isn't a natural layer, but was all sifted and carried there manually.

Although the historical texts say the Phoenicians settled in Cadiz (Gades) by 1100 BC, until recently the earliest archeological evidence only goes back to the 8th century BC. Since that is the time most of the other Phoenician settlements were made in the Mediterranean, many archeologists prefer to believe that the earlier date was just exaggeration or story-telling. The article however, mentions a rock-painting found in formerly Phoenician Spain, dated by its style to the end of the 2nd Millennium BC. Because it shows a sailing ship surrounded by a group of stick figures, archeologist Francisco Giles believes it represents contact between the local inhabitants and the Phoenicians. Dating the painting by its style, however, may not be as reliable as other methods of dating.

Another study is mentioned of ancient bellows in Carthage, which led metallurgist Hans Koens to conclude that they had developed advanced intake valves for their bellows and a method for adding calcium to the iron (making it harder), which was very similar to the Bessemer process invented by western society in the 19th century. Their source for this calcium??.............the shells from the same Murex molluscs they got their Royal Purple dye from.