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ΕλληνικάINITIAL ATLAS · NODES AND ROUTES
Map of Phoenicia
Atlas of Phoenicia
Discover the cities of the Levantine coast and their routes across the Mediterranean.
Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.
Editorial visualisation · Contextual correspondence
Declared editorial visualisation, based on the cartography and sources of the fact sheet; it is not an exact historical frontier.
History and context
The map begins at Late Bronze Age Canaanite Ports and allows advancing through 6 phases. The documented places —Byblos, Tyre, Carthage— appear only when they help to read the active period.
The lines are routes and foundations; Phoenicia was not a centralised maritime empire and Carthage developed its own history.
Evidence and interpretation
The coast is derived from Natural Earth. The layers distinguish origin, core, direct control, influence, networks, territories in dispute and external domains; they are approximate curatorial envelopes, not modern borders. The faint outline preserves the previous phase to make each expansion, contraction or absorption visible. The lines are routes and foundations; Phoenicia was not a centralised maritime empire and Carthage developed its own history.
Catalogue facts
- Reading mode
- Nodes and contact routes
- Sequence
- 6 phases · Canaanite ports of the Late Bronze Age (c. 1500–1200 BCE) → Phoenician cities (c. 1200–1000 BCE) → Maritime expansion (c. 1000–814 BCE) → Western foundations and Carthage (c. 814–650 BCE) → Imperial Levant and Punic sphere (c. 650–332 BCE) → Hellenistic conquests and Punic Wars (332–146 BCE)
- Nodes
- Byblos (III–I millennia BCE) · Tyre (II–I millennia BCE) · Carthage (from c. 814 BCE)
- Range
- Narrow strip of distinct cities, not a common kingdom.
- Caution
- The lines are routes and foundations; Phoenicia was not a centralised maritime empire and Carthage developed its own history.
A closer look
About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .
A network that does not equate to a single ancestry
A study published in 2025 obtained genomic data from 210 individuals, including 196 from fourteen sites linked to Phoenician and Punic contexts. In the western samples from the sixth–second centuries BCE, affinities with Sicily and the Aegean predominate, together with North African contributions; the detected Levantine contribution is small. This does not erase linguistic or religious continuity with Phoenicia: it shows that those practices circulated among diverse populations. The result refers to the individuals and periods sampled, not to a genetic definition of who could be considered Punic.
Location and territory
REGIONAL AREA
Levantine cities; the routes and colonies do not equate to a state frontierLevantine cities; the routes and colonies do not equate to a state frontier. The footprint indicates the orientative centre of the area, not a frontier nor an exact point.TERRITORIAL ATLAS · REAL GEOGRAPHY · CHANGING EXTENT
Atlas of Phoenicia
Levantine cities and Mediterranean routes
Byblos, Sidon, Tyre, and other ports participated in eastern networks before the exonym 'Phoenician' existed.
WHAT CHANGES · OriginCanaanite ports emerge along the Levantine coast, still within the Late Bronze Age political world.
- 01 · ByblosIII–I millennia BCEPort and prolonged relations with Egypt.
- 02 · TyreII–I millennia BCEIsland city, purple dye, navigation and colonisation.
The lines are routes and foundations; Phoenicia was not a centralised maritime empire and Carthage developed its own history.
Documentation for every period
The map is interactive. The full chronology is also available below without using any controls.
c. 1500–1200 BCE · Canaanite ports of the Late Bronze Age
Byblos, Sidon, Tyre, and other ports participated in eastern networks before the exonym 'Phoenician' existed.
Origin · Canaanite ports emerge along the Levantine coast, still within the Late Bronze Age political world.
- Levantine coast · c. 1500–1200 BCE
Narrow strip of distinct cities, not a common kingdom.
Probable
c. 1200–1000 BCE · Phoenician cities
After the Bronze Age crisis, coastal cities reorganised their networks while maintaining their own authorities.
Origin · After the Bronze Age crisis, the ports reorganise as independent cities with reduced coastal territories.
- Coastal cities · c. 1200–1000 BCE
Urban constellation, not a state frontier.
Probable
c. 1000–814 BCE · Maritime expansion
Tyre and other ports sustained routes and settlements towards Cyprus and the Mediterranean; the sea should not be coloured as sovereign territory.
Expansion · From Tyre and other cities, routes and enclaves expand in the eastern Mediterranean, without continuous maritime dominion.
- Levantine cities · c. 1000–814 BCE
Discontinuous urban core.
Probable - Eastern maritime network · c. 1000–814 BCE
Zone of navigation and enclaves, not continuous dominion.
Probable
c. 814–650 BCE · Western foundations and Carthage
Western settlements grew through distinct processes; Carthage soon acquired its own political trajectory.
Expansion · The network reaches western coasts and Carthage gains centrality, while the Levantine cities retain variable autonomy.
- Phoenician Mediterranean network · c. 814–650 BCE
Envelope of routes and enclaves deliberately non-territorial.
Probable - Carthage · from c. 814 BCE
Nascent Punic core, distinguished from the Levantine cities.
Probable
c. 650–332 BCE · Imperial Levant and Punic sphere
Assyria, Babylon, and Persia limited Levantine autonomy while Carthage expanded its western sphere; these are parallel histories, not a single Phoenician empire.
Absorption and expansion · The Levant becomes integrated into eastern empires and Carthage separately articulates a more extensive Punic sphere.
- Levantine cities under empires · c. 650–332 BCE
Urban autonomy within successive imperial frameworks.
Probable - Carthaginian sphere · c. 650–332 BCE
Ports, allies and areas of control of varying intensities.
Probable
332–146 BCE · Hellenistic conquests and Punic Wars
Levantine cities entered Hellenistic kingdoms; Carthage lost its sphere after wars with Rome and was destroyed in 146 BCE.
Contraction and absorption · The Carthaginian sphere contracts to its final core and the Levant passes through Hellenistic domains of shifting reach.
- Hellenistic Levant · 332–146 BCE
Urban persistence under new monarchies.
Probable - Final Carthaginian core · 264–146 BCE
Contraction of Punic power; not instantaneous disappearance of population or language.
Probable
Documented places
- Byblos · III–I millennia BCE
Port and prolonged relations with Egypt.
- Tyre · II–I millennia BCE
Island city, purple dye, navigation and colonisation.
- Carthage · From c. 814 BCE
Phoenician foundation and autonomous Punic power.
Routes and contacts
- Documented historical connection
- Documented historical connection
The lines are routes and foundations; Phoenicia was not a centralised maritime empire and Carthage developed its own history.
Sources and references
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