User:ColinMc0529/History of Sicily

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From the 11th century BC, Phoenicians begin to settle in western Sicily, having already started colonies on the nearby parts of North Africa. Within a century, we find major Phoenician settlements at Soloeis (Solunto), present day Palermo and Motya (an island near present-day Marsala). Others included Drepana (Trapani) and Mazara del Vallo.

[Edit] These settlements were primarily used as trading colonies, the largest of which being Motya, which contained many Phoenician style fortifications, buildings, and cemeteries. Artificial docks and ports, often referred to as a cothon; which are associated with the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, were believed to be present at Motya. The construction of this cothon, along with houses, appears to date to around the seventh century BCE.

[Edit] Urbanization was most commonly found in Motya, where there is evidence of a causeway to the mainland, roads, and walls within the island. The structure of this architecture is similar to that of Kerkouane (located within present-day Tunisia), another Phoenician settlement from this period. Motya likely had a population of around 18,000 during the Phoenician period.

[Edit] Phoenician colonization in Sicily originated as a trade network and expanded into civilization. The foundation of the settlements at Palermo dates back to the late eighth century BCE, while Solunto came about in the seventh century BCE. These areas, along with Motya, developed into agricultural settlements as well. This, along with the connection to other trading colonies in the Western Mediterranean, made Sicily an attractive colonial destination for the Phoenicians.

As Phoenician Carthage later grew in power, these settlements sometimes came into conflict with them, as at Motya, and eventually came under Carthage's direct control.

The Phoenicians integrated with the local Elymian population as shown in archaeology as a distinctive “West Phoenician cultural identity”.

[Edit] The Phoenicians arrived in Sicily 300 years prior to the Greeks. While the Phoenician colonies were located on the west end of the island, the Greek colonies, such as Syracuse, became powerful in the east. Centuries of conflict and competition between the two eventually led to the Siege of Motya by Dionysius in 397 BCE, leading to the destruction of the island colony.