PHŒNICIAN LANGUAGE. The language spoken by the inhabitants of Phœnicia. It belonged to the Hebræo-Phœnician division of the Semitic family of languages, and represents in general an archaic stage of Hebrew and Moabitic, although it differs from the North Semitic group in certain particulars, such as having kūn (like the Arabic kāna) for the copula instead of hāyā, as in Hebrew. Phœnician spread widely from its home as Punic colonies were founded in the islands of the Mediterranean and Ægean, in Southern and Western Asia Minor, Southern France, and especially in Northern Africa. The diffusion gave rise to variations both of dialect and script, which were, however, comparatively slight. The sources of our knowledge are the inscriptions, coins, and seals, the transliteration of Phœnician phrases in Plautus's comedy of the Pœnulus, and the proper names and words found in the Old Testament, in the inscriptions of Assyria and Egypt, and in classical writers. The inscriptions are by far the most important source. Although they are very numerous, the vocabulary is relatively scanty on account of their monotonous content. They cover the period from about B.C. 600 to A.D. 200. The longest are the inscriptions found at Sidon in 1855 of twenty-two lines, at Marseilles in 1845 of twenty-one lines, and at Larnaka in 1879 of twenty-nine lines. The passage in the Pœnulus and the words and names in other foreign sources are of value in fixing the vocalization and pronunciation of Phœnician, since the alphabet, like all the Semitic scripts, excepting the Assyro-Babylonian and Ethiopic, writes only the consonants. The alphabet, which itself seems derived from the South Arabian script, is of importance as the ancestor of the Græco-Roman family of alphabets. (See Plate of Alphabets.) Phœnician literature seems to have been very scanty, consisting chiefly of annals, and at least one work, by Mago, on agriculture, and has been entirely lost with the exception of Greek translations of the voyage of Hanno (q.v.) and fragments asserted to be translations of the histories of Sanchuniathon (q.v.). Consult: Schröder, Die phönizische Sprache (Halle, 1869); Bloch, Phönizisches Glossar (Berlin, 1891); Gesenius, Scripturæ Linguæque Phœniciæ Monumenta Quotquot Supersunt Edita et Inedita (3 vols., Leipzig, 1887); Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum (Paris, 1881-87). See Semitic Languages.
PHŒNIS′SÆ (Lat., from Gk. Φοίνισσαι, Phoinissai, Phœnician Women). A play by Euripides, so called from its chorus of Phœnician captives at Thebes. The myth which forms the subject of the play is the same on which the Seven Against Thebes is based.
PHŒ′NIX (Lat., from Gk. φοίνιξ, phoinix). The name of a mythical Egyptian bird frequently mentioned by classical writers. Herodotus (ii. 73), who says he heard the story at Heliopolis and saw a picture of the bird there, relates that the phœnix, on the death of his father, embalms the body in an egg made of myrrh and conveys it from Arabia to the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis. According to Pliny (Nat. Hist., x. 2), there is only one phœnix at a time, and when he perceives that his end is near, he builds in Arabia a nest of twigs of cassia and frankincense and dies upon it. From the body is generated a worm which develops into the new phœnix. The young bird then conveys his father's body to Heliopolis and burns it upon the altar there (Tacitus, Ann., vi. 28). According to Horapollo (ii. 57) the phœnix casts himself upon the ground and receives a wound, from the ichor of which springs his successor. But the most familiar version of the birth and death of the phœnix is that in which the bird burns itself upon a nest or pyre of odoriferous woods, and the young phœnix springs from the ashes. The interval between the bird's appearances at Heliopolis is variously stated; the period usually named is 500 years, but 1461 and 7006 years are also given. According to Tacitus (Ann., vi. 28) the phœnix appeared four times in Egypt: (1) under Sesostris (q.v.); (2) under Amasis; (3) under Ptolemy III.; and (4) in the year B.C. 34.
In Greek and Roman art it was common to represent the phœnix as an eagle; but by the Egyptians, who called it Bennu, the bird was depicted as a heron with two long feathers growing from the back of its head and sometimes with a tuft hanging from its breast. It symbolized the morning sun rising out of the glow of dawn, and hence it was looked upon as the sacred bird of the sun-god Rê. It also represented the new sun of to-day springing from the body of the old sun of yesterday, which had entered the lower world and become one with Osiris. Hence the phœnix or bennu was regarded as a manifestation of Osiris and became a symbol of the resurrection, continuing to serve as such even in early Christian times. It has been supposed by some scholars that the phœnix is mentioned in Job xxix. 18 and Psalm ciii. 5, but the identification is very doubtful. Consult: Kirchmayer, “On the Phœnix,” in Collectanea Adamantæa, No. xv., vol. ii. (Edinburgh, 1886); Wiedemann, Religion of the Ancient Egyptians (New York, 1897).
PHŒNIX. A city in Lee County, Ala., on the Chattahoochee River, opposite Columbus, Ga., and on the Central of Georgia Railroad (Map: Alabama, D 3). It is a residential place, and is also of considerable importance as a commercial centre. Among the chief buildings are the city hall and the fraternal society hall. Settled about 1860, Phœnix was first incorporated in 1883. It is governed under a charter of 1894, which provides for a mayor, elected every two years, and a council. Population, in 1890, 3700; in 1900, 4163.
PHŒNIX. A city, the county-seat of Maricopa County, Ariz., and capital of the Territory, 100 miles northwest of Tucson; on the Maricopa and Phœnix and the Santa Fé, Prescott and Phœnix railroads (Map: Arizona, B 3). Among the more prominent points of interest are the Capitol building, insane asylum, agricultural experiment station, city hall, court-house, and high school and central school buildings. The city is a popular winter resort. It has extensive commercial interests, controlling an important trade in live stock, grain, hay, honey, wines, oranges, and other fruits. Settled in 1870-75 Phœnix was incorporated in 1881. The government, under a charter revised last in 1893, is vested in a mayor, who holds office for two years, and a council which exercises some powers of confirmation and election in administrative offices, though the majority are filled by popular election. Population, in 1890, 3152; in 1900, 5544.
