Phoenician Trade Heritage

The archaeological and cultural legacy of the Phoenician maritime traders of the eastern Mediterranean (roughly 1200 to 300 BC), centered on the city-states of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos and the western colony of Carthage (founded traditionally 814 BC). Phoenician ships carried cedar, Tyrian purple dye from murex shells, glass, and metals across the sea; the 22-letter Phoenician consonantal alphabet, adopted by the Greeks, underlies most Western scripts. Wreck finds and tophet sites at Carthage (Tunisia) and Tyre (Lebanon, UNESCO World Heritage 1984) preserve the record.