The Phoenician homeland was a coastal strip roughly corresponding to modern day Lebanon. ‘Phoenicia’ is a Greek word meaning red/purple and was used to refer to the people of the Levantine coast because the inhabitants of Tyre were renowned for their ability to produce fine purple dye. The dominant influence in the area lay with the city-states, especially Sidon, Byblos and Tyre. These cities were ruled separately but- despite their often hostile relations- their common maritime interests held the area together as a recognisable political entity. From the ninth century BC overseas colonies, at Carthage and Cyprus (Kition), reinforced the Phoenicians’ trade in the Mediterranean. Over the following centuries they established outposts further afield in Sicily and Spain. This expansion was motivated by the desire to find new markets for their goods and sources of precious metals which were particularly plentiful in the African interior and the Iberian coast.

Antiquities
Ancient Near East