Phoenician

Definition: Phoenician is an adjective based on a Greek word said to mean 'the red people' that was used to describe a people from Canaan (parts of modern Lebanon, Israel, Syria, and Palestine) and their language. Tyre, Byblos, and Sidon are the most famous Phoenician city-states from this region. The Phoenicians were renowned traders, navigators, explorers, and they traveled around the Mediterranean establishing Phoenician territories elsewhere, including Carthage, in modern Tunisia. The Phoenician script is commonly thought of as the first alphabet. Tyrian purple (crimson) is a Phoenician dye made from crushed mollusk (murex) shells. Phoenicians became wealthy through their trade in this prized dye as well as in glass.