... were a sea–going people, and their influence spread throughout the Mediterranean region. They were the first state–level society to make extensive use of alphabets; the Phoenician alphabet is generally held to be one of the major ancestors of all modern alphabets. By their maritime trade, the Phoenicians spread the use of the alphabet to Anatolia (Asian Turkey), North Africa, and Europe, where it was adopted by the Greeks, who in turn transmitted it to the Romans.
The word 'Phoenicia' is derived from the Greek word for the colour purple, because the Phoenicians made use of a purple dye derived from a secretion of the murex, a genus of sea snails. Purple dye was so difficult to obtain that it was (and still is) a symbol of royalty.
© Haydn Thompson 2017