Phoenicia (Seashore plain cities)

This map shows the eastern coastal cities of ancient Phoenicia (modern Lebanon) and its natural resources. These ancient cities were loosely connected and politically independent, but they shared a common Canaanite culture. During the Iron Age (1200–600 BCE), the Phoenicians amassed great wealth from seafaring trade, including cedar, glass, wine, cloth, and a famous purple dye from the Murex sea snail, native to the coastal waters. With a booming economy, they began to establish colonies across the Mediterranean, most important of which was Carthage in North Africa. Over time, Phoenician society dissolved with successive waves of invasions by the Babylonians, Persians, and then Greeks. This led to a shift in the center of Phoenician culture towards Carthage, until Rome vanquished the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War (146 BCE). Both the origin and demise of the Phoenicians is debated, but they seem to have assimilated with Greeks and Romans.