The Phoenicians (1500–300 B.C.)

When did the Phoenicians start and end?

Phoenicia was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550 BCE to 300 BCE.

When did the Phoenician civilization began?

The Phoenician culture originated in the Eastern Mediterranean region of the Levant (Southern Syria, Lebanon and Northern Israel) in the 2nd millennium BCE (although this area had been settled since the Neolithic period). The Phoenicians founded the coastal city-states of Byblos, Sidon and Tyre (ancient Canaan).