The Assyrian relationship with the Phoenicians during this period further contributed to the economic development of Neo Assyria. Phoenicia was another vassal state that paid tribute to the Neo Assyrians. As a major economic factor in the area, the Phoenicians conducted trade within the empire bringing wine, lumber, ivory, metals, and ideas thanks to the extensive maritime network they had established.[6] Becoming a major source of resources, Phoenicians had to find new means in order to supply the large demand of the large Assyrian Empire resulting in Phoenician expansion in order to obtain colonies to gain more resources.[2] The Phoenicians were instrumental in the trade of iron throughout the Mediterranean as they controlled three iron-producing cities: Cyprus, Cilicia, and Crete.[2] Due to their extensive trade networks, the Phoenicians were able to connect Greece and Mesopotamia in trade of not only goods but ideas that would result in the spread of the Assyrian alphabet, art, and architecture towards the west.[2]