Science Fair Project Encyclopedia Phoenicia was an ancient
civilization in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland
along the coastal plain of what is now Lebanon and Syria.
Phoenician civilization was an enterprising maritime trading
culture that spread right across the Mediterranean during the
first millennium BC. Though ancient boundaries fluctuated, the
southern city of Sarepta, between Sidon and Tyre, is the most
thoroughly excavated city of the Phoenician homeland. Although
the people of the region called themselves the Canaani, the name
Phoenicia became common thanks to the Greeks who called them the
Phoiniki - Φοινίκη (Phoiníkē); the Greek word for Phoenician was
synonymous with the colour purple/red or crimson, φοινίξ
(phoinix), through its close association with the famous dye
Tyrian purple (cf also Phoenix). The dye was used in ancient
textile trade, and highly desired. The Phoenicians became known
as the Purple People. The Phoenicians spoke the Phoenician
language, later called Punic since