Thousands of years ago, in a faraway land, across the sea, where now Syria, Lebanon, and Israel are located, lived an ancient people, who, until today, influence the way we live.
They were mostly forgotten by history, although they excelled in different fields. The Phoenicians were masters of architecture, and their most famous building was the first Temple of Jerusalem, commissioned by the famous King Solomon.
They knew metallurgy and were probably the first to use iron nails in ships. Phoenician Ships were strong, with many technological innovations, later copied by many civilizations. And they discovered how to navigate by the North Star and constellations. With that knowledge, they dominated the seas for over a thousand years. That’s why the Phoenicians were considered the best sailors of their time.
They traveled to trade to the limits of the known world and then explored beyond it, introducing many new things to the western world, such as metal tools, wine, and some of their own inventions, like the beautiful blow glass, the color purple used by the royalty, the famous Phoenician purple dye, and even the domestic cat, which they smuggled from Egypt to Europe.
To better communicate with other people, the Phoenicians invented the phonetic alphabet we use today. They might have founded over 300 colonies around the Mediterranean Sea, others out in the Atlantic Ocean, perhaps even in distant islands across the oceans.
Carthage, in modern-day Tunisia, was their most important Colony. It became an empire so powerful that threatened the mighty Roman Empire.
Then they vanished from history, in 146 BC, with the fall of Carthage.