n.
One of a people of ancient Phoenicia .
They were merchants, traders, and colonizers who probably arrived from the Persian Gulf 0441; 3000 BC. By the 2nd millennium BC they had colonies in the Levant, North Africa, Anatolia, and Cyprus. They traded wood, cloth, dyes, embroideries, wine, and decorative objects; ivory and wood carving became their specialties, and the work of Phoenician goldsmiths and metalsmiths was well known. Their alphabet became the basis of the Greek alphabet.