[17][18] Being a society of independent city-states, the Phoenicians apparently did not have a term to denote the land of Phoenicia as a whole;[19] instead, demonyms were often derived from the name of the city a person hailed from (e.g., Sidonian for Sidon, Tyrian for Tyre, etc.)

According to Krahmalkov, Poenulus, a Latin comedic play written in the early 2nd century BC, appears to preserve a Punic term for the Phoenician/Punic language which may be reconstructed as Pōnnīm,[22] a point disputed by Joseph Naveh, a professor of West Semitic epigraphy and palaeography at the Hebrew University.

[32] Brian R. Doak states that scholars use "Phoenicians" as a short-hand for "Canaanites living in a set of cities along the northern Levantine coast who shared a language and material culture in the Iron I–II period and who also developed an organized system of colonies in the western Mediterranean world".

[46] The Egyptians targeted the coastal cities such as Byblos, Arwad, and Ullasa for their crucial geographic and commercial links with the interior (via the Nahr al-Kabir and the Orontes rivers).

Byblos was the leading city; it was a center for bronze-making and the primary terminus of trade routes for precious goods such as tin and lapis lazuli from as far east as Afghanistan.

The Phoenicians were able to survive and navigate the challenges of the crisis, and by 1230 BC city-states such as Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos maintained political independence, asserted their maritime interests, and enjoyed economic prosperity.

The period sometimes described as a "Phoenician renaissance" had begun, and by the end of the 11th century BC, an alliance formed between Tyre and Israel had created a new geopolitical status quo in the Levant.

The expertise of Phoenician artisans sent by Hiram I of Tyre in significant construction projects during the reign of Solomon, the King of Israel, is alluded to in the Hebrew Bible,[7] although the reliability of this biblical history is dismissed by scientific researchers in modern times.

Carthage would grow into a multi-ethnic empire spanning North Africa, Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, the Balearic Islands, and southern Iberia, but would ultimately be destroyed by Rome in the Punic Wars (264–146 BC).

By 738 BC, most of the Levant, including northern Phoenicia, was annexed;[65][66] only Tyre and Byblos, the most powerful city-states, remained tributary states outside of direct Assyrian control.

[69][72] The Phoenicians remained a core asset to the Achaemenid Empire, particularly for their prowess in maritime technology and navigation;[69] they furnished the bulk of the Persian fleet during the Greco-Persian Wars of the late fifth century BC.

[75] In the mid-fourth century BC, King Tennes of Sidon led a failed rebellion against Artaxerxes III, enlisting the help of the Egyptians, who were subsequently drawn into a war with the Persians.

[77] Tyre's refusal to allow Alexander to visit its temple to Melqart, culminating in the killing of his envoys, led to a brutal reprisal: 2,000 of its leading citizens were crucified and a puppet ruler was installed.

Tin for making bronze "may have been acquired from Galicia by way of the Atlantic coast of southern Spain; alternatively, it may have come from northern Europe (Cornwall or Brittany) via the Rhone valley and coastal Massalia".

[29] Specialized goods were designed specifically for wealthier clientele, including ivory reliefs and plaques, carved clam shells, sculpted amber, and finely detailed and painted ostrich eggs.

The violet-purple dye derived from the hypobranchial gland of the Murex marine snail, once profusely available in coastal waters of the eastern Mediterranean Sea but now exploited to local extinction.

[107] An excavation of a small Phoenician town south of Sidon uncovered a wine factory used from at least the seventh century BC, which is believed to have been aimed for an overseas market.

Fernand Braudel cites the bas-relief carvings on the walls of the palace of Nineveh which depict the Tyrian fleet fleeing the port of Tyre before the city was attacked by Sennacherib c. 700 BC.

Referring to archaeological evidence of ships depicted in the Nineveh relief, cylinder seals, and Phoenician coins, he argues that the trireme was invented in Sidon around 700 BC and later adopted by the Greeks.

Numerous other cities existed in the Levant alone, many probably unknown, including Beiruta (modern Beirut) Ampi, Amia, Arqa, Baalbek, Botrys, Sarepta, and Tripolis.

From the late tenth century BC, the Phoenicians established commercial outposts throughout the Mediterranean, with Tyre founding colonies in Cyprus, Sardinia, Iberia, the Balearic Islands, Sicily, Malta, and North Africa.

[134] The earliest Phoenician settlements outside the Levant were on Cyprus and Crete, gradually moving westward towards Corsica, the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, and Sicily, as well as on the European mainland in Cádiz and Málaga.

[78] In the sixth century BC, during the period of Babylonian rule, Tyre briefly adopted a system of government consisting of a pair of judges with authority roughly equivalent to the Roman consul, known as sufetes (shophets), who were chosen from the most powerful noble families and served short terms.

[153] In the Old Testament, a craftsman from Tyre is commissioned to build and decorate the legendary Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, which "presupposes a well-developed and highly respected craft industry in Phoenicia by the mid-tenth century BC".

[99] Women in Phoenicia took part in public events and religious processions, with depictions of banquets showing them casually sitting or reclining with men, dancing, and playing music.

The two most famous Phoenician women are political figures: Jezebel, portrayed in the Bible as the wicked princess of Sidon, and Dido, the semi-legendary founder and first queen of Carthage.

In Virgil's epic poem, the Aeneid, Dido is described as having been the co-ruler of Tyre, using cleverness to escape the tyranny of her brother Pygmalion and to secure an ideal site for Carthage.

[165] Biblical traditions state that the Tribe of Asher lived amongst local Phoenicians,[166][167] and that David and Solomon gave Phoenicia full political autonomy due to their supremacy in shipping and trade.

[176] In Carthage, which had developed a complex republican system of government, the marzeh may have played a role in forging social and political ties among citizens; Carthaginians were divided into different institutions that were solidified through communal feasts and banquets.

According to William G. Dever, an archaeologist and scholar of the Old Testament, described features of the Solomonic Temple such as its longitudinal tripartite plan, fine furnishings, and elaborate decorative motifs were clearly inspired by Phoenician examples.