The Phoenicians lived along the coast of Lebanon: although they did not possess much land, they had local access to important raw materials and to valuable timber from the Lebanese mountains.
The Phoenicians built ships with this excellent and abundant cedar timber and by 1000 BC were trading throughout the Mediterranean. Cyprus, rich in copper ore, soon came under Phoenician influence.
The Phoenicians established colonies to obtain raw materials, especially metal ores. Carthage is the most famous but there were many others in North Africa, Spain, Sicily, Sardinia, Malta and Ibiza.
The Phoenicians' main rivals were the Greeks, who also established colonies on Mediterranean coasts and islands. They had separate spheres of influence, and generally managed to avoid conflict.
Eventually the Phoenicians ventured into the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. They are said to have circumnavigated Africa around 600 BC, and may have established a trading route to Brittany and Cornwall.
