Lost Civilizations: Phoenicia & Carthage

Phoenicia used to be a mighty civilization mostly located in current day Lebanon. It was prominent during the era of classical antiquity, established in roughly 2500 BC. Some of the more notable cities were Tyre, Byblos, and Sidon. The Phoenicians were also renowned for their trade and trade routes around the Mediterranean, creating many colonial settlements like Carthage.

During the Phoenician reign, their prowess for trade was also visible in their mastery in the arts of ancient maritime shipbuilding and navigation. Their boats wore sails dyed in the colour, Tyrian purple. Tyrian purple, which is also known as Phoenician purple or imperial purple, was a very difficult pigment to acquire. Produced by extracting mucous secretion from sea snails. This made Tyrian purple the signature colour of the ancient Phoenician civilization. In the current day Tyrian purple is often associated with royalty and is one of the rarest dyes to come by.