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The greatest of all Phoenician settlements was Carthage, founded, so the story goes, in 814 B.C. Like their own city states, these were mainly self-governing. The Phoenicians set up a whole chain of trading posts and settlements throughout the Mediterranean, including colonies in Sicily, Sardinia, Malta, Cyprus, Marseilles and North Africa. It was not so much that Phoenicians had the sea in their blood: the lack of cultivable land drove them to trade and expand overseas, especially after they broke away from the Egyptian Empire around the 14th century B.C. The most famous cities were Sidon, Tyre and Byblos, the religious centre.

Phoenicia was a narrow strip of land on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, and was divided into a number of city states that were to a great extent self-governing.

It is almost certain that these bold, nameless mariners were Phoenicians, the supreme sailors and traders of the Ancient World. There was a moment in history when men first sailed of their own free will out of sight of land. But I failed to find any - the area was excavated, and I lacked time to explore it thoroughly.Using the old Saharan desert routes, the Phoenicians took wine, olive oil, pottery, linen, wool and cloth and exchanged it for gold, ivory and skins, by Angus McBride My guidebook said some ancient murex shells can be still seen in the lower part of the hill, to its left as you head along the street from St.Louis towards the sea. Louis castle), right across Al Ansar road opposite the castle. The Murex Hill can be found to the south-east from the ruins of Qala’at al Muizz (St.

And don’t expect anyone in the city to be aware of where to find it - I was lucky to possess a Promenade map (or rather a scheme) of Saida, with all city touristy sights in it. There are residential buildings on it, and the Muslim cemetery, and without knowing where it is and what it is, you can pass by without noticing. These days the Murex Hill is more of a historic area than a prominent landmark. Thousands of disposed Murex shells coming from purple dye manufactures created the entire artificial 50m Murex Hill in Saida. ‪In Phoenician times, trading glory of Saida was, among other, based on the production of precious purple-dye, which was used to paint clothing for the emperors and nobility.