An ancient Mediterranean people who were master sailors and traders, famous for inventing a purple dye and creating one of history's first alphabets.
From Greek 'Phoinikes,' possibly meaning 'purple people' from 'phoinix' (purple); they got this name from their famous dye industry, not from their origin.
The Phoenicians gave the world the alphabet we still use today—they simplified Egyptian hieroglyphics into 22 letters, and the Greeks added vowels, which became Latin, which became English!
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