by various Semitic populations, who had built up flourishing civilizations. The people inhabiting what is now Lebanon were referred to as Phoenicians by the Greeks.

The Phoenician cities were highly dependent on both land- and seaborne trade and their cities included a number of major ports in the area. In order to provide a resting place for their merchant fleets, to maintain a Phoenician monopoly on an area's natural resource, or to conduct trade on its own, the Phoenicians established numerous