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Hello, in his masterpiece The History is the Greek writer Herodotus describes how the alphabet

first came to Europe.

He explains that merchants from the Eastern Mediterranean settled in Greece, bringing a writing

system which they talked to the locals the first time, according to Herodotus, that the

Greeks had seen or used in alphabet.

These merchants were the Phoenicians, famed in the ancient world as sailors and traders.

They seemed of originating in what we'd now call Lebanon, but in the second millennium

BC they spread their influence all over the Mediterranean, from Spain to Syria.

Both the Romans and Greek wrote about their activities, but the Phoenicians themselves

left frustratingly little evidence over their activities, and the true extent in nature

of Phoenician culture is still the subject of considerable debate.

The admitted discussion of Phoenicians are Mark Walmer, Assistant Principal at Collingwood

College Durham University, Josephine Quinn, Lecturer in Ancient History at the University

of Oxford, and Cyprian Broodbank, Professor of Mediterranean Archaeology at University College

London.

Mark Walmer, can you tell us about the origins of the Phoenicians and their civilization?

Good morning, yes.

The Phoenicians are actually a fairly enigmatic people.

They're quite difficult to trace.

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