ABSTRACT
The term ‘Phoenicians’ indicates those peoples who spoke a north-western Semitic language, lived on the Syro-Lebanese coast from 1200 bc, and later on spread throughout the Mediterranean. This was their Greek designation (Phoinikes). Locally, they were either defined as Canaanites, without any distinction from the people living in the hinterland, or even Sidonians, after the name of one of their main cities. This multiplicity of designations already indicates that the Phoenicians did not have a specific or official name for themselves. This is hardly surprising, considering the fact that the Phoenicians were never politically unified and constituted a network of cities acting as independent kingdoms.
