Phenicia

Phoenicia (or Phenicia, meaning: red; purple) was the coastal strip of Syria and Lebanon north of Mount Carmel, home to the great Semitic maritime cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos. The Phoenicians were master shipbuilders, traders, and craftsmen whose purple dye and cedar exports gave them wealth and influence throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. Solomon allied with Hiram of Tyre to obtain cedar for the temple and skilled craftsmen including Hiram the bronzeworker. In the New Testament Jesus traveled into the region of Tyre and Sidon and healed the Syrophoenician woman's daughter, and the early church established a congregation in Phoenicia during the dispersal after Stephen's death.