Winds of Arvad

The Phoenicians were the greatest seafarers and traders of the ancient world. Situated on the eastern Mediterranean where Lebanon is today, these people built ships known to the Greeks as "Hippos" from the Greek word for Horse. With a carved horse head stempost and fish tail sternpost, these ships traveled as far west as western Africa and as far north as Scandanavia. Known also as "Tarshish Ships," they commonly made runs to Tarshish, now southern Spain. This is likely the type of ship Jonah embarked upon when fleeing from God's command to preach to Nineveh.

The Phoenicians made their first fortunes mass marketing the color purple. Purple was a rare color to find in nature and purple dyes were extremely expensive. The Phoenicians found a clam shell native to their shore containing a sack of purple goop. They dyed fabric with this purple goop and sold it worldwide. Rather than return home with an empty ship, they brought back exotic cargo and their mercantile empire flourished. Their most lasting and important export was the Alphabet.