An adjective meaning "characteristic of the Phoenician people." The Phoenicians (called "phoinikes" by the Greeks, "Poeni" by the Romans and "Canaanites" by the Hebrews) were a people, organized into independent city states, occupying the Mediterranean coast from modern Syria southward into Lebanon and Galilee. The archaeological record indicates that they were already present in that area during the 2000s BC, and they remained an independent and influential culture until they were absorbed and integrated into Greek culture during the Hellenistic period. The Phoenicians were great seafarers and traders and they established trading and farming communities throughout the Mediterranean. The most famous of these colonies is Carthage. Bibliography: OCD, s.v. "Phoenicians"