The Phoenicians created the Mediterranean world as we know it-yet they remain a shadowy and poorly understood group.
Moreover, the field of Phoenician studies is particularly fragmented and scattere.
The academic study of the Phoenicians has come to an important crossroads; the field has grown in sheer content, sophistication of analysis, and diversity of interpretation, and we now need a current overview of where the study of these ancient seafarers and craftsman stands and where it is going.
The Phoenicians created the Mediterranean world as we know it-yet they remain a shadowy and poorly understood group