Which Bronze Age maritime civilization dominated the central and western Mediterranean trade routes from city-states like Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos, and developed the alphabetic script that became the ancestor of modern Western alphabets?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Phoenicians
- Step 1: The Phoenicians were Semitic maritime traders based in coastal Canaan (modern Lebanon and coastal Syria).
- Step 2: Renowned for exporting Tyrian purple dye extracted from murex snails and cedar timber, they established colonies like Carthage and created a 22-letter consonantal abjad alphabet that Greeks adapted with vowels.
Answer
Phoenicians
Why not the others: 'Philistines' The Philistines were Aegean Sea Peoples who settled on the southwestern coast of the Levant (Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon); 'Hittites' The Hittites were an Indo-European imperial civilization in Anatolia renowned for iron metallurgy and chariot warfare; 'Etruscans' The Etruscans were an ancient civilization in central Italy (Etruria) that preceded and influenced early Rome.
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