Few peoples have given as many impulses to ancient Europe - first Greece, then Rome - as the Phoenicians, culturally, economically, socially, and politically. Starting from the coast of present-day Syria and Lebanon, they established numerous colonies along the Mediterranean coast from 1000 BC. Nevertheless, little has been preserved about these experienced seafarers and shrewd merchants, the founders of Carthage and bearers of the alphabet. After the Phoenician cities were reduced to rubble, the victors also erased their traces from the cultural memory of the West. Nevertheless, at the beginning of many developments that are considered typically European, there are innovations and cultural techniques that the Phoenicians brought from the Near East across the Mediterranean. Michael Sommer presents the latest state of research in an easily readable cultural history.