Editing Classical Period (section)

===The Phoenicians===
Among the first peoples to recover after the Bronze Age Collapse was a collection of small city states in what is now Jordan, starting in the 10th century BCE. Most notable was the city state of Tyre, which became a major trading hub sending Merchant Ships across the Mediterranean and beyond. The Phonecians also established colonies in North Africa, one of which would grow into Carthage.

The most notable thing the Phonetician did was the invention of the Phonetic Alphabet. Earlier forms of writing had pictures represent syllables (Mesopotamian Cuneiform, Mycenaean Greek Linear B) or whole words (Egyptian Hieroglyphs) and required either hundreds or thousands of characters. The Phoenicians in contrast cut that down to 22 that represented a basic vocal sound, or phoneme.