text: Phoenicia (Phoenician: כנענ, Canaan or Kana'an, nonstandardly, Phenicia; Eng, Greek: Φοινίκη: Phoiníkē, Latin: Phœnicia) was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, Phoenician civilization was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean between the period of 1550 BC to 300 BC.