The Phoenician Network (Parts 1 - 2):

A revolutionary writing system where each simple symbol represents a sound, making written contracts accessible to ordinary merchants.

A formal record of a business deal.

The business of transporting and trading goods over the sea, which was the foundation of the Phoenician economy. 

A financial strategy where multiple investors pool their capital to fund a single sea voyage to spread the risk of catastrophic loss.

Formal documents or records created to establish binding obligations, rules, or facts, primarily including international treaties and commercial contracts. 

Money that has value outside of its use as a currency, such as the silver measured by weight that the Phoenicians used. 

The use of a powerful navy not to conquer land, but to control the seas, protect commercial shipping routes, and create a monopoly on trade.

Colonies founded specifically to control key sea lanes, access to raw materials, or important markets. 

The form of money used by Carthage in this era, where silver was traded by weight and purity, not as standardized coins.

• World History Encyclopedia, articles on "Phoenicia" and "Phoenician Alphabet."
• Herodotus, The Histories.
• "The Phoenicians and the West: Politics, Colonies and Trade" by Maria Eugenia Aubet.

• World History Encyclopedia, article on "Carthage."
• "The Making of the Hellenistic World" by Graham Shipley.
• "The Punic Wars" by Adrian Goldsworthy (for context on Carthage's economic power).