That used to be said, not sure that’s true; the Greek word “phoenix” is said to have been the root of “phoenician”, but the Phoenicians themselves referred to themselves by city of origin, e.g. Tyrian (that was also commonplace among Greeks, although they also identified themselves by ethnicity, such as Ionian, Dorian, etc). Wiki-wacky traces the etymology back to an Egyptian term for “Asian”, which makes sense, the Greeks loved puns and wordplay.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenicia#Etymology
Supermarket molluscs reveal Roman secret
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/981283/posts
Rediscovered, Ancient Color Is Reclaiming Israeli Interest
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2681670/posts
Scholar on ancient textile colours gives lecture in Malta
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2255667/posts
The ‘Shani’ Has Been Found, And It’s Orange
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/814454/posts
I’m not Arab, I’m Phoenician’ a common phrase, but flawed concept
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1081677/posts
https://www.google.com/search?q=phoenician%20purple%20dye%20site%3Afreerepublic.com
https://www.google.com/search?q=phoenician%20purple%20dye
Thank you for those links. Very interesting.
Big reading assignment for a Monday morning, Professor. :)