Beautiful Phoenix Quotes to Keep in Mind But, like the phoenix, new humanity will rise from the ashes of old mankind. "The phoenix hope may fly over the arid sky and still defy fortune's wrath; emerge from the ashes." Cervantes, Miguel de. Phoenicia was a city-state on the Mediterranean coast of what is now Lebanon. The name means "Phoenix" in Phoenician. It is believed that this beautiful city was founded around 2000 B.C. by the brothers Shem and Japheth, sons of Noah. The oldest known written document dates back to 1555 B.C. King David of Israel captured the city during his reign. In 586 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon destroyed the city but allowed its people to return home after five years. However, most scholars believe that they migrated to Spain or Portugal instead. The best-known symbol of Phoenicia is undoubtedly the harpoon with a serpentine head and bone handle. This weapon was used for fishing and hunting sea animals such as dolphins, tuna, and seahorses. It is believed that the first fishermen used handmade tools to catch their prey. As they learned how to work with metal, they started making weapons to defend themselves against wild animals. In the ancient world, ships were made of wood and were not able to go very far from shore.