re the Phenicians?

The inhabitants of Phenicia, a country of Syria, in Asia.

Which was the more ancient city, Tyre or Sidon?

Sidon,--having been built, as is supposed, soon after the Flood, by
Sidon, the eldest son of Chanaan. Tyre, about 25 miles to the south,
was built about the year 1252 before Christ, by a colony from Sidon.
The Phenicians planted numerous colonies on the shores of the
Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and diffused, to a great extent, among
their uncivilized neighbors the arts and improvements of civilized
life. One of their most celebrated colonies was that founded by them
on the northern coast of Africa; and it was this colony that built the
famous city of Carthage.

_Diffused_, spread abroad, scattered.

Did not Carthage afterwards become as flourishing as the parent city
of Tyre?

In time, Carthage not only equalled Tyre itself, but surpassed
it,--pursuing the course the Phenicians had begun, and sending its
merchant fleets through Hercules' Pillars, (now the Straits of
Gibraltar,) along the western coast of Africa, and northwards, along
the coast of Europe, visiting particularly Spain, Gaul, &c. They even
undertook voyages, the sole object of which was to discover new
countries and explore unknown seas. The Carthaginians appear to have
been the first who undertook voyages solely for the sake of
discoveries.

Were not both these celebrated cities destroyed?

Tyre, whose immense riches and power were the subject of many ancient
histories, was destroyed by the Grecian Emperor Alexander the Great,
and its navigation and commerce transferred by him to Alexandria, a
new city which he meditated making his capital. Alexandria, in a short
time, became the most important commercial city in the world. Thus
arose navigation among the Egyptians; it was afterwards so
successfully cultivated by them, that Tyre and Carthage (which last,
as before mentioned, was subdued by the Romans,) were quite forgotten.

_Transferred_, removed.

_Capital_, chief city or town in a state or kingdom.

Who was Alexander the Great?

The son of Philip, King of Macedonia, in Greece; he was celebrated for
his great ambition, and the number of his conquests; he overturned the
Persian empire, and subdued many cities and provinces in the East.

Did not Alexandria undergo the same fate as Tyre and Carthage?

Egypt was at last reduced to a Roman province, after the battle of
Actium, and its tr