A folk dance native to the Eastern Mediterranean, the Palestinian Dabke jumps may have origins in ancient Canaanite fertility rites, where the Phoenicians were probably the first teachers of the dance to the rest of the world. Generally speaking, ancient dances were often connected with religious rituals, a link that was common up to the 16th century and still continues in some countries.

Phoenicia was a sea-faring civilization, that included the coastal areas of today's Lebanon, northern Israel, and Southern Syria from about 1550 BC to 300 BC. The Phoenician writing system became widely used, spread by Phoenician merchants across the Mediterranean world, where its alphabet evolved and was assimilated by many other cultures.

Robert Sepehr is an author, producer and independent anthropologist.