Cities along the shores of the eastern mediterranean tended to be

The Phoenicians lived along the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean, which tended to be a thriving economy due to their abundance in purple dye. The manufacturing of purple dye enable them to survive as they established many colonies along the shores of the sea. In addition, they are also well known for their alphabet, which influenced both Greek and Roman alphabet.

the answer to fill in the blank in this question would be the word resource, it is defined as the money, material or people (since human resource is a very valuable good) that a company or a person has at disposition (meaning they can use the resource as they see fit), to be able to complete a task or achieve a goal.  

this isn't a question and if you're going to list things be kind and use commas.