 According to Strabo, it was founded around 940 BC as the trading settlement of "Kʿrt" (meaning "city" in the Phoenician language; compare Carthage and Cartagena).The area had much to offer a trader; the hinterland behind Carteia, in the modern south of Andalusia, was rich in wood, cereals, oranges, lemons, lead, iron, copper and silver.Dyes were another much sought-after commodity, especially those from the murex shellfish, used to make the prized Tyrian purple.