There were of course stories, but lies were fed into the public view, when stories were told, no one believed them. Who can lead genocide on such a massive scale? No one thought they (The Germans) could. But they did...
The answer to what is not a contributing factor to the Phoenicians becoming a great seafaring civilization is a location next to the mountains. The Levant area where Phoenicians city states were concentrated was rich in natural resources. The location next to the Mediterranean Sea and the ample supply of lumber for ship building made the city states of Phoenicia a great trading civilization.
