Developments in the eighth century B.C. enabled states to reemerge. The ports of Argos and Corinth, on the eastern shore of the Peloponnesus, grew very fast, trade with the Near East began to flourish, and increased domestic production enabled a new, wealthy elite to rise. Commercial activity centered on the acquisition of metals from the Near East for the manufacture of luxury goods. In this process, the Greeks came in contact with and adopted the alphabet of the Phoenicians, as well as other innovations that accelerated change in Greek civilization.