A Pale Glow in the East 39 



which is now known from comparative etymological researches 

 to signify especially the sperm whale. The exact text reads: "Ninip 

 and Nergal, who bravery love, the beasts of the field have entrusted 

 to him, and in ships of Arvad he rode; a blower in the great sea he 

 slew. Wild bulls destructive and fine . . ." Ninip and Nergal were 

 the intrepid Phoenician whaling captains; "he" was King Tiglath- 

 Pileser; and the "great sea" was the Mediterranean. 



The larger whales are not now common in the Mediterranean but 

 skeletons of right whales have been found at the sites of this ancient 

 Phoenician whaling industry and sperm whales still occur in that 

 sea and probably were much commoner then than they are today. 

 That the whale killed in Tiglath-Pileser's presence, and which was of 

 paramount importance to this Phoenician industry, was the sperm 

 whale is confirmed by the discovery of statues in bas-relief of two 

 very obvious, square-headed, spouting sperms placed on the gates 

 of the city of Assur by King Assur-Na9ir-Pal, who reigned two 

 hundred years later, from 884 to 860 b.c. It was also under this king 

 that the Assyrians renewed their western conquests and finally over- 

 ran the whole eastern Mediterranean seaboard. The wily Phoeni- 

 cians, however, unlike the other tribes, did not attempt to defend 

 themselves but voluntarily joined the empire and paid tribute. This 

 tribute, moreover, is detailed in certain Assyrian and Phoenician 

 records that have come down to us, and among many things listed 

 appears "the teeth of nakhiri and dolphins," which were very highly 

 prized by the conquerors. One Assyrian text of this time says: ''Seni 

 na-khi-ri bi-mi-ut tehamti ma-da-ta-su-nu am-khar,'' which means, 

 literally: "Teeth of blowers, the produce of the sea, their tribute I 

 received." 



Phoenicia was always the center of a remarkable industry manu- 

 facturing ivory ornaments of highly skilled artistry. Ancient Egyp- 

 tian and Assyrian nobles collected ivory then just as wealthy people 

 do today, and some of these collections have been found. They are 

 known as Phoenician ivories because those people were always the 

 past masters at the art. Elephant ivory was then rare and the Egyp- 

 tians used hippopotamus teeth. The Phoenicians used the teeth of 

 the sperm whale, which is some of the finest ivory known. Ivory 

 was, in fact, at that time commonly known as "whale's bones" — 

 not "whalebone," be it clearly understood. It seems the smaller but 



