136 



PHOENICIA 



like ; they assigned to eiu-li character a single 

 definite articulation, auil U> each articulation a 

 single definite character. They thus got rid of the 

 immense multiplicity of earlier systems, uiul in- 

 vented an alphaliet the value at which was no 

 transcendent that it has maintained itself ever 

 Mm-'-, and among ci\ili-cd nation- ha- superseded 

 cxery oilier, having only received certain slight 

 modifications. Their alphalict was invented l>.v 

 the Phoenicians for business purposes, which re- 

 <|iiired despatch ; anil it was employed almost 

 wholly for business purposes until a conn>anitively 

 late date. The Plio-nicians pni|>er, so long as they 

 remained a nation, scarcely possessed anything 

 that we should call a literature. They employed 

 writing for short inscriptions on votive offerings, on 

 tombs, and on x-oins, for curt records of the history 

 of their country', or rather of their several towns, 

 and no doubt for commercial transactions, hut 

 tlii-y scarcely wrote luniks or indulged in what we 

 understand hy the art of eom|.o>ition. One work 

 on a philosophic subject (the atomic theory) U 

 signed t<> Moclius, a Siilonian ( I'osiil. ap. Strab. 

 xvii. - 2, sect. '2-2 >, and one on religion, or lather on 

 cosmogony, almost certainly apocryphal, to San- 

 clinniathon, a lierytian. lint otherwise Pho-nii-ian 

 literature In-long-., not to Asia, hut to Africa. The 

 fragment of the /V/-////ii. of llaiino (<|.v. ), which has 

 come down to us in a Creek dress, shows that tho 

 Liby-Pho-iiicians at any rate could write interest- 

 ing iNmks of travels; and the Latin writers siieak 

 highly of Ilii-mjisiil, Mago, llamilcar, and others, 

 who had coni|M-d valuable works n\*>n the history, 

 geography, and 'origines' of Africa, and also upon 

 practical agriculture (Sallust. If. J. sect. 17; Cic. De 

 Oral. i. 58; Amm. Marc. xxii. lo ; Solin. Pulyhist. 

 eel. 34 . 



Origin and History. Two accounts have come 

 tlown to us of the origin of the Plue.mcians. 

 According to Herodotus, Stralm, I'liny, and others, 

 they dwelt anciently on the shores of the Persian 

 Cuff (Erythrn-an Sea), whence they crossed hy 

 land to Syria, and settled on the coast of the 

 Mediterranean. Herodotus (vii. 89) declares this 

 to lie their own account of themselves, and Strain 

 MVK that there was a similar tradition among the 

 inhabitant* of the gulf, who showed, ill proof of it, 

 I'liirniciaii temples on some of the islands. Justin, 

 on the contrary, in his epitome of Trogus Pomjieins, 

 declares that they were driven out of their country 

 by an earthquake, and passed to the Mediterranean 

 from the 'Syrian lake, or Dead Sea. This hit In- 

 version of tlie story has lieen connected by some 

 with the destruction of the Cities of the I'laiu 

 recorded in Cencsis. Whichever account lie pre- 

 ferred, it would seem that the 1'hccnicians regarded 

 thcniM-lves as immigrants into their country, and 

 not (like most ancient nations) as altoriginals. 



Tin- seltl cuts njHin the Mediterranean coast 



wi-ie no doubt made by degrees, and the settlers 

 at different places were,* from the first, indeticndcnt 

 of each other. Among the earliest of the 

 occupied wi-ii- t In w of Sidon, Arka, Aradus, and 

 Simyia (Cen. x. 15 IS). Tyre was not settled till 

 'ily laici, and Tri|Hilis was a colony from 

 Twi. Miion. anil Aiadus. Cebal, Akko (Acre), 

 livrylu* (Bay mat), and Sarepta are meiiliom-d, 

 together uith Tyre, in Kgvptian inscriptions of the 

 14th century li.r. i RteorZ "/'//if ]'n\t. vol. ii. pp. 

 llu. Ill i; and it would S,...M'I that from almut 1000 

 to I .HKI I'lncmcia must have IHH-II a de|icndency of 

 Kgypt. lint on the decline of Kgypt under the 

 I \M-iiticth ilyn.i-ty the nourishing time of 1'liicnici.i 

 began. Siifon es|-eiiill> gicw io greatness, and 

 became known a- 'deal Sidon ' (.losh. xi. H ; xix. 

 38). I'ndcr her hegemony Akko, Ach/ib, and 

 Ajihck wen- able to resist the com|iiering Israelite* 

 {Judge*, i. 31 ). She even at this time pmdicd hci 



land dominion as far as Dan or l-aisli, on the head- 

 waters of the .Ionian (iliiil. xviii. 7, 8). Her lo-cU 

 traversed the Mediterranean, and she became 

 known to the Creeks as the chief commercial 



{ tower in the world, and as eminent in various 

 iranchex of industry. At the same time she liegan 

 that system of colonisation which Tvre afterwards 

 pursued with so much success. Her emigrants 

 occupied Citium and other places in Cyprus, the 

 in Islands, Malta, Utica, and other sites on 

 the North African coast, together with many 

 jHiints in Sicily. She also endeavoured to extend 

 tier influence into I'hilistia, and, after colonUin^r 

 Dor (Scylax, 7Y/-////H.V, sect. 104), made war on 

 Ascalon. Here, however, she received a rebutl'. 

 The Philistines under Ascalon attacked her by 

 land, and so pressed the siege that the bulk of the 

 citizens lied from the town by sea, and took refuge 

 at Tyre (Justin, xviii. 3), which may thus have 

 acquired her pre eminency. Certainly in tin- 

 second period of Pha-nician history i r.'.VJ to s77 

 It. C.) Tyre rather than Sidon takes the lead. The 

 Tynan colonies of Thasos, Alxlera in Thrace, 

 Proneetus in liitbynia, (iades, Malaca, Sexti, 

 Carteia, Itclon, ami a second Alidera in Sjiain, 

 Caralis in Sardinia, llailrnmctum, and the lesser 

 I.eptis in North Africa, Tingis and l.ixus on the 

 West African coiist are I'onmleil. The new .liida-an 

 kingdom established by Saul and ruled by I >avid 

 (cirai lOTiO) linds Hiram (Hiiom) of Tyre a imwer- 

 ful neighlKiur, and enters into fricmlly iclat ions with 

 him. I he friendship continues under Solomon, 

 and both the Hebrew and the Tynan annals (Dius, 

 Fr. 2 ; Menaiul. Fr. 1 ) mention the communica- 

 tions which took place lictween them. Hiram -,-: i > 

 Solbmon timln-r, and lent him workmen for DOth 

 his palace and temple, receiving in return large 

 annual imyments in corn, wine, and oil. anil 

 ultimately obtaining a cession of territory (Cabul), 

 which, however, he did not much value (1 1\ini;s. 

 ix. 10-13). The friendship led on to a |uirticipa- 

 tion of Solomon in the Tynan trade, Uith with 

 T'urshisli, or Tartessus, in Spain (ibid. \. "2*2), and 

 with Ophir, iR-rlmis the coast of Malabar ( I Kii 

 ix. '26; x. II). Hiram reigne<l forty-three years. 

 and greatly beautified and Improved his capital, 

 which he enlarged by substructions and by uniting 

 to it a seiuuate island, besides adorning it with 

 new temples, and probably with a new palace. 

 He is thought to have also sent an expedition to 

 Africa, and reduced the iieople of I'tica to subjec- 

 tion. His dynasty is thus given by Menandi i : 

 Hiram reigned forty-three yeai-s, from alioiit !IMI to 

 93(3. Kalea/.ar. his son, \vhosncceeded him, reigned 

 seven years, from 936 to 929. Alnl-. Vstartus. 

 Hiram's grandson, then succeeded, and reigned 

 nine yearn, from 929 to !fc20, when he w:us mnniered 

 by four of his foster-brothers, the eldest of whom 

 took I he throne, and reigned twelve years, from 

 JfcSl to 908. He was succeeded by a monarch of 

 the ancient stock, Astartus, who also reigned 

 twelve years, from 908 to 890. Ascrymns, a 

 brother of Asturtus, then mounted the throne, and 

 reigned nine years, from 890 to H)S7, when he was 

 murdered b\ another brother, Pheles, who, after a 

 reign of eiaut months, was ill his turn murdered by 

 Itholial, priest of . \shtoreth, who held the throne 

 for thirty-two years, from S.S7 to ,S.V>. Itholial 

 amicars as F.tli-oaal, and is called king of Sidon 

 (I Kings, xvi. 31), since he probably reigm-d OM-I 

 Uith cities. He gave his daughter, .le/elx-1, in 

 marriage to Aliah. and was thus the means of 

 introducing the Baal worship among the Kraelilcs. 

 Tin- foundation of lioliys on the Syrian coast, 

 north of Cebal, and the colonisation of Anxii in 

 Numidia are assigned to him. He was succeeded 

 by his son, Bftdezor, who reigned six years, from 

 856 to 849, and then gave place to his win, Mattan. 



