1 I 6 PHCENICIAN COLONIZATION. 



Herciiles or Melcarth on the obverse, and on the reverse one or 

 two fish with a Phoenician inscription in two lines, the lower line 

 in Hebrew characters HAGADIR, the Phoenician form of the city 

 name. It was of immense maritime importance, having by its 

 position an almost exclusive commerce with the Northern 

 Atlantic, with the western coasts of Spain and Gaul, with Britain, 

 North Germany, and the Baltic. Its size was moderate, not 

 quite three Roman miles in circumference, this space not 

 being crowded, as so many of its citizens were always absent 

 at sea. 



The Phoenicians were an eminently religious people, as shown 

 in many parts of the Bible, where their gods and sacrifices " in 

 their high places " are mentioned. Their gods are Kronos, or 

 Saturn who is the Moloch of the Canaanites, or Baal, supposed 

 to be the sun as the chief power of Nature. The latter they 

 worshipped. To him they had recourse by propitiating him 

 with human sacrifices, sometimes of captives taken in war, at 

 other times as the most acceptable offering of the best children 

 of the noblest citizens. The Tyrian Hercules was the patron 

 deity of the mother city and all its colonies ; the Phoenician 

 name was Malcarth. The female deity associated with the 

 last named is Astarte ; she was sometimes identified with 

 Vesta, sometimes with Diana on account of her symbol 

 the crescent moon, and sometimes with Venus on account 

 of her worship, which was celebrated with the utmost abomina- 

 tions. Malcarth, who corresponded with the Greek Hercules, 

 was held in special honour, and missions with offerings were 

 sent at regular intervals to his great temple at Tyre. The 

 Phoenician people showed extraordinary reverence for their gods ; 

 in every city the temple was the finest building ; their coins bore 

 religious emblems. At Gades, or Cadiz, the everlasting light was 

 kept burning in the temple; and Herodotus says of his visit to 

 Tyre, " My attention was attracted by the various rich offerings in 

 the temple at Tyre ; particularly by one pillar all of gold, 

 and another of emerald, which by night shone with amazing 

 splendour." 



