372 ANTIQUITY OF WRITING. 



Their fine linen, their purple, and (heir glass, Mere superior to 

 those of any other people ; and (heir extraordinary skill in architec- 

 ture and other arts, was such, that whatever was great, elegant, or 

 pleasing, whether in buildings, apparel, vessels, or toys, were dis- 

 tinguished by the epithet of Tyrian or Sidonian *. 



The Si Ionia is or Phenicians were the first people who ventured 

 out to sea in ships t ; they were; the greatest commercial people of 

 all antiquity, and engrossed all the commerce of the western world. 

 This very early and high degree of civilization, justly entitles them 

 to urge the strongest pretensions to the first use of alphabetic cha. 

 racters J. 



proposed to him. Phenicia continued to he one of the scats of learning ; and 

 both Tyre and Sidon produced their philosophers of later ages ; Bocthus and 

 Dindatus of Sidon, Autlpater of Tyre, and Apollonius of the same place, gave 

 an account of the writ inland disciples of Zcno. Universal Ili-t. vol. ii.p. 846. 

 Tyre and Sidon were the principal cities in Pheoicia. See the Treaty 

 which king Solomon entered into with Hiram king of Tjre, for artificer*, ;i< it 

 is recorded in '2 Ciiron.chap. ii. v. 7 16. Hiram began to rei^n in (he one 

 thousand three hundred and twenty-ninth year after lite deluge, and one thou- 

 sand and twenty years before the Christian sera. Solomon also contracted u ith 

 king Hiram, for >h':ps to bring gold abd precious tones fur ornamenting bis 

 buildings. 2 Chron. v. 18, and chap. ix. . 10 and 18. 



( Sanconiatho says, that tiie I'hemcians made sliips of bur ten in which they 

 sailed in the time of Saturn, 01 Cronus. And D'mny-iu- -;iy>, the Plieniciaiij 

 were the first wlio ventured to sea iu ships. Pericg. v. 907. 



f The learned authors of the Nouveau Traite de Diplomatique, not only cor- 

 roborate but illustrate thisopinion. Knfin, toutdepose exclusivementen faveur 

 de 1'antiquitc de la langue Phenicienne. Par la Phenicie on n'entend pas 

 seulcment les villes de la cole maritime dela Palestine, mais de plus In Judee & 

 les pays des Clianancens & den Hebreux. Herodote lni-mmc, lib. ii.col. 104, 

 par les Plieniciens de.signoit (videmment les Hebreux ou Ii s Juifs, puisque, selnn 

 lui,les Pli6niciens se faisoient circoncire, & que les Tyriens, le^ Sidonieni,&c. 

 n'^toi'-nt point dans cet usage. Par ecri'ure Phinicienne, on entend done, la 

 Sainaritaine, c'est-a dire r.-ineien Hebreu, [Sovrtit,Dititriatwn sur le$ Medaillet 

 Hebrai'iue p. -I ;] different de I'Htbreuquarri on Clialdaique, qui est le modern.-, 

 que les Juis out adopte depu'is la captmtc de Babylone, aiiisi que 1'ont pensee 

 S. Jerome, S. Irene, S. Clement d'Alexandrie, &c. &c. 



Lesauteun qui adjugent I'antiquite a recriture S;imarilainesonf snns notnbre. 

 Genebrard, Bellarmin, le Pere Morin, M. Huet, Dom. Montfaiicon, Doin. Cal- 

 met, M. Renaudot, Joseph Scaliger, Grotiiu, Casiubon. Walton, Hoc hard, Vos- 

 si us, Pridcaux, Capelle, Simon, Sit . &f. se sont hautcment derlare<i on faveur 

 en ce sentiment ; and ilssont a]'.pii\e- sur les Auteun ; t nciensaml sur I'analogie* 

 i'.e, raraefen-M S unarituins avec. les caracter.-s Grecs ; resemblance nicessaire 

 pournliti-nir lasloire de I'antiquile, puKque les ilerniTs *e pi-rdcnt dans la nuit 

 des tempts, nnd qne cependnnt ce n'e t point eux qui les out invenu 



Ln comUiuuut la descendance des it-tires, il eu ie-,ulteia l am oup de jour we 



