JEWISH, PH@NICIAN, AND EARLY GREEK ART, ETC. 45 
things terminated through the fickleness of Jacob, who gave up the land 
promised by his fathers for the material food which Egypt offered him, 
although that offer led him to abandon the substantial enjoyment of the soil 
he had held for three generations. I am sadly tempted to go on with this 
view of the subject, but I must proceed no further. I think, however we 
ought to understand that the Jews and the Pheenicians certainly belonged to 
different families of the human race. The Pheenicians, according to a variety 
of evidence—the early Christian Fathers among others—distinetly called 
themselves Canaanites, and they were Canaanites. Therefore they were not 
Shemites. There is a question as to Tarshish which I should like to touch 
upon ; but I have taken up a good deal of time, and the thing I would next 
deal with is the name and meaning of Astarte. [In the discussion I 
mentioned only one meaning of Astarte, but it will be more satisfactory to 
refer the reader for a fuller notice to Hislop’s Two Babylons, Appendix, 
Note J, pp. 407-501. Partridge: London, 1873.] As to Pheenicia, I think 
we can speak of that country as the connecting link between Palestine and 
Greece, or between the East and West generally. I am not disposed to 
attribute to the Pheenicians any higher function than that of commerce. 
They were so engaged in commerce, shipping, and everything that belongs 
to money-making, that they had no consideration for anything of a higher 
character, and they appear to have been the greatest monopolists the world 
has ever known. I think there is great question as to Cyprus being the 
first place in which the Phoenicians and Greeks came into contact. That, 
however, is too large a subject to go into now. With regard to the reference 
made to Tiryns and Mycenw, and the great Cyclopean buildings, I will give 
you the interpretation of the word “ Cyclops,” and how it carries the origin 
of the Cyclopean art of building back to Babylonia. The meaning of the 
word “Cyclops” is derived from “ Khuk,” signifying king, and “ Lohb,” 
signifying flame—which, together, mean King of the Fire-worshippers, or 
Nimrod (see Hislop, p. 374, note). There are other remarks I should 
have liked to add, but I feel that I have already taken up enough of your 
time, and will detain you no longer. 
Captain Francis Perrire (Hon. Sec.).—-Among the letters received from 
those unable to attend is one from Mr. E. A. W. Budge, of the British 
Museum, who kindly places at our service another translation of the in- 
scription, alluded to in page 10 ;—a cast of the original inscription of King 
Eshmtinazar II. may be seen in the Pheenician room in the Museum :— 
“‘T am torn away before my time, a son of a few days, an orphan, the son 
of a widow. I lie in this chest in the grave which I have built. I adjure 
every royal person and man not to open this bed, and not to seek treasures, 
for there are no treasures here. Every royal person and man who shall open 
the chamber of this couch, or who shall carry away the chest of my couch, 
or who shall build over this bed, may they have no bed among the shades, 
may they not be buried in a grave, may they have neither son nor posterity 
to succeed them, and may the holy gods deliver them into the hands of a 
mighty king to rule over them.” 
