THE SOURCE OF TtfE NILE. 429 



great and trading flate, which he united to his empire,. 

 would yet have loll him the trade he fought to cultivate, by 

 the very means he ufed to obtain it, had not Tyre been in 

 a capacity to fucceed to Edom, and to collect its mariners 

 and artificers, fcattered abroad by the conqueft. 



David took pofTemon of two ports, Eloth and Ezion-ga- 

 ber *, from which he carried on the trade to Ophir and Tar- 

 fhifh, to a very great extent, to the day of his death. We are 

 ftruck with aflonifhment when we reflect upon the fum 

 that Prince received in fo fhort a time from thefe mines of 

 Ophir. For what is faid to be given by King David + and his 

 Princes for the building of the Temple of Jerufalem, ex- 

 ceeds in value eight hundred millions of our money, if the 

 talent there fpoken of is a Hebrew talent J, and not a weight 

 of the fame denomination, the value of which was lefs, and 

 peculiarly referved for and ufed in the traffic of thefe pre- 

 cious metals, gold and filver. It was, probably, an African 

 or Indian weight, proper to the fame mines, whence was 

 gotten the gold appropriated to fine commodities only, as is 

 the cafe with our ounce Troy different from the Averdu- 

 poife. • 



Solomon, who fucceeded David in his kingdom, was his- 

 fucceffor likewife in the friendfhip of Hiram king of Tyre,, 



Solomon* 



* 1 Kirg^j chap. i:i ver. 26. 2 Chron. chap. viii. ver.- 17. f 1 Chron. chap. xxii. ver, 14,- 

 1;, \6-. Chap. xxix. ver. $, 4, 5, 6, 7. — Three thoufand Hebrew talents of gold, reduced to 

 our money, amount to twenty-one millions and fix: hundred thoufand pounds Sterling. 



J The value of a Hebrew/ talent appears from Exodus, chap. xxxviii. ver. 2^ 1 26. For 

 603,550 perfons being taxed at half a fhekei each, they muft have paid in the whole 301,77; »' 

 now that fum is faid to amount to 100 talents, 1775 fhekels only ; deducl the two latter fums, 

 and there will remain 300,000, which, divided by 108, will leave 3000 fhekels for each o£- 

 dicfe taleius.. 



