THE HISTORY OF COMMERCE. 169 
products the most ancient histories point, and from whence at the same 
time the arts received their foundation, commerce first acquired a wide 
expansion ; for in the most ancient times valuable oriental goods such as 
aromatics, spices, perfumes, gold, precious stones, and pearls, ivory, fine 
wood, cotton, silk, costly fabrics, and gold and silver brocades, were 
spread from India, Babylonia and Arabia to the western coast of Asia 
and Egypt, and they were conveyed for security in large companies or by 
caravans. 
The Phoenicians in Tyre and Sidon on the Syrian coast or in the land of 
Canaan, soon shared this traffic. But they were not content with this 
circumscribed and difficult land commerce ; for improving their naviga- 
tion, and incited by rich profits, they were the first bold maritime people to 
encounter the dangers of the ocean, whilst at the same time they pushed 
their commerce through caravans to the rich Babylonian markets of 
fleliopolis or Baalbec, and Palmyra or Tadmor, to India and Arabia 
Petrae, and traded with those renowned ancient Egyptian cities, 
Merce, Thebes, and Memphis in corn, cotton and costly linen. About 
1,500 years before Christ, they had already founded commercial settle- 
ments at Cyprus, Khodes, Crete or Candia on the coast of Asia Minor, 
and Greece, and peopled later, by means of colonies, Sicily, Panormo 
now called Palermo, and on the northern coast of Africa, Utica, after- 
wards Carthage, which served them as stations for long voyages. The 
Phoenician ships also sailed through the pillars of Hercules, the ancient 
name for the Straits of Gibraltar, and settled their commercial colonies in 
the south west of Spain, then rich in silver, founded Gades and Hispalis, 
now called Cadiz and Seville ; even the tin mines of Cornwall appear to 
have been known to the Tyrian merchants. The Madeiras on the western 
coast of Africa also received from them colonies. 
In the East their navigation extended principally in Solomon's time 
and in connection with that king, to Palestine, in their neighbourhood, 
through the ports of Elath and Erion-geber, on the Bed Sea, having 
the gold region of Ophir for its boundaries, which some have placed in 
Ceylon, others in Arabia Felix, and more recently, on the eastern coast 
of Africa ; but the part taken by the Israelites, in commerce at sea, 
ceased soon after the death of their king, Solomon. 
The Phoenicians were great and renowned in several trades besides 
navigation. They discovered the art of making glass and purple 
colours, weaving and dying splendid stuffs, wrought much brilliant 
merchandise in ivory, glass, amber, gold, silver, precious stones and 
pearls. In the ancient times of Horner, and under David and Solomon, 
people praised the Syrian and Sidonian garments, which were carried to 
all countries, as articles of luxury for the kings and great. We also owe 
to them the first money coined. 
Contemporaneously flourished through industry, in consequence of 
her commercial connection with India, proud Babylon on the Euphrates, 
which not only in architecture, in metallurgy, in steel and curriery, but 
