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History of Phoenicia

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Title: History of Phoenicia

Author: George Rawlinson


        
Release date: March 26, 2006 [eBook #2331]
                Most recently updated: September 6, 2016

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF PHOENICIA ***




Produced by John Bickers and Dagny and David Widger





HISTORY

OF

P H OE N I C I A

by George Rawlinson, M.A.



First Published 1889 by Longmans, Green, and Co.



Camden Professor of Ancient History in the University of Oxford

Canon of Canterbury

Corresponding Member of the Royal Academy of Turin




TO THE

CHANCELLOR, VICE-CHANCELLOR, and SCHOLARS

Of The

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

This Work

His Last as Occupant of a Professorial Chair

Is Dedicated

As a Token of Respect and Gratitude

By The

CAMDEN PROFESSOR

Oct. 1 MDCCCLXXXIX



PREPARER’S NOTE

     The original text contains a number of characters that are
     not available even in 8-bit Windows text. Where possible
     these have been represented with a similar letter, but some
     things, e.g. Hebrew script, have been omitted.

     The 8-bit version of this text includes Windows font
     characters. These may be lost in 7-bit versions of the text,
     or when viewed with different fonts.

     Greek text has been transliterated within brackets “{}”
      using an Oxford English Dictionary alphabet table.
     Diacritical marks have been lost. Phoenician or other
     Semitic text has been replaced with an ellipsis in brackets,
     i.e. “{...}”.

     The numerous sketches and maps in the original have also
     been omitted.


PREFACE

Histories of Phoenicia or of the Phoenicians were written towards the
middle of the present century by Movers and Kenrick. The elaborate work
of the former writer[01] collected into five moderate-sized volumes
all the notices that classical antiquity had preserved of the Religion,
History, Commerce, Art, &c., of this celebrated and interesting nation.
Kenrick, making a free use of the stores of knowledge thus accumulated,
added to them much information derived from modern research, and was
content to give to the world in a single volume of small size,[02] very
scantily illustrated, the ascertained results of criticism and inquiry
on the subject of the Phoenicians up to his own day. Forty-four years
have since elapsed; and in the course of them large additions have been
made to certain branches of the inquiry, while others have remained very
much as they were before. Travellers, like Robinson, Walpole, Tristram,
Renan, and Lortet, have thrown great additional light on the geography,
geology, fauna, and flora of the country. Excavators, like Renan and the
two Di Cesnolas, have caused the soil to yield up most valuable remains
bearing upon the architecture, the art, the industrial pursuits, and the
manners and customs of the people. Antiquaries, like M. Clermont-Ganneau
and MM. Perrot and Chipiez, have subjected the remains to careful
examination and criticism, and have definitively fixed the character
of Phoenician Art, and its position in the history of artistic effort.
Researches are still being carried on, both in Phoenicia Proper and in
the Phoenician dependency of Cyprus, which are likely still further to
enlarge our knowledge with respect to Phoenician Art and Archæology; but
it is not probable that they will affect seriously the verdict already
delivered by competent judges on those subjects. The time therefore
appeared to the author to have come when, after nearly half a century of
silence, the history of the people might appropriately be rewritten. The
subject had long engaged his thoughts, closely connected as it is with
the histories of Egypt, and of the “Great Oriental Monarchies,” which
for thirty years have been to him special objects of study; and a work
embodying the chief results of the recent investigations seemed to him
a not unsuitable termination to the historical efforts which his
resignation of the Professorship of Ancient History at Oxford, and his
entrance upon a new sphere of labour, bring naturally to an end.

The author wishes to express his vast obligations to MM. Perrot and
Chipiez for the invaluable assistance which he has derived from their
great work,[03] and to their publishers, the MM. Hachette, for their
liberality in allowing him the use of so large a number of MM. Perrot
and Chipiez’ Illustrations. He is also much beholden to the same
gentlemen for the use of charts and drawings originally published in
the “Géographie Universelle.” Other works from which he has drawn either
materials or illustrations, or both, are (besides Movers’ and Kenrick’s)
M. Ernest Renan’s “Mission de Phénicie,” General Di Cesnola’s “Cyprus,”
 A. Di Cesnola’s “Salaminia,” M. Ceccaldi’s “Monuments Antiques de
Cypre,” M. Daux’s “Recherches sur les Emporia Phéniciens,” the
“Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum,” M. Clermont-Ganneau’s “Imagerie
Phénicienne,” Mr. Davis’s “Carthage and her Remains,” Gesenius’s
“Scripturæ Linguæque Phoeniciæ Monumenta,” Lortet’s “La Syrie
d’aujourd’hui,” Serra di Falco’s “Antichità della Sicilia,” Walpole’s
“Ansayrii,” and Canon Tristram’s “Land of Israel.” The difficulty has
been to select from these copious stores the most salient and noteworthy
facts, and to marshal them in such a form as would make them readily
intelligible to the ordinary English reader. How far he has succeeded in
doing this he must leave the public to judge. In making his bow to them
as a “Reader” and Writer “of Histories,”[04] he has to thank them for a
degree of favour which has given a ready sale to all his previous works,
and has carried some of them through several editions.

CANTERBURY: August 1889.





HISTORY OF PHOENICIA



CHAPTER I--THE LAND

     Phoenicia--Origin of the name--Spread of the name
     southwards--Real length of Phoenicia along the coast--
     Breadth and area--General character of the region--The
     Plains--Plain of Sharon--Plain of Acre--Plain of Tyre--Plain
     of Sidon--Plain of Berytus--Plain of Marathus--Hilly
     regions--Mountain ranges--Carmel--Casius--Bargylus--Lebanon--
     Beauty of Lebanon--Rivers--The Litany--The Nahr-el-Berid--
     The Kadisha--The Adonis--The Lycus--The Tamyras--The
     Bostrenus--The Zaherany--The Headlands--Main
     characteristics, inaccessibility, picturesqueness,
     productiveness.

Phoenicé, or Phoenicia, was the name originally given by the Greeks--and
afterwards adopted from them by the Romans--to the coast region of the
Mediterranean, where it faces the west between the thirty-second and the
thirty-sixth parallels. Here, it would seem, in their early voyagings,
the Pre-Homeric Greeks first came upon a land where the palm-tree was
not only indigenous, but formed a leading and striking characteristic,
everywhere along the low sandy shore lifting its tuft of feathery
leaves into the bright blue sky, high above the undergrowth of fig, and
pomegranate, and alive. Hence they called the tract Phoenicia, or “the
Land of Palms;” and the people who inhabited it the Phoenicians, or “the
Palm-tree people.”

The term was from the first applied with a good deal of vagueness. It
was probably originally given to the region opposite Cyprus, from Gabala
in the north--now Jebili--to Antaradus (Tortosa) and Marathus (Amrith)
towards the south, where the palm-tree was first seen growing in rich
abundance. The palm is the numismatic emblem of Aradus,[11] and though
not now very frequent in the region which Strabo calls “the Aradian
coast-tract,”[12] must anciently have been among its chief ornaments. As
the Grecian knowledge of the coast extended southward, and a richer and
still richer growth of the palm was continually noticed, almost every
town and every village being embosomed in a circle of palm groves, the
name extended itself until it reached as far south at any rate as Gaza,
or (according to some) as Rhinocolura and the Torrens Ægypti. Northward
the name seems never to have passed beyond Cape Posideium (Possidi) at
the foot of Mount Casius, the tract between this and the range of Taurus
being always known as Syria, never as Phoenecia or Phoenicé.

The entire length of the coast between the limits of Cape Possidi and
Rhinocolura is, without reckoning the lesser indentations, about 380
miles, or nearly the same as that of Portugal. The indentations of the
coast-line are slight. From Rhinocolura to Mount Carmel, a distance of
150 miles, not a single strong promontory asserts itself, nor is there a
single bay of sufficient depth to attract the attention of geographers.
Carmel itself is a notable headland, and shelters a bay of some size;
but these once passed the old uniformity returns, the line being again
almost unbroken for a distance of seventy-five miles, from Haifa to
Beyrout (Berytus). North of Beyrout we find a little more variety.
The coast projects in a tolerably bold sweep between the thirty-fourth
parallel and Tripolis (Tarabulus) and recedes almost correspondingly
between Tripolis and Tortosa (Antaradus), so that a deepish bay is
formed between Lat. 34º 27´ and Lat. 34º 45´, whence the line again runs
northward unindented for fifty miles, to beyond Gabala (Jebili).
After this, between Gabala and Cape Posideium there is considerable
irregularity, the whole tract being mountainous, and spurs from Bargylus
and Casius running down into the sea and forming a succession of
headlands, of which Cape Posideium is the most remarkable.

But while the name Phoenicia is applied geographically to this long
extent--nearly 400 miles--of coast-line, historically and ethnically
it has to be reduced within considerably narrower limits. A race, quite
distinct from that of the Phoenicians, was settled from an early date
on the southern portion of the west Asian coast, where it verges towards
Africa. From Jabneh (Yebna) southwards was Palestine, the country of the
Philistines, perhaps even from Joppa (Jaffa), which is made the boundary
by Mela.[13] Thus at least eighty miles of coast-line must be deducted
from the 380, and the length of Phoenicia along the Mediterranean shore
must be regarded as not exceeding three hundred miles.

The width varied from eight or ten miles to thirty. We must regard
as the eastern boundary of Phoenicia the high ridge which forms the
watershed between the streams that flow eastward toward the Orontes,
Litany, and Jordan, and those that flow westward into the Mediterranean.
It is difficult to say what was the _average_ width, but perhaps it may
be fairly estimated at about fifteen miles. In this case the entire area
would have been about 4,500 square miles.

The tract was one of a remarkably diversified character. Lofty mountain,
steep wooded hill, chalky slope, rich alluvial plain, and sandy shore
succeeded each other, each having its own charm, which was enhanced by
contrast. The sand is confined to a comparatively narrow strip along the
seashore,[14] and to the sites of ancient harbours now filled up. It is
exceedingly fine and of excellent silicious quality, especially in the
vicinity of Sidon and at the foot of Mount Carmel. The most remarkable
plains are those of Sharon, Acre, Tyre, Sidon, Beyrout, and Marathus.
Sharon, so dear to the Hebrew poets,[15] is the maritime tract
intervening between the highland of Samaria and the Mediterranean,
extending from Joppa to the southern foot of Carmel--a distance of
nearly sixty miles--and watered by the Chorseas, the Kaneh, and other
rivers. It is a smooth, very slightly undulating tract, about ten
miles in width from the sea to the foot of the mountains, which rise up
abruptly from it without any intervening region of hills, and seem to
bound it as a wall, above which tower the huge rounded masses of Ebal
and Gerizim, with the wooded cone, on which stood Samaria, nestling at
their feet.[16] The sluggish streams, several of them containing water
during the whole of the year, make their way across it between reedy
banks,[17] and generally spread out before reaching the shore into wide
marshes, which might be easily utilised for purposes of irrigation.
The soil is extremely rich, varying from bright red to deep black,
and producing enormous crops of weeds or grain, according as it is
cultivated or left in a state of nature. Towards the south the view over
the region has been thus described: “From Ramleh there is a wide view
on every side, presenting a prospect rarely surpassed in richness and
beauty. I could liken it to nothing but the great plain of the Rhine
by Heidelberg or, better still, to the vast plains of Lombardy, as seen
from the cathedral of Milan and elsewhere. In the east the frowning
mountains of Judah rose abruptly from the tract at their foot; while on
the west, in fine contrast, the glittering waves of the Mediterranean
Sea associated our thoughts with Europe. Towards the north and south,
as far as the eye could reach, the beautiful plain was spread out like a
carpet at our feet, variegated with tracts of brown from which the crops
had just been taken, and with fields still rich with the yellow of the
ripe corn, or green with the springing millet. Immediately below us
the eye rested on the immense olive groves of Ramleh and Lydda, and the
picturesque towers and minarets and domes of these large villages. In
the plain itself were not many villages, but the tract of hills and
the mountain-side beyond, especially in the north-east, were perfectly
studded with them, and as now seen in the reflected beams of the setting
sun they seemed like white villas and hamlets among the dark hills,
presenting an appearance of thriftiness and beauty which certainly would
not stand a closer examination.”[18] Towards its northern end Sharon
is narrowed by the low hills which gather round the western flanks
of Carmel, and gradually encroach upon the plain until it terminates
against the shoulder of the mountain itself, leaving only a narrow beach
at the foot of the promontory by which it is possible to communicate
with the next plain towards the north.[19]

Compared with Sharon the plain of Acre is unimportant and of small
extent. It reaches about eight miles along the shore, from the foot of
Carmel to the headland on which the town of Acre stands, and has a width
between the shore and the hills of about six miles. Like Sharon it is
noted for its fertility. Watered by the two permanent streams of the
Kishon and the Belus, it possesses a rich soil, which is said to be at
present “perhaps the best cultivated and producing the most luxuriant
crops, both of corn and weeds, of any in Palestine.”[110] The Kishon
waters it on the south, where it approaches Carmel, and is a broad
stream,[111] though easily fordable towards its mouth. The Belus
(Namâané) flows through it towards the north, washing Acre itself, and
is a stream of even greater volume than the Kishon, though it has but a
short course.

The third of the Phoenician plains, as we proceed from south to north,
is that of Tyre. This is a long but comparatively narrow strip, reaching
from the Ras-el-Abiad towards the south to Sarepta on the north, a
distance of about twenty miles, but in no part more than five miles
across, and generally less than two miles. It is watered about midway
by the copious stream of the Kasimiyeh or Litany, which, rising east of
Lebanon in the Buka’a or Coelesyrian valley, forces its way through the
mountain chain by a series of tremendous gorges, and debouches upon the
Tyrian lowland about three miles to the south-east of the present city,
near the modern Khan-el-Kasimiyeh, whence it flows peaceably to the sea
with many windings through a broad low tract of meadow-land. Other
rills and rivulets descending from the west flank of the great mountain
increase the productiveness of the plain, while copious fountains of
water gush forth with surprising force in places, more especially at
Ras-el-Ain, three miles from Tyre, to the south.[112] The plain is, even
at the present day, to a large extent covered with orchards, gardens,
and cultivated fields, in which are grown rich crops of tobacco, cotton,
and cereals.

The plain of Sidon, which follows that of Tyre, and is sometimes
regarded as a part of it,[113] extends from a little north of Sarepta to
the Ras-el-Jajunieh, a distance of about ten miles, and resembles that
of Tyre in its principal features. It is long and narrow, never more
than about two miles in width, but well-watered and very fertile. The
principal streams are the Bostrenus (Nahr-el-Auly) in the north, just
inside the promontory of Jajunieh, the Nahr-Sanîk, south of Sidon, a
torrent dry in the summer-time,[114] and the Nahr-ez-Zaherany, two and
a half miles north of Sarepta, a river of moderate capacity. Fine
fountains also burst from the earth in the plain itself, as the
Ain-el-Kanterah and the Ain-el-Burâk,[115] between Sarepta and the
Zaherany river. Irrigation is easy and is largely used, with the result
that the fruits and vegetables of Saïda and its environs have the name
of being among the finest of the country.[116]

The plain of Berytus (Beyrout) is the most contracted of all the
Phoenician plains that are at all noticeable. It lies south, south-east,
and east of the city, intervening between the high dunes or sand-hills
which form the western portion of the Beyrout peninsula, and the skirts
of Lebanon, which here approach very near to the sea. The plain begins
at Wady Shuweifat on the south, about four miles from the town of
Beyrout, and extends northwards to the sea on the western side of
the Nahr Beyrout. The northern part of the plain is known as
Ard-el-Burâjineh. The plain is deficient in water,[117] yet is
cultivated in olives and mulberries, and contains the largest olive
grove in all Syria. A little beyond its western edge is the famous
pine forest[118] from which (according to some) Berytus derived its
name.[119]

The plain of Marathus is, next to Sharon, the most extensive in
Phoenicia. It stretches from Jebili (Gabala) on the north to Arka
towards the south, a distance of about sixty miles, and has a width
varying from two to ten miles. The rock crops out from it in places and
it is broken between Tortosa and Hammam by a line of low hills running
parallel with the shore.[120] The principal streams which water it are
the Nahr-el-Melk, or Badas, six miles south of Jebili, the Nahr Amrith,
a strong running brook which empties itself into the sea a few miles
south of Tortosa (Antaradus), the Nahr Kublé, which joins the Nahr
Amrith near its mouth, and the Eleutherus or Nahr-el-Kabir, which
reaches the sea a little north of Arka. Of these the Eleutherus is the
most important. “It is a considerable stream even in summer, and in
the rainy season it is a barrier to intercourse, caravans sometimes
remaining encamped on its banks for several weeks, unable to
cross.”[121] The soil of the plain is shallow, the rock lying always
near the surface; the streams are allowed to run to waste and form
marshes, which breed malaria; a scanty population scarcely attempts more
than the rudest and most inefficient cultivation; and the consequence is
that the tract at present is almost a desert. Nature, however, shows its
capabilities by covering it in the spring-time from end to end with a
“carpet of flowers.”[122]

From the edges of the plains, and sometimes from the very shore of the
sea, rise up chalky slopes or steep rounded hills, partly left to nature
and covered with trees and shrubs, partly at the present day cultivated
and studded with villages. The hilly region forms generally an
intermediate tract between the high mountains and the plains already
described; but, not unfrequently, it commences at the water’s edge, and
fills with its undulations the entire space, leaving not even a strip
of lowland. This is especially the case in the central region between
Berytus and Arka, opposite the highest portion of the Lebanon; and again
in the north between Cape Possidi and Jebili, opposite the more northern
part of Bargylus. The hilly region in these places is a broad tract
of alternate wooded heights and deep romantic valleys, with streams
murmuring amid their shades. Sometimes the hills are cultivated in
terraces, on which grow vines and olives, but more often they remain in
their pristine condition, clothed with masses of tangled underwood.

The mountain ranges, which belong in some measure to the geography of
Phoenicia, are four in number--Carmel, Casius, Bargylus, and Lebanon.
Carmel is a long hog-backed ridge, running in almost a straight line
from north-west to south-east, from the promontory which forms the
western protection of the bay of Acre to El-Ledjun, on the southern
verge of the great plain of Esdraelon, a distance of about twenty-two
miles. It is a limestone formation, and rises up abruptly from the side
of the bay of Acre, with flanks so steep and rugged that the traveller
must dismount in order to ascend them,[123] but slopes more gently
towards the south, where it is comparatively easy of access. The
greatest elevation which it attains is about Lat. 32º 4´, where it
reaches the height of rather more than 1,200 feet; from this it falls
gradually as it nears the shore, until at the convent, with which the
western extremity is crowned, the height above the sea is no more than
582 feet. In ancient times the whole mountain was thickly wooded,[124]
but at present, though it contains “rocky dells” where there are “thick
jungles of copse,”[125] and is covered in places with olive groves and
thickets of dwarf oak, yet its appearance is rather that of a park
than of a forest, long stretches of grass alternating with patches of
woodland and “shrubberies, thicker than any in Central Palestine,” while
the larger trees grow in clumps or singly, and there is nowhere, as in
Lebanon, any dense growth, or even any considerable grove, of forest
trees. But the beauty of the tract is conspicuous; and if Carmel means,
as some interpret, a “garden” rather than a “forest,” it may be held
to well justify its appellation. “The whole mountain-side,” says one
traveller,[126] “was dressed with blossoms and flowering shrubs and
fragrant herbs.” “There is not a flower,” says another,[127] “that I
have seen in Galilee, or on the plains along the coast, that I do not
find on Carmel, still the fragrant, lovely mountain that he was of old.”

The geological structure of Carmel is, in the main, what is called “the
Jura formation,” or “the upper oolite”--a soft white limestone, with
nodules and veins of flint. At the western extremity, where it overhangs
the Mediterranean, are found chalk, and tertiary breccia formed of
fragments of chalk and flint. On the north-east of the mountain, beyond
the Nahr-el-Mukattah, plutonic rocks appear, breaking through the
deposit strata, and forming the beginning of the basalt formation
which runs through the plain of Esdraelon to Tabor and the Sea of
Galilee.[128] Like most limestone formations, Carmel abounds in caves,
which are said to be more than 2,000 in number,[129] and are often of
great length and extremely tortuous.

Carmel, the great southern headland of Phoenicia, is balanced in a
certain sense by the extreme northern headland of Casius. Mount Casius
is, strictly speaking, the termination of a spur from Bargylus; but
it has so marked and peculiar a character that it seems entitled to
separate description. Rising up abruptly from the Mediterranean to the
height of 5,318 feet, it dominates the entire region in its vicinity,
and from the sea forms a landmark that is extraordinarily conspicuous.
Forests of fine trees clothe its flanks, but the lofty summit towers
high above them, a bare mass of rock, known at the present day as
Jebel-el-Akra, or “the Bald Mountain.” It is formed mainly of the same
cretaceous limestone as the other mountains of these parts, and like
them has a rounded summit; but rocks of igneous origin enter into
its geological structure; and in its vegetation it more resembles the
mountain ranges of Taurus and Amanus than those of southern Syria and
Palestine. On its north-eastern prolongation, which is washed by the
Orontes, lay the enchanting pleasure-ground of Daphné, bubbling with
fountains, and bright with flowering shrubs, where from a remote
antiquity the Syrians held frequent festival to their favourite
deity--the “Dea Syra”--the great nature goddess.

The elevated tract known to the ancients as Bargylus, and to modern
geographers as the Ansayrieh or Nasariyeh mountain-region, runs at right
angles to the spur terminating in the Mount Casius, and extends from the
Orontes near Antioch to the valley of the Eleutherus. This is a distance
of not less than a hundred miles. The range forms the western boundary
of the lower Coelesyrian valley, which abuts upon it towards the east,
while westward it looks down upon the region, partly hill, partly
lowland, which may be regarded as constituting “Northern Phoenicia.”
 The axis of the range is almost due north and south, but with a slight
deflection towards the south-east. Bargylus is not a chain comparable
to Lebanon, but still it is a romantic and picturesque region. The lower
spurs towards the west are clothed with olive grounds and vineyards,
or covered with myrtles and rhododendrons; between them are broad open
valleys, productive of tobacco and corn. Higher up “the scenery becomes
wild and bold; hill rises to mountain; soft springing green corn gives
place to sterner crag, smooth plain to precipitous heights;”[130] and
if in the more elevated region the majesty of the cedar is wanting,
yet forests of fir and pine abound, and creep up the mountain-side, in
places almost to the summit, while here and there bare masses of rock
protrude themselves, and crag and cliff rise into the clouds that hang
about the highest summits. Water abounds throughout the region, which
is the parent of numerous streams, as the northern Nahr-el-Kebir, which
flows into the sea by Latakia, the Nahr-el-Melk, the Nahr Amrith, the
Nahr Kublé, the Nahr-el-Abrath, and many others. From the conformation
of the land they have of necessity short courses; but each and all of
them spread along their banks a rich verdure and an uncommon fertility.

But the _great_ range of Phoenicia, its glory and its boast is
Lebanon. Lebanon, the “White Mountain”[131]--“the Mont Blanc
of Palestine”[132]--now known as “the Old White-headed Man”
 (Jebel-esh-Sheikh), or “the Mountain of Ice” (Jebel-el-Tilj), was to
Phoenicia at once its protection, the source of its greatness, and its
crowning beauty. Extended in a continuous line for a distance of above
a hundred miles, with an average elevation of from 6,000 to 8,000 feet,
and steepest on its eastern side, it formed a wall against which the
waves of eastern invasion naturally broke--a bulwark which seemed to say
to them, “Thus far shall ye go, and no further.” The flood of conquest
swept along its eastern flank, down the broad vale of the Buka’a, and
then over the hills of Galilee; but its frowning precipices and its
lofty crest deterred or baffled the invader, and the smiling region
between its summit and the Mediterranean was, in the early times at any
rate, but rarely traversed by a hostile army. This western region it
was which held those inexhaustible stores of forest trees that supplied
Phoenicia with her war ships and her immense commercial navy; here were
the most productive valleys, the vineyards, and the olive grounds, and
here too were the streams and rills, the dashing cascades, the lovely
dells, and the deep gorges which gave her the palm over all the
surrounding countries for variety of picturesque scenery.

The geology of the Lebanon is exceedingly complicated. “While the
bulk of the mountain, and all the higher ranges, are without exception
limestone of the early cretaceous period, the valleys and gorges
are filled with formations of every possible variety, sedimentary,
metamorphic, and igneous. Down many of them run long streams of trap
or basalt; occasionally there are dykes of porphyry and greenstone, and
then patches of sandstone, before the limestone and flint recur.”[133]
Some slopes are composed entirely of soft sandstone; many patches are of
a hard metallic-sounding trap or porphyry; but the predominant formation
is a greasy or powdery limestone, bare often, but sometimes clothed with
a soft herbage, or with a thick tangle of shrubs, or with lofty forest
trees. The ridge of the mountain is everywhere naked limestone rock,
except in the comparatively few places which attain the highest
elevation, where it is coated or streaked with snow. Two summits are
especially remarkable, that of Jebel Sunnin towards the south, which is
a conspicuous object from Beyrout,[134] and is estimated to exceed the
height of 9,000 feet,[135] and that of Jebel Mukhmel towards the north,
which has been carefully measured and found to fall a very little short
of 10,200 feet.[136] The latter, which forms a sort of amphitheatre,
circles round and impends over a deep hollow or basin, opening out
towards the west, in which rise the chief sources that go to form the
romantic stream of the Kadisha. The sides of the basin are bare and
rocky, fringed here and there with the rough knolls which mark the
deposits of ancient glaciers, the “moraines” of the Lebanon. In this
basin stand “the Cedars.” It is not indeed true, as was for a long time
supposed, that the cedar grove of Jebel Mukhmel is the sole remnant
of that primeval cedar-forest which was anciently the glory of the
mountain. Cedars exist on Lebanon in six other places at least, if not
in more. Near Tannurin, on one of the feeders of the Duweir, a wild
gorge is clothed from top to bottom with a forest of trees, untouched
by the axe, the haunt of the panther and the bear, which on examination
have been found to be all cedars, some of a large size, from fifteen to
eighteen feet in girth. They grow in clusters, or scattered singly,
in every variety of situation, some clinging to the steep slopes,
or gnarled and twisted on the bare hilltops, others sheltered in the
recesses of the dell. There are also cedar-groves at B’sherrah; at El
Hadith; near Dûma, five hours south-west of El Hadith; in one of
the glens north of Deir-el-Kamar, at Etnub, and probably in other
places.[137] But still “the Cedars” of Jebel Mukhmel are entitled to
pre-eminence over all the rest, both as out-numbering any other cluster,
and still more as exceeding all the rest in size and apparent antiquity.
Some of the patriarchs are of enormous girth; even the younger ones have
a circumference of eighteen feet; and the height is such that the birds
which dwell among the upper branches are beyond the range of an ordinary
fowling-piece.

But it is through the contrasts which it presents that Lebanon has its
extraordinary power of attracting and delighting the traveller. Below
the upper line of bare and worn rock, streaked in places with snow, and
seamed with torrent courses, a region is entered upon where the freshest
and softest mountain herbage, the greenest foliage, and the most
brilliant flowers alternate with deep dells, tremendous gorges, rocky
ravines, and precipices a thousand feet high. Scarcely has the voyager
descended from the upper region of naked and rounded rock, when he
comes upon “a tremendous chasm--the bare amphitheatre of the upper basin
contracts into a valley of about 2,000 feet deep, rent at its bottom
into a cleft a thousand feet deeper still, down which dashes a river,
buried between these stupendous walls of rock. All above the chasm is
terraced as far as the eye can reach with indefatigable industry. Tiny
streamlets bound and leap from terrace to terrace, fertilising them as
they rush to join the torrent in the abyss. Some of the waterfalls are
of great height and of considerable volume. From one spot may be counted
no less than seven of these cascades, now dashing in white spray over a
cliff, now lost under the shade of trees, soon to reappear over the
next shelving rock.”[138] Or, to quote from another writer,[139]--“The
descent from the summit is gradual, but is everywhere broken by
precipices and towering rocks, which time and the elements have
chiselled into strange fantastic shapes. Ravines of singular wildness
and grandeur furrow the whole mountain-side, looking in many places like
huge rents. Here and there, too, bold promontories shoot out, and
dip perpendicularly into the bosom of the Mediterranean. The ragged
limestone banks are scantily clothed with the evergreen oak, and
the sandstone with pines; while every available spot is carefully
cultivated. The cultivation is wonderful, and shows what all Syria might
be of under a good government. Miniature fields of grain are often seen
where one would suppose that the eagles alone, which hover round them,
could have planted the seed. Fig-trees cling to the naked rock; vines
are trained along narrow ledges; long ranges of mulberries on terraces
like steps of stairs cover the more gentle declivities; and dense groves
of olives fill up the bottoms of the glens. Hundreds of villages are
seen, here built amid labyrinths of rock, there clinging like swallows’
nests to the sides of cliffs, while convents, no less numerous, are
perched on the top of every peak. When viewed from the sea on a morning
in early spring, Lebanon presents a picture which once seen is never
forgotten; but deeper still is the impression left on the mind, when one
looks down over its terraced slopes clothed in their gorgeous foliage,
and through the vistas of its magnificent glens, on the broad and bright
Mediterranean.”

The eastern flank of the mountain falls very far short of the western
both in area and in beauty. It is a comparatively narrow region, and
presents none of the striking features of gorge, ravine, deep dell, and
dashing stream which diversify the side that looks westward. The steep
slopes are generally bare, the lower portion only being scantily clothed
with deciduous oak, for the most part stunted, and with low scrub of
juniper and barberry.[140] Towards the north there is an outer barrier,
parallel with the main chain, on which follows a tolerably flat and
rather bare plain, well watered, and with soft turf in many parts, which
gently slopes to the foot of the main ascent, a wall of rock generally
half covered with snow, up which winds the rough track whereby
travellers reach the summit. Rills of water are not wanting; flowers
bloom to the very edge of the snow, and the walnut-tree flourishes in
sheltered places to within two or three thousand feet of the summit; but
the general character of the tract is bare and bleak; the villages are
few; and the terraced cultivation, which adds so much to the beauty
of the western side, is wanting. In the southern half of the range the
descent is abrupt from the crest of the mountain into the Buka’a, or
valley of the Litany, and the aspect of the mountain-side is one of
“unrelieved bareness.”[141]

There is, however, one beauty at one point on this side of the Lebanon
range which is absent from the more favoured western region. On the
ascent from Baalbek to the Cedars the traveller comes upon Lake Lemone,
a beautiful mountain tarn, without any apparent exit, the only sheet
of water in the Lebanon. Lake Lemone is of a long oval shape, about
two miles from one end to the other, and is fed by a stream entering at
either extremity, that from the north, which comes down from the village
of Ainât, being the more important. As the water which comes into
the lake cannot be discharged by evaporation, we must suppose some
underground outlet,[142] by which it is conveyed, through the limestone,
into the Litany.

The eastern side of Lebanon drains entirely into this river, which is
the only stream whereto it gives birth. The Litany is the principal
of all the Phoenician rivers, for the Orontes must be counted not to
Phoenicia but to Syria. It rises from a small pool or lake near Tel
Hushben,[143] about six miles to the south-west of the Baalbek ruins.
Springing from this source, which belongs to Antilibanus rather than
to Lebanon, the Litany shortly receives a large accession to its waters
from the opposite side of the valley, and thus augmented flows along the
lower Buka’a in a direction which is generally a little west of south,
receiving on either side a number of streams and rills from both
mountains, and giving out in its turn numerous canals for irrigation.
As the river descends with numerous windings, but still with the same
general course, the valley of the Buka’a contracts more and more, till
finally it terminates in a gorge of a most extraordinary character.
Nothing in the conformation of the strata, or in the lie of ground,
indicates the coming marvel[144]--the roots of Lebanon and Hermon appear
to intermix--and the further progress of the river seems to be barred by
a rocky ridge stretching across the valley from east to west, when lo!
suddenly, the ridge is cut, as if by a knife, and a deep and narrow
chasm opens in it, down which the stream plunges in a cleft 200 feet
deep, and so narrow that in one place it is actually bridged over by
masses of rock which have fallen from the cliffs above.[145] In the
gully below fig-trees and planes, besides many shrubs, find a footing,
and the moist walls of rock on either side are hung with ferns of
various kinds, among which is conspicuous the delicate and graceful
maidenhair. Further down the chasm deepens, first to 1,000 and then
to 1,500 feet, “the torrent roars in the gorge, milk-white and swollen
often with the melting snow, overhung with semi-tropical oleanders,
fig-trees, and oriental planes, while the upper cliffs are clad
with northern vegetation, two zones of climate thus being visible at
once.”[146] Where the gorge is the deepest, opposite the Castle of
Belfort (the modern Kulat-esh-Shukif), the river suddenly makes a turn
at right angles, altering its course from nearly due south to nearly
due west, and cuts through the remaining roots of Lebanon, still at
the bottom of a tremendous fissure, and still raging and chafing for
a distance of fifteen miles, until at length it debouches on the coast
plain, and meanders slowly through meadows to the sea,[147] which it
enters about five miles to the north of Tyre. The course of the Litany
may be roughly estimated at from seventy to seventy-five miles.

The other streams to which Lebanon gives birth flow either from its
northern or its western flank. From the northern flank flows one stream
only, the Nahr-el-Kebir or Eleutherus. The course of this stream is
short, not much exceeding thirty miles. It rises from several sources at
the edge of the Coelesyrian valley, and, receiving affluents from either
side, flows westward between Bargylus and Lebanon to the Mediterranean,
which it enters between Orthosia (Artousi) and Marathus (Amrith) with a
stream, the volume of which is even in the summer-time considerable. In
the rainy season it constitutes an important impediment to intercourse,
since it frequently sweeps away any bridge which may be thrown across
it, and is itself unfordable. Caravans sometimes remain encamped upon
its banks for weeks, waiting until the swell has subsided and crossing
is no longer dangerous.[148]

From the western flank of Lebanon flow above a hundred streams of
various dimensions, whereof the most important are the Nahr-el-Berid
or river of Orthosia, the Kadisha or river of Tripolis, the Ibrahim
or Adonis, the Nahr-el-Kelb or Lycus, the Damour or Tamyras, the Auly
(Aouleh) or Bostrenus, and the Zaherany, of which the ancient name is
unknown to us. The Nahr-el-Berid drains the north-western angle of the
mountain chain, and is formed of two main branches, one coming down from
the higher portion of the range, about Lat. 34º 20´, and flowing to
the north-west, while the other descends from a region of much less
elevation, about Lat. 34º 30´, and runs a little south of west to the
point of junction. The united stream then forces its way down a gorge
in a north-west direction, and enters the sea at Artousi, probably
the ancient Orthosia.[149] The length of the river from its remotest
fountain to its mouth is about twenty miles.

The Kadisha or “Holy River” has its source in the deep basin already
described, round which rise in a semicircle the loftiest peaks of the
range, and on the edge of which stand “the Cedars.” Fed by the perpetual
snows, it shortly becomes a considerable stream, and flows nearly due
west down a beautiful valley, where the terraced slopes are covered with
vineyards and mulberry groves, and every little dell, every nook and
corner among the jagged rocks, every ledge and cranny on precipice-side,
which the foot of man can reach, or on which a basket of earth can be
deposited, is occupied with patch of corn or fruit-tree.[150] Lower down
near Canobin the valley contracts into a sublime chasm, its rocky walls
rising perpendicularly a thousand feet on either side, and in places not
leaving room for even a footpath beside the stream that flows along
the bottom.[151] The water of the Kadisha is “pure, fresh, cool, and
limpid,”[152] and makes a paradise along its entire course. Below
Canobin the stream sweeps round in a semicircle towards the north, and
still running in a picturesque glen, draws near to Tripolis, where it
bends towards the north-west, and enters the sea after passing
through the town. Its course, including main windings, measures about
twenty-five miles.

The Ibrahim, or Adonis, has its source near Afka (Apheca) in Lat. 34º 4´
nearly. It bursts from a cave at the foot of a tremendous cliff, and its
foaming waters rush down into a wild chasm.[153] Its flow is at first
towards the north-west, but after receiving a small tributary from
the north-east, it shapes its course nearly westward, and pursues
this direction, with only slight bends to the north and south, for the
distance of about fifteen miles to the sea. After heavy rain in Lebanon,
its waters, which are generally clear and limpid, become tinged with the
earth which the swollen torrent detaches from the mountain-side,[154]
and Adonis thus “runs purple to the sea”--not however once a year only,
but many times. It enters the Mediterranean about four miles south of
Byblus (Jebeil) and six north of Djouni.

The Lycus or Nahr-el-Kelb (“Dog River”) flows from the northern and
western flanks of Jebel Sunnin. It is formed by the confluence of three
main streams. One of these rises near Afka, and runs to the south of
west, past the castle and temples of Fakra, to its junction with the
second stream, which is formed of several rivulets flowing from the
northern flank of Sunnin. Near Bufkeiya the river constituted by the
union of these two branches is joined by a third stream flowing from the
western flank of Sunnin with a westerly course, and from this point the
Lycus pursues its way in the same general direction down a magnificent
gorge to the Mediterranean. Both banks are lofty, but especially that to
the south, where one of Lebanon’s great roots strikes out far, and dips,
a rocky precipice, into the bosom of the deep.[155] Low in the depths of
the gorge the mad torrent dashes over its rocky bed in sheets of foam,
its banks fringed with oleander, which it bathes with its spray. Above
rise jagged precipices of white limestone, crowned far overhead by many
a convent and village.[156] The course of the Nahr-el-Kelbis about equal
to that of the Adonis.

The Damour or Tamyras drains the western flank of Lebanon to the south
of Jebel Sunnin (about Lat. 33º 45´), the districts known as Menassif
and Jourd Arkoub, about Barouk and Deir-el-Kamar. It collects the waters
from an area of about 110 square miles, and carries them to the sea in
a course which is a little north of west, reaching it half-way between
Khan Khulda (Heldua) and Nebbi Younas. The scenery along its banks is
tame compared with that of the more northern rivers.

The Nahr-el-Auly or Bostrenus rises from a source to the north-east of
Barouk, and flows in a nearly straight course to the south-west for a
distance of nearly thirty-five miles, when it is joined by a stream
from Jezzin, which flows into it from the south-east. On receiving this
stream, the Auly turns almost at a right angle, and flows to the west
down the fine alluvial track called Merj Bisry, passing from this point
through comparatively low ground, and between swelling hills, until it
reaches the sea two miles to the north of Sidon. Its entire course is
not less than sixty miles.

The Zaherany repeats on a smaller scale the course of the Bostrenus. It
rises near Jerjû’a from the western flank of Jebel Rihan, the southern
extremity of the Lebanon range, and flows at first to the south-west.
The source is “a fine large fountain bursting forth with violence, and
with water enough for a mill race.”[157] From this the river flows in
a deep valley, brawling and foaming along its course, through tracts of
green grass shaded by black walnut-trees for a distance of about five
miles, after which, just opposite Jerjû’a, it breaks through one of the
spurs from Rihan by a magnificent chasm. The gorge is one “than which
there are few deeper or more savage in Lebanon. The mountains on each
side rise up almost precipitously to the height of two or three thousand
feet above the stream, that on the northern bank being considerably the
higher. The steep sides of the southern mountain are dotted with shrub,
oak, and other dwarf trees.”[158] The river descends in its chasm still
in a south-west direction until, just opposite Arab Salim, it “turns
round the precipitous corner or bastion of the southern Rihan into a
straight valley,” and proceeds to run due south for a short distance.
Meeting, however, a slight swell of ground, which blocks what would seem
to have been its natural course, the river “suddenly turns west,” and
breaking through a low ridge by a narrow ravine, pursues its way by
a course a little north of west to the Mediterranean, which it enters
about midway between Sidon and Sarepta.[159] The length of the stream,
including main windings, is probably not more than thirty-five miles.

We have spoken of the numerous promontories, terminations of spurs from
the mountains, which break the low coast-line into fragments, and go
down precipitously into the sea. Of these there are two between Tyre and
Acre, one known as the Ras-el-Abiad or “White Headland,” and the
other as the Ras-en-Nakura. The former is a cliff of snow-white chalk
interspersed with black flints, and rises perpendicularly from the sea
to the height of three hundred feet.[160] The road, which in some places
impends over the water, has been cut with great labour through the rock,
and is said by tradition to have been the work of Alexander the Great.
Previously, both here and at the Ras-en-Nakura, the ascent was by steps,
and the passes were known as the Climaces Tyriorum, or “Staircases of
the Tyrians.” Another similar precipice guards the mouth of the Lycus on
its south side and has been engineered with considerable skill, first by
the Egyptians and then by the Romans.[161] North of this, at Djouni, the
coast road “traverses another pass, where the mountain, descending to
the water, has been cut to admit it.”[162] Still further north, between
Byblus and Tripolis, the bold promontory known to the ancients as
Theu-prosopon, and now called the Ras-esh-Shakkah, is still unconquered,
and the road has to quit the shore and make its way over the spur by
a “wearisome ascent”[163] at some distance inland. Again, “beyond the
Tamyras the hills press closely on the sea,”[164] and there is “a rocky
and difficult pass, along which the path is cut for some distance in the
rock.”[165]

The effect of this conformation of the country was, in early times, to
render Phoenicia untraversable by a hostile army, and at the same time
to interpose enormous difficulties in the way of land communication
among the natives themselves, who must have soon turned their thoughts
to the possibility of communicating by sea. The various “staircases”
 were painful and difficult to climb, they gave no passage to animals,
and only light forms of merchandise could be conveyed by them. As
soon as the first rude canoe put forth upon the placid waters of the
Mediterranean, it must have become evident that the saving in time and
labour would be great if the sea were made to supersede the land as the
ordinary line of communication.

The main characteristics of the country were, besides its
inaccessibility, its picturesqueness and its productiveness. The former
of these two qualities seems to have possessed but little attraction for
man in his primitive condition. Beauties of nature are rarely sung of
by early poets; and it appears to require an educated eye to appreciate
them. But productiveness is a quality the advantages of which can be
perceived by all. The eyes which first looked down from the ridge of
Bargylus or Lebanon upon the well-watered, well-wooded, and evidently
fertile tract between the mountain summits and the sea, if they took no
note of its marvellous and almost unequalled beauty, must at any
rate have seen that here was one of earth’s most productive
gardens--emphatically a “good land,” that might well content whosoever
should be so fortunate as to possess it. There is nothing equal to it in
Western Asia. The Damascene oasis, the lower valley of the Orontes, the
Ghor or Jordan plain, the woods of Bashan, and the downs of Moab are
fertile and attractive regions; but they are comparatively narrow
tracts and present little variety; each is fitted mainly for one kind of
growth, one class of products. Phoenicia, in its long extent from Mount
Casius to Joppa, and in its combination of low alluvial plain, rich
valley, sunny slopes and hills, virgin forests, and high mountain
pasturage, has soils and situations suited for productions of all manner
of kinds, and for every growth, from that of the lowliest herb to
that of the most gigantic tree. In the next section an account of its
probable products in ancient times will be given; for the present it is
enough to note that Western Asia contained no region more favoured or
more fitted by its general position, its formation, and the character of
its soil, to become the home of an important nation.



CHAPTER II--CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS

     Climate of Phoenicia--Varieties--Climate of the coast, in
     the south, in the north--Climate of the more elevated
     regions--Vegetable productions--Principal trees--Most
     remarkable shrubs and fruit-trees--Herbs, flowers, and
     garden vegetables--Zoology--Land animals--Birds--Marine and
     fresh-water fish--Principal shell-fish--Minerals.

The long extent of the Phoenician coast, and the great difference in the
elevation of its various parts, give it a great diversity of climate.
Northern Phoenicia is many degrees colder than southern; and the
difference is still more considerable between the coast tracts and the
more elevated portions of the mountain regions. The greatest heat
is experienced in the plain of Sharon,[21] which is at once the most
southern portion of the country, and the part most remote from any
hills of sufficient elevation to exert an important influence on the
temperature. Neither Carmel on the north, nor the hills of Samaria
on the east, produce any sensible effect on the climate of the Sharon
lowland. The heat in summer is intense, and except along the river
courses the tract is burnt up, and becomes little more than an expanse
of sand. As a compensation, the cold in winter is very moderate. Snow
scarcely ever falls, and if there is frost it is short-lived, and does
not penetrate into the ground.[22]

Above Carmel the coast tract is decidedly less hot than the region south
of it, and becomes cooler and cooler as we proceed northwards. Northern
Phoenicia enjoys a climate that is delightful, and in which it would be
difficult to suggest much improvement. The summer heat is scarcely ever
too great, the thermometer rarely exceeding 90º of Fahrenheit,[23] and
often sinking below 70º. Refreshing showers of rain frequently fall, and
the breezes from the north, the east, and the south-east, coming from
high mountain tracts which are in part snow-clad, temper the heat of the
sun’s rays and prevent it from being oppressive. The winter temperature
seldom descends much below 50º; and thus the orange, the lemon and the
date-palm flourish in the open air, and the gardens are bright with
flowers even in December and January. Snow falls occasionally, but it
rarely lies on the ground for more than a few days, and is scarcely ever
so much as a foot deep. On the other hand, rain is expected during the
winter-time, and the entire line of coast is visited for some months
with severe storms and gales, accompanied often by thunder and violent
rain,[24] which strew the shore with wrecks and turn even insignificant
mountain streams into raging torrents. The storms come chiefly from the
west and north-west, quarters to which the harbours on the coast are
unfortunately open.[25] Navigation consequently suffers interruption;
but when once the winter is past, a season of tranquillity sets in, and
for many months of the year--at any rate from May to October[26]--the
barometer scarcely varies, the sky is unclouded, and rain all but
unknown.

As the traveller mounts from the coast tract into the more elevated
regions, the climate sensibly changes. An hour’s ride from the plains,
when they are most sultry, will bring him into a comparatively cool
region, where the dashing spray of the glacier streams is borne on the
air, and from time to time a breeze that is actually cold comes down
from the mountain-tops.[27] Shade is abundant, for the rocks are often
perpendicular, and overhand the road in places, while the dense foliage
of cedars, or pines, or walnut-trees, forms an equally effectual screen
against the sun’s noonday rays. In winter the uplands are, of course,
cold. Severe weather prevails in them from November to March;[28] snow
falls on all the high ground, while it rains on the coast and in the
lowlands; the passes are blocked; and Lebanon and Bargylus replenish the
icy stories which the summer’s heat has diminished.

The vegetable productions of Phoenicia may be best considered under the
several heads of trees, shrubs, herbs, flowers, fruit-trees, and garden
vegetables. The chief trees were the palm-tree, the sycamore, the
maritime pine, and the plane in the lowlands; in the highlands the
cedar, Aleppo pine, oak, walnut, poplar, acacia, shumac, and carob. We
have spoken of the former abundance of the palm. At present it is found
in comparatively few places, and seldom in any considerable numbers.
It grows singly, or in groups of two or three, at various points of the
coast from Tripolis to Acre, but is only abundant in a few spots more
towards the south, as at Haifa, under Carmel, where “fine date-palms”
 are numerous in the gardens,[29] and at Jaffa, where travellers remark
“a broad belt of two or three miles of date-palms and orange-groves
laden with fruit.”[210] The wood was probably not much used as timber
except in the earliest times, since Lebanon afforded so many kinds of
trees much superior for building purposes. The date-palm was also valued
for its fruit, though the produce of the Phoenician groves can never
have been of a high quality.

The sycamore, or sycamine-fig, is a dark-foliaged tree, with a gnarled
stem when it is old;[211] it grows either singly or in clumps, and much
more resembles in appearance the English oak than the terebinth does,
which has been so often compared to it. The stem is short, and sends
forth wide lateral branches forking out in all directions, which renders
the tree very easy to climb. It bears a small fig in great abundance,
and probably at all seasons, which, however, is “tasteless and
woody,”[212] though eaten by the inhabitants. The sycamore is common
along the Phoenician lowland, but is a very tender tree and will not
grow in the mountains.

The plane-tree, common in Asia Minor, is not very frequent either in
Phoenicia or Palestine. It occurs, however, on the middle course of the
Litany, where it breaks through the roots of Lebanon,[213] and also
in many of the valleys[214] on the western flank of the mountain. The
maritime pine (_Pinus maritama_) extends in forests here and there along
the shore,[215] and is found of service in checking the advance of
the sand dunes, which have a tendency to encroach seriously on the
cultivable soil.

Of the upland trees the most common is the oak. There are three species
of oak in the country. The most prevalent is an evergreen oak (_Quercus
pseudococcifera_), sometimes mistaken by travellers for a holly,
sometimes for an ibex, which covers in a low dense bush many miles of
the hilly country everywhere, and occasionally becomes a large tree
in the Lebanon valleys,[216] and on the flanks of Casius and Bargylus.
Another common oak is _Quercus Ægilops_, a much smaller and deciduous
tree, very stout-trunked, which grows in scattered groups on Carmel and
elsewhere, “giving a park-like appearance to the landscape.”[217] The
third kind is _Quercus infectoria_, a gall-oak, also deciduous, and very
conspicuous from the large number of bright, chestnut-coloured,
viscid galls which it bears, and which are now sometimes gathered for
exportation.[218]

Next to the oak may be mentioned the walnut, which grows to a great size
in sheltered positions in the Lebanon range, both upon the eastern and
upon the western flank;[219] the poplar, which is found both in the
mountains[220] and in the low country, as especially about Beyrout;[221]
the Aleppo pine (_Pinus halepensis_), of which there are large woods in
Carmel, Lebanon, and Bargylus,[222] while in Casius there is an
enormous forest of them;[223] and the carob (_Ceratonia siliqua_), or
locust-tree, a dense-foliaged tree of a bright lucid green hue, which
never grows in clumps or forms woods, but appears as an isolated tree,
rounded or oblong, and affords the best possible shade.[224] In the
vicinity of Tyre are found also large tamarisks, maples, sumachs, and
acacias.[225]

But the tree which is the glory of Phoenicia, and which was by far
the most valuable of all its vegetable productions, is, of course, the
cedar. Growing to an immense height, and attaining an enormous girth,
it spreads abroad its huge flat branches hither and thither, covering a
vast space of ground with its “shadowing shroud,”[226] and presenting
a most majestic and magnificent appearance. Its timber may not be of
first-rate quality, and there is some question whether it was really
used for the masts of their ships by the Phoenicians,[227] but as
building material it was beyond a doubt most highly prized, answering
sufficiently for all the purposes required by architectural art, and
at the same time delighting the sense of smell by its aromatic odour.
Solomon employed it both for the Temple and for his own house;[228] the
Assyrian kings cut it and carried it to Nineveh;[229] Herod the Great
used it for the vast additions that he made to Zerubbabel’s temple;[230]
it was exported to Egypt and Asia Minor; the Ephesian Greeks constructed
of cedar, probably of cedar from Lebanon, the roof of their famous
temple of Diana.[231] At present the wealth of Lebanon in cedars is not
great, but the four hundred which form the grove near the source of the
Kadisha, and the many scattered cedar woods in other places, are to
be viewed as remnants of one great primeval forest, which originally
covered all the upper slopes on the western side, and was composed, if
not exclusively, at any rate predominantly, of cedars.[232] Cultivation,
the need of fuel, and the wants of builders, have robbed the mountain
of its primitive bright green vest, and left it either bare rock or
terraced garden; but in the early times of Phoenicia, the true Lebanon
cedar must undoubtedly have been its chief forest tree, and have stood
to it as the pine to the Swiss Alps and the chestnut to the mountains of
North Italy.

Of shrubs, below the rank of trees, the most important are the lentisk
(_Pistachia lentiscus_), the bay, the arbutus (_A. andrachne_), the
cypress, the oleander, the myrtle, the juniper, the barberry, the styrax
(_S. officinalis_), the rhododendron, the bramble, the caper plant, the
small-leaved holly, the prickly pear, the honeysuckle, and the jasmine.
Myrtle and rhododendron grow luxuriantly on the flanks of Bargylus, and
are more plentiful than any other shrubs in that region.[233] Eastern
Lebanon has abundant scrub of juniper and barberry;[234] while on the
western slopes their place is taken by the bramble, the myrtle, and the
clematis.[235] The lentisk, which rarely exceeds the size of a low
bush, is conspicuous by its dark evergreen leaves and numerous small red
berries;[236] the arbutus--not our species, but a far lighter and more
ornamental shrub, the _Arbutus andrachne_--bears also a bright red
fruit, which colours the thickets;[237] the styrax, famous for yielding
the gum storax of commerce, grows towards the east end of Carmel, and is
a very large bush branching from the ground, but never assuming the
form of a tree; it has small downy leaves, white flowers like orange
blossoms, and round yellow fruit, pendulous from slender stalks, like
cherries.[238] Travellers in Phoenicia do not often mention the caper
plant, but it was seen by Canon Tristram hanging from the fissures
of the rock, in the cleft of the Litany,[239] amid myrtle and bay and
clematis. The small-leaved holly was noticed by Mr. Walpole on the
western flank of Bargylus.[240] The prickly pear is not a native
of Asia, but has been introduced from the New World. It has readily
acclimatised itself, and is very generally employed, in Phoenicia, as in
the neighbouring countries, for hedges.[241]

The fruit-trees of Phoenicia are numerous, and grow most luxuriantly,
but the majority have no doubt been introduced from other countries,
and the time of their introduction is uncertain. Five, however, may be
reckoned as either indigenous or as cultivated at any rate from a remote
antiquity--the vine, the olive, the date-palm, the walnut, and the fig.
The vine is most widely spread. Vineyards cover large tracts in the
vicinity of all the towns; they climb up the sides of Carmel, Lebanon,
and Bargylus,[242] hang upon the edge of precipices, and greet the
traveller at every turn in almost every region. The size of individual
vines is extraordinary. “Stephen Schultz states that in a village
near Ptolemaïs (Acre) he supped under a large vine, the stem of which
measured a foot and a half in diameter, its height being thirty feet;
and that the whole plant, supported on trellis, covered an area of fifty
feet either way. The bunches of grapes weighed from ten to twelve pounds
and the berries were like small plums.”[243] The olive in Phoenicia
is at least as old as the Exodus, for it was said of Asher, who was
assigned the more southern part of that country--“Let him be acceptable
to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.”[244] Olives at the
present day clothe the slopes of Lebanon and Bargylus above the vine
region,[245] and are carried upward almost to the very edge of the bare
rock. They yield largely, and produce an oil of an excellent
character. Fine olive-groves are also to be seen on Carmel,[246] in the
neighbourhood of Esfia. The date-palm has already been spoken of as
a tree, ornamenting the landscape and furnishing timber of tolerable
quality. As a fruit-tree it is not greatly to be prized, since it is
only about Haifa and Jaffa that it produces dates,[247] and those of no
high repute. The walnut has all the appearance of being indigenous in
Lebanon, where it grows to a great size,[248] and bears abundance
of fruit. The fig is also, almost certainly, a native; it grows
plentifully, not only in the orchards about towns, but on the flanks of
Lebanon, on Bargylus, and in the northern Phoenician plain.[249]

The other fruit-trees of the present day are the mulberry, the
pomegranate, the orange, the lemon, the lime, the peach, the apricot,
the plum, the cherry, the quince, the apple, the pear, the almond, the
pistachio nut, and the banana. The mulberry is cultivated largely on
the Lebanon[250] in connection with the growth of silkworms, but is not
valued as a fruit-tree. The pomegranate is far less often seen, but it
is grown in the gardens about Saida,[251] and the fruit has sometimes
been an article of exportation.[252] The orange and lemon are among
the commonest fruits, but are generally regarded as comparatively late
introductions. The lime is not often noticed, but obtains mention in the
work of Mr. Walpole.[253] The peach and apricot are for the most part
standard trees, though sometimes trained on trellises.[254] They were
perhaps derived from Mesopotamia or Persia, but at what date it is quite
impossible to conjecture. Apples, pears, plums, cherries, quinces,
are not unlikely to have been indigenous, though of course the present
species are the result of long and careful cultivation. The same may be
said of the almond and the pistachio nut. The banana is a comparatively
recent importation. It is grown along the coast from Jaffa as far
north as Tripolis, and yields a fruit which is said to be of excellent
quality.[255]

Altogether, Phoenicia may be pronounced a land of fruits. Hasselquist
says,[256] that in his time Sidon grew pomegranates, apricots, figs,
almonds, oranges, lemons, and plums in such abundance as to furnish
annually several shiploads for export, while D’Arvieux adds to this list
pears, peaches, cherries, and bananas.[257] Lebanon alone can furnish
grapes, olives, mulberries, figs, apples, apricots, walnuts, cherries,
peaches, lemons, and oranges. The coast tract adds pomegranates, limes,
and bananas. It has been said that Carmel, a portion of Phoenicia,
is “the garden of Eden run wild;”[258] but the phrase might be fitly
applied to the entire country.

Of herbs possessing some value for man, Phoenicia produces sage,
rosemary, lavender, rue, and wormwood.[259] Of flowers she has an
extraordinary abundance. In early spring (March and April) not only the
plains, but the very mountains, except where they consist of bare rock,
are covered with a variegated carpet of the loveliest hues[260] from
the floral wealth scattered over them. Bulbous plants are especially
numerous. Travellers mention hyacinths, tulips, ranunculuses, gladioli,
anemones, orchises, crocuses of several kinds--blue and yellow and
white, arums, amaryllises, cyclamens, &c., besides heaths, jasmine,
honeysuckle, clematis, _multiflora_ roses, rhododendrons, oleander,
myrtle, astragalus, hollyhocks, convolvuli, valerian, red linum,
pheasant’s eye, guelder roses, antirrhinums, chrysanthemums, blue
campanulas, and mandrakes. The orchises include “_Ophrys atrata_, with
its bee-like lip, another like the spider orchis, and a third like the
man orchis;”[261] the cyclamens are especially beautiful, “nestling
under every stone and lavish of their loveliness with graceful tufts of
blossoms varying in hue from purest white to deepest purple pink.”[262]
The multiflora rose is not common, but where it grows “covers the banks
of streams with a sheet of blossom;”[263] the oleanders fringe their
waters with a line of ruby red; the mandrake (_Mandragora officinalis_)
is “one of the most striking plants of the country, with its flat disk
of very broad primrose-like leaves, and its central bunch of dark blue
bell-shaped blossom.”[264] Ferns also abound, and among them is the
delicate maidenhair.[265]

The principal garden vegetables grown at the present day are melons,
cucumbers, gourds, pumpkins, turnips, carrots, and radishes.[266] The
kinds of grain most commonly cultivated are wheat, barley, millet, and
maize. There is also an extensive cultivation of tobacco, indigo, and
cotton, which have been introduced from abroad in comparatively modern
times. Oil, silk, and fruits are, however, still among the chief
articles of export; and the present wealth of the country is
attributable mainly to its groves and orchards, its olives, mulberries,
figs, lemons, and oranges.

The zoology of Phoenicia has not until recently attracted very much
attention. At present the list of land animals known to inhabit it
is short,[267] including scarcely more than the bear, the leopard or
panther, the wolf, the hyæna, the jackal, the fox, the hare, the wild
boar, the ichneumon, the gazelle, the squirrel, the rat, and the mole.
The present existence of the bear within the limits of the ancient
Phoenicia has been questioned,[268] but the animal has been seen in
Lebanon by Mr. Porter,[269] and in the mountains of Galilee by Canon
Tristram.[270] The species is the Syrian bear (_Ursus syriacus_), a
large and fierce beast, which, though generally frugivorous, will under
the presser of hunger attack both men and animals. Its main habitat is,
no doubt, the less accessible parts of Lebanon; but in the winter it
will descend to the villages and gardens, where it often does much
damage.[271] The panther or leopard has, like the bear, been seen by
Mr. Porter in the Lebanon range;[272] and Canon Tristram, when visiting
Carmel, was offered the skin of an adult leopard[273] which had probably
been killed in that neighbourhood. Anciently it was much more frequent
in Phoenicia and Palestine than it is at present, as appears by the
numerous notices of it in Scripture.[274] Wolves, hyænas, and jackals
are comparatively common. They haunt not only Carmel and Lebanon, but
many portions of the coast tract. Canon Tristram obtained from Carmel
“the two largest hyænas that he had ever seen,”[275] and fell in with
jackals in the vicinity.[276] Wolves seem to be more scarce, though
anciently very plentiful.

The favourite haunts of the wild boar (_Sus scrofa_) in Phoenicia are
Carmel[277] and the deep valleys on the western slope of Lebanon. The
valley of the Adonis (Ibrahim) is still noted for them,[278] but, except
on Carmel, they are not very abundant. Foxes and hares are also somewhat
rare, and it is doubtful whether rabbits are to be found in any part of
the country;[279] ichneumons, which are tolerably common, seem sometimes
to be mistaken for them. Gazelles are thought to inhabit Carmel,[280]
and squirrels, rats, and moles are common. Bats also, if they may be
counted among land-animals, are frequent; they belong, it is probable,
to several species, one of which is _Xantharpyia ægyptiaca_.[281]

If the fauna of Phoenicia is restricted so far as land-animals are
concerned, it is extensive and varied in respect of birds. The list
of known birds includes two sorts of eagle (_Circaëtos gallicus_ and
_Aquila nævioïdes_), the osprey, the vulture, the falcon, the kite, the
honey-buzzard, the marsh-harrier, the sparrow-hawk, owls of two kinds
(_Ketupa ceylonensis_ and _Athene meridionalis_), the grey shrike
(_Lanius excubitor_), the common cormorant, the pigmy cormorant
(_Græculus pygmæus_), numerous seagulls, as the Adriatic gull (_Larus
melanocephalus_), Andonieri’s gull, the herring-gull, the Red-Sea-gull
(_Larus ichthyo-aëtos_), and others; the gull-billed tern (_Sterna
anglica_), the Egyptian goose, the wild duck, the woodcock, the Greek
partridge (_Caccabis saxatilis_), the waterhen, the corncrake or
landrail, the coot, the water-ouzel, the francolin; plovers of three
kinds, green, golden, and Kentish; dotterels of two kinds, red-throated
and Asiatic; the Manx shearwater, the flamingo, the heron, the common
kingfisher, and the black and white kingfisher of Egypt, the jay,
the wood-pigeon, the rock-dove, the blue thrush, the Egyptian
fantail (_Drymoeca gracilis_), the redshank, the wheat-ear (_Saxicola
libanotica_), the common lark, the Persian horned lark, the cisticole,
the yellow-billed Alpine chough, the nightingale of the East (_Ixos
xanthopygius_), the robin, the brown linnet, the chaffinch; swallows of
two kinds (_Hirundo cahirica_ and _Hirundo rufula_); the meadow
bunting; the Lebanon redstart, the common and yellow water-wagtails, the
chiffchaff, the coletit, the Russian tit, the siskin, the nuthatch,
and the willow wren. Of these the most valuable for the table are the
partridge, the francolin, and the woodcock. The Greek partridge is “a
fine red-legged bird, much larger than our red-legged partridge, and
very much better eating, with white flesh, and nearly as heavy as a
pheasant.”[282] The francolin or black partridge is also a delicacy;
and the woodcock, which is identical with our own, has the same delicate
flavour.

The fish of Phoenicia, excepting certain shell-fish, are little
known, and have seldom attracted the attention of travellers. The
Mediterranean, however, where it washes the Phoenician coast, can
furnish excellent mullet,[283] while most of the rivers contain
freshwater fish of several kinds, as the _Blennius lupulus_, the
_Scaphiodon capoëta_, and the _Anguilla microptera_.[284] All of these
fish may be eaten, but the quality is inferior.

On the other hand, to certain of the shell-fish of Phoenicia a great
celebrity attaches. The purple dye which gave to the textile fabrics
of the Phoenicians a world-wide reputation was prepared from certain
shell-fish which abounded upon their coast. Four existing species have
been regarded as more or less employed in the manufacture, and it seems
to be certain, at any rate, that the Phoenicians derived the dye from
more shell-fish than one. The four are the _Buccinum lapillus_ of
Pliny,[285] which is the _Purpura lapillus_ of modern naturalists; the
_Murex trunculus_; the _Murex brandaris_; and the _Helix ianthina_. The
Buccinum derives its name from the form of the shell, which has a
wide mouth, like that of a trumpet, and which after one or two twists
terminates in a pointed head.[286] The _Murex trunculus_ has the same
general form as the Buccinum; but the shell is more rough and spinous,
being armed with a number of long thin projections which terminate in a
sharp point.[287] The _Murex brandaris_ is a closely allied species, and
“one of the most plentiful on the Phoenician coast.”[288] It is
unlikely that the ancients regarded it as a different shell from _Murex
trunculus_. The _Helix ianthina_ has a wholly different character. It is
a sort of sea-snail, as the name _helix_ implies, is perfectly smooth,
“very delicate and fragile, and not more than about three-quarters of an
inch in diameter.”[289] All these shell-fish contain a _sac_ or bag
full of colouring matter, which is capable of being used as a dye. It
is quite possible that they were all, more or less, made use of by the
Phoenician dyers; but the evidence furnished by existing remains on
the Tyrian coast is strongly in favour of the _Murex brandaris_ as the
species principally employed.[290]

The mineral treasures of Phoenicia have not, in modern times, been
examined with any care. The Jura limestone, which forms the substratum
of the entire region, cannot be expected to yield any important mineral
products. But the sandstone, which overlies it in places, is “often
largely impregnated with iron,” and some strata towards the southern end
of Lebanon are said to produce “as much as ninety per cent. of pure iron
ore.”[291] An ochrous earth is also found in the hills above Beyrout,
which gives from fifty to sixty per cent. of metal.[292] Coal, too, has
been found in the same locality, but it is of bad quality, and does not
exist in sufficient quantity to form an important product. Limestone,
both cretaceous and siliceous, is plentiful, as are sandstone, trap and
basalt; while porphyry and greenstone are also obtainable.[293] Carmel
yields crystals of quarts and chalcedony,[294] and the fine sand about
Tyre and Sidon is still such as would make excellent glass. But the main
productions of Phoenicia, in which its natural wealth consisted, must
always have been vegetable, rather than animal or mineral, and have
consisted in its timber, especially its cedars and pines; its fruits,
as olives, figs, grapes, and, in early times, dates; and its garden
vegetables, melons, gourds, pumpkins, cucumbers.



CHAPTER III--THE PEOPLE--ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS

     Semitic origin of the Phoenicians--Characteristics of the
     Semites--Place of the Phoenicians within the Semitic group--
     Connected linguistically with the Israelites and the Assyro-
     Babylonians--Original seat of the nation, Lower Babylonia--
     Special characteristics of the Phoenician people--Industry
     and perseverance--Audacity in enterprise--Pliability and
     adaptability--Acuteness of intellect--Business capacity--
     Charge made against them of bad faith--Physical
     characteristics.

The Phoenician people are generally admitted to have belonged to the
group of nations known as Semitic. This group, somewhat irrelevantly
named, since the descent of several of them from Shem is purely
problematic, comprises the Assyrians, the later Babylonians, the
Aramæans or Syrians, the Arabians, the Moabites, the Phoenicians, and
the Hebrews. A single and very marked type of language belongs to
the entire group, and a character of homogeneity may, with certain
distinctions, be observed among all the various members composing it.
The unity of language is threefold: it may be traced in the roots, in
the inflections, and in the general features of the syntax. The roots
are, as a rule, bilateral or trilateral, composed (that is) of two or
three letters, all of which are consonants. The consonants determine
the general sense of the words, and are alone expressed in the primitive
writing; the vowel sounds do but modify more or less the general sense,
and are unexpressed until the languages begin to fall into decay. The
roots are, almost all of them, more or less physical and sensuous. They
are derived in general from an imitation of nature. “If one looked
only to the Semitic languages,” says M. Renan,[31] “one would say, that
sensation alone presided over the first acts of the human intellect, and
that language was primarily nothing but a mere reflex of the external
world. If we run through the list of Semitic roots, we scarcely meet
with a single one which does not present to us a sense primarily
material, which is then transferred, by transitions more or less direct
and immediate, to things which are intellectual.” Derivative words are
formed from the roots by a few simple and regular laws. The noun is
scarcely inflected at all; but the verb has a marvellous wealth of
conjugations, calculated to express excellently well the external
relations of ideas, but altogether incapable of expressing their
metaphysical relations, from the want of definitely marked tenses and
moods. Inflections in general have a half-agglutinative character, the
meaning and origin of the affixes and suffixes being palpable. Syntax
scarcely exists, the construction of sentences having such a general
character of simplicity, especially in narrative, that one might compare
it with the naïve utterances of an infant. The utmost endeavour of the
Semites is to join words together so as to form a sentence; to join
sentences is an effort altogether beyond them. They employ the {lexis
eiromene} of Aristotle,[32] which proceeds by accumulating atom on atom,
instead of attempting the rounded period of the Latins and Greeks.

The common traits of character among Semitic nations have been summed up
by one writer under five heads:--1. Pliability combined with iron
fixity of purpose; 2. Depth and force; 3. A yearning for dreamy ease;
4. Capacity for the hardest work; and 5. Love of abstract thought.[33]
Another has thought to find them in the following list:--1. An intuitive
monotheism; 2. Intolerance; 3. Prophetism; 4. Want of the philisophic
and scientific faculties; 5. Want of curiosity; 6. Want of appreciation
of mimetic art; 7. Want of capacity for true political life.[34]
According to the latter writer, “the Semitic race is to be recognized
almost entirely by negative characteristics; it has no mythology, no
epic poetry, no science, no philosophy, no fiction, no plastic arts,
no civil life; everywhere it shows absence of complexity; absence of
combination; an exclusive sentiment of unity.”[35] It is not very easy
to reconcile these two views, and not very satisfactory to regard a race
as “characterised by negatives.” Agreement should consist in positive
features, and these may perhaps be found, first, in strength and depth
of the religious feeling, combined with firm belief in the personality
of the Deity; secondly, in dogged determination and “iron fixity of
purpose;” thirdly, in inventiveness and skill in the mechanical arts and
other industries; fourthly, in “capacity for hard work;” and, fifthly,
in a certain adaptability and pliability, suiting the race for expansion
and for commerce. All these qualities are perhaps not conspicuous in
all the branches of the Semites, but the majority of them will be found
united in all, and in some the combination would seem to be complete.

It is primarily on account of their language that the Phoenicians are
regarded as Semites. When there are no historical grounds for believing
that a nation has laid aside its own original form of speech, and
adopted an alien dialect, language, if not a certain, is at least a
very strong, evidence of ethnic character. Counter-evidence may no doubt
rebut the _prima facie_ presumption; but in the case of the Phoenicians
no counter-evidence is producible. They belong to exactly that
geographic zone in which Semitism has always had its chief seat; they
cannot be shown to have been ever so circumstanced as to have had any
inducement to change their speech; and their physical character and
mental characteristics would, by themselves, be almost sufficient ground
for assigning them to the type whereto their language points.

The place which the Phoenicians occupy within the Semitic group is a
question considerably more difficult to determine. By local position
they should belong to the western, or Aramaic branch, rather than to
the eastern, or Assyro-Babylonian, or to the southern, or Arab. But
the linguistic evidence scarcely lends itself to such a view, while
the historic leads decidedly to an opposite conclusion. There is a far
closer analogy between the Palestinian group of languages--Phoenician,
Hebrew, Moabite, and the Assyro-Babylonian, than between either of these
and the Aramaic. The Aramaic is scanty both in variety of grammatical
forms and in vocabulary; the Phoenician and Assyro-Babylonian are
comparatively copious.[36] The Aramaic has the character of a degraded
language; the Assyro-Babylonian and the Phoenician are modelled on
a primitive type.[37] In some respects Phoenician is even closer to
Assyro-Babylonian than Hebrew is--e.g. in preferring _at_ to _ah_ for
the feminine singular termination.[38]

The testimony of history to the origin of the Phoenicians is the
following. Herodotus tells us that both the Phoenicians themselves, and
the Persians best acquainted with history and antiquities, agreed in
stating that the original settlements of the Phoenician people were upon
the Erythræan Sea (Persian Gulf), and that they had migrated from that
quarter at a remote period, and transferred their abode to the shores
of the Mediterranean.[39] Strabo adds that the inhabitants of certain
islands in the Persian Gulf had a similar tradition, and showed temples
in their cities which were Phoenician in character.[310] Justin, or
rather Trogus Pompeius, whom he abbreviated, writes as follows:--“The
Syrian nation was founded by the Phoenicians, who, being disturbed by
an earthquake, left their native land, and settled first of all in the
neighbourhood of the Assyrian Lake, and subsequently on the shore of
the Mediterranean, where they built a city which they called Sidon on
account of the abundance of the fish; for the Phoenicians call a fish
_sidon_.”[311] The “Assyrian lake” of this passage is probably the Bahr
Nedjif, or “Sea of Nedjif,” in the neighbourhood of the ancient Babylon,
a permanent sheet of water, varying in its dimensions at different
seasons, but generally about forty miles long, and from ten to twenty
broad.[312] Attempts have been made to discredit this entire story,
but the highest living authority on the subject of Phoenicia and the
Phoenicians adopts it as almost certainly true, and observes:--“The
tradition relative to the sojourn of the Phoenicians on the borders
of the Erythræan Sea, before their establishment on the coast of the
Mediterranean, has thus a new light thrown upon it. It appears from the
labours of M. Movers, and from the recent discoveries made at Nineveh
and Babylon, that the civilisation and religion of Phoenicia and Assyria
were very similar. Independently of this, the majority of modern critics
admit it as demonstrated that the primitive abode of the Phoenicians
ought to be placed upon the Lower Euphrates, in the midst of the great
commercial and maritime establishments of the Persian Gulf, agreeable to
the unanimous witness of all antiquity.”[313]

If we pass from the probable origin of the Phoenician people, and their
place in the Semitic group, to their own special characteristics, we
shall find ourselves upon surer ground, though even here there are
certain points which are debateable. The following is the account of
their general character given by a very high authority, and by one who,
on the whole, may be regarded as an admirer:--

“The Phoenicians form, in some respects, the most important fraction
of the whole group of antique nations, notwithstanding that they sprang
from the most obscure and insignificant families. This fraction, when
settled, was constantly exposed to inroad by new tribes, was utterly
conquered and subjected by utter strangers when it had taken a great
place among the nations, and yet by industry, by perseverance, by
acuteness of intellect, by unscrupulousness and wait of faith, by
adaptability and pliability when necessary, and dogged defiance at other
times, by total disregard of the rights of the weaker, they obtained
the foremost place in the history of their times, and the highest
reputation, not only for the things that they did, but for many that
they did not. They were the first systematic traders, the first miners
and metallurgists, the greatest inventors (if we apply such a term to
those who kept an ever-watchful lookout for the inventions of others,
and immediately applied them to themselves with some grand improvements
on the original idea); they were the boldest mariners, the greatest
colonisers, who at one time held not only the gorgeous East, but the
whole of the then half-civilised West in fee--who could boast of a form
of government approaching to constitutionalism, who of all nations of
the time stood highest in practical arts and sciences, and into whose
laps there flowed an unceasing stream of the world’s entire riches,
until the day came when they began to care for nothing else, and the
enjoyment of material comforts and luxuries took the place of the thirst
for and search after knowledge. Their piratical prowess and daring was
undermined; their colonies, grown old enough to stand alone, fell
away from them, some after a hard fight, others in mutual agreement or
silently; and the nations in whose estimation and fear they had held the
first place, and who had been tributary to them, disdained them, ignored
them, and finally struck them utterly out of the list of nations, till
they dwindled away miserably, a warning to all who should come after
them.”[314]

The prominent qualities in this description would seem to be industry
and perseverance, audacity in enterprise, adaptability and pliability,
acuteness of intellect, unscrupulousness, and want of good faith. The
Phoenicians were certainly among the most industrious and persevering of
mankind. The accounts which we have of them from various quarters,
and the remains which cover the country that they once inhabited,
sufficiently attest their unceasing and untiring activity through almost
the whole period of their existence as a nation. Always labouring in
their workshops at home in mechanical and æsthetic arts, they were at
the same time constantly seeking employment abroad, ransacking the
earth for useful or beautiful commodities, building cities, constructing
harbours, founding colonies, introducing the arts of life among wild
nations, mining and establishing fisheries, organising lines of land
traffic, perpetually moving from place to place, and leaving wherever
they went abundant proofs of their diligence and capacity for hard work.
From Thasos in the East, where Herodotus saw “a large mountain turned
topsy-turvy by the Phoenicians in their search for gold,”[315] to the
Scilly Islands in the West, where workings attributable to them are
still to be seen, all the metalliferous islands and coast tracts bear
traces of Phoenician industry in tunnels, adits, and air-shafts,
while manufactured vessels of various kinds in silver, bronze, and
terra-cotta, together with figures and gems of a Phoenician type, attest
still more widely their manufacturing and commercial activity.

Audacity in enterprise can certainly not be denied to the adventurous
race which, from the islands and coasts of the Eastern Mediterranean,
launched forth upon the unknown sea in fragile ships, affronted the
perils of waves and storms, and still more dreaded “monsters of
the deep,”[316] explored the recesses of the stormy Adriatic and
inhospitable Pontus, steered their perilous course amid all the islets
and rocks of the Ægean, along the iron-bound shores of Thrace, Euboea,
and Laconia, first into the Western Mediterranean basin, and then
through the Straits of Gibraltar into the wild and boundless Atlantic,
with its mighty tides, its huge rollers, its blinding rains, and its
frequent fogs. Without a chart, without a compass, guided only in their
daring voyages by their knowledge of the stars, these bold mariners
penetrated to the shores of Scythia in one direction; to Britain, if
not even to the Baltic, in another; in a third to the Fortunate Islands;
while, in a fourth, they traversed the entire length of the Red Sea,
and entering upon the Southern Ocean, succeeded in doubling the Cape
of Storms two thousand years before Vasco di Gama, and in effecting the
circumnavigation of Africa.[317] And, wild as the seas were with which
they had to deal, they had to deal with yet wilder men. Except in Egypt,
Asia Minor, Greece, and perhaps Italy, they came in contact everywhere
with savage races; they had to enter into close relations with men
treacherous, bloodthirsty, covetous--men who were almost always
thieves, who were frequently cannibals, sometimes wreckers--who regarded
foreigners as a cheap and very delicious kind of food. The pioneers of
civilisation, always and everywhere, incur dangers from which ordinary
mortals would shrink with dismay; but the earliest pioneers, the first
introducers of the elements of culture among barbarians who had never
heard of it, must have encountered far greater peril than others
from their ignorance of the ways of savage man, and a want of those
tremendous weapons of attack and defence with which modern explorers
take care to provide themselves. Until the invention of gunpowder,
the arms of civilised men--swords, and spears, and javelins, and
the like--were scarcely a match for the cunningly devised
weapons--boomerangs, and blow-pipes, and poisoned arrows, and
lassoes[318]--of the savage.

The adaptability and pliability of the Phoenicians was especially shown
in their power of obtaining the favourable regard of almost all the
peoples and nations with which they came into contact, whether civilised
or uncivilised. It is most remarkable that the Egyptians, intolerant as
they usually were of strangers, should have allowed the Phoenicians to
settle in their southern capital, Memphis, and to build a temple and
inhabit a quarter there.[319] It is also curious and interesting that
the Phoenicians should have been able to ingratiate themselves with
another most exclusive and self-sufficing people, viz. the Jews.
Hiram’s friendly dealings with David and Solomon are well known; but
the _continued_ alliance between the Phoenicians and the Israelites has
attracted less attention. Solomon took wives from Phoenicia;[320]
Ahab married the daughter of Ithobalus, king of Sidon;[321] Phoenicia
furnished timber for the second Temple;[322] Isaiah wound up his
prophecy against Tyre with a consolation;[323] our Lord found faith in
the Syro-Phoenician woman;[324] in the days of Herod Agrippa, Tyre
and Sidon still desired peace with Judæa, “because their country was
nourished by the king’s country.”[325] And similarly Tyre had friendly
relations with Syria and Greece, with Mesopotamia and Assyria, with
Babylonia and Chaldæa. At the same time she could bend herself to meet
the wants and gain the confidence of all the varieties of barbarians,
the rude Armenians, the wild Arabs, the barbarous tribes of northern
and western Africa, the rough Iberi, the passionate Gauls, the painted
Britons, the coarse Sards, the fierce Thracians, the filthy Scyths, the
savage races of the Caucasus. Tribes so timid and distrustful as those
of Tropical Africa were lured into peaceful and friendly relations by
the artifice of a “dumb commerce,”[326] and on every side untamed
man was softened and drawn towards civilisation by a spirit of
accommodation, conciliation, and concession to prejudices.

If the Phoenicians are to be credited with acuteness of intellect,
it must be limited to the field of practical enquiry and discovery.
Whatever may be said with regard to the extent and variety of their
literature--a subject which will be treated in another chapter--it
cannot be pretended that humanity owes to them any important conquests
of a scientific or philosophic character. Herodotus, who admires the
learning of the Persians,[327] the science of the Babylonians,[328]
and the combined learning and science of the Egyptians,[329] limits
his commendation of the Phoenicians to their skill in navigation, in
mechanics, and in works of art.[330] Had they made advances in the
abstract, or even in the mixed, sciences, in mathematics, or astronomy,
or geometry, in logic or metaphysics, either their writings would have
been preserved, or at least the Greeks would have made acknowledgments
of being indebted to them.[331] But it is only in the field of practical
matters that any such acknowledgments are made. The Greeks allow
themselves to have been indebted to the Phoenicians for alphabetic
writing, for advances in metallurgy, for improvements in shipbuilding,
and navigation, for much geographic knowledge, for exquisite dyes, and
for the manufacture of glass. There can be no doubt that the Phoenicians
were a people of great practical ability, with an intellect quick to
devise means to ends, to scheme, contrive, and execute, and with a happy
knack of perceiving what was practically valuable in the inventions of
other nations, and of appropriating them to their own use, often with
improvements upon the original idea. But they were not possessed of any
great genius or originality. They were, on the whole, adapters rather
than inventors. They owed their idea of alphabetic writing to the
Accadians,[332] their weights and measures to Babylon,[333] their
shipbuilding probably to Egypt,[334] their early architecture to the
same country,[335] their mimetic art to Assyria, to Egypt, and to
Greece. They were not poets, or painters, or sculptors, or great
architects, much less philosophers or scientists; but in the practical
arts, and even in the practical sciences, they held a high place,
in almost all of them equalling, and in some exceeding, all their
neighbours.

We should be inclined also to assign to the Phoenicians, as a special
characteristic, a peculiar capacity for business. This may be said,
indeed, to be nothing more than acuteness of intellect applied in a
particular way. To ourselves, however, it appears to be, in some sort,
a special gift. As, beyond all question, there are many persons of
extremely acute intellect who have not the slightest turn for business,
or ability for dealing with it, so we think there are nations, to whom
no one would deny high intellectual power, without the capacity in
question. In its most perfect form it has belonged but to a small number
of nations--to the Phoenicians, the Venetians, the Genoese, the English,
and the Dutch. It implies, not so much high intellectual power, as a
combination of valuable, yet not very admirable, qualities of a lower
order. Industry, perseverance, shrewdness, quickness of perception,
power of forecasting the future, power of organisation, boldness,
promptness, are among the qualities needed, and there may be others
discoverable by the skilful analyst. All these met in the Phoenicians,
and met in the proportions that were needed for the combination to take
full effect.

Whether unscrupulousness and want of good faith are rightly assigned
to the Phoenicians as characteristic traits, is, at the least, open
to doubt. The Latin writers, with whom the reproach contained in the
expression “Punica fides” originated, are scarcely to be accepted as
unprejudiced witnesses, since it is in most instances a necessity that
they should either impute “bad faith” to the opposite side, or admit
that there was “bad faith” on their own. The aspersions of an enemy are
entitled to little weight. The cry of “perfide Albion” is often heard
in the land of one of our near neighbours; but few Englishmen will admit
the justice of it. It may be urged in favour of the Phoenicians that
long-continued commercial success is impossible without fair-dealing and
honesty; that where there is commercial fair-dealing and honesty,
those qualities become part and parcel of the national character, and
determine national policy; and, further, that in almost every one of the
instances of bad faith alleged, there is at the least a doubt, of which
the accused party ought to have the benefit. At any rate, let it be
remembered that the charges made affect the Liby-Phoenicians alone, and
not the Phoenicians of Asia, with whom we are here primarily concerned,
and that we cannot safely, or equitably, transfer to a mother-country
faults which are only even alleged against one of her colonies.

Physically, the Phoenicians appear to have resembled the Assyrians and
the Jews. They had large frames strongly made, well-developed muscles,
curled beards, and abundant hair. In their features they may have
borne a resemblance, but probably not a very strong resemblance, to
the Cypriots,[336] who were a mixed people recruited from various
quarters.[337] In complexion they belonged to the white race, but were
rather sallow than fair. Their hair was generally dark, though it may
have been sometimes red. Some have regarded the name “Phoenician” as
indicating that they were of a red or red-brown colour;[338] but it is
better to regard the appellation as having passed from the country to
its people, and as applied to the country by the Greeks on account of
the palm-trees which grew along its shores.



CHAPTER IV--THE CITIES

     Importance of the cities in Phoenicia--Their names and
     relative eminence--Cities of the first rank--Sidon--Tyre--
     Arvad or Aradus--Marathus--Gebal or Byblus--Tripolis--Cities
     of the second rank--Aphaca--Berytus--Arka--Ecdippa--Accho--
     Dor--Japho or Joppa--Ramantha or Laodicea--Fivefold division
     of Phoenicia.

Phoenicia, like Greece, was a country where the cities held a position
of extreme importance. The nation was not a centralised one, with a
single recognised capital, like Judæa, or Samaria, or Syria, or Assyria,
or Babylonia. It was, like Greece, a congeries of homogeneous tribes,
who had never been amalgamated into a single political entity, and who
clung fondly to the idea of separate independence. Tyre and Sidon are
often spoken of as if they were metropolitical cities; but it may be
doubted whether there was ever a time when either of them could claim
even a temporary authority over the whole country. Each, no doubt, from
time to time, exercised a sort of hegemony over a certain number of the
inferior cities; but there was no organised confederacy, no obligation
of any one city to submit to another, and no period, as far as our
knowledge extends, at which all the cities acknowledged a single one as
their mistress.[41] Between Tyre and Sidon there was especial jealousy,
and the acceptance by either of the leadership of the other, even
temporarily, was a rare fact in the history of the nation.

According to the geographers, the cities of Phoenicia, from Laodicea
in the extreme north to Joppa at the extreme south, numbered about
twenty-five. These were Laodicea, Gabala, Balanea, Paltos; Aradus,
with its dependency Antaradus; Marathus; Simyra, Orthosia, and Arka;
Tripolis, Calamus, Trieris, and Botrys; Byblus or Gebal; Aphaca;
Berytus; Sidon, Sarepta, and Ornithonpolis; Tyre and Ecdippa; Accho and
Porphyreon; Dor and Joppa. Of the twenty-five a certain number were,
historically and politically, insignificant; for instance, Gabala,
Balanea, Paltos, Orthosia, Calamus, Trieris, Botrys, Sarepta,
Ornithonpolis, Porphyreon. Sarepta is immortalised by the memory of its
pious widow,[42] and Orthosia has a place in history from its connection
with the adventures of Trypho;[43] but the rest of the list are little
more than “geographical expressions.” There remain fifteen important
cities, of which six may be placed in the first rank and nine in the
second--the six being Tyre, Sidon, Aradus, Byblus or Gebal, Marathus,
and Tripolis; the nine, Laodicea, Simyra, Arka, Aphaca, Berytus,
Ecdippa, Accho, Dor, and Joppa. It will be sufficient in the present
place to give some account of these fifteen.

There are some grounds for considering Sidon to have been the most
ancient of the Phoenician towns. In the Book of Genesis Sidon is called
“the eldest born of Canaan,”[44] and in Joshua, where Tyre is simply a
“fenced city” or fort,[45] it is “_Great_ Zidon.”[46] Homer frequently
mentions it,[47] whereas he takes no notice of Tyre. Justin makes it the
first town which the Phoenicians built on arriving at the shores of the
Mediterranean.[48] The priority of Sidon in this respect was, however,
not universally acknowledged, since Tyre claims on some of her coins to
have been “the mother-city of the Sidonians,”[49] and Marathus was also
regarded as a city of the very highest antiquity.[410] The city stood
in Lat. 33º 34´ nearly, on the flat plain between the mountains and the
shore, opposite a small promontory which projects into the sea towards
the west, and is flanked towards the north-west and north by a number
of rocky islands. The modern town of Saïda stands close upon the shore,
occupying the greater part of the peninsula and a portion of the plain
on which it abuts; but the ancient city is found to have been situated
entirely in the plain, and its most western traces are almost half a
mile from the nearest point of the present walls.[411] The modern Saïda
has clustered itself about what was the principal port of the ancient
town, which lay north of the promontory, and was well protected from
winds, on the west by the principal island, which has a length of 250
yards, and on the north by a long range of islets and reefs, extending
in a north-easterly direction a distance of at least 600 yards. An
excellent roadstead was thus formed by nature, which art early improved
into a small but commodious harbour, a line of wall being carried out
from the coast northwards to the most easterly of the islets, and the
only unprotected side of the harbour being thus securely closed. There
is reason to believe that this work was completed anterior to the time
of Alexander,[412] and was therefore due to the Phoenicians themselves,
who were not blind to the advantages of closed harbours over open
roadsteads. They seem also to have strengthened the natural barrier
towards the north by a continuous wall of huge blocks along the reefs
and the islets, portions of which are still in existence.

Besides this excellent harbour, 500 yards long by 200 broad, Sidon
possessed on the southern side of the peninsula a second refuge for its
ships, less safe, but still more spacious. This was an oval basin, 600
yards long from north to south, and nearly 400 broad from east to west,
wholly surrounded by land on three sides, the north, the east, and the
south, but open for the space of about 200 yards towards the west. In
fine weather this harbour was probably quite as much used as the other;
it was protected from all the winds that were commonly prevalent, and
offered a long stretch of sandy shore free from buildings on which
vessels could be drawn up.

It is impossible to mark out the enceinte of the ancient town, or indeed
to emplace it with any exactitude. Only scanty and scattered remains are
left here and there between the modern city and the mountains. There
is, however, towards the south an extensive necropolis,[413] which marks
perhaps the southern limits of the city, while towards the east the
hills are penetrated by a number of sepulchural grottoes, and tombs
of various kinds, which were also probably outside the walls. Were a
northern necropolis to be discovered, some idea would be furnished
of the extent of the city; but at present the plain has been very
imperfectly examined in this direction. It is from the southern
necropolis that the remarkable inscription was disinterred which first
established beyond all possibility of doubt the fact that the modern
Saïda is the representative of the ancient Sidon.[414]

Twenty miles to the south of Sidon was the still more important
city--the double city--of Tzur or Tyre. Tzur signifies “a rock,” and
at this point of the Syrian coast (Lat. 33º 17´) there lay at a short
distance from the shore a set of rocky islets, on the largest of which
the original city seems to have been built. Indentations are so rare and
so shallow along this coast, that a maritime people naturally looked
out for littoral islands, as affording under the circumstances the best
protection against boisterous winds; and, as in the north Aradus was
early seized and occupied by Phoenician settlers, so in the south the
rock, which became the heart of Tyre, was seized, fortified, covered
with buildings, and converted from a bare stony eminence into a town. At
the same time, or not much later, a second town grew up on the
mainland opposite the isle; and the two together were long regarded as
constituting a single city. After the time of Alexander the continental
town went to decay; and the name of Palæ-Tyrus was given to it,[415] to
distinguish it from the still flourishing city on the island.

The islands of which we have spoken formed a chain running nearly in
parallel to the coast. They were some eleven or twelve in number. The
southern extremity of the chain was formed by three, the northern by
seven, small islets.[416] Intermediate between these lay two islands of
superior size, which were ultimately converted into one by filling up
the channel between them. A further enlargement was effected by means
of substructions thrown out into the sea, probably on two sides, towards
the east and towards the south. By these means an area was produced
sufficient for the site of a considerable town. Pliny estimated the
circumference of the island Tyre at twenty-two stades,[417] or somewhat
more than two miles and a half. Modern measurements make the actual
present area one of above 600,000 square yards.[418] The shape was an
irregular trapezium, 1,400 yards along its western face, 800 yards along
its southern one, 600 along the face towards the east, and rather more
along the face towards the north-east.

The whole town was surrounded by a lofty wall, the height of which, on
the side which faced the mainland, was, we are told, a hundred and fifty
feet.[419] Towards the south the foundations of the wall were laid in
the sea, and may still be traced.[420] They consist of huge blocks of
stone strengthened inside by a conglomerate of very hard cement. The
wall runs out from the south-eastern corner of what was the original
island, in a direction a little to the south of west, till it reaches
the line of the western coast, when it turns at a sharp angle, and
rejoins the island at its south-western extremity. At present sea is
found for some distance to the north of the wall, and this fact has been
thought to show that originally it was intended for a pier or quay, and
the space within it for a harbour;[421] but the latest explorers are
of opinion that the space was once filled up with masonry and rubbish,
being an artificial addition to the island, over which, in the course of
time, the sea has broken, and reasserted its rights.[422]

Like Sidon, Tyre had two harbours, a northern and a southern. The
northern, which was called the “Sidonian,” because it looked towards
Sidon, was situated on the east of the main island, towards the northern
end of it. On the west and south the land swept round it in a natural
curve, effectually guarding two sides; while the remaining two were
protected by art. On the north a double line of wall was carried out in
a direction a little south of east for a distance of about three hundred
yards, the space between the two lines being about a hundred feet. The
northern line acted as a sort of breakwater, the southern as a pier.
This last terminated towards the east on reaching a ridge of natural
rock, and was there met by the eastern wall of the harbour, which
ran out in a direction nearly due north for a distance of 250 yards,
following the course of two reefs, which served as its foundation.
Between the reefs was a space of about 140 feet, which was left open,
but could be closed, if necessary, by a boom or chain, which was kept in
readiness. The dimensions of this northern harbour are thought to have
been about 370 yards from north to south, by about 230 from east to
west,[423] or a little short of those which have been assigned to the
northern harbour of Sidon. Concerning the southern harbour there is
considerable difference of opinion. Some, as Kenrick and M. Bertou,
place it due south of the island, and regard its boundary as the line
of submarine wall which we have already described and regarded as
constituting the southern wall of the town. Others locate it towards
the south-east, and think that it is now entirely filled up. A canal
connected the two ports, so that vessels could pass from the one to the
other.

The most remarkable of the Tyrian buildings were the royal palace, which
abutted on the southern wall of the town, and the temples dedicated
to Baal, Melkarth, Agenor, and Astarte or Ashtoreth.[424] The probable
character of the architecture of these buildings will be hereafter
considered. With respect to their emplacement, it would seem by the most
recent explorations that the temple of Baal, called by the Greeks that
of the Olympian Zeus, stood by itself on what was originally a separate
islet at the south-western corner of the city,[425] while that of
Melkarth occupied a position as nearly as possible central,[426] and
that of Agenor was placed near the point in which the island terminates
toward the north.[427] The houses of the inhabitants were closely
crowded together, and rose to the height of several storeys.[428] There
was an open space for the transaction of business within the walls
towards the east, called Eurychorus by those Phoenicians who wrote their
histories in Greek.[429] The town was full of dyeing establishments,
which made it difficult to traverse.[430] The docks and dockyards were
towards the east.

The population of the island Tyre, when it was captured by Alexander,
seems to have been about forty thousand souls.[431] As St. Malo, a city
less than one-third of the size, is known to have had at one time a
population of twelve thousand,[432] the number, though large for the
area, would seem not to be incredible.

Of Palæ-Tyrus, or the continental Tyre, no satisfactory account can
be given, since it has absolutely left no remains, and the classical
notices on the subject are exceedingly scanty. At different periods of
its history, its limits and extent probably varied greatly. Its position
was nearly opposite the island, and in the early times it must have
been, like the other coast towns, strongly fortified; but after its
capture by Alexander the walls do not seem to have been restored, and it
became an open straggling town, extending along the shore from the
river Leontes (Litany) to Ras-el-Ain, a distance of seven miles or more.
Pliny, who wrote when its boundary could still be traced, computed the
circuit of Palæ-Tyrus and the island Tyre together at nineteen Roman
miles,[433] the circuit of the island by itself being less than three
miles. Its situation, in a plain of great fertility, at the foot of the
south-western spurs of Lebanon, and near the gorge of the Litany, was
one of great beauty. Water was supplied to it in great abundance from
the copious springs of Ras-el-Ain, which were received into a reservoir
of an octagonal shape, sixty feet in diameter, and inclosed within walls
eighteen feet in height,[434] whence they were conveyed northwards to
the heart of the city by an aqueduct, whereof a part is still remaining.

The most important city of Phoenicia towards the north was Arvad, or
Aradus. Arvad was situated, like Tyre, on a small island off the Syrian
coast, and lay in Lat. 34º 48´ nearly. It was distant from the shore
about two miles and a half. The island was even smaller than that which
formed the nucleus of Tyre, being only about 800 yards, or less than
half a mile in length, by 500 yards, or rather more than a quarter of
a mile in breadth.[435] The axis of the island was from north-west to
south-east. It was a bare rock, low and flat, without water, and without
any natural soil. The iron coast was surrounded on three sides, the
north, the west, and the south, by a number of rocks and small islets,
which fringed it like the trimming of a shawl. Its Phoenician occupiers
early converted this debatable territory, half sea half shore, into
solid land, by filling up the interstices between the rocks with squared
stones and a solid cement as hard as the rock itself, which remains
to this day.[436] The north-eastern portion, which has a length of 150
yards by a breadth of 125, is perfectly smooth and almost flat, but with
a slight slope towards the east, which is thought to show that it was
used as a sort of dry dock, on which to draw up the lighter vessels, for
safety or for repairs.[437] The western and southern increased the area
for house-building. Anciently, as at Tyre, the houses were built
very close together, and had several storeys,[438] for the purpose
of accommodating a numerous population. The island was wholly without
natural harbour; but on the eastern side, which faced the mainland, and
was turned away from the prevailing winds, the art and industry of the
inhabitants constructed two ports of a fair size. This was effected by
carrying out from the shore three piers at right angles into the sea,
the central one to a distance of from seventy to a hundred yards, and
the other two very nearly as far--and thus forming two rectangular
basins, one on either side of the central pier, which were guarded from
winds on three sides, and only open towards the east, a quarter from
which the winds are seldom violent, and on which the mainland, less than
three miles off, forms a protection. The construction of the central
pier is remarkable. It is formed of massive blocks of sandstone, which
are placed transversely, so that their length forms the thickness of the
pier, and their ends the wall on either side. On both sides of the wall
are quays of concrete.[439]

The line of the ancient enceinte may still be traced around the three
outer sides of the island. It is a gigantic work, composed of stones
from fifteen to eighteen feet long, placed transversely, like those of
the centre pier, and in two places still rising to the height of five or
six courses (from thirty to forty feet).[440] The blocks are laid side
by side without mortar; they are roughly squared, and arranged generally
in regular courses; but sometimes two courses for a while take the place
of one.[441] There is a want of care in the arrangement of the blocks,
joints in one course being occasionally directly over joints in the
course below it. The stones are without any bevel or ornamentation of
any kind. They have been quarried in the island itself, and the beds of
rock from which they were taken may be seen at no great distance. At one
point in the western side of the island, the native rock itself has
been cut into the shape of the wall, and made to take the place of the
squared stones for the distance of about ten feet.[442] A moat has also
been cut along the entire western side, which, with its glacis, served
apparently to protect the wall from the fury of the waves.[443]

We know nothing of the internal arrangements of the ancient town beyond
the fact of the closeness and loftiness of the houses. Externally Aradus
depended on her possessions upon the mainland both for water and for
food. The barren rock could grow nothing, and was moreover covered with
houses. Such rainwater as fell on the island was carefully collected and
stored in tanks and reservoirs,[444] the remains of which are still
to be seen. But the ordinary supply of water for daily consumption was
derived in time of peace from the opposite coast. When this supply was
cut off by an enemy Aradus had still one further resource. Midway in
the channel between the island and the continent there burst out at the
bottom of the sea a fresh-water spring of great strength; by confining
this spring within a hemisphere of lead to which a leathern pipe was
attached the much-needed fluid was raised to the surface and received
into a vessel moored upon the spot, whence supplies were carried to
the island.[445] The phenomenon still continues, though the modern
inhabitants are too ignorant and unskilful to profit by it.[446]

On the mainland Aradus possessed a considerable tract, and had a number
of cities subject to her. Of these Strabo enumerates six, viz. Paltos,
Balanea, Carnus--which he calls the naval station of Aradus--Enydra,
Marathus, and Simyra.[447] Marathus was the most important of these. Its
name recalls the “Brathu” of Philo-Byblius[448] and the “Martu” of the
early Babylonian inscriptions,[449] which was used as a general term by
some of the primitive monarchs almost in the sense of “Syria.” The word
is still preserved in the modern “M’rith” or “Amrith,” a name attached
to some extensive ruins in the plain south-east of Aradus, which have
been carefully examined by M. Renan.[450] Marathus was an ancient
Phoenician town, probably one of the most ancient, and was always looked
upon with some jealousy by the Aradians, who ultimately destroyed it and
partitioned out the territory among their own citizens.[451] The same
fate befell Simyra,[452] a place of equal antiquity, the home probably
of those Zemarites who are coupled with the Arvadites in Genesis.[453]
Simyra appears as “Zimirra” in the Assyrian inscriptions, where it is
connected with Arka,[454] which was not far distant. Its exact site,
which was certainly south of Amrith, seems to be fixed by the name
Sumrah, which attaches to some ruins in the plain about a mile and a
half north of the Eleutherus (Nahr-el-Kebir) and within a mile of
the sea.[455] The other towns--Paltos, Balanea, Carnus,[456] and
Enydra--were in the more northern portion of the plain, as was also
Antaradus, now Tortosa, where there are considerable remains, but of a
date long subsequent to the time of Phoenician ascendancy.

Of the remaining Phoenician cities the most important seems to have
been Gebal, or Byblus. Mentioned under the name of Gubal in the Assyrian
inscriptions as early as the time of Jehu[457] (ab. B.C. 840), and
glanced at even earlier in the Hebrew records, which tell of its
inhabitants, the Giblites,[458] Gebal is found as a town of note in the
time of Alexander the Great,[459] and again in that of Pompey.[460] The
traditions of the Phoenicians themselves made it one of the most ancient
of the cities; and the historian Philo, who was a native of the place,
ascribes its foundation to Kronos or Saturn.[461] It was an especially
holy city, devoted in the early times to the worship of Beltis,[462] and
in the later to that of Adonis.[463] The position is marked beyond all
reasonable doubt by the modern Jebeïl, which retains the original
name very slightly modified, and answers completely to the ancient
descriptions. The town lies upon the coast, in Lat. 34º 10´ nearly,
about halfway between Tripolis and Berytus, four miles north of the
point where the Adonis river (now the Ibrahim) empties itself into the
sea. There is a “small but well-sheltered port,”[464] formed mainly by
two curved piers which are carried out from the shore towards the north
and south, and which leave between them only a narrow entrance. The
castle occupies a commanding position on a hill at a little distance
from the shore, and has a keep built of bevelled stones of a large size.
Several of them measure from fifteen to eighteen feet in length, and are
from five to six feet thick.[465] They were probably quarried by Giblite
“stone-cutters,” but placed in their present position during the middle
ages.

Tripolis, situated halfway between Byblus and Aradus, was not one of
the original Phoenician cities, but was a joint colony from the three
principal settlements, Tyre, Sidon, and Aradus.[466] The date of
its foundation, and its native Phoenician name, are unknown to us:
conjecture hovers between Hosah, Mahalliba, Uznu, and Siannu, maritime
towns of Phoenicia known to the Assyrians,[467] but unmentioned by any
Greek author. The situation was a promontory, which runs out towards the
north-west, in Lat. 34º 27´ nearly, for the distance of a mile, and
is about half a mile wide. The site is “well adapted for a haven, as
a chain of seven small islands, running out to the north-west, affords
shelter in the direction from which the most violent winds blow.”[468]
The remotest of these islands is ten miles distant from the shore.[469]
We are told that the colonists who founded Tripolis did not intermix,
but had their separate quarters of the town assigned to them, each
surrounded by its own wall, and lying at some little distance one from
the other.[470] There are no present traces of this arrangement, which
seems indicative of distrust; but some remains have been found of a wall
which was carried across the isthmus on the land side.[471] Tripolis is
now Tarabolus.

Aphaca, the only inland Phoenician town of any importance, is now Afka,
and is visited by most travellers and tourists. It was situated in a
beautiful spot at the head of the Adonis river,[472] a sacred stream
fabled to run with blood once a year, at the festival which commemorated
the self-mutilation of the Nature-god Adonis. Aphaca was a sort of
Delphi, a collection of temples rather than a town. It was dedicated
especially to the worship of the Syrian goddess, Ashtoreth or
Venus, sometimes called Beltis or Baaltis, whose orgies were of so
disgracefully licentious a character that they were at last absolutely
forbidden by Constantine. At present there are no remains on the
ancient site except one or two ruins of edifices decidedly Roman in
character.[473] Nor is the gorge of the Adonis any richer in ancient
buildings. There was a time when the whole valley formed a sort of
“Holy Land,”[474] and at intervals on its course were shown “Tombs of
Adonis,”[475] analogous to the artificial “Holy Sepulchres” of many
European towns in the middle ages. All, however, have disappeared, and
the traveller looks in vain for any traces of that curious cult which
in ancient times made Aphaca and its river one of the most noted of the
holy spots of Syria and a favourite resort of pilgrims.

Twenty-three miles south of Byblus was Berytus, which disputed with
Byblus the palm of antiquity.[476] Berytus was situated on a promontory
in Lat. 33º 54´, and had a port of a fair size, protected towards the
west by a pier, which followed the line of a ridge of rocks running
out from the promontory towards the north. It was not of any importance
during the flourishing Phoenician period, but grew to greatness under
the Romans,[477] when its harbour was much improved, and the town
greatly extended.[478] By the time of Justinian it had become the
chief city of Phoenicia, and was celebrated as a school of law and
science.[479] The natural advantages of its situation have caused it to
retain a certain importance, and in modern times it has drawn to itself
almost the whole of the commerce which Europe maintains with Syria.

Arka, or Arqa, the home of the Arkites of Genesis,[480] can never have
been a place of much consequence. It lies at a distance of four miles
from the shore, on one of the outlying hills which form the skirts of
Lebanon, in Lat. 34º 33, Long. 33º 44´ nearly. The towns nearest to it
were Orthosia, Simyra, and Tripolis. It was of sufficient consequence
to be mentioned in the Assyrian Inscriptions,[481] though not to attract
the notice of Strabo.

Ecdippa, south of Tyre, in Lat. 33º 1´, is no doubt the scriptural
Achzib,[482] which was made the northern boundary of Asher at the
division of the Holy Land among the twelve tribes. The Assyrian monarchs
speak of it under the same name, but mention it rarely, and apparently
as a dependency of Sidon.[483] The old name, in the shortened form of
“Zeb,” still clings to the place.

Still further to the south, five miles from Ecdippa, and about
twenty-two miles from Tyre, lay Akko or Accho, at the northern extremity
of a wide bay, which terminates towards the south in the promontory of
Carmel. Next to the Bay of St. George, near Beyrout, this is the best
natural roadstead on the Syrian coast; and this advantage, combined with
its vicinity to the plain of Esdraelon, has given to Accho at various
periods of history a high importance, as in some sense “the key of
Syria.” The Assyrians, in their wars with Palestine and Egypt, took care
to conquer and retain it.[484] When the Ptolemies became masters of
the tract between Egypt and Mount Taurus, they at once saw its value,
occupied it, strengthened its defences, and gave it the name of
Ptolemaïs. The old appellation has, however, reasserted itself; and,
as Acre, the city played an important part in the Crusades, in the
Napoleonic attempt on Egypt, and in the comparatively recent expedition
of Ibrahim Pasha. It had a small port of its own to the south-east of
the promontory on which it stood, which, like the other ports of the
ancient Phoenicia, is at the present time almost wholly sanded up.[485]
But its roadstead was of more importance than its port, and was used by
the Persians as a station for their fleet, from which they could keep
watch on Egypt.[486]

South of Accho and south of Carmel, close upon the shore, which is here
low and flat, was Dor, now Tantura, the seat of a kingdom in the time
of Joshua,[487] and allotted after its conquest to Manasseh.[488] Here
Solomon placed one of his purveyors,[489] and here the great Assyrian
monarch Tiglath-pileser II. likewise placed a “governor,” about B.C.
732, when he reduced it.[490] Dor was one of the places where the
shell-fish which produced the purple dye were most abundant, and
remained in the hands of the Phoenicians during all the political
changes which swept over Syria and Palestine to a late period.[491] It
had fallen to ruin, however, by the time of Jerome,[492] and the present
remains are unimportant.

The extreme Phoenician city on the south was Japho or Joppa. It lay in
Lat. 32º 2´, close to the territory of Dan,[493] but continued to be
held by the Phoenicians until the time of the Maccabees,[494] when it
became Jewish. The town was situated on the slope of a low hill near the
sea, and possessed anciently a tolerable harbour, from which a trade was
carried on with Tartessus.[495] As the seaport nearest to Jerusalem,
it was naturally the chief medium of the commerce which was carried on
between the Phoenicians and the Jews. Thither, in the time of Solomon,
were brought the floats of timber cut in Lebanon for the construction
of the Temple and the royal palace; and thither, no doubt, were conveyed
“the wheat, and the barley, and the oil, and the wine,” which the
Phoenicians received in return for their firs and cedars.[496] A similar
exchange of commodities was made nearly five centuries later at the same
place, when the Jews returned from the captivity under Zerubbabel.[497]
In Roman times the foundation of Cæsaræa reduced Joppa to
insignificance; yet it still, as Jaffa or Yáfa, retains a certain amount
of trade, and is famous for its palm-groves and gardens.

Joppa towards the south was balanced by Ramantha, or Laodicea, towards
the north. Fifty miles north of Aradus and Antaradus (Tortosa), in
Lat. 35º 30´ nearly, occupying the slope of a hill facing the sea, with
chalky cliffs on either side, that, like those of Dover, whiten the sea,
and with Mount Casius in the background, lay the most northern of all
the Phoenician cities in a fertile and beautiful territory.[498] The
original appellation was, we are told, Ramantha,[499] a name intended
probably to mark the _lofty_ situation of the place;[4100] but this
appellation was forced to give way to the Greek term, Laodicea, when
Seleucus Nicator, having become king of Syria, partially rebuilt
Ramantha and colonised it with Greeks.[4101] The coins of the city under
the Seleucidæ show its semi-Greek, semi-Phoenician character, having
legends in both languages. One of these, in the Phoenician character,
is read as _l’Ladika am b’Canaan_, i.e. “of Laodicea, a metropolis
in Canaan,” and seems to show that the city claimed not only to be
independent, but to have founded, and to hold under its sway, a number
of smaller towns.[4102] It may have exercised a dominion over the entire
tract from Mount Casius to Paltos, where the dominion of Aradus began.
Laodicea is now Latakia, and is famous for the tobacco grown in the
neighbourhood. It still makes use of its ancient port, which would be
fairly commodious if it were cleared of the sand that at present chokes
it.[4103]

It has been said that Phoenicia was composed of “three worlds” with
distinct characteristics;[4104] but perhaps the number of the “worlds”
 should be extended to five. First came that of Ramantha, reaching from
the Mons Casius to the river Badas, a distance of about fifty miles, a
remote and utterly sequestered region, into which neither Assyria nor
Egypt ever thought of penetrating. Commerce with Cyprus and southern
Asia Minor was especially open to the mariners of this region, who could
see the shores of Cyprus without difficulty on a clear day. Next came
the “world” of Aradus, reaching along the coast from the Badas to the
Eleutherus, another stretch of fifty miles, and including the littoral
islands, especially that of Ruad, on which Aradus was built. This tract
was less sequestered than the more northern one, and contains traces of
having been subjected to influences from Egypt at an early period. The
gap between Lebanon and Bargylus made the Aradian territory accessible
from the Coelesyrian valley; and there is reason to believe that one of
the roads which Egyptian and Assyrian conquest followed in these parts
was that which passed along the coast as far as the Eleutherus and then
turned eastward and north-eastward to Emesa (Hems) and Hamath. It must
have been conquerors marching by this line who set up their effigies at
the mouth of the Nahr-el-Kelb, and those who pursued it would naturally
make a point of reducing Aradus. Thus this second Phoenician “world” has
not the isolated character of the first, but shows marks of Assyrian,
and still more of early Egyptian, influence. The third Phoenician
“world” is that of Gebal or Byblus. Its limits would seem to be the
Eleutherus on the north, and on the south the Tamyras, which would allow
it a length of a little above eighty miles. This district, it has been
said, preserved to the last days of paganism a character which was
original and well marked. Within its limits the religious sentiment had
more intensity and played a more important part in life than elsewhere
in Phoenicia. Byblus was a sort of Phoenician Jerusalem. By their turn
of mind and by the language which they spoke, the Byblians or Giblites
seem to have been, of all the Phoenicians, those who most resembled the
Hebrews. King Jehavmelek, who probably reigned at Byblus about B.C. 400,
calls himself “a just king,” and prays that he may obtain favour in
the sight of God. Later on it was at Byblus, and in the valleys of the
Lebanon depending on it, that the inhabitants celebrated those mysteries
of Astarte, together with that orgiastic worship of Adonis or Tammuz,
which were so popular in Syria during the whole of the Greco-Roman
period.[4105] The fourth Phoenician “world” was that of Tyre and Sidon,
beginning at the Tamyras and ending with the promontory of Carmel. Here
it was that the Phoenician character developed especially those traits
by which it is commonly known to the world at large--a genius for
commerce and industry, a passion for the undertaking of long and
perilous voyages, an adaptability to circumstances of all kinds, and an
address in dealing with wild tribes of many different kinds which has
rarely been equalled and never exceeded. “All that we are about to
say of Phoenicia,” declares the author recently quoted, “of its rapid
expansion and the influence which it exercised over the nations of the
West, must be understood especially of Tyre and Sidon. The other towns
might furnish sailors to man the Tyrian fleet or merchandise for their
cargo, but it was Sidon first and then (with even more determination
and endurance) Tyre which took the initiative and the conduct of the
movement; it was the mariners of these two towns who, with eyes fixed
on the setting sun, pushed their explorations as far as the Pillars
of Hercules, and eventually even further.”[4106] The last and least
important of the Phoenician “worlds” was the southern one, extending
sixty miles from Carmel to Joppa--a tract from which the Phoenician
character was well nigh trampled out by the feet of strangers ever
passing up and down the smooth and featureless region, along which lay
the recognised line of route between Syria and Mesopotamia on the one
hand, Philistia and Egypt on the other.[4107]



CHAPTER V--THE COLONIES

     Circumstances which led the Phoenicians to colonise--Their
     colonies best grouped geographically--1. Colonies of the
     Eastern Mediterranean--in Cyprus, Citium, Amathus, Curium,
     Paphos, Salamis, Ammochosta, Tamisus, and Soli;--in Cilicia,
     Tarsus;--in Lycia, Phaselis;--in Rhodes, Lindus, Ialysus,
     Camirus;--in Crete, and the Cyclades;--in the Northern
     Egean; &c. 2. In the Central and Western Mediterranean--in
     Africa, Utica, Hippo-Zaritis, Hippo Regius, Carthage,
     Hadrumetum, Leptis Minor, Leptis Major, and Thapsus;--in
     Sicily, Motya, Eryx, Panormus, Solocis;--between Sicily and
     Africa, Cossura, Gaulos, and Melita;--in Sardinia, Caralis,
     Nora, Sulcis, and Tharros;--in the Balearic Isles;--in
     Spain, Malaca, Sex, Abdera. 3. Outside the Straits of
     Gibraltar;--in Africa, Tingis, and Lixus; in Spain,
     Tartessus, Gades, and Belon--Summary.

The narrowness of the territory which the Phoenicians occupied the
military strength of their neighbours towards the north and towards the
south, and their own preference of maritime over agricultural pursuits,
combined to force them, as they began to increase and multiply, to
find a vent for their superfluous population in colonies. The military
strength of Philistia and Egypt barred them out from expansion upon
the south; the wild savagery of the mountain races in Casius, northern
Bargylus, and Amanus was an effectual barrier towards the north; but
before them lay the open Mediterranean, placid during the greater
portion of the year, and conducting to a hundred lands, thinly peopled,
or even unoccupied, where there was ample room for any number of
immigrants. The trade of the Phoenicians with the countries bordering
the Eastern Mediterranean must be regarded as established long
previously to the time when they began to feel cramped for space; and
thus, when that time arrived, they had no difficulty in finding fresh
localities to occupy, except such as might arise from a too abundant
amplitude of choice. Right in front of them lay, at the distance of not
more than seventy miles, visible from Casius in clear weather,[51] the
large and important island, once known as Chittim,[52] and afterwards as
Cyprus, which played so important a part in the history of the East from
the time of Sargon and Sennacherib to that of Bragadino and Mustapha
Pasha. To the right, well visible from Cyprus, was the fertile tract of
Cilicia Campestris, which led on to the rich and picturesque regions of
Pamphylia, Lycia, and Caria. From Caria stretched out, like a string
of stepping-stones between Asia and Europe, the hundred islets of
the Ægean, Cyclades, and Sporades, and others, inviting settlers, and
conducting to the large islands of Crete and Euboea, and the shores of
Attica and the Peloponnese. It is impossible to trace with any exactness
the order in which the Phoenician colonies were founded. A thousand
incidental circumstances--a thousand caprices--may have deranged what
may be called the natural or geographical order, and have caused
the historical order to diverge from it; but, on the whole, probably
something like the geographical order was observed; and, at any rate, it
will be most convenient, in default of sufficient data for an historical
arrangement, to adopt in the present place a geographic one, and,
beginning with those nearest to Phoenicia itself in the Eastern
Mediterranean, to proceed westward to the Straits of Gibraltar,
reserving for the last those outside the Straits on the shores of the
Atlantic Ocean.

The nearest, and probably the first, region to attract Phoenician
colonies was the island of Cyprus. Cyprus lies in the corner of the
Eastern Mediterranean formed by the projection of Asia Minor from the
Syrian shore. Its mountain chains run parallel with Taurus, and it is
to Asia Minor that it presents its longer flank, while to Phoenicia it
presents merely one of its extremities. Its length from east to west is
145 miles, its greatest width about sixty miles.[53] Two strongly marked
mountain ranges form its most salient features, the one running close
along the north coast from Cape Kormaciti to Cape S. Andreas; the other
nearly central, but nearer the south, beginning at Cape Renaouti in the
west and terminating at Cape Greco. The mountain ranges are connected
by a tract of high ground towards the centre, and separated by two broad
plains,[54] towards the east and west. The eastern plain is the more
important of the two. It extends along the course of the Pediæus from
Leucosia, or Nicosia, the present capital, to Salamis, a distance of
thirty-five miles, and is from five to twelve miles wide. The fertility
of the soil was reckoned in ancient times to equal that of Egypt.[55]
The western plain, that of Morfou, is much smaller, and is watered by
a less important river. The whole island, when it first became known to
the Phoenicians, was well wooded.[56] Lovely glens opened upon them, as
they sailed along its southern coast, watered by clear streams from the
southern mountain-range, and shaded by thick woods of pine and cedar,
the latter of which are said to have in some cases attained a greater
size even than those of the Lebanon.[57] The range was also prolific of
valuable metals.[58] Gold and silver were found in places, but only in
small quantities; iron was yielded in considerable abundance; but the
chief supply was that of copper, which derived its name from that of
the island.[59] Other products of the island were wheat of excellent
quality; the rich Cyprian wine which retains its strength and flavour
for well nigh a century, the _henna_ dye obtained from the plant called
_copher_ or _cyprus_, the _Lawsonia alba_ of modern botany; valuable
pigments of various kinds, red, yellow, green, and amber; hemp and flax;
tar, boxwood,[510] and all the materials requisite for shipbuilding
from the heavy timbers needed for the keel to the lightest spar and the
flimsiest sail.[511]

The earliest of the Phoenician settlements in Cyprus seem to have lain
upon its southern coast. Here were Citium, Amathus, Curium, and Paphus,
the Palæ-paphus of the geographers, which have all yielded abundant
traces of a Phoenician occupation at a very distant period. Citium, now
Larnaka, was on the western side of a deep bay, which indents the more
eastern portion of the southern coast, between the promontories of Citi
and Pyla. It is sheltered from all winds except the south-east,
and continues to the present day the chief port of the island. The
Phoenician settlers improved on the natural position by the formation
of an artificial basin, enclosed within piers, the lines of which may be
traced, though the basin itself is sanded up.[512] A plain extends for
some distance inland, on which the palm-tree flourishes, and which
is capable of producing excellent crops of wheat.[513] Access to the
interior is easy; for the mountain range sinks as it proceeds eastward,
and between Citium and Dali (Idalium), on a tributary of the Pediæus, is
of small elevation. There are indications that the Phoenicians did not
confine themselves to the coast, but penetrated into the interior, and
even settled there in large numbers. Idalium, sixteen miles north-west
of Citium, and Golgi (Athiénau), ten miles nearly due north of the
same, show traces of having supported for a considerable time a large
Phoenician population,[514] and must be regarded as outposts advanced
from Citium into the mountains for trading, and perhaps for mining
purposes. Idalium (Dali) has a most extensive Phoenician necropolis; the
interments have a most archaic character; and their Phoenician origin
is indicated both by their close resemblance to interments in Phoenicia
proper and by the discovery, in connection with them, of Phoenician
inscriptions.[515] At Golgi the remains scarcely claim so remote an
antiquity. They belong to the time when Phoenician art was dominated by
a strong Egyptian influence, and when it also begins to have a partially
Hellenic character. Some critics assign them to the sixth, or even to
the fifth century, B.C.[516]

West of Citium, also upon the south coast, and in a favourable situation
for trade with the interior, was Amathus. The name Amathus has been
connected with “Hamath;”[517] but there is no reason to suppose that the
Hamathites were Phoenicians. Amathus, which Stephen of Byzantium calls
“a most ancient Cyprian city,”[518] was probably among the earliest of
the Phoenician settlements in the island. It lay in the bay formed by
the projection of Cape Gatto from the coast, and, like Citium, looked
to the south-east. Westward and south-westward stretched an extensive
plain, fertile and well-watered, shaded by carob and olive-trees,[519]
whilst towards the north were the rich copper mines from which the
Amathusians derived much of their prosperity. The site has yielded a
considerable amount of Phoenician remains--tombs, sarcophagi, vases,
bowls, pateræ and statuettes.[520] Many of the tombs resemble those
at Idalium; others are stone chambers deeply buried in the earth. The
mimetic art shows Assyrian and Egyptian influence, but is essentially
Phoenician, and of great interest. Further reference will be made to it
in the Chapter on the Æsthetic Art of the Phoenicians.

Still further to the west, in the centre of the bay enclosed between
the promontories of Zeugari and Boosoura, was the colony of Curium, on
a branch of the river Kuras. Curium lay wholly open to the
south-western-gales, but had a long stretch of sandy shore towards the
south-east, on which vessels could be drawn up. The town was situated
on a rocky elevation, 300 feet in height, and was further defended by
a strong wall, a large portion of which may still be traced.[521] The
richest discovery of Phoenician ornaments and objects of art that has
yet been made took place at Curium, where, in the year 1874, General Di
Cesnola happened upon a set of “Treasure Chambers” containing several
hundreds of rings, gems, necklaces, bracelets, armlets, ear-rings,
bowls, basins, jugs, pateræ, &c., in the precious metals, which have
formed the principal material for all recent disquisitions on the true
character and excellency of Phoenician art. Commencing with works of
which the probable date is the fifteenth or sixteenth century B.C.,
and descending at least as far as the best Greek period[522] (B.C.
500-400), embracing, moreover, works which are purely Assyrian, purely
Egyptian, and purely Greek, this collection has yet so predominant a
Phoenician character as to mark Curium, notwithstanding the contrary
assertions of the Greeks themselves,[523] for a thoroughly Phoenician
town. And the history of the place confirms this view, since Curium
sided with Amathus and the Persians in the war of Onesilus.[524] No
doubt, like most of the other Phoenician cities in Cyprus, it was
Hellenised gradually; but there must have been many centuries during
which it was an emporium of Phoenician trade and a centre of Phoenician
influence.

Where the southern coast of Cyprus begins to trend to the north-west,
and a river of some size, the Bocarus or Diorizus, reaches the sea,
stood the Phoenician settlement of Paphos, founded (as was said[525]) by
Cinyras, king of Byblus. Here was one of the most celebrated of all the
temples of Astarté or Ashtoreth,[526] the Phoenician Nature-Goddess; and
here ruled for many centuries the sacerdotal class of the Cinyridæ. The
remains of the temple have been identified, and will be described in a
future chapter. They have the massive character of all early Phoenician
architecture.

Among other Phoenician settlements in Cyprus were, it is probable,
Salamis, Ammochosta (now Famagosta), Tamasus, and Soli. Salamis must be
regarded as originally Phoenician on account of the name, which cannot
be viewed as anything but another form of the Hebrew “Salem,” the
alternative name of Jerusalem.[527] Salamis lay on the eastern coast of
the island at the mouth of the main river, the Pediæus. It occupied
the centre of a large bay which looked towards Phoenicia, and would
naturally be the place where the Phoenicians would first land. There is
no natural harbour beyond that afforded by the mouth of the Pediæus,
but a harbour was easily made by throwing out piers into the bay; and of
this, which is now sanded up, the outline may be traced.[528] There
are, however, no remains, either at Salamis or in the immediate
neighbourhood, which can claim to be regarded as Phoenician; and the
glories of the city belong to the history of Greece.

Ammochosta was situated within a few miles of Salamis, towards the
south.[529] Its first appearance in history belongs to the reign of
Esarhaddon (B.C. 680), when we find it in a list of ten Cyprian cities,
each having its own king, who acknowledged for their suzerain the great
monarch of Assyria.[530] Soon afterwards it again occurs among the
cities tributary to Asshur-bani-pal.[531] Otherwise we have no mention
of it in Phoenician times. As Famagosta it was famous in the wars
between the Venetians and the Turks.

Tamasus, or Tamassus, was an inland city, and the chief seat of the
mining operations which the Phoenicians carried on in the island in
search of copper.[532] It lay a few miles to the west of Idalium (Dali),
on the northern flank of the southern mountain chain. The river Pediæus
flowed at its feet. Like Ammochosta, it appears among the Cyprian towns
which in the seventh century B.C. were tributary to the Assyrians.[533]
The site is still insufficiently explored.

Soli lay upon the coast, in the recess of the gulf of Morfou.[534] The
fiction of its foundation by Philocyprus at the suggestion of Solon[535]
is entirely disproved by the occurrence of the name in the Assyrian
lists of Cyprian towns a century before Solon’s time. Its sympathies
were with the Phoenician, and not with the Hellenic, population of the
island, as was markedly shown when it joined with Amathus and Citium in
calling to Artaxerxes for help against Evagoras.[536] The city stood on
the left bank of the river Clarius, and covered the northern slope of
a low hill detached from the main range, extending also over the low
ground at the foot of the hill to within a short distance of the shore,
where are to be seen the remains of the ancient harbour. The soil in
the neighbourhood is very rich, and adapted for almost any kind of
cultivation.[537] In the mountains towards the south were prolific veins
of copper.

The northern coast of the island between Capes Cormaciti and S. Andreas
does not seem to have attracted the Phoenicians, though there are some
who regard Lapethus and Cerynia as Phoenician settlements.[538] It is a
rock-bound shore of no very tempting aspect, behind which the mountain
range rises up steeply. Such Phoenician emigrants as held their way
along the Salaminian plain and, rounding Cape S. Andreas, passed into
the channel that separates Cyprus from the mainland, found the coast
upon their right attract them far more than that upon their left, and
formed settlements in Cilicia which ultimately became of considerable
importance. The chief of these was Tars or Tarsus, probably the Tarshish
of Genesis,[539] though not that of the later Books, a Phoenician city,
which has Phoenician characters upon its coins, and worshipped the
supreme Phoenician deity under the title of “Baal Tars,” “the Lord of
Tarsus.”[540] Tarsus commanded the rich Cilician plain up to the very
roots of Taurus, was watered by the copious stream of the Cydnus, and
had at its mouth a commodious harbour. Excellent timber for shipbuilding
grew on the slopes of the hills bounding the plain, and the river
afforded a ready means of floating such timber down to the sea.
Cleopatra’s ships are said to have been derived from the Cilician
forests, which Antony made over to her for the purpose.[541] Other
Phoenician settlements upon the Cilician coast were, it is probable,
Soli, Celenderis, and Nagidus.

Pursuing their way westward, in search of new abodes, the emigrants
would pass along the coast, first of Pamphylia and then of Lycia. In
Pamphylia there is no settlement that can be with confidence assigned
to them; but in Lycia it would seem that they colonised Phaselis,
and perhaps other places. The mountain which rises immediately behind
Phaselis was called “Solyma;”[542] and a very little to the south was
another mountain known as “Phoenicus.”[543] Somewhat further to the west
lies the cape still called Cape Phineka,[544] in which the root Phoenix
({phoinix}) is again to be detected. A large district inland was named
Cabalis or Cabalia,[545] or (compare Phoen. and Heb. _gebal_, mod. Arab.
_jebel_) the “mountain” country. Phaselis was situated on a promontory
projecting south-eastward into the Mediterranean,[546] and was reckoned
to have three harbours,[547] which are marked in the accompanying chart.
Of these the principal one was that on the western side of the isthmus,
which was formed by a stone pier carried out for more than two hundred
yards into the sea, and still to be traced under the water.[548]
The other two, which were of smaller size, lay towards the east. The
Phoenicians were probably tempted to make a settlement at the place,
partly by the three ports, partly by the abundance of excellent timber
for shipbuilding which the neighbourhood furnishes. “Between Phaselis
and Cape Avora, a little north of it,” says a modern traveller, “a belt
of large and handsome pines borders the shore for some miles.”[549]

From Lycia the Asiatic coast westward and north-westward was known as
Caria; and here Phoenician settlements appear to have been numerous. The
entire country was at any rate called Phoenicé by some authors.[550]
But the circumstances do not admit of our pointing out any special
Phoenician settlements in this quarter, which early fell under almost
exclusive Greek influence. There are ample grounds, however, for
believing that the Phoenicians colonised Rhodes at the south-western
angle of Asia Minor, off the Carian coast. According to Conon,[551] the
earliest inhabitants of Rhodes were the Heliades, whom the Phoenicians
expelled. The Phoenicians themselves were at a later date expelled by
the Carians, and the Carians by the Greeks. Ergeias, however, the native
historian, declared[552] that the Phoenicians remained, at any rate in
some parts of the island, until the Greeks drove them out. Ialysus was,
he said, one of their cities. Dictys Cretensis placed Phoenicians,
not only in Ialysus, but in Camirus also.[553] It is the conclusion of
Kenrick that “the Phoenician settlement in Rhodes was the first which
introduced civilisation among the primeval inhabitants, and that they
maintained their ascendancy till the rise of the naval power of the
Carians. These new settlers reduced the Phoenicians to the occupancy
of three principal towns”--i.e. Lindus, Ialysus, and Camirus; but “from
these too they were expelled by the Dorians, or only allowed to remain
at Ialysus as the hereditary priesthood of their native god.”[554]
Rhodes is an island about one-fourth the size of Cyprus, with its axis
from the north-east to the south-west. It possesses excellent harbours,
accessible from all quarters,[555] and furnishing a secure shelter in
all weathers. The fertility of the soil is great; and the remarkable
history of the island shows the importance which attaches to it in the
hands of an enterprising people. Turkish apathy has, however, succeeded
in reducing it to insignificance.

The acquisition of Rhodes led the stream of Phoenician colonisation
onwards in two directions, south-westward and north-westward.
South-westward, it passed by way of Carpathus and Casus to Crete,
and then to Cythera; north-westward, by way of Chalcia, Telos, and
Astypalæa, to the Cyclades and Sporades. The presence of the Phoenicians
in Crete is indicated by the haven “Phoenix,” where St. Paul’s
conductors hoped to have wintered their ship;[556] by the town of
Itanus, which was named after a Phoenician founder,[557] and was a
staple of the purple-trade,[558] and by the existence near port Phoenix
of a town called “Araden.” Leben, on the south coast, near Cape
Leo, seems also to have derived its name from the Semitic word for
“lion.”[559] Crete, however, does not appear to have been occupied by
the Phoenicians at more than a few points, or for colonising so much
as for trading purposes. They used its southern ports for refitting and
repairing their ships, but did not penetrate into the interior, must
less attempt to take possession of the whole extensive territory. It was
otherwise with the smaller islands. Cythera is said to have derived its
name from the Phoenician who colonised it, and the same is also reported
of Melos.[560] Ios was, we are told, originally called Phoenicé;[561]
Anaphé had borne the name of Membliarus, after one of the companions
of Cadmus;[562] Oliarus, or Antiparos, was colonised from Sidon.[563]
Thera’s earliest inhabitants were of the Phoenician race;[564] either
Phoenicians or Carians had, according to Thucydides,[565] colonised in
remote times “the greater part of the islands of the Ænean.” There was a
time when probably all the Ægean islands were Phoenician possessions,
or at any rate acknowledged Phoenician influence, and Siphnus gave its
gold, its silver,[566] and its lead,[567] Cythera its shell-fish,[568]
Paros its marble, Melos its sulphur and its alum,[569] Nisyrus its
millstones,[570] and the islands generally their honey,[571] to increase
the wealth and advance the commercial interests of their Phoenician
masters.

From the Sporades and Cyclades the advance was easy to the islands
of the Northern Ægean, Lemnos, Imbrus, Thasos, and Samothrace. The
settlement of the Phoenicians in Thasos is attested by Herodotus, who
says that the Tyrian Hercules (Melkarth) was worshipped there,[572] and
ascribes to the Phoenicians extensive mining operations on the eastern
shores of the island between Ænyra and Coenyra.[573] A Phoenician
occupation of Lemnos, Imbrus, and Samothrace is indicated by the worship
in those islands of the Cabeiri,[574] who were undoubtedly Phoenician
deities. Whether the Phoenicians passed from these islands to the
Thracian mainland, and worked the gold-mines of Mount Pangæus in the
vicinity of Philippi, may perhaps be doubtful, but such seems to have
been the belief of Strabo and Pliny.[575] Strabo also believed that
there had been a Semitic element in the population of Euboea which had
been introduced by Cadmus;[576] and a Phoenician settlement in Boeotia
was the current tradition of the Greek writers upon primitive times,
whether historians or geographers.[577]

The further progress of the Phoenician settlements northward into the
Propontis and the Euxine is a point whereon different opinions may
be entertained. Pronectus, on the Bithynian, and Amastris, on the
Paphlagonian coast, have been numbered among the colonies of the
Phoenicians by some;[578] while others have gone so far as to ascribe to
them the colonisation of the entire countries of Bithynia, Mariandynia,
and Paphlagonia.[579] The story of the Argonauts may fairly be held to
show[580] that Phoenician enterprise early penetrated into the stormy
and inhospitable sea which washes Asia Minor upon the north, and even
reached its deepest eastern recess; but it is one thing to sail into
seas, and, landing where the natives seem friendly, to traffic with
the dwellers on them--it is quite another thing to attempt a permanent
occupation of portions of their coasts. To do so often provokes
hostility, and puts a stop to trade instead of encouraging it. The
Phoenicians may have been content to draw their native products from the
barbarous tribes of Northern Asia Minor and Western Thrace--nay, even
of Southern Scythia--without risking the collisions that might have
followed the establishment of settlements.

As with the Black Sea, so with the Adriatic, the commercial advantages
were not sufficient to tempt the Phoenicians to colonise. From Crete
and Cythera they sent their gaze afar, and fixed it midway in the
Mediterranean, at the western extremity of the eastern basin, on the
shores of Sicily, and the vast projection from the coast of North Africa
which goes forth to meet them. They knew the harbourless character
of the African coast west of Egypt, and the dangers of the Lesser and
Greater Syrtes. They knew the fertility of the Tunisian projection, the
excellence of its harbours, and the prolificness of the large island
that lay directly opposite. Here were the tracts where they might expand
freely, and which would richly repay their occupation of them. It
was before the beginning of the eleventh century B.C.--perhaps
some centuries before--that the colonisation of North Africa by the
Phoenicians was taken in hand:[581] and about the same time, in all
probability, the capes and isles about Sicily were occupied,[582] and
Phoenician influence in a little time extended over the entire island.

In North Africa the first colony planted is said to have been Utica.
Utica was situated a little to the west of Carthage, at the mouth of the
Mejerda or Bagradas river.[583] It stood on a rocky promontory which ran
out into the sea eastward, and partially protected its harbour. At the
opposite extremity, towards the north, ran out another promontory, the
modern Ras Sidi Ali-el-Mekki, while the mouth of the harbour, which
faced to the south-east, was protected by some islands. At present the
deposits of the Mejerda have blocked up almost the whole of this ancient
port, and the rocky eminence upon which the city stood looks down on
three sides upon a broad alluvial plain, through which the Mejerda
pursues a tortuous course to the sea.[584] The remains of the ancient
town, which occupy the promontory and a peninsula projecting from it,
include a necropolis, an amphitheatre, a theatre, a castle, the ruins
of a temple, and some remains of baths; but they have nothing about
them bearing any of the characteristics of Phoenician architecture, and
belong wholly to the Roman or post-Roman period. The neighbourhood is
productive of olives, which yield an excellent oil; and in the hills
towards the south-west are veins of lead, containing a percentage of
silver, which are thought to bear traces of having been worked at a very
early date.[585]

Near Utica was founded, probably not many years later, the settlement
of Hippo-Zaritis, of which the name still seems to linger in the modern
Bizerta. Hippo-Zaritis stood on the west bank of a natural channel,
which united with the sea a considerable lagoon or salt lake, lying
south of the town. The channel was kept open by an irregular flux and
reflux, the water of the lake after the rainy season flowing off into
the sea, and that of the sea, correspondingly, in the dry season passing
into the lake.[586] At the present time the lake is extraordinarily
productive of fish,[587] and the sea outside yields coral;[588] but
otherwise the advantages of the situation are not great.

Two degrees further to the west, on a hill overlooking the sea, and
commanding a lovely prospect over the verdant plain at its base, watered
by numerous streams, was founded the colony of Hippo Regius, memorable
as having been for five-and-thirty years the residence of St. Augustine.
The Phoenicians were probably attracted to the site by the fertility of
the soil, the unfailing supplies of water, and the abundant timber and
rich iron ore of the neighbouring mountains.[589] Hippo Regius is now
Bona, or rather has been replaced by that town, which lies about a mile
and a half north of the ancient Hippo, close upon the coast, in the
fertile tract formed by the soil brought down by the river Seybouse. The
old harbour of Hippo is filled up, and the remains of the ancient city
are scanty; but the lovely gardens and orchards, which render Bona
one of the most agreeable of Algerian towns, sufficiently explain and
justify the Phoenician choice of the site.[590]

In the same bay with Utica, further to the south, and near its inner
recess, was founded, nearly three centuries after Utica, the most
important of all the Phoenician colonies, Carthage. The advantages of
the locality are indicated by the fact that the chief town of Northern
Africa, Tunis, has grown up within a short distance of the site.
It combined the excellences of a sheltered situation, a good soil,
defensible eminences, and harbours which a little art made all that was
to be desired in ancient times and with ancient navies. These basins,
partly natural, partly artificial, still exist;[591] but their
communication with the sea is blocked up, as also is the channel which
connected the military harbour with the harbours of commerce. The
remains of the ancient town are mostly beneath the surface of the soil,
but modern research has uncovered a portion of them, and brought to
light a certain number of ruins which belong probably to the very
earliest period. Among these are walls in the style called “Cyclopian,”
 built of a very hard material, and more than thirty-two feet thick,
which seem to have surrounded the ancient Byrsa or citadel, and which
are still in places sixteen feet high.[592] The Roman walls found
emplaced above these are of far inferior strength and solidity. An
extensive necropolis lies north of the ancient town, on the coast near
Cape Camart.

Another early and important Phoenician settlement in these parts was
Hadrumetum or Adrymes,[593] which seems to be represented by the
modern Soûsa. Hadrumetum lay on the eastern side of the great Tunisian
projection, near the southern extremity of a large bay which looks to
the east, and is now known as the Gulf of Hammamet. Its position was
upon the coast at the edge of the vast plain called at present the
“Sahel of Soûsa,” which is sandy, but immensely productive of olive oil.
“Millions of olive-trees,” it is said, “cover the tract,”[594] and the
present annual exportation amounts to 40,000 hectolitres.[595] Ancient
remains are few, but the Cothon, or circular harbour, may still be
traced, and in the necropolis, which almost wholly encircles the town,
many sepulchral chambers have been found, excavated in the chalk,
closely resembling in their arrangements those of the Phoenician
mainland.

South of Hadrumetum, at no great distance, was Leptis Minor, now
Lemta. The gulf of Hammamet terminates southwards in the promontory of
Monastir, between which and Ras Dimas is a shallow bay looking to the
north-east. Here was the Lesser Leptis, so called to distinguish it
from the larger city of the same name between the Lesser and the Greater
Syrtis; it was, however, a considerable town, as appears from its
remains. These lie along the coast for two miles and a half in Lat. 35º
43´, and include the ruins of an aqueduct, of a theatre, of quays, and
of jetties.[596] The neighbourhood is suited for the cultivation of the
olive.

The Greater Leptis (Leptis Major) lay at a considerable distance from
the Lesser one. Midway in the low African coast which intervenes between
the Tunisian projection and the Cyrenaic one, about Long. 14º 22´ E.
of Greenwich, are ruins, near a village called Lebda, which, it is
generally agreed, mark the site of this ancient city. Leptis Major was
a colony from Sidon, and occupied originally a small promontory, which
projects from the coast in a north-easterly direction, and attains a
moderate elevation above the plain at its base. Towards the mainland
it was defended by a triple line of wall still to be traced, and on
the sea-side by blocks of enormous strength, which are said to resemble
those on the western side of the island of Aradus.[597] In Roman times
the town, under the name of Neapolis,[598] attained a vast size, and
was adorned with magnificent edifices, of which there are still numerous
remains. The neighbourhood is rich in palm-groves and olive-groves,[599]
and the Cinyps region, regarded by Herodotus as the most fertile in
North Africa,[5100] lies at no great distance to the east.

Ten miles east, and a little south of Leptis Minor,[5101] was Thapsus,
a small town, but one of great strength, famous as the scene of Julius
Cæsar’s great victory over Cato.[5102] It occupied a position close to
the promontory now known as Ras Dimas, in Lat. 35º 39´, Long. 11º 3´,
and was defended by a triple enclosure, whereof considerable remains
are still existing. The outermost of the three lines appears to have
consisted of little more than a ditch and a palisaded rampart, such as
the Romans were accustomed to throw up whenever they pitched a camp in
their wars; but the second and third were more substantial. The second,
which was about forty yards behind the first, was guarded by a deeper
ditch, from which rose a perpendicular stone wall, battlemented at top.
The third, forty yards further back, resembled the second, but was on
an enlarged scale, and the wall was twenty feet thick.[5103] Such triple
enclosures are thought to be traceable in other Phoenician settlements
also;[5104] but in no case are the remains so perfect as at Thapsus. The
harbour, which lay south of the town, was protected from the prevalent
northern and north-eastern winds by a huge mole or jetty, carried
out originally to a distance of 450 yards from the shore, and still
measuring 325 yards. The foundation consists of piles driven into the
sand, and placed very close together; but the superstructure is a stone
wall thirty-five feet thick, and still rising to a height of ten feet
above the surface of the water.[5105]

It is probable that there were many other early Phoenician settlements
on the North African seaboard; but those already described were
certainly the most important. The fertile coast tract between Hippo
Regius and the straits is likely to have been occupied at various
points from an early period. But none of these small trading settlements
attained to any celebrity; and thus it is unnecessary to go into
particulars respecting them.

In Sicily the permanent Phoenician settlements were chiefly towards the
west and the north-west. They included Motya, Eryx, Panormus (Palermo),
and Soloeis. That the Phoenicians founded Motya, Panormus, and Soloeis
is distinctly stated by Thucydides;[5106] while Eryx is proved to have
been Phoenician by its remains. Motya, situated on a littoral island
less than half a mile from the western shore, in Lat. 38º nearly,
has the remains of a wall built of large stones, uncemented, in the
Phoenician manner,[5107] and carried, like the western wall of Aradus,
so close to the coast as to be washed by the waves. It is said by
Diodorus to have been at one time a most flourishing town.[5108] The
coins have Phoenician legends.[5109]

Eryx lay about seven miles to the north-east of Motya, in a very strong
position. Mount Eryx (now Mount Giuliano), on which it was mainly built,
rises to the height of two thousand feet above the plain,[5110] and,
being encircled by a strong wall, was rendered almost impregnable. The
summit was levelled and turned into a platform, on which was raised the
temple of Astarte or Venus.[5111] An excellent harbour, formed by Cape
Drepanum (now Trapani), lay at its base. There were springs of water
within the walls which yielded an unfailing supply. The walls were of
great strength, and a considerable portion of them is still standing,
and attests the skill of the Phoenician architects. The blocks in the
lower courses are mostly of a large size, some of them six feet long,
or more, and bear in many cases the well-known Phoenician
mason-marks.[5112] They are laid without cement, like those of Aradus
and Sidon, and recall the style of the Aradian builders, but are at once
less massive and arranged with more skill. The breadth of the wall is
about seven feet. At intervals it is flanked by square towers projecting
from it, which are of even greater strength than the curtain between
them, and which were carried up to a greater height. The doorways in
the wall are numerous, and are of a very archaic character, being either
covered in by a single long stone lintel or else terminating in a false
arch.[5113] The commercial advantages of Eryx were twofold, consisting
in the produce of the sea as well as in that of the shore. The shore
is well suited for the cultivation of the vine,[5114] while the
neighbouring sea yields tunny-fish, sponges, and coral.[5115]

Panormus (now Palermo) occupies a site almost unequalled by any other
Mediterranean city, a site which has conferred upon it the title of
“the happy,” and has rendered it for above a thousand years the most
important place in the island. “There is no town in Europe which enjoys
a more delicious climate, none so charming to look on from a distance,
none more delightfully situated in a nest of verdure and flowers. Its
superb mountains, with their bare flanks pierced along their base with
grottoes, enclose a marvellous garden, the famous ‘Shell of Gold,’ in
the midst of which are seen the numerous towers and domes, the fan-like
foliage of the palms, the spreading branches of the pines, and Mount
Reale on the south towering over all with its vast mass of convents and
churches.”[5116] The harbour lies open to the north; but the Phoenician
settlers, here as elsewhere, no doubt made artificial ports by means
of piers and moles, which have, however, disappeared on this
much-frequented site, where generation after generation has been
continually at work building and destroying. Panormus has left us no
antique remains beyond its coins, which are abundant, and show that the
native name of the settlement was Mahanath.[5117] Mahanath was situated
about forty miles east of Eryx, on the northern coast of the island.

Solus, or Soloeis, the Soluntum of the Romans (now Solanto), lay on the
eastern side of the promontory (Cape Zafferana) which shuts in the bay
of Palermo on the right. It stood on a slope at the foot of a lofty
hill, overlooking a small round port, and was fortified by a wall of
large squared blocks of stone,[5118] which may be still distinctly
traced. The site has yielded sarcophagi of an unmistakably Phoenician
character,[5119] and other objects of a high antiquity which recall the
Phoenician manner;[5120] but the chief remains belong to the Greco-Roman
times.

The islands in the strait which separates the North African coast from
Sicily were also colonised by the Phoenicians. These were three in
number, Cossura (now Pantellaria), Gaulos (now Gozzo), and Melita (now
Malta). Cossura, the most western of the three, lay about midway in the
channel, but nearer to the African coast, from which it is distant not
more than about thirty-five miles. It is a mass of igneous rock, which
was once a volcano, and which still abounds in hot springs and in
jets of steam.[5121] There was no natural harbour of any size, but the
importance of the position was such that the Phoenicians felt bound to
occupy the island, if only to prevent its occupation by others. The soil
was sterile; but the coins, which are very numerous,[5122] give reason
to suppose that the rocks were in early times rich in copper.

Gaulos (now Gozzo) forms, together with Malta and some islets, an
insular group lying between the eastern part of Sicily and the Lesser
Syrtis. It is situated in Lat. 36º 2´, Long. 12º 10´ nearly, and is
distant from Sicily only about fifty miles. The colonisation of the
island by the Phoenicians, asserted by Diodorus,[5123] is entirely
borne out by the remains, which include a Phoenician inscription of
some length,[5124] coins with Phoenician legends,[5125] and buildings,
believed to be temples, which have Phoenician characteristics.[5126]
Some of the blocks of stone employed in their construction have a length
of nearly twenty feet,[5127] with a width and height proportionate; and
all are put together without cement or mortar of any kind. A conical
stone of the kind known to have been used by the Phoenicians in their
worship was found in one of the temples.[5128] Gaulos had a port which
was reckoned sufficiently commodious, and which lay probably towards the
south-east end of the island.

Melita, or Malta, which lies at a short distance from Gozzo, to the
south-east, is an island of more than double the size, and of far
greater importance. It possesses in La Valetta one of the best harbours,
or rather two of the best harbours, in the world. All the navies of
Europe could anchor comfortably in the “great port” to the east of the
town. The western port is smaller, but is equally well sheltered. Malta
has no natural product of much importance, unless it be the honey, after
which some think that it was named.[5129] The island is almost treeless,
and the light powdery soil gives small promise of fertility. Still, the
actual produce, both in cereals and in green crops, is large; and the
oranges, especially those known as mandarines, are of superior quality.
Malta also produced, in ancient as in modern times, the remarkable breed
of small dogs[5130] which is still held in such high esteem. But the
Phoenician colonisation must have taken place rather on account of the
situation and the harbour than on account of the products.

From Sicily and North Africa the tide of emigration naturally and easily
flowed on into Sardinia, which is distant, from the former about 150
and from the latter about 115 miles. The points chosen by the Phoenician
settlers lay in the more open and level region of the south and the
south-west, and were all enclosed within a line which might be drawn
from the coast a little east of Cagliari to the northern extremity of
the Gulf of Oristano.[5131] The tract includes some mountain groups,
but consists mainly of the long and now marshy plain, called the
“Campidano,” which reaches across the island from Cagliari on the
southern to Oristano on the western coast. This plain, if drained, would
be by far the most fertile part of the island; and was in ancient times
exceedingly productive in cereals, as we learn from Diodorus.[5132]
The mountains west of it, especially those about Iglesias, contain
rich veins of copper and of lead, together with a certain quantity of
silver.[5133] Good harbours exist at Cagliari, at Oristano, and between
the island of S. Antioco and the western shore. It was at these points
especially that the Phoenicians made their settlements, the most
important of which were Caralis (Cagliari), Nora, Sulcis, and Tharros.
Caralis, or Cagliari, the present capital, lies at the bottom of a deep
bay looking southwards, and has an excellent harbour, sheltered in
all weathers. There are no remains of Phoenician buildings; but the
neighbourhood yields abundant specimens of Phoenician art in the shape
of tombs, statuettes, vases, bottles, and the like.[5134] Caralis
was probably the first of the settlements made by the Phoenicians in
Sardinia; it would attract them by its harbour, its mines, and the
fertility of its neighbourhood. From Caralis they probably passed to
Nora, which lay on the same bay to the south-west; and from Nora they
rounded the south-western promontory of Sardinia, and established
themselves on the small island now known as the Isola di San Antioco,
where they built a town which they called Sulchis or Sulcis.[5135]
Sulcis has yielded votive tablets of the Phoenician type, tombs, vases,
&c.[5136] The island was productive of lead, and had an excellent
harbour towards the north, and another more open one towards the south.
Finally, mid-way on the west coast, at the northern extremity of the
Gulf of Oristano, the Phoenicians occupied a small promontory which
projects into the sea southwards and there formed a settlement which
became known as Tharras or Tharros.[5137] Very extensive remains, quite
unmistakably Phoenician, including tombs, cippi, statuettes in metal and
clay, weapons, and the like, have been found on the site.[5138]

The passage would have been easy from Sardinia to Corsica, which is
not more than seven miles distant from it; but Corsica seems to have
possessed no attraction for the Phoenicians proper, who were perhaps
deterred from colonising it by its unhealthiness, or by the savagery of
its inhabitants. Or they may have feared to provoke the jealousy of the
Tyrrhenians, off whose coast the island lay, and who, without having
any colonising spirit themselves, disliked the too near approach of
rivals.[5139] At any rate, whatever the cause, it seems to have
been left to the Carthaginians, to bring Corsica within the range of
Phoenician influence; and even the Carthaginians did little more than
hold a few points on its shores as stations for their ships.[5140]

If from Sardinia the Phoenicians ventured on an exploring voyage
westward into the open Mediterranean, a day’s sail would bring them
within sight of the eastern Balearic Islands, Minorca and Majorca.
The sierra of Majorca rises to the height of between 3,000 and 4,000
feet,[5141] and can be seen from a great distance. The occupation of the
islands by “the Phoenicians” is asserted by Strabo,[5142] but we cannot
be sure that he does not mean Phoenicians of Africa, i.e. Carthaginians.
Still, on the whole, modern criticism inclines to the belief that, even
before the foundation of Carthage, Phoenician colonisation had made its
way into the Balearic Islands, directly, from the Syrian coast.[5143]
Some resting-places between the middle Mediterranean and Southern Spain
must have been a necessity; and as the North African coast west of Hippo
offered no good harbours, it was necessary to seek them elsewhere.
Now Minorca has in Port Mahon a harbour of almost unsurpassed
excellence,[5144] while in Majorca there are fairly good ports both at
Palma and at Aleudia.[5145] Ivica is less well provided, but there is
one of some size, known as Pormany (i.e. “Porta magna”), on the western
side of the island, and another, much frequented by fishing-boats,[5146]
on the south coast near Ibiza. The productions of the Balearides were
not, perhaps, in the early times of much importance, since the islands
are not, like Sardinia, rich in metals, nor were the inhabitants
sufficiently civilised to furnish food supplies or native manufactures
in any quantity. If, then, the Phoenicians held them, it must have been
altogether for the sake of their harbours.

The colonies of the Mediterranean have now been, all of them, noticed,
excepting those which lay upon the south coast of Spain. Of these the
most important were Malaca (now Malaga), Sex or Sexti, and Abdera
(now Adra). Malaca is said by Strabo to have been “Phoenician in
its plan,”[5147] Abdera is expressly declared by him to have been “a
Phoenician settlement,”[5148] while Sexti has coins which connect it
with early Phoenician legends.[5149] The mountain range above Malaca
was anciently rich in gold-mines;[5150] Sexti was famous for its
salt-pans;[5151] Abdera lay in the neighbourhood of productive
silver-mines.[5152] These were afterwards worked from Carthagena,
which was a late Carthaginian colony, founded by Asdrubal, the uncle
of Hannibal. Malaga and Carthagena (i.e. New-Town) had well-sheltered
harbours; but the ports of Sexti and Abdera were indifferent.

Outside the Straits of Gibraltar, on the shores of the Atlantic, were
two further sets of Phoenician colonies, situated respectively in Africa
and in Spain. The most important of those in Africa were Tingis (now
Tangiers) and Lixus (now Chemmish), but besides these there were a vast
number of staples ({emporia}) without names,[5153] spread along the
coast as far as Cape Non, opposite the Canary Islands. Tingis, a second
Gibraltar, lay nearly opposite that wonderful rock, but a little west
of the narrowest part of the strait. It had a temple of the Tyrian
Hercules, said to have been older than that at Gades;[5154] and
its coins have Phoenician legends.[5155] The town was situated on
a promontory running out to the north-east at the extremity of a
semicircular bay about four miles in width, and thus possessed a harbour
not to be despised, especially on such a coast. The country around
was at once beautiful and fertile, dotted over with palms, and well
calculated for the growth of fruit and vegetables. The Atlas mountains
rose in the background, with their picturesque summits, while in front
were seen the blue Mediterranean, with its crisp waves merging into the
wilder Atlantic, and further off the shores of Spain, lying like a blue
film on the northern horizon.[5156]

While Tingis lay at the junction of the two seas, on the northern
African coast, about five miles east of Cape Spartel, Lixus was situated
on the open Atlantic, forty miles to the south of that cape, on the
West African coast, looking westward towards the ocean. The streams
from Atlas here collect into a considerable river, known now as the
Wady-el-Khous, and anciently as the Lixus.[5157] The estuary of this
river, before reaching the sea, meanders through the plain of
Sidi Oueddar, from time to time returning upon itself, and forming
peninsulas, which are literally almost islands.[5158] From this plain,
between two of the great bends made by the stream, rose in one place
a rocky hill; and here the Phoenicians built their town, protecting it
along the brow of the hill with a strong wall, portions of which still
remain in place.[5159] The blocks are squared, carefully dressed, and
arranged in horizontal courses, without any cement. Some of them are
as much as eleven feet long by six feet or somewhat more in height. The
wall was flanked at the corners by square towers, and formed a sort of
irregular hexagon, above a mile in circumference.[5160] A large building
within the walls seems to have been a temple;[5161] and in it was found
one of those remarkable conical stones which are known to have been
employed in the Phoenician worship. The estuary of the river formed a
tolerably safe harbour for the Phoenician ships, and the valley down
which the river flows gave a ready access into the interior.

In Spain, outside the Pillars of Hercules, the chief Phoenician
settlements were Tartessus, Agadir or Gades, and Belon. Tartessus has
been regarded by some as properly the name of a country rather than a
town;[5162] but the statements of the Greek and Roman geographers to the
contrary are too positive to be disregarded. Tartessus was a town in
the opinions of Scymnus Chius, Strabo, Mela, Pliny, Festus Avienus,
and Pausanias,[5163] who could not be, all of them, mistaken on such a
point. It was a town named from, or at any rate bearing the same
name with, an important river of southern Spain,[5164] probably the
Guadalquivir. It was not Gades, for Scymnus Chius mentions both cities
as existing in his day;[5165] it was not Carteia, for it lay west of
Gades, while Carteia lay east. Probably it occupied, as Strabo thought,
a small island between two arms of the Guadalquivir, and gradually
decayed as Gades rose to importance. It certainly did not exist
in Strabo’s time, but five or six centuries earlier it was a most
flourishing place.[5166] If it is the Tarshish of Scripture, its
prosperity and importance must have been even anterior to the time of
Solomon, whose “navy of Tarshish” brought him once in every three years
“gold, and silver, and ivory, and apes, and peacocks.”[5167] The south
of Spain was rich in metallic treasures, and yielded gold, silver,
copper, iron, lead, and tin;[5168] trade along the west coast of Africa
would bring in the ivory and apes abundant in that region; while the
birds called in our translation of the Bible “peacocks” may have
been guinea-fowl. The country on either side of the Guadalquivir to
a considerable distance took its name from the city, being called
Tartessis.[5169] It was immensely productive. “The wide plains through
which the Guadalquiver flows produced the finest wheat, yielding an
increase of a hundredfold; the oil and the wine, the growth of the
hills, were equally distinguished for their excellence. The wood was not
less remarkable for its fineness than in modern times, and had a native
colour beautiful without dye.”[5170] Nor were the neighbouring sea and
stream less bountiful. The tunny was caught in large quantities off the
coast, shell-fish were abundant and of unusual size,[5171] while huge
eels were sometimes taken by the fishermen, which, when salted, formed
an article of commerce, and were reckoned a delicacy at Athenian
tables.[5172]

Gades is said to have been founded by colonists from Tyre a few years
anterior to the foundation of Utica by the same people.[5173] Utica, as
we have seen, dated from the twelfth century before Christ. The site of
Gades combined all the advantages that the Phoenicians desired for their
colonies. Near the mouth of the Guadalete there detaches itself from the
coast of Spain an island eleven miles in length, known now as the “Isla
de Leon,” which is separated from the mainland for half its length by a
narrow but navigable channel, while to this there succeeds on the
north an ample bay, divided into two portions, a northern and a
southern.[5174] The southern, or interior recess, is completely
sheltered from all winds; the northern lies open to the west, but is so
full of creeks, coves, and estuaries as to offer a succession of fairly
good ports, one or other of which would always be accessible. The
southern half of the island is from one to four miles broad; but the
northern consists of a long spit of land running out to the north-west,
in places not more than a furlong in width, but expanding at its
northern extremity to a breadth of nearly two miles. The long isthmus,
and the peninsula in which it ends, have been compared to the stalk and
blossom of a flower.[5175] The flower was the ancient Gades, the modern
Cadiz. The Phoenician occupation of the site is witnessed to by Strabo,
Diodorus, Scymnus Chius, Mela, Pliny, Velleius Paterculus, Ælian and
Arrian,[5176] and is further evidenced by the numerous coins which bear
the legend of “Agadir” in Phoenician characters.[5177] But the place
itself retains no traces of the Phoenician occupation. The famous temple
of Melkarth, with its two bronze pillars in front bearing inscriptions,
has wholly perished, as have all other vestiges of the ancient
buildings. This is the result of the continuous occupation of the site,
which has been built on successively by Phoenicians, Carthaginians,
Romans, Vandals, Moors, and Spaniards. The space is somewhat confined,
and the houses in ancient times were, we are told, closely crowded
together,[5178] as they were at Aradus and Tyre. But the advantages of
the harbour and the productiveness of the vicinity more than made up for
this inconvenience. Gades may have been, as Cadiz is now said to be, “a
mere silver plate set down upon the edge of the sea,”[5179] but it was
the natural centre of an enormous traffic. It had easy access by the
valley of a large stream to the interior with its rich mineral and
vegetable products; it had the command of two seas, the Atlantic and the
Mediterranean; it trained its sailors to affront greater perils than any
which the Mediterranean offers; and it enjoyed naturally 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.

Compared with Gades and Tartessus, Belon was an insignificant
settlement. Its name[5180] and coins[5181] mark it as Phoenician, but
it was not possessed of any special advantages of situation. The modern
Bolonia, a little south of Cadiz, is thought to mark the site.[5182]

We have reached now the limits of Phoenician colonisation towards
the West. While their trade was carried, especially from Gades, into
Luisitania and Gallæcia on the one hand, and into North-western Africa
on the other, reaching onward past these districts to Gaul and Britain,
to the Senegal and Gambia, possibly to the Baltic and the Fortunate
Islands, the range of their settlements was more circumscribed. As,
towards the north-east, though their trade embraced the regions of
Colchis and Thrace, of the Tauric Chersonese, and Southern Scythia,
their settlements were limited to the Ægean and perhaps the Propontis,
so westward they seem to have contented themselves with occupying a few
points of vantage on the Spanish and West African coasts, at no great
distance from the Straits, and from these stations to have sent out
their commercial navies to sweep the seas and gather in the products of
the lands which lay at a greater distance. The actual extent of their
trade will be considered in a later chapter. We have been here concerned
only with their permanent settlements or colonies. These, it has been
seen, extended from the Syrian coast to Cyprus, Cilicia, Rhodes, Crete,
the islands and shores of the Ægean and Propontis, the coasts of Sicily,
Sardinia, and North Africa, the Balearic Islands, Southern Spain, and
North-western Africa as far south as Cape Non. The colonisation was
not so continuous as the Greek, nor was it so extensive in one
direction,[5183] but on the whole it was wider, and it was far bolder
and more adventurous. The Greeks, as a general rule, made their advances
by slow degrees, stealing on from point to point, and having always
friendly cities near at hand, like an army that rests on its supports.
The Phoenicians left long intervals of space between one settlement and
another, boldly planted them on barbarous shores, where they had nothing
to rely on but themselves, and carried them into regions where the
natives were in a state of almost savagery. The commercial motive was
predominant with them, and gave them the courage to plunge into wild
seas and venture themselves among even wilder men. With the Greeks the
motive was generally political, and a safe home was sought, where social
and civil life might have free scope for quiet development.



CHAPTER VI--ARCHITECTURE

     Origin of the architecture in rock dwellings--Second style,
     a combination of the native rock with the ordinary wall--
     Later on, the use of the native rock, discarded--Employment
     of huge blocks of stone in the early walls--Absence of
     cement--Bevelling--Occurrence of Cyclopian walls--Several
     architectural members comprised in one block--Phoenician
     shrines--The Maabed and other shrines at Amrith--Phoenician
     temples--Temple of Paphos--Adjuncts to temples--Museum of
     Golgi--Treasure chambers of Curium--Walls of Phoenician
     towns--Phoenician tombs--Excavated chambers--Chambers built
     of masonry--Groups of chambers--Colonnaded tomb--Sepulchral
     monuments--The Burdj-el-Bezzâk--The Kabr Hiram--The two
     Méghâzil--Tomb with protected entrance--Phoenician
     ornamentation--Pillars and their capitals--Cornices and
     mouldings--Pavements in mosaic and alabaster--False arches--
     Summary.

The architecture of the Phoenicians began with the fashioning of the
native rock--so abundant in all parts of the country where they had
settled themselves--into dwellings, temples, and tombs. The calcareous
limestone, which is the chief geological formation along the Syrian
coast, is worked with great ease; and it contains numerous fissures and
caverns,[61] which a very moderate amount of labour and skill is capable
of converting into fairly comfortable dwelling-places. It is probable
that the first settlers found a refuge for a time in these natural
grottos, which after a while they proceeded to improve and enlarge,
thus obtaining a practical power of dealing with the material, and an
experimental knowledge of its advantages and defects. But it was not
long before these simple dwellings ceased to content them, and they were
seized with an ambition to construct more elaborate edifices--edifices
such as they must have seen in the lands through which they had passed
on their way from the shores of the Persian Gulf to the seaboard of the
Mediterranean. They could not at once, however, divest themselves
of their acquired habits, and consequently, their earliest buildings
continued to have, in part, the character of rock dwellings, while in
part they were constructions of the more ordinary and regular type. The
remains of a dwelling-house at Amrith,[62] the ancient Marathus, offer a
remarkable example of this intermixture of styles. The rock has been cut
away so as to leave standing two parallel walls 33 yards long, 19 feet
high, and 2 1/2 feet thick, which are united by transverse party-walls
formed in the same way.[63] Windows and doorways are cut in the walls,
some square at top, some arched. At the two ends the main walls were
united partly by the native rock, partly by masonry. The northern wall
was built of masonry from the very foundation, the southern consisted
for a portion of its height of the native rock, while above that were
several courses of stones carrying it up further. At Aradus and at
Sidon, similarly, the town walls are formed in many places of native
rock, squared and smoothed, up to a certain height, after which courses
of stone succeed each other in the ordinary fashion. It is as if the
Phoenician builders could not break themselves of an inveterate habit,
and rather than disuse it entirely submitted to an intermixture which
was not without a certain amount of awkwardness.

Another striking example of the mixed system is found at a little
distance from Amrith, in the case of a building which appears to have
been a shrine, tabernacle, or sanctuary. The site is a rocky platform,
about a mile from the shore. Here the rock has been cut away to a
depth varying from three to six yards, and a rectangular court has been
formed, 180 feet long by 156 feet wide, in the centre of which has been
left a single block of the stone, still of one piece with the court,
which rises to a height of ten feet, and forms the basis or pedestal of
the shrine itself.[64] The shrine is built of a certain number of large
blocks, which have been quarried and brought to the spot; it has a stone
roof with an entablature, and attains an elevation above the court of
not less than twenty-seven feet. The dimensions of the shrine are small,
not much exceeding seventeen feet each way.[65]

From constructions of this mixed character the transition was easy
to buildings composed entirely of detached stones put together in the
ordinary manner. Here, what is chiefly remarkable in the Phoenician
architecture is the tendency to employ, especially for the foundations
and lower courses of buildings, enormous blocks. When the immovable
native rock is no longer available, the resource is to make use of vast
masses of stone, as nearly immovable as possible. The most noted example
is that of the substructions which supported the platform whereon stood
the Temple of Jerusalem, which was the work of the Phoenician builders
whom Hiram lent to Solomon.[66] These substructions, laid bare at their
base by the excavations of the Palestine Exploration Fund, are found to
consist of blocks measuring from fifteen to twenty-five feet in length,
and from ten to twelve feet in height. The width of the blocks at the
angles of the wall, where alone it can be measured, is from twelve to
eighteen feet. At the south-west angle no fewer than thirty-one courses
of this massive character have been counted by the recent explorers, who
estimate the weight of the largest block at something above a hundred
tons![67]

A similar method of construction is found to have prevailed at Tyre,
at Sidon, at Aradus, at Byblus, at Leptis Major, at Eryx, at Motya, at
Gaulos, and at Lixus on the West African coast. The blocks employed do
not reach the size of the largest discovered at Jerusalem, but still are
of dimensions greatly exceeding those of most builders, varying, as they
do, from six feet to twenty feet in length, and being often as much as
seven or eight feet in breadth and height. As the building rises, the
stones diminish in size, and the upper courses are often in no way
remarkable. Stones of various sizes are used, and often the courses are
not regular, but one runs into another. A tower in the wall of Eryx is a
good specimen of this kind of construction.[68]

Where the stones are small, mortar has been employed by the builders,
but where they are of a large size, they are merely laid side by side
in 

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