The World's Progress Part 48

"Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, a.s.shur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants. These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise. The s.h.i.+ps of Tars.h.i.+sh did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast made very glorious in the midst of the seas....

"When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the mult.i.tude of thy riches and of thy merchandise."[3]

The produce of the ancient world pa.s.sed through routes controlled by Phoenicia, and she acted as middleman in its distribution. Commerce was of two kinds, overland, and by sea. Traffic by water greatly exceeded that by land, yet both were necessary and were mutually dependent upon one another.

The products of interior Asia were brought, then as now, by caravans.

Even today it is possible to see trains of caravans similar to those in the service of ancient Tyre, laden with costly wares, crossing the desert. Not only were spices and wares of Western Asia taken to Phoenician sea-ports for distribution, but Mesopotamia was supplied with articles from Europe and Africa by the same overland travel.

"Imagine the arrival of a Tyrian caravan at Babylon. The travellers have been on the march for three or four months.... They have arrived weary, dusty, travel-stained. Their tents are pitched outside the town, not far from the banks of the river, or of a water-course derived from it, under the pleasant shadow of a grove of palms, near the northern gate of the great city. The tall necks of their camels are seen from a distance by the keen-eyed watchers of the gate-towers, and reported by them to the civic authorities, whence the secret soon oozes out and creates a bustle in the town. All are anxious to obtain some object of their desire from the long expected traders; but especially anxious are the great storekeepers and shopkeepers, who look to the occasion for the replenis.h.i.+ng of their stock-in-trade for the next six months, or, it may be, even for the next year. But the weary travellers must have a night's rest ere they can be ready to open their market, must unload their camels and their mules, dispose their bales of goods as seems most convenient, and prepare themselves for the fatigues of commercial dealing by a light supper and a sound sleep ensuing thereupon. How glad are the camels to have the loads removed from their galled backs, to repose their weary limbs upon the green gra.s.s of the yellow sand, and to lay their tired necks along the ground! Not a moan is heard, scarcely a grunt, unless it be one of satisfaction. The mules, and the camels, and the horses of the wealthier sort, enjoy themselves equally. We hear the tinkling of their bells, as they shake themselves, freed from all their trappings but the head stall. Some are picketed about where the turf is richest, others contentedly munch the barley that has been placed before them in portable mangers, to reward them for the toils that they have gone through. Many prefer sleeping to eating, and, leaving their food untouched, stretch themselves upon the sward. Night falls--the stars come out--the traders sleep in their tents, with a stone or a bale of goods for their pillow--a profound hush sinks upon the camp, except for the occasional squeal of a skittish pair of mules, which have exchanged bites under cover of the darkness.

"The camp, however, wakes up with the first gleam of dawn in the eastern sky. Each man busily sets about his proper work. Mules and horses are groomed and are arranged in rows, with their mangers in front, and their pack-saddles and trappings near at hand. Bales of goods are opened, and a display made of a portion of their contents. Meantime, the town gates have been unclosed, and in holiday apparel a gay crowd streams forth from them. Foremost come the loafers, hoping to make an honest penny by 'lending a hand,' or to make a dishonest one by filching some unguarded article. Then follow the ordinary customers and the petty traders whose arrangements have not been made beforehand. The last to appear are the agents of the great merchants, whose correspondents at Tyre have made them consignments of goods and sent the goods by the caravan to their destination; these clamor for invoices and bills of lading. But the noisiest and most pressing are the petty traders and the mere chance customers, who have a special need to supply, or covet a good bargain.

With them what a chaffering there is! What a screaming and apparent quarrelling! One buyer wants a purple robe for half its value, another a Damascene blade for next to nothing, a third, a Greek statuette for half a shekel of silver. The seller asks at least four times the sum that he intends to take; the buyer exclaims, swears perhaps by the beard of his grandfather that he will not give a farthing more than he has offered; then relents, and doubtless doubles his bid; the seller comes down a little, but they are still 'miles apart,' so to speak; it takes an hour of talking, swearing, screaming, raving, before the _juste milieu_ is. .h.i.t off, an agreement come to, and buyer and seller alike made happy by a conviction on the part of each that he has over-reached the other."[4]

The companion picture to the caravan would be the merchant vessel on the seas, together with the eager antic.i.p.ation that attended its arrival in port. The earliest portrayal of Phoenician boats show them to have been provided with oars and sails. From small crafts, partially cabined, built of unseasoned timber and poorly caulked, were gradually evolved the stately biremes, perfect in construction and equipment. The testimony of an eye-witness is vastly preferable to descriptions of moderns, however scholarly. The following description of Xenophon, a Greek general who often saw Phoenician vessels, contains valuable information regarding the degree of skill reached by these sea-farers in the equipment of their s.h.i.+ps:

"I think that the best and most perfect arrangement of things which I ever saw was when I went to look at the great Phoenician sailing vessel: for I saw the largest amount of naval tackling separately disposed in the smallest stowage possible. For a s.h.i.+p, as you well know, is brought to anchor, and again got under way, by a vast number of wooden implements, and of ropes, and sails the sea by means of a quant.i.ty of rigging, and is armed with a number of contrivances against hostile vessels, and carries about with it a large supply of weapons for the crew, and, besides, has all the utensils that a man keeps in his dwelling-house, for each of the messes. In addition, it is loaded with a quant.i.ty of merchandise, which the owner carries with him for his own profit. Now all the things which I have mentioned lay in a s.p.a.ce not much bigger than a room that would conveniently hold ten beds. And I remarked that they severally lay in such a way that they did not obstruct one another, and did not require any one to look for them, and yet they were neither placed at random, nor entangled one with another, so as to consume time when they were suddenly wanted for use. Also I found the captain's a.s.sistant, who is called the 'look-out-man,' so well acquainted with the position of all the articles, and with the number of them, that even when at a distance he would tell where everything lay, and how many there were of each sort. Moreover, I saw this man, in his leisure moments, examining and testing everything that a vessel needs when at sea; so, as I was surprised, I asked him what he was about, whereupon he replied, 'Stranger, I am looking to see, in case anything should happen, how everything is arranged in the s.h.i.+p, and whether anything is wanting or is inconveniently situated; for when a storm arises at sea, it is not possible either to look for what is wanting, or to put to rights what is arranged awkwardly.'"[5]

One mast and one sail seem to have been commonly used. The biremes and triremes were so-called because of their two or three banks of oars. The oarsmen sat in the hold, their oars pa.s.sing through the vessel's side.

Phoenician traffic was always most extensive by sea. Products of Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, Carthage, Spain, Britain, besides those of countless islands, were transported constantly by water.

THE APPROACH OF A CARAVAN.

"When spring-time flushes the desert gra.s.s, Our kafilas wind through the Khyber Pa.s.s.

Lean are the camels, but fat the frails, Light are the purses but heavy the bales, As the snow-bound trade of the North comes down To the market-square of Peshawur town.

In a turquoise twilight, crisp and chill, A kafila camped at the foot of the hill.

Then blue smoke-haze of the cooking rose, And tent-peg answered to hammer-nose.

And the picketed ponies s.h.a.g and wild, Strained at their ropes as the feed was piled; And the bubbling camels beside the load Sprawled for a furlong adown the road; And Persian p.u.s.s.y-cats, brought for sale, Spat at the dogs from the camel-bale; And the tribesmen bellowed to hasten the food; And the camp-fires twinkled by Fort Junrood; And there fled on the wings of the gathering dusk A savour of camels and carpets and musk, A murmur of voices, a reek of smoke, To tell us the trade of the Khyber woke."

--_Kipling: Ballad of the King's Jest._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Rawlinson: Phoenicia, 71.

[2] Graham: Roman Africa, preface.

[3] Ezekiel, 27.

[4] Rawlinson: Phoenicia, 157, ff.

[5] Xenophon: Aeconom., VIII., 11

CHAPTER IV.

OCCUPATIONS AND INDUSTRIES.

Of first concern among the industries of Phoenicia were her maritime activities. While many Phoenician voyages led from island to island, and from one port to another almost in sight, nevertheless the sailors frequently made trips that necessitated their steering away from the sh.o.r.e, and venturing out into the open sea. They probably made charts of the sea and acquired some elementary knowledge of nautical affairs.

Their greatest undertaking was the circ.u.mnavigation of Africa. This was attempted when Neccho was pharaoh of Egypt and held Western Asia in temporary tribute. Hoping to find a water communication between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, he engaged Phoenician seamen to sail around Africa. Three years were consumed in the journey, since they had to land each year and grow food sufficient for the continuance of their voyage.

When they returned, through the Straits of Gibraltar, they reported that the sun had been upon their right hand throughout the trip, which, Herodotus said: "others may perhaps believe, though I certainly do not."

Little attention was given the matter until scholars began to investigate the possibility of the earth's rotundity, whereupon the information so long cast aside was once more noted.

For the most part it is probably true that the art of navigation was but crudely developed, compared with the progress reached later by the Greeks. Yet the Greeks themselves were indebted to some extent to the earliest seamen of unquestioned courage and venturesome spirit.

Of most vital importance were Phoenicia's activities in commerce and trade, to quite a degree dependent upon her control of the sea.

"Gather now an idea of Phoenicia in the days of her greatest power.

Station yourself upon the rocky island of Tyre, and turn your eyes toward the west. Were your vision powerful enough, you might see the towers of Phoenician settlements dotting the Grecian seas and lining the coast of Africa. Meeting for a moment at the Strait of Gibraltar, again the two lines would diverge to the north and to the south, encompa.s.sing the known seas. Turn now to the east, and you behold the caravans extending in long dark lines to the north and to the south. At the extremities of the Lebanon mountains, crossing the ridge, the lines divide and subdivide, like streams toward their sources, until they penetrate and permeate the jungles of India and the valleys of the Himalayas. Such was Phoenicia in her palmy days, garnering and distributing the produce and riches of the world."[1]

Farming was also important. Products raised within Phoenicia were used chiefly for home consumption. Orchards, gardens, and grain-fields yielded abundant returns and provided the food supply of the population, save for fish, and such articles of luxury as were demanded by the citizens of the wealthy ports. The country was too small and its arable acreage too limited to admit of extensive agricultural pursuits.

While the manufactories of the country were less important, they had an important place. Phoenicia was widely famed for the production of four distinct articles, in the making of which her people excelled. First of these was a purple dye. Other nations attempted to provide the same commodity but never equalled the perfection of the Tyrian dye. Large quant.i.ties of sh.e.l.l-fish yielding the precious fluid from which it was made, were found off the Tyrian coast. They were of two species. A little _sac_ containing a creamy secretion was opened in one, and the fluid carefully extracted. The other was ground up, sh.e.l.l and all. Both were necessary to produce the beautiful tints peculiar to Phoenician cloths.

Their special processes of dyeing, exposing the materials to the different degrees of light while drying, as well as the chemical employed to make the colors fast, were secrets well guarded, so that no imitation could deceive when compared to the splendid purples of Tyre.

Since dress fabrics and material for covering furniture were most desired in rich and costly hues, raw wool was extensively imported and woven to meet the ever increasing demand. Dress stuffs from Phoenicia were prized as booty or as tribute by the several countries which at different periods exacted homage from Tyre and Sidon.

Sidon was famous for her gla.s.sware. Pliny the Elder, a Roman who wrote on History and Science during the first century of the Christian era, gave the tradition current in his day concerning the so-called "discovery of gla.s.s."

"It is said that some Phoenician merchants, having landed on the sh.o.r.es of the river Belus, were preparing their meal, and not finding suitable stones for raising their saucepans, they used lumps of natrum contained in their cargo for the purpose. When the natrum was exposed to the action of the fire, it melted into the sand lying on the banks of the river, and they saw transparent streams of some unknown liquid trickling over the ground; this was the origin of gla.s.s." At least the tale is reasonable, and might have been the experience of people at different times. At all events, the art becoming known to the Phoenicians, they attained notable skill in imitating precious stones in colored gla.s.s. It was their experience that trinkets, such as beads, were in great favor among half-civilized tribes with whom they traded, and the satisfaction was mutual when a few strings of gla.s.s beads had been exchanged for skins, ivory and even gold. It is now believed that some of the rare gla.s.s-ware, treasured as Grecian in museums today, was really produced in Sidon.

Articles fas.h.i.+oned of gold, silver and other metals were especially attractive. Such bits of jewelry as have been discovered--necklaces, bracelets, and rings, give evidence of a high degree of workmans.h.i.+p.

Bowls, goblets, and dishes were elaborately wrought from metals, and while the decorative designs upon them were often borrowed from the Greeks or the Egyptians, the original was frequently improved upon. The following lines from the Iliad show how bits of Phoenician work were treasured among the h.e.l.lenes:

"And then the son of Peleus placed in sight Prizes of swiftness,--a wrought silver cup That held six measures, and in beauty far Excelled all others known; the cunning hands Of the Sidonian artisans have given Its graceful shape, and over the dark sea Men of Phoenicia brought it, with their wares, To the Greek harbors; Achilles now Brought it before the a.s.sembly as a prize, For which, in honor of the friend he loved, The swiftest runners of the host should strive."

Hebrew chroniclers have described the decoration of Solomon's temple--all wrought by Phoenician skill:

"And King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. He was a widow's son, ... and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bra.s.s: and he was filled with wisdom and understanding, and cunning to work all works in bra.s.s. And he came to King Solomon, and wrought all his work.

"For he cast two pillars of bra.s.s, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compa.s.s either of them about. And he made two capitals of molten bra.s.s, to set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. And nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the capitals which were upon the top of the pillars, seven for one capital and seven for the other capital. And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the capitals that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and so did he for the other capital. And the capitals that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily work in the porch, four cubits.... And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar and called the name thereof Jachin: and he sat up the left pillar and called the name thereof Boaz. And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished.

"And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from one brim to the other: it was round all about, and its height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compa.s.s it round about. And under the brim of it round about there were k.n.o.bs compa.s.sing it.... It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above them, and all their hinder parts were inward. And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths.... So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made King Solomon for the house of the Lord."[2]

The Phoenicians never developed an imposing architecture. Timber was abundant on the mountain slopes, and was the princ.i.p.al building material. The great lack of architectural ruins in the country today may be largely accounted for by its perishability. Stone was also available, and appears to have been used chiefly for foundations, which were laid deep and skillfully constructed. City walls were built of stone, and a few remnants of these may yet be found. Gigantic stones of prodigious size were piled one upon another and often held in place by their own tremendous weight. In places where the solid blocks were joined together, they were united so evenly that the blade of a knife may not now be placed in the seam.

Tyre and Sidon were both beautiful cities, as abundant evidence goes to testify. Carthage with her great structures of stone, became a quarry for Italy, but the Phoenicians were imitators and never developed a distinctive style of building.

Their sculpture survives only in tombs. A few of these have been recovered. Some of the figures adorning the interiors of tombs are said to possess richness and beauty. Their artists made use of huge blocks, and for this reason their carving was in low relief, or gave such appearance. The Greeks, on the other hand, found gigantic blocks unwieldy, and took smaller stones for their embellishment. Consequently the grace and delicacy of Greek sculpture was not reached in Phoenicia.

"It seems strange that these Canaanites or Phoenicians, the scorn of Israel, and the people against whom Joshua bent all his powers, should have enjoyed such an uncheckered career, making themselves sole navigators of every sea, and finally founding a city which stood unrivalled for more than 700 years. Through their hands ... pa.s.sed grain, ivory, and skins from Libya; slaves from the Soudan, purple and cedar from Tyre, frankincense from Arabia, copper from Cyprus, iron from Elba, tin from Cornwall, wine from Greece, silver from Spain, and gold and precious stones from Malabar. As a nation of traders and navigators they established themselves on the coast, and wherever they settled, depots and factories of various kinds were erected. We do not find them in the interior of a country. Neither do we hear of alliances with the people with whom they came in contact, nor of their impressing barbarian tribes with any notions of the advantages of civilization. In the field of intellectual acquirements the Carthaginian, as the descendant of the Phoenician, has no place, and his skill in the gentler arts of life has no recognition. We find no native architecture, nor do we hear of any industrial art worth recording. Carthage, it is true, became the metropolis of their widespread kingdom, and one of the wealthiest cities of the world.... Temples and stately edifices adorned its streets, and the remains of great constructional works still attest the solid grandeur of the city. But the architecture was the work of Greek, not of Punic, artists; and the few sculptures of note, which may be a.s.signed to a period anterior to the last Punic war, have nothing in common with the rude carvings which bear the impress of Carthaginian origin. On the other hand the art of navigation, the science of agriculture, the principles of trading, and a system of water supply combined with the construction of gigantic cisterns, which may still be seen at Carthage, and in the outskirts of many towns in North Africa, became Rome's heritage from Phoenicia."[3]

LITERATURE AND LEARNING.