ancient metropolis of Syria, which existed as a city in the days of Abraham, Ab'ila, and Laodicéa. The Syrian desert adjoins this division, in the midst of which is a fertile oasis, on which the city of Tadmor, or Palmy'ra, was founded by Solomon. Its ruins rival those of Baalbec in magnitude and beauty. Southeast of this was Thap'sacus, opposite to which the Euphrátes was fordable. Phoenicia, or Phoníce, skirted the eastern coasts of the Mediterranean, but its boundaries were almost perpetually varying. It contained Sídon, the most ancient commercial city in the world; Tyre, commonly called "the daughter of Sidon;" Ar'adus, also an insular city; Trip'olis, so called because it was colonized by the_three preceding cities conjointly Byb'lus and Bery'tus, the modern Beiroot, which is still a good harbor. Tyre was originally a Sidonian colony, but rose rapidly above the parent state, and became a flourishing commercial city. After its capture by Alexander the Great, Tyre gradually declined, less in consequence of the conqueror's vengeance than of the founding of Alexandria in Egypt, which soon became the seat of the commerce that had previously centred in Tyre. SECTION IV.-Social and Political Condition of the Syrians and Phænicians. SYRIA contained but one large river, the Oron'tes, a turbid and rapid stream, whose navigation is impeded by rapids, and whose waters can not be used for domestic purposes. But there are several minor rivers in the neighborhood of Damascus, which, as well as their tributary streams, are remarkable for their limpid waters and abundance of fish. The soil is generally better suited to pasturage than agriculture. Two large valleys of mineral salt added greatly to the natural wealth of the country; and the mountains of Lebanon supplied abundance of excellent timber both for house and ship-building. Syria was consequently partly suited to a nomad, and partly to a commercial people; and this mixture of the two opposite characters, with scarcely any trace of the intermediate agricultural class, led to many revolutions in the Syrian government; the cities were more or less republican, while the rural districts were subject to petty despots. The Syrian religion appears to have been elementary; that is, the objects of worship were the personifications of some powers of nature: their most celebrated deity, Astar'te, or the Syrian goddess, represented both the moon and the prolific power of the earth, and was worshipped with the same licentious ceremonies as the Babylonian Mylit'ta. THE PHOENICIANS, like the Syrians, belonged to the great Aramean, or Semitic family of nations. Their narrow and short line of coast, indented with excellent bays and harbors, was covered with lofty and wooded mountains, that jut out into the sea, and form bold promontories. Several islands stud the coast, on which cities and commercial establishments were founded, as well as on the mainland. Each of these cities was an independent state; but they were generally united by a federative league, under the presidency of Sidon, and afterward of Tyre. The religion of the Phoenicians appears to have been more sanguinary than that of most other nations. Tham'muz, or Adónis, was worshipped with very licentious rites, which were supposed to have a mystic signification. SECTION V.-History of the Syrians and Phænicians. SYRIA was divided into a number of petty states, most of which were subdued by the Jewish king, David (B. c. 1044). Toward the close of Solomon's reign, Rézon, who had been originally a slave, threw off the yoke, and founded the Syrian kingdom of Damascus. Ben-hádad, the most powerful of his successors, waged a long and sanguinary war against the kingdom of Israel, during the reigns of Ahab and Jehóram. He was finally murdered by Házael, one of his servants (B. c. 884), who usurped the vacant throne. Házael was a warlike prince; he gained several brilliant victories over the forces of Israel and Judah, compelling the monarchs of both to resign several important provinces, and pay him tribute. He also made himself master of Elath on the Red sea, and greatly increased the commercial prosperity of his dominions. But these advantages were lost under the reign of his inglorious son, Ben-hádad II. The Syrians recovered some of their power under Rézin; toward the close of his reign, he entered into alliance with Pékah, king of Israel, against A'haz, king of Judah. The Syrians and Israelites gained so many advantages, that A'haz sought the protection of Tiglath-piléser, king of Assyria, who marched against Damascus, captured the city, dragged the inhabitants away captive, and put an end to the kingdom (B. c. 740). Ir has been already mentioned that most of the PHŒNICIAN cities were independent states. Tyre is, however, the only one whose history can be satisfactorily traced. Its first sovereign was Ab'ical (about B. c. 1050), who was contemporary with David. His son and successor, Híram, was united by the strictest bonds of friendship to the great Jewish king, and also to his son Solomon. During the reign of Híram, Tyre acquired the supremacy of Phoenicia, and became the most flourishing emporium of commerce in the ancient world. The most remarkable successors of Híram were Ethbáal I., the father of the wicked Jez'ebel, wife of Ahab, in whose reign some important colonies were planted in Africa; and Pygmálion, whose murder of Sicha'us led to the foundation of Carthage (about B. c. 900). Dído, the wife of Sicha'us, aided by numerous Tyrians, escaped by sea with her husband's treasures, and sought a new country on the northern shores of Africa. Here she erected the city of Carthage, which soon rivalled Tyre itself in commercial prosperity. The Tyrians exercised their supremacy over the surrounding cities with so much cruelty, that the Phoenicians applied for protection to the Assyrians, and afterward to the Babylonians. The Assyrians, unable to cope with the Tyrians by sea, retired, leaving the city uninjured. But Nebuchadnezzar so exhausted Tyre by a constant blockade, that it was almost wholly abandoned by its inhabitants, who erected the city of New Tyre upon a neighboring island. Soon after this event, a change was made in the form of government; annual magistrates, called Shophetím, or, according to the Greek orthography, Suffétes, being chosen instead of kings. After Cyrus had conquered Babylon, the Phoenician cities submitted of their own accord (B. c. 538); but though they became dependancies of the Persian empire, they were permitted to retain their native governments. Tyre again became subject to kings, and supplied the strength of the Persian naval power. It was taken by Alexander the Great (B. c. 332), and from that time it sunk into hopeless decay. SECTION VI.-Phænician Colonies and Foreign Possessions. THE system of colonization in commercial states has been always the greatest aid to the progress of civilization: colonies are founded by trading nations for the purpose of securing a lucrative commerce, by establishing a market for the manufactured produce of the parent state, and a carrying-trade for its merchants and seamen. Such colonies, unlike the military establishments of despotic states, require to be placed under the guidance of persons advanced in political knowledge, who know how to vary the institutions derived from the government at home, so as to suit the altered circumstances of their position and foreign relations hence civil liberty has always advanced more rapidly in commercial colonies than in the states from which they were derived, and the science of legislation has attained greater perfection than in more ancient establishments. In commercial states, the distinction between the citizen and the soldier is very strongly marked; and most commercial states, in ancient and modern times employed foreign mercenaries. The prophet Ezekiel, whose account of Tyre is the most perfect record of its ancient condition, enumerates the countries that supplied the Tyrian armies and navies with warriors.* The Phoenician colonies proceeded from east to west along the coasts of the Mediterranean, occupying the principal islands. Cyprus, called in Scripture Kittím, or Chittím, was not only a colony but a province of the Tyrians, and vestiges of their establishments on the island still exist. From Cyprus they extended their settlements to Crete and some of the islands in the Archipelago. Thence they proceeded to Africa, Sicily, and Sardinia, spreading their cities unequally along the coasts, and very rarely attempting the conquest of the interior. Their establishments in Sicily and Sardinia, indeed, appear to have been only naval stations for the vessels employed in the trade with western Europe, especially with Spain, which was the Mexico or Peru of the ancient world. The Spanish peninsula, called in Scripture Tar'shish, from the city Tartes'sus, was the country with which the Tyrians had the most lucrative trade; and the colonies they established there soon became independent states. It would seem that the Tyrians were by no means anxious to retain supremacy over their colonies, wisely preferring a close alliance, cemented by common descent, • Ezekiel xxvii. 8-11. language, and religion, to a hollow dependance. Colonies were also planted beyond the straits of Gibraltar, or, as they were called by the ancients, the Pillars of Hercules. Trade was extended to the British islands and the coasts of the North sea, which must have led to the establishment of colonies and naval stations along the western and northern coasts of Spain. The colonies in northern Africa, Leptis, Carthage, Utica, &c., attained greater splendor than any of the other Phoenician cities, and rivalled Tyre itself in wealth and magnificence. It is exceedingly probable that they had also settlements in western Africa, and that they had even reached the island of Madeira. But to prevent any interference with their lucrative commerce, they designedly cast a veil of mystery over their intercourse with the western regions, of which the Greek poets took advantage to embellish their narratives of fictitious voyages and travels with the most fanciful inventions. It is known that the Phoenicians preceded the Greeks in forming commercial establishments along the coast of Asia Minor and the shores of the Black sea; but we have no account of the mode in which they were deprived of these possessions by the Greeks. It is probable that the Phoenicians resigned this branch of commerce to attend more closely to their lucrative trade with the western regions. In the eastern seas they had establishments on the Persian and Arabian gulfs; but their settlements on the latter were probably not made until David had conquered their commercial rivals, the Edomites, or Idumeans. From that time they paid great attention to their southern trade, and seem to have become close allies of the Egyptians. SECTION VII.-Phænician Manufactures and Commerce. THE textile fabrics of the Sidonians, and the purple cloths of the Tyrians, were celebrated from the earliest antiquity. The Tyrian purple was not a single color, but was a generic name for all the shades of purple and scarlet. The dye was obtained from a shell-fish found in great abundance on the shores of the Mediterranean. Vegetable dyes of great beauty and variety were also used; the dyeing was always performed in the raw materials; and the Phonicians alone understood the art of producing shot colors by using threads of different tints. Glass was very anciently manufactured both at Sidon and Sarepta: tradition, indeed, ascribes the invention of glass to the Phoenicians; but the Egyptians seem to have a claim at least as good to the discovery. Carvings in wood and ivory, manufactures of jewelry and toys, complete all that has been recorded of the products of Tyrian industry; and it seems probable that their commerce consisted more in the interchange of foreign commodities than in the export of their own wrought goods. The land-trade of the Phoenicians may be divided into three great branches the Arabian, which included the Egyptian and that with the Indian seas; the Babylonian, to which is referred the commerce with central Asia and north India; and the Armenian, including the overland trade with Scythia and the Caucasian countries. From Yem ́en, called Arabia the Happy, the southern division of the Arabian peninsula, caravans brought through the desert frankincense, myrrh, cassia, gold, and precious stones, the gold being probably obtained from the opposite shores of Africa. But before the Phonicians had a port on the Red sea, they obtained, through Arabia, the produce of southern India and Africa, more especially cinnamon, ivory, and ebony. This trade is fully described by Ezekiel,* by whom the traffic in the Persian gulf is also noticed.† The Arabian trade appears to have been principally carried on by caravans. The northern Arabs, especially the princes of Kédar and the Midianites, were in ancient times great travelling merchants: and the kingdom of Edom, or Idumæa, in the north of the Arabian peninsula, attained a very high degree of commercial prosperity. On the seacoast the Idumeans possessed the ports of Elath and E'zion-géber (Ak'aba); in the interior, they had for their metropolis Pétra, whose magnificent remains have been but recently discovered. So permanent and almost immutable is the aspect of civilization in Asia, that the commercial caravans of the present day scarcely differ in any particular from those which were used in the flourishing days of Tyre. The merchants travelled in bands organized like an army, having their goods on the backs of camels, the only animals which can endure the fatigues and privations of the desert. They were escorted by armed forces, sometimes supplied from home, but more frequently consisting of one marauding tribe, hired at a large price, to save the caravan from the exactions and attacks of the rest. The greater part of the Phoenician trade with Egypt was overland, at least so long as the seat of government was at Thebes in Upper Egypt: when Mem'phis rose into power, an entire quarter of the city was assigned to the Phoenician merchants, and the trade by sea to the mouths of the Nile grew into importance. The first branch of the eastern Phoenician trade was with Judæa and Syria Proper. The dependance of the Phoenicians on Palestine for grain fully explains the cause of their close alliance with the Jewish kingdom in the reigns of David and Solomon. But the most important branch of eastern trade was that through Bab'ylon with the interior of Asia. A great part of the route lay through the Syrian desert; and to facilitate the passage of the caravans, two of the most remarkable cities of the ancient world, Baal'bec and Palmy'ra, were founded. They were both built by Solomon: "he founded," says the Scripture, "Baálath (Baal'bec) and Tadmor (Palmy'ra) in the desert." They were erected by that wise monarch to procure for his subjects a share in this lucrative traffic; but this object was frustrated by the subsequent revolt of the ten tribes, and the wars between Israel and Judah. The northern land-trade of the Phoenicians is described by no ancient writer but the prophet Ezekiel: "Jávan [Iónia, and the Greek colonies], Túbal, and Méshech [the countries around the Black and north Caspian seas], they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy markets. They of the house of Togar'mah [Arménia and Cappadócia], traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules."|| Ezekiel xxvii. 19-23. Ezekiel xxvii. 17, 18. § 1 Kings ix. 18. † Ib. xxvii. 15. |