*

forced marches at Sidon, which was treacherously opened to admit him. The inhabitants, in despair, set fire to their city, and 40,000 people perished in the flames.] After the taking of Sidon by the Persians, the city of Tyre rapidly increased in wealth and greatness, and became, in a short time, the capital of Phœnicia, and the mart of the whole earth. At the time it was besieged by Alexander, it was, in every respect, the greatest commercial city in the world. Including ancient Tyre, it was nineteen miles in circuit: the houses were spacious, magnificent, consisting of several stories, and higher than those of Rome. Pre-eminent in riches and splendour, rose the magnificent temples of Olympian Jove, Astarte, and other deities adored by the Tyrians, constructed by Hiram, adorned with pillars of gold, glittering with precious stones, and enriched with the splendid offerings of many kings. The city was defended by a wall an hundred and fifty feet in height, of huge stones cemented with lime. Two harbours received its innumerable vessels, one looking towards Sidon, the other to Egypt. Strabo places it nearly at the distance of twenty-five miles from Sidon, its renowned parent. The inhabitants of Tyre, like the Sidonians from whom they derived their origin, were distinguished for the acuteness and versatility of their genius. They were skilled in arithmetic and astronomy: but in the mechanical arts they were scarcely equalled, certainly not surpassed, by any people. For the brilliant colour known to the ancients by the name of the Tyrian purple, the kings of the east were indebted to the ingenuity of that people. The fabrics produced in the Sidonian looms rivalled the fine linen of Egypt; while the productions of the artificer in iron, in brass, and in crystal, were not less remarkable for

* Tyre was built on an eminence, on the east of the Mediterranean, and was called Palco Tyrus, Ancient Tyre, to distinguish it from the new and more splendid city of the same name, which was built upon lower land, half a mile from the shore,-Editor.

Lib. xvi. p. 515.

6

the beauty of the device than for the delicacy of the execution. It is, therefore, a true account which the inspired prophet has given of the greatness and splendour of Tyre. Isaiah calls her, a mart of nations; the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth;' and Ezekiel, alluding to old Tyre, places her at the entry of the sea;' and, in another passage, to the new city,' in the heart of the seas,' recounts the various nations that carried on a lucrative commerce with the Tyrians.

[The testimony of Volney, an inveterate infidel, to the truth of Ezekiel's description of the commercial relations of this renowned city, which he characterizes as ' a historical fragment,' is so invaluable, that we must insert the passage entire in his own words, accompanied with the translation, and the geographical notes of this learned traveller:- The power of Tyre in the Mediterranean and in the west is well known of this, Carthage, Utica, and Cadiz are celebrated monuments. We know that she extended her navigation even into the ocean, and carried her commerce beyond England to the north, and the Canaries to the south. Her connexions with the east, though less known, were not less considerable: the islands of Tyrus and Aradus (the modern Bahrein) in the Persian Gulf, the cities of Faran and Phonicum Oppidum on the Red Sea, in ruins even in the time of the Greeks, prove that the Tyrians had long frequented the coast of Arabia and the Indian Sea; but there exists a historical fragment, which contains descriptions the more valuable as they present a picture of distant ages, perfectly similar to that of modern times. I shall cite the words of the writer in all their prophetic enthusiasm, only correcting those expressions which have hitherto been misunderstood:-

"Proud city, that art situate at the entry of the sea!
Tyre, who hast said, My borders are in the midst of the sea;
Hearken to the judgments pronounced against thee!

Thou hast extended thy commerce to [distant] islands,

Among the inhabitants of [unknown] coasts.

Thou makest the fir-trees of Sanir* into ships:

The cedars of Lebanon are thy masts:

The poplars of Bashan thy oars.

Thy sailors are seated upon the box-wood of Cyprus,† inlaid with

ivory.

Thy sails and streamers are woven with fine flax from Egypt:

Thy garments are dyed with blue and purple from Hellas.‡
Sidon and Arvad send thee their rowers:

Djabal§ her skilful ship-builders :

Thy mathematicians and thy sages guide thy barks:

All the ships of the sea are employed in thy commerce.

The Persian, the Lydian, and the Egyptian, receive thy wages:

Thy walls are hung round with their bucklers and their cuirasses. The sons of Arvad line thy parapets :

And thy bowers, guarded by the Djemedians, glitter in their bril

liant quivers.

Every country is desirous of trading with thee.

Tarsus sends to thy markets iron, tin, and lead.

Yonia¶ and Teblis** supply thee with slaves and brazen vessels. Armenia sends thee mules, horses, and horsemen.

The Arab of Dedant† conveys thy merchandize.

Numerous isles exchange with thee ivory and ebony.

The Aranean‡‡ brings thee rubies, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and agate.

The children of Israel and Judah sell thee cheese, balm, myrrh, raisins and oil,

And Damascus supplies thee wine of Helbon,§§ and fine wool.

The Arabs of Oman offer to thy merchants polished iron, cinnamon, and the aromatic reed;

And the Arabs of Dedan bring thee rich carpets.

The inhabitants of the desert and the sheiks of Redan exchange their lambs and their goats for thy valuable merchandize. The Arabs of Sarna and Rama||| enrich thee with aromatics, precious stones, and gold.¶¶

*Possibly Mount Sanine.

+ Box of Katim. It is probable that the isle of Cyprus, on the coast of Cilicia, where the box abounds, is meant.

The Archipelago. Elisha in the Hebrew does not differ much from Hellas, the ancient name of the Archipelago.

§ Djebila.

A people of Phoenicia.

Javan.

** Tobel, Teblis, or Teflis, lies to the north of Armenia, on the frontiers of Georgia. These countries are celebrated among the Greeks for slaves, and for the iron of the Chalybes.

†† Between Aleppo and Damascus.

Syria. This name extended to the Cappadocians and the inhabitants of Upper Mesopotamia.

§§ Aleppo.

In the Yemen.

¶¶ According to Strabo, the Sabians furnished Syria with all the

The inhabitants of Haram, of Kalana,* and of Adana ;†

The sailors of the Arabs of Sheba, the Assyrians, and the Chaldeans, trade also with thee, and sell thee shawls, garnets artfully embroidered,

Silver, masts, cordage, and cedars:

Yea, the vessels of Tarsus are in thy pay.

O Tyre! elate with the greatness of thy glory, and the immensity of thy riches,

The waves of the sea shall rise up against thee,

And the tempest plunge thee to the bottom of the waters," ' &c.‡]

The pride and luxury which her unrivalled power and riches produced among all ranks of her citizens, and above all, the cruel and unbrotherly triumph in which the Tyrians indulged, when the chosen people of God yielded to the arms of Nebuchadnezzar, and were led away captive beyond the rivers of Babylon, excited against them the displeasure of Heaven. As a just punishment of their crimes, continental Tyre was taken and destroyed by the Chaldeans, and remained in a state of ruin and desolation seventy years, -a term of equal duration with the captivity of Judah, whom they had so barbarously insulted in the hour of her distress. At the end of that period, Tyre recovered her wealth and splendour; an event which the prophet Zechariah describes in these striking terms :—′ And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.'§ But with her commerce and prosperity, her wickedness returned; and the judgments of God quickly followed. In fulfilment of ancient prophecies which

gold that country received, before they were supplanted by the inhabitants of Garra, near the north of the Euphrates.-Editor. † Near Tarsus.

* Mesopotamia.

The vicissitudes of time,' says Volney, or rather the barbarism of the Greeks of the lower empire and the Mohammedan, have ACCOMPLISHED this prediction. Instead of her ancient commerce, so vigorous and enterprising, Tsour (Tyre), reduced to a paltry village, has no trade except the exportation of a few sacks of corn and raw cotton, nor any merchant but a single Greek factor, in the service of the French of Sidon, who scarce makes sufficient profit to support his family.'-Editor.

§ Zech. ix. 3.

sealed her doom, and even described the manner of her future destruction, Alexander besieged, took, and set the city on fire; but so great was the forbearance of Heaven, so numerous and efficient were her resources, that in the short period of nineteen years she was able to withstand the fleets and armies of Antigonus, and to sustain a siege of fifteen months, before she was taken. But the time of her final desolation at length arrived; and nothing could divert or retard the full accomplishment of the divine purpose long before expressed by an inspired prophet: Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and I will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up: and they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock : it shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.'* To shew the certainty of this fearful sentence, it is repeated, I will make thee like the top of a rock; thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more; for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord God.' And again :—' I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God.' The exact fulfilment of this prediction in all its parts, is attested by so many travellers of unimpeachable veracity, who have beheld and examined the ruins of this once great, and powerful, and splendid city, that the most stubborn unbeliever is awed into silence.

* Ezek. xxvi. 3-5.

G.

+ Ezek. xxvi. 14, 21.

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