chants of Tyre as Princes; whose grandeur and magnificence are often alluded to in the Scriptures. The prophet Ezekiel calls them the princes of the sea. Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments. And Isaiah speaks to the same purpose. "Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, that crowning city, whose merchants are princes; whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? The scripture term by which they are here distinguished is , Sarim: but the title which they assumed to themselves was Ph'anac, or Ph'oinac, the Phoenix of the Greeks and Romans. And as it was a mere title, the sacred writers of the old testament never make use of it to distinguish either the people or country. This part of Canaan is never by them called Phoenicia yet others did call it so; and the natives were styled Phoenices before the birth of Homer. But this was through mistake; for it was never used by the natives as a provincial appellation. I have shewn that it was a title of another sort, a mark of rank and pre-eminence: on this account it was assumed by other people, 16 Ezekiel. c. 26. v. 16. and conferred upon other places. For this reason it is never mentioned by any of the sacred writers before the captivity, in order to avoid ambiguity. The Gentile writers made use of it; and we see what mistakes have ensued. There were Phoenicians of various countries. They were to be found upon the Sinus 18 Persicus, upon the Sinus 19 Arabicus, in Egypt, in Crete, in " Africa, in Epirus, and even in Attica. 23 Φοινικες-γενος τι 22 Abno. There is a race of people called Phænicians 18 Herodotus brings the Phoenicians from the Mare Erythræum; by which he means the Sinus Persicus. 1.7. c. 89. l. 1. c. 1. 19 Philo, mentioning the march of the Israelites towards the Red Sea, and the Amalekites, adds: veμovτai δ' αυτην Φοινικες. De V. Mosis. vol. 2. p. 115. un, in Edom. Procopius. Persic. 1. 1. c. 19. 20 Phœnicus, in Crete. Steph. Byzant. 21 Ape Dovines. Glossæ. 22 Κατα Βυθρωτον Φοινικη. Strabo. 1.7. p. 499. Mount Olympus, in Lycia, was styled, by way of eminence, Phoinic. Ολυμπος πολις μεγάλη και οξος ὁμώνυμον, ὁ και Φοινικους και Tal. Strabo. 1. 14. p. 982. Bochart supposes Phonic and Phonices (os) to be derived from Beni Anac, changed to Pheni Anac, i. e. the sons of Anac: but how can this be applicable to a mountain, or to the Palm tree? I am happy, however, that in a part of my etymology, and that a principal part, I am countenanced by that learned man. Bishop Cumberland derives it from Anac torquis. Orig. p. 302. 23 Hesychius. among the Athenians. In short, it was a title introduced at Sidon, and the coast adjoining, by people from Egypt: and who the people were that brought it may be known from several passages in antient history; but particularly from an extract in Eusebius, 25 Φοινιξ και Καδμος, απο Θηβών των Αιγυπτίων εξελθοντες εις την Συρίαν, Τυρε και Σίδωνος εβασιλευον. Phoenix and Cadmus, retiring from Thebes, in Egypt, towards the coast of Syria, settled at Tyre and Sidon, and reigned there. It is said, that 26 Belus carried a colony to the same parts and from what part of the world "Belus must be supposed to have come, needs not to be explained. Euripides styles Cepheus the king of Ethiopia, the son of Phoenix: and Apollodorus makes him the son of Belus: hence we may infer, that Belus and Phoenix were the same. Not that there were any such persons as Phoenix and Belus, for they were certainly titles: and, under the characters of those two personages, Colonies, named Belidæ and Phoenices, went abroad, and settled in different parts. Their history and appellation 24 A city and mountain in Boeotia, called Phoenice: the natives, Phoenicians. Strabo. 1. 9. p. 629. may be traced from Babylonia to Arabia and Egypt; and from thence to Canaan, and to the regions in the west. It were therefore to be wished, that the terms Phoenix and Phoenicia had never been used in the common acceptation; at least when the discourse turns upon the more antient history of Canaan. When the Greeks got possession of the coast of Tyre, they called it Phœnicia and from that time it may be admitted as a provincial name. In consequence of this, the writers of the New Testament do not scruple to make use of it, but always with a proper limitation; for the geography of the Scriptures is wonderfully exact. But the Greek and Roman writers often speak of it with a greater latitude, and include Judea and Palestina within its borders; and sometimes add Syria and Idume. But these countries were all separate and distinct; among which Phoenicia bore but a small proportion. Yet, small as it may have been, many learned men have thought, that all the colonies, which at times settled upon the coast of the Mediterranean, were from this quarter; and that all science was of Phoenician original. But this is not true according to their acceptation of the term. Colonies did settle; and science came from the east but not merely from the Sidonian. I shall shew, that it was principally owing to a prior and superior branch of the family. ADDENDA. OF THE PALM TREE. PHOENIX was a colour among horses. They were styled Phoenices, and 28 Phoeniciati, from the colour of the Palm tree, which they resembled ; and upon the same account had the name of Spadices. This, according to Aulus Gellius, was a term synonymous with the former. 29 Rutilus, et Spadix Phoenicii ruwvos, exuberantiam splendoremque significant ruboris, quales sunt fructus Palmæ arboris, nondum sole incocti: unde spadicis et Phoenicei nomen est. 30 Spadix, σradi, avulsus est a Palmâ termes cum fructu. Homer, describing the horses of Diomedes, says, that the one was Phoenix, or of a bright Palm colour, with a white spot in his forehead like a moon. 31 Ός το μεν αλλο τοσον φοινιξ την, ενδε μετωπω Upon this the Scholiast observes, Φοινικες το χρώμα, 28 Bochart. Hierazoican. 1. 2. c. 7. 29 Gellius. 1. 2. c. 26. 30 Gellius. Ibidem. 31 Iliad. v. 454. |