The order of time in which they took
place, as well as their object and result, are very imperfectly known; it
seems certain, however, that they either regularly traded with, or formed
colonies or establishments for the purpose of trade at first in Cyprus and
Rhodes, and subsequently in Greece, Sicily, Sardinia, Gaul, and the
southern part of Spain. About 1250 years before Christ, the Phoenician
ships ventured beyond the Straits, entered the Atlantic, and founded Cadiz.
It is probable, also, that nearly about the same period they formed
establishments on the western coast of Africa. We have the express
authority of Homer, that at the Trojan war the Phoenicians furnished other
nations with many articles that could contribute to luxury and
magnificence; and Scripture informs us, that the ships of Hyram, king of
Tyre, brought gold to Solomon from Ophir. That they traded to Britain for
tin at so early a period as that which we are now considering, will appear
very doubtful, if the metal mentioned by Moses, (Numbers, chap. xxxi. verse
22.) was really tin, and if Homer is accurate in his statement that this
metal was used at the siege of Troy; for, certainly, at neither of these
periods had the Phoenicians ventured so far from their own country.
Hitherto we have spoken of Sidon as the great mart of Phoenician commerce;
at what period Tyre was built and superseded Sidon is not known.
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