George Albert Cooke

“ During the Macedonian period Greek influences had been steadily gaining ground in Phoenicia; relations with the Greek world grew closer, the native language fell into disuse, and from the beginning of the Roman occupation Greek appears regularly in inscriptions and on coins, though on the latter Phoenician legends do not entirely vanish till the 2nd century A.D.; while the extent to which Hellenic ideas penetrated the native traditions and mythologies is seen in the writings of Philo of Byblus. For the purposes of everyday life, however, the people spoke not Greek, but Aramaic. ”

“ Walled in by towering rocks and watered by a perennial stream, Petra not only possessed the advantages of a fortress but controlled the main commercial routes which passed through it to Gaza in the west, to Bostra and Damascus in the north, to Elath and Leucè Comè on the Red Sea, and across the desert to the Persian Gulf.
From the ‛Arāba travellers approach by a track which leads round Jebel Hārūn (Mt Hor) and enters the plain of Petra from the south; it is just possible to find a way in from the high plateau on the north ”

“ As a rule the buildings of Palmyra do not possess any architectural individuality, but these tombs are an exception. The style of all the ruins is late classic and highly ornate, but without refinement. ”

“ Throughout these periods works of art, such as statues of the gods and sarcophagi, were imported direct at first from Egypt and afterwards mainly from Rhodes. The oldest example of native sarcophagi are copied from Egyptian mummy-cases, painted with colours and ornamented with carvings in low relief; towards and during the Greek period the contours of the body be in to be marked more clearly on the cover. The finest sarcophagi that have been found in the necropolis of Sidon (now in the Imperial Museum, Constantinople) are not Phoenician at all, but exquisite specimens of Greek art. ”

“ Even when Athens had developed a rival navy Greek observers noted with admiration the discipline kept on board the Phoenician ships and the skill with which they were handled (Xen. Oec. viii.) ; all the Phoenician vessels from the round merchant-boat (γαῦλος—after which the island of Gaulus, now Gozo, near Malta was called) to the great Tarshish-ships, the “East-Indiamen” of the ancient world, excelled those of the Greeks in speed and equipment. As E. Meyer points out, the war between the Greeks and the Persians was mainly a contest between the sea-powers of Greece and Phoenicia. ”

“ The neutrality which had made Palmyra's fortune was abandoned for an active military policy which, while it added to Odainath's fame, in a short time brought his native city to its ruin. He fell upon the victorious Persians returning home after the sack of Antioch, and before they could cross the Euphrates inflicted upon them a considerable defeat. ”

“ The streets are very narrow, and the buildings of any interest few; most prominent are some large caravanserais belonging to the period of Sidon's modern prosperity, and the large mosque, formerly a church of the knights of St John. The inhabitants support themselves mainly on the produce of their luxuriant gardens; but the increasing trade of Beirūt has withdrawn the bulk of the commerce from Sidon. In earlier days Phoenicia produced excellent wine, that of Sidon being specially esteemed ”

“ For the geography and civilization of Canaan about 1400 B.C. we have valuable evidence in the Egyptian papyrus Anastasi I., which mentions Kepuna (Gubna, Gebal-Byblus) the holy city, and continues: “Come then to Berytus, to Sidon, to Sarepta. Where is the ford of Nat-’ana (? Nahr el-Kāsimīyeh, or a town) ? Where is ’Eutu (? Usu, Palaetyrus) ? Another city on the sea is called a haven, D’ar (Tyre) is its name, water is carried to it in boats; it is richer in fish than in sands.” ”

“ The Arabian tribes began to take possession of the partly cultivated lands east of Canaan, became masters of the Eastern trade, gradually acquired settled habits, and learned to speak and write in Aramaic, the language which was most widely current throughout the region west of the Euphrates in the time of the Persian Empire (6th–4th century B.C.) . It is not till much later that Palmyra first appears in Western literature. ”

“ Zenobia seems to have ruled on behalf of her young son Wahab-allath or Athenodorus as the name is Graecized, who counts the years of his reign from the date of his father’s death. Under Odenathus Palmyra had extended her sway over Syria and Arabia, perhaps also over Armenia, Cilicia and Cappadocia; but now the troops of Zenobia, numbering it is said 70,000, proceeded to occupy Egypt; the Romans under Probus resisted vigorously but without avail, and by the beginning of A.D. 270, when Aurelian succeeded Claudius as emperor, Wahab-allath was governing Egypt with the title of “king.” ”

“ The stream of Wadi Mūsā crosses the plain and disappears among the mountains opposite; on either bank, where the ground is fairly level, the city was built, covering a space of about 11/4 sq. m. Among the ruins on the south bank stand the fragments of a temple called Kasr Fir‛aun of late Roman date; just beyond this rises a rocky height which is usually regarded as the acropolis. ”

“ Two or three other deities may be mentioned here: Eshmun, the god of vital force and healing, worshipped at Sidon especially, but also at Carthage and in the colonies, identified by the Greeks with Asclepius; Melqarth, the patron deity of Tyre, identified with Heracles; Reshef or Reshūf, the “flame” or “lightning” god, especially popular in Cyprus and derived originally from Syria, whom the Greeks called Apollo. A tendency to form a distinct deity by combining the attributes of two produced such curious fusions as Milk-‘asitart, Milk-ba‘al, Milk-’osir, Eshmun-melqarth, Melqarth-resef, &c. ”

“ The series of native inscriptions, written in Aramaic, begins a few years after; the earliest bears the date 304 of the Seleucid era, i.e. 9 B.C. (Cooke, North-Semitic Inscriptions No. 141=Vogüé, Syrie Centrale No. 30a) ; by this time Palmyra had become an important trade-post between the Roman and the Parthian states. Its characteristic civilization grew out of a mixture of various elements, Arabic, Aramaic, Greek and Roman. The bulk of the population was of Arab race, and though Aramaic was used as the written language, in common intercourse Arabic had by no means disappeared. ”

“ Sometimes the god received a distinguishing attribute which indicates an association not with any particular place, but with some special characteristic, the most common forms are Ba‘al-ḥammān, the chief deity of Punic north Africa, perhaps “the glowing Ba‘al,” the god of fertilizing warmth, and Ba‘al-shamēm, “Ba‘al of the heavens.” [25] The latter deity was widely venerated throughout the North-Semitic world; his name, which does not appear in the Phoenician inscriptions before the 3rd century B.C., implies perhaps a more universal conception of deity than existed in the earlier days. ”

“ The Semitic name of the city, if it was not Sela', must remain unknown. [4] The passage in Diodorus Siculus (xix 94-97) which describes the expeditions which Antigonus sent against the Nabataeans in 312 B.C. is generally understood to throw some light upon the history of Petra, though it must be admitted that the petra referred to as a natural fortress and place of refuge cannot be a proper name, and the description at any rate implies that the town was not yet in existence. ”

“ Palmyra also possessed the character of a religious centre, with the worship of the Sungod dominating that of inferior deities.
The chief luxuries of the ancient world, silks, jewels, pearls, perfumes, incense and the like, were drawn from India, China and southern Arabia. Pliny (N. H. xii. 41) reckons the yearly import of these wares into Rome at not less than three-quarters of a million of English money. The trade followed two routes: one by the Red Sea, Egypt and Alexandria, the other from the Persian Gulf through the Syro-Arabian desert. ”

“ It was in the times of the Persian monarchy that Phoenician art reached its highest development, and to this period belong the oldest sculptures and coins that have come down to us. A characteristic specimen of the former is the stele of Yehaw-milk, king of Gebal (CIS. i. 1) , in which the king is represented in Persian dress, and the goddess to whom he is offering a bowl looks exactly like an Egyptian Isis-Hathor; the inscription mentions the various objects of bronze and gold, engraved work and temple furniture, which the king dedicated. ”

“ It was the Parthian wars of the 3rd century which brought Palmyra to the front, and for a brief period raised her to an almost dazzling position as mistress of the Roman East. A new career of ambition was opened to her citizens in the Roman honours that rewarded services to the imperial armies during their frequent expeditions in the East. ”

“ All Canaanite analogy speaks for kingship as the oldest form of Phoenician government. In the native inscriptions the chief of the city in Phoenicia itself and in Cyprus is always called king. The royal houses claimed divine descent, [13] and the king could not be chosen outside their members. His power, however, was limited by the wealthy merchant families, who possessed great influence in public affairs; thus it was possible for war or peace to be decided at Tyre in the king’s absence, or at Sidon against his will (Arrian ii. 15 and 16; Curtius iv. 1, 15) . ”

“ Associated with Dhū-sharā was Allāt, the chief goddess of the ancient Arabs. Sanctuary chambers may be seen at various points in the site of Petra, and many places of sacrifice open to the sky are met with among the tombs, marked by remains of altars. ”

“ During the crisis Odenathus remained loyal to Gallienus, and was rewarded for his fidelity by the grant of a position without parallel under ordinary circumstances; as hereditary prince of Palmyra he was appointed dux Orientis, a sort of vice-emperor for the East (A.D. 262) . He started promptly upon the work of recovery. With his Palmyrene troops, [7] strengthened by what was left of the Roman army corps, he took the offensive against Shapur, defeated him at Ctesiphon, and in a series of brilliant engagements won back the East for Rome. ”

“ Besides busts and figurines, which belong as a rule to the Greek period, the smaller objects usually found are earthen pitchers and lamps, glass-wares, tesserae and gems. Of buildings which can be called architectural few specimens now exist on Phoenician soil, for the reason that for ages the inhabitants have used the ruins as convenient quarries. Not a vestige remains of the great sanctuary of Melqarth at Tyre; a few traces of the temple of Adonis near Byblus were discovered by Renan, and a peculiar mausoleum, Burj al-Bezzāq, is still to be seen near Amrīt ”

“ West of the obelisks are three other places of sacrifice; and on the rocks below worshippers have carved their names (CIS. ii. 390-404) . En-Nejr, with the theatre at its foot, must have been the sacred mountain, the original sanctuary of Petra, perhaps “the very high mountain of Arabia called Dusarē after the god Dusares” referred to by Steph. Byz. (s.v. Δονσάρη) . Christianity found its way into Petra in early times; Athanasius mentions a bishop of Petra (Πετρών τής 'Αραβίας, ad Antioch. 10) named Asterius; at least one of the tombs (the “tomb with the urn”) was used as a church ”

“ The Hittites (q.v.) were invading Syria; nomads from the desert supported the invasion; and many of the local chiefs were ready to seize the opportunity to throw off the yoke of Egypt. The towns of Phoenicia were divided; Aradus, Simyra, Sidon supported the rebellion; Ribhabad, the vassal of Byblus, and Abi-melech, king of Tyre, held out for Egypt; but while all the towns made professions of fidelity, they were scheming for their own interests, and in the end Egypt lost them all except Byblus. ”

“ Local industries do not seem to have been important. One of the chief of them was the production of salt from the deposits of the desert; [2] another was no doubt the manufacture of leather; the inscriptions mention also a powerful gild of workers in gold and silver (NSI. No. 126) ; but Palmyra was not an industrial town, and the exacting fiscal system which drew profit even out of the bare necessaries of life—such as water, oil, wheat, salt, wine, straw, wool, skins (see Tariff ii. b, NSI. pp. 315 sqq.) —must have weighed heavily upon the artisan class. ”

“ Commercial interests dominated everything else, and while these stimulated a municipal life not without vigour, civil discipline and loyalty were but feebly felt. On occasion the towns could defend their independence with strenuous courage; the higher qualities which make for a progressive national life the Phoenicians did not possess. ”

“ Brünnow thinks that “the rock” in question was the sacred mountain en-Nejr (above) , but Buhl suggests a conspicuous height about 16 m north of Petra, Shobak, the Mont-royal of the Crusaders. [5] More satisfactory evidence of the date at which the earliest Nabataean settlement began is to be obtained from an examination of the tombs. Two types may be distinguished broadly, the Nabataean and the Graeco-Roman. The Nabataean type starts from the simple pylon-tomb with a door set in a tower crowned by a parapet ornament, in imitation of the front of a dwelling-house ”

“ The proper names and the names of deities, while partly Aramaic, are also in part unmistakably Arabic: it is suggestive that a purely Arabic term (faḥd, NSI. No. 136) was used for the septs into which the citizens were divided.
Originally an Arab settlement, the oasis was transformed in the course of time from a mere halting-place for caravans to a city of the first rank. The true Arab despises agriculture ”

“ But as Tyre decayed in power the colonies turned more and more to Carthage as their natural parent and protector. For effective control over a colonial empire Carthage had the advantage of situation over far-away Tyre; the traditional bonds grew lax and the ancient dues ceased to be paid, though as late as the middle of the 6th century Carthage rendered tithes to the Tyrian Melqarth. ”

“ But Elulaeus, according to Menander, suppressed the revolt of Citium, and early in the reign of Sennacherib joined the league of Philistia and Judah, in alliance with Egypt and Ethiopia, which aimed at throwing off the oppressive tyranny of Assyria; as usual, however, the city-states of Phoenicia could not combine even against a common foe, and several broke away from Tyre, so Menander tells us, and sided with Assyria. ”

“ Some are lofty towers containing sepulchral chambers in stories; [3] others are house-like buildings with a single chamber and a richly ornamented portico; the sides of these chambers within are adorned with the names and sculptured portraits of the dead. ”

“ When Alexander the Great entered Phoenicia after the battle of Issus (333 B.C.) , the kings were absent with the Persian fleet The Macedonian Period, 333-69 B.C. in the Aegean; but the cities of Aradus, Byblus and Sidon welcomed him readily, the last-named showing special zeal against Persia. The Tyrians also offered submission, but refused to allow the conqueror to enter the city and sacrifice to the Tyrian Heracles. Alexander was determined to make an example of the first who should offer opposition, and at once began the siege. ”

“ Phoenicia now became part of the fifth satrapy of the Persian Empire, and entered upon a spell of comparative peace and The Persian Period, 538-333 B. C. growing prosperity. Favoured for the sake of their fleet, and having common interests against Greece, [15] the Phoenicians were among the most loyal subjects of the empire. At this period Sidon occupied the position of leading state; in the fleet her king ranked next to Xerxes and before the king of Tyre (Herod. viii. 67) ; her situation afforded advantages for expansion which Tyre on its small and densely populated island could not rival. ”

“ The list of Hiram's successors given by Josephus indicates frequent changes of dynasty until the time of Ithobal I. priest of Astarte, whose reign (887-855) marks a return to more settled rule. In contrast to Hiram I., king of Tyre, Ithobal or Ethbaal is styled in 1 Kings xvi. 31 “king of the Sidonians,” i.e. of the Phoenicians, showing that in the interval the kings of Tyre had extended their rule over the other Phoenician cities. Under Ethbaal further expansion is recorded; Botrys north of Byblus and Aoza in North Africa are said to have been founded by him ”

“ Hence Aradus, Byblus, Sidon and Tyre issued a coinage of their own, of which many specimens exist: the coins are stamped as a rule with emblem or name of the city, sometimes with the name of the ruler. [17] Thus from the coins of Byblus we learn the names of four kings, ‘El-pa‘al, ‘Az-ba‘al (between 360 and 340 B.C.) , Adar-melek, ‘Ain-el; from the coins of the other cities it is difficult to obtain much information. The native inscriptions, however, now become available, though most of them belong to the period which follows, and only a few have been discovered in Phoenicia itself. ”

“ The proper names further illustrate the way in which the relation of man to God was regarded; the commonest forms are servant (‘abd, e.g. ‘Abd-‘ashtart) , member or limb (bod, e.g. Bod-melqarth) , client or guest (ger, e.g. Ger-eshmun) ; the religious idea of the guest of a deity had its origin in the social custom of extending hospitality to a stranger and in the old Semitic right of sanctuary. The interpretation of such names as ’Abi-ba‘al (father of Ba‘al) , Ḥimilkath (brother of Milkath) , Ḥiram (brother of the exalted one) is not altogether certain, and can hardly be discussed here. ”

“ But dyeing and embroidery probably came from Babylon in the first instance; glass-making seems to have been borrowed from Egypt; the invention of arithmetic and of weights and measures must be laid to the credit of the Babylonians. ”

“ In this connexion may be mentioned the custom of burning the chief god of the city in effigy, or in the person of a human representative, at Tyre and in the Tyrian colonies, such as Carthage and Gades; the custom lasted down to a late time (see Frazer, loc. cit. ch. v.) . Another horrible sacrifice was regularly demanded by Phoenician religion: women sacrificed their virginity at the shrines of Astarte in the belief that they thus propitiated the goddess and won her favour (Frazer, ibid. ch. iii) ”

“ Inscriptions of the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C. mention a Rab (chief) in Sidon, Cyprus and Gaulus (Gozo) ; what his position was it is difficult to say; in the colonies he may have been a district governor. During Nebuchadrezzar’s time, as we have seen, a republic took the place of the monarchy at Tyre, and the government was administered by a succession of suffetes (judges) ; they held office for short terms, and in one instance two ruled together for six years. Much later, in the 3rd century B.C., an inscription from Tyre mentions a suffete (NSI. No. 8) without adding more to our knowledge. ”

“ The vast number of small votive tablets found at Carthage prove this: they were all inscribed by grateful devotees “to the lady Tanith, Face of Ba‘al, and the lord Ba‘al hammān, because he heard their voice.” The care which the Phoenicians bestowed upon the burial of the dead has been alluded to above; pillars (masṣēbōth) were set up to commemorate the dead among the living (e.g. NSI. Nos. 18, 19, 21, 32) ; if there were no children to fulfil the pious duty, a monument would be set up by a man during his lifetime (ibid. No. 16; cf. 2 Sam. xviii. 18) . ”

“ They called themselves Canaanites and their land Canaan; such is their name in the Amarna tablets, Kinaḫḫi and Kinaḫni; and with this agrees the statement assigned to Hecataeus (Fr. hist. gr. i. 17) that Phoenicia was formerly called Χνᾶ, a name which Philo of Byblus adopts into his mythology by making “Chna who was afterwards called Phoinix” the eponym of the Phoenicians (Fr. hist. gr. iii. 569) . In the reign of Antiochus IV. and his successors the coins of Laodicea of Libanus bear the legend “Of Laodicea which is in Canaan” ”

“ The two pillars before the porch of Solomon's temple (1 Kings vii. 21) remind us of the two pillars which Herodotus saw in the temple of Melqarth at Tyre (Herod. ii. 44) , and of those which stood before the temples of Paphos and Hierapolis (see W. R. Smith, Rel. of Sem. p. 468 seq.) .
Religion—Like the Canaanites of whom they formed a branch, the Phoenicians connected their religion with the great powers and The Phoenician Gods. processes of nature. [22] The gods whom they worshipped belonged essentially to the earth ”