PHGNICIA
nicia is still almost entirely unexplored, though a beginning has now been made at Sidon. Scattered about, however, on the surface of the ancient Pheenician land are remains of walls, fortifications, temples, and tombs, which help to tell the story of bygone days. Of the colonies, Cyprus and Car- thage have yielded a large number of articles (vases, statuettes, ete. etc.), which throw light on the arts and daily life of the people. Coins also, and seals, though not in large numbers, are now to be found in museums (see below under ‘ Civiliza tion and Commerce’).
ii. THE CouNTRY.—(a) Extent and natural features. Although the Pheenicians inhabited cities as far north as Myriandos (in the Gulf of Alexandretta) and as far south as Jaffa (see below) in the Persian period, the earlier Phcenician terri- tory may be said roughly to have been bounded on the north by the river Orontes or Mt. Casius, and on the south by Mt. Carmel. On the east the limits are entirely unknown, but the Bargylos and Lebanon ranges seem to form natural bound- aries on that side. Colonists from Sidon, however, appear to have pushed their way as far inland as the neighbourhood of the sources of the Jordan (Jg 18). The land thus consisted of two distinct regions: (1) The hill-country, i.e. the slopes of Bargylos (Nusaireyah) and Lebanon. Both these ranges extend from N. to S.: the former from Antioch to the river Eleutheros, the latter from this point to the mountains of N. Galilee and Hermon. They are of limestone, with many other formations, and in some parts reach a height of over 10,000 ft. The scenery is magnificent, espe- cially in the great gorges where the rivers pass down into the plains. The vegetation is luxuriant for a long distance up the slopes, and the many flourishing villages on the side of the Lebanon facing the sea to-day, tell us of one part of Pheenician life which has vanished almost entirely from its history. The chief rivers are the Eleu- theros, which separates Bargylos from Lebanon ; the Adonis, famous in history ; and the Lycos, at the mouth of which still remain the well-kncwn Egyptian and Assyrian inscriptions. But besides these there are many small streams which pour down from every mountain slope, full in the rainy season, empty in the dry, and for this very reason affecting both commercial and military movements. (2) The plains are best known as containing nearly all the cities that have left their mark in Pheenician history. The extreme north is a mere strip of land between the mountains and the sea, and the first great plain is that extending for about 60 miles south from Gabala, with a width varying from 2 to 10 miles, and containing the cities of Arvad and Simyra. The next piece of open country is that from the Lycos river to a few miles below Beyrfit, then follow the plains of Sidon, about 10 miles long and 2 broad, Tyre about 20 miles long and from 1 mile to 5 miles broad, and Acre about 8 miles long and 6 broad. These plains as well as the hilly slopes were famous for their cultivation, and there are traces to-day, in the remains that are found, of the industries that were carried on in them. But they owe their fame mostly to the fact that they are the highways along which the trade of the East came to the West. The inscriptions at the mouth of the Lycos, the annals of Egypt and Assyria, and the descriptions of the OT prophets, all bear witness to the constant traffic and frequent in- vasions that were made possible by this low-lying coast-land of Pheenicia.*
_* A description of the old Phosnician territory at the present time may be read in Renan, Mission de Phénicie ; Walpole, The Aa ; Réclus, ? Asie Antérieure ; and Baedeker’s Palestine and Syria.
PHENICIA
(δ) History of the country.—The earliest histor- ical mention of the Pheenician land is in the older Egyptian inscriptions, where it appears under the name of Dahe (or Zahi).* Between B.c. 1587 and 1562 Aahmes reached it in his northern conquests. He also mentions a people called the Fenkhu as workers in his quarries. Thothmes I. (1541-16) overran the whole length of Syria as far as the Euphrates. Thothmes ΠΙ. (1503-1449) in his 23rd Mees records a victory over the Fenkhu and other
yrians; in his 29th year another campaign to Retennu, Tunep, Arvad, and Zahi, with much Phenician soil ; in his 30th year a campaign to Kedesh, Simyra, and Arvad; and in his 34th year & campaign which brought tribute from Zahi, Retennu, and Asi (Cyprus). In the reign of Amenophis II. (1414-1379) Egyptian power seems to have been at its highest, and Phenicia, with the rest of Syria, was entirely subject toit. The next reign, that of Amenophis Iv. (or Akhenaten, 1379-66), is one of decay. The discovery of the Tel el-Amarna tablets has given us a rather fuller insight into the relation of Pheenicia to Egypt than we have had hitherto, for some of the letters con- tained in these tablets are from or to Egyptian governors and others in Pheenician cities. Thus we have mention of Abimilki of Tyre, Amunira of Beyrfit, Khaib, commissioner of Simyra, Ribaddi of Gubla, Shutatna of Akko, Zimrida of Zidon, etc. Nearly all the letters tell the same story of attacks from without and rebellion within, and rove that whether Phenicia now made a stand or independence or became a prey to other rising empires, it was at this time passing from Egyptian dominion. The Egyptians still made raids into Pheenician territory or marched through it (cf. the inscription of Ramses I. at the mouth of the river Lycos) to attack other enemies, and Phenicians