pobenly still paid tribute from time to time to
We have no details of the history of the land at this time. We know, however, that it never formed one united kingdom. Its history is the history of its cities. Of these, Arvad seems to have enjoyed a pre-eminence in the earliest times, and more certainly Sidon a little later. The whole ΒΡῈ was sometimes known to foreigners as the
idonians. The era of Tyre began about B.C. 1197 (according to Jos. Ané. VII. iii. 1); but Arvad and Sidon were still independent cities in the 9th cent.: in the 8th Tyre seems to bear rule over Sidon, Akko, and other cities. Later, Diodorus Siculus (xvi. 41) mentions a united council of men of Arvad, Tyre, and Sidon at Tripolis (native name unknown). This development of the government
* W. Max Miiller suggests that this name may be connected
with the root Lay; ‘to be beautiful,’ jon ‘to act well’; cf. nay
*to shine’ (Asien und Europa, p. 176). This name begins to
into the ackaround in the 12th cent., and is almost forgotten in the Ptolemaic period. Kaft or Keft (in the inscription of Thothmes 111. etc.) is frequently taken to indicate the Phwnician coast (cf. Sayce in article CANAAN), but Miller (p. 337 ff.) argues strongly for its representing Cilicia. Canaan is a geographical term denoting the low land, and seems to have been used by the Phosnicians themselves at one time to denote their land (see Canaan), The name Φοινίκη given by the Greeks (it occurs in Odyss. iv. 83) has given rise to much discussion. It seems to have been used (like ‘EdAas) for the land where Phonicians dwelt, whether at home or abroad ; thus ah ae (Tro. 221) uses it for Oarthage. The older derivations of the name Φοίνικες Phoenicians) from ¢eig, the bird (‘ phanix’), or a * palm,’ are fanciful and secondary. Some derive the word from ¢oives, * brownish-red,’ as denoting the colour of the skin (Pietschmann, Geach. d. Phimizier, Bs 18), a root which reappears in the Latin Poenus (" Punic’ of Carthaginians). Some (cf. CANAAN and Ed. Meyer, . d, Alterthums, §§ 180, 190, etc.) refer both these names back to the word ‘ Fenkhu,’ which ap in the inscrip- tion of Thothmes ut, at Karnak. To this Miiller objects (p. 208 ff.), that this word was originally only an Egyptian term used in a general sense for the northern barbarians. Finally, Ed. Glaser (Punt und die sildarabischen Reiche, 1899) has revived the view that the name is connected with the ‘ Punt’ or Powen-at=Poen-at) of the Egyptian inscriptions, a part of
uth Arabia and East Africa.
gypt.
΄
PHCENICIA 857 of cities was not without foreign intervention. The Egyptians had scarcely ceased troubling them when they were brought face to face with danger from a new quarter. It is possible that as early as 1140 Nebuchadnezzar 1. of Babylonia invaded their country (cf. Winckler, Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens, p. 95 and note 18). Tiglath-pileser I. (c. 1100) also seems to have reached the Mediter- ranean coast near Arvad. In the 9th cent. Assur- nazirpal raided the country, as did his successor, Shalmaneser 11., who received tribute from Tyre and Sidon and Byblos (Gebal), as well as from Jehu king of Israel; and Mattanbaal king of Arvad fought with Ahab at the battle of Karkar (854). In the 8th cent. the cuneiform inscriptions record tribute received by Tiglath-pileser m1. from Arvad, Tyre, and Gebal; and Menander tells of a siege of Tyre by Shalmaneser Iv. which lasted for five years. In the following century Sargon, Sen- nacherib, and Esarhaddon all sent their armies to Phenicia, and the last named even to Idalion in Cyprus; and in the 6th cent. the new Baby- lonian empire continued the work of Assyria in the famous siege of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. With the rise of the Persian empire came a change which greatly benefited the Phenicians. Cyrus seems to have left them alone, and about this time they again supplied the Jews with materials for building their temple (Ezr 37). Cambyses enrolled them in a satrapy with Cyprus, Syria, and Palestine, and thus received from them their share of tribute; but was friendly to them, and depended on them entirely for his navy (cf. Herod. 111. 19); nor did he attempt force against them even when they refused to give him ships wherewith to attack Carthage. The Pheenician fleet continued to do apie service for the Persians, especially against the
reeks, until 351, when Sidon, under Tabnit, re- volted; but Ochus soon brought Pheenicia back to obedience, and its cities continued to flourish under their native kings until after the battle of Issus they fell into the hands of Alexander the Great, Tyre only after suflering a long siege and a cruel punishment. After Alexander’s death, Pheenicia fell with Syria to Laomedon, then in 320 to Ptolemy Lagi, and in 314 to Antigonus. In 287 it again passed to the Ptolemies, who held it until 198, when it became part of the Seleucid empire. During all this period Greek manners and customs and language were largely introduced into the country. Finally, after it had shared with Syria in the many vicissitudes of the Seleucid power, in 65 Rome took possession, and Pheenicia was included in the province of Syria under a pro- consul or pro-pretor, though Tyre, Sidon, and Tripolis remained free cities with their own elected magistrates and council (ef. Ac 12"), In Mk 73 Ὁ a woman of this country is called a Syro-pheenician ; in Mt 15"-* the older name ‘ Canaanitish’ is used. For this section, see, further, the Literature cited in the notes to ‘ Sources,’ above.