W<inckler (Forschuntjr.n, i. 44.5) modifies the Tartessus theory of Bochart, by referring Tarshish to Tap<n)io>', a place mentioned by Polyb. III. xxiv. 1 as one of the principal cities of Carthaginian Spain. § This view, however, he puts forward with great reserve.
Cheyne (Or. Lit. ■ Zeitnng, iii. 151; cf. the present writer, ib. 204) expresses the opinion that Tarshish is identical with Tiras (lietter vocalized probably 7'«r(i7).?) of Gn 10". This latter name might have come in from another source or as a gloss, so that the same nation would Ije represented in two dillercnt forms. Vocalizing Tursliu.ik (cf. Jo.seiihus), we should obtain the Tyrsenians, Tyrrenians or Etruscans, bold sea- farers, and well known as pirates already to the ancient Egjptians (c. 1200 B.C.), by whom they were called Tursha. Their name might stand for the whole of Italy, possibly even for all European coa-sts west of Greece. This compariscm with the Tyrsenians (jiroposed already by Knobel) agrees with the wealth in metals, especially with the tin. The Etruscans might have brought this from Spain, although a more probable assumption would be that they obtained it eitlier in the har- bours of Southern tiaul (cf . Diodonis, v. 38, on the trading of English tin through Gaul to Massilia) or more directly in Upper Italy, where it might have been brought from various places in Central Europe.
This last identification seems to the present writer the most plausible. Next to it, the identi- fication with Spain might claim most relative probability. Certainty will hanily be obtained with our present means of knowledge.
W. Max MiJLLER.
TARSUS (Top(r6s ; on coins nn) is mentioned in the Bible only as the city where St. Paul was born, of which he was a citizen (Ac 9" 2P' 22'), and in or near which he spent a number of years not long after his conversion (Ac O'"" ir-"). It has been nniversally recognized that his lurth and his early education in this city were important factors in preparing the Apostle of the Gentiles for his career. No direct evidence is accessible as to
• Cf. Strabo (148 ff.), who, indeed, quotes this only fta a hypo- Ihesix, doea not know with certainty what the ancit-nlH nnvinl by TarteHHus, and cannot identify an alleged city Tarti-nsuB (at the nxjuth of the Bajtis or at Cartcia?). The old name Tarteyais (I) of Spain seetnfl to him to survive in that of the TouplaZku (?) and T«v?'rT«n« (■;). However, Ic Paj^c Ilenouf Keenis to overstate licre tlie shadowy position of Tarshish. Hcro<iotus (e.g. iv. 192) uses it clearly for Southern Spain. Eratosthenes (in Strabo, US) taltes it more narrowly as the region around Calpe- Gibraltar.
t This l)elief, for which he quotes O. Schrader, Prfhigtorie Ant. lit'i, etc. (where the Paropaniisiis is thought of), has been refutes! by Winckler, ForKchumjen, i. 161 (cf. the present writer in Or. Li't..Zeitunif, ii. 29.'», on the Kgyptian texts). The tin of tho ancient East come from the West, evidently through marl- lime commerce.
t Sea and coatt are, however, very different idea«.
J This WW mostly confoimded with Tartessus, whils. In Polybius, it seems to have been another name of Maatia. The text in Polybius is, besides, very ol)scure.
the surroundings of St. Paul's early years, which makes it all the more necessary to study the general character of the city and the society in which he grew up. The history of Tarsus is at the same time the history of Cilicia, which afibrds the opportunity of somewhat fuller treatment of that subject than was given under CILICIA.
i. Situation. — Tarsus, the chief city of Cilicia in ancient times, was situated in a rich and fertile plain, only slightly elevated above sea-level, less than 10 miles from the seacoast at its nearest point. The river Cydnus flowed through the middle of the city, and entered the Rhegma,* a sort of lake t some distance below the city and close to the sea. This lake served as an arsenal and harbour for Tarsus ; but ancient ships could ascend the river right up to the city (as Cleopatra did). In modem times the lake has become a large marsh X on the west side of the river, while the bed of the river has become shallow and im- passable to anything larger than a small rowing- boat, and its mouth is blocked by a bar. These changes are the residt of the ignorance, careless- ness, and incapacity of government and inhabit- ants, neglecting the engineering operations which must have been ap]>lied by tlie ancients to regu- late the river-bed. The proximity of the marshes has made Tarsus more unliealthy than it was in ancient times, though from its low situation in the plain under the mountains of Taurus it can never nave had an invigorating climate. South-west of Tarsus towards Soli lay the strong walled city Anchialos, which must have been between Mersina and the Cydnus, a little way back from the coast. § Mersina, the modern port of Tarsus, stands on or close to the ancient Ze)iliyiion, a small town near a promontoi-y of the same name, 16 miles W.S.W. from the great city. This promontory is a very little way west of Mersina. Anchialos is described by Ritter as the [lort of Tarsus, and as closely con- nected with it (like Piraeus with Athens), so that the two might be regarded as a single great city, which would suggest that Anchialos was some- where near the west side of the lake. But Aulai is said to have been the name of the port-town on the lake, and Ritter's view seems a misinterpretation of Arrian, Anab. ii. 5. II The statements of the ancients as to the mutual relations of these places are confused.