It appears, then, clear, from this minute review of the scriptural accounts and allusions, that Tarshish was an old, celebrated, opulent, cultivated, commercial city, which carried on trade in the IMediterranean and with the seaports of Syria, especially Tyre and Joppa, and that it most probably lay on the extreme west of that sea. Was there, then, in ancient times any city in these parts which corresponded with these clearly as- certained facts'? There was. Such was Tartessus in Spain, said to have been a PhcEuician colony (Arrian, Ak.r. iii, 86), a fact which of itself would account for its intimate connection with Palestine and the Biblical narratives. As to the exact spot where Tarlessis (so written originally) lay, authorities are not agreed, as the citj' had ceased to exist when geography began to receive attention; but it was not far from the Straits of (iibraltar, and near the mouth of the Guadalquivir, consequently at no great distance from the famous Gra- nada of later days. The reader, however, must enlarge his notion beyond that of a mere city, which, how' great soever, would scarcely correspond with the ideas of mag- nitude, affluence, and power that the Scriptures sug- gest. The name, which is of Phoenician origin, seems to denote the district of South-western Spain, compris- ing the several colonies which Tyre planted in that country, and so being equivalent to what we might designate Phoenician Spain. We are not, however, con- vinced that the opposite coast of Africa was not in- cluded, so that the word would denote to an inhabitant of Palestine the extreme western parts of the world. We seem, however, authorized, by considerations be- sides those which have already been elicited, in identi- fying the Hebrew Tarshish with the Spanish Tartessus, whatever may have been the extent of the neighboring country over which the latter held dominion or possess- ed immediate influence. Among these considerations we mention : 1. That the two names are similar, if they are not the same; the Greek TaprijatToc with the Ara- maic pronunciation would be "dTin, a fact which would of itself seem to settle the question in the ab- sence of conflicting evidence and claims. 2. Spain was one of the chief seats of Phoenician colonization ; and if we unite therewith the north-west of Africa, we shall have some idea of the greatness of the power of Tyre in these parts, for Tyre is reported to have founded not fewer than three hundred cities on the western coast of Africa, and two hundred in South-western Spain (Strabo. ii, 82). Here, then, was found the chief object of the Phoenician sea-trade. These countries were to Tyre what Peru was to Spain. Confining our remarks to Spain, we learn from Heeren that the Piioenician col- onies on the European side of the sea were situated in the south of the present Andalusia. Here, with other important places, lay Tartessus, a name which is borne liy a river, an island, a town, and a region. Heeren distinctly says that to Orientalists the word indicated the farthest west generally, comprising, of course, many places. In the commercial geography of the Phoeni- cians, he adds, the word obviouslj' meant the whole of their colonial dependencies in Southern Spain. In the same general way, we use the term West Indies; and thus arose the river, the town, the district of Tartessus, since the country included them all (Heeren, Idecit, ii.
TAKSHISII
220
TARSUS
44 sq.). 3. It (Iocs much to confirm our view that all the articles reported in Jeremiah and ICzeUiel tjj have been brought from Tarshish migiit have come from South-western Spain. Here there were mines of gold and silver, and Tartessus is expressly named as afford- ing the latter mineral (Strabo, iii, 157 ; Diod. Sic.v, 35). Tin was brought by the I'ha'uicians from Britain into Spain, and thence carried to the Oriental markets. Ac- cording to Diodorus Siculus (v, 3!S), tin was procured in Spain also, as well as lead, according to Pliny (/Jisf. Xtit. iii, 4). I'liny's words are forcible: "Nearly all Spain abounds in the nietals — lead, iron, copper, silver, gold." We add one or two corroborations of the above identification. Heeren {Ideen, ii, G4) translates Ezek. xxvii, "25, "The ships of Tarshish," etc., by "Spanish ships were the chief object of thy merchandise; thou (Tyre) wast a full city, and wast honored on the seas." The Phoenicians were as eager in their quest of gold and gold countries as were the alchemists and the Eu- ropeans of the 16th centurj'. The hist for gold urged them over the deserts of Arabia and the cliffs of the Red Sea as far as Yemen and Ethiopia ; and the same passion carried them westwardly to the coasts of Spain and the Pillars of Hercules. "Spain," says Heeren, "was once the richest land in the world for silver; gold was found there in great abundance, and the baser met- als as well. The silver mountains were in those parts which the Phoenicians comprised under the general name of Tartessus, or Tarshish. The immeasurable af- fluence of precious metals which, on their first arrival, they found here so astounded them, and the sight thereof so wrought on the imagination of the people, that fact called fable to its aid, and the story gained currency that the first Plucnician colonists not only fill- ed their ships with gold, but made thereof their various im])lements, anchors not excepted." See Commerce.