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P• 352).
Manufactures, Inventions, See also:Art.—From an See also:early date the towns of the Phoenician See also:coast were occupied, not only with distributing the merchandise of other countries but with working at See also:industries of their own; especially See also:purple-See also:dyeing and textile fabrics (Il, vi. 289 sqq.), See also:metal See also:work in See also:silver, See also:gold and See also:electrum (Il. See also:xxiii. 741 sqq.; Od. iv. 615 sqq., xv. 458 sqq.), and See also:glass-work, which had its seat at See also:Sidon. The See also:iron and See also:copper mines of See also:Cyprus (not Sidon, as See also:Homer implies, Od. xv. 424) furnished the ore which was manufactured into articles of See also:commerce.' See also:Egyptian monuments frequently mention the vessels of gold and silver, iron and copper, made by the Dahi, i.e. the Phoenicians (W. M. See also: 306) ; and in Cyprus and at Nimrud See also:bronze and silver paterae have been found, engraved with Egyptian designs, the work of Phoenician artists (see table-cases C and D in the Nimrud See also:gallery of the Brit. See also:Mus.). The invention of these various arts and industries was popularly ascribed, to the Phoenicians, no doubt merely because Phoenician traders brought the products into the See also:market. But dyeing and See also:embroidery probably came from See also:Babylon in the first instance; glass-making seems to have been borrowed from See also:Egypt; the invention of See also:arithmetic and of weights and See also:measures must be laid to the See also:credit of the Babylonians. The ancients believed that the Phoenicians invented the use of the See also:alphabet (e.g. See also:Pliny, N.H. v. 13, cf. vii. 57; See also:Lucan, See also:Bell. Civ. iii. 220 seq.) ; but it is unlikely that any genuine tradition on the subject existed, and though the Phoenician theory has found favour in See also:modern times it is open to much question. The Phoenicians cannot be said to have invented any of the arts or industries, as the See also:ancient See also:world imagined; but what they did was something hardly less meritorious: they See also:developed them with singular skill, and disseminated the knowledge and use of them. The art of See also:Phoenicia is characterized generally by its dependence upon the art of the neighbouring races. It struck out no See also:original See also:line of its own, and borrowed freely from See also:foreign, especially Egyptian, See also:models. Remains of See also:sculpture, engraved bronzes and gems, show clearly the source to which the Phoenician artists went for See also:inspiration; for example, the uraeus-See also:frieze and the winged disk, the ankh or See also:symbol of See also:life, are Egyptian designs frequently imitated. It was in the times of the See also:Persian See also:monarchy that Phoenician art raached its highest development, and to this See also:period belong the See also:oldest sculptures and coins that have come down to us. A characteristic specimen of the former is the See also:stele of Yehaw-See also:milk, See also: Swete), which has been taken to refer to this See also:quarrying in See also:search of iron; Jer. xv. 12. , See Benzinger on 1 Kings ix. 19. monuments See also:left to us. The tombs are subterranean See also:chambers of varied and often irregular See also:form, sometimes arranged in two storeys, sometimes in several rows one behind the other. While in early times a See also:mere perpendicular See also:shaft led to these excavations, at a later date stairs were constructed down to the chambers. The dead were buried either in the See also:floor (often in a See also:sarcophagus), or, according to later See also:custom, in niches. The mouths of the tombs were walled up and covered with slabs, and occasionally cippi (Phoen. magleboth) were set up to See also:mark the spot. The great sepulchral monuments, popularly called maghdzil, i.e. " spindles," above the tombs near Amrit, have peculiarities of their own; some of them are adorned with lions at the See also:base and with See also:roofs of pyramidal shape. Besides busts and figurines, which belong as a See also: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 See also:soil, for the See also:reason that for ages the inhabitants have used the ruins as convenient quarries. Not a vestige remains of the great See also:sanctuary of Melqarth at See also:Tyre; a few traces of the temple of See also:Adonis near Byblus were discovered by See also:Renan, and a See also:peculiar See also:mausoleum, Burj al-Bezzaq, is still to be seen near Amrit; See also:recent excavations at Bostan esh-Shekh near Sidon have unearthed parts of the enclosure or See also:foundations of the temple of Eshmun (NSI. p. 401); the conduits of See also:Ras el-'See also:Ain, See also:south of- Tyre, are considered to be of ancient date. With regard to the See also:plan and See also:design of a Phoenician temple, it is probable that they were in many respects similar to those of the temple at See also:Jerusalem, and the See also:probability is confirmed by the re-mains of a sanctuary near Amrit, in which there is a See also:cella See also:standing in the midst of a large See also:court hewn out of the See also:rock, together with other buildings in an Egyptian See also:style. The two pillars before the See also:porch of See also:Solomon's temple (1 Kings vii. 21) remind us of the two pillars which See also:Herodotus saw in the temple of Melqarth at Tyre (See also:Herod. ii. 44), and of those which stood before the temples of See also:Paphos and See also:Hierapolis (see W. R. See also: 1, I). These plurals go back to the singular form 'El, the See also:common Semitic name for See also:God; but neither the singular nor the plural is at all common in the See also:inscriptions (NSI. pp. 24, 41, 51); El by itself has been found only once;' the fem. 'Elath is also rare (ibid. pp. 135, 158). The god or. goddess was generally called the Ba'al or Ba'alath of such and such a See also:place, a See also:title which was used not only by the Canaanites, but by the Aramaeans (Be'el) and Babylonians (See also:Bel) as well. There was no one particular god called Baal; the word is not a proper name but an appellative, a description of the deity as owner or See also:mistress; and the same is the See also:case with Milk or Melek, 'Adon, 'Amma, which mean king, See also:lord, See also:mother. The god himself was unnamed or had no name. Occasionally we know what the name was; the Baal of Tyre was Melqarth (Melkarth), which again means merely " king of the See also:city "; similarly among the Aramaeans the Ba'al of See also:Harran was the See also:moon-god See also:Sin. As each city or See also:district had its own Ba'al, the author of its fertility, the " See also:husband " (a common meaning of ba'al) of the See also:land which he fertilized, so there were many Ba'als, and the Old Testament writers could allude to the Ba'alim of the neighbouring Canaanites. Some-times the god received a distinguishing attribute which indicates an association not with any particular place, but with some See also:special characteristic; the most common forms are Baal-1 See also:amman, the See also:chief deity of Punic See also:north See also:Africa, perhaps " the glowing Ba'al," the god of fertilizing warmth, and Baal-shamem, " Ba'al of the heavens."' 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.'
Cf. See also:Hannibal's See also:oath to See also: 9).
' This is well brought out by G. F. See also: 800 B.C., in which Zakir, king of Hamath and La'ash frequently speaks of his god Be'el-shamin (Pognon, Inscr. sem. de la Syrie, 1908). The See also:worship of the See also:female along with the male principle was a strongly marked feature of Phoenician religion. To See also:judge from the earliest evidence on the subject, the Ba'alath of Gebal or Byblus, referred to again and again in the Amarna letters (Bilit a Gubla, Nos. 55-11o), must have been the most popular of the Phoenician deities, as her sanctuary was the oldest and most renowned. The mistress of Gebal was no doubt 'Ashtart (Astarte in Greek, 'Ashtoreth in the Old Testament, pronounced with the vowels of boshelh, " shame "), a name which is obviously connected with the Babylonian See also:Ishtar, and, as used in Phoenician, is practically the See also:equivalent of " goddess." She represented the principle of fertility and See also:generation; references to her cult at Gebal, Sidon, Ashkelon, in Cyprus at Kition and Paphos, in See also:Sicily at Eryx, in Gaulus, at See also:Carthage, are frequent in the inscriptions and elsewhere. The common epithetsKGapir and KuBipiia(of Kuthera in Cyprus) ,Cypria and Paphia, show that she was identified with See also:Aphrodite and See also:Venus. Though not primarily a moon-goddess, she sometimes appears in this character (See also:Lucian, Dea syr. § 4; Herodian v. 6, lo), and Herodotus describes her temple at Ashkelon as that of the heavenly Aphrodite (i. 105). We find her associated with Ba'al and called " the name of Ba`al," i.e. his manifestation, though this rendering is disputed, and some scholars prefer " ' Ashtart of the See also:heaven of Ba'al " (NSI. p. 37). Another goddess, specially honoured at Carthage, is Tanith (See also:pronunciation uncertain) ; nothing is known of her characteristics; she is regularly connected with Ba'al on the Carthaginian votive tablets, and called " the See also:face of Ba'al," i.e. his representative or See also:revelation, though again some question this rendering as too See also:meta-See also:physical, and take " face of Ba'al " to be the name of a place, like eni'el (" face of 'El "). 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 See also:patron deity of Tyre, identified with Heracles; Reshef or Reshuf, the " See also:flame " or " See also:lightning " god, especially popular in Cyprus and derived originally from Syria, whom the Greeks called See also:Apollo. A tendency to form a distinct deity by combining the attributes of two produced such curious fusions as Milk-'ashtart, Milk-ba'al, Milk-'osir, Eshmunmelqarth, Melqarth-See also:reef, &c. As in the case of art and industries, so in religion the Phoenicians readily assimilated foreign ideas. The influence of Egypt was specially strong (NSI. pp. 62, 69, 148, 154) thus the Astarte represented on the stele of Yebaw-milk, mentioned above, has all the See also:appearance of Isis, who, according to the See also:legend preserved by See also:Plutarch (de Is. et Os. 15), journeyed to Byblus, where she was called Astarte. The Phoenician settlers at the See also:Peiraeus worshipped the See also:Assyrian See also:Nergal, and their proper names are compounded with the names of Babylonian and Arabian deities (NSI. p. ioi). Closer intimacy with the Greek world naturally brought about modifications in the character of the native gods, which became apparent when Ba'al of Sidon or Ba'al-shamem was identified with See also:Zeus, Tanith with See also:Demeter or See also:Artemis, 'Anath with See also:Athena, &c.; the notion of a supreme Ba'al, which finds expression in the Greek Nos and 9aaarLs or 1 itABrts (the goddess of Byblus), was no doubt encouraged by foreign influences. On the other See also:hand, the Phoenicians produced a considerable effect upon Greek and See also:Roman religion, especially from the religious centres in Cyprus and Sicily. A great number of divinities are known only as elements in proper names, e.g. Sakun-yathon (See also:Sanchuniathon), 'Abd-sasom, Sed-yathon, and fresh ones are continually being discovered. It was the custom among the Phoenicians, as among other Semitic nations, to use the names of the gods in forming proper names and thus to See also:express devotion or invoke favour; thus Ijanni-ba'al, 'Abd-melqarth, Hanni-'ashtart, Eshmun-'azar. The proper names further illustrate the way in which the relation of See also:man to God was regarded ; the commonest forms are servant (`abd, e.g. 'Abd-'ashtart), member or See also:limb bod, e.g. Bod-melgarth), client or See also:guest (ger, e.g. Ger-eshmun) ; the religious See also: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 See also:interpretation of such names as 'Abi-ba'al (See also:father of Ba'al), Himilkath (See also:brother of Milkath), Hiram (brother of the exalted one) is not altogether certain, and can hardly be discussed here.'
Probably like other Canaanites the Phoenicians offered worship " on every high hill and under every See also:green See also:tree "; but to judge from the allusions to sanctuaries in the inscriptions and else- Sacre where, the Baal or 'Ashtart of a place was usually Objectd
s and
worshipped at a temple, which consisted of a court or Worship. enclosure and a roofed See also:shrine with a See also:portico or pillared See also: 102 seq.) ; but it is not known whether the sacred See also:pole ('asherah), an invariable feature of a Canaanite sanctuary, was usual in a Phoenician temple (ibid. pp. 5o seq.). The ' See Frazer, Adonis, Allis, See also:Osiris, 44 seq. inscriptions mention altars of stone and bronze, and from the sacrificial tariffs which have survived we learn that the chief types of See also:sacrifice among the Phoenicians were analogous to those which we find in the Old Testament (ibid. p. 117). The ghastly practice of sacrificing human victims was resorted to in times of great See also:distress (e.g. at Carthage, Diod. xx. 14), or to avert national disaster (See also:Porphyry, de Abstin, ii. 56); See also:Philo gives the legend that Cronus or El sacrificed his only son when his See also:country was threatened with See also:war (Fr. hist. gr. iii. 570) ; it was regarded as a patriotic See also:act when Hamilcar threw himself upon the pyre after the disastrous See also:battle of See also:Himera (Herod. vii. 167). The god who demanded these victims, and especially the burning of See also:children, seems to have been Milk, the Molech or See also:Moloch of the Old Testament. In this connexion may be mentioned the custom of burning the chief god of the city in effigy, or in the See also:person of a human representative, at Tyre and in the Tyrian colonies, such as Carthage and Gades; the custom lasted down to a See also:late time (see Frazer, loc. cit. ch. v.). Another horrible sacrifice was regularly demanded by Phoenician religion: See also: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.) ; licentious See also:rites were the natural See also:accompaniment of the worship of the reproductive powers of nature. These temple prostitutes are called edeshim gedeshoth, i.e. sacred men, women, in the Old Testament (Dent. xxui. 18; I Kings xiv. 24, &c.). Other persons attached to a temple were priests, See also:augurs, sacrificers, barbers, officials in See also:charge of the curtains, masons, &c. (NSI. No. 2o) ; we hear also of religious See also:gilds and corporations, perhaps administrative See also:councils, associated with the sanctuaries (ibid. pp. 94, 121, 130, 144 seq.). No doubt the Phoenicians had their legends and myths to See also:account for the origin of man and the universe; to some extent these would have resembled the ideas embodied in the See also:book of Mythando ologgy See also:Genesis. Two cosmogonies have come down to us ous Ideas. which, though they differ in details, are fundamentally in agreement. The one, of Sidonian origin, is pre-served by See also:Damascius (de See also:prim. principiis, 125) and received at his hands a Neoplatonic interpretation; this See also:cosmogony was probably the See also:writing which See also:Strabo ascribes to a Sidonian philosopher, Mochus, who lived before the Trojan times (xvi. 2, 24). The other and more elaborate work was composed by Philo of Byblus (temp. See also:Hadrian) ; he professed that he had used as his authority the writings of Sanchuniathon (q.v.), an ancient Phoenician See also:sage, who again derived his See also:information from the mysterious inscribed stones (h ovveis=o'ian, i.e. images or pillars of Ba'al-bamman) in the Phoenician temples. Philo's cosmogony has been preserved, at least in fragments, by See also:Eusebius in Praep. evang. vol. i. (Fr. hist. gr. iii. 563 sqq.). It cannot, however, be taken seriously as an account of genuine Phoenician beliefs. For Sanchuniathon is a mere See also:literary fiction; and Philo's treatment is vitiated by an obvious See also:attempt to explain the whole See also:system of religion on the principles of See also:Euhemerus, an agnostic who taught the traditional See also:mythology as See also:primitive See also:history, and turned all the gods and goddesses into men and women; and further by a patriotic See also:desire to prove that Phoenicia could outdo See also:Greece in the See also:venerable character of its traditions, that in fact Greek mythology was simply a feeble and distorted version of the Phoenician.' At the same time Philo did not invent all the nonsense which he has handed down; he See also:drew upon various See also:sources, Greek and Egyptian, some of them ultimately of Babylonian origin, and incidentally he mentions matters of See also:interest which, when tested by other evidence, are fairly well supported. He shows at any See also:rate that some sort of a See also:theology existed in his See also:day; particularly interesting is his description of the symbolic figure of Cronus with eyes before and behind and six wings open and folded (Fr. hist. gr. iii. 569), a figure which is represented on the coins of Gebal-Byblus (2nd century B.C.) as the mythical founder of the city. It is evident that the gods were regarded as being intimately concerned with the lives and fortunes of their worshippers. The vast number of small votive tablets found at Carthage prove this: they were all inscribed by grateful devotees " to the See also:lady Tanith, Face of Ba'al, and the lord Baal-bamman, because he heard their See also:voice." The care which the Phoenicians bestowed upon the burial of the dead has been alluded to above; pillars (mas.Feboth) 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 See also:duty, a See also:monument would be set up by a man during his lifetime (ibid. No. 16; cf. 2 Sam. xviii. 18). Any violation of the See also:tomb was regarded with the greatest horror (ibid. Nos. 4, 5). The See also:grave was called a resting-place (ibid. Nos. 4, 5, 16, 21), and the departed See also:lay at rest in the underworld with the Refaim, the weak ones (the same word and idea in the Old Testament, Ise.. xiv. 9, See also:xxvi. 14, 19; See also:Job xxvi. 5; Ps. lxxxviii. ii, &c.). The curious notion prevailed, as it did also among the Greeks and See also:Romans, that it was possible to communicate with the gods of the underworld by dropping into a grave a small See also:roll of See also:lead (tabella devotionis, NSI. No. 5o), inscribed with the See also:message, generally a curse, which it was desired to convey to them. ' An excellent and See also:critical account of Philo's work is given by See also:Lagrange, Etudes sur See also:les rel. sem (2nd ed., 1905), ch. xi.following may be added: See also:Movers, See also:Die Phonizier (1842–1856), to be used with caution; Renan, See also:Mission de Phenicie (1864); See also:Schroder, Die phonizische Sprache (1869); See also:Stade in Morgenlandische Forschungen (1875); W. Baudissin, Studien zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte (1876, 1878) ; Baethgen, Beitrage zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte (1888); See also:Levy, Siegel and Gemmen (1869); J. L. Myres and Richter, See also:Catalogue of the Cyprus Museum (1899) ; G. F. Hill, Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Cyprus (1904) ; V. See also:Berard, Les Pheniciens et l'Odyssee (1902—1903); Lidzbarski, See also:Ephemeris See also:fur semitische Epigraphik (1902—1906); H. Winckler, Altorientalische Forschungen (1893–1906); Freiherr von See also:Landau, " Die Bedeutung der Phonizier See also:im Volkerleben " in Ex See also:oriente lux (See also:Leipzig, 1905), vol. i. ; Bruston, Etudes Phen. (1903) ; the articles by Thatcher in See also:Hastings's See also:Diet. See also:Bible (1900) and by E. See also:Meyer in the Ency. Bib. (1902). The articles by A. von See also:Gutschmid and Albrecht Socin in the Ency. Brit. (9th ed.) have been to some extent incorporated in the See also:present See also:article. (G. A. C. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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