monuments, and they possessed a peculiar system of hieroglyphic writing, as yet undeciphered. Inscriptions in this writing have been found at Hamath, Aleppo, Carchemish, and Lycaonia, to which the Hittite dominion appears to have once extended. The art of the Hittites was a modification of that of Assyria, and they worshipped a great variety of gods, to some of which temples may have been erected by Solomon. They had frequent wars with the Syrians of Hamath and of DAMASCUS, which after the fall of David's empire became the dominant Syrian state (1 Kin. xi. 23–25; xv. 18; 2 Kin. vii. 6). In B.C. 854, however, a confederacy under BEN-HADAD of Damascus, which included Hamathites, Ammonites, and 2000 chariots and 10,000 men from Ahab of Israel, was defeated at Aroer by Shalmaneser the Assyrian king. The blows inflicted on Ben-hadad by the Assyrians probably encouraged Ahab to attack Ramoth-Gilead (1 Kin. xxii. 1-4). In B.C. 842, Shalmaneser defeated HAZAEL, the murderer and successor of Ben-hadad (see 2 Kin. viii. 15), who subsequently ravaged Israel. REZIN, the last king of Damascus, in alliance with Pekah of Israel, endeavoured to overthrow the dynasty of David in Jerusalem and replace Ahaz by a creature of his own (Isa. vii. 6). Ahaz, however, summoned Tiglath-pileser II., king of Assyria, to his assistance; Damascus was besieged and taken and Rezin slain, B.C. 732. Both in peace and in war Damascus exercised considerable influence upon the northern kingdom of Israel, part of its important trade (Ezek. xxvii. 18) being diverted thither. Ahab acquired trading privileges at Damascus, where he made "streets" or merchants' quarters (1 Kin. xx. 34), as Ben-hadad had previously done in Samaria, and Amos (iii. 12) refers to the "damask couches" of Samaria (not "in Damascus" as A. V.). The same intimate relations that existed between Israel and Damascus seem to have existed between Judah and HAMATH. In the time of Thothmes III., Hamath belonged to the Hittites; in the time of David its king, Toi, made an alliance with the Hebrew monarch (2 Sam. viii. 10). Store-cities were built by Solomon in its territory (2 Chron. viii. 4), and in B.C. 740 Azariah formed an alliance against Assyria with the king of Hamath, which however, was overthrown by Tiglath-pileser, and Hamath and its 19 districts were conquered by the Assyrians. In B.C. 720, Hamath revolted under a usurper, named Fahu-bihdi, perhaps of Jewish origin, since his name is compounded with the sacred name of the God of Israel. He was, however, captured at Aroer and flayed alive, while Hamath was placed under an Assyrian governor, and its inhabitants transported to Samaria (2 Kin. xvii. 24, 30). The only Hamathite deity known to us is Ashima or Asimath (2 Kin. xvii. 30, but worship was also probably paid to the two divinities of Damascus. RIMMON and Babia,

III. THE INFLUENCE ON ISRAEL-OF THE RELIGIONS. (a) Of EGYPT.-The foundation of Egyptian religious belief was the worship of the Sun, which was adored under various forms, as the rising sun, the midday sun, the setting sun, &c. When Egypt was organised under one government, the different local deities, such as Ptah of Memphis, or Amun of Thebes, were united in a single system, and eventually all resolved into manifestations of the Sun-god. The predominance of a city was marked by the predominance of its deity: thus when Thebes (No, No-AMON) was the capital, Amun stood at the head of the gods. The cult of Osiris was a particular development of solar worship, The Egyptian religion as professed by the priests and educated classes, became pantheistic. All that is was

From the excavations about to be undertaken on the site of Carchemish we may soon expect to obtain a large number of inscriptions and a clue to the decipherment of the characters in which they are written, as well as monuments of the art and daily life of the Hittites. Meanwhile, the scantiness of the materials at present at our disposal forbids any attempt to trace Aramaic and Hittite religion, science, literature, or art. Hence, no mention of Aram and the Hittites has been made under the headings that follow.

regarded as living and moving in the One omnipotent, omniscient, and all-good God. Side by side with this belief went, strangely, a worship of animals. But the educated classes looked upon the animals merely as symbols of the deities to whom they were dedicated, though the lower classes undoubtedly paid them Divine honours. Educated and uneducated alike, however, all believed after a fashion in the resurrection of the body, the immortality of the soul, a judgment to come, and a heaven and hell. It was in connection with the belief in the resurrection of the body that embalming was practised. But Eg tian superstitions never attracted the Hebrews. The 2nd commandment was directed against the multitude of idols and symbolical images in Egyptian temples, and esp. against the worship of animais. JEROBCAM'S calf-worship was not connected with the Egyptian worship of the bull Apis, but, as we shall see, was due to Assyrian and Phoenician influence. The clearlyexpressed personality of God in the Old Testament, which is sometimes even described in anthropomorphic language, is in direct contrast to Egyptian pantheism. The references to a future state, and such passages as seem to ignore it, indicate an attitude of mind quite different from that of the ancient Egyp tians. The danger feared by the prophets, when they opposed any alliance or commercial course between Judah and Egypt, apparently proceeded not from Egyptian idolatry, but from the idolatry of the Semites settled in the Delta. Even the ecclesiastical system of the two peoples differed essentially. The Egyptian priesthood was in large measure secular, like that of Rome; the priests beid various civil functions, and though for the most part the priesthood was hereditary, father, wife, and chaidren being all alike included in it, it was possible for an Egyptian of any class or rank to raise himself into it. Along with the priests there were also monks and nuns, who lived in cells attached to the temples. Of all this there is no trace in Israelitish history (see W. R. Cooper's Egypt and the Pentateuch. Bagster and Sons, 1875).

inter

(b) Of ASSYRIA and BABYLONIA.-The religion of the primitive Accadian population of Babylonia was Shamanistic, that is to say, every object and force of nature had its "spirit", good or bad, which could be compelled to confer a benefit or refrain from doing harm by certain magie rites and incantations known to the Shamans or sorcerers who took the place of priests. Subsequently a hierarchy of deities was established, at the head of which were Anu “the sky", Ea "the deep", and Elum or BEL "the earth" and nether world. The seat of these deities was placed on the summit of "the mountain of the world" in the north-east, the central pivot of the earth, on which the sky and its stars rested (see Isa. xiv. 13, 14, where we should translate "the mountain of the assembly (of the gods] in the extremities of the north" When the Semites settled in Babylonia and amalgamsted with the Accadians, the worship of the Sun-god! assumed large proportions, and the various epithets applied to the sun became as many solar deities and heroes. At the same time the cultivation of astronomy brought with it star-worship; and certain gods were identified with the planets. The numerous "sparits of the old Shamanistic creed were summed up among "the 300 spirits of heaven", and "the 600 spirits of earth". As the worship of nature lay at the bottom | of the religious belief of the Semites, and the productive powers of nature seem to imply a female as well as a male element, every god was now provided with a goddess, who was regarded as his wife or double. In this way by the union of decadian and Semitic beliefs there was formed an elaborate religious system, which included an almost innumerable number of deities, each arranged according to rank and precedence. Into this system was further fitted the astro-theology, or worship of the stars, which grew up about B.C. 2000. After the extinction of the Accadian power the whole of this religious system was adopted by the Semitic Babylonians and Assyrians, along with

He

such old Accadian beliefs and practices as the sacredness of the number seven (in reference to the 7 planets), the division of the month into weeks of 7 days, and the observance of the seventh as a day of rest, the observance of feasts at the new moon, the institution of religious prostitutes, the conception of vicarious punishment, and human sacrifice, especially by fire. The Chaldean sabbath was observed on the 7th, 14th, 19th, 21st, and 28th days of the month, and was called "a day of completion of labours" in Accadian, and a "Sabbath" (explained as "a day of rest for the heart") in Assyrian. A Babylonian saints' calendar for the intercalary month Elul lays down the following prescriptions for the first sabbath of the month :-"A sabbath: The prince of many nations may not eat the flesh of birds and cooked fruit. may not change the garments of his body. He may not put on white robes. He may not offer sacrifice. The king may not ride in his chariot. He may not legislate in royal fashion. The general may not appoint by word of mouth a place of garrison. Medicine may not be applied for the sickness of the body ". Many of these beliefs and practices were adopted by the Phoenicians (who also adopted some of the Baby. lonian gods), and probably increased the fatal attraction of the Phoenician religion on Israel. The observance of the Sabbath, though reinforced in the Law, went back, like the rite of circumcision, to the age of Abraham. Direct Assyrian and Babylonian influence upon Israel and Judah did not begin till the 9th and 8th centuries B.C., and was naturally extremely strong during the Exile. Thus in Amos v. 26, a passage which should be translated "Siccuth your king, and Chiun your image, the star of your god", we have an allusion to the two Assyrian deities Sakkut and Caivanu, the planet Saturn. MANASSEH, again, worshipped "the host of heaven" (2 Kings xxi. 3), and the exiles are described in Isa. lxv. 3, as sacrificing in gardens and burning incense upon the bricks ", in contrast to the idolatrous worship of their fathers upon the HIGH-PLACES and hills of Palestine (v. 7). Small images or TERAPHIM were set up behind the doors of private houses (Isa. lvii. 8; Hos. ix. 1, 2), like the clay images found under the floors at Nineveh. Horses and chariots were dedicated by the Jewish kings to the sun (2 Kings xxiii. 11), as among the Assyrians, and later the Persians; and in Ezek. viii. 14, we read of "women weeping for TAMMUZ" in the north gate of the temple. Tammuz signified in Accadian "the offspring' or "only son ", and was a name of the Sun-god, called by the Semites Adonai (Greek, Adonis), "lord ". The wintry descent of the sun after the summer solstice was commemorated by a feast of wailing, which was among the other religious customs that had passed from the Assyrians to the Phoenicians. It is therefore uncertain whether the worship of Tammuz was borrowed by the Jews directly from the Assyrians or mediately through the Phoenicians. This is not the case, however, with the worship of the sun, moon, planets, and stars suppressed by JOSIAH (2 Kin. xxiii. 5; see Jer. xix. 13; Zeph. i. 5), which must have been imported directly from Assyria or Babylonia, the seat of ancient astronomy and astrology. This worship may possibly have been introduced by AHAZ, whose inclination to adopt a foreign idolatry is shown by the altar modelled after one he saw at Damascus, which he ordered Urijah to set up in the temple (2 Kin. xvi.), and whose acquaintance with Babylonian astronomy is indicated by the dial he erected in Jerusalem (2 Kin. xx. 11). We may notice that Ahaz used the brazen altar in the temple for the purpose of divination (2 Kin. xvi. 15), an art in which the Babylonians were the instructors of the ancient world; cp. the history of BALAAM, Num. xxiii. 2, 3; xxiv. 1. Connected with star-worship was the worship of the moon. The moon was naturally one of the chief objects of adoration among a nation of astronomers like the Babylonians, and though the attributes of the Babylonian moon-god were transferred by the Phoenicians to their ASHTORETH, it is probable that the worship of "the queen of heaven" among the Jews, and the cakes or buns that were offered to her by the women of

Jerusalem (Jer. vii. 18), were due to the immediate influence of Assyria. During the Exile the worship of even the inferior Babylonian deities spread among the Jews; and in Isa. lxv. 11, we read that some, forgetful of God's "holy temple" at Jerusalem, "prepare a table for GAD, and furnish the drink-offering unto MENI" (A.V. margin). Meni was the god of destiny, called Manu in Assyrian, and Gad was the god of good luck, whose name reappears in that of the city Baalgad (Josh, xi. 17; xii. 7). The demonology of the later Jews may equally be traced back to Babylonia, where the inhabitants lived in daily dread of evil spirits, of whom Asmodeus, in the book of TOBIT, may be taken as a type. It was only in this life, however, that the spirits, either good or bad, were to be feared. The Assyro-Babylonians looked forward to a dreary future, to an underground Hades, where the phantoms of dead kings and heroes sat on thrones (see Isa. xiv. 9), where all was darkness and squalor, and where the spirits of the dead flitted like bats, with dust only for their food. Seven gates had to be passed before Hades was reached, and the souls of the dead might be called up from it by the magical rites of necromancer (see Isa. lxv. 4; viii. 19). For a select few only was "the land of the silver sky" reserved, where the happy spirits feasted in light.

(c) Of PERSIA. The Persians were monotheists, disciples of their great prophet Zoroaster. Ormazd (Ahura-mazda, "the wise Being "), the principle of light and goodness, was held to be the one God who had created the world. In his name the Persian kings destroyed idols and idolatry in the countries they conquered. By the side of Ormazd was placed Ahriman (Angrô-mainyus), the principle of darkness and evil, who had introduced sin and misery into the creation of Ormazd. While the world lasts Ormazd and Ahriman were believed to be equal in power; though finally Ahriman would be overcome, and evil destroyed. This dualism was opposed to the strict monotheism of the Jewish faith, and allusions to it may possibly occur in such passages as Isa. xlv. 7. Under Ormazd and Ahriman were vast multitudes of subordinate spirits, good angels and wicked demons. The angels were formed into a hierarchy, at the head of which were the six Ameshaspentas or archangels. The Persians further believed in a fall of man, brought about by Ahriman, in a saviour, in a future state, and in the resurrection of the body. But be. yond the sympathy caused by a common monotheism, it is difficult to discover any marks of influence exercised by Persian religion on the Jews, though attempts have been made to ascribe to such an infinence the increased prominence given, after the Exile, to the doctrine of a future life, as well as the conception of Satan as prince of the devils and of this world, and opposed to God as darkness to light. In Job i. 6-12, Satan appears among "the sons of God" or angels (see 1 Kin. xxii. 21-23). And the Pharisees, in opposition to the Sadducees, admitted the existence of angels and spirits and the doctrine of the resurrection (Acts 23. 8). An attempt has also been made to connect the belief of the post-exilic Jews in hierarchies of good and evil spirits, of whom Asmodeus in TOBIT is an example, with the similar belief of the Zoroastrian Persians. But though Asmodeus is undoubtedly a Persian word (Aeshmô-daêvò, "the spirit Aeshma ", the demon of anger), the belief itself goes back to the Babylonians, from whom it was probably derived by the Persians as well as by the Jews.

(d) of the PHOENICIANS. A common language and kindred, as well as proximity and commercial intercourse, caused the Israelites to be more strongly attracted by Phoenician belief and practices than by those of any other people. The Phoenicians shared the same religious beliefs as the Canaanites, Moabites, Edomites, Ammonites, and Philistines, and, as has been already noticed, a large part of their mythology and their deities was originally borrowed from Babylonia. Phoenician religion may be characterised as a

sensual nature-worship, in which the worship of the Sun-god held the chief place. The Sun-god, called by the general name of BAAL (lord), or MOLOCH, MILCOM (king), was worshipped under a great variety of forms and attributes, each of which became a separate god. As the hot sun of summer he was called Baal-Khammân (Ammon), and as such placed at the head of the gods; as the waning summer sun, TAMMUZ or Adonis; ! as the god of destiny, Baal-Gad; as the patron of Tyre, Baal-Tsur and Melkarth ("king of the city "); as the sun with long hair or rays, Baal-Shemesh. In short, the number of BAALIM was infinite; each state had its own peculiar ones, and there was a new Baal for each aspect under which the sun could be adored. In course of time the word Baal became synonymous with "god", and so even the deity of the river Tamyras was termed Baal-Tamar. Among the Philistines the sun was compared to a great fly, and accordingly worshipped under the name of Baal-zebub, "lord of flies". The oracle of Baal-zebub at Ekron, where answers seem to have been obtained from the hum and notions of flies, was consulted by AHAZIAH (2 Kin. i. 2, 3, 6); and among the later Jews the name became a synonyme of Satan, whence the Beelzebul of the N. T. While the more spiritual side of sunworship was reflected in the Assyro-Babylonian BelMerodach (Isa. xlvi. 1), its grosser side was represented in the worship of the Moabite (and Midianite) BaalPeor (Num. XXV. 3, sq.; Deut. iv. 3). When addressed as "king" the sun was called MOLOCH by the Israelites, MILCOM OF MALCHAM by the Ammonites (2 Kin. xxiii. 13; Zeph. i. 5), Melkarth by the Tyrians, and Malik by the Assyrians. In Jer. xlix. 1, we should render "Malcham" rather than "their king", and the probable meaning of the word translated "brick-kiln" in 2 Sam. xii. 31, is "place of Moloch". Among the Moabites the name Moloch or Milcom was replaced by CHEMOSH (1 Kin. xi. 7), but both gods were essentially the same. To both children were burnt to death in sacrifice (Jer. vii. 31; 2 Chron. xxviii. 3; 2 Kin. iii. 27), a custom which we now know was ultimately of Accadian origin. The same wish to propitiate the fierce deity of summer heat caused the priests of Baal to cut themselves with knives (1 Kin. xviii. 28). Since however the heat of the sun creates as well as destroys, the Sun-god was worshipped as both creator and destroyer, and symbolic pillars were accordingly dedicated to Melkarth. The ox, the sun's usual symbol, denoting his strength, was originally derived from Babylonia, where the image of the winged bull, called the kirubu or cherub, guarded the house from the entrance of evil spirits. The cherub was adopted into Phoenician art. The two cherubs made for Solomon (1 Kin. vi. 23—28), the "carved figures of cherubims and palm-trees and open flowers" (1 Kin. vi. 29), were the work of Phoenician artists, with whom palm-trees and open flowers were favourite devices. Like the rest of the Semitic race, the Phoenicians were worshippers of nature and its generative powers, and every god therefore was provided with a goddess. Thus by the side of Baal stood Baaltis or ASHTORETH, the Greek Astarte, in Assyrian Istar 1 Kin. xi. 5, 53). Ashtoreth was properly the female reflection of the sun-god when regarded as the Creator, and consequently there could be as many Ashtoreths or ASHTAROTH as there were Baals or Baalim. Hence it is that we have the plural in the sense of "goddesses" in Judg. x. 6; 1 Sam. vii. 4; xii. 10; and corresponding to Baal-Khammân, we find in Phoenician inscriptions Tanith, "the face (i.e. reflection) of Baal". In time, however, Ashtoreth came to represent the moon, which might be considered the fainter reflection or wife of the sun whence the title Ashtoreth-Karnaim, "of the two horns" (Gen. xiv. 5, as the moon Ashtoreth was addressed as " QUEEN OF HEAVEN" (Jer. vii. 18). In Assyria, after the establishment of the system of astro-theology, Istar or Ashtoreth was identified with the planet Venus, and was further divided into two deities, one the goddess of love, and the other of war. But in Assyria the female deities took a rank and determinate character, which they never

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had among the Phoenicians. As might be expected, we find Ashtoreth worshipped by the Philistines (1 Sam. xxxi. 10). Quite distinct from Ashtoreth was ASHERAH the goddess of fertility, symbolised by a cone of stone, or the upright stem of a tree stripped of its branches. Both the goddess and her symbol were called by the same name, Asherah. The word is mistranslated “grove” and “groves" in the A. V. (2 Kin. xxi. 7; xxiii. 6, 13-15; Judg. vi. 23-39.) Besides these deities the Phoenicians also worshipped various subordinate gods, such as Pugm, Sakkun, the i 8 Kabiri (the makers of the world, the inventors of civilisation, of ships, and of medicine, of whom the eighth was Eshmun, identified by the Greeks with their Esculapius); and they also adored deified rivers, like the Kishon, and deitied mountains, like Peniel and Kasius. This sketch of Phoenician religioa makes it hardly needful to point out the close resemblance between the forms assumed by Isracitish idolatry and Phoenician religious belief. The Israelites were influenced by it (1) indirectly and (2) directly. Indirectly, the Israelites, like their Phoenician kindred, were inclined towards sun-worship; hence the WORSHIP ON THE HIGH-PLACES, which were exposed to the rays of the sun, and the representation of the LORD under the image of a CALF, or rather ox Erod. xxxii. 4; 1 Kin. xii. 28-33; Hos. viii. 5, 6; 1.3. thus representing their national God, the Israelites identified Him with the Baal or Sun-god of the other Semitic tribes, and though professing to regard Him as the one true God, nevertheless came to worship Him under as many forms or manifestations as there were high-places. Still it must be remembered that calf-worship was professedly a recognition of Jekorak, and the prophets of SAMARIA accordingly, while sanctioning it, regarded themselves as "prophets of the LORD": 1 Kin. xxii. 5, 6, &c. The direct establishment of Phoenician superstitions was due to the marriage of Ahab to JEZEBEL: 1 Kin. xvi. 31, 2 The Baalim of Phoenicia were introduced into Ssmaria and Judah, and the worship of the covenant God of Israel in a degraded shape was put on the same level with, or even below, that of these foreiga idols. The way had already been prepared by Sco mon (1 Kin. xi. 5); and the whole people had “served Baalim and Ashtaroth" and "Asherah”, “the gods ! of Aram, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines ", in the time of the Judges: Judg. iii. 7; x. 6. JOASH, Gideon's father, had an altar to Baal, under which name, however, be may have worshipped Jehovah (Judg. vi. 23); and as soon as GIDEON was dead, the Israelites worshipped Baal-berith, “Baal of the Covenant", at Shechem; while JONATHAN, Moses' grandson (not Manasseh, as A.V.] was priest to the tribe of DAN of a graven image, which seems to have been a Baal: Judy. vi. 30. The immoral institutions connected with the Phoenician religion were common in Judah as early as the reign of REHOBOAM (1 Kin. xiv. 24; 2 Äis, xx. 7 and in both the northern and southern kingdoms children were burnt or made to pass through the fre in honour of the Sun-god. MANASSER was the first, however, who ventured to set up an image of Asherah and build altars to the host of heaven in the temple itself: 2 Kin. xxi. 4–7; xxiii. 6, 11, 12.

IV. COMMERCIAL RELATIONS.

The trade of Western Asia in ancient times followed FOUR main ROUTES-two inland, two maritime, (1) The first inland caravan-route led out of Egypt, through Palestine, eastward across Cole-Syria to CARCHEMISH (near the modern Biredjik) on the Euphrates; then across Mesopotamia by Harran to the Tigris, and so by Nineveh to Babylon and the Persian Gulf. (2) The second caravan-route led along the western coast of Arabia, through Mekka and the ancient MIDIAN into northern Egypt and Palestine. (i.) The first of the sea-routes was from Phoenicia by Cyprus or CHITTIM and the islands of the gean to Sicily and Malta, the northern coast of Africa, and finally Tartessus (probably near Gibraltar)

1

in Spain. At an early period Phoenician sailors seem to have ventured through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Atlantic, and even to have made their way to the Cassiterides or Scilly isles. (ii.) The second searoute started from EzION-GEBER, in the Gulf of Akabah, down the Red Sea, and along the southern coast of Arabia (Hazar-maveth: Gen. x. 26) to OPHIR or Abhira, at the mouth of the Indus. The sea-routes were followed by the PHOENICIANS, the first of the inland routes by the MIDIANITES and ISHMAELITES (Gen. xxxvii. 25; xxxix. 1), the TEMANITES and SABEANS (Job vi. 19), the DEDANITES (Isa. xxi. 13), and other nomad tribes; and the second of the inland routes by the Syrians. This latter route formed the military road followed by CHEDORLAOMER (Gen.xiv.) and the later kings of Assyria, Egypt (2 Kin. xxiii. 29), and Babylonia. There was also direct maritime trade between Phoenicia and the Delta; two maritime routes from the mouth of the Euphrates, followed by the CHALDEANS (Isa. xliii. 14), one to India, the other along southern Arabia to Africa; a caravan-road traced out by the conquests of Tiglath-pileser from Nineveh across Persia and Afghanistan to the SINIM of Dardistan (Isa. xlix. 12) and the Punjab; and another caravan-road across Asia Minor from Carchemish to the Hellespont. Under the later Assyrian kings, whose wars with Tyre and Zidon were made in the interest of the Assyrian merchants, CARCHEMISH, close to the great ford over the Euphrates, became the chief centre of inland West-Asia trade. Along this road must have been brought the goodly Babylonish garment mentioned in Josh. vii. 21, as well as much of the ivory used by the Israelitish and Phoenician kings and nobility (1 Kin. x. 18; 2 Chron. ix. 17; 1 Kin. xxii. 39; Amos vi. 4; Cant. vii. 4; Ezek. xxvii. 6), though a good deal of this was also supplied by the caravans of Arabia (Isa. xxi. 13; Ezek. xxvii. 15), and the ships that traded to Ophir (1 Kin. x. 22). Lapis lazuli, moreover (A. V. "sapphires") would have come from Babylonia (Cant. v. 14; Ezek. xxviii. 13). In order to secure this trade, SOLOMON built or fortified Baalbek and TADMOR (? Palmyra) to the south of Carchemish and the usual route (1 Kin. ix. 18), and the stream of commerce was thus for a time diverted to a new and more direct road across the desert. But it soon returned to the old track, while the trade, whether of northern or of southern Arabia, remained in the hands of the nomads: Isa. ii. 6, 7. This trade was for the most part in spices and gold: 1 Kin. x. 15. It was through his commercial relations, probably, that Solomon became known to the queen of SHEBA. His alliance with HIRAM of Tyre was a strictly commercial one. The united fleets of Israel and Phoenicia sailed every three years from ELATH and Ezion-geber to Ophir, bringing back gold, silver, ivory, sandal-wood, ebony, precious stones, apes, and peacocks. The Mediterranean, however, the Phoenicians kept in their own hands, although the Israelitish merchantmen were called "ships of TARSHISH", like the Phoenician merchantmen whose main destination was Tartessus. It is little wonder that this commercial alliance should have brought with it the introduction of Phoenician manners and customs, luxury and idolatry. Solomon also organised an inland trade with Egypt, whence he imported horses and chariots (1 Kin. x. 28, 29*), some of which were afterwards sent to Carchemish, and resold to the Hittites and Syrians. A horse cost 150 shekels of silver, a chariot with its three horses 600 shekels. This trade in horses with Egypt brought the Israelites into contact with E. gyptian idolatry, and was therefore strongly opposed by the prophets: Isa. xxx. 16; Deut. xvii. 16; Ps. xx. 7. After the death of Solomon and the division of the kingdom, Israelitish trade languished, only to be revived at intervals of prosperity. Thus JEHOSHA

The word rendered "linen yarn" in the A. V. should rather be" caravans."

PHAT made an unsuccessful attempt to revive the trade to Ophir (1 Kin. xxii. 48, 49), and the "ships of Tarshish" or merchantmen spoken of by Isaiah (ii. 16), taken in conjunction with the fact that JONAH "found a ship going to Tarshish" at JOPPA (Jon. i. 3), would imply that in the later days of the monarchy the Israelites became rivals of the Phoenicians, even in the Mediterranean itself. Indeed, JERUSALEM is described as a commercial rival of TYRE in Ezek. xxvi. 2, and Hosea (xii. 7) refers to the merchants of SAMARIA. The latter carried on an export trade in oil by sea with Egypt (Hos. xii. 1), and fine linen and girdles of home make were sold to the merchants: Prov. xxxi. 24. Commercial intercourse with Phoenicia continued to be carried on at all times, and had doubtless much to do with the introduction of Baal-worship. Wheat, honey, oil, and balm were exported thither (1 Kin. v. 11; Ezek. xxvii. 17; Acts xii. 20), timber, fish, and other "wares" being received in return (1 Kin. v. 6, 9; Ezra iii. 7; Neh. xiii. 16).

The

V. SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND ART. It is difficult to trace Egyptian influence upon the Israelites in either one of these respects. It is otherwise as regards Assyria and Babylonia. The dial of Ahaz points to his acquaintance with Babylonian science, and we may gather from Prov. xxv. 1 that HEZEKIAH established a library where scribes were employed in copying and editing old books, like the libraries with their staff of scribes and copyists found in every great Babylonian and Assyrian city. Though papyrus or parchment were generally used for writing purposes, in Jer. xxxii. 10, 11 we seem to have a reference to a contract inscribed in the Assyrian manner on a clay tablet, and, after the signatures of the witnesses, covered by an outer coating of clay, on which the heads of the contract were written, with a docket of papyrus attached to it by a string. In art, the Israelites were the pupils of the Phoenicians (see 1 Kin. vii. 13, 14; v. 6, 18, &c.), and Phoenician art was mainly borrowed and adapted from Assyria and Babylonia. Thus the devices of cherubs, palm-trees, pomegranates, lions, and the like in SOLOMON'S TEMPLE were Phoenico-Assyrian, and the architectural details of the temple itself have been traced back to Phoenicia and Assyria. Babylonia was the original home of the column as used in Western Asia and Europe, as also of seas or reservoirs in temples: 1 Kin. vii. 23. cherubs seen by Ezekiel (x.) resemble those of Assyrian art, and the Assyrian and Babylonian gods were carried about in arks. The "pattern" of the altar at Damascus, again, which AHAZ ordered to be imitated in the temple at Jerusalem (2 Kin. xvi. 10, 11), was no doubt Assyrian. Just as the Phoenicians borrowed the Egyptian sphinx, so also did they borrow the Assyro-Babylonian cherub; but whereas the sphinx was not represented among the Israelites, probably on account of its idolatrous connection, the cherub was freely introduced into the decoration of the temple. To the Phoenicians the Israelites also owed their alphabet, which had been adapted from the Egyptian hieroglyphics by the Phoenicians of the Delta at a very early date. What influence the Phoenicians may have had upon Hebrew literature it is impossible to say, but when we remember that Kirjath-sepher "the book-town" (Josh. xv. 15; Judg. i. 11) was among the places conquered by the Israelites upon their entrance into Canaan, and that Phoenician literature, more especially historical literature, went back to a period anterior to that of Hiram and David, we are justified in believing that some influence it must have had. At all events, Josephus, quoting from Menander of Ephesus and Dius, asserts that Solomon and Hiram propounded riddles to one another on the penalty of paying a fine if they were not guessed, and that Hiram was unable to solve the riddles of Solomon until a Tyrian named Abdemon came to his aid.