Phoenician
textile fabrics, embroidered or dyed
Phoenicia
was celebrated from a remote antiquity for the manufacture of textile
fabrics. The materials which she employed for them were wool, linen
yarn, perhaps cotton, and, in the later period of her commercial prosperity,
silk. "White wool" was supplied to her in abundance by the
merchants of Damascus,[1] and wool of lambs, rams, and goats seems also
to have been furnished by the more distant parts of Arabia.[2] Linen
yarn may have been imported from Egypt, where it was largely manufactured,
and was of excellent quality;[3] while raw silk is said to have been
"brought to Tyre and Berytus by the Persian merchants, and there
both dyed and woven into cloaks."[4] The price of silk was very
high, and it was customary in Phoenicia to intermix the precious material
either with linen or with cotton;[5] as is still done to a certain extent
in modern times. It is perhaps doubtful whether, so far as the mere
fabric of stuffs was concerned, the products of the Phoenician looms
were at all superior to those which Egypt and Babylonia furnished, much
less to those which came from India, and passed under the name of /Sindones/.
Two things gave to the Phoenician stuffs that high reputation which
caused them to be more sought for than any others; and these were, first,
the brilliancy and beauty of their colours, and, secondly, the delicacy
with which they were in many instances embroidered. We have not much
trace of Phoenician embroidery on the representations of dresses that
have come down to us; but the testimony of the ancients is unimpeachable,[6]
and we may regard it as certain that the art of embroidery, known at
a very early date to the Hebrews,[7] was cultivated with great success
by their Phoenician neighbours, and under their auspices reached a high
point of perfection. The character of the decoration is to be gathered
from the extant statues and bas-reliefs, from the representations on
pateræ, on cups, dishes, and gems. There was a tendency to divide
the surface to be ornamented into parallel stripes or bands, and to
repeat along the line a single object, or two alternately. Rosettes,
monsters of various kinds, winged globes with uræi, scarabs, sacred
trees, and garlands or blossoms of the lotus were the ordinary "motives."[8]
Occasionally human figures might be introduced, and animal forms even
more frequently; but a stiff conventionalism prevailed, the same figures
were constantly repeated, and the figures themselves had in few cases
much beauty.
Account
of the chief Phoenician dye
The brilliancy
and beauty of the Phoenician coloured stuffs resulted from the excellency
of their dyes. Here we touch a second branch of their industrial skill,
for the principal dyes used were originally invented and continuously
fabricated by the Phoenicians themselves, not imported from any foreign
country. Nature had placed along the Phoenician coast, or at any rate
along a great portion of it, an inexhaustible supply of certain shell-fish,
or molluscs, which contained as a part of their internal economy a colouring
fluid possessing remarkable, and indeed unique, qualities. Some account
has been already given of the species which are thought to have been
anciently most esteemed. They belong, mainly, to the two allied families
of the /Murex/ and the /Buccinum/ or /Purpura/. Eight species of the
former, and six of the latter, having their habitat in the Mediterranean,
have been distinguished by some naturalists;[9] but two of the former
only, and one of the latter, appear to have attracted the attention
of the Phoenicians. The /Murex brandaris/ is now thought to have borne
away the palm from all the others; it is extremely common upon the coast;
and enormous heaps of the shells are found, especially in the vicinity
of Tyre, crushed and broken--the débris, as it would seem, cast
away by the manufacturers of old.[10] The /Murex trunculus/, according
to some, is just as abundant, in a crushed state, in the vicinity of
Sidon, great banks of it existing, which are a hundred yards long and
several yards thick.[11] It is a more spinous shell than the /M. brandaris/,
having numerous projecting points, and a generally rough and rugged
appearance. The /Purpura/ employed seems to have been the /P. lapillus/,
a mollusc not confined to the Mediterranean, but one which frequents
also our own shores, and was once turned to some account in Ireland.[12]
The varieties of the /P. lapillus/ differ considerably. Some are nearly
white, some greyish, others buff striped with brown. Some, again, are
smooth, others nearly as rough as the /Murex trunculus/. The /Helix
ianthina/, which is included by certain writers among the molluscs employed
for dyeing purposes by the Phoenicians,[13] is a shell of a completely
different character, smooth and delicate, much resembling that of an
ordinary land snail, and small compared to the others. It is not certain,
however, that the /helix/, though abounding in the Eastern Mediterranean,[14]
ever attracted the notice of the Phoenicians.
Mollusks
from which the purple was obtained
The molluscs
needed by the Phoenician dyers were not obtained without some difficulty.
As the Mediterranean has no tides, it does not uncover its shores at
low water like the ocean, or invite man to rifle them. The coveted shell-fish,
in most instances, preferred tolerably deep water; and to procure them
in any quantity it was necessary that they should be fished up from
a depth of some fathoms. The mode in which they were captured was the
following. A long rope was let down into the sea, with baskets of reeds
or rushes attached to it at intervals, constructed like our  lobster-traps or eel-baskets, with an opening
that yielded easily to pressure from the outside, but resisted pressure
from the inside, and made escape, when once the trap was entered, impossible.
The baskets were baited with mussels or frogs, both of which had great
attractions for the /Purpuræ/, and were seized and devoured with
avidity. At the upper end of the rope was attached to a large piece
of cork, which, even when the baskets were full, could not be drawn
under water. It was usual to set the traps in the evening, and after
waiting a night, or sometimes a night and a day, to draw them up to
the surface, when they were generally found to be full of the coveted
shell-fish.[15]
Mode
of obtaining them
There were
two ways in which the dye was obtained from the molluscs. Sometimes
a hole was broken in the side of the shell, and the fish taken out entire.[16]
The /sac/ containing the colouring matter, which is a sort of vein,
beginning at the head of the animal, and following the tortuous line
of the body as it twists through the spiral shell,[17] was then carefully
extracted, either while the mollusc was still alive, or as soon as possible
after death, as otherwise the quality of the dye was impaired. This
plan was pursued more especially with the larger species of /Purpuræ/,
where the /sac/ attained a certain size; while with a smaller kinds
a different method was followed. In their case no attempt was made to
extract the /sac/, but the entire fish was crushed, together with its
shell, and after salt had been added in the proportion of twenty ounces
to a hundred pounds of the pulp, three days were allowed for maceration;
heat was then applied, and when, by repeated skimming, the coarse particles
had been removed, the dye was left in a liquid state at the bottom.
It was necessary that the vessel in which this final process took place
should be of lead, and not of bronze or iron, since those metals gave
the dye a disagreeable tinge.[18]
Mode
of procuring the dye from them
The colouring
matter contained in the /sac/ of the /Purpuræ/ is a liquid of
a creamy consistency, and of a yellowish-white hue. On extraction, it
is at first decidedly yellow; then after a little time it becomes green;
and, finally, it settles into some shade of violet or purple. Chemical
analysis has shown that in the case of the /Murex trunculus/ the liquid
is composed of two elementary substances, one being cyanic acid, which
is of a blue or azure colour, and the other being purpuric oxide, which
is a bright red.[19] In the case of the /Murex brandaris/ one element
only has been found: it is an oxide, which has received the name of
/oxyde tyrien/.[20] No naturalist has as yet discovered what purpose
the liquid serves in the economy, or in the preservation, of the animal;
it is certainly not exuded, as sepia is by the cuttle-fish, to cloud
the water in the neighbourhood, and enable the creature to conceal itself.
Process
of dyeing
Concerning
the Phoenician process of dyeing, the accounts which have come down
to us are at once confused and incomplete. Nothing is said with respect
to their employment of mordants, either acid or alkali, and yet it is
almost certain that they must have used one or the other, or both, to
fix the colours, and render them permanent. The /gamins/ of Tyre employ
to this day mordants of each sort;[21] and an alkali derived from seaweed
is mentioned by Pliny as made use of for fixing some dyes,[22] though
he does not distinctly tell us that it was known to the Phoenicians
or employed in fixing the purple. What we chiefly learn from this writer
as to the dyeing process is[23]--first, that sometimes the liquid derived
from the /murex/ only, sometimes that of the /purpura/ or /buccinum/
only, was applied to the material which it was wished to colour, while
the most approved hue was produced by an application of both dyes separately.
Secondly, we are told that the material, whatever it might be, was steeped
in the dye for a certain number of hours, then withdrawn for a while,
and afterwards returned to the vat and steeped a second time. The best
Tyrian cloths were called /Dibapha/, i.e. "twice dipped;"
and for the production of the true "Tyrian purple" it was
necessary that the dye obtained from the /Buccinum/ should be used after
that from the /Murex/ had been applied. The /Murex/ alone gave a dye
that was firm, and reckoned moderately good; but the /Buccinum/ alone
was weak, and easily washed out.
Variety
of the tints
The actual
tints produced from the shell-fish appear to have ranged from blue,
through violet and purple, to crimson and rose.[24] Scarlet could not
be obtained, but was yielded by the cochineal insect. Even for the brighter
sorts of crimson some admixture of the cochineal dye was necessary.[25]
The violet tint was not generally greatly prized, though there was a
period in the reign of Augustus when it was the fashion;[26] redder
hues were commonly preferred; and the choicest of all is described as
"a rich, dark purple, the colour of coagulated blood."[27]
A deep crimson was also in request, and seems frequently to be intended
when the term purple ({porphureos}, /purpureus/) is used.
Manufacture
of glass
A third
industry greatly affected by the Phoenicians was the manufacture of
glass. According to Pliny,[28] the first discovery of the substance
was made upon the Phoenician coast by a body of sailors whom he no doubt
regarded as Phoenicians. These persons had brought a cargo of natrum,
which is the subcarbonate of soda, to the Eastern Mediterranean in the
vicinity of Acre, and had gone ashore at the mouth of the river Belus
to cook their dinner. Having lighted a fire upon the sand, they looked
about for some stones to prop up their cooking utensils, but finding
none, or none convenient for the purpose, they bethought themselves
of utilising for the occasion some of the blocks of natrum with which
their ship was laden. These were placed close to the fire, and the heat
was sufficient to melt a portion of one of them, which, mixing with
the siliceous sand at its base, produced a stream of glass. There is
nothing impossible or even very improbable in this story.
Story
of its invention
There can
be no doubt that the manufacture was one on which the Phoenicians eagerly
seized, and which they carried out on a large scale and very successfully.
Sidon, according to the ancients,[32] was the chief seat of the industry;
but the best sand is found near Tyre, and both Tyre and Sarepta also
seem to have been among the places where glassworks were early established.
At Sarepta extensive banks of /débris/ have been found, consisting
of broken glass of many colours, the waste beyond all doubt of a great
glass manufactory;[33] at Tyre, the traces of the industry are less
extensive,[34] but on the other hand we have historical evidence that
it continued to be practised there into the middle ages.[35]
Three
kinds of Phoenician glass
1.
Transparent colourless glass
The glass
produced by the Phoenicians was of three kinds: first, transparent colourless
glass, which the eye could see through; secondly, translucent coloured
glass, through which light could pass, though the eye could not penetrate
it so as to distinguish objects; and, thirdly, opaque glass, scarcely
distinguishable from porcelain. Transparent glass was employed for mirrors,
round plates being cast, which made very tolerable looking-glasses,[36]
when covered at the back by thin sheets of metal, and also for common
objects, such as vases, urns, bottles, and jugs, which have been yielded
in abundance by tombs of a somewhat late date in Cyprus.[37] No great
store, however, seems to have been set upon transparency, in which the
Oriental eye saw no beauty; and the objects which modern research has
recovered under this head at Tyre, in Cyprus, and elsewhere, seem the
work of comparatively rude artists, and have little æsthetic merit.
The shapes, however, are not inelegant.
2.
Semi-transparent coloured glass
The most
beautiful of the objects in glass produced by the Phoenicians are the
translucent or semi-transparent vessels of different kinds, most of
them variously coloured, which have been found in Cyprus, at Camirus
in Rhodes, and on the Phoenician coast, near Beyrout and elsewhere.[38]
These comprise small flasks or bottles, from three to six inches long,
probably intended to contain perfumes; small jugs (œnochoæ)
from three inches in height to five inches; vases of about the same
size; amphoræ pointed at the lower extremity; and other varieties.
They are coloured, generally, either in longitudinal or in horizontal
stripes and bands; but the bands often deviate from the straight line
into zig-zags, which are always more or less irregular, like the zig-zags
of the Norman builders, while sometimes they are deflected into crescents,
or other curves, as particularly one resembling a willow-leaf. The colours
are not very vivid, but are pleasing and well-contrasted; they are chiefly
five--white, blue, yellow, green, and a purplish brown. Red scarcely
appears, except in a very pale, pinkish form; and even in this form
it is uncommon. Blue, on the other hand, is greatly affected, being
sometimes used in the patterns, often taken for the ground, and occasionally,
in two tints, forming both groundwork and ornamentation.[39] It is not
often that more than three hues are found on the same vessel, and sometimes
the hues employed are only two. There are instances, however, and very
admirable instances, of the employment, on a single vessel, of four
hues.[40]
3.
Opaque glass, much like porcelain
The colours
were obtained, commonly, at any rate, from metallic oxides. The ordinary
blue employed is cobalt, though it is suspected that there was an occasional
use of copper. Copper certainly furnished the greens, while manganese
gave the brown, which shades off into purple and into black. The beautiful
milky white which forms the ground tint of some vases is believed to
have been derived from the oxide of tin, or else from phosphate of chalk.
It is said that the colouring matter of the patterns does not extend
through the entire thickness of the glass, but lies only on the outer
surface, being a later addition to the  vessels
as first made.
Description
of objects in glass
Translucent
coloured glass was also largely produced by the Phoenicians for beads
and other ornaments, and also for the imitation of gems. The huge emerald
of which Herodotus speaks,[41] as "shining with great brilliancy
at night" in the temple of Melkarth at Tyre, was probably a glass
cylinder, into which a lamb was introduced by the priests. In Phoenician
times the pretended stone is quite as often a glass paste as a real
gem, and the case is the same with the scarabs so largely used as seals.
In Phoenician necklaces, glass beads alternate frequently with real
agates, onyxes, and crystals; while sometimes glass in various shapes
is the only material employed. A necklace found at Tharros in Sardinia,
and now in the collection of the Louvre, which is believed to be of
Phoenician manufacture, is composed of above forty beads, two cylinders,
four pendants representing heads of bulls, and one representing the
face of a man, all of glass.[42] Another, found by M. Renan in Phoenicia
itself, is made up of glass beads imitating pearls, intermixed with
beads of cornaline and agate.[43]
Another
class of glass ornaments consists of small flat /plaques/ or plates,
pierced with a number of fine holes, which appear to have been sewn
upon garments. These are usually patterned, sometimes with spirals,
sometimes with rosettes, occasionally, though rarely, with figures.
Messrs. Perrot and Chipiez represent one in their great work upon ancient
art,[44] where almost the entire field is occupied by a winged griffin,
standing upright on its two hind legs, and crowned with a striped cap,
or turban.
Phoenician
opaque glass is comparatively rare, and possesses but little beauty.
It was rendered opaque in various ways. Messrs. Perrot and Chipiez found
that in a statue of Serapis, which they analysed, the glass was mixed
with bronze in the proportions of ten to three. An opaque material of
a handsome red colour was thus produced, which was heavy and exceedingly
hard.[45]
Methods
pursued in the manufacture
The methods
pursued by the Phoenician glass-manufacturers were probably much the
same as those which are still employed for the production of similar
objects, and involved the use of similar implements, as the blowpipe,
the lathe, and the graver. The materials having been procured, they
were fused together in a crucible or melting-pot by the heat of a powerful
furnace. A blowpipe was then introduced into the viscous mass, a portion
of which readily attached itself to the implement, and so much glass
was withdrawn as was deemed sufficient for the object which it was designed
to manufacture. The blower then set to work, and blew hard into the
pipe until the glass at its lower extremity began to expand and gradually
took a pear-shaped form, the material partially coolling and hardening,
but still retaining a good deal of softness and pliability. While in
this condition, it was detached from the pipe, and modelled with pincers
or with the hand into the shape required, after which it was polished,
and perhaps sometimes cut by means of the turning-lathe. Sand and emery
were the chief polishers, and by their help a surface was produced,
with which little fault could be found, being smooth, uniform, and brilliant.
Thus the vessel was formed, and if no further ornament was required,
the manufacture was complete--a jug, vase, alabastron, amphora, was
produced, either transparent or of a single uniform tint, which might
be white, blue, brown, green, &c., according to the particular oxide
which had been thrown, with the silica and alkali, into the crucible.
Generally, however, the manufacturer was not content with so simple
a product: he aimed not merely at utility, but at beauty, and proceeded
to adorn the work of his hands--whatever it was--with patterns which
were for the most part in good taste and highly pleasing. These patterns
he first scratched on the outer surface of the vessel with a graving
tool; then, when he had made his depressions deep enough, he took threads
of coloured glass, and having filled up with the threads the depressions
which he had made, he subjected the vessel once more to such a heat
that the threads were fused, and attached themselves to the ground on
which they had been laid. In melting they would generally more than
fill the cavities, overflowing them, and protruding from them, whence
it was for the most part necessary to repeat the polishing process,
and to bring by means of abrasion the entire surface once more into
uniformity. There are cases where this has been incompletely done and
where the patterns project; there are others where the threads have
never thoroughly melted into the ground, and where in the course of
time they have partially detached themselves from it; but in general
the fusion and subsequent polishing have been all that could be wished,
and the patterns are perfectly level with the ground and seem one with
it.[46]
The running
of liquid glass into moulds, so common nowadays, does not seem to have
been practised by the Phoenicians, perhaps because their furnaces were
not sufficiently hot to produce complete liquefaction. But--if this
was so--the pressure of the viscous material into moulds cannot have
been unknown, since we have evidence of the existence of moulds,[47]
and there are cases where several specimens of an object have evidently
issued from a single matrix.[48] Beads, cylinders, pendants, scarabs,
amulets, were probably, all of them, made in this way, sometimes in
translucent, sometimes in semi-opaque glass, as perhaps were also the
/plaques/ which have been already described.
Phoenician
ceramic art
The ceramic
art of the Phoenicians is not very remarkable. Phoenicia Proper is deficient
in clay of a superior character, and it was probably a very ordinary
and coarse kind of pottery that the Phoenician merchants of early times
exported regularly in their trading voyages, both inside and outside
the Mediterranean. We hear of their carrying this cheap earthenware
northwards to the Cassiterides or Scilly Islands,[49] and southwards
to the isle of Cerné, which is probably Arguin, on the West African
coast;[50] nor can we doubt that they supplied it also to the uncivilised
races of the Mediterranean--the Illyrians, Ligurians, Sicels, Sards,
Corsicans, Spaniards, Libyans. But the fragile nature of the material,
and its slight value, have caused its entire disappearance in the course
of centuries, unless in the shape of small fragments; nor are these
fragments readily distinguishable from those whose origin is different.
Phoenicia Proper has furnished no earthen vessels, either whole or in
pieces, that can be assigned to a time earlier than the Greco-Roman
period,[51] nor have any such vessels been found hitherto on Phoenician
sites either in Sardinia, or in Corsica, or in Spain, or Africa, or
Sicily, or Malta, or Gozzo. The only places that have hitherto furnished
earthen vases or other vessels presumably Phoenician are Jerusalem,
Camirus in Rhodes, and Cyprus; and it is from the specimens found at
these sites that we must form our estimate of the Phoenician pottery.
Earliest
specimens
The earliest
specimens are of a moderately good clay, unglazed. They are regular
in shape, being made by the help of a wheel, and for the most part not
inelegant, though they cannot be said to possess any remarkable beauty.
Many are without ornament of any kind, being apparently mere jars, used
for the storing away of oil or wine; they have sometimes painted or
scratched upon them, in Phoenician characters, the name of the maker
or owner. A few rise somewhat above the ordinary level, having handles
of some elegance, and being painted with designs and patterns, generally
of a geometrical character. A vase about six inches high, found at Jerusalem,
has, between horizontal bands, a series of geometric patterns, squares,
octagons, lozenges, triangles, pleasingly arranged, and painted in brown
upon a ground which is of a dull grey. At the top are two rude handles,
between which runs a line of zig-zag, while at the bottom is a sort
of stand or base. The shape is heavy and inelegant.[52]
Another
vase of a similar character to this, but superior in many respects,
was found by General Di Cesnola at Dali (Idalium), and is figured in
his "Cyprus."[53] This vase has the shape of an urn, and is
ornamented with horizontal bands, except towards the middle, where it
has its greatest diameter, and exhibits a series of geometric designs.
In the centre is a lozenge, divided into four smaller lozenges by a
St. Andrew's cross; other compartments are triangular, and are filled
with a chequer of black and white, resembling the squares of a chessboard.
Beyond, on either side, are vertical bands, diversified with a lozenge
ornament. Two hands succeed, of a shape that is thought to have "a
certain elegance."[54] There is a rim, which might receive a cover,
at top, and  at bottom a short pedestal. The
height of the vase is about thirteen inches.
Vases
with geometrical designs and incised patterning
In many
of the Cyprian vases having a geometric decoration, the figures are
not painted on the surface but impressed or incised. Messrs. Perrot
and Chipiez regard this form of ornamentation as the earliest; but the
beauty and finish of several vases on which it occurs is against the
supposition. There is scarcely to be found, even in the range of Greek
art, a more elegant form than that of the jug in black clay brought
by General Di Cesnola from Alambra and figured both in his "Cyprus"[55]
and in the "Histoire de l'Art."[56] Yet its ornamentation
is incised. If, then, incised patterning preceded painted in Phoenicia,
at any rate it held its ground after painting was introduced, and continued
in vogue even to the time when Greek taste had largely influenced Phoenician
art of every description.
Later
efforts and use of enamel
The finest
Phoenician efforts in ceramic art resemble either the best Egyptian
or the best Greek. As the art advanced, the advantage of a rich glaze
was appreciated, and specimens which seem to be Phoenician have all
the delicacy and beauty of the best Egyptian faïence. A cup found
at Idalium, plain on the outside, is covered internally with a green
enamel, on which are patterns and designs in black.[57] In a medallion
at the bottom of the cup is the representation of a marshy tract overgrown
with the papyrus plant, whereof we see both the leaves and blossoms,
while among them, rushing at full speed, is the form of a wild boar.
The rest of the ornamentation consists chiefly of concentric circles;
but between two of the circles is left a tolerably broad ring, which
has a pattern consisting of a series of broadish leaves pointing towards
the cup's centre. Nothing can be more delicate, or in better taste,
than the entire design.
Great
amphora of Curium
The most
splendid of all the Cyprian vases was found at Curium, and has been
already represented in this volume. It is an amphora of large dimensions,
ornamented in part with geometrical designs, in part with compartments,
in which are represented horses and birds. The form, the designs, and
the general physiognomy of the amphora are considered to be in close
accordance with Athenian vases of the most antique school. The resemblance
is so great that some have supposed the vase to have been an importation
from Attica into Cyprus;[58] but such conjectures are always hazardous;
and the principal motives of the design are so frequent on the Cyprian
vases, that the native origin of the vessel is at least possible, and
the judgment of some of the best critics seems to incline in this direction.
Phoenician
ceramic art disappointing
Still,
on the whole, the Cyprian ceramic art is somewhat disappointing. What
is original in it is either grotesque, as the vases in the shape of
animals,[59] or those crowned by human heads,[60] or those again which
have for spout a female figure pouring liquid out of a jug.[61] What
is superior has the appearance of having been borrowed. Egyptian, Assyrian,
and Greek art, each in turn, furnished shapes, designs, and patterns
to the Phoenician potters, who readily adopted from any and every quarter
the forms and decorations which hit their fancy. Their fancy was, predominantly,
for the /bizarre/ and the extravagant. Vases in the shape of helmets,
in the shape of barrels, in the shape of human heads,[62] have little
fitness, and in the Cyprian specimens have little beauty; the mixture
of Assyrian with Egyptian forms is incongruous; the birds and beasts
represented are drawn with studied quaintness, a quaintness recalling
the art of China and Japan. If there is elegance in some of the forms,
it is seldom a very pronounced elegance; and, where the taste is best,
the suspicion continually arises that a foreign model has been imitated.
Moreover, from first to last the art makes little progress. There seems
to have been an arrest of development.[63] The early steps are taken,
but at a certain point stagnation sets in; there is no further attempt
to improve or advance; the artists are content to repeat themselves,
and reproduce the patterns of the past. Perhaps there was no demand
for ceramic art of a higher order. At any rate, progress ceases, and
while Greece was rising to her grandest efforts, Cyprus, and Phoenicia
generally, were content to remain stationary.
Ordinary
metallurgy-- Implements
Besides
their ornamental metallurgy, which has been treated of in a former chapter,
the Phoenicians largely employed several metals, especially bronze and
copper, in the fabrication of vessels for ordinary use, of implements,
arms, toilet articles, furniture, &c. The vessels include pateræ,
bowls, jugs, amphoræ, and cups;[64] the implements, hatchets,
adzes, knives, and sickles;[65] the arms, spearheads, arrowheads, daggers,
battle-axes, helmets, and shields;[66] the toilet articles, mirrors,
hand-bells, buckles, candlesticks, &c.;[67] the furniture, tall
candelabra, tripods, and thrones.[68] The bronze is of an excellent
quality, having generally about nine parts of copper to one of tin;
and there is reason to believe that by the skilful tempering of the
Phoenician metallurgists, it attained a hardness which was not often
given it by others. The Cyprian shields were remarkable. They were of
a round shape, slightly convex, and instead of the ordinary boss, had
a long projecting cone in the centre. An actual shield, with the cone
perfect, was found by General Di Cesnola at Amathus,[69] and a projection
of the same kind is seen in several of the Sardinian bronze and terra-cotta
statuettes.[70] Shields were sometimes elaborately embossed, in part
with patterning, in part with animal and vegetable forms.[71] Helmets
were also embossed with care, and sometimes inscribed with the name
of the maker or the owner.[72]
Weapons
Some remains
of swords, probably Phoenician, have been found in Sardinia. They vary
from two feet seven inches to four feet two inches in length.[73] The
blade is commonly straight, and very thick in the centre, but tapers
off on both sides to a sharp  edge.
The point is blunt, so that the intention cannot have been to use the
weapon both for cutting and thrusting, but only for the former. It would
scarcely make such a clean cut as a modern broadsword, but would no
doubt be equally effectual for killing or disabling. Another weapon,
found in Sardinia, and sometimes called a sword, is more properly a
knife or dagger. In length it does not exceed seven or eight inches,
and of this length more than a third is occupied by the handle.[74]
Below the handle the blade broadens for about an inch or an inch and
a half; after this it contracts, and tapers gently to a sharp point.
Such a weapon appears sometimes in the hand of a statuette.[75]
Toilet
articles
The bronze
articles of the toilet recovered by recent researches in Cyprus and
elsewhere are remarkable. The handle of a mirror found in Cyprus, and
now in the Museum of New York, possesses considerable merit. It consists
mainly of a female figure, naked, and standing upon a frog.[76] In her
hands she holds a pair of cymbals, which she is in the act of striking
together. A ribbon, passed over her left shoulder, is carried through
a ring, from which hangs a seal. On her arms and shoulders appear to
have stood two lions, which  formed side supports to the mirror that was attached
to the figure's head. If the face of the cymbal-player cannot boast
of much beauty, and her figure is thought to "lack distinction,"
still it is granted that the /tout ensemble/ of the work was not without
originality, and may have possessed a certain amount of elegance.[77]
The frog is particularly well modelled.
Lamp-stands
and tripods
Some candlesticks
found in the Treasury of Curium,[78] and a tripod from the same place,
seem to deserve a short notice. The candlesticks stand upon a sort of
short pillar as a base, above which is the blossom of a flower inverted,
a favourite Phoenician ornament.[79] From this rises the lamp-stand,
composed of three leaves, which curl outwards, and support between them
a ring into which the bottom of the lamp fitted. The tripod[80] is more
elaborate. The legs, which are fluted, bulge considerably at the top,
after which they bend inwards, and form a curve like one half of a Cupid's
bow. To retain them in place, they are joined together by a sort of
cross-bar, about half-way in their length; while, to keep them steady,
they are made to rest on large flat feet. The circular hoop which they
support is of some width, and is ornamented along its entire course
with a zig-zag. From the hoop depend, half-way in the spaces between
the legs, three rings, from each of which there hangs a curious pendant.
Works
in iron and lead
Besides
copper and bronze, the Phoenicians seem to have worked in lead and iron,
but only to a small extent. Iron ore might have been obtained in some
parts of their own country, but appears to have been principally derived
from abroad, especially from Spain.[81] It was worked up chiefly, so
far as we know, into arms offensive and defensive. The sword of Alexander,
which he received as a gift from the king of Citium,[82] was doubtless
in this metal, which is the material of a sword found at Amathus, and
of numerous arrowheads.[83] We are also told that Cyprus furnished the
iron breast-plates worn by Demetrius Poliorcetes;[84] and in pre-Homeric
times it was a Phoenician--Cinyras--who gave to Agamemnon his breast-plate
of steel, gold, and tin.[85] That more remains of iron arms and implements
have not been found on Phoenician sites is probably owing to the rapid
oxydisation of the metal, which consequently decays and disappears.
The Hiram who was sent to assist Solomon in building and furnishing
the Temple of Jerusalem was, we must remember, "skilful to work,"
not only "in gold, and silver, and bronze," but also "in
iron."[86]
Lead was
largely furnished to the Phoenicians by the Scilly Islands,[87] and
by Spain.[88] It has not been found in any great quantity on Phoenician
sites, but still appears occasionally. Sometimes it is a solder uniting
stone with bronze;[89] sometimes it exists in thin sheets, which may
have been worn as ornaments.[90] In Phoenicia Proper it has been chiefly
met with in the shape of coffins,[91] which are apparently of a somewhat
late date. They are formed of several sheets placed one over the other
and then soldered together. There is generally on the lid and sides
of the coffin an external ornamentation in a low relief, wherein the
myth of Psyché is said commonly to play a part; but the execution
is mediocre, and the designs themselves have little merit.
Sources:
- [1]
Ezek. xxvii. 18.
[2] Ibid. xxvii. 21.
[3] See Herod. ii. 182, and compare the note of Sir G. Wilkinson on
that passage in Rawlinson's /Herodotus/, ii. 272.
[4] Kenrick, /Phúnicia/, p. 246.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Hom. /Il./ vi. 289; /Od./ xv. 417; sch. /Suppl./ ll. 279-284;
Lucan, /Phars./ x. 142, &c.
[7] Ex. xxvi. 36, xxviii. 39.
[8] Perrot et Chipiez, /Histoire de l'Art/, iii. 877.
[9] Smyth, /Mediterranean Sea/, pp. 205-207.
[10] Tristram, /Land of Israel/, p. 51.
[11] Lortet, /La Syrie d'aujourd'hui/, p. 103.
[12] See /Phil. Transactions/, xv. 1,280.
[13] Wilksinson, in Rawlinson's /Herodotus/, ii. 347.
[14] Kenrick, /Phúnicia/, p. 258.
[15] See Jul. Pollux, /Onomasticon/, i. 4, ß 45.
[16] This is the case with almost all the refuse shells found in the
"kitchen middens" (as they have been called) on the Syrian
coast. See Lortet, /La Syrie d'aujourd'hui/, p. 103).
[17] See RÈaumur, quoted by Kenrick, /Phúnicia/, p.
256.
[18] Plin. /H. N./ ix. 38.
[19] See Grimaud de Caux's paper in the /Revue de Zoologie/ for 1856,
p. 34; and compare Lortet, /La Syrie d'aujourd'hui/, p. 102.
[20] Ibid.
[21] Lortet, /La Syrie d'aujourd'hui/, p. 127.
[22] Plin. /H. N./ xxxii. 22.
[23] Ibid. ix. 37-39.
[24] For the tints producible, see a paper by M. Lacaze-Duthiers,
in the /Annales des Sciences Naturelles/ for 1859, Zoologie, 4me.
sÈrie, xii. 1-84.
[25] Plin. /H. N./ ix. 41.
[26] Ibid. ix. 39:--"Cornelius Nepos, qui divi Augusti principatu
obiit. Me, inquit, juvene violacea purpura vigebat, cujus libra denariis
centum venibat."
[27] Kenrick, /Phúnicia/, p. 242. Compare Pliny, /H. N./ ix.
38:-- "Laus summa in colore sanguinis concreti."
[28] /Hist. Nat./ xxxvi. 65.
[29] Wilkinson, in Rawlinson's /Herodotus/, ii. 82. Similar representations
occur in tombs near the Pyramids.
[30] Wilksinson, /Manners and Customs/, iii. 88.
[31] Herod. ii. 86-88.
[32] Plin. /H. N./ v 19; xxxvi. 26, &c.
[33] Lortet, /La Syrie d'aujourd'hui/, p. 113.
[34] Ibid. p. 127.
[35] Perrot et Chipiez, /Hist. de l'Art/, iii. 735, note 2.
[36] Plin. /H. N./ xxxvi. 26.
[37] Perrot et Chipiez, iii. 739.
[38] See Perrot et Chipiez, /Histoire de l'Art/, iii. 734-744.
[39] Perrot et Chipiez, /Histore de l'Art/, iii. pl. viii. No. 2 (opp.
p. 740).
[40] Ibid. pl. vii. No. 1 (opp. p. 734).
[41] Herod. ii. 44.
[42] Perrot et Chipiez, /Hist. de l'Art/, iii. 745, and pl. x.
[43] Ibid.
[44] Perrot et Chipiez, iii. 746, No. 534.
[45] Ibid. pp. 739, 740.
[46] See Perrot et Chipiez, /Histoire de l'Art/, iii. 740, 741.
[47] The British Museum has a mould which was found at Camirus, intended
to give shape to glass earrings. It is of a hard greenish stone, apparently
a sort of breccia.
[48] Perrot et Chipiez, iii. 745.
[49] Strabo, iii. 5, ß 11.
[50] Scylax, /Periplus/, ß 112.
[51] Perrot et Chipiez, /Histoire de l'Art/, iii. 669. (Compare Renan
Mission de PhÈnicie/, pl. xxi.)
[52] Perrot et Chipiez, iii. 670. The vase is figured on p. 670, No.
478.
[53] Di Cesnola, /Cyprus/, p. 68. Compare Perrot et Chipiez, /Hist.
de l'Art/, iii. 671, No. 479.
[54] Perrot et Chipiez, l.s.c.
[55] Di Cesnola, /Cyprus/, appendix, p. 408.
[56] Perrot et Chipiez, iii. 685, No. 485.
[57] Di Cesnola, /Cyprus/, p. 102. Compare Perrot et Chipiez, /Hist.
de l'Art/, iii. 675, No. 483.
[58] So Di Cesnola, /Cyprus/, p. 332, and Mr. Murray, of the British
Museum, ibid., appendix, pp. 401, 402.
[59] Perrot et Chipiez, /Hist. de l'Art/, iii. 693-695.
[60] Di Cesnola, /Cyprus/, pp. 394, 402, and pl. xlii. fig. 4.
[61] Perrot et Chipiez, /Hist. de l'Art/, iii. 698.
[62] Ibid. p. 676, No. 484; p. 691, No. 496; and p. 697, No. 505.
[63] Ibid. p. 730.
[64] Di Cesnola, /Cyprus/, p. 282, and pl. xxx.
[65] Ibid.
[66] Perrot et Chipiez, /Hist. de l'Art/, iii. 866-868. Compare Di
Cesnola, /Cyprus/, pl. x.
[67] Di Cesnola, /Cyprus/, pp. 335, 336, and pls. iv. and xxx.; Perrot
et Chipiez, /Hist. de l'Art/, iii. 831, 862, 863, &c.
[68] Di Cesnola, l.s.c.; Perrot et Chipiez, iii. 864.
[69] Di Cesnola, /Cyprus/, pl. xx.
[70] Perrot et Chipiez, iv. 15, 66-68, 70; Cesnola, /Cyprus/, p. 203.
[71] Perrot et Chipiez, iii. 870, 871.
[72] Ibid. p. 867, No. 633.
[73] Ibid. iv. 94.
[74] Perrot et Chipiez, iv. 94, No. 91.
[75] Ibid. p. 67, No. 53.
[76] Ibid. iii. 862, No. 629.
[77] Perrot et Chipiez, iii. p. 863.
[78] De Cesnola, /Cyprus/, p. 336.
[79] See Perrot et Chipiez, iii. 133, Nos. 80, 81.
[80] Di Cesnola, p. 335.
[81] See Ezek. xxvii. 12; Strab. iii. 2, ß 8.
[82] Plutarch, /Vit. Alex. Magni/, ß 32.
[83] Ceccaldi, /Monumens Antiques de Cyprus/, p. 138; Di Cesnola,
/Cyprus/, p. 282; Perrot et Chipiez, /Hist. de l'Art/, iii. 874.
[84] Plutarch, /Vit. Demetrii/, ß 21.
[85] Hom. /Il./ xi. 19-28.
[86] 2 Chron. ii. 14. Iron, in the shape of nails and rings, has been
found in several graves in Phúnicia Proper, where the coffin
seems to have been of wood (Renan, /Mission de PhÈnicie/, p.
866).
[87] Strab. iii. 5, ß 11.
[88] Ezek. xxvii. 12.
[89] See Perrot et Chipiez, /Hist. de l'Art/, iv. 80.
[90] Ibid. iii. 815, No. 568.
[91] Renan, /Mission de PhÈnicie/, p. 427, and pl. lx. fig.
1; Perrot et Chipiez, /Hist. de l'Art/, iii. 177, No. 123.
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