a province of Syria, the limits of which have been differently
represented. Sometimes it has been defined as extending from north to
south, from Orthosia as far as Pelusium. At other times its southern
limit is said to have been Mount Carmel and Ptolemais. It is certain
that, from the conquest of Palestine by the Hebrews, its limits were
narrow, containing no part of the country of the Philistines, which
occupied all the coast from Mount Carmel along the Mediterranean, as far
as the borders of Egypt. It had also very little extent on the land
side, because the Israelites, who possessed all Galilee, confined it to
the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The chief cities of Phenicia were
Sidon, Tyre, Ptolemais, Ecdippe, Sarepta, Berythe, Biblos, Tripoli,
Orthosia, Simira, Aradus. They formerly had possession of some cities in
Libanus: and sometimes the Greek authors comprehend all Judea under the
name of Phenicia. Phenicia may be considered as the birthplace of
commerce, if not also of letters and the arts. It was a Phenician who
introduced into Greece the knowledge and the use of letters. Phenician
workmen built the temple of Solomon; Phenician sailors navigated his
ships; Phenician pilots directed them; and before other nations had
ventured to lose sight of their own shores, colonies of Phenicians were
established in the most distant parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. These
early advantages were owing, doubtless, in part to their own
enterprising character, and in part also to their central situation,
which enabled them to draw into their own narrow territory all the
commerce between the east and the west. Bochart has laboured to show
that they sent colonies to almost all the isles and coasts of the
Mediterranean Sea; but the most famous of all their colonies was that of
Carthage.
represented. Sometimes it has been defined as extending from north to
south, from Orthosia as far as Pelusium. At other times its southern
limit is said to have been Mount Carmel and Ptolemais. It is certain
that, from the conquest of Palestine by the Hebrews, its limits were
narrow, containing no part of the country of the Philistines, which
occupied all the coast from Mount Carmel along the Mediterranean, as far
as the borders of Egypt. It had also very little extent on the land
side, because the Israelites, who possessed all Galilee, confined it to
the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The chief cities of Phenicia were
Sidon, Tyre, Ptolemais, Ecdippe, Sarepta, Berythe, Biblos, Tripoli,
Orthosia, Simira, Aradus. They formerly had possession of some cities in
Libanus: and sometimes the Greek authors comprehend all Judea under the
name of Phenicia. Phenicia may be considered as the birthplace of
commerce, if not also of letters and the arts. It was a Phenician who
introduced into Greece the knowledge and the use of letters. Phenician
workmen built the temple of Solomon; Phenician sailors navigated his
ships; Phenician pilots directed them; and before other nations had
ventured to lose sight of their own shores, colonies of Phenicians were
established in the most distant parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. These
early advantages were owing, doubtless, in part to their own
enterprising character, and in part also to their central situation,
which enabled them to draw into their own narrow territory all the
commerce between the east and the west. Bochart has laboured to show
that they sent colonies to almost all the isles and coasts of the
Mediterranean Sea; but the most famous of all their colonies was that of
Carthage.