ORIGINES.

BOOK V.

ON THE ORIGIN OF THE PHOENICIANS.

CHAPTER I.

CANAAN, we are told by the sacred historian, begot Tsidon and Cheth-the Jebusite, the Emorite, the Girgasite, the Chivite, the Arkite, the Sinite, the Arvadite, the Tsemarite, and the Chamathite. These Canaanites originally possessed the whole country from the borders of Edom to Mount Chermon, and from the river Jordan to the Mediterranean sea. They appear, however, to have been expelled at a very early period from the inland country between the mountains of Chatserim and the city of Gaza; and from a great part, if not from the whole, of the coast between Gaza and Gath, by the Avim (y), who were subdued by the

Orig.

VOL. III.

A

Philistines. (Deut. ii. Josh. xiii.) The Philistines were sprung from the Casluhim and the Caphtorim, (Gen. x.) and appear to have inhabited Colchis and Cappadocia before they passed into Palestine, though they were descended from Mitsraim, and were probably originally Egyptian colonists. The remaining possessions of the Canaanites were afterwards wrested from them by the Israelites, with the exception of a few fortresses among the mountains, and of a narrow tract of land along the coast, in which, however, were situate the great and wealthy cities of Tyre and Tsidon.

Such appears to be the general statement which may be made concerning the Canaanites. But it has been questioned, whether the Phonicians were the same people with those descendants of Canaan who were the founders of Tyre and Tsidon; and whether these cities were still in the possession of the Canaanites at the epoch when the Israelites under Joshua first crossed the river Jordan.

I propose in the present chapter to lay before the reader some of the arguments which

have been, or may be, advanced, to prove that the Phoenicians were a distinct people from the Canaanites; and in the succeeding chapter to submit to him the answers, which have been, or may be, given to these arguments. Those who hold the first of these opinions may reason as follows.

1. The families, or tribes, descended from Canaan were eleven in number. The posterity of Cheth originally dwelt in Chebron, and in the region adjoining to that city. (Gen. xxiii.) Chebron was taken by Joshua, (Josh. x.) and was given to Caleb for an inheritance; (Josh. xiv.) but the Chethites were not entirely extirpated, and appear to have regained a considerable portion of their territory, since in the days of Solomon they had kings of their own. (1 Kings x.) Josephus (Antiq. L. 9. c. 4.) seems to have understood the Chethites, or Chethim, ('л) to have been the same with the Cettim, or Kettim (D); and when speaking of their kings, he calls them kings of the isles. The city of Jerusalem was founded by the Jebusites, by whom it was called Jebus; nor was this

city won from the Jebusites, though the surrounding country appertained to the tribe of Judah until the time of David. (Josh. xv. 1 Chron. xi.) We know little of the history of the Amorites, or Emorites. The remnants of their tribe appear to have dwelt between the torrent of Hesbon and the Jobak, which streams flowing from the East fall into the Jordan between the lake Genesareth and the Dead Sea. The Girgasites abode in the country beyond the Jordan, near to the lake Genesareth, where they still possessed a city in the time of Christ. (Matthew viii. 28.) It would appear that the remnants of the Chivites had established themselves under Mount Chermon (in the valley now called El Kades by the Syrians). (Judg. iii. Josh. xi.) The Arkites took refuge among the heights of Lebanon. (Joseph. Antiq.) The Sinites fled to the desert of Sin, which lies between the Elanitic Bay and Mount Choreb. (Bochart. L. 4. c. 36.) The Arvadites retired to an island, which was named after them Arvad, or Arad, and which is not far from the mouth of

the river Eleutherus. (Bochart. ibid.) It would seem that the Tsemarites had likewise retreated northwards to the banks of the Eleutherus. The Chamathites settled in the country which is watered by the river Orontes, where, it is thought by some, they built the cities of Emesa and Epiphania, called Chems and Chama by the Syrians and Arabians. The original inhabitants of Tsidon and Tyre had been expelled from their inheritance before the time of Joshua.

Besides the tribes of Canaanites, there were the Anakim, the Rephaim, the Kenites, the Kenizites, the Perizites, and the Kadmonites, who are named as inhabitants of the territory conquered by the Israelites. But these were probably only branches of the Canaanite tribes, distinguished from the rest by the appellations which they received, on account of events or circumstances which are not recorded. Be this as it may, all the natives of the soil were either destroyed, or expatriated, or compelled to shut themselves up in fortresses, with the exception of the Tsidonians, whose country appears never to have been invaded, and whose cities were certainly