Mar.6] SOCIETYOF BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY. [1894.
proofthat Tarshishwasaccessibleby a ship startingfromJoppe.
This,of course, I do not deny, andsuchshipsas the prophet found
there,andwaseverlikelyto find there,were morelikelyto arrive
safelyon the Phoenician coastthanto reach the Straits of Gibraltar
andfacethe waters of the Atlantic. Whatcoulda ship fromJoppe
haveto do with Tartessus?
I will referbut to one moreBiblical noteof Tarshish.* It is
mentionedmorethanoncein connection withthe isles. So is Tyre.
Whatislands? Islands in the Atlantic?
" The Kingsof Tarshish andof the isles shallbringpresents."
So writes the Psalmist, Ixxii, 10, who also speaks of Arabian
potentates. But his words appearto be a reminiscence of Jeremiah
xxv,22.
"Allthe Kings of Tyre and all the Kings of Zidon andthe
Kingsof the isles whichare by the sea-side," &c.
Andso do the words of another Psalm,xlv, 12, "The daughter
of Tyre shallbe there witha gift."
" Tarshish and the Isles " means ' Phoenicia, bothcontinentalt
andinsular.' All the great townsof Phoenicia hadkings of their
own, who are frequently mentioned in the Assyrian inscriptions,
but the unity of the Phoenician nationand the common interest
was fully recognised.
Whyhowever, it may be asked, did Hebrew writers give the
nameof Tarshish to Phoenicia? The reason for the name will,I
believe,be found in its etymology.
Tarshish, ^ST\T\Me broken, is a genuine Hebrewword,which
bearsthe same relation to the root HJttTlhe broke, which"PD^l
the taught (disciple) bearsto "TO7 he taught. Andthe application
of the term to the sea shore willat once be apparent to those who
knowhowthe Greek am)and 07>} are connected with aywptbreak,
and pvyptvwithp^fvv/u,whichalso signifies break. Thekindred
word pax"' IS applied to a rocky shore. Our own word breakers
- Jeremiah (x. 9) says that "Silver spread into plates is brought from
Tarshish." Thisdoesnot help one to identify the place, but it does not tell
againstPhoenicia,for it certainly was from Phoenicianhandsthatthis silvermer
chandisecameto Jerusalem.
- In the first draughtof this essayI spoke at some lengthof the relations
betweenTyreandPalai-tyros. I was perhapsunderstoodas holding the terms
Palai-tyrosandTarshishto be equivalent and coextensive. To avoid this
misapprehensionI nowomitthe paragraphs whichmightgiveoccasionto it.
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