Feb.6] SOCIETYOF BIBLICAL AKCII.-EOLOGY. 1894.Nothing,indeed,or hardly anything,authenticis known about
Tartessus. Theearlyreferencesto it are mixed up with poetryand
fable. Stesichorusspeaksof it as a river nearto the cavern where
Geryoneswas born, and Anacreonalludesto the 150 years of King
Arganthonius, of whom Herodotushas also spoken(I, 163-165).
Thereis a most seriouschronological difficulty in the story as told
by Herodotus, but if there be any truth at all in it Arganthonius, the
Kingof Tartessus, was a native Iberianprinceandnot a Phoenician.
The Phocean navigators whowere so hospitably treatedby him,
neverseem to have comeacrossany Phoenicians in the country.
Anotherstoryis told by Herodotus, in connexion withthe foundation
of Cyrene, respectingthe Samian merchantColaeus,whowas carried
off by contrary winds through the pillars of Herakles as far as
Tartessus,wherehe sold the cargo he had broughtfromEgyptat a
priceso exorbitant thatin gratitude for his good fortunehe dedicated
to Here of Samos a magnificent bronzevasewhichcostsix talents
andrepresentedthe tithe of his gains. Nowthis story, whatevermay
be its truth, is quite inconsistentwiththe hypothesis of the Phoenician
originor government of Tartessus. Herodotusneverappearsto have
suspected such a connection, and Grote writes entirely without
authoritywhenhe says that Colaeusfoundhimself"an unexpected
visitoramongthe Phenicians and Iberiansof Tartessus," andthat
" the secret of Phenician commerceat Tartessus first becameknown
to the Greeks."
If Tartessus everreallyexistedelsewherethan in the realms of
imagination,like the isle of Calypso, or the gardens of the Hesperides,
its site was certainlyunknownat the time of Strabo, thoughit was
thenidentifiedon grounds of probability withthe neighbourhood of
the Guadalquivir. Late writers,like Valerius Maximus,Pliny,and
Arrian, confoundTartessus and Gades. Thereis no doubt that
Gadeswas Phoenician, andborea Semitic name. It was moreover
so ancient a Phoenician settlement,and so effectual a block in the
wayto Tartessus as to render incredible all the stories of navigation
to that spot. Whatever commercecamefrom the west of Spain
musthaveproceededfromGades,not from Tartessus,andafterthe
growthof Carthage musthavepassedto that emporiumratherthan
directlyto Tyre.
Thechiefcharacteristicwhichhas been pointedout as common
to Tartessus andto Tarshish is the great metallicwealth ascribed
to each of them, and aboveall the possession of tin. Now it is
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