The Court of the Gentiles, Discourse · Part 1 · Book 1 · Chapter 8
CAP VIII. Phenicians in the Ilands of the Midland Sea.
Phenicians in Cyprus. Cinyras, Myrrha, Adonis, Phenician names. Cyprus from foreign Cant. 1.14. Belus, Pygmalion Citium Phenician appellations; alſo Urania, Idalium. Phenicians in Crete. The ſtory of Europa's being carryed away by Jupiter, under the forme of a Bull, from the miſtake of the Phenician foreign, which ſignifies both a ſhip and a bull. Phenicians in Melita. Phenicians in Sicilie. Lilybe, Eryx, Scylla, Charybdis, Aetna, Cyclopes, and Sicilie Phenician names. Phenicians in Italie. The original of the Tyrrhenians. The Cimmerians, as Italie, and Latium Phenician Titles. Phenicians in Sardinia, and Corſica; which Ezek. 27.6. is called Citthim.
§. 1. AS the Phenicians diſperſed Colonies into Greece, and the Northerne parts adjacent thereto, ſo in like manner Weſtward, throughout all parts of the Midland Sea; for which they had all the advantages that might be, both from their skill in Navigation, and the ſituation of their Countrey Phaenicia, as before. We ſhall begin with Cyprus, which lay next to Phenicia, and mighty commodious for their Trade. Phenicians in Cyprus.This Iland Cyprus ſeems to be one of the firſt, that came under the Dominion of theſe Phenicians. Euſebius in his Chronicon, on the number 1089 obſerves, that Paphos a Phenician City in Cyprus, was built when Cadmus reigned at Thebes. Bochart alſo Praef. ad Canaan, tels us: that before the time of the Trojan war Cinyras King of Phenicia, poſſeſsed this Iland of Cyprus, by vertue of right received from his Anceſtors. Cynyras, Myrrha, Adonis Phenicians.This Cinyras by Myrrha begot Adonis, Venus's ſweet heart. Cinyras by the Phenicians, was called foreign, Myrrha foreign, Adonis foreign Cinnor, by the Greeks is rendred foreign a kind of harpe; whence Cinyras had his name given him; the reaſon whereof you may find in Suidas on foreign. This is that Cinyras, by whom Agamemnon had his breaſt plate given him, as Hom. Iliad λ. Boch. Can. l. 1. c. 3. Yea the very name Cyprus, ſhews its origination to be Phenician. Cyprus from foreign Cant. 1.14.For in Stephanus and Euſtathius, Cyprus is ſo called foreign, from the flour Cyprus which grows there, which in the Hebrew is called foreign Copher Cant. 1.14. Neither are we without likelyhood, that the Iland Cyprus received its name from this Plant Cyprus, which grows in ſuch abundance there, though elſe where it be more rare. Plin. lib. 12. cap. 24.
§. 2. That the Phenicians enjoyed, even from their firſt Navigations, the poſſeſſion of Cyprus, is alſo apparent from the common fame of Belus's reigning over Cyprus, and founding the Cities of Citium and Lapethus. Belus.This Belus was one of the ancient Kings of Phenicia, (though not the firſt of that name) whoſe ſon Pygmalion reigned after him in Cyprus. Belus reigned 32 years, and Pygmalion 40 years. Belus comes from foreign Baal Lord, becauſe he was King of Phenicia; from whom all the Phenician Baalim had their denomination. Pygmalion.Pygmalion, in the Hebrew is foreign Pygmeelion, i:e: reſt from the moſt high God: in Greek foreign. Elion was one of the Phenician Gods, as it appears out of Sanchoniathon. Melchiſedec King of Canaan worſhipped the true God under this name Gen. 14.18,19. Gen. 14.18,19. Elion.Unto Pygmalion, ſucceeded Paphus, who built Paphum in Cyprus, where ſtood that famous Temple dedicated to Paphia Venus, of which Tacitus ſpeaks much Hiſt. lib. 2. At this place it is ſaid; that Venus ariſing out of the ſea firſt arrived &c.
§. 3. Citium.Alſo that Citium, a famous City in Cyprus, was poſſeſſed by the Phenicians, Laertius, and Suidas write, on the life of Zeno: the like Grotius: and Voſsius, out of Cicero, proves that the Citieans ſprang from the Phenicians, Citium, ſaith he, a town of Cyprus where Zeno was borne, had Phenician Inhabitants: So Cicero lib. 4. de finibus, know that the Citieans, thy clients ſprang from phenicia: Voſsius de Philoſ. Sectis l. 2. cap. 1. Citium, as Bochart tels us, was ſo called from foreign Cethim, (not Cethis the ſon of Javan Gen. 10.4.) and was famous for nothing more, than for the birth of that famous Philoſopher Zeno, who was thence ſtiled Citienſis. Ʋrania.Urania, another City of Cyprus, received its name from Urania Venus, whoſe worſhip was tranſlated from Aſcalon into Cyprus, by the Phenicians, as Herodotus writes. Idalium.Idalium a town of Cyprus ſeems to be ſo called, by the Phenicians, in the Hebrew foreign Idala. We have a town in the Tribe of Zabulon, mentione… by the ſame name Joſ. 19.15. jad-ela verbatim the place of the Goddeſſe, ie. dedicated to Venus: whence Idalia Venus. Bochart Can. l. 1. cap. 3.
§. 4. Phenicians in Crete.That Crete alſo received both its name, & Inhabitants from the Phenicians, is not improbable. For the name Cretes, ſeems to be taken from foreign Crethi i.e. darters; from their fame for darting: thence the Cretian bow, and the Cretian arrow. So the Inhabitants of Paleſtine, the Phenicians, are called foreign Cherethims Ezek. 25.16. Zeph. 2.5. Ezek. 25.16. Zeph. 2.5.which the LXX render foreign (and the Vulgar Cerethi) i.e. Cretians. Alſo in Gortyna, a City of Crete near the river Lethaeus, Atymnus, the brother of Europa, was worſhipped; whoſe Phenician name was foreign Theman: and the whole ſtorie, of Jupiter King of Crete, his ſtealing Europa a Phenician, and bringing of her into Crete on a bull, ariſeth meerly from a miſtake of the Phenician words. The fable of Europa's being carried away by Jupiter, under the forme of a bull, from a miſtake of the Phenician word.For the Phenician foreign ſignifying either a bull, or a ſhip; when in the Hiſtorie it ran thus: that, Jupiter carried away Europa foreign in a ſhip; the Grecians had rather underſtand it of a Bull, to render the ſtorie more fabulous: ſo from the equivocation of the word, the Fable ſprang: as Bochart Can. l. 1. c. 15. or it may be, the ſhip had (foreign) the ſigne of a Bull; as the Ship Paul ſailed in, had the ſigne of Caſtor and Pollux: it being uſual to call their Ships by the names of the ſignes they carried, ſo Stillingfleet orig. ſaer. l. 3. c. 5. ſect. 5. Europe whence ſo called.Europa in the Phenician Tongue, is foreign, from the whitenes of her face; whoſe beauty was greatly eſteemed: whence Europe borrows its name, Crete (where Europa was) being the utmoſt extent thereof.
§. 5. Melita the ſeat of the PheniciansMelita, an Iland in the Midland Sea, famous for the ſhipwrack of Paul, & the chief fortreſſe of the Knights of Rhodes, now called the Knights of Maltha, was alſo poſſeſſed by the Phenicians. So Diodorus lib. 5. foreign &c. This Iland is a Colonie of the Phenicians. Hence it is that to this very day, the dialect of the Countrey people in this Iland, is thought to be half Punick; or rather, as Bochart will have it, Arabick. As for the Etymologie of the name Melita, Bochart draws it, either from foreign to free: thence foreign Melita a Refuge; becauſe ſtanding in the midſt of the Sea, and having commodious ports; as alſo being in the midſt of the way from Tyre to Gades, it was a mighty ſhelter to the Phenicians in their yearly Navigations to Gades. So Diodorus lib. 5. Melita is a Colonie of the Phenicians, who extending their Negotiations even unto the Ocean foreign made this Iland their refuge. Such indeed it was to Paul. Bochart gives it another origination, from foreign, which ſignifies morter made of lime and ſand, which the Romans call Maltha; whence the Iland is called Calicata; this kind of morter being much uſed here, as Diodorus l. 5. About the lower part of this Iland, Ptolemy placeth the Temple of Juno on the one ſide, and the Temple of Hercules on the other, both Phenician Gods, whereof there remain ſome reliques to this day. In that of Juno, there were ivory teeth of an incredible Magnitude, with this Punick inſcription: MASINISSAE: Bochart Can. l. 1. c. 26.
§. 6. Phenicians in Sicilie.The Pheniciaus from Tyre, or elſe from Carthage, poſſeſſed the Shores of Sicilie, long before the Greeks. So Thucydides lib. 6. and it is moſt probable that the Phenicians ſetled themſelves in theſe parts, about the ſame time they invaded Africa: which Bochart proves from many ancient Fables, and names of places, which have a note of the Phenician Dialect: Lilybe.So Lilybe, or Lilybaeum, which lies over againſt Africa, in the Punick tongue, is called foreign to Libya; or foreign Lelybae, to the Lybians; becauſe over againſt them. Eryx.Near Drepanum ſtands the moſt high mountain Eryx, inferior to none but Aetna: its name is purely Punick. So the Hebrew foreign Harucas, ſignifies an high place, as Eſa. 40.4. On the top of Eryx, ſtood the Temple dedicated by the Phenicians to Venus, who was thence ſtiled Erycina. Scylla. Charybdis.In the Sicilian ſtrait, near Pelorus, lies Scylla, and Charybdis. Scylla, according to the Punick foreign Scol; ſignifies deſtruction Levit. 10.19. as the Chaldee: in which ſenſe foreign is uſed by the Greeks. Again, Charybdis, in the Phenician foreign Chor-obdan ſignifies a gulf of perdition: So Seneca, hiatu magno ſorbet navigia. Aetna.The mountain Aetna, was called by the Phenicians foreign Attuna, a furnace or chimney; or Aetuna darknes Bochart Can. lib. 1. cap. 28.
§. 7. The Phenicians inhabited, almoſt, all parts of Sicilie; having at firſt poſſeſſed themſelves of the ſea coaſts, the better to carry on their negotiation. But in after time many of the Grecians, ſeating themſelves in the ſame Iland, they inhabited together. The Cyclopes.The Cyclopes, who were Inhabitants of Sicilie, were, as Bochart obſerves, ſo called from the Phenician foreign Chek-lub, i.e. a ſinus towards Lybia; which the Greeks rendred foreign: whence their Fable, that they had but one eye, and that orbicular. Sicilie, ſo called from foreign a grape.As for the name Sicilie, it ſeems to be derived from the Phenician foreign Siclul, i.e. the Iland of perfection: becauſe of its fertility: or elſe (which Bochart eſteems truer) from the Syriack foreign a grape; as in Gen. 40.10. foreign is uſed for grapes: ſo the Phenicians called Sicilie, as if it were the Iland of Grapes. The Reaſon of the name is manifeſt: for in thoſe ancient times, the Carthaginians had no vines nor grapes, but what they had from Sicilie: which Homer deſcribes as moſt abounding with vines. Whence the Mamertine, Potaline, Taurominitane and Syracuſane Wines. Thence Sicilie was called Naxus; from the plenty of vines. For all know that Naxon was an Iland dedicated to Bacchus by reaſon of its plenty of vines, Boch. Can. lib. 1. c. 30.
§. 8. Phenicians in Italie.That the Phenicians ſent their Colonies into, or frequented, at leaſt, ſome parts of Italie, is confeſſed by Bochart, Tyrrhenians not from Tyrians.though he differ from Fuller, and Grotius about the Tyrrhenians, who make them to be the poſterity of the Tyrians; but Bochart makes the Tyrrhenians, according to Homer, Thucydides, and Herodotus, the ſame with the foreign, and ſo not to deſcend from the Tyrians. Yet he grants, that the Italian Shores were very well known to, & frequented by the Phenicians; as it is eaſy to gather out of Homer; who ſeems to have drawen all his Italian Fables from the the relation of the Phenicians. Cimmerians.As the Aurunci had their name from light, ſo the Cimmerii from darknes, becauſe, according to the Phenicians foreign Cimmir is to waxe dark: whence foreign Cimrir ſignifies blacknes of darknes Job. 3.5. Job. 3.5.Thence the Fable, of Cimmerian darknes: Italia.Yea Bochart derives the name Italia, from the Phenician foreign Itaria; which comming from foreign, ſignifies a countrey abounding with pitch; ſuch was Italie; whence it was anciently called the Brutian, i.e. the pitchy Countrey. As for the permutation of R into L, that was eaſy and uſual. Calabria.Hence alſo the Hebrew foreign ſignifying pitch, gave name to Calabria. Latium & Lat….So in like manner Latium is, by Bochart, derived from the Phenician foreign, which in the plural is foreign latim, or foreign latin, i.e. inchantment. Whence that famous Grecian Fable of Circe's being a Witch; and Latium the neighboring Countrey, its abounding with inchanting herbs &c. Bochart Can. lib. 1. cap. 33.
§. 9. Phenicians in Sardinia.That Sardinia was anciently poſſeſſed by the Carthaginians, or Phenicians, Bochart Can. l. 1. c. 31. proves, 1. From its name. For Sardinia from potters clay was anciently called Icknuſa, and Sandaliotis: by the Carthaginians foreign, from the Hebrew foreign, i.e: veſtigium, foreign being inſerted by the cuſtome of the tongue. 2. That the Phenicians ſent Colonies into Sardinia, about the ſame time that they invaded Africa, Spain and Sicilie, may be gathered out of Diodorus lib. 5.3. We have mention made of Caralis, Sulchi, and Charmis Phenician Cities in Sardinia.
§. 10. Corſica.That Corſica alſo was poſſeſſed by the Phenicians, appears. 1. From its name Corſica, or Corſis, which is the ſame with the Phenician foreign Chorſi; as if one ſhould ſay, a place full of woods. 2. Corſica was alſo called by the Grecians foreign, from the Phenician foreign horny: that is to ſay, the Horny Iland: becauſe of its many Promontories, and angles. 3. Callimachus in his hymne on Delus, cals Corſica, Phaeniſsa. 4. We read Ezech. 27.6. Ezech. 27.6. Citthim Corſica.That the Tyrians made the benches of their Ships of boxe brought out of Citthim, that is the Iland of Corſica, as Bochart proves Can. lib. 1. c. 32. It is, ſaies he, doubted, whether the Phenicians poſseſſed Corſica: neither do the ancients make any great mention of it. Yet ſeeing they poſſeſsed Sardinia for ſo many ages, I can hardly believe, that they would ſpare an Iland ſo near, and ſo eaſily to be gained. This appears by what I have proved from Ezech. 27.6. alſo becauſe this Iland is called Phaeniſſa in Callim…chi hymn. in Dedlum.