[273] Thapsacus is understood to be identical with the city called Tiphsach (passage) in 1 Kings iv. 24; which is there said to have been the eastern boundary of Solomon’s empire. It is generally supposed that the modern Deir occupies the site of the ancient Thapsacus; but it has been discovered that the only ford in this part of the river is at Suriyeh, 165 miles above Deir. This was probably the site of Thapsacus. From the time of Seleucus Nicator the city was called Amphipolis (Pliny, v. 21). See Stephanus of Byzantium, sub voce Amphipolis. Cf. Xenophon (Anabasis, i. 4, 11).
[274] The Euphrates is the largest river of western Asia, and rises in the mountains of Armenia. It unites with the Tigris, and after a course of 1,780 miles flows into the Persian Gulf. It is navigable by boats for 1,200 miles. The annual inundation, caused by the melting of the snow in the mountains of Armenia, takes place in the month of May. The Euphrates, Tigris, and Eulaeus had formerly three separate outlets into the Persian Gulf; but the three now unite in a single stream, which is called Shat-el-Arab. The Hebrew name for the river which the Greeks called Euphrates, was Pĕrath (rapid stream). It is called in the Bible, the Great River, and the River (Gen. xv. 18; Exod. xxiii. 31; et passim). In Jeremiah xiii. 4-7, the word Pĕrath stands for Ephrath, another name for Bethlehem; in our Bible it is mis-translated. See Fürst’s Hebrew Lexicon.
[275] The term Cĕnaan was applied to the lowland plain from Aradus to Gaza. The northern portion, from Aradus to Carmel, is known to us under its Grecian name of Phoenicia, which is probably derived from the Greek phoinix (a palm-tree), which grew abundantly in the country, and was the emblem of some of its towns. Others derive it from another Greek word phoinix (red dye), which formed one of its most important manufactures. The Phoenicians applied the term Cenaan to their land in contrast to the highlands to the west, which they called Aram (highland), the Hebrew name for Syria. The country of Phoenicia was 120 miles long and with an average breadth of 12 miles, never exceeding 20 miles. The chief cities of Phoenicia were Tyre, Sidon, Aradus, Byblus, Berytus, Tripolis, and Accho or Ptolemais. Its central position between the eastern and western countries, early developed its commercial power, and its intercourse with foreign nations at an early period produced an advanced state of civilization and refinement. The Phoenicians were a Semitic nation like the Israelites; and their language bears a remarkable affinity with the Hebrew, as is seen by fragments of the Carthaginian language preserved in Plautus. In an inscription discovered at Marseilles in 1845, out of 94 words 74 were found in the Hebrew Bible. The Phoenicians were asserted by the Greeks to have communicated to them the knowledge of letters; and this statement is corroborated by the similarity of the Hebrew and ancient Greek letters. Their colonies spread from Cyprus to Crete and the Cyclades, thence to Euboea, Greece, and Thrace. The coasts of Asia Minor and Bithynia were dotted with their settlements, and they carried their commerce into the Black Sea. They also had colonies in Sicily, Sardinia, Ivica, and Spain, where they founded Cadiz. The northern coast of Africa was lined with their colonies, the most flourishing of which was Carthage, which rose to be one of the great powers of the world. Strabo says that they had 300 colonies on the western coast of Africa. They visited the coasts of England for tin; and thus, to quote the words of Humboldt, “the Tyrian flag waved at the same time in Britain and the Indian Ocean.” Herodotus (iv. 42, 43) says that under the patronage of Necho, king of Egypt, they circumnavigated Africa; but he states that he does not believe it was a fact. The reason which he assigns for his disbelief is, that the navigators alleged that the sun was on their right hand, which is the strongest argument in favour of the truth of their statement. In Isaiah xxiii. 11, Phoenicia is called Cĕnaan, where the English Bible has erroneously, the merchant city. In the Bible the word Cĕnaanim is frequently used for merchants, because the Phoenicians were the principal commercial people of antiquity (Job xli. 6; Prov. xxxi. 24; Isaiah xxiii. 8; Hos. xii. 7; Zeph. i. 2; Zech. xiv. 21). Tripolis consisted of three distinct cities, 600 feet apart, each having its own walls, but all united in a common constitution with one place of assembly. These cities were colonies respectively of Sidon, Tyre, and Aradus. Tripolis was a flourishing port on a headland which is a spur of Lebanon. It is now called Tripoli, and is still a large town. See Dr. Smith’s Dictionary of Classical Geography.
[276] The oldest towns in Cyprus,—Citium, Amathus, and Paphus,—were Phoenician colonies. These were afterwards eclipsed by the Greek colonies, Salamis, Soli, and New Paphus. In Hebrew the island is called Ceth, and the inhabitants Cittim. Gesenius says, that upon a Sidonian coin Ceth in Cyprus, which the Greeks called Citium, is described as a Sidonian colony. Diodorus (xvi. 42) says there were nine kings in Cyprus. It is probable that the kings of the Hittites mentioned in 1 Kings x. 29, were from Cyprus. Also the Hittite women whom Solomon married were probably Cyprians (1 Kings xi. 1). The kings of the Hittites of whom the Syrians were afraid were also Cypriotes (2 Kings vii. 6); and the land of the Hittites mentioned in Judges i. 26, probably means Cyprus. Josephus, Eusebius, and Jerome understand these passages to refer to Cyprus. In Isaiah xxiii. 1, the land of Cittim refers to Cyprus, which belonged to Tyre, the revolt of which the prophet announced. This revolt is confirmed by Menander (Josephus, ix. 14, 9).
[277] Agis III. was ultimately defeated and slain by Antipater, B.C. 330. See Curtius, vi. 1 and 2; Grote’s Greece, vol. xii. pp. 102-106.
[278] About £7,300.
[279] Now Cape Matapan. Cf. Propertius, iii. 2, 11; Tibullus, iii. 3, 13; Homer (Hymn to Apollo, 411).
[280] The Cretans were very early civilized and powerful, for we read in Homer of their 100 cities. Before the Trojan war lived the famous king Minos, who is said to have given laws to Crete, and to have been the first potentate who possessed a navy, with which he suppressed piracy in the Aegean Sea. The Cretans gradually degenerated, so that we find in the New Testament St. Paul quoting from their own poet, Epimenides: “Always liars and beasts are the Cretans, and inwardly sluggish” (Titus i. 12). The lying propensity of the Cretans is proved from the fact that the verb to Cretize, was used in Greek with the meaning “to speak falsely.” In Hebrew, Crete is called Caphtor (cypress). It is mentioned in Jer. xlvii. 4. It was the native land of a tribe of Philistines called Caphtorim (Gen. x. 14; Deut. ii. 23; 1 Chron. i. 12). The fact that the Philistines came partly from Crete is also affirmed in Amos ix. 7. Another branch of the Philistines came from Casloach in Egypt. The Caphtorim emigrated originally from Egypt to Crete, from which island they were probably driven by the Greeks. Tacitus asserts that the inhabitants of Palestine came from Crete (Historiae, v. 2); and the early name of Gaza was Minoa, after the famous king of Crete. Another Hebrew name for Crete is Cĕrēth, whence the inhabitants were called Cĕrēthim. They are mentioned in Ezek. xxv. 16, and Zeph. ii. 5; where the Septuagint and the Syriac have Cretans. We find the Philistines, who were partly emigrants from Crete, called Cerethim in 1 Sam. xxx. 14. From among these Cerethim and Philistines David chose his body-guard, which was composed of men skilled in shooting and slinging (2 Sam. viii. 18, xv. 18, xx. 7, 23; 1 Kings i. 38, 44; 1 Chron. xviii. 17).
[281] From Diodorus (xvii. 48) it appears that Agis went personally to Crete, and compelled most of the cities to join the Persian side. We also learn that the deputies of the Greeks assembled at the Isthmian games at Corinth sent an embassy to Alexander to congratulate him on his victory at Issus, and to present him with a golden wreath. (See also Curtius, iv. 22.)
[282] Coele-Syria, or Hollow Syria, is, in its more limited sense, the country between the ranges of Libanus and Anti-Libănus, in which Damascus and Baalbek are situated; in its wider meaning, it comprises the whole of Northern Syria, in opposition to the countries of Phoenicia and Palestine.