Ægina was the first nation that coined Money, and issued Medals,—Athens often applied to Ægina for the execution of both. The Chief Symbol on the Coin of Ægina was the Tortoise, for the reasons stated above:—now, in Mexican America, an ancient coin, or medal, has been found with the Symbol of the Tortoise on it! It may have been buried by a citizen of Ægina (one of the Colony), or by a Tyrian who possessed a coin of the Island-rival,—but most probably the first proposition is correct—viz., that it was possessed by a native of Ægina,—for at Uxmal the Tortoise is there in Sculpture, and the entire façades, interior and exterior, are filled with ornaments à la Grecque antique,—and especially that of the running square, or meander border,—while the buildings themselves bear no analogy to those of Attica;—thus proving almost to demonstration, that Grecian Artists were authors of the Sculpture, Tyrians the Architects of the entire edifices,—while those of Egypt were authors of the Architectural bases. The reader may think that this is the refinement of investigation,—but, it is such as truth and perseverance have authorized, and the historic importance of the subject demands.
The Tortoise is, also, the designation of the coins of Thebes in Greece,—and from this fact, it is brought home at once to the Tyrians, as a Symbol of their country, as well as of Ægina,—and in all probability (consulting data) Ægina copied it from the Theban coin. The Phœnician Chief, Cadmus—(all ancient Tyrian Chiefs were so called) founded Thebes, and is well known to have introduced into Greece, the letters, or Alphabet of his own country; and without doubt, at the same time, he selected the Symbols of his Native land, to represent the Coin of his new City. The Tortoise is, therefore, a Tyrian emblem, and is found upon the Ruins in Ancient America.
Cadmus founded Thebes 1493 B. C., and was consequently contemporary with the first Lawgiver. Euripides in his Drama of the "Phœnician Virgins" thus alludes to his arrival, as uttered by Jocasta:
"Resplendent Sun
How inauspicious didst thou dart thy beams
That day on Thebes, when from the sea-wash'd coast
Of fair Phœnicia Cadmus on this land
Set his ill-omen'd foot!"
We have suggested that Grecians [i. e. of Ægina] may have been the authors of the Sculpture, and Egyptians of the Architectural bases of the edifices, because their respective styles are traceable in the Ruins of Palenque, Uxmal, and Copan. This suggestion is founded upon the possibility (and even probability) of natives of those nations being at Tyrus, at the time of the departure of the Tyrians:—yet, it does not follow, as a necessity, that all the Architects, Builders, and Sculptors must have been of those nations;—for although there does not exist in Asia or Africa any Phœnician Architecture, whereby a comparison can be made, yet there does exist the undying record that the Tyrians were builders and Sculptors from their own practice, and that fact is founded upon the authority of Scripture: