Not far from the HMS Sussex site, eh?
This interesting:
Tarshish
The Phoenician Exodus Westward
The Assyrian economy expanded greatly in the late eighth
century (i.e. 700s) BCE after defeating Urartu which had controlled the
trade routes to the northwest and to Syria. Phoenicia was conquered in the
740s. The Phoenicians were to be at least partly re-settled and forced to
use their experience and know-how to supply Assyria with the greater part
of its raw materials and finished manufactures.
The Prophet Isaiah had predicted the destruction of Phoenician
Tyre and an exodus to Tarshish:
<<THE BURDEN OF TYRE. HOWL YE SHIPS OF TARSHISH; FOR IT IS LAID WASTE (23:1)
<<BE STILL YE INHABITANTS OF THE ISLE; THOU WHOM THE MERCHANTS OF SIDON
THAT PASS OVER THE SEA HAVE REPLENISHED (23:2)
<<PASS YE OVER TO TARSHISH; HOWL YE INHABITANTS OF THE ISLE (23:6)
<<PASS THROUGH THY LAND LIKE A RIVER, O DAUGHTER OF TARSHISH (23:10)
<<DAUGHTER OF SIDON; ARISE, PASS OVER TO CHITTIM; THERE ALSO SHALT THOU
HAVE NO REST (23:12). >>
The ships of Tyre are ships of Tarshish. Isaiah predicted
that Tyre would be destroyed and an attempted re-establishment made in
Chittim. This would be unsuccessful and from Chittim a move to Tarshish
itself (in Spain) would be made. The mass of new immigrant refugees from
Tyre and Sidon entering Tarshish were to be as a river overflowing its
banks. Tyre and Sidon were the two major Phoenician cities. Josephus
(Ant.10; 227) quotes Megasthenes (ca.300 BCE) as saying that the Babylonian
king, Nebuchadnessar (who inherited much of the former Assyrian Empire),
ruled over North Africa and Spain. Esarhaddon (681-669) boasted of
controlling Yadnana (i.e. Isle of the Dananu, meaning Cyprus), Yaman
(Yavan meaning Greece), and Tarsis (meaning Tarsis of the Atlantic) in
Spain. Assyrian references mention Tarsis as the westernmost extremity of
Phoenician colonization. Avienus and various sources record that the
Phoenicians had colonies in Britain.
Spain before ca. 700 BCE had a relatively low population
density with small undefended poorly developed scattered villages
possessing a low technological capacity. Development came with the
Phoenicians. Iron was completely unknown in the Iberian Peninsula until
introduced by the Phoenicians in 750-700 BCE. Metal farming implements did
not appear until iron became widely available after 600 BCE.
The province of Baetica in southern Spain experienced a large
scale settlement of people bearing a Phoenician type culture in the period
immediately following upon the Assyrian conquest of Phoenicia and claimed
domination of Tarshish in Spain.
Archaeology has confirmed the existence in Spain of a material
culture of Syro-Palestinianorigin (i.e. from the area of ancient Israel
and its neighbors) originating in the decades 750-720 and continuing for
two hundred years. In other words the new settlers brought a culture from
the former Israelite area developed by them shortly before the exile of the
northern Tribes of Israel which culminated around 720 BCE. The area of
settlement was along the southern Spanish coast from Abdera (in the
southeast) to Gades which faced the Atlantic Ocean on the west.
The new settlements in Spain were based on the exploitation of
mineral resources from the nearby Andalusian mountains regarding which
Strabo (3;2;7 8) stated:
"Neither gold, nor silver, nor yet copper, nor iron, has been
found anywhere in the world, in a natural state, either in such quantity or
of such a good quality."
The settlement of Toscanos (on the southeast coast of Spain)
was the only really fortified settlement in the area. The construction was
built of dressed stone (ashlar) in a particular style whose closest
parallels are to be found in the Israelite buildings at Samaria and at
Ramat Rachel (near Jerusalem) of Judea. The place was abandoned by about
550 BCE which date was that of Carthaginian and North African incursions.
The Phoenician(or Israelite) settlements in Spain served as
transit points to the east for tin arriving from Portugal, Galicia (Galatia
in northwest Spain) and Britain.
According to Strabo (1;3;2 & 3;5;5) and Pliny most of Spain
had formerly been settled by the Phoenicians. The Assyrians broke the
Phoenician monopoly on tin through conquering the Phoenicians and gaining
control over their sources. The Assyrian Empire was then flooded with tin
at reduced prices. Western Europe especially Britain and Spain possessed
minerals (tin, silver, gold) for which there was an inexhaustible demand in
the east. In the eastern Mediterranean Greek merchant colonies were
established and encouraged to replace the Phoenicians. The Phoenician and
Israelite mercantile operations were transferred westward (Moshe Elat).
Most of the Syro-Palestinianfinds in Spain belong to types prevailing on
the Phoenician coast, in Syria, and the North Israel area. There were also
forms of decorated pottery specifically associated with Iron Age northern
Syria, ancient Hattina, and Quemeaning the once Israelite Northern Syrian
areas of Yadi, of the Dananu, and other parts of northern Syria-Israel.
Assyrian inscriptions announced their control of Tarsis
(Tarshish) in the far west of their domains. Tarsis was on the southwest
coast) of Spain, near Gades (Cadiz) to the northwest of Gibraltar. In
Classical (Greek and Roman) records Tarsis (Tarshish) is referred to as
Tartessos. Tartessos served as an emporium for goods from Gaul and Britain.
In the Book of Psalms, it says The kings of Tarshish and of
the isles shall bring presents(Psalm 72;10): The Aramaic Targum translates
this expression to say, The Kings of Tarsis and of the Isles in the
Oceanic Sea shall bring offeringsand by Oceanic Sea (i.e. Yam Okyanus)
the Atlantic Ocean is intended (Ha-aruch HaShalem, entry: Okyanus).
Prior to the Assyrian exile, the Israelite Hebrews had had
seafaring experience, had co-operated with the Phoenicians, and had become
familiar with Tarshish. King Solomon had been partner to Hiram king of
Phoenician Tyre in an enterprise that circumnavigated Africa and re-entered
the Mediterranean after visiting Tarshish somewhere on the European
Atlantic shores. This enterprise took three years (1- Kings 9:26-27).
Herodotus (4.42,43) reported that Pharoah Neco who reigned
just after Solomon also sent Phoenician sailors to circumnavigate Africa
and return via the Pillars of Hercules i.e. the Straits of Gibraltar. He
likewise mentions the fact that this trip took three years to complete
since he explains the sailors would make a camp on dry land. They would
then sow and wait to reap a harvest before continuing.
The prophet Ezekiel listed Tarshish amongst the numerous
places that were wont to trade with Tyre of Phoenicia: <<TARSHISH WAS THY
MERCHANT BY REASON OF THE MULTITUDE OF ALL KINDS OF RICHES; WITH SILVER,
IRON, TIN, AND LEAD, THEY TRADED IN THY FAIRS>> (Ezekiel 27;12).
At the period mentioned it was the Bronze Age and bronze was
the chief metal in use. Even in the Iron Age, that came later, bronze was
still the most important metal in most regions. Tin and copper are
essential in the production of Bronze and part of the tin used at the time
originated in Britain. Pliny said that all of their tin came from Britain.
The Egyptian (Coptic) word for tin is pithransaid to be derived from a
mispronunciation of Britain.
Tarshishmay have originally been a Greek settlement whose
facilities Israelites and Phoenicians utilized. Around 700 BCE Tartessos
(i.e. Tarshish) was ruled by Phoenicians. Tartessus became identified with
Gades which was also a city of Phoenician origin. Gades was aided by
Carthage. Tartessos established its suzerainty over Phoenician Tyrian
colonies in the south and southeast of Spain. At one stage Tartessos ruled
over all of Spain and most of Gaul. Samuel Bochart (1681), affirmed that
the province of Dertossa in north-east Spanish was actually named after
Tarshish, the name being another form for Tartessa, i.e. (Little-?)
Tartessus.
The Israelite Connection with Tarshish
Tartessus was conquered by Assyria. The Assyrians had
conquered Tyre and Sidon and the rest of Phoenicia as well as the northern
Kingdom of Israel. They exiled many of the Phoenicians and all of the
Israelites. The Israelites were deported to several areas mostly in the
north. In addition, a portion of the Israelite deportees were transported
together with, or alongside of, Phoenicians to southern Spain. [References
to an exile by sea in great shipsand in fishing boats are found in the
Hebrew Bible, in the Books of Isaiah and Amos]. They were forced to further
develop their metallurgical operations and trading connections in the area
in order to supply the Assyrians with raw materials, especially metals,
from Spain and Britain. Biblical references show that the Phoenicians and
Philistines acted on behalf of the Assyrians and were instrumental in
transferring Israelite exiles overseas. Initially the Phoenicians were
concentrated in the south and south east of Spain. In this area, place
names and other factors reveal an initial Israelite presence alongside that
of the Phoenicians.
The word Hebrew(originally used almost exclusively for
Israelites) comes from the root "Aber" or "Iber". The appellation
"IBERI" was at first that of the Israelite settlers. The name was later
given to natives of North Africa who entered Spain as a result of
Carthaginian policy. The term "Iberi" was consequently incorrectly
applied to the North African newcomers. The Greeks were apparently
responsible for applying the term "Iberian"to the wrong people. They
transposed an already existing ethnic definition of another people known to
them by that name in the Spanish area. The original Iberi(or Hiberi) had
from Spain passed into Gaul and the British Isles and the root "Eber" (or
"Iber" or "Heber") is frequently found in the Celticnomenclature of
those areas. The overwhelming majority of places bearing the name "Iber"
and its cognates are Celtic and everywhere the name is found can be linked
to Celtic presence. The inhabitants of Britain and Ireland called
themselves "Iberi" meaning Hebrews. Iberiis also rendered as Hiberi,
Ibernian, or Hibernian.
Justin (44;3) said that,
"The Gallaecians..... took possession of those parts where
New Carthage now stands and passing from thence to Gallaecia.."
New Carthage was on the southeast coast of Spain. -Gallaecia
was on the northwest. Justin is recording a tradition of migration from the
southeast of Spain to Gallaecia in the northwest. Gallaeciawas named
after the Galatae who settled in Gaul and the British Isles and according
to Irish and Scottish mythology arrived via Spain.
Ammianus Marcellinus (15;19) said that the original
inhabitants of Tartessos had been called DORIANS. The Dorians in Classical
literature were a branch of the Greeks but in this case the intention is to
people coming via the port of Dor on the coast of Israel. Dor was the major
port on the coast of Central Israel and in Assyrian times it was the name
given to a province comprising the whole coastal area. Bochart using Greek
and Latin sources demonstrated that the Dorians who migrated to Gades and
Tartessus were descendants of a legendary "Dorus" and "Phoenicius" i.e.
of Dorians and Phoenicians. Bochart traced them to Dor in Israel and says
that originally they were identified as Galicians, i.e. Galatians. Dor and
her towns had been part of the region inherited by the Tribe of Manasseh
whose original Canaanite inhabitants at first could not be driven out but
were put to tribute (Joshua 17:11-12, Judges 1:27-28). Later the area was
considered Israelite. All the region of Dor became one of the 12
administrative districts into which the Land of Israel was divided by King
Solomon . When the Assyrians conquered Israel they named the whole coastal
region of Manasseh and Ephraim after Dor. Ptolemy records the Menesthei
Portus, i.e. the Port of the Tribe of Manasseh, in the region of the
Turdulorum just to the east of Gades off the southwest coast of
Spain! Metal produced in Baetica (in southeast Spain) was called
Samarian metal (Pliny N.H.) after Samaria in Israel. There was also a
port named Samariumin Galatia of northwest Spain. The Samar (Somme) River
in north Gaul and neighboring city of Samarobriva (Amiens) and the Sambre
River just to their north in Belgium were also named after Samaria in Israel.
