PREFACE. IN the contents of the accompanying volume an attempt has been made to bring together, in a concise form, such information concerning the history of Tyre and of Phoenicia generally, as might be interesting to readers desirous of becoming acquainted with the results rather than the processes of learned and antiquarian researches. Materials have been derived from various sources, amongst which may be mentioned the works of Herodotus and Josephus, Heeren, Gesenius, Bochart, Fairbairn on Ezekiel, as well as others, which are probably well known and accessible to the English reader. Prominence has been given to matters which might serve to illustrate the meaning and contents of the sacred Scriptures; and it has been the aim of the compiler to set forth Tyre and its history as conveying a solemn lesson to those who, in modern times, are busily engaged in the pursuits of industry and commerce. TYRE: ITS RISE, GLORY, AND DESOLATION. CHAPTER I. PHOENICIA AND THE PHOENICIANS GENERALLY. PHOENICIA, in its proper and limited sense, embraces that narrow tract of territory, about twelve miles wide, which lies at the foot of Mount Lebanon, and extends about one hundred miles from north to south. It is a beautiful and charming country, producing some of the richest fruits and loveliest flowers that grow upon the face of the earth. The difference in the elevation, according as we ascend the mountain, occasions a remarkable diversity in the climate and the natural productions of the soil. The snows of winter rest upon the head of Lebanon, the gay mantle of spring is cast around its shoulders, autumn with its pleasant fruits lies embosomed in its lap, and summer in all its luxuriance extends itself between its base and the blue waves of the Mediterranean Sea. The sides of the mountain are covered with oaks, pines, cypress trees, acacias, and tamarisks; and |