CHAPTER I.

Phoenicians.—It is for simplicity's sake that throughout the preceding fiction I have adopted the classical name Phoenicians, which may be interpreted either as "the red men" or "men of the date-lands." Amongst themselves they were designated "Canaanites," or "people of the lowlands," in contradistinction to "Aramites," or "people of the highlands."

It would be out of place here to enter into any critical dissertation upon the words Khna and Aram, from which Canaanites and Aramites derive their appellation.—Page 1.

Shekel.—This word (which, in the Hebrew tongue, signifies a weight) is applied both to coined money, the use of which originated with the Phoenicians, and to a certain standard of ordinary weight.—Page 2.

Tariff of the Sacrifices.—The ritual or tariff of sacrifices is extracted from the work of the AbbÉ BargÈs on the Phoenician inscription discovered at Marseilles.—Page 5.

Gaoul.—Originally this word signified any round hollow object. The Phoenicians designated the island of Gozo "Gaulo Melitta," Malta the Round, and it may easily be understood how the term came to be applied to their circular merchant ships, which were of a type essentially Tyrian. "Onerariam navem Hippus Tyrius invenit." (Pliny, 'Nat. Hist.')

My authorities for the description of the Phoenician vessels are:

1. Two engravings in Layard.

2. Ezekiel's prophecy against Tyre. (Chap. xxvii. 7.)

3. Xenophon's description in the 'Œconomia' of the great Phoenician ship that came every year to the PirÆus.

4. The engravings in Wilkinson.

I have likewise ventured to draw some inferences by analogy from the accounts of Genevan, Pisan, and Venetian ships of the thirteenth century, given by Col. Yule, in his edition of 'Marco Polo.'—Page 8.

Sheathed with Copper.—Although this may seem an anachronism, it may with some degree of certainty be alleged that the Phoenicians had an idea of using copper for this purpose. It would seem to be implied by Vegetius ('Rei militaris,' iv. 24) and by AthenÆus (v. 40). An ancient legend attributes the invention to Melkarth, the Tyrian Hercules: Hercules ... nave Æne navigavit ... navem Æneam habuit (Servius).

The other materials employed in the building of the ships are mentioned by the prophet Ezekiel.

Besides the gaoul, I have introduced the barque, the fast ship, and the long ship, or fifty-oared war-galley.

Without entering into minute details, it may be said that the barque is essentially Phoenician. Barek, in Hebrew, signifies to bend or curve anything, as a plank. Barca est quÆ cuncta navis commercia ad littus portat (Isidorus, Origines). In the modern Berber dialect it is called "ibarka."

The fast ship was called ?pp??, a horse, by the Greeks, either on account of its speed, or from the figure ordinarily found at its prow: Strabo distinctly asserts the latter reason. The vessel described in the text being of the type most frequently used in the Phoenician colony of Gades, has, on that account, been designated 'the Gadita.' Several Phoenician coins, apparently current on the coast of Africa, bear the impression of a horse's head; and the legend of a horse's head being discovered in the foundation of Carthage, probably originated in the national symbol affixed to the Phoenician ships.

The true Sidonian war-ship is the fifty-oared galley:

?a?? pe?t????t???? S?d???a?.

Eurip. Hel. 1141.

What was the tonnage of such a vessel, or how it could be worked by only fifty oars, or carry 400 men, are matters on which I give no opinion; it is not my province to enter upon any technical arguments.

If an analogy be required, it may be suggested by the huge Chinese junks which were seen by the Arabian, Ibn Batuta, in the fourteenth century, and which carried 600 men, and had fifty or sixty immense oars, each oar being worked by eight men, by means of ropes pulled in opposite directions. Those seen by Marco Polo had four men to each oar. It is not improbable that the Phoenician vessels were worked by some similar method.—Page 9.

Purple sail.—My description of the parade-boats is not imaginary; pictures of them are given in Wilkinson (vol. iii.), and all the ancient writers, from Herodotus to Plutarch, enter into details concerning them. Herodotus describes the Sidonian vessel, from which Xerxes reviewed his fleet, as being adorned with golden hangings, meaning Babylonian materials wrought with gold.—Page 16.

CHAPTER II.

Pigeons. Ravens.—The custom of taking birds on a voyage, to indicate by their flight the direction of land, is mentioned repeatedly in the annals of antiquity. As an instance of more modern time and of semi-barbarous races, it may be incidentally quoted that the sea-king, Ingolf, or Floke Vilgedarson, in 868 took with him three ravens when he set out for the discovery of Iceland.—Page 23.

Fleur-de-lys.—The tiara with this device may be seen amongst the engravings at the end of Botta's work.—Page 31.

CHAPTER V.

Pharaoh.—The blank which exists in the records of Egypt at the end of the eleventh and beginning of the tenth centuries B.C., renders me unable to give the name of the Pharaoh reigning at this period.

The war-chariots of the Egyptians were mounted by Libyans, i.e., by Berbers of the Tamachek race, of which the Kabyles and Touaregs are the modern representatives. These chariots and cavalry, also Libyan, formed the great strength of the Egyptian army.—Page 79.

CHAPTER VI.

Cydonians. Pelasgians.—Without entering upon any dissertation on this topic, I content myself with mentioning the existence throughout Europe of races distinct both in type and language from the Aryan races whom they preceded. Two of these may be especially remarked: one with round skulls of Mongolian type, commonly called Turanians; the other with elongated skulls, classified as Australoids. These races have everywhere left traces alike of their presence and of their inferior civilisation. In the island of Crete, the Greeks preserved the memory of the Cydonians by the few words which I have introduced into the text.—Page 100.

CHAPTER VII.

Homer.—My introduction of the name of Homer undoubtedly demands an apology. I can only plead that the temptation to uplift the veil of mystery, and to reveal the mighty poet in connection with my fiction, was very great. Even after Schliemann's researches, the date of the Trojan war is so uncertain that I feel quite at liberty to regard it as an open question.—Page 129.

CHAPTER IX.

Tyrrhenian Privateers.—The description of these vessels is based upon a figure found upon a vase in the Campana Museum.—Page 158.

Scylla. Charybdis.—The romances interwoven into my tale are strictly Phoenician; and I have felt quite justified in introducing an allusion to the way in which the Tyrian sailors delighted to mystify strangers upon whom they could impose. I may adduce the passage in Herodotus, where he speaks of the young girls fishing for gold in the island of Cyraunis, and calls it a fine Phoenician story. "Tell it to the Greeks!" has passed into a proverb, and the Phoenician tar was only too glad to amuse himself and to enhance the price of his wares by giving a highly-coloured version of his adventures.—Page 164.

Nergal.—The superstition about the gigantic cock is borrowed from a Rabbinical legend quoted by Movers.—Page 164.

CHAPTER XI.

Adonibal.—I had already completed my fiction before I learnt from the researches of M. Sainte-Marie that Adonibal was the name usually borne by the naval suffects at Utica, or that it is at least established that a long line of magistrates were so called. It was a mere coincidence that I chose it as being the first appropriate Phoenician name that occurred to my mind.

I may observe here that I have throughout the preceding pages written proper names in the way in which they are most familiar. It would be mere pedantry to put Hanna-baal (cherished by the gods) instead of Hannibal, or Bod-melkarth (the face of Melkarth) instead of Bodmilcar; and it will suffice for any reader who has not studied the Semitic dialects to know that any ancient Phoenician or Jewish name may be dissected like most modern Arab names; for example, Hamilcar is Abd-Melkarth (the servant of Melkarth), like Abd-Allah (the servant of God). The student of the Semitic dialects will have no need to come to my book for instruction.

With regard to the names of places, I have felt considerable difficulty. My reasons for not writing them in Semitic are threefold:—

1. They are not all known to us under this form.

2. If known, they are unfamiliar to the general reader.

3. The identity, orthography, and pronunciation could not be substantiated without entering into minute arguments, which would be out of place.

I have accordingly, with few exceptions, used the most familiar forms, and have, at the risk of criticism, written Crete, for Caphtorim; Egypt, for Mizraim; Libyans, for Mashowiah, &c.—Page 177.

CHAPTER XII.

I have represented Mago as sacrificing in a dolmen in the form of a covered avenue below a tumulus. The details are drawn from Bourguignat's Monuments mÉgalithiques du nord de l'Afrique. M. Daux also gives a description of a similar temple. I profess, however, that I am very far from accepting Bourguignat's theory about rude stone monuments being arranged in the form of serpents, scorpions, and other figures; I am altogether mistrustful of the accounts of prehistoric temples, and am quite of Fergusson's opinion, that these monuments are comparatively modern.—Page 202.

Atlantides.—To my mind there is nothing improbable in the idea of the existence of an inland sea in Algeria which is suggested by the text. I cannot, however, say so much for the existence of Atlantis, but while speaking of the migrations of the Libyans, it seemed consistent to mention all the ancient traditions that relate to them.—Page 203.

CHAPTER XVI.

Ar-Mor.—I entertain considerable doubt whether at the period of which I write the Celts had penetrated so far as the west coast of France; but at any rate they were already in the east, and upon the Rhone. I have ascertained the existence of anterior races, such as the Mongoloids and Australoids, and both here and in a subsequent chapter have referred to them. I plead guilty to an anachronism of four whole centuries, but I felt that to the general reader it would seem strange that I should depict my Phoenicians landing in Gaul without meeting with some well known Gallic people; all that I can say in extenuation is that I have endeavoured to construct my story so as to make the anachronism not too flagrant.—Page 244.

CHAPTER XVII.

Suomi.—There is no reason to doubt the existence of Finns at this date at the mouth of the Elbe. For want of an ancient Finnish name, I have invented an appellation from the modern Finnish word Suomi.—Page 261.

CHAPTER XX.

Circumnavigation of Libya.—Some adverse criticism may probably be aroused by my resorting to this expedient for the prosecuting of my story. That the Phoenicians might have accomplished it, cannot be disputed; and although the Periplus of Hanno has recently been proved to be apocryphal, and the work of some scientific Greek romance writer, I have not hesitated to incorporate the prominent feature of it into these imaginary adventures.—Page 302.

CHAPTER XXI.

Sheba. Ophir.—The identity of this locality with the southern coast of Arabia is beyond a doubt.—Page 309.

"Fairer, etc."—These verses are translated from some later Arabian poetry. Oriental taste has altered so little, that I may claim to be pardoned for putting into the mouth of a Phoenician, a thousand years before the Christian era, some poetry belonging to a period a thousand years after.—Page 310.