By This Means, The
Stream Bearing On The Hurdle, Carried Down The Boat With Great Expedition;
The Stone At The Same Time Balancing And Keeping It Steady.
Of these
vessels they had great numbers on the river; some very large.
III. The Jews were still more averse than the Egyptians to intercourse with
foreigners, and maritime and commercial enterprises; indeed, their country
was comparatively ill-situated for maritime commerce. Josephus is not,
however, quite correct, in stating that Judea was not situated on the sea,
and that the people of that country did not carry on any trade, but that
their whole thoughts were turned to agriculture. The words of Jacob, on his
death-bed, are expressly against this opinion: in blessing his twelve sons,
he says of Zebulon, "he shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall
be for an haven of ships;" and we know that the tribe of Zebulon was
extended to the sea shore, and to the gates of Sidon.
It is not likely, that being in the immediate vicinity of this commercial
city, the Jews would not be stimulated to follow its example, and endeavour
to draw wealth from the same sources. Indeed, the Old Testament expressly
speaks of Joppa as the port of Judea and Jerusalem, into which foreign
articles, and especially many of the materials used by Solomon in the
building of the temple, were imported.
On the conquest of the Amalekites and Edomites by King David, the Jews
gained possession of some ports in the Red Sea; and during his reign, and
that of Solomon, the Jews certainly employed the ships of their ally, Hiram
king of Tyre, extensively in foreign commerce. Indeed, the commerce of the
Phoenicians from the Red Sea, appears to have been carried on principally,
if not entirely, from the harbours in that sea belonging to the Jews,
though there is no ground for believing that the Jews themselves had any
fleet on it, or were at all engaged in its commerce. These short notices
are all that history supplies us with, on the subject of the navigation and
commerce of the Jews. From the Old Testament we may, however, collect
materials, by which we may estimate the progress they had made in
geography. About 500 years before Christ, they do not appear to have
extended their knowledge of the globe beyond Mount Caucasus to the north,
the entrance of the Red Sea to the south, and the Mediterranean Archipelago
to the west, besides Egypt, Asia Minor, Armenia, Syria, Arabia, and perhaps
a small part of Abyssinia.
Having thus given a sketch of the progress of discovery, and of commercial
enterprize by sea and land, among those nations who were the most early in
directing their attention to these points, we shall next proceed to an
account of the navigation and commercial enterprizes of the Greeks and
Romans; and as in this part of our work we shall follow a more strictly
chronological arrangement, the navigation and commercial enterprizes of the
Carthaginians will be incidentally noticed in the order of time to which
they belong. Before, however, we proceed to this subject, it may be proper
to enter more particularly and fully than we have hitherto done, into a
description of the construction and equipment of the ancient ships, since,
so far as relates to the ships of the Greeks and Romans, we possess much
more ample materials for such a description, than history supplies us with
respecting the ships of the other nations of antiquity.
The traditionary story of the Phoenicians, that one of their heroes was the
first man who had the courage to expose himself upon the waters, in a half
burnt tree, stript of its branches, has already been noticed. It is
probable, however, that the first vessels had not even so much resemblance
to our present boats: indeed, conjecture, as well as history, warrant us in
believing that rafts were the most ancient mode of conveyance on the water;
and even in the time of Pliny they were extensively employed, especially in
the navigation of rivers. Boats formed of slender rods or hurdles, and
covered with skins, seem also to have preceded the canoe, or vessel mode of
a single piece of timber. It is probable that a considerable time would
elapse before the means of constructing boats of planks were discovered,
since the bending of the planks for that purpose is not a very obvious art.
The Greeks ascribe this invention to a native of Lydia; but at what period
he lived, is not known. Among some nations, leather was almost the only
material used in the construction of ships; and even in the time of Caesar,
the Veneti, a people of Brittany, distinguished as a maritime and
commercial tribe, made their sails of hides, and their tackle of thongs. In
early ages, also, the Greeks used the common rushes of their country, and
the Carthaginians, the spartum, or broom of Spain.
But it is to the ships of Greece and Rome, when they were constructed with
more skill, and better adapted to navigation, that we are to pay attention;
and of those, only to such as were used for commercial purposes. The latter
were rounder and more capacious than ships used for war; they were
principally impelled by sails; whereas the ships of war, though not wholly
without sails, were chiefly rowed. Another difference between them was,
that ships of war commonly had an helmet engraven on the top of their
masts, and ships for trade had a basket suspended on the top of their mast
as a sign. There seems to have been great variety in the construction of
the latter, according to the particular trade in which they were to be
engaged; and each ship of burden had its boat attached to it. The name of
the ship, or rather of its tutelary deity, was inscribed on the stern:
various forms of gods, animals, plants, &c. were also painted on other
parts.
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