Historic Ornament. James M Ward
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Fig. 213.—Carthaginian Coin, Electrum. (P. & C.)
The staple trade of the Tyrians had now become that of metals, the chief of which was tin, owing to the great demand for it in the manufacture of bronze in this period.
Their ships went as far as the Scilly Isles, to Cornwall, and to Ireland. Diodorus mentions that the inhabitants of Great Britain were much softened in their manners by their intercourse with the “strangers” who came to their shores for tin. It is supposed that the strangers alluded to were the Phœnician Carthaginians.
Fig. 214.—Votive Stele, from Carthage, with Sacred Emblems. (P. & C.)
Fig. 215.—Sacred Emblems, from a Carthaginian Votive Stele. (P. & C.)
In the fourth century B.C. the Carthaginians waged a war against the Sicilian Greeks, and carried off the statues of gods from their temples, and went so far as to copy their money the early Phœnician coins being copies of Greek ones (Figs. 212, 213). The votive stele (Fig. 214), from Carthage, shows the Greek Ionic-like columns, with the “blessing hand,” and a collection of sacred Phœnician emblems. Greek architects were employed in Carthage about this time. Phœnician architecture in every case consisted of borrowed forms from surrounding nations.
Fig. 216.—Coin of Byblos, with Sacred Cone, enlarged. (P. & C.)
The sacred emblems (Fig. 215) are supposed to represent the cone-shaped stones, betylæ, from Bethel, the “House of God,” the great worship of the Phœnicians. The sign at the top is meant for a rude idea of the head and arms of a god (Tanit, face of Baal?). The figure on the right is the cone again, with the emblems of the goddess Astarte (Aphrodite), the lunar signs. The sacred cone is seen surrounded by the temple court on the coin of Byblos (Fig. 216).
Fig. 217.—Astarte, terra-cotta, height 10½ ins. (P. & C.)
The small statuettes of the Phœnician gods and goddesses (Fig. 217) were the originals from which the Greeks developed their sculptured figures in the round. Among the gods of the Phœnicians were: Baal, the Master, the Bel of Assyria, which seems to be a generic title for any chief divinity of a town or place, such as Baal Peor, Baal-Sidon, Baal-Tsour, or the Baal of Tyre; Tanit, or the face of Baal, worshipped at Carthage; Moloch, or Melek. Melkart-Baal-Tsour was the full name of the Great God of Tyre, which means “Melkart, Master of Tyre.” Baalat was the title for “mistress,” the goddess who shared the throne of Baal. Sidon-Astoret was the Baalat of Sidon, the goddess Astarte, the Istar of the Assyrians, and the Aphrodite or Venus of the Greeks and Romans (Fig. 217). She was a favourite divinity with the Phœnicians, and more personal than any of their other divinities. She was nature itself, the great goddess of life, presiding over creation and also destruction. This Syro-Phœnician goddess of the Sidonians was adopted by Cyprus, Cythera, Paphos, and Eryx, in Sicily. She is also supposed to be the Moon-Goddess. The dove was sacred to her, and was offered to her in sacrifice; a Phœnician statuette (Fig. 217) represents her with a dove in her hand. The Phœnicians had many other minor gods.
Fig. 218.—Model of a Small Temple, in terra-cotta, Louvre. (P. & C)
A terra-cotta model of a small temple is peculiar in design (Fig. 218); it was found in Cyprus, and may have been the model of the shrine sacred to Astarte. As before mentioned, Phœnician architecture, from the few remains of it that have been found, consists of borrowed forms from other nations, and if any development even in the ornamental forms is noticeable, it can generally be traced to the rising influence of the Greeks, especially in Cyprus and Carthage. The tomb at Amrit (Fig. 219) is, on the other hand, decidedly Assyrian in every detail, and is a happy example of architectural proportion.
The fragment of an entablature from a temple at Byblos (Fig. 220) is of a later date, and has for design and decoration of the moulding the strongly marked features of Græco-Roman work, with the addition of the Egyptian winged globe and asps.
Fig. 219.—Tomb of Amrit, restored from Renan. (P. & C.)
Cyprus was a Phœnician dependency; many vases, and a great multitude of other objects of art and treasures, have been brought to light from tombs and from the subterranean chambers of former temples, mainly through the instrumentality of General di Cesnola.
Fig. 220.—Entablature, from a Temple at Byblos. Drawn by Wallet. (P. & C.)]
The series of capitals (Figs. 221 to 224) show strongly the principle of the Ionic volutes. The first (Fig. 221) is the simplest, the next (Fig. 222) has the triangular point between the lower volutes that we see in so many lotus forms in Egyptian work (see Fig. 202), and has besides the curious double boat-shaped volutes above, with other lotus-buds under the abacus. Another capital (Fig. 223) has all the elements of the Erectheum Ionic capital, but arranged in a totally different order, and is more Byzantine than anything else. The capital found at Kition, in Cyprus, is decidedly Ionic Greek, but in its earlier stage, just before the period of the fully developed Ionic (Fig. 224). It can hardly be doubted that the first two of decidedly Egyptian elements are derived from the lotus, and may certainly be taken as the forerunners of the pure Ionic Greek. The capital from Kition belonged to a temple of Astarte, that once stood on the mound at Kition.
Fig. 221.—Cypriot Capital. (P. & C.)
Fig. 222.—Cypriot Capital. (P. & C.)
The capital found at Golgos (Fig. 225) is distinctly an early form of Greek Doric. If little remains of Phœnician architecture have been found, on the other hand many objects of minor art have been brought to light, bearing on their face the unmistakable stamp of Phœnician workmanship.
Fig. 223.—Capital at Djezza, limestone. Drawn by Saladin. Height, 26 ins. (P. & C.)
Fig. 224.—Capital from Kition, height 18 ins. Drawn by Saladin. (P. & C.)
Some of the bronze bowls and platters, and cups of silver, and also carvings in ivory, although generally composed of Egyptian or Assyrian design, were really the work of Phœnician artificers. The latter were not slow in copying the motives of the above-named nations, but the workmanship, especially in bronze and silver, was their own. The Phœnicians were highly skilled in metal work, and we have proof that they were employed in the building and decorating of the Temple at Jerusalem. The bronze and silver bowls and platters were carried to all countries where the Phœnicians had trading transactions, and they have been found at Mycenæ, Etruria, Cyprus, Sardinia, &c. As stated before in our notice of these objects in Assyrian art, the Assyrians were the first to make these articles from copies of Egyptian design, and then producing others with purely Assyrian designs. The Phœnicians in their turn imitated both, and did a great trade with them. The silver platter (Fig. 226) was found, in 1876, in the Necropolis of ancient Præneste, in Latium, and in the same tomb was found a quantity of vases, diadems, and jewels, all