as compared with either Syria or Egypt, possessed in some respects far greater power than either. Holding, during many centuries, the command of the sea, she was able, in great measure, to control them as she pleased, and to prohibit their intercourse with any nations that could not be reached by their caravans. Phœnicia, therefore, as the leading maritime state at the earliest period to which any reliable records ascend, is entitled to the first consideration in any work having for its object an historical account of Merchant Shipping. To trace the course of the extensive maritime trade of the Phœnicians is to elucidate the progress of navigation in ancient times.
Argonautic Expedition. Before, however, we speak of the Phœnicians we must briefly notice two maritime adventures, which, though fabulous in most of their details, were highly estimated by the ancients, and had, doubtless, some foundation in fact. The first of these, the Argonautic Expedition, as it was called, was evidently a commercial enterprise, promoted by reports of abundant deposits of gold along the eastern shores of the Black Sea. It is remarkable that the name of the ship from which the expedition itself derived its appellation is almost certainly taken from the Semitic word arek, "long,"[1] suggesting that it was perhaps the first "long" ship, and indicating a direct connection with the Phœnicians, who spoke the dialect to which this name belongs.
Queen Semiramis. The second is the celebrated legend of Queen Semiramis, and of the fleet she employed the Phœnicians in building, which is given at great
- ↑ Gesen. Hebr. Lex. p. lxxix.
