Page:Light and truth.djvu/105

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ancient cities and kingdoms.
103

with a widow, was a seaport of Phoenicia, midway between Tyre and Sidon. (1 Kings xvii. 9, 10; Luke iv. 26.) About A.D. 400, it was still of some note. Its present name is Sarfend.

The great commercial city of Tyrus or Tyre. It was situated at the entry of the sea, and founded by the celebrated Ethiopian wise men, who built a strong city, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as mire of the streets, (Zech. ix. 3,) with her kings and princes, merchants and captains, pilots and seamen, ships with fine linen broidered work from Egypt for their sails.—(Ez. xxvii.) This mighty city, which once had the entire control of the trade with India, and into whose lap the treasures of the world were poured, is about five miles distant from the other Tyre, and was the city which Alexander reached by means of a causeway from the main land, and entirely consumed it, in accordance with some of the most interesting prophecies, Zech. ix. 3, 4; Isa. xxiii.; Ezek. xxvi., xxviii.;) and we are told by modern travellers that its desolation is complete. Tyre, which is now called Sur, is only inhabited by a few fishermen, who live in the ruins of its primitive state.

The Colonies of Tyre. Carthage, a city in Africa, was one of the colonies of Tyre. It was founded by the Canaanites—Egyptians —blacks. [Herodotus.]

Utica. This city was built by the Phœnicians in Africa, a colony from Tyre, about 15 miles from Carthage on the Mediterranean.—[Rollin.]


CITIES OF AFRICA.

Carthage. The foundation of this celebrated city is ascribed to Elissa, a Tyrian princess, better known as Dido; it may therefore be fixed at the year of the world 3158; when Joash was king of Judah; 98 years before the building of Rome, and 846 years before Christ. The king of Tyre, father of the famous Jezebel, called in Scripture Ethbaal, was her great-grand-father. She married her near relation Acerbas, also called Sicharbas, or Sichaeus, an extremely rich prince;