. Tarshish and the problem of Phoenician colonization in the western Mediterranean. If we can identify the source of these metals in the ancient world (6th century BC) then we can be certain about which country is Tarshish in the last days. The masts and yards were made of fir, or of pine, and the sails of linen, but the fiber of papyrus was employed as well as flax in the manufacture of sail-cloth. There is a long narrow peninsula in southwest Britain called Cornwall. We have already noted the historical record which assumes that Tartessus was in Spain and that Tarshish was Tartessus however, it also acknowledged that tin was sourced from Cornwall as follows: Tin came primarily from Cornwall in the British Isles, and was brought back by the Phoenicians; it was combined with copper, abundant in south west Spain, to produce bronze. Isaiah speaks of "vessels of papyrus upon the waters" of the Upper Nile, on board of which are the messengers of Cush or Ethiopia returning to tell the tidings of the overthrow of Assyria to the inhabitants of those remote lands (18:2 the King James Version has "bulrushes" instead of "papyrus"). Today the population of the United States is made up basically of Celto-Saxon . 1 Although a number of locations have been proposed, for a long time the consensus has been that Tarshish was located at Tartessos at the mouth of the Gua- dalquivir in southern Spain,2 but in recent years a number of scholars, including Arie van der Kooij and Andr Lemaire, have reargued the older view (first attested. In the Oracle against Tyre, the prophet Ezekiel (27:12) mentions that silver, iron, lead, and tin came to Tyre from Tarshish (Trsys). Tarshish was located on the Mediterranean Sea and was usually identified with the powerful Phoenician trading colony in southwest Spain near modern Cadiz. (2003). Tarsus is an ancient city on the alluvial plain of ancient Cilicia, the birthplace of St. Paul (Acts of the Apostles 22:3). The port of ancient Sidon is believed to have been . [Eds. In the olden days, it was one of the largest and most affluent cities. Its one of those words that we often skip over because it seems insignificant or hard to pronounce. Ezekiel regards them as the caravans that bore the merchandise of the mistress of the sea (Ezekiel 27:25). While this is just a comic series it is based on fact as Encyclopedia Wikipedia states: Britain was not unknown to the Classical world. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars (Ezekiel 27:4-6). SHIPS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE APOCRYPHA1. In this version of the tale, the queen has a name: Makeda. Tiras: . Thus, Jonah flees to Tarshish from the presence of Yhwh (Jonah i. The names Tyre and Sidon were famous in the ancient Near East. Gen 10:2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. Isaiah 66:19 "I will set a sign among them, and I will send such as escape of them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the islands afar off, who have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. The same book notes it as a striking example of the case of a divine and beneficent Providence that "men entrust their lives to a little piece of wood, and passing through the surge on a raft are brought safe to land" (Wisd 14:1-5). Ezekiel 38:13 places Tarshish in the epic event. The metals were reportedly obtained in partnership with King Hiram of Phoenician Tyre (Isaiah23), and fleets of ships from Tarshish. Beth-Togarmah is Turkey. Salem Media Group. Lipiski, E. (2002). One of the connections with Biblical prophecy is found in Isaiah 60. Wail, you inhabitants of the coast! She is manned with oarsmen of Sidon and Arvad, pilots of the wise men of Tyre, calkers from Gebal to stop up the cracks and seams in her timbers, mariners and men of war from other lands who enhanced her beauty by hanging up the shield and helmet within her. All of the minerals marketed by the merchants of Tarshish could have come from Britain but. Tarshish, a port trading in precious metals. There are only two species known: both inhabit the mainland and islands of India; so that the mention of the peacock seems to exclude the possibility of the voyage having been to Africa. This seemingly rules out Spain as Tarshish and the Latin American countries as the young lions. Ezekiel, in 587BC described all of the commodities sold in the market place of Tyre and stated that. Tartessus, an ancient city between two mouths of the Guadalquiver, in the south of Spain. This page was last edited on 19 February 2023, at 14:00. Ezekiel's description (chapter 27, with Davidson's notes) brings together more of the features of the ship of antiquity than any other that has come down to us. In the Gospels2. The most important thing to know about Tarshish. Experts have positioned it as far away as India in the east and the far coast of Spain in the west. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. The name Tarshish (or Tharshish according to some translations) is assigned five times in the Bible: The first Tarshish is a son of Javan, son of Japheth, son of Noah (Genesis 10:4). nine Pharaoh-necoh built up a powerful navy to serve him both in commerce and in war.SeePHARAOH-NECOH.Of explicit references to Egyptian ships in the Old Testament there are but few. If Tarshish is England; I propose the 'young lions thereof' would be Canada, Australia, and the United States. Implied is that Tarshish may be in the same geographic region as Sheba and Dedan. [6] Recent research into hacksilver hoards has also suggested Sardinia. For in the first place the name Eridanus is manifestly not a barbarian word at all, but a Greek name, invented by some poet or other; and secondly, though I have taken vast pains, I have never been able to get an assurance from an eye-witness that there is any sea on the further side of Europe. It is reputed to be the oldest mine in the world.). Attractive design ideal for your home, office, church . The largest hoard was found at Eshtemo'a, present-day as-Samu, and contained 26kg of silver. The name of a place which first comes into notice in the days of Solomon. Tarshish is mentioned in a prophecy in the Book of Isaiah 60:1-12. . On another occasion, when the crowds were still greater, He went into a boat and sat "in the sea" with the multitude on the sloping beach before Him (Mark 4:1 Luke 5:3). In this case, however, the ships are not war ships, but more probably merchant ships, or ships for pleasure, sailing in the Euphrates. The size of the vessel is indicated by the fact that there were 276 persons on board, crew and passengers all told (Acts 27:37). Jonah 4:2 He prayed to Yahweh, and said, "Please, Yahweh, wasn't this what I said when I was still in my own country? This is still reputed to be the "Merchants of Tarshish" today by some Christian sects. (2) Assyria and Babylonia.The Assyrians and Babylonians were mainly an inland people, but their rivers gave them considerable scope for navigation. You were filled and very glorious in the midst of the seas. It is from Tyre and Egypt and even Assyria and Babylonia, rather than from their own waters, that the Hebrew prophets and psalmists drew their pictures of seafaring life.II. From the book of Chronicles there would seem to have been a Tarshish accessible from the Red Sea, in addition to the Tarshish of the south of Spain. Sheba, Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with the young lions of Tarshish, ask Gog why it is invading Israel. The location Tharsis in Spain is probably so named by the. If it's Spain, the young lions would have to be Mexico, parts of South America, etc. Mosul is its modern day name. Herodotus indicated that he had no evidence of the North Sea on the north of Europe. Ezekiel 38:13 imparts several important clues to the reader. Cush is Ethiopia. Tarshish was said to have exported vast quantities of important metals to Phoenicia and Israel. The record states: Coincidentally, there is a town named Tharsis 50 kilometres north of Huelva; the th combination, however, is a linguistic curiosity and alien to the Spanish language. Thompson and Skaggs[10] argue that the Akkadian inscriptions of Esarhaddon (AsBbE) indicate that Tarshish was an island (not a coastland) far to the west of the Levant. (2010). 2). From this cooperation in the building of the Temple there grew up a larger connection in the pursuit of sea-borne commerce. ( 1Kings 10:22 ) The gold might possibly have been obtained form Africa, or from Ophir in Arabia, and the ivory and the apes might likewise have been imported from Africa; but the peacocks point conclusively, not to Africa, but to India. Ancient evidencegoes back to TheHistories byHerodotus who wroteabout 450BC and isknown as the Fatherof Ancient History. It was the farthest limit of the western world as known to the Hebrews. The same partnership existed for the commerce of the West. It is said to be buried under the Coto Doana (the combined marshlands and dunes at the mouth of the Guadalquivir that are now protected as a National Park), others claim it is under Seville or Huelva and so on. The last mine closed in 2004. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Answer (1 of 9): Tarshish - great-grandson of Benjamin; a "king" from the House of Judah, son of Bilhan, son of Jediael, son of Benjamin, son of Israel/Jacob - displaced during the 597 BC Seige of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. If we are in the last daysthen this would point to the UnitedStates since they control the oceanswith the greatest navy in the world. The Spanish Empire was a dominant world influence in between the late 15th century until the early 19th century. Bochart, the 17thcentury French Protestant pastor, suggested in his Phaleg (1646) that Tarshish was the city of Tartessos in southern Spain. TARSHISH (Heb. When God commanded Jonah to go preach to Nineveh (500 miles NE of Israel), he headed to Tarshish, which was as far in the other direction as he could go (see Jonah 1:1-3). Tarshish in the latter days must have young lions of nations that are her offspring. There is no other known such concentration of silver hoards in contemporary Mediterranean, and its date-range overlaps with the reigns of King Solomon (990931BC) and Hiram of Tyre (980947BC). Tarshish is mentioned in the prophecies of Scripture as having an important role in the last days. ", Tarshish is placed on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea by several biblical passages,[18] and more precisely: west of Israel. Tarshish can refer to either Tarsis in Cilicia (Southeast Turkey) or to Tarshish (Tartessos to the Greeks) in Southwest Spain. Tarshish may have settled nearby in today's Lebanon. The friendly cooperation was continued by Solomon, who availed himself not only of the cedar and the fir at Hiram's command on Lebanon, but also of the skilled service of Hiram's men to bring the timber from the mountains to the sea. In the 14th century, in the northern highlands of the Horn of Africapresent-day Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Djiboutithe story of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba took on a new meaning. Experts have positioned it as far away as India in the east and the far coast of Spain in the west. The city was an ancient Phoenician port and industrial center which, in myth, is known as . . Within it, and specifically in the geographical region that was part of Phoenicia, is a concentration of hoards dated between 1200 and 800BC. When God sent Jonah as a missionary to the capital, Nineveh, the prophet balked. There seems to have been a special relation between Tarshish and Tyre, as there was at one time between Tartessus and Phoenicians. Sixth-named of the seven sons of Bilhar, the grandson of Benjamin ( 1Ch 7:10 ). In Other Books:In 2 Corinthians 11:25 Paul mentions among sufferings he had endured for Christ's sake that thrice he had suffered shipwreck, and that he had been "a night and a day in the deep," implying that he had been in danger of his life clinging to a spar, or borne upon a hurriedly constructed raft. Spain is economically weak and is only a small part of the EU. ATS Bible Dictionary. The Oracle of Balaam (Numbers 24:24) looks forward to a day when a fleet from Kittim should take the sea for the destruction of Assyria. to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? ), (1) A distant port from which silver, iron, tin, lead, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks were brought to Palestine (cf. Tarshish is also the name of a modern village in the Mount Lebanon District of Lebanon . In the "Blessing of Jacob" and in the "Blessing of Moses" Zebulun and Issachar are so connected (Genesis 49:13 Deuteronomy 33:19); and in Deborah's Song, which is acknowledged to be a very early fragment of Hebrew literature, Dan and Asher are also spoken of as connected with the life and work of the sea (Judges 5:17). It prospered from trade with the Phoenicians and Carthaginians but was probably destroyed by the latter about 500 bc. The word comes from the Greek kassiteros meaning tin. The question as to the locality of Tarshish has given rise to not a little discussion. [1], The existence of Tarshish in the western Mediterranean, along with any Phoenician presence in the western Mediterranean before c. 800BC, has been questioned by some scholars in modern times, because there is no direct evidence. Tarshish is a family name found among Jews of Ashkenazic descent. It was a Phoenician colony, and was the most celebrated emporium in the west to which the Hebrews and Phoenicians traded. Legends grew up around it over time so that its identity has been the subject of scholarly research and commentary for more than two thousand years. (After the capture of Jerusalem the emperor Titus returned to Italy in such a vessel, touching at Rhegium and landing at Puteoil.) Classical sources starting with Homer (8thcenturyBC), and the Greek historians Herodotus (484425BC) and Diodorus Siculus (d.30BC) said the Phoenicians were exploiting the metals of the west for these purposes before they set up the permanent colonies in the metal-rich regions of the Mediterranean and Atlantic. "Entry for 'TARSHISH'". There is consensus that it existed somewhere in the area between Huelva, Cdiz and Seville, but who the inhabitants were we do not know. Tarshish is the name of the Phoenician colony on the river Tartessus, called also Baetis, the modern Guadalquivir. The Spanish Empire was a dominant world influence between the late 15th century and the early 19th century. The first time it is mentioned in scriptures as a place, it states that King Solomon sent his ships there to trade. Most modern scholars associate Tarshish with a place known as Tarshishah in southern Spain. Ships of Tarshish made a deep impression upon the imagination of the Hebrew people. He wrote: Now these are thefarthest regions ofthe world in Asiaand Libya. It is also interesting to note that one of Javan's sons Tarshish has become what is today modern day Spain. Tarshish occupied the uttermost parts of the west. (1 Chronicles 7:6&10 KJV) Wikipedia is wrong on Benjamin's . Tarshish was a nation that was rich in minerals and supplied the known world in the 6th century BC through the markets at the coastal city of Tyre. However, tin only came from a select few places. 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