Moevers, Rénan, Duncker, Ewald, Ezekiel, Proverbs of Solomon, etc.
Previous to any epoch1 settled by positive history, the Canaanites, or Ph?nicians, a highly civilized2 nation, dwelt in the land called Palestine. They were an elderly branch of the Shemitic family; their generic3 name embracing the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, and Girgasites—all of whom the Greeks called Ph?nicians. Canaan, in the Shemitic dialects, signifies "lowland," as was Palestine, in contradistinction to Aram, or the highlands of Mesopotamia (Naharajim, Nahirim of the Old Testament). Canaan, in Hebrew proper, is sometimes synonymous with "merchant;" and the historical development of the Ph?nicians explains and justifies4 this signification. The Greek name Ph?nicians, is supposed by some to be derived5 from phoinizai, "to kill," whence Phoinikes (Ph?nicians), "bloody7 men." The Ph?nicians, being very jealous of their maritime8 trade, killed and in every way molested9 the navigators from other lands who dared to follow their vessels10 or spy out their extensive maritime establishments, factories, or connections. For this reason the Greeks long considered the Tyrrenian seas as highly dangerous for[Pg 18] navigators, and as filled with rocks, monsters, and anthropophagi. Other investigators11, again, derive6 the Greek word Ph?nicians from their ruddy complexion12, or from their having first navigated13 the Red Sea.
The primitive14 seats of the Ph?nicians lay north and south of Syria. From thence they are supposed to have emigrated to Palestine through the northern part of Syria, while another column from the south advanced from the delta15 on the Persian Gulf16, anciently called Assyrium Stagnum, or from the islands of Tyros17 (Tylos) and Arados, situated18 in the above-named waters. Some writers suppose that an earthquake obliged them to emigrate from these shores of the Erythrean or Red Sea (Persian Gulf) of antiquity19, and that their Greek name owes its origin to this circumstance.
These wanderings through regions already thickly inhabited by various tribes and nations, may have contributed to develop in these Shemites that powerful mercantile propensity20 to which they chiefly owe their historical immortality22; then and there, too, they most probably began the traffic in slaves, to which, if they were not its originators, they certainly gave a new and powerful impulse. Thus, while the Ph?nicians figure in history as the earliest navigators and merchants, they must also be written down in the light of having inaugurated, or at least, greatly extended the accursed slave-trade.
No division into castes seems ever to have existed among the Ph?nicians. As a general rule, no traces[Pg 19] of this social circumscription23 are to be detected among the nations of pure or even of mixed Shemitic stock which flourished in Fore-Asia—in Syria, Babylon or Assyria. The Ph?nician political organism embraced 1st, the powerful ruling families; and 2dly, the subject classes—a division similar to that of the aristos and demos which prevailed in Greece, or to the patricians24 and plebeians25 of Rome. The land of Canaan was originally cultivated by freeholders and yeomen. When one tribe subdued26 another, or when the victors settled among the vanquished27, the latter were not enslaved; they became a kind of tribute-paying colonists28, with limited political privileges, but with full civil rights. They were at liberty to hold real and personal property of every kind, just as much as the ruling tribe or class. So also it was among all the Shemites, and, with but few exceptions, among all the nations of antiquity.
Slaves, at this period, were employed only at hard labor29 in the cities and in the household; they were as yet neither farmers, field-laborers30, nor mechanics. But, as already mentioned, the Ph?nicians were the great slave-traders, carriers and factors in the remotest antiquity, and this both by land and sea. At a period of more than fourteen centuries B.C., the Ph?nicians covered all the shores around the Egean and Mediterranean31 seas with their factories, strongholds and colonial cities. Besides this, they stretched out even to the Euxine, while their colonies studded, also, the Corinthian and Ionian gulfs (on the sites of mod[Pg 20]ern Patras and Lepanto), and extended on the Atlantic coast even beyond Gibraltar. The records of the earliest wanderings of these Canaanitish tribes into Africa, and even Greece, are preserved in legends as the migrations32 of gods, demigods and heroes.
Thus the Ph?nicians linked in a vast commercial chain Britain, Iberia (Spain), and India; while the Guadalquiver, the Nile, the Euphrates, the Tigris and the Indus, served as highways for their trading enterprise. From Byblos, Tyre, Sidon and other emporiums, they sent out caravans33 far and wide into Arabia and Fore-Asia. The products of their art and industry were reputed most exquisite35 even as early as the epoch of the Iliad, and they were vain enough to look on themselves as the pivots36 of the world's prosperity, and the Scriptures37 repeatedly mention the pride and denounce the vices38 of the Ph?nician cities. What their merchants bought or received in barter39 in Asia or in Egypt, they exchanged for the rough products of Greece, Spain, Albion, Libya, and the lands on the Euxine: these consisted principally of grains, hides, copper40, tin, silver, gold, and indeed all kinds of marketable objects. Their central situation for the commerce of the known and almost of the unknown world, especially favored the slave-trade. Accordingly Ph?nician slaves became more and more valuable, and a continually extending market produced a constantly increasing demand. In all probability the inland caravan34 excursions afforded the principal supplies for their immense slave traffic; but they also bought,[Pg 21] stole, and kidnapped from every possible place and by every conceivable stratagem—just as modern American slave-traders do. In this horrid41 industry they visited every shore. They carried it on among the Greeks, among the Barbarians42 of the Hellespont and the Pontus, among the Iberians, Italians, Moors43 and other Africans. Natives of Asia were sold to Greece and other European countries, while Syria and Egypt were furnished with European slaves. The great majority of these slaves belonged to what is called the Caucasian race, and negroes constituted a comparatively insignificant44 part. In return for these white chattels45 the Ph?nicians bartered46 the products of Egypt and of Fore-Asia.
The Ph?nicians, then, were the great, and, in all probability, the exclusive slave-traders of those times. The traffic had its chief centre in Byblos, Sidon and Tyre—the depots47, bazaars48, and storehouses of which were always glutted49 with human merchandise.
In times positively50 historical, when Ph?nicia had come to be the mighty51 and flourishing emporium of the world's trade, foreign slaves constituted the immense majority of the population of her cities—as indeed was the case with most of the commercial cities of antiquity; but none of them were so crowded with slaves as were Byblos, Tyre, and Sidon. In consequence of this agglomeration52, slavery gradually crept from the market and the household into general industry and agriculture. The slaves thus employed by the Ph?nicians may be classified as fol[Pg 22]lows: 1. Slaves of luxury, living in the house of the master; 2. Slaves employed in various branches of manufacture, as weavers53, dyers, and artisans of all kinds—as also in the manual labors54 common to every maritime and commercial city; 3. Agricultural slaves.
This vast accumulation of slaves begat repeated and bloody revolts during the whole historic existence of Ph?nicia. The scanty55 and comparatively insignificant fragments of her history which now exist are filled with accounts of such revolts, generally ending as most fearful tragedies. An uprising of this kind occurred in Tyre about ten centuries B.C.; and history records, that at that time the king, the aristocracy, all the masters, and even great numbers of non-slaveholding freemen were slaughtered56. The women, however, were saved and married by the slaves; and thus many primitive oligarchic57 families entirely58 disappeared. Frequent servile revolts and insurrections of this kind resulted at length in the partial emancipation59 of the slaves and their conquest of certain civil rights.
In keeping with the almost boundless60 accumulation of wealth in those cities was the increase in the number of slaves. As a consequence, the free laborers, artisans, and farmers became impoverished61 and dispossessed; and, as was natural, they often joined the insurgent62 bondmen. The oligarchs also sent out these poor freemen wherever Ph?nician ships could carry them, or wherever there was a chance of establishing factories, cities, or colonies. Such was the common origin of those primi[Pg 23]tive Ph?nician settlements, which were scattered63 north and west on almost every shore. In most regions, even in Libya, their object was simply commercial and not at all of a conquering character. At any rate the newcomers soon intermarried and mixed with the natives.
The slaveholding rulers were now forced to sustain a hired soldiery to keep down the slaves—not for defence against an external but an internal foe64. Among these hirelings were the Carryians, Lydians, Libyans, and Libyo-Ph?nicians. To such motley mercenaries were they obliged to intrust the security of their homes and municipalities. At times this hireling soldiery joined the revolted slaves, and they formed but a poor defence against the Egyptians, or against Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and Alexandrian conquest. To all these empires the Ph?nician slaveholders were obliged to pay tribute, until finally Alexander massacred or enslaved them all—slaveholders and slaves alike.
Already some of the violent pro-slavery militants65 in the slave section of the United States express their purpose to invoke66 the aid of France in their schemes of secession and conquest, and propose that their cities and states be occupied by French garrisons67. What a striking analogy with the course of the fated Ph?nicians! And if eventually France should listen to their humble68 prayer and send defenders69 to these terrified slave-masters, climatic reasons would induce her to furnish such troops as are naturally fitted to[Pg 24] bear the tropical heats of the slave-coast—the malarious70 regions of Louisiana and South Carolina. Such would be her Zouaves and Turcos—the Zouaves enemies of every kind of slavery, and the Turcos negroes themselves. Where then would be their defenders and their security? Every French soldier, even if neither Zouave nor Turco, would, in all probability, side at once with the oppressed against the oppressor. The prejudice of race, so prevalent in America, is not a European characteristic: it did not exist in antiquity; it does not prevail in Europe now.
It was not the existence of an oriental political despotism in Ph?nicia—it was domestic slavery, which, penetrating71 into industry and agriculture, destroyed the richest, most enterprising, and most daring community of remote antiquity. Cicero wrote their epitaph: "Fallacissimum esse genus Ph?nicum, omnia monumenta vetustatis atque omnes historia nobis prodiderunt."
When, therefore, positive history slowly rises on the limitless horizon of time, Ph?nicia appears as an ominous72 illustration of how domestic slavery, from an external social monstrosity, tends to become a chronic73 but corrosive74 disease. And neither does the evidence of history end with her. Over and over again will it be found that slavery, after eating so deeply into the social organism as to become constitutional and chronic, has the same ultimate issue, even as a virus slowly but surely penetrates75 from the extremities76 into the vitals of the animal organism.
The intermediate stages of such diseases and the process of the symptoms are often modified in their outward manifestations77 to such an extent as to lead even the keen observer astray. But it is only he who can unerringly diagnosticate the nature of the disease who can ever become a great healer: he discovers the true character and source of the malady78, whatever may be its external complications, and from whatever conditions and influences they may result. Some symptoms may increase, others decrease in intensity79 and virulence80 in the physiological81 as in the social disease—they are, however, secondary. The parallel holds good—the principle remaining unchanged: life becomes extinct for similar reasons in the animal as in the social and political body.
Thus, in the history of the Ph?nicians, and therefore, in the earliest authentic82 epoch, a great historical and social law manifests itself in full action. This activity it retains through all the subsequent social and political catastrophes83 in the life of nations and empires, down even to Hayti with her immortal21 Toussaint. Slavery generates bloody struggles. Many of these have resulted in the slaves violently regaining84 their liberty, while others have destroyed the whole state—swallowing up the slaveholders in their own blood, or burying them under the ruins of their own social edifice85.
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epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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generic
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| adj.一般的，普通的，共有的 | |
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justifies
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| 证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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maritime
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| adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的 | |
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molested
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| v.骚扰( molest的过去式和过去分词 )；干扰；调戏；猥亵 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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investigators
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| n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 ) | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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navigated
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| v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的过去式和过去分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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delta
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| n.（流的）角洲 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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tyros
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| n.初学者，新手，生手( tyro的名词复数 ) | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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propensity
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| n.倾向；习性 | |
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immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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circumscription
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| n.界限；限界 | |
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patricians
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| n.（古罗马的）统治阶层成员( patrician的名词复数 )；贵族，显贵 | |
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plebeians
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| n.平民( plebeian的名词复数 )；庶民；平民百姓；平庸粗俗的人 | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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laborers
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| n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工 | |
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Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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migrations
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| n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 ) | |
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caravans
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| （可供居住的）拖车（通常由机动车拖行）( caravan的名词复数 )； 篷车； （穿过沙漠地带的）旅行队（如商队） | |
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caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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pivots
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| n.枢( pivot的名词复数 )；最重要的人（或事物）；中心；核心v.（似）在枢轴上转动( pivot的第三人称单数 )；把…放在枢轴上；以…为核心，围绕（主旨）展开 | |
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scriptures
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| 经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典 | |
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vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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barter
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| n.物物交换，以货易货，实物交易 | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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chattels
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| n.动产，奴隶( chattel的名词复数 ) | |
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bartered
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| v.作物物交换，以货换货( barter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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depots
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| 仓库( depot的名词复数 )； 火车站； 车库； 军需库 | |
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bazaars
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| （东方国家的）市场( bazaar的名词复数 )； 义卖； 义卖市场； （出售花哨商品等的）小商品市场 | |
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49
glutted
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| v.吃得过多( glut的过去式和过去分词 )；（对胃口、欲望等）纵情满足；使厌腻；塞满 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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agglomeration
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| n.结聚，一堆 | |
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weavers
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| 织工，编织者( weaver的名词复数 ) | |
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labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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slaughtered
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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oligarchic
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| adj.寡头政治的，主张寡头政治的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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emancipation
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| n.（从束缚、支配下）解放 | |
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boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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impoverished
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| adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化 | |
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insurgent
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| adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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militants
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| 激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 ) | |
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invoke
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| v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求 | |
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garrisons
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| 守备部队，卫戍部队( garrison的名词复数 ) | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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defenders
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| n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者 | |
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malarious
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| （患）疟疾的，（有）瘴气的 | |
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penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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chronic
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| adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的 | |
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74
corrosive
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| adj.腐蚀性的；有害的；恶毒的 | |
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75
penetrates
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| v.穿过( penetrate的第三人称单数 )；刺入；了解；渗透 | |
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76
extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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77
manifestations
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| n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式） | |
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78
malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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79
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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80
virulence
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| n.毒力，毒性；病毒性；致病力 | |
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81
physiological
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| adj.生理学的，生理学上的 | |
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authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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83
catastrophes
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| n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 )；灾难；不幸事件；困难 | |
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84
regaining
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| 复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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