A King of Tyre

en the jagged rocks, and spread over the flats, retiring again to rest in the deep bosom of the Mediterranean. The wall that encircled the island r

ories; for the ground space within the walls could not lodge the multitude who pursued the various arts and commerce for which the Tyrians were, of all the world, the most n

harbor on the south side-two artificial basins which were at all times crowded with ships; for the Tyrian merchantmen scoured all the coast of the Great Sea, even venturing through the straits of Gades, and northward to the coasts of Britain, and southward along the African shore; giving in barter for the crude commodities they found, not only the products of their own workshops, but the frei

themselves at the doorways of their foundries. Weavers, in the excitement of their wrangling over it, forgot to throw the shuttle. Seamen, lounging on the heaps of cordage, gave the subject all the light they could strike from oaths in the names of all the go

Vast sums of money had been appropriated from the city treasury, and more was demanded from the people. A multitude of animals was t

ation, we must know the ci

owing commercial importance of the Greeks across the sea. For not only had the Greeks whipped the Ph?nicians in naval battles, as at Salamis and Eurymedon, but they were displacing Ph?nician wares in foreign markets, and

ng question which appealed to the patriotism, and still more to t

e temple revenues, which were in great measure the sumptuous perquisites of the priests themselves. They were especially disaffected towards their young king, Hiram, whom they regarded as an obstacle to any reforms on this line. Hiram had spent his early training years with the fleet, and was conversant with the faiths and customs of many countri

ucceeded on the death of his father, when he opened the meeting of th

rtain of richest Tyrian purple, in the centre of which gleamed a silver dove with outspread wings, the

had never become secondary to even his sense of royal dignity; and many a time had he declared that a true Ph?nician king was chiefly king of the sea. The royal cap was distinguished from that of common sailors by the ur?us, or winged serpent's crest, which was wrought in golden needlework upon the front. The king's throat and chest were bare, except for a purple mantle which hung from his left shoulder, and crossed his body diagonally; and for a broad collar

of his throne. One foot rested upon a footstool of bronze; t

rejudices. As he proceeded he warmed with the kindling of his own thoughts, and, straightening himself on the throne, gesticulated forcibly, making the huge arm of the chair tremble under the stroke of his fist, as if the moulded bronze were the obdurate

rn from none. Our guide-marks are our own footprints, which we follow in endless circles. We boast, O Ph?nicians, that we have taught the world its alphabet, but we ourselves have no books beyond the tablets on which we keep the accounts of our ships, our caravans, and our shambles. It is our sham

d carve as finely with the dough he eats. Look at our temples! The Great Hiram built a finer one than we possess five centuries ago, there in Jerusalem, for the miserable Jews to worship their Jehovah in. Ye say that Baal is angry

it is not the sacrifice of death, rather the real offering of life

n them if ye will! Slaughter your beasts! Toss your babes into the fire of Moloch! But kn

chamber. As he passed out, the members rose and made deep obeisance;

determined purpose. Their words were bitter. Old Egbalus, the high priest of Baal-Melkarth for the year, thanked his g

o is even now his guest, has bewitche

k gold," timidly

st difference of character. This person was Prince Rubaal, cousin to Hiram, and, in the event of the death of the latter without issue, the heir to the crown. His naturally selfish disposition had brewed nothing but gall since Hiram's accession. From poli

motive to the king brought him a look of blande

tive glance into the face of another councillor, Ahimelek. How much was meant by

n Tyre, the largest ship-owner in all Ph?nicia. His fleets were passing, like shuttles on the loom of his prosperity, between Tyre and Cyprus, Carthage and Gades. His caravans, too, were well known on every route from Damascus to Memphis. He inherited the wealth of several generat

e merchant had noted the growing intimacy bet

ocrat was to guarding his bags with the royal seal. Indeed, on more than one occasion the king had discovered an authority in Ahimelek's darics that was lacking in his own mandates. It was rumored that the recognit

very day of his coronation, a year before our story begins, he left the great hall of ceremony, not to return to his palace, but to visit the mansion of Ahimelek, and then and there placed his crown upon the head of Zillah, claiming her oft-repeated promise to be his queen. That very night, too, the delighted merchan

priestly guild towards King Hiram was too ominous to be disregarded. Their power over the p

to become also a priestess of the goddess Astarte, thus consolidating the sacerdotal and royal authorities. Into this sacred

cerned a refuge for his ambition in the fact that Rubaal was a jealous rival for the heart of Zillah. Indeed, much of that young man's hostility to his cousin was due to his wounded affections. It therefore seemed clear to Ahimelek that, in t

omed the perplexity of the merchant's mind

inquisitorial gaze of the priest. What would he not give

nswer in the council hall. He knew his man, and knew that if Ahimelek

nfluence of Egbalus in public affairs had already made itself felt in the selection of

ssued. The proclamation was quickly posted on the temple ga

ld bring on the conflict the priests de