History of Phoenicia

of metals, anterio

ations-Earliest P

Mines of Cyprus-P

-in Sardinia-in S

there-Phoenician

sent day-Use of

mines propped or a

ed-Use of quicksi

by slav

s did not know what to do with the metal, so they bartered it away to the Phoenician traders, who already frequented their country, in return for some wares of very moderate value.101 Whether this tale be true or no, it is certain that even at the present day, in what are called "new countries," valuable metals often show themselves on the surface of the soil, either in the form of metalliferous earths, or of rocks which shine with spangles of a metallic character, or occasionally, though rarely, of actual masses of pure ore, sometimes encr

me of the Exodus the process of mining was familiar to the Hebrews, who could thus fully appreciate the promise,103 that they were about to be given "a good land"-"a land whose stones were iron, and out of whose hills they might dig brass." The Phoenicians, probably, derived their first knowledge of mining from their communications with the Egyptians, and no doubt first practised the art within the limits of their own territory-in Lebanon, Casius,

Roman ?s Cyprium, and our own name for the metal. The principal mines were in the southern mountain range, near Tamasus,105 but there were others also at Amathus, Soli, and Curium.106 Some of the old workings have been noticed by modern travellers, particularly near Soli and Tamasus,107 but they have neither been described anciently nor examined scientifically in modern times. The ore from whi

y ?nyra and Coenyra. The metal sought was gold, and in their quest of it the Phoenicians had, he says, turned an entire mountain topsy-turvy. Here again no modern researches seem to have been made, and nothing more is known than that at present the natives obtain no gold from their soil, do not seek for it, and are even ignorant that their isla

these metals. In the vicinity of the lead mines are enormous heaps of scori?, mounting up apparently to a very remote era.1014 The scori? are not so numerous in the vicinity of the copper mines, but "pigs" of copper have been found in the island, unlike any of the Roman period, which

he natives. It was the common material of the cheapest drinking vessels, and was readily parted with for almost anything that the merchants chose to offer. Much of it was superficial, but the veins were found to run to a great depth; and the discovery of one vein was a sure index of the near vicinity of more.1020 The out-put of the Spanish silver mines during the Phoenician, Carthaginian, and Roman periods was enormous, and cannot be calculated; nor has the supply even yet failed altogether. The iron and copper of Spain are also said to have been exceedingly abundant in ancient times,1021 though, owing to the inferior value of the metals, and to their wider distribution, but little is recorded with regard to them. Its tin and lead, on the other hand, as being metals found in comparatively few localities, receive not infrequent mention. The Spanish tin, according to Posidonius, did not crop out upon the surface,1022 but had to be obtained by mining. It was produced in some considerable quantity in the country of the Artabri, to the north of Lusitania,1023 as well as in Lusitania itself, and in Gallicia;1024

times obliquely, which pursued either a straight or a tortuous course.1032 The veins of metal were perseveringly followed up, and where faults occurred in them, filled with trap,1033 or other hard rock, the obstacle was either tunnelled through or its flank turned, and the vein still pursued on the other side. As the danger of a fall of material from the roofs of the adits and galleries was well understood, it was customary to support them by means of wooden posts, or, where the material was sufficiently firm, to arch them.1034 Still, from time to time, falls would occur, with great injury and loss of life to the miners. Nor was there much less danger where a mountain was quarried for the sake of its metallic treasures. Here, too, galleries were driven into the mountain-side, and portions of it so loosened

nace heated to the melting point. This point could only be reached by the use of the bellows. When it was reached, the impurities which floated on the top of the molten metal were skimmed off, or the metal itself allowed, by the turning of a cock, to flow from an upper crucible into a lower one. For greater purity the melting and skimming

iving and dying in the murky and foetid atmosphere of the deep excavations. It can scarcely be hoped that the Phoenicians were wiser or more merciful. They had a large command of slave labour, and would naturally employ it where the work to be done was exceptionally hard and disagreeable. Moreover, the

to Phoenician times. There is also in the museum of Truro a pig of tin, which, as it differs from those made by the Romans, Normans, and later workers, has been supposed to be Phoenician.1043 Ingots of gold and silver have not at present b