The Historians' History of the World 02 [Israel, India, Persia, Phoenicia, Minor Nations of Western Asia]

When the Phœnicians first settled here, artificial mine works were quite unnecessary. The silver ore lay exposed to view, and they had only to make a slight incision to obtain it in abundance. The inhabitants themselves were so little acquainted with its value, that their commonest implements were composed of this metal. The demands of the Phœnicians, and their avidity to possess it, first taught them its worth; and it is probable that the arrival and settlement among them of these strangers, who could supply them with so many useful articles, in exchange for that upon which they set such little store, was to them a source of gratification. But when the stock they had in hand was exhausted, and the insatiable foreigners saw it necessary to open mines, the lot of the poor Iberians became truly pitiable. That the Spanish mines were worked by slaves is clear from Diodorus, who describes their wretched fate; and even though his statement may refer to the time of the Romans, there can be but little doubt that the same practice had long previously existed. Whether the natives were compelled to this labour we know not positively; but they scarcely could have escaped it altogether, though the extensive traffic of the Phœnicians in slaves would have rendered it easy for them to introduce sufficient hands from abroad. Even if only employed as free labourers, their lot was sufficiently hard. That, however, the mines in Spain were not worked merely by digging, is clear from Diodorus, whose relation of itself proves that shafts were opened, and the subterraneous water forced out by machines; even if the interesting allusion to mine works in the Book of Job should not be admitted as referring to the Phœnicians.

The mine works of the genuine Phœnicians seem to have been confined to the present Andalusia. According to Strabo, the oldest were situated upon the mountain in which the Bætis or Guadalquivir takes its rise, upon the south part of the Sierra Morena, which, on the borders of Andalusia and Murcia, bore the name of Sierra Segura. They did not extend beyond this previous to the time of the Carthaginians, who entered upon the conquest of Spain with much more energy and power.

Group of Phœnician Stone Figures

For the rest, silver was certainly the principal, but could scarcely be the only object obtained. Gold, lead, and iron were discovered; and besides these, tin mines were opened by the Phœnicians on the northern coast of Spain, beyond Lusitania. All these metals are spoken of by the prophet Ezekiel as the produce of the Spanish mines. “Spain (Tarshish) [or Tartessus] traded with thee, because of the multitude of thy goods; silver, iron, tin, and lead, it gave thee in exchange for thy wares.” The trade in salt fish has already been mentioned as a branch of the earliest commerce of Spain.

The commerce of the Phœnicians in their Spanish settlements was carried on in the same manner as they usually carried it on elsewhere; the only method indeed by which it can be carried on among uncivilised nations—namely, by barter. It is not only so described in the passage above quoted from the prophet Ezekiel, but the same is confirmed by Diodorus. They brought, on their side, Tyrian wares—probably linen, the usual clothing of Spain; perhaps, also, trinkets and toys, and such articles of finery as are eagerly coveted by barbarians. In exchange for these they obtained the above-mentioned natural productions; and silver, not as money, but as merchandise, and upon which their profit must have been doubled, if the conjecture, not destitute of probability, be true, that they bartered it in the southern countries for gold.

It would appear from Diodorus as if their settlements in both the countries of Sicily and Carthage were founded with no other object, than for the convenience of their intercourse with Spain; and so far as Sicily alone is concerned, he seems to be right. In the long voyage from their native shores to that distant country, a harbour, to which they might run in, in case of storms or other accidents, was indispensably necessary. And although they established here a trade, by barter, with the natives, and thus managed to obtain the rich produce of the island for themselves, it is probable that the Greeks, who were always extending their possessions, soon deprived them of all, except the original object of their settlement.

The case was different, however, with regard to Africa. If we merely look at the long line of commercial establishments formed upon this coast, it will be difficult to believe them all intended solely for the preservation of a communion with Spain. It is not denied but that such may have been the origin of the earliest settlements, as for example that of Utica; but when these cities began to flourish, and drew to themselves the trade of inner Africa, there can be no doubt but the Phœnicians took a part in it, and obtained the commodities of this quarter of the globe, though in the first instance, only at second hand.