History of Phoenicia

G >> George Rawlinson >> History of Phoenicia


"Why died I not from the womb? Why gave I not up the ghost at my
birth?
Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should
suck?
For now should I have lain still and been quiet;
I should have slept, and then should I have been at rest;
I should have been with the kings and councillors of the earth,
Who rebuilt for themselves the cities that were desolate.
I should have been with the princes that had much gold,
And that filled their houses with silver . . .
There they that are wicked cease from troubling,
There they that are weary sink to rest;
There the prisoners are in quiet together,
And hear no longer the voice of the oppressor:
There are both the great and small, and the servant is freed from
his master."

Still their religion, such as it was, had a great hold upon the
Phoenicians. Parents gave to their children, almost always, religious
names, recognising each son and daughter as a gift from heaven, or
placing them under the special protection of the gods generally, or of
some single divinity. It was piety, an earnest but mistaken piety, which
so often caused the parent to sacrifice his child--the very apple of his
eye and delight of his heart--that so he might make satisfaction for
the sins which he felt in his inmost soul that he had committed. It
was piety that filled the temples with such throngs, that brought for
sacrifice so many victims, that made the worshipper in every difficulty
put up a vow to heaven, and caused the payment of the vows in such
extraordinary profusion. At Carthage alone there have been found
many hundreds of stones, each one of which records the payment of a
vow;[11143] while other sites have furnished hundreds or even thousands
of _ex votos_--statues, busts, statuettes, figures of animals,
cylinders, seals, rings, bracelets, anklets, ear-rings, necklaces,
ornaments for the hair, vases, amphorae, oenochoae, paterae, jugs, cups,
goblets, bowls, dishes, models of boats and chariots--indicative of an
almost unexampled devotion. A single chamber in the treasury of
Curium produced more than three hundred articles in silver
and silver-gilt;[11144] the temple of Golgi yielded 228 votive
statues;[11145] sites in Sardinia scarcely mentioned in antiquity have
sufficed to fill whole museums with statuettes, rings, and scarabs. If
the Phoenicians did not give evidence of the depth of their religious
feeling by erecting, like most nations, temples of vast size and
magnificence, still they left in numerous places unmistakable proof of
the reality of their devotion to the unseen powers by the multiplicity,
and in many cases the splendour,[11146] of their votive offerings.



CHAPTER XII--DRESS, ORNAMENTS, AND SOCIAL HABITS

Dress of common men--Dress of men of the upper classes--
Treatment of the hair and beard--Male ornaments--Supposed
priestly costume--Ordinary dress of women--Arrangement of
their hair--Female ornaments--Necklaces--Bracelets--Ear-
rings--Ornaments for the hair--Toilet pins--Buckles--A
Phoenician lady's toilet table--Freedom enjoyed by
Phoenician women--Active habits of the men--Curious agate
ornament--Use in furniture of bronze and ivory.

The dress of the Phoenician men, especially of those belonging to the
lower orders, consisted, for the most part, of a single close-fitting
tunic, which reached from the waist to a little above the knee.[0121] The
material was probably either linen or cotton, and the simple garment
was perfectly plain and unornamented, like the common _shenti_ of the
Egyptians. On the head was generally worn a cap of one kind or another,
sometimes round, more often conical, occasionally shaped like a helmet.
The conical head-dresses seem to have often ended in a sort of top-knot
or button, which recalls the head-dress of a Chinese Mandarin.

Where the men were of higher rank, the _shenti_ was ornamented. It was
patterned, and parted towards the two sides, while a richly adorned
lappet, terminating in uraei, fell down in front.[0122] The girdle, from
which it depended, was also patterned, and the _shenti_ thus arranged
was sometimes a not inelegant garment. In addition to the _shenti_, it
was common among the upper classes to wear over the bust and shoulders a
close-fitting tunic with short sleeves,[0123] like a modern "jersey;" and
sometimes two garments were worn, an inner robe descending to the feet,
and an outer blouse or shirt, with sleeves reaching to the elbow.[0124]
Occasionally, instead of this outer blouse, the man of rank has a mantle
thrown over the left shoulder, which falls about him in folds that are
sufficiently graceful.[0125] The conical cap with a top-knot is, with
persons of this class, the almost universal head-dress.

Great attention seems to have been paid to the hair and beard. Where no
cap is worn, the hair clings closely to the head in a wavy compact mass,
escaping however from below the wreath or diadem, which supplies the
place of a cap, in one or two rows of crisp, rounded curls.[0126] The
beard has mostly a strong resemblance to that affected by the Assyrians,
and familiar to us from their sculptures. It is arranged in three, four,
or five rows of small tight curls,[0127] and extends from ear to ear
around the cheeks and chin. Sometimes, however, in lieu of the many
rows, we find one row only, the beard falling in tresses, which are
curled at the extremity.[0128] There is no indication of the Phoenicians
having cultivated mustachios.

For ornaments the male Phoenicians wore collars, which were sometimes
very elaborate, armlets, bracelets, and probably finger-rings. The
collars resembled those of the Egyptians, being arranged in three rows,
and falling far over the breast.[0129] The armlets seem to have been
plain, consisting of a mere twist of metal, once, twice, or thrice
around the limb.[1210] The royal armlets of Etyander, king of Paphos,
are single twists of gold, the ends of which only just overlap: they
are plain, except for the inscription, which reads _Eteadoro to Papo
basileos_, or "The property of Etyander, king of Paphos."[1211] Men's
bracelets were similar in character. The finger-rings were either of
gold or silver, and generally set with a stone, which bore a device, and
which the wearer used as a seal.[1212]

The most elaborate male costume which has come down to us is that of
a figure found at Golgi, and believed to represent a high priest of
Ashtoreth. The conical head-dress is divided into partitions by narrow
stripes, which, beginning at its lower edge, converge to a point at top.
This point is crowned by the representation of a calf's or bull's head.
The main garment is a long robe reaching from the neck to the feet,
"worn in much the same manner as the peplos on early Greek female
figures." Round the neck of the robe are two rows of stars painted in
red, probably meant to represent embroidery. A little below the knee
is another band of embroidery, from which the robe falls in folds or
pleats, which gather closely around the legs. Above the long robe is
worn a mantle, which covers the right arm and shoulder, and thence hangs
down below the right knee, passing also in many folds from the shoulder
across the breast, and thence, after a twist around the left arm,
falling down below the left knee. The treatment of the hair is
remarkable. Below the rim of the cap is the usual row of crisp curls;
but besides these, there depend from behind the ears on either side of
the neck three long tresses. The feet of the figure are naked. The right
hand holds a cup by its foot between the middle and fore-fingers, while
the left holds a dove with wings outspread.[1213]

Women were, for the most part, draped very carefully from head to
foot. The nude figures which are found abundantly in the Phoenician
remains[1214] are figures of goddesses, especially of Astarte, who were
considered not to need the ornament, or the concealment of dress. Human
female figures are in almost every case covered from the neck to
the feet, generally in garments with many folds, which, however,
are arranged very variously. Sometimes a single robe of the amplest
dimensions seems to envelop the whole form, which it completely conceals
with heavy folds of drapery.[1215] The long petticoat is sleeved, and
gathered into a sinus below the breasts, about which it hangs loosely.
Sometimes, on the contrary, the petticoat is perfectly plain, and has
no folds.[1216] Occasionally a second garment is worn over the gown
or robe, which covers the left shoulder and the lap, descending to the
knees, or somewhat lower.[1217] The waist is generally confined by a
girdle, which is knotted in front.[1218] There are a few instances in
which the feet are enclosed in sandals.[1219]

The hair of women is sometimes concealed under a cap, but generally it
escapes from such confinement, and shows itself below the cap in great
rolls, or in wavy masses, which flow off right and left from a parting
over the middle of the forehead.[1220] Tresses are worn occasionally:
these depend behind either ear in long loose curls, which fall upon the
shoulders.[1221] Female heads are mostly covered with a loose hood,
or cap; but sometimes the hair is merely encircled by a band or bands,
above and below which it ripples freely.[1222]

Phoenician women were greatly devoted to the use of personal ornaments.
It was probably from them that the Hebrew women of Isaiah's time derived
the "tinkling ornaments of the feet, the cauls, the round tires like the
moon, the chains, the bracelets, and the mufflers, the bonnets and the
ornaments of the legs, and the head-bands, and the tablets, and the
ear-rings, the rings and nose-jewels, the changeable suits of apparel,
and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, the glasses,
and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails,"[1223] which the
prophet denounces so fiercely. The excavations made on Phoenician sites
have yielded in abundance necklaces, armlets, bracelets, pendants to
be worn as lockets, ear-rings, finger-rings, ornaments for the hair,
buckles or brooches, seals, buttons, and various articles of the toilet
such as women delight in.

Women wore, it appears, three or four necklaces at the same time, one
above the other.[1224] A string of small beads or pearls would closely
encircle the neck just under the chin. Below, where the chest begins,
would lie a second string of larger beads, perhaps of gold, perhaps only
of glass, while further down, as the chest expands, would be rows of
still larger ornaments, pendants in glass, or crystal, or gold, or agate
modelled into the shape of acorns, or pomegranates, or lotus flowers, or
cones, or vases, and lying side by side to the number of fifty or sixty.
Several of the necklaces worn by the Cypriote ladies have come down
to us. One is composed of a row of one hundred and three gold beads,
alternately round and oval, to the oval ones of which are attached
pendants, also in gold, representing alternately the blossom and bud of
the lotus plant, except in one instance. The central bead of all has as
its pendant a human head and bust, modelled in the Egyptian style, with
the hair falling in lappets on either side of the face, and with a broad
collar upon the shoulders and the breast.[1225] Another consists of
sixty-four gold beads, twenty-two of which are of superior size to the
rest, and of eighteen pendants, shaped like the bud of a flower,
and delicately chased.[1226] There are others where gold beads are
intermixed with small carnelian and onyx bugles, while the pendants are
of gold, like the beads; or where gold and rock-crystal beads alternate,
and a single crystal vase hangs as pendant in the middle; or where
alternate carnelian and gold beads have as pendant a carnelian cone, a
symbol of Astarte.[1227] Occasionally the sole material used is glass.
Necklaces have been found composed entirely of long oval beads of blue
or greenish-blue glass; others where the colour of the beads is a dark
olive;[1228] others again, where all the component parts are of glass,
but the colours and forms are greatly varied. In a glass necklace found
at Tharros in Sardinia, besides beads of various sizes and hues, there
are two long rough cylinders, four heads of animals, and a human head as
central ornament. "Taken separately, the various elements of which
this necklace is composed have little value; neither the heads of the
animals, nor the bearded human face, perhaps representing Bacchus,
are in good style; the cylinders and rounded beads which fill up the
intermediate spaces between the principal objects are of very poor
execution; but the mixture of whites, and greys, and yellows, and
greens, and blues produces a whole which is harmonious and gay."[1229]

Perhaps the most elegant and tasteful necklace of all that have been
discovered is the one made of a thick solid gold cord, very soft
and elastic, which is figured on the page opposite.[1230] At either
extremity is a cylinder of very fine granulated work, terminating in one
case in a lion's head of good execution, in the other surmounted by a
simple cap. The lion's mouth holds a ring, while the cap supports a long
hook, which seems to issue from a somewhat complicated knot, entangled
wherein is a single light rosette. "In this arrangement, in the curves
of the thin wire, which folds back upon itself again and again, there is
an air of ease, an apparent negligence, which is the very perfection of
technical skill."[1231]

The bracelets worn by the Phoenician ladies were of many kinds, and
frequently of great beauty. Some were bands of plain solid gold, without
ornament of any kind, very heavy, weighing from 200 to 300 grammes
each.[1232] Others were open, and terminated at either extremity in
the head of an animal. One, found by General Di Cesnola at Curium in
Cyprus,[1233] exhibited at the two ends heads of lions, which seemed
to threaten each other. The execution of the heads left nothing to
be desired. Some others, found in Phoenicia Proper, in a state of
extraordinary preservation, were of similar design, but, in the place of
lions' heads, exhibited the heads of bull, with very short horns.[1234]
A third type aimed at greater variety, and showed the head of a
wild goat at one end, and that of a ram at the other.[1235] In a few
instances, the animal representation appears at one extremity of the
bracelet only, as in a specimen from Camirus, whereof the workmanship is
unmistakably Phoenician, which has a lion's head at one end, and at the
other tapers off, like the tail of a serpent.[1236]

A pair of bracelets in the British Museum, said to have come from
Tharros, consist of plain thin circlets of gold, with a ball of gold in
the middle. The ball is ornamented with spirals and projecting knobs,
which must have been uncomfortable to the wearer, but are said not to be
wanting in elegance.[1237]

There are other Phoenician bracelets of an entirely different character.
These consist of broad flat bands, which fitted closely to the wrist,
and were fastened round it by means of a clasp. Two, now in the Museum
of New York, are bands of gold about an inch in width, ornamented
externally with rosettes, flowers, and other designs in high relief, on
which are visible in places the remains of a blue enamel.[1238] Another
is composed of fifty-four large-ribbed gold beads, soldered together by
threes, and having for centre a gold medallion, with a large onyx set
in it, and with four gold pendants.[1239] A third bracelet of the kind,
said to have been found at Tharros, consists of six plates, united
by hinges, and very delicately engraved with patterns of a thoroughly
Phoenician character, representing palms, volutes, and flowers.[1240]

But it is in their earrings that the Phoenician ladies were most curious
and most fanciful. They present to us, as MM. Perrot and Chipiez
note, "an astonishing variety."[1241] Some, which must have been very
expensive, are composed of many distinct parts, connected with each
other by chains of an elegant pattern. One of the most beautiful
specimens was found by General Di Cesnola in Cyprus.[1242] There is a
hook at top, by which it was suspended. Then follows a medallion, where
the workmanship is of singular delicacy. A rosette occupies the centre;
around it are a set of spirals, negligently arranged, and enclosed
within a chain-like band, outside of which is a double beading. From
the medallion depend by finely wrought chains five objects. The central
chain supports a human head, to which is attached a conical vase,
covered at top: on either side are two short chains, terminating in
rings, from which hang small nondescript pendants: beyond are two
longer chains, with small vases or bottles attached. Another, found in
Sardinia, is scarcely less complicated. The ring which pierced the ear
forms the handle of a kind of basket, which is covered with lines of
bead-work: below, attached by means of two rings, is the model of a hawk
with wings folded; below the hawk, again attached by a couple of rings,
is a vase of elegant shape, decorated with small bosses, lozenges, and
chevrons.[1243] Other ear-rings have been found similar in type to this,
but simplified by the omission of the bird, or of the basket.[1244]

An entirely different type is that furnished by an ear-ring in the
Museum of New York brought from Cyprus, where the loop of the ornament
rises from a sort of horse-shoe, patterned with bosses and spirals, and
surrounded by a rough edging of knobs, standing at a little distance one
from another.[1245] Other forms found also in Cyprus are the ear-ring
with the long pendant, which has been called "an elongated pear,"[1246]
ornamented towards the lower end with small blossoms of flowers, and
terminating in a minute ball, which recalls the "drops" that are still
used by the jewellers of our day; the loop which supports a _crux
ansata_;[1247] that which has attached to it a small square box, or
measure containing a heap of grain, thought to represent wheat;[1248]
and those which support fruit of various kinds.[1249] An ear-ring of
much delicacy consists of a twisted ring, curved into a hook at one
extremity, and at the other ending in the head of a goat, with a ring
attached to it, through which the hook passes.[1250] Another, rather
curious than elegant, consists of a double twist, ornamented with
lozenges, and terminating in triangular points finely granulated.[1251]

Ornaments more or less resembling this last type of ear-ring, but larger
and coarser, have given rise to some controversy, having been regarded
by some as ear-rings, by others as fastenings for the dress, and by a
third set of critics as ornaments for the hair. They consist of a double
twist, sometimes ornamented at one end only, sometimes at both. A lion's
or a griffin's head crowns usually the principal end; round the neck
is a double or triple collar, and below this a rosette, very carefully
elaborated. In one instance two griffins show themselves side by side,
exhibiting their heads, their chests, their wings, and their fore-paws
or hands; between them is an ornament like that which commonly surmounts
Phoenician _stelae_; and below this a most beautiful rosette.[1252] The
fashioning shows that the back of the ornament was not intended to be
seen, and favours the view that it was to be placed where a mass of hair
would afford the necessary concealment.

The Phoenician ladies seem also to have understood the use of hair-pins,
which were from two to three inches long, and had large heads, ribbed
longitudinally, and crowned with two smaller balls, one above the
other.[1253] The material used was either gold or silver.

To fasten their dresses, the Phoenician ladies used _fibulae_ or buckles
of a simple character. Brooches set with stones have not at present
been found on Phoenician sites; but in certain cases the fibulae show
a moderate amount of ornament. Some have glass beads strung on the
pin that is inserted into the catch; others have the rounded portion
surmounted by the figure of a horse or of a bird.[1254] Most fibulae
are in bronze; but one, found in the treasury of Curium, and now in the
Museum of New York, was of gold.[1255] This, however, was most probably
a votive offering.

It is impossible at present to reproduce the toilet table of a
Phoenician lady. We may be tolerably sure, however, that certain
indispensable articles would not be lacking. Circular mirrors, either
of polished metal, or of glass backed by a plate of tin or silver,
would undoubtedly have found their place on them, together with various
vessels for holding perfumes and ointments. A vase in rock crystal,
discovered at Curium, with a funnel and cover in gold, the latter
attached by a fine gold chain to one of its handles,[1256] was doubtless
a fine lady's favourite smelling bottle. Various other vessels in
silver, of a small size,[1257] as basins and bowls beautifully chased,
tiny jugs, alabasti, ladles, &c., had also the appearance of belonging
rather to the toilet table than to the plate-basket. Some of the
alabasti would contain _kohl_ or _stibium_, some salves and ointments,
others perhaps perfumed washes for the complexion. Among the bronze
objects found,[1258] some may have been merely ornaments, others stands
for rings, bracelets, and the like. One terra-cotta vase from Dali
seems made for holding pigments,[1259] and raises the suspicion that
Phoenician, or at any rate Cyprian, beauties were not above heightening
their charms by the application of paint.

Women in Phoenicia seem to have enjoyed considerable freedom. They are
represented as banqueting in the company of men, sometimes sitting
with them on the same couch, sometimes reclining with them at the same
table.[1260] Occasionally they delight their male companion by playing
upon the lyre or the double pipe,[1261] while in certain instances they
are associated in bands of three, who perform on the lyre, the double
pipe, and the tambourine.[1262] They take part in religious processions,
and present offerings to the deities.[1263] The positions occupied in
history by Jezebel and Dido fall in with these indications, and imply
a greater approach to equality between the sexes in Phoenicia than in
Oriental communities generally.

The men were, for Orientals, unusually hardy and active. In only
one instance is there any appearance of the use of the parasol by a
Phoenician.[1264] Sandals are infrequently worn; neck, chest, arms, and
legs are commonly naked. The rough life of seamen hardened the greater
number; others hunted the wild ox and the wild boar[1265] in the marshy
plains of the coast tract, and in the umbrageous dells of Lebanon. Even
the lion may have been affronted in the great mountain, and if we are
unable to describe the method of its chase in Phoenicia, the reason
is that the Phoenician artists have, in their representations of lion
hunts, adopted almost exclusively Assyrian models.[1266] The Phoenician
gift of facile imitation was a questionable advantage, since it led the
native artists continually to substitute for sketches at first hand of
scenes with which they were familiar, conventional renderings of similar
scenes as depicted by foreigners.

An ornament found in Cyprus, the intention of which is uncertain, finds
its proper place in the present chapter, though we cannot attach it to
any particular class of objects. It consists of a massive knob of solid
agate, with a cylinder of the same both above and below, through which a
rod, or bar, must have been intended to pass. Some archaeologists see
in it the top of a sceptre;[1267] others, the head of a mace;[1268]
but there is nothing really to prove its use. We might imagine it the
adornment of a throne or chair of state, or the end of a chariot pole,
or a portion of the stem of a candelabrum. Antiquity has furnished
nothing similar with which to compare it; and we only say of it, that,
whatever was its purpose, so large and so beautiful a mass of agate has
scarcely been met with elsewhere.[1269] The cutting is such as to show
very exquisitely the veining of the material.

Bronze objects in almost infinite variety have been found on Phoenician
sites,[1270] but only a few of them can have been personal ornaments.
They comprise lamps, bowls, vases, jugs, cups, armlets, anklets,
daggers, dishes, a horse's bit, heads and feet of animals, statuettes,
mirrors, fibulae, buttons, &c. Furniture would seem to have been largely
composed of bronze, which sometimes formed its entire fabric, though
generally confined to the ornamentation. Ivory was likewise employed in
considerable quantities in the manufacture of furniture,[1271] to which
it was applied as an outer covering, or veneer, either plain, or more
generally carved with a pattern or with figures. The "ivory house" of
Ahab[1272] was perhaps so called, not so much from the application of
the precious material to the doors and walls, as from its employment in
the furniture. There is every probability that it was the construction
of Phoenician artists.