When God sent Jonah as a missionary to the capital, Nineveh, the prophet balked. They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee. In this version of the tale, the queen has a name: Makeda. [20], According to Rashi, a medieval rabbi and commentator of the Bible, quoting Tractate Hullin 9lb, 'tarshish' means the Tarshish Sea of Africa.[21]. Genesis 10:4 1 Chronicles 1:7. The first time it is mentioned in scriptures as a place, it states that King Solomon sent his ships there to trade. Tiras. "(b) As regards the crew, in the two-banked Phoenician ship the rowers of the first bank work their oars over the gunwale, and those of the second through portholes lower down, so that each may have free play for his oar. The second son of Javan, Genesis 10:4. It deals with the rivalry between the Tartessians and the evil Arkabala, the high priest of the Temple of Hercules in the Phoenician city of Gadir (Cdiz), for control of the tin route to las islas Casitrides (the British Isles.) He was going in the total opposite direction that God told him to go, on a boat travelling as far as they go. ( Genesis 10:4 ; 1Kings 10:22 ; 1Chronicles 1:7 ; Psalms 48:7 ; Isaiah 2:16 ; Jeremiah 10:9 ; Ezekiel 27:12 Ezekiel 27:25 ; Jonah 1:3 ; 4:2 ) The identity of the two places is rendered highly probable by the following circumstances: 1st. Answer (1 of 3): Gog is the Land of Magog, the Prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. It was the birth pains of a nation being re-born that had not existed in over 2400 years. In the Oracle against Tyre, the prophet Ezekiel (27:12) mentions that silver, iron, lead, and tin came to Tyre from Tarshish (Trsys). TARSHISH tr' shsh ().KJV alternately THARSHISH thr' shsh. Beth Togarmah is Asia Minor. Within it, and specifically in the geographical region that was part of Phoenicia, is a concentration of hoards dated between 1200 and 800BC. Its one of those words that we often skip over because it seems insignificant or hard to pronounce. (2010). Trade existed from this location in the time of King Solomon (ruled circa 970-931 BC) and the Phoenician king Hiram. Her builders have made her perfect in beauty with planks of fir or cypress, mast of cedar, oars of the oak of Bashan, benches or deck of ivory inlaid with boxwood, sail of fine linen with broidered work from Egypt, and an awning of blue and purple from the coastlands of Elisha (possibly Sicily). A variation on the name, Tarshishi, is found among Arabs of Lebanese descent, and likely indicates a family connection to the Lebanese village Tarshish. Again we see that the exact alignment of nations predicted in Ezekiel 38 is in place today. The same book notes it as a striking example of the case of a divine and beneficent Providence that "men entrust their lives to a little piece of wood, and passing through the surge on a raft are brought safe to land" (Wisd 14:1-5). The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wastreplenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas (Ezekiel 27:25). However, it seems that one of those metals was not plentiful in Spain and that metal was tin. Hacksilber objects in these Phoenician hoards have lead isotope ratios that match ores in the silver-producing regions of Sardinia and Spain, only one of which is a large island rich in silver. (The word may mean a "refinery . He found a ship bound for Tarshish as far toward the West as Nineveh to the East. Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary - Tarshish, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Tarshish, The name of a place which first comes into notice in the days of Solomon. The location inSpain is doubtful because Bible Which country is Tarshish today? Some think there was a Tarshish in the East, on the Indian coast, seeing that "ships of Tarshish" sailed from Eziongeber, on the Red Sea (, Probably Tartessus, a city and emporium of the Phoenicians in the south of Spain, represented as one of the sons of Javan. [30] This idea stems from the fact that Tarshish is recorded to have been a trader in tin, silver, gold, and lead [31] which were all mined in Cornwall. The early colonizing nations were the Phonecians and the Greeks. & Skaggs, S. (2013). (Tin came primarily from Cornwall in the British Isles, and was brought back by the Phoenicians; it was combined with copper, abundant in south west Spain, to produce bronze. Hiram joined Solomon in these enterprises which had their center on the Red Sea, and thus the Phoenicians had water communication with the coasts of Arabia and Africa, and even of India. Tarshish was said to have exported vast quantities of important metals to Phoenicia and Israel. Nevertheless, different sources have referred to it as a city, a mountain, even a river the Guadalquivir. (Ezekiel 38:13). Tarshish was a nation that was rich in minerals and supplied the known world in the 6th century BC through the markets at the coastal city of Tyre. In regard to tin, the trade of Tarshish in this metal is peculiarly significant, and, taken in conjunction with similarity of name and other circumstances already mentioned, is reasonably conclusive as to its identity with Tartessus. Some 19th-century commentators believed that Tarshish was Britain, including Alfred John Dunkin who claimed "Tarshish demonstrated to be Britain" (1844), George Smith (1850),[29] James Wallis and David King's The British Millennial Harbinger (1861), John Algernon Clarke (1862), and Jonathan Perkins Weethee of Ohio (1887). A son of Javan, great-grandson of Noah (Gen 10:4ff. "Ships of Tarshish" is an expression sometimes denoting simply ships intended for a long voyage ( Isaiah 23:1 Isaiah 23:14 ), ships of a large size (sea-going ships), whatever might be the port to which they sailed. Ezekiel 27:25 The ships of Tarshish were your caravans for your merchandise: and you were replenished, and made very glorious in the heart of the seas. Ships of Tarshish were no doubt ships actually built for the Tarshish trade (2 Chronicles 20:36 Jonah 1:3), but the expression became a general designation for large sea-going vessels to any quarter. It was also a victory of sorts over Britain, for it was her sailing ships that left the coast when the United Nations pronounced the independence of Israel. Now Caesarea has disappeared; and Joppa has only an open roadstead where vessels lie without shelter, and receive and discharge cargo and passengers by means of boats plying between them and the shore. The word comes from the Greek kassiteros meaning tin. It is notknown whether Tartessus was a city,a river or a nation. Sheba: see Ezekiel 27:22: this Sheba was southward, and contains all of that coast which assisted Gog. The Spanish Empire was a dominant world influence in between the late 15th century until the early 19th century. Gen 10:2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. Among the Hebrews(1) In Early Times(2) During the Monarchy(3) In Later Times2. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. Gen 10:2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. Wail, you inhabitants of the coast! While this is just a comic series it is based on fact as Encyclopedia Wikipedia states: Britain was not unknown to the Classical world. Tarshish and the problem of Phoenician colonization in the western Mediterranean. The Spanish Empire was a dominant world influence in between the late 15th century until the early 19th century. (1 Kings 10:21) Tarshish remained a viable and identifiable location for many centuries, until at least the 6th century BC. They were propelled by oars, but no doubt also made use of the sail when the wind was favorable (Luke 8:23), though the pictures which we have in the Gospels are mostly of the boatmen toiling in rowing in the teeth of a gale (Mark 6:48), and struggling with the threatening waves (Matthew 14:24). All of the minerals marketed by the merchants of Tarshish could have come from Britain but. . Another example can be found in Psalms 48 where we read that, Fear took hold of them [the Kings] there, and pain as of a woman in birth pangs, as when You break the ships of Tarshish (Psalms 48:6-7). All rights reserved. The articles which Tarshish is stated by the prophet Ezekiel, ( Ezekiel 27:12 ) to have supplied to Tyre are precisely such as we know, through classical writers, to have been productions of the Spanish peninsula. When Simon reared his monument over the sepulcher of his father and brothers at Modin, he set up seven pyramids with pillars, upon which were carved figures of ships to be "seen of all that sail on the sea" (1 Maccabees 13:29). One work states: Tarshish traded silver, iron, tin, and lead in the Tyrian markets. ), (1) A distant port from which silver, iron, tin, lead, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks were brought to Palestine (cf. As with all these names, Tarshish denotes a country; in several instances, indeed, it is mentioned as a maritime country lying in the remotest region of the earth. It seems as though today, Britain, as Tarshish, is now playing a subservient role behind the young lions of America in important geo . Tarshish. to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great spoil? 2. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Tarshish in the latter days must have young lions of nations that are her offspring. Herodotus tells the story of a boat that was driven by a storm past the Pillars of Hercules and ended up in Tertessus: The crew, informed by Corobius of all the circumstances, left him sufficient food for a year. Elle se rendit auprs de Salomon, et elle lui dit tout ce qu'elle avait . It appears that this name also is used without reference to any locality. Legends grew up around it over time so that its identity has been the subject of scholarly research and commentary for more than two thousand years. Tarshish is also the name of a modern village in the Mount Lebanon District of Lebanon . In 2003, Christine Marie Thompson identified the Cisjordan Corpus, a concentration of hacksilver hoards in Israel and Palestine (Cisjordan). If Tarshish is England; I propose the 'young lions thereof' would be Canada, Australia, and the United States. The prophecy of Psalms 48 was fulfilled in 1948. Other candidates for the name "Tarshish" in Biblical-Prophetic terms exist include America as discussed below. Genesis 10:1-2. Tarsus is an ancient city on the alluvial plain of ancient Cilicia, the birthplace of St. Paul (Acts of the Apostles 22:3). For Gog (the antichrist) to lead Magog, Meshech, Tubal, and a broader coalition of what are currently Arab-dominated nations and Persia, against Israel, Persia must submit to Gog. Javan as one of the grandsons of Noah born after the flood. It took three whole years to make the trip, and the merchant ships came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys (2 Chronicles 9:21 NKJV). It is also interesting to note that one of Javan's sons Tarshish has become what is today modern day Spain. Tarshish also occurs 25times in the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible with various meanings: This is repeated in 2Chronicles20:37 preceded by the information that the ships were actually built at Ezion-geber, and emphasizing the prophecy of the otherwise unknown Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah against Jehoshaphat that "Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made." (a) As regards rigging, the Phoenician ships of the time of Ezekiel, as seen in Assyrian representations, had one mast with one yard and carried a square sail. PO Box 4216 She is manned with oarsmen of Sidon and Arvad, pilots of the wise men of Tyre, calkers from Gebal to stop up the cracks and seams in her timbers, mariners and men of war from other lands who enhanced her beauty by hanging up the shield and helmet within her. They were stored in Tyre and resold, probably to Mesopotamia. The queen is first mentioned in I Kings 10:1-13 and in II Chronicles 9:1-12 in the Bible, then in the later Aramaic Targum Sheni, then the Quran, and finally the Ethiopian work known as the Kebra Negast; later . "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". This agrees perfectly with the statement of Ibn Hankal, who no doubt reports the opinion of the Arabian geographers, that Phoenicia maintained a direct intercourse with Britain in later ", Phoenician presence in the western Mediterranean, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, "King Solomon's silver? The ships were broken, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish. Britain and America have strong ties with Arabia (Sheba and Dedan) which is linked to the last days whereas Spain has such no such links. In Ezekiel 38:10-13 God is speaking through the Prophet Ezekiel to Gog of Magog, a confederacy of nations from the north, who would invade a land of "unwalled villages" (Israel). 5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every . T. K. Cheyne (18411915) thought that "Tarshish" of Genesis 10:4[26] and "Tiras" of Genesis 10:2[27] are really two names of one nation derived from two different sources, and might indicate the Tyrsenians or Etruscans.[28]. We have already noted the historical record which assumes that Tartessus was in Spain and that Tarshish was Tartessus however, it also acknowledged that tin was sourced from Cornwall as follows: Tin came primarily from Cornwall in the British Isles, and was brought back by the Phoenicians; it was combined with copper, abundant in south west Spain, to produce bronze. Ezekiel 38:13 imparts several important clues to the reader. Elle avait une suite fort nombreuse, et des chameaux portant des aromates, de l'or en grande quantit et des pierres prcieuses. Some think there was a Tarshish in the East, on the Indian coast, seeing that " ships of Tarshish" sailed from Ezion-geber, on the Red Sea ( 1 . What is Tarshish called today? Gen 10:4-5 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. The sail had also to serve "for an ensign" (lenes, Ezekiel 27:7). Meshech (whose name means "long, tall, or drawn out by force") is the sixth son of Japheth. Herodotus indicated that he had no evidence of the North Sea on the north of Europe. It is also true thatthe mountains of Wales, just north of Cornwall have been a source of all the mineralslisted in Ezekiel 27:12. It was the farthest limit of the western world as known to the Hebrews. The Spanish-speaking South American nations are also weak and still developing. SHIPS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE APOCRYPHA1. Fourth-named of the seven "princes" of Persia in the time of Artaxerxes ( Es 1:14 ). What is Tarshish called today? The Jews like the Egyptians and the Assyrians had a natural shrinking from the sea, and Ecclesiasticus interprets their feeling when he says: "They that sail on the sea tell of the danger thereof; and when we hear it with our ears, we marvel" (43:24).III. There are three schools of thought where Tarshish is concerned. Experts have positioned it as far away as India in the east and the far coast of Spain in the west. Thompson and Skaggs[10] argue that the Akkadian inscriptions of Esarhaddon (AsBbE) indicate that Tarshish was an island (not a coastland) far to the west of the Levant. About this period we hear of ships in naval warfare. Tarshish is mentioned in a prophecy in the Book of Isaiah 60:1-12. . [3] The Jewish-Portuguese scholar, politician, statesman and financier Isaac Abarbanel (14371508AD) described Tarshish as "the city known in earlier times as Carthage and today called Tunis. Tarshish was said to have exported vast quantities of important metals to Phoenicia and Israel. Under the ruthless and ambitious King Nebuchadnezzar II, the sprawling settlement in modern-day Iraq grew into a major city as large as Chicago, and boasted towering temples, ornately tiled palaces and imposing city walls thick enough for two chariots to pass . In fact, in ancient times, the British Isles were known as the Cassiterides, which means Tin Islands.. 1915. One view locates Tarshish to the East, accessible from Solomon's great seaport at Ezion Geber on the Red Sea. It is located on the Tarsus River, about 12 miles (20 km) from the Mediterranean Sea coast. In Other BooksLITERATUREIn the Old Testament the following words are found:(1) The word most commonly used in Hebrew for "a ship" is 'oniyah (Proverbs 30:19 Jonah 1:3, 4), of which the plural 'oniyoth is found most frequently (Judges 5:17 1 Kings 22:48 f, and many other places).The collective term for "a navy of ships" is 'oni (1 Kings 9:26; 1 Kings 10:22, 'oni Tharshish, "a navy (of ships) of Tarshish"; but Isaiah 33:21, 'oni shayit, a "galley with oars"). Control of this precious metal which the Tartessians combined with copper to produce bronze, allows the Tartessians to live in great comfort. We should note that Cassiterite is tin dioxide from which tin is extracted. Archealogical research in Cornwall recently identified ancient harbour facilities along with evidence of ancient structures. However, Solomon's Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, making archaeological evidence difficult to uncover. The ancient capital of Saudi Arabia is still called Dedan on many maps today. In the absence of positive proof, we may acquiesce in the statement of Strabo, that the river Baetis (now the Guadalquivir) was formerly called Tartessus, that the city Tartessus was situated between the two arms by which the river flowed into the sea, and that the adjoining country was called Tartessis. This seemingly rules out Spain as Tarshish and the Latin American countries as the young lions. Tin was a very important and valuable raw material for the ancient world. In the Gospels2. Tartessus, an ancient city between two mouths of the Guadalquiver, in the south of Spain. Some have pointed out thatthere is a mining town in Spaincalled Tharsis but this is a recentdevelopment and obviously animported name by a British miningcompany. Ezekiel, in 587BC described all of the commodities sold in the market place of Tyre and stated that. It prospered from trade with the Phoenicians and Carthaginians but was probably destroyed by the latter about 500 bc. 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