1.106
I will now, therefore, pass from these records, and come to those
that belong to the Phoenicians, and concern our nation, and shall produce
attestations to what I have said out of them. There are then records among
the Tyrians that take in the history of many years, and these are public
writings, and are kept with great exactness, and include accounts of the
facts done among them, and such as concern their transactions with other
nations also, those I mean which were worth remembering. Therein it was
recorded that the temple was built by king Solomon at Jerusalem, one hundred
forty-three years and eight months before the Tyrians built Carthage; and
in their annals the building of our temple is related; for Hirom, the king
of Tyre, was the friend of Solomon our king, and had such friendship transmitted
down to him from his forefathers. He thereupon was ambitious to contribute
to the splendor of this edifice of Solomon, and made him a present of one
hundred and twenty talents of gold. He also cut down the most excellent
timber out of that mountain which is called Libanus, and sent it to him
for adorning its roof. Solomon also not only made him many other presents,
by way of requital, but gave him a country in Galilee also, that was called
Chabulon. note
But there was another passion, a philosophic inclination of theirs, which
cemented the friendship that was betwixt them; for they sent mutual problems
to one another, with a desire to have them unriddled by each other; wherein
Solomon was superior to Hirom, as he was wiser than he in other respects:
and many of the epistles that passed between them are still preserved among
the Tyrians. Now, that this may not depend on my bare word, I will produce
for a witness Dius, one that is believed to have written the Phoenician
History after an accurate manner. This Dius, therefore, writes thus, in
his Histories of the Phoenicians: "Upon the death of Abibalus, his
son Hirom took the kingdom. This king raised banks at the eastern parts
of the city, and enlarged it; he also joined the temple of Jupiter Olympius,
which stood before in an island by itself, to the city, by raising a causeway
between them, and adorned that temple with donations of gold. He moreover
went up to Libanus, and had timber cut down for the building of temples.
They say further, that Solomon, when he was king of Jerusalem, sent problems
to Hirom to be solved, and desired he would send others back for him to
solve, and that he who could not solve the problems proposed to him should
pay money to him that solved them. And when Hirom had agreed to the proposals,
but was not able to solve the problems, he was obliged to pay a great deal
of money, as a penalty for the same. As also they relate, that one·Abdemon,
a man of Tyre, did solve the problems, and propose others which Solomon
could not solve, upon which he was obliged to repay a great deal of money
to Hirom." These things are attested to by Dius, and confirm what
we have said upon the same subjects before.
1.116
And now I shall add Menander the Ephesian, as an additional witness.
This Menander wrote the Acts that were done both by the Greeks and Barbarians,
under every one of the Tyrian kings, and had taken much pains to learn
their history out of their own records. Now when he was writing about those
kings that had reigned at Tyre, he came to Hirom, and says thus: "Upon
the death of Abibalus, his son Hirom took the kingdom; he lived fifty-three
years, and reigned thirty-four. He raised a bank on that called the Broad
Place, and dedicated that golden pillar which is in Jupiter's temple; he
also went and cut down timber from the mountain called Libanus, and got
timber Of cedar for the roofs of the temples. He also pulled down the old
temples, and built new ones; besides this, he consecrated the temples of
Hercules and of Astarte. He first built Hercules's temple in the month
Peritus, and that of Astarte when he made his expedition against the Tityans,
who would not pay him their tribute; and when he had subdued them to himself,
he returned home. Under this king there was a younger son of Abdemon, who
mastered the problems which Solomon king of Jerusalem had recommended to
be solved." Now the time from this king to the building of Carthage
is thus calculated: "Upon the death of Hirom, Baleazarus his son took
the kingdom; he lived forty-three years, and reigned seven years: after
him succeeded his son Abdastartus; he lived twenty-nine years, and reigned
nine years. Now four sons of his nurse plotted against him and slew him,
the eldest of whom reigned twelve years: after them came Astartus, the
son of Deleastartus; he lived fifty-four years, and reigned twelve years:
after him came his brother Aserymus; he lived fifty-four years, and reigned
nine years: he was slain by his brother Pheles, who took the kingdom and
reigned but eight months, though he lived fifty years: he was slain by
Ithobalus, the priest of Astarte, who reigned thirty-two years, and lived
sixty-eight years: he was succeeded by his son Badezorus, who lived forty-five
years, and reigned six years: he was succeeded by Matgenus his son; he
lived thirty-two years, and reigned nine years: Pygmalion succeeded him;
he lived fifty-six years, and reigned forty-seven years. Now in the seventh
year of his reign, his sister fled away from him, and built the city Carthage
in Libya." So the whole time from the reign of Hirom, till the building
of Carthage, amounts to the sum of one hundred fifty-five years and eight
months. Since then the temple was built at Jerusalem in the twelfth year
of the reign of Hirom, there were from the building of the temple, until
the building of Carthage, one hundred forty-three years and eight months.
Wherefore, what occasion is there for alleging any more testimonies out
of the Phoenician histories [on the behalf of our nation], since what I
have said is so thoroughly confirmed already? and to be sure our ancestors
came into this country long before the building of the temple; for it was
not till we had gotten possession of the whole land by war that we built
our temple. And this is the point that I have clearly proved out of our
sacred writings in my Antiquities.
