Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 1.djvu/234

214 have many pleasant surprises for the archaeologist ; in them he will sometimes encounter complete series of monuments which are entirely absent from the tombs of Phoenicia. Thus we find that objects of earthenware, so uncommon on the Tyrian coast, abound in the tombs of Cyprus, while those of Sardinia have furnished a series of scarabs richer and more varied than any we could possibly form from those found in graves on the main shore of the Mediterranean. We need look for no additions to our stores from Bckaa or Ccele-Syria. Down to the Roman epoch the whole of this region was in a very rude and primitive state. According to Strabo, it was entirely given over to robbers and savages. The trade route skirted it on the north and the south, but the Phoenicians did not penetrate within the range. The lower valley of the Orontes and the oasis of Damascus were in the same condition. Over the whole of that district another people, another civilization, and another set of customs were to be encountered. Damascus is certainly one of the oldest cities in the world, and close beside it rise the rocky escarpments of the Djebel Kasioum. If that mountain had been in Phoenicia its sides would have been fitted w r ith sepulchral chambers, but as it is, not a single vestige of such a thing is to be found. It was, in fact, on the sea that the doors and windows of Phoenicia opened, and it is on that side, on the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean, that we must look for points of comparison and for supplements to the narrow information we can draw from the parent state itself.

First of all we must cross over to Cyprus, which was certainly the earliest colony of the Phoenicians. During many centuries they maintained themselves in the island in great force, at least over all its southern half. Their tombs are consequently very numerous, and the only difficulty is to distinguish them from those of the Greeks, who also colonized Cyprus at a very remote period, and ended by gaining the upper hand after living there in contact with the Phoenicians for many centuries. Two points have to