Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 1).djvu/77



Earliest caravan trade—Ophir—Port of Ezion-geber—The voyages of the Jewish ships—The inland commerce of Solomon—Babylon—Gerrha and Tylos—Babylonian commerce—Assyrian boats—Lydia—Ionia—Caria—Phrygia—Scythians—Their caravan routes to India, viâ the Caspian.

Reference has already incidentally been made to a few of the caravan routes of very ancient times: these and other more important routes will now and hereafter be considered somewhat more in detail, as, antecedently to the invention of boats, there must have existed some interchange of commodities between different nations and tribes on land, by the agencies of different kinds of beasts of burthen; and, here, the records of Holy Writ are, as in so many other cases, the first available; the earliest caravan noticed in history being that mentioned in the 37th chapter of the book of Genesis, v. 25: "behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt;" and again, v. 28: "Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver."

Here there is a clearly defined trade at a very