Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 1).djvu/86

 *deed, the words of Herodotus in his first chapter clearly indicate the existence of such an ancient trade conducted by aid of the Phœnicians.

Though frequently interrupted by the great internal revolutions of Asia, in which Babylon was constantly compelled to take part, and though the trading routes between Babylon and Tyre lay through wild and inhospitable deserts, the intercourse between them continued for many centuries, nor ceased, so far as we know from history, till the final overthrow of Babylon by Cyrus and the Medes and Persians.

Of the objects of this commerce a tolerably certain account has been preserved; and among these are found corn (which has been supposed to be indigenous in Babylonia), dogs of an extraordinary breed, carpets, cotton and woollen fabrics, woven and embroidered with figures of mythic animals and famous alike for their texture and workmanship and for the richness and variety of their colours. These native products were exchanged for spices, ivory, ebony, cinnamon and precious stones. The sindones, or flowing garments, of Babylon had a great reputation from remote times, for it was "a goodly Babylonian garment," which tempted Achan to his destruction (Josh. vii. v. 21); and, centuries after Babylon had almost ceased to be counted among the nations, an Edict of Diocletian, 284, the purpose of which was to regulate the maximum prices of articles in the empire, speaks of several products of Babylonian manufacture.