Page:Indian Shipping, a history of the sea-borne trade and maritime activity of the Indians from the earliest times.djvu/144

 the ivory, garments, armour, spices, and peacocks which found customers in ancient Syria. In the Book of I Kings it is stated how the ships of Solomon came to Ophir and fetched from thence gold, plenty of almug trees, precious stones, and the like. In the Book of Ezekiel, which dwells on the commerce of Tyre, there are mentioned commodities which are undoubtedly of Indian origin. Thus the ivory and ebony included in them are characteristic Indian products and were recognized as such by classical writers like Megasthenes, Theophrastus, and Virgil. Besides, another proof that the Bible really refers to the foreign trade of India may be found in the fact that there have been discovered some old Dravidian words in the Hebrew text of the Books of Kings and Chronicles of the Old