Page:Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile - In the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773 volume 1.djvu/553

Rh great and trading state, which he united to his empire; would yet have lost him the trade he sought to cultivate, by the very means he used to obtain it, had not Tyre been in a capacity to succeed to Edom, and to collect its mariners and artificers, scattered abroad by the conquest.

took possession of two ports, Eloth and Ezion-gaber *, from which he carried on the trade to Ophir and Tarshish, to a very great extent, to the day of his death. We are struck with astonishment when we reflect upon the sum that Prince received in so short a time from these mines of Ophir. For what is said to be given by King David † and his Princes for the building of the Temple of Jerusalem, exceeds in value eight hundred millions of our money, if the talent there spoken of is a Hebrew talent ‡ and not a weight of the same denomination, the value of which was less, and peculiarly reserved for and used in the traffic of thefe precious metals, gold and silver. It was, probably, an African or Indian weight, proper to the same mines, whence was gotten the gold appropriated to fine commodities only, as is the case with our ounce Troy different from the Averdupoise.

, who succeeded David in his kingdom, was his successor likewise in the friendship of Hiram king of Tyre.

Solomon


 * 1 Kings, chap. ix. ver. 26. 2 Chron. chap. viii. ver. 17. † l Chron. chap. xxii. ver. 14, 15, 16. Chap. xxix. ver. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. -- Three thousand Hebrew talents of gold, reduced to our money, amount to twenty-one millions and six hundred thousand pounds Sterling.

‡ The value of a Hebrew talent appears from Exodus, chap. xxxviii. ver. 25, 26. For 603,550 persons being taxed at half a shekel each, they must have paid in the whole 301,775 now that sum is said to amount to 100 talents, 1775 shekels only; deduct the two latter sums and there will remain 300,000, which, divided by 108, will leave 3000 shekels for each of these talents.