le to
make good the losses they had suffered from Greek privateersmen and
marauding Philistines. Towards the close of the reign of Saul over
Israel, a certain king Abibaal had arisen in Tyre, and was succeeded by
his son Hiram, at the very moment when David was engaged in bringing
the whole of Israel into subjection. Hiram, guided by instinct or by
tradition, at once adopted a policy towards the rising dynasty which his
ancestors had always found successful in similar cases. He made friendly
overtures to the Hebrews, and constituted himself their broker and
general provider: when David was in want of wood for the house he was
building at Jerusalem, Hiram let him have the necessary quantity, and
hired out to him workmen and artists at a reasonable wage, to help him
in turning his materials to good account.*

* 2 Sam. v. 11; cf. the reference to the same incident in
1 Kings v 1-3.

The accession of Solomon was a piece of good luck for him. The new king,
born in the purple, did not share the simple and somewhat rustic tastes
of his father. He wanted palaces and gardens and a temple, which might
rival, even if only in a small way, the palaces and temples of Egypt and
Chaldaea, of which he had heard such glowing accounts: Hiram undertook
to procure these things for him at a moderate cost, and it was doubtless
his influence which led to those voyages to the countries which produced
precious metals, perfumes, rare animals, costly woods, and all those
foreign knicknacks with which Eastern monarchs of all ages loved to
surround themselves. The Phoenician sailors were well acquainted with
the bearings of Puanit, most of them having heard of this country when
in Egypt, a few perhaps having gone thither under the direction and by
the orders of Pharaoh: and Hiram took advantage of the access which the
Hebrews had gained to the shores of the Red Sea by the annexation of
Edom, to establish relations with these outlying districts without
having to pass the Egyptian customs. He lent to Solomon shipwrights and
sailors, who helped him to fit out a fleet at Ezion-geber, and undertook
a voyage of discovery in company with a number of Hebrews, who were no
doubt despatched in the same capacity as the royal messengers sent
with the galleys of Hatshopsitu. It was a venture similar to those so
frequently undertaken by the Egyptian admirals in the palmy days of the
Theban navy, and of which we find so many curious pictures among the
b