66 to Egypt, bearing spicery, and balm, and myrrh, going down to carry it to Egypt." Gen. 37: 25. This was probably for the purpose of embalming, and was perhaps in part the production of Gilead, but more probably these merchants were, to a considerable extent, mere carriers, bearing to Egypt the productions of countries still further East. Here," says Dr. Vincent, "upon opening the oldest history in the world, we find the Ishmaelites from Gilead conducting a caravan loaded with the spices of India, the balsam and myrrh of Hadramant; and in the regular course of their traffic proceeding to Egypt for a market. The date of this transaction is more than seventeen centuries before the Christian era, and notwithstanding its antiquity, it has all the genuine features of a caravan crossing the Desert at the present hour. The articles enumerated here are, 1, "Spicery," rendered by the LXX vuiara, and by Aquila orúga. The Arabic is gum-.-The Hebrew word denotes properly a breaking to pieces, hence aromatic powder, and is here a generic word to denote spices, or aromatic subtances. The Syriac in this place is —¿ntín, Retine-rendered by Walton resina, and probably denoting some resinous substance, obtained from a species of pine or of the terebinth tree. Frankincense is obtained from a species of the fir, and the Nechoth referred to here may have been a species of frankincense employed for the purpose of fumigation, or it may have been a resin employed for the purpose of embalming. Palestine and the adjacent countries produced the terebinth tree in perfection, and it is not improbable that this may have been a production of that country. 2. Balm-. Vulg. resinam; Sept. ¿nzívn— resin. The Hebrew word means opobalsamum-balm of Gilead, distilling from a tree in Gilead, and used in medicine. Bochart, Hieroz. T. 1. p. 628.-The tree producing this is almost peculiar to the land of Judea. A small piece of this is said by Theophrastus to be so odoriferous that it will fill a large space with its perfume. He says that in his time it was produced only in two small enclosures in some part of Syria.—τὸ δὲ βάλσαμον γίνεται μὲν ἐν τῷ αὐλώνι τῷ περὶ Συρίαν. * Commerce and Navigation of the Ancients, Vol. II. p. 262. Pict. Bib. Vol. I. p. 102. Bruce, however, describes it as growing in Azab, and all along the coast of Babelmandel. The balsam of Gilead is about fourteen feet high, with diverging branches that bear leaves at their extremities. The fruit is a berry, of an egg-shape, marked with four seams, and with two cells.-3. Myrrh-Heb. . Vulg. stacten; Sept. oraxrij. This is obtained from a species of balsamodendron, a native of Arabia. It forms stunted groves, which are intermingled with acacia, moringa, etc. The gum is fragrant, and is gathered from the leaves.-All these productions are similar in their nature, and were all adapted to the purpose of embalming, and were no doubt conveyed to Egypt with that view. This traffic thus early commenced must have been carried on during the succeeding ages, and constituted a profitable trade with the Egyptians.-They received in return, corn, the productions of fine linen, robes, carpets, etc. The Egyptians themselves, like the Chinese, carried on no foreign commerce. They abandoned the navigation of the sea to others; but it was their policy, like the Chinese, to make it the interest of other nations to trade with them, and to bring them the productions of their climes. In subsequent periods they had the control of no small part of the commerce of Greece and Rome by the dependence of those countries on them for corn. Herodotus, (II. 86.) in describing the process of embalming, mentions the following materials as being employed, which may serve to illustrate the nature of the commerce that was carried on with that country. "They cleanse the intestines thoroughly, washing them with palm wine, and afterwards covering them with pounded aromatics-Oviμασι περιτετριμμενόις : they then fill the body with powder of pure myrrh, pounded—σμύρνης ἀκηράτου τετριμμενής, and cassia-zaoins, and all other perfumes except frankincense; hiv ßavorov. Having sown up the body, it is covered with nitre for the space of seventy days, which time they may not exceed; at the end of which period it is washed, closely wrapped in bandages of cotton, dipped in a gum7 zou, which the Egyptians use instead of glue." Considering the vast population of Egypt, the commerce in aromatics for the purposes of embalming alone must have been very considerable. I have already remarked, also, that great quantities of aromatics were used by the Romans and other nations in burning the bodies of the dead. A few passages from the classic writers will show the extent to which this prevailed, and the importance of the fact in estimating the extent of the commerce with the East. Oil was used to anoint the dead. So Homer (II. Σ.) says, Καὶ τότε δὴ λοῦσαν τε, καὶ henpav hin' èλaiq. So Virgil, (Æn. vi. 219,) Corpusque lavant, frigentis, et unguunt. Myrrh and cassia were used. Thus Martial (x. 97) says, Dum myrrham et casiam flebilis uxor emit. Thus also amomia, whence the word mummy, was used. This was an herb-usually called Jerusalem, or ladies' rose. It was produced in Armenia, and must have constituted an article of Eastern commerce. It was mingled with their spices when they embalmed the dead, or when the dead were prepared for burning.-Assyrio cineres adolentur Amomo Statuis, Syl. Lib. ii. So Persius (Sat iii.) says, Tandem beatulus alto Compositus lecto, crassisque lutatus amomis. A passage from Tibullus will show not only the prevalence of the fact, but also the origin of the spices which were used, illustrating the position that they constituted a part of the commerce of the East: Illic quas mittit dives Panchaia merces Et nostri memores lachrymæ fundantur, etc. So Ausonius (Heroum, epitaph. 36): Lib. iii. Eleg. 2. Sparge mero cineres, bene olenti et unguine nardi, Nard, an Oriental production, usually obtained in the Indies, was sprinkled on the flame when the dead body was burning. Cur nardo flammæ non oluere mea? Propertius, Lib. iv. Unguenta, et casias, et olentem funera myrrham Thuraque de medio semicremata rogo, etc. Martial, Lib. xi. Epig. 55. Honey was also used to preserve the bodies of the dead. Pliny, lib. xxii. cap. 24. So Xenophon says, that when Agesipolis king of Sparta died, he was laid in honeyév μÉLTI TEOɛis, and was borne to the royal sepulchre. So Statius (Lib. iii. Syl.) says, Duc ad Emathios manes, ubi belliger urbis Other quotations of a similar import may be seen in Ugolin's Thesaur. Ant. Sacra, Tom. xiii. 470, seq. Great quantities of balsam, myrrh and spices were also used, as is well known, in adorning the person, being employed in various kinds of unguents-and these constituted of course a part of the commerce of the East. Jamdudum Tyrio made factus tempora Nardo. Tibull. Lib. iii. Eleg. 6. -hirsuto spirant opobalsama collo. Juvenal, Sat. ii. Pressa tuis balanus capillis. Hor. Lib. iii. Od. 29. The origin or source of some of these articles of luxury is indicated by the quotations above, and also by an expression in Sidonius Apollonar: Indus odorifero crinem made factus amomo. Myrrh was also used in wine, to make it more powerful. Thus Elien, (His. Lib. xii. c. 31,) says, pvog birov jpróvtes ὅντως ἔπινον.—That vast quantities of aromatics were used by the Romans as articles of luxury, it is not needful to demonstrate. The following passages may be referred to as additional proofs and illustrations. Hor. Od. xiii. Martial, Lib. iii. Epig. 82. Lib. ii. Epig. 12. Seneca, Thes. Act. v. Lucan, Pharsa. Lib. x. etc. etc. See Ugolin. Thesau. Sacra. Ant. Tom. xiii. pp. 462-468. In numerous instances the East is indicated as the source of these articles; in nearly all they were probably derived from oriental regions, and constituted a part of the traffic with India. Precious stones and pearls constituted also an important item in the ancient commerce of the East. They are articles almost wholly of mere luxury; but the world has always manifested a reluctance to have that commerce restricted or circumscribed. Especially were they held in high value by the Romans. Pliny arranges and defines them; and the immense number which he describes, (Nat. Hist. Lib. ix. c. 35,) shows the extent to which the traffic was carried in his time, and its value as a part of the commerce with the East. India was the country whence these were brought at first; and it was supposed to be the part of the earth where they were produced in greatest profusion. Pearls, in ancient times, were regarded as valuable to an extent which now almost surpasses belief. Julius Cæsar presented Servilia, the mother of Brutus, with a pearl for which he paid a sum equal to forty-eight thousand four hundred and fifty-seven pounds. The famous pearl earrings of Cleopatra were in value one hundred and sixty-one thousand four hundred and fifty-eight pounds. Robertson's India, p. 25. Ed. N. Y. 1829. Gold, too, was a part of that commerce. The gold of Ophir, wherever that was, was proverbial. The Mexican mines were yet unknown; and when Columbus became acquainted with the existence of gold in vast quantities in the Western world, he regarded it only as a new proof that he had been successful in reaching India by steering his course to the West. In regard to the commerce with Ophir, I shall endeavor to illustrate it further when I come to consider the ancient commerce of the Hebrews. Another article that was in great demand, and that early constituted a part of the merchandise that was conveyed through Western Asia, was silk. The practicability of raising the Morus Multicaulis was not then tested in Europe, as it is now with us; and the ancients were obliged to import it from distant lands. It was confined however to the rich. Princes and the most wealthy alone could wear it. Its regular and fixed price for ages was its weight in gold. This price continued to the time of Aurelian; and what is remarkable is, that for centuries no advance was made either in learning from what countries it was produced, or what was its nature. It was not until the sixth century that the real nature of silk became known at the west. By some, it was supposed that it was a fine down adhering to the leaves of certain trees or flowers; by others it was supposed to be a delicate species of wool or cotton; others conjectured that it might be the production of a species of insect. Silk was regarded as a dress too delicate, and too ex |