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»Issue 12, Volume 07 www.scarbrough-intl.com » December 2007 |
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COVER STORY International Trade in the Old Testament When we think of the Bible we usually envision sitting in church or Sunday school listening to someone give a moral objective lesson with emphasis on eternal consequences. The purpose of this article is to give insight into the biblical world of trade among people who existed without the advanced technological expertise we have today. You may find they were not much different than those of us who currently work in the field of international trade and transportation. The Bible, especially the Old Testament, gives us a glimpse of the everyday lives on those who were living in ancient times. The major focus of the Old Testament is the Israelites and their relationships to their God, to themselves, and also to the cultures around them. The main focus of this paper is to show the interconnected world of trade among Israel and the surrounding nations. One of the most important trading partners of the Israelites was Tyre. Tyre was the main city of a people we now call the Phoenicians. They were the first recorded sea-faring traders that we know of in the Mediterranean world. Phoenicia (present day Lebanon) did not have a lot of farmland, but was endowed with good harbors and plentiful cedar trees for ship building. Due to this situation, the populace was forced to go to the sea for their livelihood. At first this involved fishing, but being the entrepreneurs they were it extended into cargo ship making. In time they not only became transportation providers, but also the buying and selling agents of trade goods all across the Mediterranean world and beyond. We have records that support the fact that the Phoenicians traveled extensively to trade and profit. Their ships were very big for those times. They were the first people to build ships that were later called Biremes. These ships had two decks of oars used to row. There was also a very large mast and sail to help catch the wind for added speed. The ships were between 75 and 90 feet long which is very small considering today we have container ships almost ten times that length. Needless to say, we have come a long way in ship design. Tyre is still located on the coast of Southern Lebanon just as it was in ancient times. The main part of the city was built on an island 3.5 miles from the mainland. This was the citadel the populace used to withstand attacks from land based powers such as the Assyrians. In times of war the people would get in the ships and cross over to this island and be safe behind 150 foot high walls. Since they depended on the sea for their livelihood, they were not in danger of going through famines due to siege as other cities like Jerusalem in Judah. Tyre had an extensive harbor which allowed their ships access to the whole Mediterranean World in search of Gold and precious stones. In fact Zechariah 9:3 states that there was enough silver and gold to be counted as dust and mire in the streets. This brings us to the main passage of scripture that relates to Tyre and its “trading partners”. Ezekiel Chapter 27 is a lamentation for Tyre that the Lord tells Ezekiel to write down and proclaim. In this chapter we get a very accurate rendition of the extent of trade that was carried out in those times. The list of cultures and the wares they traded in is extensive. There were Linen textiles from Egypt which at that time was the center of flax cultivation. From Tarshish, which some scholars say was in Spain and others point to Ancient Briton, originated such goods as silver, iron, tin and lead. The iron was used for tools and the tin and lead were employed in the manufacture of brass. The silver was used to finance their economic “engine”. The Bible states that Javan, Tubal, and Meshach were the merchants of Tyre. They came to Tyre and set up shop to sell brass and slaves. They were also accompanied by horse traders from Togarmah; who were known to be breeders of horses and mules. We would think of them today as car and tractor dealerships. These are the people who resided in what is today modern Turkey. The Phoenicians had extensive trade networks all over the known world at that time. They traveled far and wide to not only trade with the above mentioned nations, but also with Syria, Mesopotamia, Judah and the Arabia Peninsula. Phoenicians also made long ocean voyages to regions that the Bible and Egyptian sources call Punt and Ophir. These are thought to be East Africa and the modern state of India. Tyre was a city bustling with commerce that dealt with commodities as diverse as textiles to spices. Anyone who wanted to set up shop in an ancient “international business enterprise” was lured to this prime real estate on the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea to sell their wares and maybe with hard work, make it rich. This very much compares with life today in major cities around the globe such as New York, London, Paris, Chicago and not to forget Hong Kong and Singapore. In the field of International Trade we find ourselves today realizing that we owe a lot to the Phoenicians and other people mentioned in the Old Testament. They were the pioneers that began a centuries-long journey to our present state of international trade. Without the foundation they laid before us we would most likely still be on individual farms irking out a living from what we could grow for ourselves. So when you are in church or Sunday school studying about the Israelites and their contemporaries, please do not forget they were international business professionals just like us. We both profited from our knowledge of the Sea (in our case air also) to make our livelihood transporting commodities the world over. All Scripture References are from the Bible, Authorized Version, 1762 Edition. For more information please contact us at info@scarbrough-intl.com. -- Robert Whitley, CHB Customer Service Representative |
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