Solomon's  commercial  relations  with  Arabia  are  less
accurately  known  to  us  than  those  he  had  with  Egypt.  It
is  from  Arabia  that  he  must  have  mainly  derived  the  spices
which  were  extensively  used  during  his  reign  (cfr.  Ill
Kings  x,  25  ;  Prov.  vii,  17  ;  Cant.  Hi,  6  ;  iv,  10,%,  16,  etc.);
for  although  they  might  have  been  brought  to  him  by  sea,
yet  they  have  ever  been  transported  by  caravans  throughout
the  East.  From  the  same  country  he  may  also  have
imported  many  of  his  precious  stones  (cfr.  Ill  Kings  x,  2,
10 ;  II  Paralip.  ix,  i,  9,  10).
The  last  country  with  which  Solomon  maintained  direct
commercial  relations  by  land  was  PHENICIA.  His  traffic
with  Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,  was  chiefly  required  by  his  own
numerous  architectural  undertakings  ;  for  without  the  friendly
transactions  with  this  pagan  prince,  Solomon  would  never
have  been  able  to  carry  out  the  building  of  the  Tem
ple  of  Jerusalem  and  of  his  various  palaces.  Phenicia  was
ever  famous  in  antiquity  for  its  skilled  wood-carvers  and
metal-casters,  and  the  Israelites,  at  least  at  this  time,  were
far  from  having  acquired  the  knowledge  in  the  useful  and
fine  arts  which  such  public  constructions  required.  It  may
be  added  in  passing  that  if  the  Jewish  king  vanquished  many
a  time  his  royal  brother  of  Tyre  in  their  contests  of  wit
QOSEPHUS,  Against  Apion,  i,  17),  the  Phenician  monarch  cer
tainly  got  the  better  of  the  son  of  David  in  their  business
transactions  (III  Kings  v ;  vii  •  13,  sq. ;  ix,  i,  sq  ;  II  Para-
lip,  ii ;  viii,  2).
