DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4920#0005
INTRODUCTION CONTINUED.
par with the rest of Asia Minor and Greece. There is no proof of any statuary of even
that age, and the oldest works of that people are the chased paterae, or bowls, of metal,
parallels to which are to be found in the palaces of Nimroud, of the seventh century
B.C., in the tombs of Etruria, and the isles. The inscriptions which these metallic works
of art occasionally have in Phoenician characters are not older than the seventh
century B.C.
These, in fact, are the earliest works of Phoenician art, and, although in bas-relief,
exhibit all the peculiarities of Phoenician art; the plants, objects, and ornaments imitated
from Egyptian art. Next to the bronze objects are the works in ivory of the Assyrian
palaces, also executed by Phoenician artists, with figures in the Egyptian style and type,
shown in the costume of the figures; the expression and form of the features, and the
presence of hieroglyphic inscriptions cut in a style not Egyptian, although with Egyptian
attributes, and even in the Egyptian language. This imitation of Egyptian art is the
peculiarity of Phoenician, which copied foreign works, and can scarcely be said to have
had a native style, but served as a medium for the development of Greek art.
Soon after the age to which the Trojan war is referred the Greek colonists began
to settle in the island, and shared with their Phoenician rivals the cities of the coast; but
the great sepulchres, in most instances, are of a later age. The art of the Homeric period
only finds its parallel in Assyrian bronze objects of art about the ninth century B.C.
There are, however, no dated Greek works of art of so remote a date, and this portion
of the work only relates to oriental and Cypriote works of art. It is doubtful if any of
the Cypriote sculpture of Phoenician style can be referred to that age.
Passing to its relations with Assyria, the island was called Iah by them, and belonged
to a district, or country, named by the Assyrians Yatnan, or Atnan, supposed to refer to Iavan,
the name by which the Greeks were designated by the term Iones or Ionians. This name is
supposed to have arisen from the circumstance of the early colonization of the island by the
Greek races, from which it was supposed by the Assyrians to belong to the Ionian Greeks,
who had colonized Asia Minor. To the Assyrians it was unknown before the reign of
par with the rest of Asia Minor and Greece. There is no proof of any statuary of even
that age, and the oldest works of that people are the chased paterae, or bowls, of metal,
parallels to which are to be found in the palaces of Nimroud, of the seventh century
B.C., in the tombs of Etruria, and the isles. The inscriptions which these metallic works
of art occasionally have in Phoenician characters are not older than the seventh
century B.C.
These, in fact, are the earliest works of Phoenician art, and, although in bas-relief,
exhibit all the peculiarities of Phoenician art; the plants, objects, and ornaments imitated
from Egyptian art. Next to the bronze objects are the works in ivory of the Assyrian
palaces, also executed by Phoenician artists, with figures in the Egyptian style and type,
shown in the costume of the figures; the expression and form of the features, and the
presence of hieroglyphic inscriptions cut in a style not Egyptian, although with Egyptian
attributes, and even in the Egyptian language. This imitation of Egyptian art is the
peculiarity of Phoenician, which copied foreign works, and can scarcely be said to have
had a native style, but served as a medium for the development of Greek art.
Soon after the age to which the Trojan war is referred the Greek colonists began
to settle in the island, and shared with their Phoenician rivals the cities of the coast; but
the great sepulchres, in most instances, are of a later age. The art of the Homeric period
only finds its parallel in Assyrian bronze objects of art about the ninth century B.C.
There are, however, no dated Greek works of art of so remote a date, and this portion
of the work only relates to oriental and Cypriote works of art. It is doubtful if any of
the Cypriote sculpture of Phoenician style can be referred to that age.
Passing to its relations with Assyria, the island was called Iah by them, and belonged
to a district, or country, named by the Assyrians Yatnan, or Atnan, supposed to refer to Iavan,
the name by which the Greeks were designated by the term Iones or Ionians. This name is
supposed to have arisen from the circumstance of the early colonization of the island by the
Greek races, from which it was supposed by the Assyrians to belong to the Ionian Greeks,
who had colonized Asia Minor. To the Assyrians it was unknown before the reign of