To the end
of Phoenician Arwad.
When the
end of Phoenician Arwad is approaching there is an increasing amount of
inscriptions. In the middle of the 4th century appears a healer-god Shadrapa on
a memorial stone: “This is the memorial stone, which was dedicated by Pilles,
son of Abday to his lord Shadrapa, because he has heard his prayer.” On a seal
we can read the name of the dual god Melqart-Rešep: “Belongs to Baalyaton, the
man of god (’š el), dedicated to Melqart-Rešep.” On coins Dagon is replaced by
the head of a male deity, possibly Baal-Yam (Lord of the Sea), the equivalent
of the Greek Poseidon or Roman Neptune, who wears a pointed beard represented
by lines, while his hair and whiskers are represented by pellets. On the
reverse below the waves, a hippocamp or a dolphin is sometimes added, while
above the galley, the Phoenician letters MA standing for Milk Arwad sometimes
appear. These coins continued in circulation until Alexander captured Arados in
333 BC when a new mint was established by Alexander, at which coins of
Alexander were struck with the monogram of Arados.
With the
arrival of Alexander the Great in 333/332 BC Arwad is governed by Geraštarte.
His son Abdaštarte is the commander of the fleet. Arwad is the first of the
Phoenician cities to surrender to Alexander. Arrianus (II,13) tells us that the
whole kingdom from Marathos to Sigo and Marriamme is given to Alexander after
his victory at Issus over Darius. Abdaštarte
is the successor as king of Arwad with the name Straton until 323 BC. Tyros is
the only Phoenician town who is imprudent to make demands on Alexander with the
consequence of a siege of many months. The fleet of the other Phoenician cities
is ordered to block Tyros by the sea and Arados contributes to that fleet. It
is the first and only time that Arados is so evident acting against Tyros. They
must have done that sick at heart, but they must have thought, that they had no
other choice.
When
Alexander conquers also the eastern part of the Persian
Empire we learn from Arrianus (VI 22,4) that the Phoenician
pedlars are following his army. All the way to Gedrosia they load on their
pack-animals Arabic-gum and nard. It is the caravan-trade in which the
Phoenicians also excel. Very probable the Arwadians were responsible for this,
because they hold from ancient times the trade route to Mesopotamia
and further on. Aristobulus accompanies Alexander on his journey to the east
and he writes down that Alexander found at Babylon
the fleet that had sailed with Nearchus up the Euphrates from the Persian Sea Phoenicia consisting of 47 ships had been
brought to Babylon Phoenicia Euphrates .
The colonization-project never came to execution, because Alexander dies. After
the death of Alexander Arados belongs most of the time to the empire of
Seleucus, while southern Phoenicia
is most of the time under the Ptolemaic state of Egypt
Seleucus
treated Arados with caution because it was his only important harbour in the Mediterranean and it possessed a considerable fleet. The
Aradians, moreover, had a flourishing sea-trade and it was not in the interest
of Seleucus to endanger their cooperation by inconsiderate interference in
their affairs. So, Arados became pretty much independent and prosperous in this
period around 300 BC.
See:
Seleucus I and the foundation of Hellenistic Syria, H.Seyrig in WARD p.59.
ncfps
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten