Editing Tarshish

{{Short description|Biblical term, generally a place-name}}
{{location map+ | Mediterranean |relief = true |width = 300 |caption = Suggested locations of Tarshish
| places = 
{{Location map~
| Mediterranean
| label      = [[Tartessos]]
| lat_deg    =37
| lon_deg    =-6.2
}} 
{{Location map~
| Mediterranean
| label      = [[Sardinia]]
| lat_deg    =40
| lon_deg    =9
}} 
{{Location map~
| Mediterranean
| label      = <br />[[Cádiz]]
| lat_deg    =36.533333
| lon_deg    =-6.283333
}} 
{{Location map~
| Mediterranean
| label      = [[Phoenicia]]
| lat_deg    =34.123611
| lon_deg    =35.651111
}} 
}}

'''Tarshish'''  ({{langx|phn|𐤕𐤓𐤔𐤔|{{smallcaps|tršš}}}}; {{langx|he|תַּרְשִׁישׁ|Taršiš}}; {{Langx|grc-x-koine|Θαρσεῖς|Tharseis}}) occurs in the [[Hebrew Bible]] with several uncertain meanings, most frequently as a place (probably a large city or region) far across the sea from [[Phoenicia]] (now [[Lebanon]]) and the [[Land of Israel]]. Tarshish was said to have exported vast quantities of important metals to Phoenicia and Israel. The same place name occurs in the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] inscriptions of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian emperor]] [[Esarhaddon]] (died 669&nbsp;BC) and also on the Phoenician inscription of the [[Nora Stone]] (around 800 BCE) in [[Sardinia]]; its precise location was never commonly known, and was eventually lost in antiquity. Legends grew up around it over time, so its identity has been the subject of scholarly research and commentary for more than two thousand years.

Its importance stems in part from the fact that Hebrew biblical passages tend to understand Tarshish as a source of King [[Solomon]]'s tremendous wealth in metals – especially silver, but also gold, [[tin]], and iron according to [[Ezekiel 27]]. The metals were reportedly obtained in partnership with the Phoenician king [[Hiram I]] of [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] and fleets of ships from Tarshish, according to [[Isaiah 23]].

Tarshish is also the name of a modern village in the [[Mount Lebanon Governorate]], Lebanon, and [[Tharsis, Huelva]] is a village in [[Andalusia]], Spain.

According to the [[Jewish Encyclopedia]] ''{{ill|Da'at (website)|lt=Da'at|he|דעת (אתר אינטרנט)}}'', the biblical phrase "ships of Tarshish" refers not to ships from a particular location, but to a class of ships: large vessels for long-distance trade.<ref>[https://www.daat.ac.il/encyclopedia/value.asp?id1=3796 אנציקלופדיה יהודית דעת - תרשיש]</ref>

==Hebrew Bible==
''Tarshish'' occurs 25&nbsp;times in the [[Masoretic text]] of the [[Hebrew Bible]]. Although, as stated in the previous section, the phrase "ships of Tarshish" may refer only to huge ships fit for ocean journeys and not to a location or nation, possible references to Tarshish as a location or nation include:

* In {{Bibleverse|Genesis|10:4|HE}} Tarshish appears among the [[Sons of Noah]]: "And the sons of [[Javan]] [were:] [[Elishah]], Tarshish, [[Kittim]], and [[Dodanim]]." This is closely restated in [[1 Chronicles 1]]:7. 
* {{bibleverse|1 Kings|10:22|HE}} notes that [[King Solomon]] had "a fleet of ships of Tarshish" at sea with the fleet of his ally [[King Hiram]] of [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]]: "Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks." This is echoed (with some notable changes) in {{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|9:21|HE}}.
* {{Bibleverse|1 Kings|22:48|HE}} states that "[[Jehoshaphat]] made ships of Tarshish to go to [[Ophir]] for gold, but they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at [[Ezion-geber]]." This is repeated in {{Bibleverse|2 Chronicles|20:37|HE}}, preceded by the information that the ships were built at [[Ezion-Geber]], and emphasizing the prophecy of [[Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah]] against Jehoshaphat: "Because you have joined with [[Ahaziah]], the Lord will destroy what you have made." And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish. This may be referenced in {{Bibleverse|Psalms|48:7|HE}}: "By the east wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish." From these verses, commentators conclude that "ships of Tarshish" was used to denote any large trading ships intended for long voyages, whatever their destination,<ref name="Jewish"/> and some Bible translations, including the [[NIV]], go as far as to translate the phrase ''ship(s) of Tarshish'' as "trading ship(s)".
* {{bibleverse|Psalms|72:10|HE}}, often interpreted as [[Messiah|Messianic]] in Jewish and Christian tradition, has "May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts!" This verse is the source text of the liturgical antiphon ''[[Reges Tharsis]]'' in Christian Cathedral music. In this Psalm, the 'chain of scaled correlates' consisting of 'mountains and hills', 'rain and showers', 'seas and river' leads up to the phrase 'Tarshish and islands', indicating that Tarshish was a large island.<ref name=":02"/> 
* [[Isaiah]] contains three prophecies mentioning Tarshish. First, at 2:16 "against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the beautiful craft", then Tarshish is mentioned at length in Chapter&nbsp;23 against Tyre: "Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor!" (23:1 and 23:14) and "Cross over to Tarshish; wail, O inhabitants of the coast!" (23:6). In 23:10, Tyre is identified as a "daughter of Tarshish". These prophecies are reversed in Isaiah 60:9: "For the coastlands shall hope for me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your children from afar"; and 66:19: "and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations."
* [[Jeremiah]] only mentions Tarshish in passing as a source of [[silver]]: "Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from [[Uphaz]]" (10:9).
* [[Ezekiel]] describes [[Tyre (Lebanon)|Tyre]]'s trading relations with Tarshish: "Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares" ({{Bibleverse-nb|Ezekiel|27:12|HE}}) and "The ships of Tarshish traveled for you with your merchandise. So you were filled and heavily laden in the heart of the seas" ({{Bibleverse-nb|Ezekiel|27:25|HE}}). The metals from Tarshish were stored in Tyre and resold, probably to Mesopotamia. In the prophecy against Gog, Ezekiel predicts: "Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its leaders will say to you, 'Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?{{'"}} ({{Bibleverse-nb|Ezekiel|38:13|HE}})
* {{bibleverse|Jonah|1:3|HE}} and 4:2 mention Tarshish as a distant place: "But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to [[Jaffa]] and found a ship going to Tarshish." [[Jonah]]'s fleeing to Tarshish may need to be taken as "a place very far away" rather than a precise geographical term. On the [[Mediterranean Sea]], ships that used only sails were often left stranded without wind, while ships with oars could continue their voyage.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientships00torruoft |quote=subject:ships. |title=Ancient Ships |first=Cecil |last=Torr |year=1895 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ancientships00torruoft/page/n35 1]–3 |access-date=18 February 2010}}</ref>

==Other ancient and classical-era sources==
[[File:The World as Peopled by the Descendants of Noah Shewing the Countries Possessed by Shem, Ham & Japhet and their posterity after the confusion of tongues..jpg|thumb|right|300px|The 19th-century "World as Peopled by [[Generations of Noah|the Descendants of Noah]]", showing "Tarshish" as [[Cilicia|the countryside]] around [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus]] in southeastern [[Anatolia]]]]

* Esarhaddon, Aššur Babylon E (AsBbE)<ref>=K18096 and EŞ6262 in the British Museum and Istanbul Archaeological Museum, respectively</ref> preserves "All the kings from the lands surrounded by sea – from the country Iadanana (Cyprus) and Iaman, as far as Tarsisi (Tarshish) – bowed to my feet." Here, Tarshish is certainly a large island, and cannot be confused with Tarsus (Thompson and Skaggs 2013).
* [[Flavius Josephus]]<ref>[[Antiquities of the Jews]] 1:6§1</ref> (1st century) reads "Tarshush", identifying it as the city of [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus]] in southern [[Asia Minor]], which some have later equated with the Tarsisi mentioned in Assyrian records from the reign of Esarhaddon. Phoenician inscriptions were found at [[Karatepe]] in Cilicia.<ref>{{cite book |page=336 |chapter=Karatepe |first=Charles F. |last=Pfeiffer |series=The Biblical World |title=A Dictionary of Biblical Archaeology |location=Nashville, Tennessee |publisher=Broadman Press |year=1966}}</ref> [[Christian Charles Josias Bunsen|Bunsen]] and [[Archibald Sayce|Sayce]]<ref name="Expository">{{cite book |title=[[Expository Times]] |author1=Bunsen, C.C.J. |author1-link=Christian Charles Josias Bunsen |author2=Sayce |author2-link=Sayce |year=1902 |page=179}}</ref> have seemed to agree with Josephus, but the Phoenicians were active in many regions where metals were available, and classical authors, some biblical authors, and certainly the Nora Stone that mentions Tarshish generally place Phoenician expansion aimed at metals-acquisition in West of the Mediterranean.
* The [[Septuagint]] and the [[Vulgate]] in several passages translate it with [[Carthage]], apparently following a Jewish tradition found in the [[Targum Jonathan|Targum of Jonathan]] ("Afriki", i.e., Carthage).<ref name="Jewish"/>

==Identifications and interpretations==
Tarshish is placed on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea by several biblical passages,<ref>{{bibleverse|Isaiah|23}}, {{bibleverse|Jeremiah|10:9}}, {{bibleverse|Ezekiel|27:12}}, {{bibleverse|Jonah 1:3, 4:2|multi=yes}}</ref> and more precisely: west of [[Israel (region)|Israel]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|10:4}}, {{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|1:7}}</ref><ref name="NegevGibson">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land |article=Tarshish |author1=Negev, Avraham |author2=Gibson, Shimon |year=2001 |location=New York and London |publisher=Continuum |page=494 |isbn=0-8264-1316-1}}</ref> It is described as a source of various metals: "beaten silver is brought from Tarshish" (Jeremiah 10:9), and the Phoenicians of Tyre brought from there silver, iron, tin and lead (Ezekiel 27:12).<ref name="NegevGibson"/>

The context in Isaiah&nbsp;23:6 and 66:19 seems to indicate that it is an island, and from Israel it could be reached by ship, as attempted by Jonah (Jonah&nbsp;1:3) and performed by Solomon's fleet (2&nbsp;Chronicles&nbsp;9:21).<ref name="NegevGibson"/> Some modern scholars identify Tarshish with [[Tartessos]], a port in southern Spain, described by classical authors as a source of metals for the Phoenicians, while Josephus' identification of Tarshish with the city of [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus]] in [[Cilicia]] (south-central Turkey) is even more widely accepted.<ref name="NegevGibson"/> However, a clear identification is not possible, since a whole array of Mediterranean sites with similar names are connected to the mining of various metals.<ref name="NegevGibson"/>

===Mediterranean Sea===
According to [[Rashi]], a medieval [[rabbi]] and commentator of the Bible, quoting Tractate Hullin 9lb, 'tarshish' means the [[Mediterranean Sea]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16493/showrashi/true/jewish/Chapter-10.htm |title=Chabad Tanakh: Rashi's Commentary on Daniel 10:6}}</ref>

===Carthage===
The [[Targum]] of Jonathan along with several passages of the [[Septuagint]] and the [[Vulgate]] render Tarshish as [[Carthage]].<ref name=Jewish/> The Jewish-Portuguese scholar, politician, statesman and financier [[Isaac Abarbanel]] (1437–1508&nbsp;AD) described Tarshish as "the city known in earlier times as Carthage and today called Tunis."<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal |author=Thompson, C.M. |year=2003 |title=Sealed silver in Cisjordan and the 'invention' of coinage |journal=[[Oxford Journal of Archaeology]] |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=67–107|doi=10.1111/1468-0092.00005 }}</ref>

===Sardinia===
Thompson and Skaggs<ref name=":02"/> argue that the Akkadian inscriptions of Esarhaddon (AsBbE) indicate that Tarshish was an island (not a coastland) far to the west of the Levant.  American scholars [[William F. Albright]] (1891–1971) and [[Frank Moore Cross]] (1921–2012) suggested Tarshish was [[Sardinia]], because of the discovery of the [[Nora Stone]], whose Phoenician inscription mentions Tarshish.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Albright |first=W.F. |author-link=W. F. Albright |year=1941 |title=New light on the early history of Phoenician colonization |journal=[[Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research]] |volume=83 |issue=83 |pages=14–22 |jstor=3218739 |publisher=The [[American Schools of Oriental Research]]|doi=10.2307/3218739 |s2cid=163643292 }}</ref> Cross read the inscription to understand that it was referring to Tarshish as Sardinia.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Cross |first=F.M. |year=1972 |title=An interpretation of the Nora Stone |journal=[[Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research]] |volume=208 |issue=208 |pages=13–19 |publisher=The [[American Schools of Oriental Research]] |doi=10.2307/1356374 |jstor=1356374|s2cid=163533512 }}</ref> 

In 2003, Christine Marie Thompson identified the Cisjordan Corpus, a concentration of [[hacksilver]] hoards in Israel and Palestine (Cisjordan). This Corpus dates between 1200 and 586&nbsp;BC, and the hoards in it are all silver-dominant. The largest hoard was found at [[Eshtemoa|Eshtemo'a]], present-day [[as-Samu]], and contained 26&nbsp;kg of silver. Within it, and specifically in the geographical region that was part of Phoenicia, is a concentration of hoards dated between 1200 and 800&nbsp;BC. There is no other known such concentration of silver hoards in the contemporary Mediterranean, and its date-range overlaps with the reigns of King Solomon (990–931&nbsp;BC) and Hiram of Tyre (980–947&nbsp;BC).

Hacksilver objects in these Phoenician hoards have lead isotope ratios that match ores in the silver-producing regions of Sardinia and Spain, only one of which is a large island rich in silver. Contrary to translations that have been rendering Assyrian ''tar-si-si'' as 'Tarsus' up to the present time, Thompson argues that the Assyrian tablets inscribed in Akkadian indicate ''tar-si-si'' (Tarshish) was a large island in the western Mediterranean, and that the poetic construction of Psalm&nbsp;72:10 also shows that it was a large island to the very distant west of Phoenicia. The island of Sardinia was always known as a hub of the metals trade in antiquity, and was also called by the [[ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] as ''Argyróphleps nésos'' "island of the silver veins".

The same evidence from hacksilver is said to fit with what the ancient Greek and Roman authors recorded about the Phoenicians exploiting many sources of silver in the western Mediterranean to feed developing economies back in Israel and Phoenicia soon after the fall of [[Troy]] and other palace centers in the eastern Mediterranean around 1200&nbsp;BC. Classical sources starting with [[Homer]] (8th&nbsp;century&nbsp;BC), and the Greek historians [[Herodotus]] (484–425&nbsp;BC) and [[Diodorus Siculus]] (d.&nbsp;30&nbsp;BC) said the Phoenicians were exploiting the metals of the west for these purposes before they set up the permanent colonies in the metal-rich regions of the Mediterranean and Atlantic.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name=":02">{{cite journal |author1=Thompson, C.M. |author2=Skaggs, S. |year=2013 |title=King Solomon's silver?: Southern Phoenician hacksilber hoards and the location of Tarshish' |journal=Internet Archaeology |issue=35 |id=35 |doi=10.11141/ia.35.6|doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Either Sardinia or Spain===
The editors of the ''[[New Oxford Annotated Bible]]'', first published in 1962, suggest that Tarshish is either [[Sardinia]] or Tartessos.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-link=Bruce Metzger |editor1=Metzger, Bruce M. |editor2=Murphy, Roland E. |year=1991 |title=New Oxford Annotated Bible |at=annotation on Jeremiah 10:9}}</ref>

===Spain===
[[Rufus Festus Avienus]] the Latin writer of the 4th century AD, identified Tarshish as [[Cadiz]].<ref>William Parkin - 1837 "Festus Avinus says expressly that Cadiz was Tarshish. This agrees perfectly with the statement of Ibn Hankal, who no doubt reports the opinion of the Arabian geographers, that Phoenicia maintained a direct intercourse with Britain in later ..."</ref> This is the theory espoused by Father Mapple in Chapter 9 of ''[[Moby Dick]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/42/moby-dick/634/chapter-9-the-sermon/|title = Chapter 9: The Sermon &#124; Moby Dick &#124; Herman Melville &#124; Lit2Go ETC}}</ref>

Some biblical commentators as early as 1646 ([[Samuel Bochart]]) read it as [[Tartessos]] in ancient Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula), near Huelva and Sevilla today.<ref name="Jewish">{{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=73&letter=T&search=tarshish |chapter=Tarshish |title=[[Jewish Encyclopedia]] |editor1-link=Isidore Singer |editor1=Singer, Isidore |editor2-link=M. Seligsohn |editor2=Seligsohn, M.}}</ref> [[Samuel Bochart|Bochart]], the 17th&nbsp;century French Protestant pastor, suggested in his ''Phaleg'' (1646) that Tarshish was the city of [[Tartessos]] in southern [[Spain]]. He was followed by others, including [[Joseph H. Hertz|Hertz]] (1936).

===Phoenician coast===
Sir [[Peter le Page Renouf]] (1822–1897)<ref name="LePage">''Proceedings of the [[Society of Biblical Archaeology]]'', xvi. 104 et seq., [[Peter le Page Renouf|Le Page Renouf]]</ref> thought that "Tarshish" meant a coast, and, as the word occurs frequently in connection with Tyre, the Phoenician coast is to be understood.

===Tyrsenians or Etruscans===
[[Thomas Kelly Cheyne|T. K. Cheyne]] (1841–1915) thought that "Tarshish" of {{bibleverse||Genesis|10:4|HE}} and "[[Tiras]]" of {{bibleverse||Genesis|10:2|HE}} are really two names of one nation derived from two different sources, and might indicate the [[Tyrsenians]] or [[Etruscans]].<ref name="Cheyne">''Orientalische Litteraturzeitung'', iii. 151, [[Thomas Kelly Cheyne|Cheyne]]</ref>

===Britain===
Some 19th-century commentators believed that Tarshish was [[United Kingdom|Britain]], including [[Alfred John Dunkin]] who said "Tarshish demonstrated to be Britain" (1844), [[George Smith (historian)|George Smith]] (1850),<ref>{{cite book |author=Smith, George |title=Sacred Annals; Or, Researches into the History and Religion of Mankin[d] |url=https://archive.org/details/sacredannalsorr01smitgoog |year=1856 |page=557 |publisher=Carlton & Porter |quote=Heeren fully confirms this view ; shows from Strabo, that the Phenicians not only traded with Spain and Britain, but actually conducted mining operations in the former country; and is so fully satisfied of the identity of Tarshish and Spain&nbsp;...}}</ref> James Wallis and David King's ''The British Millennial Harbinger'' (1861), John Algernon Clarke (1862), and Jonathan Perkins Weethee of Ohio (1887).<ref>{{cite book |first=Jonathan Perkins |last=Weethee |title=The Eastern Question in Its Various Phases |year=1887 |page=293 |quote=The expression is this: "''the merchants of Tarshish, with the young lions of Tarshish''". Assuming, what we have proved, that England was the ancient Tarshish, and that Great Britain is the Tarshish of Eze.&nbsp;xxxviii.&nbsp;13, or the chief of both&nbsp;...}}</ref> This idea stems from the fact that Tarshish is recorded to have been a trader in tin, silver, gold, and lead,<ref>Ezek 27:12</ref> all of which were mined in [[Cornwall]]. This is still reputed to be the "Merchants of Tarshish" today by some{{clarify|date=April 2023}} Christian sects.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

===Southeast Africa===
[[Augustus Henry Keane]] (1833–1912) believed that Tarshish was [[Sofala]], and that the biblical land of [[Havilah]] was centered on the nearby [[Great Zimbabwe]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Keane, A.H. |author-link=Augustus Henry Keane |title=The Gold of Ophir - Whence Brought and by Whom? |year=1901}}</ref>

===Southern India and Sri Lanka ===
Bochart, apart from Spain (see there), also suggested eastern localities for the ports of [[Ophir]] and Tarshish during King Solomon's reign, specifically the [[Tamilakkam]] continent (present day South India and Northern Ceylon) where the [[Dravidians]] were well known for their gold, pearls, ivory and peacock trade. He fixed on "Tarshish" being the site of [[Kudiramalai]], a possible corruption of [[Ketheeswaram temple|Thiruketheeswaram]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Brohier Richard Leslie |year=1934 |title=Ancient irrigation works in Ceylon |volume=1-3 |page=36}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=A Dictionary of the Bible |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofbibl1863smit |first=William, Sir |last=Smith |year=1863 |quote=the author notes how the Hebrew word for peacock is ''Thukki'', derived from the Classical Tamil for peacock ''Thogkai''}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Ramaswami, Sastri |title=The Tamils and their Culture |publisher=Annamalai University |year=1967 |page=16}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Gregory, James |title=Tamil Lexicography |author2=Niemeyer, M. |year=1991 |page=10}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Fernandes, Edna |title=The last Jews of Kerala |publisher=Portobello |year=2008 |page=98}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor=Smith, William |dictionary=A Dictionary of the Bible |publisher=Hurd and Houghton |orig-year=1863 |year=1870 |page=1441}}</ref>

===Cilicia===
Tarshish may refer to [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus]] in [[Cilicia]], where Saul, later Paul, hailed from (Acts 9:11, 21:39, 22:3).{{cn|date=March 2025}}

===Tarxien===
There are several indications that Tarshish could have been located at [[Malta]], where still today a local council is called [[Tarxien]]. The pronunciation in the Semitic language of the [[Maltese people]] is rather similar to the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] pronunciation of Tarshish (namely {{IPA|mt|tɐrˈʃɪːn|}}). All megalithic temples from the [[Neolithic epoch]] of Malta are assigned to the [[Tarxien phase]] of the island. The inhabitants claim that Tarxien was founded by the [[Punic people|Carthaginians]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Die Himmelstafel von Tal-Qadi/ Tarxien – Wikibooks, Sammlung freier Lehr-, Sach- und Fachbücher |url=https://de.wikibooks.org/wiki/Die_Himmelstafel_von_Tal-Qadi/_Tarxien |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=de.wikibooks.org |language=de}}</ref>

==Controversy==
The existence of Tarshish in the western Mediterranean, along with any [[Punics|Phoenician presence in the western Mediterranean]] before c. 800&nbsp;BC, has been questioned by some scholars in modern times, because there is no direct evidence. Instead, the lack of evidence for wealth in Israel and Phoenicia during the reigns of [[King Solomon|Solomon]] and [[Hiram I|Hiram]], respectively, prompted a few scholars to opine that the archaeological period in Mediterranean prehistory between 1200 and 800&nbsp;BC was a 'Dark Age'.<ref>Muhly, J. D. (1998). "Copper, tin, silver, and iron: The search for metallic ores as an incentive for foreign expansion". [In] Gitin, et al. [Eds.] ''Mediterranean Peoples in Transition: 13th to early 10th&nbsp;centuries&nbsp;BC. In Honor of Professor [[Trude Dothan]]''. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society. pp. 314–329. {{OCLC|233987610}}?</ref>

==Other usage==
* The Hebrew term has a homonym, ''tarshish'', occurring seven times and translated [[beryl]] in older English versions.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H8658&t=KJV |id=H8658 |article=tarshiysh |dictionary=Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (KJV) |via=Blueletterbible.org |access-date=2016-08-20 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>  According to {{Bibleverse|Exodus|28:20|HE}}, it is one of the precious stones set into the [[priestly breastplate]] ("the fourth row [shall be] a beryl [tarshish], and&nbsp;..."). It is associated with the Tribe of [[Asher]], and has been identified by the Septuagint and Josephus as the "gold stone" χρυσόλιθος (whose identification remains in dispute, possibly [[topaz]], probably not modern [[Chrysoberyl|chrysolite]]), and later as [[Aquamarines|aquamarine]].
* {{Bibleverse|1 Chronicles|7:10|HE}}, part of a genealogy, mentions in passing a Jewish man named Tarshish, son of Bilhan.
* {{Bibleverse|Esther|1:14|HE}} mentions in passing a Persian prince named Tarshish among the seven princes of Persia.
* Tarshish is the name of a village in [[Lebanon]], about {{Convert|50|km|mi|abbr=on}} from [[Beirut]]. It is located in the Baabda Kadaa at {{Convert|1,400|m|ft|abbr=on}} elevation.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/4r6540gk#page-1 |title=Tarshish in the mountains of Lebanon: Attestations of a Biblical place name |last=Burke |first=Aaron |date=2006 |journal=Maarav}}</ref>
* Tarshish is a family name found among Jews of Ashkenazic descent. A variation on the name, Tarshishi, is found among the Lebanese, and likely indicates a family connection to the Lebanese village Tarshish.
* Tarshish was also the name of a short-lived political party<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reich |first1=Bernard |last2=Goldberg |first2=David H. |title=Historical Dictionary of Israel |date=2008 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Lanham, MD |isbn=9780810855410 |page=488 |edition=2nd}}</ref> founded by [[Moshe Dwek]], would-be assassin of Israeli Prime Minister [[David Ben-Gurion]].
* The [[Greek language|Greek]] form of the name, [[Tharsis]], was given by [[Giovanni Schiaparelli]] to a region on [[Mars]].
* The classic short story "Ship of Tarshish" by [[John Buchan]] refers to the [[Book of Jonah]].
* Around 1665, some followers of [[Sabbatai Zvi]] in [[İzmir]] prophesied that "''ships of Tarshish'', that is, with Dutch crews", would transport them to the [[Holy Land]].<ref name="Scholem">{{cite book |last1=Scholem |first1=Gershom Gerhard |last2=Werblowsky |first2=R. J. Zwi |title=Sabbatai Sevi: The Mystical Messiah, 1626-1676 |year=1973 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-01809-6 |page=419 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S2pAq_Og2AsC&pg=PA419 |access-date=25 February 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Sons of Noah]]
* [[Javan]]
* [[Elishah]]
* [[Kittim]]
* [[Dodanim]]
* [[Sepharad]]
* [[Tarsus, Mersin]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Aubet, M.E. (2001). ''The Phoenicians and the West: Politics, Colonies, Trade''. 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Beitzl, B. (2010). Was there a joint nautical venture on the Mediterranean Sea by Tyrian Phoenicians and Early Israelites?' ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', 360, 37–66.
* Elat, M. (1982). Tarshish and the problem of Phoenician colonization in the western Mediterranean. ''Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica'', 13, 55–69.
* Gonzalez de Canales, F.; Serrano, L.; & Llompart, J. (2010). Tarshish and the United Monarchy of Israel. ''Ancient Near Eastern Studies'', 47, 137–164.
* Hertz J.H. (1936). ''The Pentateuch and Haftoras''. Deuteronomy. Oxford University Press, London.
* Jongbloed, D. (2009). ''Civilisations antédiluviennes''. ed Cap Aventures
* Koch, M. (1984). ''Tarschisch und Hispanien''. Berlin, Walter de Gruyter and Co.
* Lipiński, E. (2002). Semitic Languages: Outline of a Comparative Grammar. ''Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta'', 80, Leuven. Peeters.
* Lipiński, E. (2004). Itineraria Phoenicia. ''Studia Phoenicia'', XVIII, Leuven: Peeters.
* Schmidt, B. (ed.) (2007). ''The Quest for Historical Israel: Debating Archaeology and the History of Early Israel''. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.
* Thompson, C.M. & Skaggs, S. (2013). King Solomon's silver?: Southern Phoenician hacksilber hoards and the location of Tarshish. ''Internet Archaeology'', (35). doi:10.11141/ia.35.6
* Thompson, C.M. (2003). Sealed silver in Iron Age Cisjordan and the 'invention' of coinage. ''Oxford Journal of Archaeology'', 22(1), 67–107.

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[[Category:Hebrew Bible nations]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible places]]
[[Category:Noach (parashah)]]
[[Category:Phoenician colonies]]
[[Category:Ophir]]
[[Category:Hiram I]]
[[Category:Solomon]]