Page 5 - TORCH Magazine #15 - February 2020

Histories’, “I have never been able to get an assurance from an eyewitness that there is any sea on the further side of Europe. Nevertheless, tin and amber do certainly come to us from the ends of the earth” (Book 3, para 115).
Herodotus believed that
the edge of the known world
was landmarked by the “Pillars
of Hercules” which today is
known as the Rock of Gibraltar
and its Moroccan counterpart.
This narrow strait remains
one of the most important
waterways in the world and
essential for the flow of world
trade. For more than 300 years
to the present, Britain has sovereignty over this important landmark and surrounding waters.
years. Britain supplied tin for bronze-making to all of Europe for centuries, hence its prosperity during the Bronze Age. The Phoenicians discovered that Britain’s tin deposits could
be much more easily mined and were closer
to the surface, unlike the smaller tin deposits elsewhere on the continent. In the 19th century there were 400 mines in Cornwall alone, the last closing in 2004. Tin, sourced from the British Isles by the Phoenicians, was combined with copper, abundant in south-west Spain,
to produce bronze. Scientists recently found evidence suggesting that Solomon’s Temple may have been built with bronze made from British tin. There is also mounting evidence
of links between Pheonicians and trading outposts along the Cornish and Devon coasts.
In September 2019, scientists made a breakthrough discovery by identifying tin ingots found in Israel as being originally from Cornwall. The ingots, which date back to around 1,300BC, were discovered at shipwreck sites and a sunken village off the coast of Israel from a time that Phoenician ships dominated the Mediterranean. Researchers from Heidelberg University in Germany revealed the ancient artefacts did not come from Central Asia, as previously assumed, but from tin deposits in Europe including sites in Cornwall.
Scientists examined the objects by analysing the make-up of lead and tin as well as small amounts of elements. This allowed them to verify that the tin artefacts from Israel largely matched tin from Cornwall, especially
Links to Cornwall
and Devon
We know from classical records that the Phoenicians were very secretive about where they were sourcing all their materials. There are tales of Phoenician ships deliberately misleading rival fleets in order to hide their trade routes. However archaeological evidence has since revealed that the Phoenician trade route extended beyond the Iberian Peninsula and the “Pillars of Hercules”, right up to the British Isles with proven links to Cornwall
and Devon. Without dismissing the Tarshish connection with southern Spain, this is certainly consistent with the Psalm 72 which implies Tarshish is an island with isles as well as other historical sources that describe Tarshish as an island.
In fact, the Phoenicians gave the British Isles the name “Baratanac”, meaning “Land
of Tin,” which the Romans later renamed Britannia. Furthermore, it is believed by some historians that the Greek description of islands off the West coast of mainland Europe, called “Cassiterides” meaning “Tin Islands”, refers to the British Isles, while other historians believe ancient descriptions of the “Tin Islands” perfectly describes the Isles of Scilly.
Most importantly, Cornwall was the only major source of tin in Europe for the past 2,500
CUFI.ORG.UK 5