The Dutch Tiphys

to which alone King Solomon The biblical King Solomon, known for his wealth and wisdom, who partnered with King Hiram of Tyre to build the Temple in Jerusalem and manage maritime trade., the lord of that isthmus, decided his fleet should be entrusted for the transport of gold, silver, spices, precious stones, and gems. That Tyre, I say, set all Phoenicia An ancient Mediterranean civilization of maritime traders, located in modern-day Lebanon and coastal Syria. ablaze with a zeal for new things and for the investigation of the arts. For to her, Grammar owes its origin in the invention of letters; Arithmetic, for the use of numbers; Astronomy, in guiding the course of ships; and Geography, in the mapping of land and sea—to say nothing now of many other matters and inventions useful for human life.

For the Tyrians, because of the trade and commerce they conducted with all nations, found their minds spurred by utility and profit to search out hidden things, and they brought a great many discoveries to light. Whenever, therefore, I reflect upon this in my mind, I observe many things in this country of ours the Dutch Republic not unlike those ancient ones. This will be all the more evident if we compare the darkness of previous centuries with this current light.

For whereas long ago the Alexandrians in Africa and Asia, and the Venetians in Europe, held a monopoly on Arabian and Indian goods; and (as all things have their cycles, their rise and their fall) when finally Columbus Christopher Columbus, whose 1492 voyage changed the European understanding of world geography., having undertaken an expedition, reached America: the Portuguese original: Lusitani also, having avoided...