Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/27

Inland Tribes. to imperfect knowledge, numbers of so-called " Sardinian bronzes " were purchased as genuine by the unwary, and were given pro- minent places in museums and public collections, from which a better informed judgment has banished them ; nor is there reason to fear that whole systems will ever be raised again on these spurious pieces; 1 whilst the explorations of Vogué and Renan, the subtle criticism of Longpérier, and the discoveries of M. de Cesnola, have yielded materials upon which the real nature of Phoenician art may be adequately studied. Once this is grasped, the difficulty of assign- ing a proper place to the monuments under notice disappears ; for if they exhibit, both in form, manipulation, and some of the details characteristics recalling Phoenician art, yet viewed as a whole, they retain an unmistakable originality of their own. Neither nuraghs nor figures strictly approach the typical works of the Phoenicians in Syria or Africa, which we have described in another place. But without going further, the question may be decided upon the traces left by a remote age in Sardinia itself. The site of scores of Phoenician seaports is known in the present day, but neither here nor in their immediate neighbourhood do we meet those round towers which seem to belong exclusively to Sardinia ; whilst they are numerous in the districts formerly occupied by native indepen- dent tribes. The tombs of these maritime cities have in abundance stone, clay, glass, and metal objects. That they are of Phoenician origin is shown in their make and the inscriptions graven on the stelas found in these tombs. On the other hand, terra-cottas, jewelry, amulets, etc., of Phoenician workmanship are exceedingly rare in the interior of the island, where they are replaced by vases, figures, utensils, and implements not generally found in the ceme- teries of Sulcis, Nora, Caralis, and Tharros. Excavations confirm, therefore, the testimony of historians, that of Baal, raised to him by his worshippers as a fire deity." Further, he rejects the hypothesis which ascribes these monuments to the early inhabitants of the island ; while he is equally confident that the "Sardinian idols" of La Marmora represent severally the Phoenician household gods, the national deities, Baal, Moloch, and Astarte, together with the Cabiri. 1 The name of the artists (?) who worked for La Marmora, and manufactured the small figures which he has described, is known now at Cagliari. They traded upon his enthusiasm, and made him pay clearly for his archaeological inexperience. These figures usurped for years a place in the museums of Turin and Cagliari. See Pais, Alcune osservazioni sulla genuinità di una gran parte delli idoli del La Marmora (La Sardegna, Appendix II.). Rome. 1881.