Page:History of India Vol 6.djvu/41

KING SOLOMON'S COMMERCIAL POLICY ' 7 block northeast to Mesopotamia. The promise to Abra- ham thus found its geographical fulfilment. Having secured the northern outlet of the caravan trade toward Phoenicia, Solomon sought fresh develop- ments for the Eastern trade at the southern extremity of the route. The Red Sea ends in two prongs, the Gulf of Suez on the Egyptian side, and the Gulf of Akaba on the Arabian, with the desert peninsula of Sinai jut- ting out between. David's conquest of Edom not only AN OLD PICTURE OF ADEN ON THE GULF OF SUEZ. secured the land-track into Egypt, but brought him to the Gulf of Akaba. Solomon occupied two harbours on its shores and launched vessels on its waters. Hiram, King of Tyre, supplied the materials and arti- sans for the construction of the ships, together with Phoenician sailors to navigate them, and built a fleet of his own on the same gulf. The two merchant navies sailed and traded in company, and poured the wealth of Ophir and the East into the new southern seaboard of Palestine. This complete capture of the Syrian route forms the