Dean Stanley, in his “Lectures on the History of the Jewish Church,” has eloquently described the position of Solomon’s chief port, where, he says,[132] “Ezion-geber, the ‘Giant’s backbone,’ so called, probably, from the huge range of mountains on each side of it, became an emporium teeming with life and activity; the same, on the eastern branch, that Suez has, in our own time, become on the western branch of the Red Sea. Beneath that line of palm trees which now shelters the wretched village of Akaba, was then heard the stir of ship-builders and sailors. Thence went forth the fleet of Solomon, manned by Tyrian sailors, to Ophir, in the far East, on the coast of India or Arabia. From Arabia also, near or distant, came a constant traffic of spices, both from private individuals and from the chiefs. So great was Solomon’s interest in these, that he actually travelled himself to the gulf of Akaba to see the port.” It appears that the fleets though manned by Tyrian sailors, were under charge of Jewish supercargoes, who were responsible for the stores and merchandise, and conducted all the trading operations. This happy alliance materially extended the commerce of both countries; for shut out from the Mediterranean by the inefficiency of the ports of Palestine, and with no communication with the Indian Ocean, except by caravans traversing the Arabian desert, the Jewish people could in no other way have derived material advantages from the valuable and much coveted trade of the East. For the first time, too, the trade of Europe was opened to the Jews through their connexion with the Tyrians; while, on the other hand, the merchants of Tyre found in Israel a large and lucrative field for the full development of their commerce. [Sidenote: The voyages of the Jewish ships.]