Gareth Atkins
Search for other papers by Gareth Atkins in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
‘The Ships of Tarshish’
The Bible and British Maritime Empire
Abstract only
Log-in for full text

While historians of early modern Britain have long noted the ubiquity of Old Testament typology in religious-political discourse, its enduring potency thereafter has received much less attention. In part this is because of the flexibility of such rhetoric, for while posing as a ‘new Israel’ worked for embattled states like sixteenth-century England, this was not the only rhetorical option available; nor was it always the most apposite comparison, especially in the era of British global hegemony. This chapter argues that maritime imperial expansion lent particular weight to one set of passages, those concerning ancient seagoing Tyre and Tarshish. What they stood for was seldom stable: they were read prophetically, as literally presaging Britain’s current greatness; typologically, as warnings against the besetting sins of commercial greed and pride; and moralistically, as examples of the problems caused by imperial overstretch. I seek to show that British people in the nineteenth century continued to map the world and their place in it in biblical terms, to an extent that has sometimes been underplayed. What that meant, however, was increasingly open to interpretation.

  • Collapse
  • Expand

All of MUP's digital content including Open Access books and journals is now available on manchesterhive.

 

Chosen peoples

The Bible, race and empire in the long nineteenth century

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 2687 544 126
Full Text Views 41 6 0
PDF Downloads 38 5 0