Picture of Baal (Vedic demon Vala), 1800 BCE, Louvre Museum, Paris

Written by London swaminathan

Research Article No.1889

Date: 25 May 2015; London Time 19-22

Every one of us use the word “Pana” for money in India. All of us use the word “Vanik(a)” for the business people or commerce. The entire English speaking world use the word “MONEY”. All these are derived from the Rig Vedic word “Pani”.

Linguists know that P=V=M are interchangeable. If you apply this rule, you get:-

Pani=Vanik= Vanij= Pana= Money

P=V=M interchange is very common in several languages including Tamil.

According to Western encyclopaedias, Phoenicians’ contribution to the world are 1)Alphabet and 2)Money. Even the Indian Brahmi which gave birth to Tamil script and all the South East Asian scripts are developed from the Phoenician alphabet according to them. I would not touch the issue of alphabet in this article. But let us look at other things.

Misers and Robbers

Panis or Phoenicians were very bad people according to the Rig Veda(1-33-3; 5-34-7; AV 20-128-4; VS 3-1). Panis were

1)Robbers or thieves who stole the cows of Vedic Hindus.

2)They were very greedy and rich.

3)They accumulated wealth.

4)They were miserly merchants (RV 1-124-10; 4-51-3; 8-45-14).

5)They were called Dasyus RV 7-6-3 (Thieves)

6)In some places they were called Dasas (RV 5-34-5; AV 5-11-6).

7)They don’t worship Gods.

8)They don’t do Fire Sacrifice.

9)They never give Dakshinas (fees) to the Vedic priests.

10)They were called wolves (RV  6-51-14)

11)They were grathin (nobody knew the meaning)

12)In some passages the Panis are shown as mythological figures, demons who withhold the cows and waters of heaven and to whom Sarama (dog) goes on a mission from Indra (RV 10-108)

(Story of Indra’s ambassador Sarama, the dog, has spread up to Greece via Iran, who was called Hermes. I will give the story separately; in both Persian and Greek S sound is changed to H)

But Rig Veda never mentioned about  their child sacrifice. They killed thousands and thousands of children, actually burnt them alive and buried their ash in pots. Now we have found those graves in Bahrain and other neighbouring countries.  Probably that is the reason Vedic Hindus hated them. They worshipped Baal from 2000 BCE. He had a major sanctuary at BYBLOS.

Another god was Moloch or Molek. Israelite children were sacrificed by burning to Molech , according to the Bible (1 Kings 11-7; 2 Kings 23-10). Vedic Hindus hated the Mlechas; probably the world came from Molek worshippers.

Who were the Phoenicians?

The best proof for identifying them with Panis of Rig Veda come from the word Byblos. This is the corrupted form their King Bibru. Rig Veda mentioned the name Bribu as their king. He constructed the city Byblos which is known to all historians. They controlled areas on the coast of Mediterranean Sea. Carthage (modern Tunisia) in North Africa and Lebanon in the Middle East were their main colonies.

Linguists know R=L are interchangeable. Even Panini has a sutra about it.

BIBRU became BYBLOS.

Byblos has got continuous existence from 5000 BCE. So Rig Vedic Bribu must have corrupted to Byblos. Or later kings might have named it after Bribu. Both are possible.

The second proof comes from the Sanskrit words of Phoenician areas. Following piece is taken from Wikipedia:

Other colonies (Note the Sanskrit Names)

Lebanon = lavana ( salt or salty white)

• Callista (on modern Santorini)
• Calpe (modern Gibraltar)
• Gunugu
• Thenae
• Tipassa
• Sundar (Sanskrit)
• Surya(Sanskrit)
• Shobina(Sanskrit)
• Tara(Sanskrit)
• My comments: Vedic Hindus might have settled in these Phoenician colonies for business purposes or settled there earlier than the Phoenicians.

Phoenicians spoke a non-Sanskrit language and so they were called Mrdhravach (of hostile speech). Greeks called non-Greeks barbarians; Ancient Tamils called Roman and Greek bodyguards with the same word (People of rude or harsh words); Telugus called Tamils with the same word (Arava=loud mouthed or voiceless or snake people); Bible called non-Christians as Pagans; Quran called Non-Muslims as Kafirs. This type of derogatory coinage was very common in the ancient world.

Miners of Lapis Lazuli

Bhagavan Sing (Author of Vedic Harappans) say that they mined minerals and gem stones such as lapis lazuli and exported them. So the Vedas say they hid the treasure under rocks.

I Come appointed messenger of Indra, asking your ample stores of wealth, O Panis (RV 10-108-2)

Paved with rock is this our treasure chamber; filled full of precious things, of kine, and horses. These Panis who are watchful keepers guard it. In vain hast thou approached this lonely station (RV 10-108-7)

Vedic Mantras cover a vast period of time. So it is possible at one time they had good business contacts with the Vedic Hindus.

Even Homer described them as good and bad people. They exported purple dye for the dress of Roman kings. In Illiad, Homer say that their wares are fit for Gods and kings and in Odyssey he says they are bunch of treacherous thieves. He has reflected the Rig Vedic thoughts.

Like we see in India, there is a big gap between the literary evidence and the archaeological evidence for Phoenicians. This remains a mystery until this day.

A.Kalyanaraman (author of Aryatarangini) argues that they were also Vedic people but who did not follow Vedic religion (vratyas) and migrated westwards.

References to Vanij (Vanikan in Tamil)

RV 1-112-11; 5-45-6; AV 3-15-1

References to Pani

RV1-33-3; RV 4-28-7; 5-34-5; 6-13-3; 8-64-2; 10-60-6;3-58-2;6-51-14. There are over 30 references. I have given only a few.

Child Killers

Vedic Hindus hated them because Phoenicians were ready to do anything for getting money. Bible refers to child sacrifice by Canaanites/Phoenicians in Jerusalem. Modern excavations have revealed thousands of urns containing the cremated remains of infants, small children and animals in Carthage (Tunisia), Motya (Sicily),Sulcis (Sardinea)and other Punic (Phoenician) sites. They spread this disgusting, barbaric practice to other Mediterranean areas. Scholars believe they had their origin in Bahrain. Vedas dub all the cannibals as Asuras/demons.

Phoenician God Baal is called Vala in Rig Veda whom Indra pierced when they plundered the Hindus’ cows.

All these prove that the hated Panis were Phoeniciaans.