[The Tartessian Puzzle...]

I've notced over the years that when you deal with fringe ancient history where many 'details' have to be infered from scant few surviving texts; things will be interpreted across a wide spectrum... From the extremely fanciful, to the geo-political, to the realistic.

 

One area that I've spent a lot of time researching is the 'lost' city of Tartessus. It vexes me when time after time respectable sources atribute Tartessus to either the Phoenicians, Phocaean Greeks (either confused by the phonetic similarity or not reading what Herodotus has to say carefully enough), 'Basques' or even the Celts/Celtiberians...

 

After reading all the ancient and exhaustive 'modern' scholarly sources I have definitely formed my own firm opinions as to who the Tartessians where (& what they were capable of) and what happened to them near the end of the 6th Century BC.

 

However, I am curious to hear the opinions of those on this board in regards to the origins and influence of this almost mythical realm on the edges of the ancient known world.

 

My first general question is:

 

Did the establishment of Gades by the 'advanced & civilized' Phoenicians influence the natives to evolve into Tartessus/Tarshish or did the pre-existing wealth of Tartessus/Tarshish 'society' draw the Phoenicians all the way from the Levant; thereby creating the need to establish Gades to trade with them?

 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

[Areas Of Expertise]

Rome Specifically:

1. Spanish Campaigns of the 2nd Punic War (all the Scipios...)

2. Republican Rome

3. Roman Religion

4. Mithridatic Wars

 

Non-Roman Specialties:

1. Pre-Roman era Iberian Studies

2. The Phoenicians & their colonies

3. Pre-Roman era Atlantic Seaboard