Sanchoniăthon

, a Phœnician historian, born at Berytus, or, according to others, at Tyre. He flourished a few years before the Trojan war, and wrote, in the language of his country, a history in nine books, in which he amply treated of the theology and antiquities of Phœnicia, and the neighbouring places. It was compiled from the various records found in the cities, and the annals which were usually kept in the temples of the gods among the ancients. This history was translated into Greek by Philo, a native of Byblus, who lived in the reign of the emperor Adrian. Some few fragments of this Greek translation are extant. Some, however, suppose them to be spurious, while others contend that they are true and authentic.