The Hebrew Tartsis is identified with Ταρτήσος, the Ταρτήσος of Polybius (III, 24, 2), in Spain: Tartessos on the Baetis or Guadalquivir (Herodotus, I, 163; IV, 152). It was a rich colony of Tyre (Is. 23; Ez. 27, 12), renowned for its commerce (ibid. 38, 13); silver was extracted there (Jer. 10, 9). The Old Testament often speaks of "ships of T.," large vessels used for long voyages (1 Kings 10, 22; 22, 49; Is. 2, 16; Ez. 27, 25; Ps. 48, 8). In the table of nations, T. appears among the sons of Javan (Gen. 10, 4; 1 Chron. 1, 7): "Ionians" of Greece and Asia Minor. The Greek Septuagint version generally transliterates the Hebrew term; in Ez. 27, 12, 25; Is. 23 it renders it with Καρχηδόν (= Carthage).
Bibl.: S. De Auseyo, El problema de Tartessos, in Sefarad, 2 (1942), pp. 171-91; F. Spadafora, Ezechiel, 2ª ed., Torino 1951, pp. 212, 215.