 argued that the root of the term ''span'' is the Phoenician word ''spy'', meaning "to forge metals". Therefore, ''i-spn-ya'' would mean "the land where metals are forged". It may be a derivation of the Phoenician ''I-Shpania'', meaning "island of rabbits", "land of rabbits" or "edge", a reference to Spain's location at the end of the Mediterranean; Roman coins struck in the region from the reign of Hadrian show a female figure with a rabbit at her feet, and Strabo called it the "land of the rabbits". The word in question (compare modern Hebrew ''Shafan'') actually means "Hyrax", possibly due to Phoenicians confusing the two animals.