FROM Faclfic Coast Agency A. S. BARNES & CO. New York and Chicago 329 Sansome Sr., San Tranclseo. With Compliments of Sdward P. Adams. Manager, ^Lt<:> IN MEMORIAM BERNARD MOSES Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/briefhistoryofanOOsteerich BARNES'S ONE-TERM SERIES Brief H istory Ancient, Medieval, AND Modern Peoples, /3. c^. SOME ACCOUNT OF THEIR MONUMENTS, INSTITUTIONS, ARTS, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS. A. S BARNES & COMPANY, NEW YORK AND CHICAGO. 1883. BARNES'S BRIEF HISTORICAL SERIES. BARNES'S BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, for the use of Schools. i2mo. Illustrated. BARNES'S BRIEF HISTORY OF FRANCE, for the use of Schools and for private reading. i2ino. Illustrated. BARNES'S BRIEF HISTORY OF ANCIENT PEOPLES, for the use of Schools and for private read- ing. i2mo. Illustrated. BARNES'S BRIEF HISTORY OF MEDI^^VAL AND MODERN PEOPLES, for the use of Schools and for private reading, izmo. Illustrated. BARNES'S BRIEF GENERAL HISTORY, THE ANCIENT, MEDIAEVAL, AND MODERN PEOPLES. Bound in one volume, i2mo. Illustrated, BARNES'S BRIEF HISTORY OF ENGLAND, for the use of Schools and for private reading. i2mo. Illustrated. In preparation. BARNES'S POPULAR HISTORY Of THE UNITED STATES, for private reading, and for reference in Schools and P'amilies. Royal Bvo. Beautifully illustrated. -i: *■ • \» » ">:** ' A. S. BARNJ&Sr(fe.C01rN^wyori/a^d G^ ,*#* Circulars and Descriptive Catalogue and any information con- cerning our publications., will be sent to any address on application. Copyright, 1883, by A. S. Barnes bf Co. THE plan of the Barnes's Brief History Series has been thoroughly tested in the books already issued — United States, and France — and their extended use and approval are evidence of its general excellence. In this work, the political history, which occupies most, if not all, of the ordinary school-text, is condensed to the salient and essential facts, in order to give room for some account of the literature, religion, architecture, character, and habits of the different nations. Surely, it is as important to know something about Plato as all about Caesar; to learn how the ancients wrote their books as how they fought their battles ; and to study the virtues of the old Germans and the dawn of our own customs in English home-life, as to trace the petty squabbles of Alexander's suc- cessors or the intricacies of the Wars of the Roses. The Chapters on Manners and Customs and the Scenes in ♦Real Life represent the people of history as men and women subject to the same wants, hopes, and fears as ourselves, and so bring the distant past near to us. The Scenes, which are intended only for reading, are the result of a careful study of the unequaled collections of monuments in the London, Paris, and Berlin Museums, of the ruins in Rome and Pompeii, and of the latest authorities on the domestic life of the peoples. of other lands and times. Though intentionally written in a 88731 3 IV PBEFACE. semi-romantic style, they are accurate pictures of what might have occurred, and some of them are simple transcriptions of the details sculptured in Assyrian alabaster, or painted on Egyptian walls. The general divisions on Civilization and Manners and Customs were prepared by Mrs. J. Dorman Steele. Her enthusiasm in historic research, to which she has devoted the best years of her life, has given to these subjects the charm of romance and the accuracy of fact. It should be borne in mind that the extracts here made from the Sacred Books of the East are not specimens of their style and teachings, but only gems selected from a mass of matter, much of which is absurd, meaningless, and even re- volting. It has not seemed best to cumber a book like this with selections conveying no moral lesson. The numerous cross-references, the abundant dates in parentheses, the Black-board Analyses, the pronunciation of the names in the Index, the Genealogical Tables, the choice Reading References at the close of each general subject, and the novel Historical Recreations in the Appendix, will be of service to both teacher and pupil. An acknowledgment of indebtedness in the preparation of this history is hereby made to the works named in the Reading References. It is hoped that a large class of persons who desire to know something about the progress of historic criticism, as well as. the recent discoveries made among the resurrected monuments of the East, but who have no leisure to read the ponderous volumes of Brugsch, Layard, Grote, Mommsen, Rawlinson. Ihne, Lanfrey, Froude, Martin, and others, will find this little book just what they need. liJCONTENTS I. ANCIENT PEOPLES. PAGE 1. Introduction 9 2. Egypt 15 3. Babylonia and Assyria 45 4. Phoenicia 73 5. JUDEA 80 6. Media and Persia 88 7. India. 105 8. China 109 9. Greece 113 I o. Rome , 203 II. MEDIEVAL PEOPLES. 1. Introduction 315 2. Rise of the Saracens 326 3. Rise of the Prankish Kingdom. 33 1 4. Rise of Modern Nations. 337 1. England 337 2. France 354 3. Germany 373 4. Switzerland 387 5. Italy in the Middle Ages 390 6. The Crusades 397 7. The Moors in Spain 404 8. Asia in the Middle Ages 405 9. Medieval Civilization 408 VI CONTENTS. TIL MODERN PEOPLES. PAGE 1. Introduction 423 2. The Sixteenth Century . 430 1. The French in Italy 430 2. The Age of Charles V . 433 3. The Rise of the Dutch Republic 445 4. Civil-Religious Wars of France 450 5. England under the Tudoks 455 6. The Civilization 467 3. The Seventeenth Century. 480 1. The Thirty- Years War 480 2. France in the Seventeenth Century 486 3. England under the Stuarts 494 4. The Civilization 513 4. The Eighteenth Century 520 1. Peter the Great and Charles XII 520 2. Rise of Prussia: Age of Frederick the Great. . 526 3. England under the House of Hanover 532 4. The French Revolution 536 5. The Civilization 553 5. The Nineteenth Century 559 1. France : 559 2. England *. 583 3. Germany 588 4. Italy 592 5. Turkey 596 6. Greece 597 7. The Netherlands 598 8. Japan 598 IV. APPENDIX. 1. Seven Wonders and Seven Wise Men i 2. Historical Recreations ii 3. Index xxv 1. Frontispiece. page 2. The Great Hall of Karnak 9 3. Scenes on the Nile, etc , 14 4. An Egyptian Prophet 20 5. Egyptian War Chariot 21 6. Name of Egypt in Hieroglyphics , 22 7. Specimens of Picture Writing 23 8. The Papyrus Reed 24 9. Queen aiding King in TEarPLB Service 26 10. Son of Rameses HI 27 11. Egyptian Easy Chair , 28 12. Egyptian Couch, Pillow, and Steps , 29 13. Egyptian Musicians 29 14. Bronze Figure of the God Apis. 31 15. A Mummy in Bands. . . o 33 16. Egyptian Sarcophagus 33 17. Woman Embracing the Mummy of her Husband 34 18. The Funeral of a Mummy 35 19. A Modern Shadoof 36 20. Egyptian Obelisk 40 21. Assyrian Heads (from Nimroud) 47 23. Babylonian Woman and Men 50 23. Cuneiform Writing prom a Cylinder ^ 52 24. Assyrian Clay Tablet. 53 25. A Terra-cotta Cylinder 54 26. Babylonian Brick 56 27. Black Obelisk from Nimroud 57 28. Assyrian Emblems 61 29. Assyrian Lamps 63 30. The Signet Cylinder OF King Uruch 64 31. A Cylinder Seal 65 32. An Assyrian Palace (restored) , , 66 33. Colossal Wenged-Bull 67 34. A Royal Lion Hunt ., 68 35. Assyrian King and Attendants. ,. 70 36. Court-yard of Oriental House . . 71 37. The Site of Ancient Babylon 73 38. The Ruins of Ancient Tyre 75 39. The City op Sidon 78 vm ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE 40. A Phoenician Galley 79 41. The Tombs of the Judges ,.., , 8;^ 42. Sandal and Ancient Book , 85 43. Hebbew Priest Offeking Incense 86 44. Jewish Shekel , ... ... 86 45. Ancient Key 87 46. Jerusalem, in Time of Christ 87 47. Bas-relief of Cyrus the Great 89 48. Crcesus on the Funeral Pyre 90 49. Persian Subjects bre^ging Tribute to the King 95 50. Tomb of Cyrus the Great 96 51. Great Staircase at Pebsepolis 96 52. Symbol of Ormazd 98 53. A Persian m Ordinary Costume , 100 54. Ancient Persian Silver Com , 100 55. Persian Foot-soldieks 103 56. The Rums of Persbpolis 104 57. Buddhist Priests 107 58. A BRAHMm AT Prayer 108 59. The Great Wall op China 110 60. Traditional Likeness of Confucius.. , Ill 61. A Chinese Temple 112 62. Departure of Achilles ,. „ 116 63. Prow of an Early Greek Ship. , 116 64. A Com OF Athens 121 65. The Tablets of Solon 122 66. View of the Plains of Marathon 127 67. Portrait of Meltiades 127 68. Leonidas at the Pass of Thermopyl^ 131 69. Portrait of Leonidas 131 70 A Scene m Athens in the Time of Pericles — 138 71. Portrait of Philip of Macedon. 149 72. A Tetradrachm of Alexander the Great 150 73. Greek Galley with Three Banks of Oars 158 74. Grecian Peasant , . 160 75. Portrait of Homer 162 76. .ffiscHYLUs, Sophocles, and Euripides 166 77. Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon 171 78. Portrait of Demosthenes 173 79. A Greek WRiTmG Tablet 178 80. A Grecian Youth 179 81. The Parthenon, East End 180 82. The Orders of Grecian Architecture 182 83. Presenting Offerings at the Temple of Delphi 185 84. GRECLA.N Female Heads . . — 189 85. Grecian Warriors and Attendant 191 86. Grecian Ladies and Attendant. 195 87. An Ancient Brazier 196 88. A Greek Symposium — • 198 89. Bas-relief of the NmE Muses 202 90. The Roman Wolf Statue 205 91. The Tarpeian Rock 206 92. The Temple of Janus 207 93. Roman Fasces .. 208 ILLUSTRATIONS. IX PAGE 94. Roman Plebeians op the Eablt Period 215 95. Cincinnatus Receiting the Dictatorship 220 96. Hannibal Crossing the Alps , 231 97. Portrait of Hannibal , 231 98. Group of Roman Soldiers 240 99. Portrait op Caius Julius C^sar , 248 100. The Roman Imperial Emblem — 251 101. Com OF Tiberius C^sar 258 102. Coin op Nero 260 103. Attila, the Hun ,,. 268 104. Roman Consul and Lictors , 270 105. The Siege op a City ,272 106. Portraits op Cicero, Virgil, Horace, and Sallust — 276 107. Interior op a Roman Library 279 108. The Roman Toga 281 109. Bridge op St. Angelo and Hadrian's Tomb 283 110. Ruins op the Colosseum 285 111. A Roman Augur 288 112. A Gladiatorial Combat 291 113. Dressing a Roman Bride , 293 114. Rome in the Time op Augustus Csisar * 297 115. A Roman Lamp 302 116. Interior of the House op Pansa 304 117. F*lan of the House op Pansa — 806 118. Roman Tombs along the Appian Way 312 119. View in Constantinople 313 120. In Sight of Rome 315 121. The Papal Insignia 321 122. Elevating on the Shield 324 123. Group of Ancient Arms 326 124. Charles Maktel at the Battle of Tours 329 125. Charlemagne Crowned 334 126. Portrait op Charlemagne 335 127. Portrait op William the Conqueror 341 128. The Scriptorium op a Monastery. (A Monk Illuminating a MS.) 349 129. House of a Nobleman (Twelfth Century) 350 130. Eari.y English Bench or Bed 350 131. A Dinner Party 351 1.32. Primitive Method op Cooking (Fourteenth Century) 352 133. Preparing a Candidate por Knighthood 353 134. Norman Ship (from the Bayeux Tapestry) 354 1.35. Portrait op Philip Augustus 358 136. Soldier op the Fourteenth Century 359 137. A Knight Templar 360 138. King John and his Son at Poitiers 362 1-39. English Long-bow Men 363 140. Prince Edward's Tomb at Canterbury 365 141. Portrait op Jeanne Darc 368 142. Early Inhabitants of France 371 143. Paris in the Middle Ages 372 144. Robber Knights in Ambush 382 145. Scenes in Venice 393 146. The Arch op Titus 398 147. Crusaders on the March 397 ILLUSTRATIOi^S PAGE 148. The Tomb of Godfrey db Bouillon \ 398 149. Badge of the Templars 399 150. St. Louis landing in Egypt 402 151. Mohammedan Emblems 407 152. Serfs of the Twelfth Century. (From MS. of the time.) 408 153. Medieval Castle 410 154. Costumes op Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries 411 155. The Stylus, two forms (Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries) . . . 414 156. Fac-simile of French Writing of the Fifteenth Century 415 157. Male Costume (Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries) 416 158. Female " " " " 416 159. A Movable Iron Cage (Fifteenth Century) 416 160. Gold Florin (Louis IX.) 420 161. Globe illustrating the Geographical Knowledge of the Fifteenth Century : 423 162. The Invention of Printing 425 163. A Ship of the Fifteenth Century 427 164. Tomb of Columbus at Havana 439 165. Portrait of Francis I. (After Titian.) 432 166. Field of the Cloth of Gold 434 167. Luther before the Diet of Worms 440 168. Sacking a Cathedral 445 169. Portrait of Catharine de' Medici 450 170. " Admiral Coligny 451 171. '• Henry of Guise 452 172. '• Sully 454 173. " Henry VIII., and Cardinal Wolsey 457 174. The Chained Bible (Sixteenth Century) 459 175. Portraits of Queen Elizabeth, and Mary Queen of Scots 462 176. Portrait of Philip II. of Spain ? 464 177. Tomb of Queen Elizabeth 466 178. The Glory of the Elizabethan Age 468 179. A Group of Courtiers in the Time of Elizabeth '. 470 180. Shakspere's Globe Theatre 472 181. The Rack (A Mode of Punishment in the Sixteenth Century) 473 182. London Watchmen (Sixteenth Century) 474 183. Bringing in the Yule Log at Christmas 479 184. Before the Battle of Lutzen 484 185. Portrait of Louis XITI 486 186. " Cardinal Richelieu 487 187. " Cardinal Mazarin 488 188. " Colbert 489 189. " TURENNE 491 190. Guy Fawkes and his Companions 496 191. Charles I. and his Armor-bearer 498 192. Cromwell Dissolving the Long Parliament 500 193 Execution of Charles I 502 194. Medal of Oliver Cromwell 505 195. Titus Gates in the Pillory 509 196. Portraits of Dryden. Milton, and Bunyan 514 197. Signature of Louis XIV 515 198. Court of Louis XIV. 516 199. The Palace of the Luxemburg 519 200. Portrait of Ivan the Terrible 521 ILLUSTRATIONS. XI PAGE 201. Peter the Great studying Ship BUiLDrNG 522 202. Frederick the Great reviewing nis Grenadiers at Potsdam 528 A Portrait of Makia Thi-I-ks-a . • 528 203. Portrait of Georgk TIT 535 204. Fac-simile of Law's Paper Money — 536 205. Portraits of Louis XVL, Marie Antoinette, and the Dauphin 537 206. Portrait of Turgot 537 207. " Neckek 538 208. French Fagot-vender (Eighteenth Century) 539 209. Female Head-dkess (Eighteenth Century). 539 210. The Bastile 540 211. Scene in Paris after the Storming of the Bastile 541 212. Girondists on the Way to Execution 544 213. Portrait of Robespierre 545 214. Costumes of the Three Orders 546 215. Fac-simile of the Signature of Napoleon Buonaparte 546 216. Portrait of Napoleon Buonaparte 547 217. Buonaparte at the Bridge of Arcole 549 218. The Pyramids of Egypt 551 219. Buonaparte before the Council of Five Hundred 552 220. Portraits of Alexander Pope, Steele, Addison, Sfift, and De Fob. . 554 221. Temple of Glory (The Madeleine) 501 222. Portrait of the Empress Josephine 562 223. Napoleon and Josephine at St. Cloud 564 224. The Battle of Wagram 567 225. Cossacks harassing the Retreating Army 569 226. Napoleon parting with the Old Guard at Fontainebleau 571 227. Tomb of Napoleon at St. Helena 574 228. Column of July 575 229. Lancers Clearing the Boulevards at Paris 576 230. Proclamation of the Republic 577 231. Street Placards announcing the Coup d'etat 579 232. Execution of a Female Communist in Paris 581 233. Barricading the Streets of Paris 582 234. The Royal Palace at Berlin 589 235. Portrait of Count Bismarck 590 236. " William, King of Prussia 59l 237. " Garibaldi 593 238. " Victor Emmanuel 594 239. The French Armt occupying the Castle of St. Angelo 595 240. The Four Classe-j of Japanese Society— Military, Agricultural, Laboring, and Mercantile 600 Xll MAPS. LIST OF MAPS Map OF Early Races AND Nations jl Map of Ancient Egypt -.^ Map of the Assyrian and Persian Empires 45 Map of Phcenicia and Judea in Solomon's Time 74 Map of Canaan and the Wilderness gj Map OF Greece AND HER Colonies jl3 Map of Hellas in the Heroic Age Ug Map of Greece in the Time of the Persian Wars 125 Map of the Plain op Marathon 126 Map of the Vicinity of Thermopyl^ 130 Map of the Vicinity of Athens and Salamis 135 Map illustrating the Peloponnesian War 142 Map of the Empire of Alexander 153 Map of the Roman Empire and its Provinces 203 Map of the Eary Tribes and Cities of the Italian Peninsula. 210 Map illustrating the Punic Wars 228 Map of the Divisions of Italia to the Time of Augustus 255 Map OB Plan of Ancient Rome 299 Map of the Nations of Western Europe (Fifth Century) 317 Map of the Empire of the Caliphs (Eighth Century) 327 Map of the Empire of Charlemagne " 333 Map of the Four Conquests of England 338 Map of Prance in the Time of Hugh Capet 357 Map of Burgundy under Charles the Bold 370 Map of the German Empire under the Hohenstaufens, including Naples AND Sicily 378 Map of Syria in the Time of the Crusades 401 Map of the Iberian Peninsula in the Fifteenth Century 404 Map illustrating the Great Voyages of Discovery 426 Map of Italy from the Fifteenth Century 431 Map of the Wars in France, the Netherlands, and Civil War in England 447 Map of Central Europe. (The Thirty-Years and Seven- Years Wars.).. 481 Map of Eastern Europe (Seventeenth Century).. 495 Map of Modern Nations of Europe, Western Asia, and Africa. . 532 Map of Napoleon's Wars 560 Ancient Peoples BLACKBOARD ANALYSIS 1. Egyp- tians. Political HiSTOBY. Civiliza- tion. 8. Manners AND Customs. Origin. Old Empire. Middle Empire. New Empire. Decline. 1. Society. 2. Writing. King. Priests. Military Class. Lower Classes. Hieroglyphics. Papyrus. I Book of the Dead. 3. Literature. < Phtahhotep's Book. ( Miscellaneous Books. 4. Education. 5. Monuments and Art. 6. Practical Arts and Inventions. 1. General Character. 2. Religion. 3. Embalming. 4. Burial. Scenes in Real Life. 4. Summary. 5. Chbonoloqy. 6. Reading References. 1. Orisrin 1. Pyramid Building. 2. A Lord of the IVth Dynasty. 3. Amenemhe Jlld. 4. A Theban Dinner Party. 2. Babylo- nians and Assyrians. Political History. 2. dVILIZA- TION. 3. Manners AND Customs 1. Political History, 2. Civilization. 1. Political History. 2 Civilization. Political History. Civilization. Manners and Customs. Political History. 2 Civilization. 1. Political History. 2. Civilization. Chaldea. Assyria. Names of Kings. Babylonia. Names of Kings. Society. 2. Writing, 3. Literature. 4. Monuments and Art. 5 Practical Arts and Inventions. 1. General Character. 2. Religion. Curious Customs. 1. A Chaldean Home. 2 A Morning in Nineveh. 3. A Royal Lion Hunt. 4. Asshurbanipal going to War. 3. Curious Custoi 14, Scenes m J Real Life. 1 [The subdivisions of these general topics may be filled in from the titles of the paragraphs in the text, as the student pro- ceeds.] Political History. S.Grecians, - 19. Re Geographical and Early History Sparta. Athens. Persian Wars. Age of Pericles. Peloponnesian War. Laced semon and Theban Rule, Macedon. Alexander's Successors. 2. Civilization. 3. Manners and Customs. 1. Political History. 2. Civilization. 3. Manners and Customs. GREAT HALL OF KARNAK. the central point in history. History is a record of what man has done. It treats of the rise and growth of the different nations which have ex- isted, of the deeds of their great men, the manners and customs of their peo- ples, and the part each nation has taken in the progress of the world. Dates are reckoned from the birth of Christ, Time before that event is 10 ANCIENT HI STO BY. • denoted as B.C.; time after^- A. :B:/(i4/«^ Domini, in the year of our Lorc^).**^ ; , ' ;' \ « *; .: ^ ^ ^ Three Divisions.— History is distinguished as Ancient, Mediaeval, and Modern. Ancient history extends from the earliest time to the fall of the Roman Empire (476 A. D.) ; Mediaeval, or the history of the Middle ages, covers about a thousand years, or to the close of the 15th century, and Modern history continues to the present time. The only Historic Race is the Caucasian, the others having done little worth recording. It is usually divided into three great branches: the Ar'yan, the Semit'ic, and the Hamit'ic. The first of these, Avhich includes the Per- sians, the Hindoos, and nearly all the European nations, is the one to which Ave belong. It has always been noted for its intellectual vigor. The second embraces the Assyrians, the Hebrews, the Phoenicians, and the Arabs. It has been marked by religious fervor, and has given to the world the three faiths — Jewish, Christian, and Mohammedan — which teach the worship of one God. The third branch f includes the Chaldeans and the Egyptians. It has been remarkable for its massive architecture. Ancient Aryan Nation. — Asia was doubtless the birth- place of mankind. In a time far back of all history, there lived in Bactria (map, p. 11) a nation that had made con- siderable progress in civilization. The people called them- * This method of reckoning waB introduced by Exiguus, a Roman abbot, near the middle of the 6th century. It is now thought that the birth of Christ occurred about four years earlier than the time fixed in our chronology. The Jews still date from the Creation, and the Mohammedans usually from the Hegira or Flight of Mohammed from Mecca (622 a. d.). t Those nations of Europe and Asia that are not Aryan or Semitic are frequently term^di ■Tttranian. This branch would then include the Mongols, Chinese, Japanese, Turks, Tartars, Lapps, Finns, Magyars, etc. Iran (e'-rahn) or Aria, the old name of Persia, the "land of light," is opposed to Turan, the barbarous region around, the "land of darkness." The classification of the Aryan (Indo-European) ;ind Semitic families of nations is based on resemblances in the languages spoken by them ; but the so-called Turanian dialects bear little resemblance to one another. 12 * A.^C1ENT HISTORY. selves Aryas or Aryans— those who go straight or upward. They dwelt in houses, ploughed the soil, ground their grain in mills, rode in vehicles, worked certain metals, calcu- lated up to 100, and had family ties, a government, and a religion.* Aryan Dispersion.— How long our Aryan forefathers lived united in their early home, we have no means of know- ing. As they increased in numbers they would naturally begin to separate. When they moved into distant regions, the bond of union would become weaker, their language would begin to vary, and so the seeds of new tongues and new nations would be sown. To the southeast these Aryan emigrants pushed into Persia and northern India ; to the west they gradually passed into Europe, whence, in a later age, they settled Australia and America. In general, they drove before them the previous occupants of the land. The peninsulas of Greece and Italy were probably earliest occu- pied. Three successive waves of emigration seem to have afterward swept over Central Europe. First came the Celts (Kelts), then the Teutons (Germans), and finally the Slaves, f Each of these appears to have crowded the preceding one farther west, as we now find the Celts in Ireland and Wales, and the Slaves in Kussia and Poland. * These views are;:based.on similarities of lan^iage. Among the Aryan nations, for example, we'^nd many words which have a family lilseness. Thus, night in Latin is nocty in Ge/man nacht, and in Greelv nykt; three in Latin is tres^ in Greek treis, and in Sanscrit (th^ Ant^ient language of the Hindoos) tri. All words common to the Aryan languages Kr3.gapposed to have belonged to the original speech of one parent race ; and ^^s^ io fet^rt with, men made no words until they had ideas which demanded expression, these- common words show the manner of life among that primitive people. Thus, we infer that the " daughter " of the household milked the cows, as that is the origiiiaa ^neaning of the word "milkmaid ;" that the Aryans had a regular governnveni:, siact *vords meaning king or ruler are the same in Sausscrit, Latin and English -^^ and thAt.they had a family life, since the words meaning/a^Acr, mother^ brother, slsier, etc^, £,re the same in these kindred tongues. t This word originally hioant "glorious," but came to have its present significa- tion, because, at one time, there were in Europe so many bondsmen of Slavonic birth. INTRODUCTION 13 The following table shows the principal nations which have de- scended from the ancient races : ' Pbbsians. Hindoos. .; Gbeeks. *: Romans . . - ■ French. •» Italians. Romanic (romance) Spaniards . Nations. . Portuguese, . r Welsh. 1. ARYAN RACE. Celts Irish. Highland Scots. Britons. Germans. Dutch. Teutons . , . - English. Swedes. Danes. . Norwegians.* ' Russians. Slaves . . . Poles. Bohemians. r Assyrians. 2. SEMITIC RACE. Hkbbews. [ Phoenicians. 3. HAMITIC RACE. f Chaldeans. 1 Egyptians. Commencement of Civil History.— History begins on the banks of the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates.* There the rich alluvial soil, the geniial climate, and the abundant natural products of the earth offered every inducement * " The Nile valley and the Tigris-Enphrates hasin were two great oases in the vast desert which extended from west to east very nearly across the eastern hemi- sphere. These favored spots were not only the two centers of early civilization, but they were rivals of each other. They were connected by roads fit for the passage of vast armies. Whenever there was an energetic ruler along the Nile or the Tigiis- Euphrates, he at once, as if by an inevitable law, attempted the conquest of his com- petitor for the control of Western Asia. In fact, the history of ancient as well as modem Asia is little more than one continuous record of political struggles between Egypt and Mesopotamia, ending only when Europe entered the lists, as w th^ tim^ of Alexander tije Great and the Crusaders." 14 ANCIENT HISTORY to a nomadic people to settle and commence a national life. Accordingly, amid the obscurity of antiquity, we catch sight of Memphis, Thebes, Nineveh, and Babylon — the ear- liest cities of the world. The traveler of to-day, wandering among their ruins, looks upon the records of the infancy of man. EGYPT. 1. THE POLITICAL HISTORY. The Origin of the civilization which grew up on the banks of the Nile is uncertain. The earliest accounts repre- sent the country as divided into nomes, or provinces, and having a regular government. About 2700 B. c. Menes (me-neez), the half-mythical founder of the nation, is said to have conquered Lower Egypt and built Memphis, which he made his capital. Succeeding him, down to the conquest of Egypt by the Persians under Cambyses (527 B.C.), there were twenty-six dynasties of Pharaohs, or kings. The his- tory of this long period of over 2000 years is divided into that of the Old, Middle and New Empires. 1. The Old Empire (2700-2080 b. c.).*— During this Geoffrapkicat QuesHons.—ljQCVii& the capitals of the five early kingdoms of Egypt: This, Elephantine, Memphis, Heracleopolis, and Thebes. Where are the Pyramids of Gizeh ? Where were Lower, Middle and Upper Egypt ? Where is the first cataract of the Nile ? Describe the geographical appearance of Egypt. Ans. A flat valley, 2 to 10 miles wide, skirted by low, rocky hills ; on the west, the desert ; on the east, a mountainous region rich in quarries, extending to the Red Sea. Through this narrow valley, for 600 miles, the Nile river rolls its muddy waters northward. About 100 miles from the Mediterranean the hills recede, the valley widens, and the Nile di-vides into two outlets— the Damietta and Rosetta. These branches diverge until they enter the sea, 80 miles apart. Anciently there were seven branches, and the triangular space they enclosed was called the Delta, from the Greek letter A. The Nile receiving no tributary for about 1350 miles of its course, becomes, unlike other rivers, smaller toward its mouth. * Previous to the discoveries of the last century, the chief sources of information on Egypt were (1) Herod'otus, a Greek historian who traveled along the Nile about 450 B.C., and based his accounts upon information obtained from the priests; (2) Diodo'rus Sic'ulus, anotlier Greek historian, who visited Egypt in the 1st century B. c, but whose statements are substantially those of Herodotus ; and (3) Man'etho, 16 EGYPT, epoch the principal interest clusters about the IVth or Pyramid dynasty, so-called because its chief monarchs built the three great pyra- mids at Gizeh (ghe- zeh). The best known of these kings was Khufn, termed Clieops (ke-ops) by Herodotus. In time, Egypt broke up into separate kingdoms, Memphis gradually lost its pre-eminence, and Thebes became the favorite capital. 2. The Middle Empire (2080-1525 B. c). With the rise of Thebes to the sovereign power, be- gan a new epoch in an Egyptian priest (3d century b. c), who wrote in Greelc a history of which only fragments now remain. Manetho professed to compile his accounts from archives preserved in the Egyptian temples, and has been the main authority on chronology. He gives, however, a worthless list of gods, heroes, and kings whom he declares to have reigned for nearly 25,000 years before the accession of Menes. How many of the dynasties which follow Menes were contemporaneous is still a subject of dispute among Egyptologers, and there is thus a difference of over 2,300 years in the extreme dates given for the time of Menes. The Egyptians themselves had no continuous chronology, but reckoned dates from the ascension of each king, so that the monu- ments furnish little help. Of the five recovered lists of kings, only one attempts to give the length of their respective reigns, and this inscription is in 164 fragments, most of the figures being illegible. All Egyptian data prior to the XXVIth dynasty are uncertain. In this book, what is called the Short Chronology has been followed ANCIENT EGYPT ,,^ , ^ . Scale of Eng.Miles '"'^^'vT/neK^*** ,0.'^' ' ^5 U -.- ^:^Mr^^?^.... J.WELL8 DEL. ^ T H I [O P I A THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 17 Egyptian history. The XII th dynasty, reigning in the " 100-gated city/' was the first to claim all the district watered by the Nile, and under those great kings, the Sesor- tasens 2a\di Amenemhes, Ethiopia was conquered. To this dynasty belong' the famous Lake Moeris and the Labyrinth (p. 39). The country being parceled into five kingdoms, its divided state invited attack, and the Shepherd (Hyksos) Kings, a rude and barbarous race that had already conquered Lower Egypt, finally overran the Avhole region (1900 B. c). For about 400 years a darkness as of night rested on the land. At last the people rose under a Theban ruler and drove out their oppressors. 3. The New Empire (1525-527 B.C.).— The native kings having been restored to the throne, Egypt became a united people with Thebes for the capital. Then followed a true national life of 1000 years. The XVIIIth and XlXth dynasties exalted Egypt to the height of its glory. Thotmes I. (tot'-meez) began a system of great Asiatic expe- ditions. TJiotmes III., who has been styled "the Egyptian Alexander the Great," erected the magnificent temple-palace at Thebes. From his inscriptions, he is believed to have taken tribute from Nineveh and Babylon, while his fleet, manned by Phoenician sailors, gave him the supremacy of the Mediterranean. Amunoph III. was a famous warrior and builder. Among his structures there remains the Vocal Memnon, which was said to sing when struck by the rays of the rising sun. Seti (Mineptah) completely subdued Meso- potamia, Assyria and Chaldea, and built the Great Hall of Karnakc* At an early age his son Eameses II. was made * The Great Temple of Karnak (>?ee Illustration, p. 9) was 1200 feet long by 360 feet wide, and had five or six smaller temples grouped around it. The Great Hall was 340 feet by 170, and contained 134 columns, some of which were 70 feet high and 12 f«et in diameter. " The mass of its central piers, illumined by a flood of light from above, and the smaller pillars of its wings, gradually fading into obscurity, are so arranged and lighted as to convey an idea of infinite space ; while the beauty 18 EGYPT. joint king with him, and they reigned together until, accord- ing to Egyptian tradition, " Mineptah's soul, like a bird, suddenly flew up to heaven to exist forever in the bark of the sun." Rameses II., the Sesostris the Great of the Greek historians, carried his conquering arms far into Africa. Of all the Pharaohs, he was the greatest builder, and most of the ruins in Egypt bear his name, though they are much inferior in sculpture and architecture to the magnificent works of his father.* He founded a library inscribed " The Dispensary of the Soul," and gathered about him many men of genius, making his time the golden age of early art and literature. The Decline of Egypt began with the XXth dynasty, when it was no longer able to retain its vast conquests. The tributary peoples revolted, and the country was subdued in turn by the Ethiopians and the Assyrians (p. 49). After nearly a century of foreign rule, Psammetichus of the XX Vlth dynasty threw off the Assyrian yoke and restored the Egyp- tian independence. This monarch, by employing Greek and massiveness of the forms, and the brilliancy of theh* colored decorations, all combine to stamp this as the greatest of man's architectural works." {Fergusson's Hist, of Arch.). Two miles further south, at Luxor, was another temple over 800 feet long ; this was joined to Karnak by an avenue of sphinxes. Near "Thebes were two other celebrated monuments of the XVIIIth and XlXth dynasties, viz., the Memnonium, built by Amunoph III., and the Ramesseum, by Rameses II. * One of the first acts of Rameses after Seti's death was to complete the unfin- ished temple of Abydus, where his father was buried. A long inscription which he placed at the entrance, ostensibly in praise of the departed Seti, is a good example of his own boastfulness and habit of self-glorification. He says : " The mot^t beauti- fhl thing to behold, the best thing to rear, is a child with a thankful breast, whose heart beats for his father. Wherefore my heart urges me to do what is good for Mineptah. / wUl cause them to talk forever and eternally of his son, who has awakened his name to life." " I was a little boy when I attained to the government ; then Seti gave over to me the country, and I gave my orders as the chief of the life- guards and of the fighters on chariots. My father showed me publicly to the people, and I was a boy on his lap, and he spake thus : ' I will cause him to be crovracd as king, for I will behold his excellence while I am yet alive.' Thus was I like the sun- god Ra, the first of mortals." For a full translation of this inscription, see Brugsch's Egypt, Vol. 11. The filial zeal of Rameses so declined in his later years that he even chiseled out his father's name and memorials in manjr places pij the temple wftUs, e»^^^tJt»ting 149 own m tbejr pl»Q^ THE CIVILIZATION. 19 troops, so offended the native warriors that 200,000 of them mutinied and emigrated to Ethiopia. His successor Necho (Pharaoh-Necho of the Scriptures) maintained a powerful fleet. Under his orders the Phoenician ships rounded the Cape of Good Hope.* The internal prosperity of Egypt still continued, as is shown by the magnificent monuments of this period, but the army was filled with mercenaries, and the last of the Pharaohs fell an easy prey to the fierce-fighting Persians under Cambyses. Egypt, like Babylon (p. 51), was now reduced to a Persian province governed by a satrap. 2. THE CIVILIZATION. Egyptian Society was divided into distinct classes, so that no man could rise higher than the station in which he was born.f The priestly and military classes, which included the king, princes and all men of rank, were far above the others. The King received the most exalted titles, and his authority was supposed to come directly from the gods. The courtiers on approach- ing him fell prostrate, rubbing the ground with their noses ; some- times, by his gracious consent, they were permitted to touch his sacred knee.l That he might be kept pure, he was given from childhood only the choicest and most virtuous companions, and no * Twice during this voyage, says Herodotus, the crews, fearing a want of food, landed, drew their ships on shore, sowed grain and waited for a harvest. The pupil will notice that all this occurred over 2000 years before the time of Vasco da Gama (Hist. U. S., p. 41), to whom is generally accorded the credit of first circumnavigating Africa. t There seems to have been an exception in favor of talented scribes. "Neither descent nor family hampered the rising career of the clever. Many a monument con- secrated to the memory of some nobleman who had held high rank at court has the simple but laudatory inscription, 'His ancestors were unknown people.' " — Brugsch. X " When they had come before the king, their noses touched the ground, and their feet lay on the ground for joy ; they fell down to the ground and with their hands they prayed to the king. Thus they lay prostrate and touching the earth before the king, speaking thus : ' We are come before thee, the lord of heaven, lord of the earth, sun, life of the whole world, lord of time, creator of the harvest, dis- penser of breath to all men, animator of the gods, pillar of heaven, threshold of the earth, weigher of the balance of the two worlds,' " etc. [Inscription of Kameses II. at Abydus.] 20 EGYPT. hired servant was allowed to approach his person. His daily con. duct was governed by a code of rules laid down in the sacred books, which prescribed not only the hourly order and nature of his occu- pations, but limited even the kind and quantity of his food. He was never suffered to forget his obligations, and one of the offices of the High Priest at the daily sacrifice was to remind him of his duties, and by citing the good works of his ancestors to impress upon him the nobility of a well-ordered life. After death he was worshipped with the gods. The Priests were the richest, the most powerful, and the only learned body of the country. They were not limited to sacred offices, and in their caste comprised all the mathematicians, scientists, lawyers and physicians of the land. Those priests who " excelled in virtue and wis- dom " were initiated into the holy mys- teries^ a privilege which they shared only with the king and the prince-royal. Among the priesthood, as in the other classes, there were marked distinctions of rank. The High Priests held the most honorable station. Chief among them was the Prophet, who offered sacrifice and libation in the temple, wearing as his insignia a leopard skin over his robes. The king himself often performed the duties of this office. The religious observances of the priests, were rigid. They had long fasts, bathed twice a day and twice in the night, and every third day were shaven from head to foot ; the most devout using water which had been tasted by the sacred Ibis. Beans, pork, fish, onions, and various other articles of diet were forbidden to them, and on certain days when a religious ceremony compelled every Egyptian to eat a fried fish before his door, the priests burned theirs instead. Their dress was of linen ; woolen might be used for an outer, but never for an inner garment, nor could it be worn into a temple. The influence of the priests was immense, since they not only ruled the living, but were supposed to have power to open and shut the gates of eternal bliss to the dead. They received an ample income from the state, and had one-third of the land free of tax. EGYPTIAN PROPHET. (From Monument at Thebes.) THE civilizatio:n^. 21 an inheritance which they claimed as a special gift from the god- dess Isis. The Military Glass also possessed one-third of the land, each soldier's share being about eight acres. The army, which numbered 410,000 men, was well disciplined and thoroughly organized. It comprised archers, spearmen, swordsmen, clubmen, and slingers. Each soldier furnished his own equipments, and held himself in constant readiness for duty. He wore a metal coat of mail and a metal or cloth helmet, and carried a large shield made of ox-hide drawn over a wooden frame. The chariots, of which great use was EGYPTIAN WAR CHARIOT (THEBES). made in war, were sometimes richly ornamented and inlaid with gold. The king led the army, and was often accompanied by a favorite lion. Loicer Glasses. — All the free population not belonging to the priesthood or the military, was divided into three general classes, which were again subdivided, each trade or occupation having its own rank and inhabiting a certain quarter of the town. The highest of these classes included the husbandmen or farmers, the huntsmen, Nile-boatmen and others; next in rank were the artisans, trades- men, mechanics and public weighers; while the lowest class was made up of herdsmen, fishermen, poulterers and common laborers. Swineherds were the most despised of all men, and were forbidden to enter the temples. As the entire land of Egypt was owned by ;♦ H t ^- 22 EGYPT. the king, the priests and the soldiers, the lower classes could hold no real estate ; but they had strongly-marked degrees of importance, depending upon the relative rank of the trade to which they were born, and their business success. No artisan could meddle in political affairs, hold any civil office, or engage in any other employ- ment than the one to which he had been brought up, under a severe penalty. Every man was obliged to have some regular means of subsistence, a written declaration of which was deposited period- ically with the magistrate ; a false account or an unlawful business was punished by death. Writing. — Hieroglyphics * (sacred sculptures). — The earliest Egyptian writing was a series of object pictures analogous to that still used by the North American Indians {Brief Hist. U. 8., p. 13). Gradually this primitive system ^ was altered and abbreviated into f (1) hieratic (priestly) writing, THE NAME OF EGVPT .N HiEROGL vPH.cs. ^hc form iu which most Egyp- tian literature is written, and which is read by first resolving it into the original hieroglyphs ; and (2) demotic (writing of the people), in which all traces of the original pictures are lost. During these changes many meanings became attached to one sign, so that the same hieroglyph might represent an idea, the symbol of an idea, or an abstract letter, syllable or word. An Egyptian scribe used various devices to explain his meaning. To a hieroglyphic word or syllable he would append one or more of its letters ; then, as the letter-signs had different meanings, he * So called by the Greeks, who thought them to be mystic religious symbols understood only by the priests. Neither the Greeks nor Romans attempted to decipher them. The discovery of the Rosetta stone (1799) furnished the first clue to their reading. A French engineer, while digging intrenchments on the site of an old temple near the Rosetta mouth of the Nile {Brief Hist, of France, p. 229), unearthed a black basalt tablet inscribed in three languages : hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek. It proved to be a decree made by the priests in the time of Ptolemy V. (196 b. c), whom it styled the "god Epiphanes," increasing his divine honors and ordering that the command should be engraved in the three languages and placed in all the chief temples. By a comparison of the Greek and Egyptian texts a principle of interpretation was finally established. Hieroglyphics had hitherto been supposed to represent only ideas or symbols. Twenty-three years after the discovery of the Rosetta stone, the great French scholar Francois Champollion announced that they express both ideas and sounds. The Egyptians enclosed their royal names and titles in an oval ring or cartouch. Out of the four cartouches, ^l^^^^Pj Ptolemaios. fen^V;] Berenike, (S^^^ Kleopatra, and (V^Z^ZTJ Alexandros, Champollion obtaint-d a partial alphabet, which was completed by subsequent analyses. THE CIVILIZATION". 23 would add a picture of some object that would suggest the intended idea. Thus, for the word bread "^ ,i, ^^ would write the syllable 3^^ U§), then its complement ••(§).• and, finally, as a determinative, give the picture of a loaf (c^ ). One would suppose that the form of the loaf would itself have been sufficient, but even that had several interpretations. In like manner, the scribe appended the determinative ^h, ^^^ ^"^^^ ^^ words sig- nifying actions of the mouth, as eating, laughing^ speaking, etc., but to those of the thought, as hiowing, judging, deciding. To under- stand hieroglyphics, a knowledge of the peculiar ideas of the Egyp- tians is also necessary. It is easy to see that ^A means worship and *|^ crime ; but we should hardly interpret (m^ as son, or ^1 as mother, imless we knew that geese were believed to possess a warm filial nature, and all vultures to be females. Besides these and other complications in hieroglyphic writing, there was no uniform way of arranging sentences. They were written both hori- zontally and perpendicularly ; sometimes part of a sentence was placed one way and part the other ; sometimes the words read from right to left, sometimes from left to right, and sometimes they were scattered about within a given space without any apparent order. Papyrus. — Books were written and government records kept on papyrus* (hence, paper) rolls. These were generally about ten inches wide and often one hundred and fifty feet long. They were written upon with a frayed reed dipped into black or red ink. As the government had the monopoly of the papyrus, it was very costly. * The papyrus or paper-reed, which flourished in ancient times so luxuriantly that it formed jungles along the banks of the Nile, is no longer found in Egypt. (The paper-reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. — Isaiah xix. 7.) It had a large three-sided, tapering stem, two to three inches broad at the base. The reed was prepared for use by peeling off the smooth bark and cutting the inner mass of white pith lengthways into thin slices, which were laid side by side with their edges touching one another. A second layer having been placed transversely upon the first and the whole sprinkled with the muddy Nile water, a heavy press was applied which united them in one mass. It was then dried and cut into sheets of the required size. Papyrus was in use until the end of the 7th century a. d., when it was superseded by parchment— prepared skins. The latter was also used in Egypt at a very early period, and though it is generally supposed to have been invented by Eumenes, king of Pergamus, in the 2d century B.C., "records written upon skins and kept in the temple " are mentioned in the time of the XVIIIth dynasty, 1200 years before Eumenes (p, 156.) u EGYPT. pottery, stones, boards, the bark and leaves of trees, and the shoulder- bones of animals. Literature.— ^6*6-^ of the Bead. — The most cele- brated Egyptian book is the " Book of the Manifestation to Light," often called the " Book of the Dead." It is a ritual for the use of the soul in its journeys* after death, and a copy more or less * The soul was described as making long and perilous journeys in the under- world. Instructions were given by which it could vanquish the frightful monsters that constantly assailed it before reaching the first gate of heaven. That passed,. it entered upon a series of transformations, becoming successively a hawk, lotus- flower, heron, crane, serpent and crocodile, all being symbols of Deity. Meanwhile it retained a mysterious connection with its mummied body, and was at liberty to come and go from the grave during the day time in any form it chose. At last the body, carefully preserved from decay, joined the soul in its travels and they went on together to new dangers and ordeals. The most dreaded of aU encounters, was the trial in the Great Hall of Justice before Osiris and his forty-two assessors, where the heart was weighed in the infallible scales of Truth, and its fate irrevocably fixed. The accepted soul was identified with Osiris and set out on a series of ecstatic THE CIVILIZATION-. 25 complete, according to the fortune of the deceased, was enclosed in the mummy-case. This strange book contains some sublime pas- sages, and many of its chapters date from the earliest antiquity. As suggestive of Egyptian morals, it is interesting to find in the soul's defence before Osiris, such sentences as these : " I have not been idle ; I have not been intoxicated ; I have not told secrets ; I have not told falsehoods ; I have not defrauded ; I have not slandered ; I have not caused tears ; I have given food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, and clothes to the naked." Phtah-ho'Up''s Booh. — Grood. old Prince Phtah-hotep, son of a king of the Vth dynasty, wrote a moral treatise full of excellent advice to the young people of 4000 years ago. This book, now pre- served in Paris, is believed to be the oldest in the world. The fol- lowing extracts are noticeable : On Filial Obedience. "The obedient son shall grow old and obtain favor : thus have I, mys^elf , become an old man on earth and have lived 110 years in favor with the king, and approved by my seniors." On Freedom from Arrogance. " If thou art become great, after thou hast been humble, and if thou hast amassed riches after poverty, being because of that the first in thy town ; if thou art known for thy wealth and art become a great lord, let not thy heart become proud because of thy riches, for it is God who is the author of them. Despise not another who is as thou wast ; be towards him as towards thy equal." On Cheerfulness. '• Let thy face be cheerful as long as thou livest ; has any one come out of the coffin after having once entered it ? " Miscellaneous Boohs. — Several treatises on medicine have been deciphered. They generally abound in charms and adjurations. Works on rhetoric and mathematics, and various legal and j)o- litical documents are extant. Epistolary correspondence is abun- dant. A letter addressed by a priest to one of the would-be poets of tlie time, contains this wholesome criticism : "It is very unimportant what flows over thy tongue, for thy compositions are very confused. Thou tearest the words to tatters, just as it comes into thy mind. Thou dost not take pains to find out their force for thyself. If thou rushest wildly forward thou wilt not succeed. I have struck out for thee the end of thy composi- tion, and I return to thee thy descriptions. It is a confused medley when one hears it ; an uneducated person could not understand it. It is hke a man from the low- lands speaking with a man from Elephantine." A few works of fiction exist which belong to the Xlltli dynasty, and there are many beautiful hymns addressed to the different gods. A long and popular poem, the E]pk, of Pentaur, which celebrated journeys in the boat of the Sun, the final glory being a blissful and eternal rest. The rejected soul was sent back to the earth in the form of a pig or some other andean animal to suffer degradation and torture. 26 EGYPT. QUEEN AIDING KING IN TEMPLE SERVICE (THEBES). the deeds of Rameses II., won the prize in its time as a heroic song, and was engraved on the temple walls at Abydus, Luxor, Karnak and the Ramesseum, It has sometimes been styled the Egyptian Iliad. Education was mider the control of the priesthood, who schooled their own children in the science and literature of the day. Great attention was paid to mathe- matics and to writing, of which the Egyptians were especially fond. Geom- etry and mensuration were important, as the yearly inundation of the Nile produced constant disputes concerning property boundaries. In music, only those songs appointed by law were taught, the children being carefully guarded from any of doubtful senti- ment. As women were treated with great dignity and respect in Egypt, reigning as queens and serving in the holiest oflBces of the temple, they probably shared in the advantages of schooling. Though a certain amount of learning was open to all classes, the common people had little education except what per- tained to their trade or calling. Reading and writing were so diffi- cult as to be considered great accomplishments. Momiments and Art. — Stupendous size and mysterious sym- bolism characterize all tlie monuments of this strange people. They built immense pyramids holding closely-hidden chambers; gigantic temples * whose massive entrances, guarded by great stone statues, were approached by long avenues of colossal sphinxes; vast temple-courts, areas and halls in which were forests of carved and gaily-painted colunms; and lofty obelisks, towers and sitting statues,! * "Upon broad brick terraces raised high above the flat banks of the stream, stood the Egyptian temple, a strictly isolated building. Huge sloping walls, crowned with the overshadowing concave cornice, surround its enclosure, and invest the whole with a solemn and mysterious character. No opening for windows, no colon- nades interrupt the monotonous surface of the temple- wall, which is covered as with a gigantic tapestry, with brilliantly-colored intaglio sculptures and hieroglyphics. The narrow, lofty entrance, facing the river-bank, is between two tower-like sloping structures, rising high above the rest of the building. In front of these pylons stood great masts which on festive occasions were surmounted by pendant flags." — LUbke's History of Art. t In the Memnonium at Thebes, the sitting statue of Rameses 11.. made of Syenite granite, measured over 22 feet across the shoulders and is estimated to have •weighed 887 tons. It is now in fragments. THE CIVILIZATION. 27 which still endure, though desert winds and drifting sands have beaten upon them for thousands of years. SculjJture — Painting — Statuary. — Egyptian granite is so hard that it is cut with difficulty by the best steel tools of to-day ; yet the ancient sculptures are sometimes graven to t^ie depth of several inches, and show an exquisite finish and accuracy of detail. Paint- ing was usually combmed with sculpture, the natural hue of the objects represented being crudely imitated. Blue, red, green, black, yellow and white were the principal colors. Red, which typified the sun,* and blue, the color of the sky refiected in the Nile, were sacred tints. Tombs, which were cut in the solid rock, had no outer orna- mentation, but the interior was gaily painted with scenes from every- day life. Sarcophagi and the walls which en- closed temples were covered both inside and out- side with scenes or inscriptions. In temples, the subjects for painting were mostly from the Book of the Dead ; in palaces were pictured the royal hunts and conquests. The proportion, form, color and expression of every statue were fixed by laws prescribed by the priests, the effect most sought being that of immovable repose.t A wooden statue found at Sakkarah and belonging to one of the earliest dynasties is remarkable for its fine expression and evident effort at por- traiture. Mode of Drawing — Perspective.— Jxi drawing the human form, the entire body was traced, after which the drapery was added (see cut). Several artists were employed on one picture. The first drew squares of a definite size upon which he sketched in red an outline of the desired figure ; the next corrected and improved it in black ; the sculptor then followed with his chisel and other tools; and finally, the most important artist of all laid on the pre- scribed colors. The king was drawn on a much larger scale than his subjects ; his dignity being suggested by his colossal size. Gods and SON OF R AMESES II (Thebes.) * Red was also the color of Typhon, the evil god (p. .31). t All Egyptian statues, whether erect, seated or kneeling, have a stiflf, rigid pose, and are generally fastened at the back to a pillar. During the reign of the Ptolemies (323-30 B. c.) the priests ordered the statues of the gods to be made with one foot in advance of the other. So great were the horror and fear of the masses at seeing their deities apparently ready to walk, that they rashed from all sides with strong ropes and tied the divinities to their pedestals lest they shoi;ld be tempted to roam abroad, and thus leave the country godless, EGYPT, goddesses were frequently represented with the head of an animal on a human form. There was no idea of perspective, and the general effect of an Egyptian painted scene was that of grotesque stiffness. Practical Arts and Inventions. — We have seen how the Egyptians excelled in cutting granite. Steel was in use as early as the IVth dynasty, and pictures on the Memphite tombs represent butchers sharpening their knives on a bar of that metal attached to their apron. Great skill was shown in alloying, casting and solder- ing metals. Some of their bronze implements, though buried for ages, and since exposed to the damp of European climates, are still smooth and bright. They possessed the art of imparting elasticity to bronze or brass ; and of overlaying bronze with a rich green by means of acids. Olnss bottles are represented in the earliest sculptures, and the Egyptians had their own secrets in coloring which the best Venetian glass-makers of to-day are unable to discover. Their glass mosaics were so delicately ornamented that some of the feathers of birds and other details can be made out only with a lens, which would imply that this means of magnifying was used in Eg3^pt. G^ims and precious stones were successfully imitated in glass, and Wilkinson says, "The mock pearls found by me in Thebes were so well counterfeited that even now it is difficult with a strong lens to detect the imposition." Goldsmiths washing and working gold are seen on monuments of the IVth dy- nasty ; and gold arid silver wire were woven into cloth and used in embroidery as early as the Xllth dynasty. Gold rings, brace- lets, armlets, necklaces, earrings, vases and statues were common in the same age, the cups being often beautifully engraved and studded with precious stones. Ob- jects of art were sometimes made of silver or bronze inlaid with gold, or of baser metals gilded so as to give the effect of solid gold. Veneering was extensively practiced, and in sculptures over 3300 years old workmen are seen with glue-pot on the fire fastening the rare woods to the common sycamore and acacia. In cabinet work Egypt excelled, and house-furniture as- sumed graceful and elegant forms. EGYPTIAN EASY CHAIR. THE CIVILIZATION 29 Flax and Cotton were grown, and great perfection was reached in spinning and weaving. Specimens of linen have been found in Mem- phi te tombs which are in touch comparable to silk and not infe- rior in texture to our finest cambric. Strength was combined with EGYPTIAN COUCH, PILLOW, AND STEPS. fineness, and the flax-strings used for fowling-nets were so delicate that " a man could carry nets enough to surround a whole wood.'" Mordants were employed in dyeing cloth, as in our own manufac- tories. Finally, wooden hoes, shovels, forks and ploughs, toothed sickles and drags aided the farmer in his work ; the carpenter had axe, hammer, file, adze, handsaw, chisel, drill, plane, right-angle, ruler and plummet; the glass-worker and gem-cutter used emery powder and the lapidaiy's wheel ; the potter, too, had his wheel upon which he worked the clay after he had kneaded it with his feet ; the public weigher was furnished with stamped weights and measures, and delicate scales for balancing the gold and silver rings used as cur- rency ; the musicians played on double and single pipes, harps, flutes, guitars, lyres, tambourines, and cymbals ; while the drum and trumpet cheered the soldier in his march. EGYPTIAN MUSICIANS (tHE GUITAR, HARP AND DOUBLE PIPE). 30 EGYPT. 3. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. General Character.— The Egyptians were mild in disposition, polite in manners, reverential to their elders and superiors, extremely loyal and patriotic, and intensely religious. They have been called a gloomy people, but their sculptures reveal a keen sense of humor and love of caricature. They were especially fond of ceremonies and of festivals. Their religion formed a part of their every-day life, and was interwoven with all their customs. Religion. — The Egyptian priests believed in one invisible, over- ruling, self-created God ; the immortality of the soul ; a judgment after death ; the final annihilation of the wicked ; and the ultimate absorption of the good into the eternal Deity. " God created His own members, which are tJie gods," tliey said ; and so out of one great God grew a host of Jesser ones, regarded by the priests as only His attributes and manifestations, but becoming to the people distinct and separate divinities. Natural objects and prin- ciples were thus deified — the soil, the sky, the East, the West, even the general idea of time and space. Each month and day had its own god. The Nile, as the source of the country's fertility, was especially revered, and the conflict of God with sin was seen in the life-giving river, and the barren, encroaching desert. The Sun, especially in later times, was the great exponent of Deity. His mysterious disappearance each night, and his return every morning to roll over the heavens with all the splendor of the pre- ceding day, were events full of symbolic meaning. The rising sun was the beautiful young god Horus ; in his midday glory, he was Ra ; as he neared the western horizon he became Tum ; and during the night he was Amun. Each of these gods, as well as the many others connected with the sun, had his own specific character. This complex sun god was imagined to float through the sky in a boat accompanied by the souls of the Supremely Blest, and at night to pass into the regions of the dead. Triad of- Orders.— "Vhere were three orders of gods. The first * * In Thebes, Amun-Ra, the "Concealed God" or "Absolute Spirit " headed the deities of the first order. He was represented as having the head of a ram, the hieroglyphic of a ram signifying also concealment. In Memphis, Phtah, " Father of the Beginnings," the Creator, was chief ; his symbol was the scarabseus or beetle, an image of which was placed on the heart of every mummy. Phtah was father of Ra, the sun-god. Ra was, in the mystic sense, that which is to-day, the existing present; the hawk was his emblem. Pasht, his sister, one of the personifications of the sun's strong rays, sometimes healthful, sometimes baneful, was both loved and feared. She was especially worshipped at Bubastis, but her statues, having the head THE MAKI^ERS Ai^D CUSTOMS. 31 BRONZE FIGURE OF APIS. was for the priesthood and represented the ideal and spiritual part of the religion ; the second impersonated human faculties and powers ; and the third — the most popular of all among the people — was made up of forms and forces in Nature. Triads of Gods. — Each town or city had its specially-honored triad of deities to whom its temples were dedicated. The triads often con- sisted of father, mother, and son ; but sometimes of two gods and a king. Osiris, who with Isis and _ Horns formed the most celebrated of the triads, was worshipped throughout the land. So popular were these deities that it has been said, " With the exception of Amun and Neph. they comprise all Egyptian mythology." * Animal Worship. — As early as the lid dynasty certain animals came to be regarded as em- blems or even incarnations of the gods. The bull Apis, whose tem- ple was at Memphis, was sup- posed to be inhabited by Osiris himself, and the sacred presence of the god to be attested by cer- tain marks on the body of the animal. Apis was consulted as an of a cat, are common all over Egypt. Neph, often confounded with Amun and, like him, wearing the ram's head, was the Divine Breath or Spirit pervading matter; sheep were sacred to him. Thoth, son of Neph, was god of intelligence ; the ibis was his emblem. Sate, the wife of Neph and one of the forms of Isis, was the god- dess of vigilance ; she was the eastern sky waiting for the morning sun. Athor, goddess of love, was the beautiful western sky, wife of the evening sun, taking the wearied traveler to rest in her arms after each day's labor ; the cow was her emblem. Neith, wife of Phtah, was goddess of wisdom ; she was the night sky which induces reflection. Maut, the Mother Goddess and greatest of the sky divinities — which were all feminine— was the cool night sky tenderly brooding over the hot, exhausted earth ; the shrew mouse was sacred to her. Typhon was the common enemy of all the other gods ; his emblems were the pig, the ass, and the hippopotamus. * It was related that Osiris once went about the earth doing good ; that he was persecuted and slain by Set (Typhon) his brother ; that his wife Isis, by her prayers and invocations, assisted in his resurrection ; and that finally Horus, his son, avenged his wrongs and destroyed Set. In this myth Osiris represents the Divine Goodness : Isis is the Love of Goodness ; Set, the principle of Evil, and Horus, the Divine Triumph. Osiris had a multitude of characters. He was the Nile ; he was the sun ; he was the judge of the dead ; from him all souls emanated, and in him all justified souls were swallowed up at last. To know "The mysteries of Osiris" was the glory of the priesthood. Isis, too, appeared in many forms and was called by the Greeks "She of the ten-thousand names." Mystic legends made her the mother, wife, sister and daughter of Osiris ; while Horus was their son and brother, and was Osiris himself. 32 EGYPT. oracle, and his breath was said to confer upon children the gift of prophecy. When an Apis died, great was the mourning until the priests found his successor, after which the rejoicing was equally demonstrative. The cost of burying the Apis was so great as some- times to ruin the officials who had him in charge.* The calf Mnevis at Heliopolis and the white cow of Athor at Athribis were also rev- erenced as incarnations of Deity. Other animals were considered as only emblems. Of these, the hawk, ape, ibis, cat f and asp were every- where worshipped, but crocodiles, dogs, jackals, frogs, beetles and shrew mice, as well as certain plants and vegetables, were venerated in different sections of the country. Those saCred in one nome were often, in others, hated and hunted or used for food. Thus, at Thebes the crocodile and the sheep were worshipped, while tlie goat was eaten ; at Mendes the sheep was eaten and the goat worshipped ; and at Apollinopolis the crocodile was so abhorred as an emblem of the evil spirit, that the people set apart an especial day to hunt and kill as many crocodiles as possible, throwing the dead bodies before the temple of their own god. The crocodile was principally worshipped about Lake Moeris in the Fayoom. A chosen number of these animals was kept in the tem- ples, where they were given elegant apartments and treated to every luxury at public expense. Let us imagine a crocodile, .fresh from a warm, sumptuous bath, anointed with the most precious oint- ments and perfumed with fragrant odors ; its head and neck glittering with jeweled earrings and necklace, and its feet with bracelets, wal- lowing on 1 rich and costly carpet to receive the worship of intelligent human beings ! Its death was mourned as a public calamity ; its body, wrapped in linen, was carried to the embalmers, attended by a train of people weeping and beating their breasts in grief ; then, having been expensively embalmed and bandaged in gaily-colored mummy-cloths, amid imposing ceremonies it was laid away in its rock-sepulchre. ■ £jmbalming. — This art was a secret known only to those priests * Ancient authorities declared that no Apis was allowed to live over twenty-five years ; if he attained that age he was drowned with great ceremony in the Nile. The following inscription upon a recently-discovered memorial stone erected to an Apis of the XXIId dynasty, shows that at least one Apis exceeded that age : " This is the day on which the god was carried to his rest in the beautiful region of the west, and was laid in the grave, in his everlasting house and in his eternal abode." * * * *' His glory was sought for in all places. After many months he was found in the temple of Phtah, beside his father, the Memphian god Phtah." * * * "The full age of this god was 26 years." t When a cat died in any private dwelling the inmates shaved their eyebrows ; when a dog died, they shaved their entire bodies. The killing of a cat, even acci- dentally, was reckoned a capital offence. All sacred animal's were embalmed, and buried with impressive ceremonies. THE MARKERS AND CUSTOMS. 33 A MUMMY IN BANDS. who had it in charge. The mummy was more or less elaborately pre- pared, according to the wealth and station of the deceased. In the most expensive process the brain and intestines were extracted, cleansed with palm-wine and aro- matic spices, and either returned to the body or deposited in vases which Avere placed in the tomb with the coffin.* The body was also cleansed and filled with a mixture of resin and aromatics, after which it was kept in nitre for forty days. It was then wrapped in bands of fine linen smeared on the inner side with gum. There were sometimes a thousand yards of bandages on one mummy. A thick papyrus case, fitted while damp to the exact shape of the bandaged body, next enclosed it. This case was richly painted and ornamented, the hair and features of the deceased being imitated, and eyes inlaid with brilliant enamel inserted. Sometimes the face was covered with heavy gold leaf. Often a network of colored beads was spread over the body, and a winged scarabseus (p. 80) placed upon the breast. A long line of hieroglyphics extending down the front told the name and quality of the departed. The inner case was inclosed in three other AN EGYPTIAN SARCOPHAGUS. cases of the same form, all richly painted in different patterns. A wooden or carved stone sarcophagus was the final receptacle in the tomb, f * So careful were the Egyptians to show proper respect to all that belonged to the human body, that even the sawdust of the floor where they cleansed it was tied up iu small linen bags, which, to the number of twenty or thirty, were deposited in vases and buried near the tomb. t In a less expensive mode of embalming, the internal parts were dissolved by oil of cedar, after which the body was salted with nitre as before. The ordinary 34 EGYPT. Burial. — When any person died, all the women of the house left the body and ran out into the streets, wailing, and throwing dust upon their heads. Their friends and relatives joined them as they went, and if the deceased was a person of quality, others accompanied them out of respect. Having thus advertised the death, they returned home and sent the body to the embalmers. During the entire period of its absence they kept up an ostentatious show of grief, sittin<^ unwashed and unshaven, in soiled and torn garments, singing dirges and making lamentation. After the body was restored to them, if they wished to delay its burial, they placed it in a movable wooden closet standing against the wall of the principal room in the house. Here, morning and evening, the members of the family came to weep over and embrace it, making offerings to the gods in its behalf. Occasionally it was brought out to join in festivities given in its honor (p. 43). The time having come to entomb it, an imposing procession was formed, in the midst of which the mummy was drawn upright on a sledge to the sacred lake adjoining every large city. At this point forty-two chosen officials — emblem- atical of the forty-two judges in the court of Osiris (p. 24) — formed a semicircle around the mummy, and formal inquiries were made as to its past life and character. If no accusation was heard, an eulogium was pronounced and the body was passed over the lake. If, however, an evil life was proven, the lake could not be crossed, and the distressed friends were compelled to leave the body of their disgraced relative unburied, or to carry it home and wait till their gifts and devotions, united to the prayers of the priesthood, should pacify the gods. Every Egyptian, the king included, was sub- jected to the " trial of tbe dead," and to be refused intennent was the greatest possible dishonor. The best security a creditor could have was a mortgage on the mummies of his debtor's ancestors ; if the debt were not paid, the delinquent forfeited his own burial and that of his entire family. mummy-cloth was coarse, resembling our sacldng. The bodies of the poor were simply cleansed and salted, or submerged in liquid pitch. These are the most numerous of all kinds, and are now found black, dry, heavy, and of disagreeable odor. It is a singular fact that few mummies of children have been discovered. The priests had the monopoly of everything connected with embalming and burial, and they not only resold tombs which had been occupied, but even trafficked in second- hand mummy-cases. a woman embracing her husband's mummy. (Thebes.) THE MANNERS AKD CUSTOMS. 35 The mummies of the poorer classes were deposited in pits in the plain or in recesses cut in the rock and then closed up with masonry ; those of the lowest orders were wrapped in coarse cloth, mats, or a bundle of palm sticks, and buried in the earth or huddled into the THE FUNERAL OF A MUMMY (AFTER BRIDGEMAN). general repository. Various articles were placed in the tombs, espe- cially images of the deceased person and utensils connected with his profession or trade. Among the higher classes these objects were often of great value and included elegant vases, jewelry and important papyri. SCENES IN REAL LIFE. Scene I. — Pyramid Building (IVth dynasty).* — Let us imagine ourselves in Egypt about B.C. 2400. It is the middle of November, The Nile, which, after its yearly custom, began to rise in June, changing its color rapidly from a turbid red to a slimy green and then again to red, overflowed its banks in early August, and spreading its waters on either side made the country to look like an immense lake dotted with islands. For the last month it has been gradually creeping back to its winter banks, leaving everywhere behind it a fresh layer of rich brown slime. Already the farmers are out with their light wooden * Sixty-seven Egyptian pyramids have been discovered and explored, all situated on tlie edge of tlie desert, west of tlie Nile. The three great pyramids of Gizeh built by Khufa and his successors are the most celebrated. The great pyramid built in steps at Sakliarah and said to date from the Ist or lid dynasty is believed by many to be the oldest monument in Egypt, and with the exception of the ruins of the Tower of Babel, the most ancient in the world. 36 EGYPT, A MODERN SHADOOF. plougts and lioes, or are harrowing with bushes the moist mud on which the seed has been thrown broadcast, and which is to be tram- pled down by the herds driven in for the purpose. Tlie first crop of clover is nearing its harvest ; by proper care and a persistent use of the shadoof* three more crops will be gathered from the same ground. The crocodile and the hippopotamus haunt the river shores ; in the desert the wolf, jackal and hyena prowl; but the greatest scourge and torment of the val- ley are the endless swarms of flies and gnats which rise from the mud of the subsiding Nile. King Khufu of the IVth dynasty is now on the thione, and the Great Pyramid, liis intended tomb, is in process of erection near Mem- phis, the city founded by Menes three hundred years ago. One hun dred thousand dusky menf are toiling under a burning sun, now quarrying in the limestone rock of the Arabian hills, now tugging at creaking ropes and rollers, straining every nerve and muscle under the rods of hard overseers, as along the solid causeway and up the inclined plane they drag the gigantic stones they are to set in place. Occasion- ally a detachment is sent up the river in boats to Syene to bring fine red granite, which is to be polished for casings to the inner passages and chambers. Not a moment is lost from work save when they sit down in companies on the hot sand to eat their government rations of "radishes, onions and garlics," the aggregate cost of which is to be duly inscribed upon the pyramid itself. So exhausting is this forced and unpaid labor that four times a year a fresh levy is needed to take the place of the worn-out toilers. When this pyramid is finished— and it will continue to grow as long as the king shall live % — it will stand * The pole and bucket with which water was raised from the Nile to irrigate the land. It is still in use in Egypt. . t Ten years were consumed in building the causeway whereon the stone was brought from the west bank of the Nile to the base of the pyramid. The con.struc- tion of the pyramid required twenty years more. Herodotus thought the causeway as great a work as the pyramid itself, and described it as being built of polished stone and ornamented with carvings of animals. $ As soon as a Pharaoh mounted his throne, he gave orders to some nobleman to plan the work and cut the stone for the royal tomb. The kernel of the future edi- THE MAtq-KERS AND CUSTOMS. 37 480 feet high with a base covering 13 acres. Its sides, which exactly face the four cardinal points, will be cased with highly-polished stone fitted into the angles of the steps, the workmen beginning at the apex and working downward, leaving behind them a smooth, glassy sur- face which cannot be scaled. There will be two sepulchral chambers with passages leading thereto, and five smaller chambers,* built to relieve the pressure of so great a mass of stone. The king's chamber, which is situated in the center of the pyramid and is to hold the royal sarcophagus, will be ventilated by air shafts and defended by a suc- cession of granite portcullises. But Kliufu will not rest here, for his oppression and alleged impiety have so angered the people that they will bury him elsewhere, leaving his magnificently-planned tomb with its empty sarcophagus to be wondered and speculated over thousands of years after his ambitious heart has ceased to beat. Meantime, other great public works are in progress.! Across the arm of the Red Sea on the peninsula of Sinai — not sacred Sinai yet, for there are centuries to come before Moses — are the king's copper and turquoise mines. Sculpture is far advanced, and images of gold, bronze, ivory and ebony are presented to the gods. The whole land flee was raised on the limestone soil of the desert in the form of a small pyramid built in steps, of which the well-constructed and finished interior formed the king's eternal dwelling, with the stone sarcophagus lying on the rocky floor. A second covering was added, stone by stone, on the outside of this kernel ; a third to this second ; and to this a fourth ; the mass growing greater the longer the king lived. Every pyramid had its own proper name ; that of Khufu bore a title of honor— " The Lights.''''— BrugscK' 8 Egypt. * In one of these small chambers, Colonel Vyse, an English explorer who was the first to enter them, found the royal name scrawled in red ochre on the stones, as if done by some idle overseer in the quarry. The chambers mentioned in the text and a subterranean room excavated in the rock below the base of the pyramid are all that have been discovered, the builders having used every precaution to conceal and guard the entrances. It has been ingeniously calculated that this pyramid is large enough to contain thirty-seven hundred rooms the size of the king's chamber (34 x 17 feet) with partition walls between them as thick as the rooms themselves. It is a proof of the architectm-al skill of the early Egyptians that they could construct in such a mass of stone, chambers and passages which, with a weight of millions of tons pressing upon them, should preserve their original shape without crack or flaw for thousands of years. t Some Egyptologers believe that the Great Sphinx— which is a recumbent, human-headed lion 146 feet long, sculptured from the solid rock— dates from this time, some think that it existed before the IVth dynasty, and others attribute it to the XVIIIth dynasty. A tablet has been found which mentions Khufu in con- nection with "The Temple of the Sphinx," but the date of this inscription is itself disputed. A vast temple, however, was discovered by M. Mariette in 1866, buried in the sand of the desert near the Sphinx. It is constructed of enormous blocks of black or rose-colored granite and oriental alabaster, without sculpture or ornament. In a well not far distant were found fragments of splendid statues, claimed to be of Shafra, the successor of Khufu. 38 EGYPT. swarms with a rapidly -increasing population, but food is abundant,* raiment little more than a name, and lodging free on the warm earth. Besides, the numbers are kept from too great increase by the royal policy which rears enormous monuments at the price of flesh and blood. The overwrought gangs constantly sink under their heavy burdens, and hasten on to crowd the common and repulsive mummy- pits in the limestone hills. Scene II. — A Lord of the IVth Dynasty has large estates managed by a host of traftied servants. He is not only provided with baker, butler, barber and other household domestics, but with tailor, sail- maker, goldsmith, tile-glazer, potter and glass blower.f His musicians with their harps, pipes and flutes, his acrobats, pet dogs and apes, amuse his leisure hours. He has his favorite games of chance or skill which, if he is too indolent to play himself, his slaves play in his presence. He is passionately fond of hunting, and of fishing in the numerous canals which intersect the country and are fed from the Nile. He has small papyrus canoes, and also large, square sailed, double-masted boats, in which he sometimes takes out his wife and children for a moonlight sail upon the river, his harpers sitting cross- legged at the end of the boat and playing the popular Egyptian airs. But he does not venture out into the Mediterranean with his boats. He has a horror of the sea, and to go into that impure region would be a religious defilement. On land, he rides in a seat strapped between two asses. He has never heard of horses or chariots, nor will they appear in Egypt for a thousand years to come. He wears a white linen robe, a gold collar, bracelets and anklets, but no sandals. For his table he has wheaten or barley bread, beef, game, fruits and vegetables, beer, w^ine and milk. His scribes keep careful record of his flocks and herds, his tame antelopes, storks and geese, writing with a reed pen on a papyrus scroll. He has his tomb cut in the rocks near the royal pyramid, where he sometimes goes to oversee the sculptors and painters who are ornamenting its walls with pictures of his dignities, his riches, his pleasures and manner of life. He docs not forget to commemorate the fidelity of his beloved wife, whom he has painted opposite himself with her right hand placed over her heart, as they stand before a table spread with viands for the dead. Besides the one or two chambers thus fashionably beautified, there is a deep pit which stretches down perhaps for seventy feet. Here, in * '• The whole expense of a child from infancy to manhood," says Diodorus, " is not more than twenty drachmae" (about four dollars), + Such a household must have been a center of practical education ; and an enter- prising Egyptian boy, dearly as he loved his games of ball and wrestling, was likely to be well-versed in the processes of every trade, (See Brief Hist. France^ p. 33.) THE MAKKERS AND CUSTOMS. 39 recesses cut in the sides and bottom * will finally be placed the mum- mies of this lord and his family. Meantime, he strives to be true to his gods, obedient to his king-, and affectionate to his household ; for thus he hopes to pass the rigid ordeals which follow death, and to rest at last in the Boat of the Sun. Scene llI.—Ame7iem/i€ III., the Lahyrinth. and Lake Mo&ris (Xllth dynasty, about B.C. 2080-1900). — Over four centuries have passed since Khufu's Pyramid was finished, and now toward the southwest, on an oasis in the midst of the desert, we see rising a magnificent group of twenty-seven palaces, one for each Egyptian nome. In the center of this complicated structure is an immense square or rectangle, and here are twelve roofed courts, with gates exactly opposite one another, six looking north and six south. Every court is surrounded by a colon- nade built of white stones exquisitely fitted together. There are three thousand chambers, large and small, in this great palace, besides a very wilderness of elaborately-constructed passages and winding paths, courts and colonnades. The roof is of stone like the walls, which are covered with carvings. Half of the chambers are underground, and are to be the sepulchres of kings and of the sacred crocodiles attached to the temple of Sebak, the crocodile god. This marvellous labyrinth, where one "passes from courts into chambers, and from chambers into colonnades, from colonnades into fresh houses and from these into courts unseen before," is surrounded by a single wall and encloses three sides of the large, twelve-courted rectangle. On the fourth side stands a pyramid, engraven with large hieroglypliics, and entered by a subterranean passage. Amenemhe Hid does not leave his identity as the founder of this grand palace tomb to the chance scrawls of a quarry workman, as did Khufu with his pyramid, but has his car- touch properly inscribed on the building-stones. Lake Mceris. — There have been some grievous famines f in Egypt produced by the variable inundations of the Nile, and Amenemhe * "Whose graves are set in the sides of the ipiL''''—Ezekiel xxxii. 23. t "All Egypt is the gift of the Nile," wrote Herodotus. The river, however, was cot left to overflow its banks without restrictions. The whole country was more or less intersected with canals and protected by dykes, Menes himself, according to Herodotus, having constructed a dyke and turned aside the course of the Nile in order to found Memphis. The rise of the river was closely watched, and was measured by "Nilometers" in various parts of the country. The proper moment for cutting away the dams and opening the canals was awaited with anxiety and decided by auspicious omens. " A rise of fourteen cubits caused joy, fifteen security, sixteen delight." Twelve cubits foretold a famine. An excessive Nile was as dis- astrous as a deficient one. A " Good Nile " brought harvests so abundant a^ to make Egyptian storehouses the granary of the eastern world. It is supposed that the visit of Abram and Sarai to Egyi)t, caused by a famine in Canaan, occurred during the reign of the Xlth dynasty. 40 EGYPT. causes to be constructed not far from the Labyrinthine Palace a gigan tic lake, with one canal leading to the great river, and another ter- minating in a natural lake still further to the west. He thus diverts the waters of an excessive Nile, and hoards those of a deficient one to be used at need on the neighboring lands. He stocks this lake with fish, and so provides for the future queens of Egypt an annual revenue of over $200,000 for pin money. The banks of Lake Mceris are adorned with orchards, vine- yards and gardens, won by its waters from the sur- rounding desert. Toward the center of the lake, rising three. hundred feet above its surface, stand two pyra- mids, and on the apex of each sits a majestic stone figure. But pyramid building is going out of style in Egypt, and the fashion of obelisks has come in. These are made of single blocks of beautiful red granite from Syene, and are covered with delicately-carved hiero- glyphs. Memphis is losing her precedence. Thebes is shining in her first glory, and the Temple of Kar- nak, which is to become the most splendid of all times and countries, has been commenced ; while, down the river, at Beni Hassan,* the favorite princes have built tombs which, like cheerful homes, spread their pillared porches in the eastern rocky heights. Scene IV,— ^ lliehan Dinner Party (time of 1311-1245 B.C.).— The Labyrinth has stood for nearly seven centuries. During this time the Shepherd kings have had their sway and been expelled. The XVIHth dynasty, including the long and Kameses IL * The tombs of Beni Hassan in Middle Egypt are remarkable for their archi- tecture, the prototype of the Grecian Doric (p. 182). They are also noticeable for being east of the Nile— the other Egyptian tombs, with hardly an exception, being located in the west, toward the setting sun— and for not being concealed, as was the custom. A recent visitor to these tombs writes : ''Having ascended the broad road which leads gradually up to the entrances, we found ourselves on a sort of platform cut in the cliff nearly half way to the top, and saw before us about thirty high and wide doorways, each leading into one chamber or more, excavated in the solid rock. The first we entered was a large square room, with an open pit at one end— the mummy pit ; and every inch of the walls was covered with pictures. Coming into this tomb was like getting hold of a very old picture-book, which said in the begin- ning, ' Open me and I will tell you what people did a long time ago.' Every group of figures told a separate story, and one could pass on from group to group till a whole life was unfolded. Whenever we could find a spot vvhere the painted plaster had not bjeeu blackened or roughened, we were surprised at the variety of the colors —delicate lilacs and vivid crimsons and many shades of green." Were it not for these pictures on the walls of the tombs we should never have learned the secrets of those homes along the Nile where people lived, loved, and died four thousand years ago. THE MAKKERS AKD CUSTOMS. 4l brilliant reign of Thotlimes III., has passed away, leaving behind it temples, obelisks and tombs of marvelous magnificence. Thebes is at the height of that architectural triumph which is to make her the won- der of succeeding ages. Meantime, what of the people ? Let us invite ourselves to a dinner-party in Theban high-life. The time is midday, and the guests are arriving on foot, in palanquins borne by servant^, and in chariots. A high wall, painted in panels, surrounds the fashion- able villa, and on an obelisk near by is inscribed the name of the owner. We enter the grounds by a folding-gate flanked with lofty towers. At the end of a broad avenue bordered by rows of trees and spacious water-tanks stands a stuccoed brick * mansion, over the door of which we read in hieroglyphics, " The Good House." The building is made airy by corridors, and columns, and open courts shaded by awnings, all gaily painted and ornamented with banners. Its extensive grounds include flower-gardens, vineyards, date-orchards and sycamore groves. There are little summer houses, and artificial ponds from which rises the sweet, sleepy perfume of the lotus-blossom ; here the genial host sometimes amuses his guests by an excursion^n a pleasure-boat towed by his servants. The stables and chariot-houses are in the center of the mansion, but the cattle-sheds and granaries are detached. We will accompany the guest whose chariot has just halted. The Egyptian grandee drives his own horse, but is attended by a train of servants ; one of these runs forward to knock at the door, another takes the reins, another presents a stool to assist his master to alight, and others follow with various articles which he may desire during the visit. As the guest steps into the court, a servant receives his sandals and brings a foot-pan that he may wash his feet. He is then invited into the festive chamber, where side by side on a double chair, to which their favorite monkey is tied, sit his placid host and hostess, blandly smelling their lotus-flowers and beaming a welcome to each arrival. They are dressed like their guests. On his shaven head the Egyptian gentleman wears a wig with little top-curls, and long cues which hang behind. His beard is short — a long one is only for the king. His large-sleeved, fluted robe is of fine white linen, and he is adorned with necklace, bracelets, and a multitude of finger-rings. The lady by his side wears also a linen robe over one of richly -colored stuff. Her hair falls to her shoulders front and back, in scores of crisp and glossy braids. The brilliancy of her eyes is heightened by antimony ; and amulet beetles,! dragons, asps and strange symbolic eyes dangle from * The bricks were made of Nile mud mixed with chopped straw and dried in the sun. t The beetle was a favorite emblem for ornaments. No less than 180 kinds of scarabsei are preserved in the Turin Museum alone. It was also engraved on the precious stones used as currency between Egypt and neighboring countries.. 42 EGYPT. . her golden earrings, necklace, bracelets and anklets. Having saluted his entertainers, the new-comer is seated on a low stool, where a ser- vant anoints his bewigged head with sweet-scented ointment, hands him a lotus-blossom, hangs garlands of flowers on his neck and head, and presents him with wine. The servant, as he receives back the emptied vase and offers a napkin, politely remarks, "May it benefit you." This completes the formal reception. Each lady is attended in the same manner by a female slave. While the guests are arriving, the musicians and dancers belonging to the household amuse the company, who sit on chairs in rows and chat, the ladies commenting on each others' jewelry, and, in compliment, ex changing lotus-flowers. The house is furnished with couches, arm- chairs, ottomans and footstools made of the native acacia or of ebony and other rare imported woods, inlaid with ivory, carved in animal forms, and cushioned or covered with leopard skins. The ceilings are stuccoed and painted, and the panels of the walls adorned with colored designs. The tables are of various sizes and fanciful patterns. The floor is covered with a palm-leaf matting or wool carpet. In the bed- rooms are high couches reached by steps ; the pillows are made of wood or alabaster (see cut, p. 29). There are many elegant toilet conveniences, such as polished bronze mirrors, fancy bottles for the kohl with which the ladies stain their brows and eyelids, alabaster vases for sweet- scented ointments, and trinket-boxes shaped like a goose, a fish, or a human dwarf. Everywhere throughout the house is a profusion of flowers, hanging in festoons, clustered on stands, and crowning the wine-bowl. Not only the guests but the attendants are wreathed, and fresh blossoms are constantly brought in from the garden to replace those which are fading. And now the ox, kid, geese and ducks which, according to custom, have been hurried into the cooking-caldrons as soon as killed, are ready to be served. After band-washing and saying of grace, the guests are seated on stools, chairs, or the floor, one or two at each little low, round table. The dishes, many of which are vegetables, are brought on in courses, and the guests, having neither knife nor fork, help themselves with their fingers. Meantime, a special corps of servants keep the wine and water cool by vigorously fanning the porous jars which contain them. During the repast, when the enjoy- ment is at its height, the Osiris — an image like a human mummy — is brought in and formally introduced to each visitor with the reminder that life is short, and all must die. This little episode does not in the least disturb the placidity of the happy guests. There is one, how- ever, to whom the injunction is not given, and who, though anointed and garlanded and duly installed at a table, does not partake of the delicacies set before him. This is a real mummy, a dear deceased SUMMARY. 43 member of the family, whom the host is keeping some months before burial, being loth to part with him. It is in his honor, indeed, that the relatives and friends are assembled, and the presence of a beloved mummy, whose soul is journeying toward the Pools of Peace, is the culminating pleasure of an Egyptian dinner-party. 4. SUMMARY. 1. Political History. — Our earliest glimpse of Egypt is of a country already civilized. Menes, the first of the Pharaohs, changed the course of the Nile and founded Memphis. His successor was a physician and wrote books on anatomy. Kliufu, Shafra,and Menkara of the IVth dynasty, built the three Great Pyramids at Gizeh. In their time there were already an organized civil and military service and an established religion. From the Vlth to the Xlth dynasty the monu- ments are few and history is silent. Thebes then became the center of power. The Xllth dynasty produced Lake Moeris and the Laby- rinth, and waged war against the Ethiopians. Meanwhile the Hyksos invaded Lower Egypt and soon conquered the land. At last a Theban monarch drove out the barbarian strangers. The XVIIIth and XlXth dynasties raised Egypt to the height of her glory. Thothmes, Amunoph, Seti, and, chief of all, Rameses II., covered the land with magnificent works of art, and carried the Egyptian arms in triumph to the depths of Asia. After the XXth dynasty Egypt began to decline. Her weak kings fell in turn before the Ethiopians, the Assyrians, and, finally, the Persians. The illustrious line of the Pharaohs was at length swal- lowed up in the Empire of Persia (see note, p. 46). 2. General Character of Egyptian Civilization.— In sum- ming up our general impressions of Egypt, we recall as characteristic features, her Pyramids, Obelisks, Sphinxes, Gigantic Stone Statues, Hieroglyphics, Sacred Animals and Mummies, We think of her wor- shipped kings, her all-powerful priests, and her Nile-watered land divided between king, priests, and soldiers. We remember that in her fondness for inscriptions, she overspread the walls of her palaces and the pillars of her temples with hieroglyphics, and erected monuments for seemingly no other purpose than to cover them with writing. We see her tombs cut in the solid rock of the hillside and carefully con- cealed from view, bearing on their inner walls painted pictures of home life. Her nobility are surrounded by refinement and luxuries which we are startled to find existing 4000 years ago ; and her com- mon people crowd a land where food is abundant, clothing little needed, and the sky a sufficient shelter. We have found her architecture of the true Hamite type, colossal. 44 EGYPT. massive and enduring ; her art stiff, constrained and lifeless ; her priest-taught schools giving special attention to writing and mathe- matics ; her literature chiefly religious, written on papyrus-scrolls, and collected in libraries ; her arts and inventions numerous, including weaving, dyeing, mining and working precious metals, making glass and porcelain, enameling, engraving, tanning and embossing leather, working with potter's clay, and embalming the dead. Seeing her long valley inundated each year by the Nile, she made herself pro- ficient in mathematics and mensuration, erected dykes, established Nilometers, appointed public commissioners, and made a god of the river which, since it seldom rains in Egypt, gives the land its only fertility. Her relij?ion, having many gods growing out of one, taught a judgment after death, with immortality and transmigration of soul ; its characteristic form was a ceremonial worship of animals as emblems or incarnations of Deity. Finally, as a people, the Egyp- tians were in disposition mild, unwarlike, superstitiously religious , in habits cleanly, luxurious, and delighting in flowers ; in mind sub- tle, acute, self-poised ; in social life talkative, given to festivals, and loud in demonstrations of grief; having a high conception of morals, a respect for woman, a love of literature, and a domestic affection which extended to a peculiar fondling of their mummied dead. READING REFERENCES. BrugsdCs Egypt under the Pharaohs.— BvnserC s Egypt's Place in the Worlcfs History.— Birch's Egypt from the Earliest Times, and Egypt from the Monuments.— Wilkinson's Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians.— Herodotus, Rawlin- son's Translation with Notes.— Rawlinson's Origin of Nations, and Manual of Ancient History. — Lenormant and CJievallier's Ancient History of the East. — Buruy, Histoire Ancienne.— Records of the Past (5 vols, of Egyptian Texts, Transla- tions of Inscriptions, etc ).— Handy Book of the British Museum. — Egypt over 3300 . Years Ago {Illustrated Library of Wonders).— Keary's The Dawn of History.— Lilbke's History of Art.— Westropp's Handbook of Archceology. — Fergusson's History of Architecture.— Early Egyptian History fw the Young {Macmillan, London).— Zerffi's Historical Development of Art.— George Ebers's An Egyptian Princess.^ The Sisters, and Uar da {valuable historicai romances).— Rule's Oriental Records. CHRONOLOGY. B.C. Menes founded Memphis about 2700 Old Empire 2700-2080 Hyksos invaded Lower Egypt, about 2080 Middle Empire 2080-1525 Hyksos Rule, about 1900-1525 New Empire 1525- 527 Persian Conquest 527 ^v g Tubal ^ „. j_^^^&. « Ij.'^ . Ararat P^^J ppfADOCiA *-- '^' e N 1,A _^ O f^ "^ '^ ^ NINEVEH \fi/Jt Hesewf lamafh '*^' •Tiianior ^"^s A. (Palmyra; umascus f r °^ ^ -^ ASSYRIAN ^ ^ EMPIRE 700 B.C. RUbbtLL & STKUThERS, tNQ'b N.Y. BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA, 1. THE POLITICAL HISTORY. The Origin of the first nations which flourished in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates may have been as ancient as the Egyptian civilization ; but the historic records reveal nothing back of the 24th century. 1. Chaldea. — Amid a mixed population of Accadians — Hamites of the race of Gush (Gen. x.) — Turanians, Semites and others inhabiting the vast plain at the head of the Per- sian Gulf, there arose a mighty hunter named Nimrod. He organized the separate tribes under a single strong govern- ment, and founded Babylon about 2300 B.C. Afterward, perhaps to escape the Cushite rule, many of the Semitic Geor/raphical Qtiesfiofis.—'LocdLtQ Nineveh, Babylon, Tadmor, Damascus. Where were the four cities founded by Nimrod — Babylon, Erech or OrchOe, Accad and Calneh (' Ur of the Chaldees ") ? What was the direct distance from Memphis or Thebes to Babylon ? Describe the Euphrates river. The Tigi-is. State the location of Mesopotamia, Chaldea, Babylonia, Assyria and Susiana. Ans. Mesopotamia (between the rivers) comprised the gi-eat rolling plain lying between the Jluphrates and the Tigris ; Babylonia, or Lower Mesopotamia, included the rich alluvial plain south of Assyria, bounded on the west by the Arabian desert and on the south by the Persian Gulf ; Chaldea was the southern portion of Babylonia ; Susiana lay southeast of Assyria and east of Babylonia. Describe the geographical appearance of Babylonia. Ans. This country did not, like Egypt, consist of a long, narrow valley shut in by hills, but of a vast, monotonous plain. This was the gift of the Tigris and the Euphrates, and these rivers were the characteristic feature of the landscape. The soil was an alluvium deposited by the streams in the shallow waters of the gulf, forming a tract of marvellous fertility. Wheat was native to the soil and grew BO luxuriantly that its blade was the width of the palm, and to make the plant ear, the inhabitants were accustomed to mow it twice and then feed it off with cattle. 48 BABYLONIA Al^B ASSYRIA. [1130 B.C. foreign cattle and vegetable prpducts, and constructed canals. He multiplied the war-chariots, and carried the Assyrian arms to the Persian mountains on the east and northern Syria on the west ; * but he was defeated by the Babylonians, who bore off his idols to their capital, where they were kept for four hundred years. AssJnir-izir-pal (Sardanapalus I., 886-858), a cruel but magnificent king, made many con- quests, but is to be chiefly remembered in connection with the arts, which he raised to a point never before attained. He lined his palace walls (Nimroud) with great alabaster slabs, whereon were sculptured in spirited bas-relief the various glories he had achieved. He was a hunter as well as a warrior and an art-patron, and kept a royal menagerie, where he gathered all the wild beasts he could procure from his own and foreign lands. Slialmaneser \ II. was contemporary with Ahab and Jehu, kings of Israel ; he personally conducted twenty-four mili- tary campaigns. Vul-lush III. (810-781) married Sam- muramit, heiress of Babylon, and probably the original of * A lengthy document written by Tiglalh-pileser, narrating some events of his reign has been discovered. He writes : " The country of Kasiyara, a difScult region, I passed through. With their 20,000 men and their five kings I engaged. I defeated them. The ranks of their warriors in fighting the battle were beaten down as if by the tempest. Their carcasses covered the valleys and the tops of the mountains. I cut off" their heads. Of the battlements of their cities I made heaps, like mounds of earth. Their movables, their wealth, and their valuables I plundered to a countless amount. Six thousand of their common soldiers I gave to my men as slaves." Having restored two ancient temples, he invokes the support of the gods, and adds : " The list of my victories and the catalogue of my triumphs over foreigners hostile to Asshur I have inscribed on my tablets and cylinders. Whoever shall abrade or injure my tablets and cylinders, or shall moisten them with water, or scorch them with fire, or expose them to the air, or in the holy place of God shall assign them to a place where they cannot be seen or understood, or shall erase the writing and inscribe his ovm name, or shall divide the sculptures and break them off from my tablets, may Anu and Vul, the great gods, my lords, consign his name to per- dition ! May they curse him with an irrevocable curse ! May they pluck out the stability of the throne of his empire ! May not his offspring survive him ! May his servants be broken ! May his troops be defeated I May his name and his race perish I " t In connection with Shalmaneser and the following kings, read carefully 2 Kings, xv-xix chapters. 810 B.C.] THEPOLITICAL HISTORY. 49 the mythical "Semiramis." According to the legend, this queen having conquered Egypt and part of Ethiopia, invaded India with an army of a million men, but was beaten back by elephants ; she adorned Babylon with wonderful works, and at last took the form of a dove and flew away. Tiglath- pileser 11. (745-727) captured Damascus and conquered Ahaz, king of Judah. Shalmaneser IV. (727-721) laid siege to Samaria, which was taken by his successor, Sargon (721- 705), who carried oif its inhabitants and supplied their place with captive Babylonians. Sargon founded the house of the Sargonidae, who were the most brilliant df the AssjTian kings, and who made all the neighboring nations feel the weight of their conquering arms. He, himself, so subdued the Egyptians that they were never afterward the jDOwerful nation they had been ; he also reduced Syria, Babylonia, and a great part of Media and Susiana. His son, the proud, haughty and self-confi- dent Sennacherib (Sen-nak'-e-rib, 705-680), captured the "fenced cities of Judah," but afterward lost 185,000 men, " smitten by the angel of the Lord " in a single night. The sculptures represent him as standing in his chariot per- sonally directing the forced labor of his workmen, who were war-captives, often loaded with fetters. EsarJiaddon, Sar- gon 's grandson, divided Egypt into petty states, took Ma- nasseh, king of Judah, prisoner to Babylon (2 Chron, xxxiii. 11), and more fully settled Samaria with colonists from Babylonia, Persia, and Susiana. Asshur-iani-pal (Sarda- napalus II, 667-647),* Sargon's gi-eat-grandson, was a famous warrior, builder and art-patron. He erected a magnificent palace at Nineveh, in which he founded a royal library. * As the Greeks confounded several Egyptian monarchs nnder the name of Sesostris the Great, eo the Assyrian king whom they called Sardanapa^us seems to have been a union of Asshurizirpal. Asshurbanipal and Asshnremedilin. The Greek ideal Sardanapalus is celebrated in Byron's well-known play of that name. 60 ' BABYLOKIA AKD ASSYRIA. [625B.C. His son, Asshur-emed'ilin, or Saracus, as he was called by some Greek writers (p. 47), was the last Assyrian king. 3. Later Babylonian Empire {^'ib-bd^),—Nahopolasser, a favorite general under Saracus, obtained from his master the government of Babylon. Here he organized a revolt, and made an alliance with Cyaxares, king of the Medes ; in 625 B.C., their combined forces captured Nineveh. The conquerors divided the spoils between them, and to Nabo- BABYLONIAN WOMAN AND MEN (fROM THE SCULPTURES). polasser fell Phoenicia, Palestine, Syria, Susiana, and the Euphrates valley. Babylon, after the ruin of its rival, became again the capital of the East. It held this position for nearly a century, when it was captured by Cyrus the Great (538 B.C.). The Names of two of its kings are familiar to every Bible reader. Nebuchadnezzar (604-561), the son of Nabo- polasser, gave the new empire its character and position. Without him Babylon would have had little, if any, history worth recording. A great warrior, he captured Jerusalem,* overran Egypt, and, after a thirteen-years siege, subdued Tyre. A great builder, he restored or repaired almost every temple and city in the country. By his marvelous energy Babylon became five or six times the present size of London ; • " Israel is a scattered sheep : first the king of Assyria hath devoured him ; and last this Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, hath broken his bones."— «7 ASSYRIA. ^ direct petition to the king in case of pjublic wrong or ^Z neglect.* In Babylonia^ where there was a mixed population, society was divided into castes, of which the highest, the ancient Chaldean, was not unlike that of the Egyp- ^^ 2 ti^" priesthood. The Chaldeans read the warnings T^ ^ of the stars, interpreted dreams and omens, gave instruc- g ^ tions in the art of magic and incantation, and conducted x/' I § the pompous religious ceremonies. They also decided s I politics, commanded the armies, and held the chief state •^ P J offices. From them came all the royal rulers of Babylon. ^~ M .M The king was as despotic as in Assyria, and Baby- ^ X ^ Ionian nobles at every slight offence trefnbled for their fc- 5 ^ heads. The whole Chaldean caste were once ordered to 44l Q I be exterminated because they could not expound the ™ I I dream of a king which he himself could not recall i r^ (Daniel ii. 12). Sy »< 3 Merchants, artisans and husbandmen formed each a A ^1 caste. The fishermen of the marshes near the Persian YY I I Grulf corresponded to the swine-herds in Egypt, as a1 "^ < being lowest in the social scale. They lived on earth- ^►- " a covered rafts, which they floated among the reeds, and *pp ° * subsisted on a species of cake made of dried fish. aT 2 j: "Wvitui^. — Cuneiform Letters (cuneus, a wedge). — ^ h -M Clay Tablets. — The earliest form of this writing, in- ►r E 1 vented by the Turanians, was, like the Egyptian, a col- ►^ ^ lection of rude pictures, with this peculiarity, that they i*T-j- were all straight-lined and angular as if devised to be it^i^ cut on stone with a chisel. The Chaldeans, having no stone in their countiy, made of the clay in which it abounded tiny pillow-shaped tablets, from one to five inches long. Upon these soft, moist tablets they traced n * A tablet in the British Museum thus exposes an official peculation in the time of Asshurbanipal : "Salutation to the king, my lord, fi*om his humble petitioner, Zikar Nebo. To the king, my lord, may Asshur, Sharaash, Bel, Zarpanit, Nebo, Tashmit, Ishtar of Nineveh, Ishtar of Arbela, the great gods, protectors of royalty, give a hundred years of life to the king, my lord, and slaves and wives in great number to the king, my lord. The gold that in the month Tashrit the minister of state and the controller of the palace should have given me— three talents of pure gold and' four talents of alloyed gold— to make an image of the king and of the mother of the king, has not yet been given. May my lord, the king, give orders to the minister of state and to the controller of the palace, to give the gold, to give it from this time, and do it exactly." THE CIVILIZATION. 63 the outline of the original object-picture, in a series of distinct, wedge-like impressions made by the square or triangular point of a small bronze or iron tool. As in Egypt, the attempt to pre- serve the picture-outline was gradually abandoned, and the charac- ters, variously modified by the different- speaking races inhabiting Assyria, came to have a variety of meanings.* Cunei- form writing has been found even more difficult to interpret than Egyptian hieroglyphics. It has some of the pe- culiarities of that writing, but has no letter-signs ; the cuneiform-writing na- tions never advancing so far as to analyze the syllable into vowels and consonants. Nearly three hundred dif- ferent characters have been deciphered, and a large number remain yet un- known. f Other Writing Materials^ as Alabas- ter Slabs, Terra-cotia Cylinders, Cylin- der Signets, etc. — The Assyrian clay- tablets were generally larger than the Chaldean, and for the royal records slabs of fine stone were preferred. Assyrian clay tablet. * Generally all trace of the original picture disappeared, but in a few cases, such as the outline is still visible. A curious example of the picto- rial origin of the letters is furnished by the character Vf^ which is the French w/ie, the feminine of " one." Tliis character may be traced back through several known forms to an original picture on a Koyunjik tablet 3 P where it appears as a double -toothed comb. As this was a toilet aracie pecujiar lo women, it became the sign of the feminine gender. t The Behistun Inscnption furnished the key to Assyrian literature as did the Rosctta stone to Egyptian. This inscription was carved by ordeu of Darius Hys- tasp'es (p. SI) on the precipitous side of a high rock-mountain in Media, 300 feet above its base. It is in three languages, Persian, Median, and Assyrian. The Per- sian, which is the simplest of the cuneiform writings, having been mastered, it became, like the Greek on the Rosctta Stone, a lexicon to the other two languages. Honorably connected with tiie opening up of the Assyrian language in the present century, are the names of Sir Henry Rsiwlinson, who at great personal risk scaled the Behistun mountain and made a copy of the inscription which he afterwards pub- lished ; and M. Oppert, who systematized the newly-discovered language, and founded an Assyrian grammar for the use of modem scholars. 54 BABYLOKIA AKD ASSYRIA. These slabs were used as panels in palace walls, where they set forth the glorious acliievements of the Assyrian monarchs. Even where figures were sculptured upon the panels, the royal vanity was not deterred, and the self-glorifying narrations were carried uninterruptedly across mystic baskets, sacred trees, and the dresses of worshipping kings and eagle-headed deities. The colossal alabaster bulls and lions which guarded the palace portals were also inscribed, and formal invocations to the gods were written on hollow terra-cotta cylinders, from eighteen to thirty-six inches high, which w^ere placed in the temple corners. The lines were sometimes more closely compacted than those in this paragraph, and the characters so fine that a magnifying glass is required to read them. Little cylinders made of jasper, chalcedony or other stone were engraved and used as seals by rolling them across the clay tablets. There is no positive proof that anything like paper or parch- ment was ever in use among the Assyrians, though the ruins furnish indirect testimony that it may have been employed in rare instances. Literature. — Libraries. — An Assyrian or Babylonian book con- sisted of several flat, square clay-tablets written on both sides, care- fully paged, and piled one upon another in order. Asshurbanipal, who as patron of arts and literature was to Assyria what Rameses II. had been to Egypt 600 years before, established an extensive public library * in his palace at Nineveh. Many of the books were copied from borrowed Babylonian tablets, but a large number were evi- dently composed under his royal patronage. He gathered works on geography, history, law, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, botany and zoology. Complete lists of plants, trees, metals and minerals were prepared ; also a catalogue of every known species of animals, classified in families and genera. " We may well be aston- ished," says Lenormant, " to learn that the Assyrians had already Invented a scientific nomenclature, similar in principle to that of A TERRA-COTTA CYLINDER. * " Palace of Asshurbanipal, king of the world, king of Assyria, to whom the god Nebo and the goddess Tashmit (the goddess of wisdom) have given ears to hear and eyes to see what is the foundation of government. They have revealed to the kings, my predecessors, this cuneiform writing, the manifestation of the god Nebo, the god of supreme intelligence. I have written it upon tablets, I have signed it, I have placed it in my palace for the instruction of my subjects." — (Inscription.) One of the bricks of this library contains a notice that vi iioi^s are requested to give to t?ie librarian the number of the book they wish to consult, and it will be brought to them. THE CIVILIZATION. 55 Linnseus." Here, also, were religious books explaining the name, functions, and attributes of each god ; magical incantations with which to charm away evil spirits ; and sacred poems, resembling in style the Psalms of David. Among the records copied from Baby- lonian tablets, which were already antiquities in the time of Asshur- banipal, were the Chaldean accounts of the Creation, the Fall of Man, and the Flood, which in many points are strikingly like the narrative in Genesis, though written hundreds of years before Moses was bora. Most numerous of all were the various gram.matical works. The Assyrians found their own language so complex, that lexicons and grammars were multiplied in efforts to explain and simplify it ; and these books, written to aid the Assyrian learner over 2500 years ago, have been found invaluable in opening the long-lost language to the student of to-day. All this vast collection of tablets, gathered with so much care by Asshurbanipal, fell with the palace in the self-destruction of his son, Saracus, and were mostly broken into fragments.* Monuments and Art.— As the Chaldeans had no stone, they made theiF edifices of burnt or sun-dried bricks, strengthening the walls by layers of reed matting cemented with bitumen. Their tem- ples were built in stories, each one smaller in area than the one below, tlius forming an irregular pyramid. In later times the number of stories increased, and the outer walls of Babylonian temples were painted in colors consecrated to the heavenly bodies. That of Nebo at Borsippa t had its lowest stage black (Saturn) ; the next orange (Jupiter); then red (Mars), gold (the sun), yellow .(Venus), blue (Mercury), and silver (the moon). The gold and silver "stages seem * "The clay tablets lay under the ruined palace in such multitudes that they filled the chambers to the height of a loot or more from the floor. The documents thus discovered at Nir.eveh probably exceed in amount of writing all that has yet been afforded by the monuments of Egypt." {LayardCs Nineveh). To Austen Henry Layard, an En-rlish Archaeologist, we are chiefly indebted for the wonderful dis- coveries made in exploring the mounds which mark the site of Nineveh. The British Mnseum has a magnificent collection of Assyrian antiquities recovered from these mounds, wh::;le rooms being lined with the alabaster slabs exhumed from the ruins of the palaces of Asshurizirpal at Nimrond, Sennacherib and his grandson Asshur- banipal at Koyunjik, and Sargon at Khorsabad. Most of the remains of Sargon's palace, however, are deposited in the Louvre at Paris, having been excavated for the French government by M. Botta, who has the honor of having made (in 1843) the first discovery of an Assyrian monument. t Borsippa was a town near Babylon. Some authorities include the ruins of this temple, now called the Birs-i-Nimrud, within the outer wall of Babylon, and believe it to have been the true Temple of Belus (p. 59), if not the actual Tower of Babel. A. mound called Babil, near the Great Palace, is the other disputed site. 56 BABYLOKIA AND ASSYRIA. to have been covered with thin plates of those metals. Either the sides or the angles of these structures exactly faced the cardinal points, and the base was strengthened by brick buttresses scientifi- cally arranged. The royal name and titles were engraved upon each building-brick. ^ \ 1^' $. .r' ^, BABYLONIAN BRICK. The Assyrians made their temples simple adjuncts to their palaces, where they were used as observatories. Here the priestly astrolo- gers consulted the stars, and no enterprise was undertaken, however it might otherwise promise success, unless the heavens were declared favorable. Following the example of their Chaldean instructors, the Assyrians continued to build with brick, though they had an abundance of excellent stone. Their edifices, placed, like those in Chaldea, upon high artificial mounds of earth, were encased with bricks used while still soft, so that they adhered to one another without cement, and formed a single, compact mass. As their palaces were constructed of this same weak material, which was liable to disintegrate within twenty or thirty years, they were obliged to make the walls enormously thick, the halls narrow and low as compared with their length, and to limit the height to one story. The roof Avas loaded with earth as a protecticAi from the fierce sum- mer sun and the heavy winter rains. Their building-plan was always the same. Around immense square courts were arranged halls or chambers of different sizes opening into one another. These halls, though never more than 40 feet wide, were sometimes 180 feet THE ClYlL12ATI0]Sf . 67 in length. The sides were lined with alabaster slabs, from eight to fifteen feet high, covered with elaborate sculptures illustrating the sports, prowess, and religious devotion of the king; above these were enameled bricks. The court-yards were paved with chiseled stone or painted bricks, and the beams of Lebanon cedar were sometimes overlaid with silver or gold. The courts themselves were or- namented by gigantic sculp- tures, and the artificial mound was edged by a ter- raced wall. Sennacherib's palace at Koyunjik was only second in size and g^'andeur to the palace-tem- ple at Karnak. The ruling idea in Assyrian architec- ture, however, was not, as in the Egyptian, that of mag- nitude, much less of dura- bility, but rather of close and finished ornamenta- tion; the bas-reliefs being wrought out with a minute- ness of detail which ex- tended to the flowers and rosettes on a king's gar- ment or the intricate pat- tern of his carved footstool. But Assyrian alabaster was far easier to manage than Egyptian granite, and where masses of hard stone like basalt were used, to which the Egyptians would give the finish of a cameo, the Assyrians pro- duced only coarse and awkward effects. A few stone obelisks have been found — one only, the Black Obelisk of Nimroud, being in per- fect preservation. In statuary, the Assyrians signally failed, and in BLACK OBELISK FROM NIMROUD. 58 BABYLON^IA AKD ASSYRIA. drawing they had no better idea of perspective than the Egyptians. In their water-scenes the fishes are as large as the ships, and the birds in the woods are half as tall as the men who hunt them. They excelled in bas-relief, in which they profusely detailed their religious ideas, home life, royal greatness and mechanical achieve- ments. In general, as compared. with Egyptian art, the Assyrian was much more progressive, and had greater life, fi'eedom, variety and taste. Walls, Temple, Palaces, and Ilanrjing Gardens of Bahylon. — The wall of this great city fonned a square, each side of which was, according to Herodotus, 14 miles long, 93 feet thick, and 373 feet high.* Twenty-five brass gates opened from each of the four sides upon straight, wide streets, which extended across the city, dividing it into squares. A space was left free from buildings for some dis- tance next the walls ; within that, beautiful gardens, orchards, and fields alternated with lofty dwellings. The broad Euphrates, instead of skirting the city as did the Tigris at Nineveh, ran midway through the town, and was guarded by two brick walls with brass gates opening upon steps which led down to the water. The river-banks were lined throughout with brick-and-bitumen quays, and the stream was crossed by ferries, and, during the day, by a succession of drawbridges resting on stone piers. Either side of the Euphrates rose a majestic palace, built upon a high platfoi-m, and surrounded by triple walls a quarter of a mile apart. The outer wall of the larger palace was nearly seven miles in circumference. The inner walls were faced with enameled brick, representing hunting scenes in gayly-colored figures larger than life. The glory of the palace was its Hanging Gardens, imi- tated from those in Assyria, and built by Nebuchadnezzar to please his Median queen, who i3iued for her native liills. Tliey consisted of a series of platforms resting on arches, and rising one above the other till the summit overtopped the city walls. The soil with which they were covered was deep enough to sustain not only flowers and shrubs, but the largest trees, so that the effect was that of a mountain clothed in verdure. The structure was ascended by broad stairs, and on the several terraces, among fountains, groves, and fragrant shrubs, were stately apartments, in whose cool shade * Other authorities reduce this estimate, making the circumference of the wall about forty miles and its height less than a hundred feet. In Alexander's time, after the wear and tear of centuries and the violence of the great Persian conquerors, the wall still stood over seventy feet high. THE CIVILIZATIOIS". 59 the queen might rest while making the tour of her novel pleasure- ground. The Temple of Belus was also surrounded by a wall having brass gates. Witliin the sacred enclosure, but outside the building, were two altars for sacrifice, one of stone and one of gold. At the base of the tower — which was a huge, solid mass of brick-work — w^as a chapel containing a sitting image of Bel, a golden stand and table, and a human figure eighteen feet high, made of solid gold. The ascent was from the outside, and on the summit was the sacred shrine, containing three great golden images of Bel, Beltis and Ishtar (p. 61). There were also two golden lions, tw^o enormous silver serpents and a golden table forty feet long and fifteen broad, besides drinking-cups, censers, and a golden bowl for each deity. Practical Arts and Inventions. — Agriculture was carried to a high degree of perfection in both countries, and the system of irrigation was so complete that it has been said " not a drop of water was allowed to be lost." Their brilliantly-dyed and icoven duffs^ especially the Babylonian carpets, were celebrated throughout the ancient world ; and the elaborate designs of their embroideries served as models for the earliest Grecian vases. In metal worh they were far advanced, and they must have possessed the art of casting vast masses, since their town and palace-gates are said to have been of bronze. Where great strength was required, as in the legs of tripods and tables, the bronze was cast over iron, an ingenious art unknown to moderns until it was learned and imitated from Assyrian antiquities. The beams and furniture of palaces were often cased with bronze, and long bronze friezes with fantastic figures in relief adorned the palace halls. Gold^ silver and hronze vases, beautifully chased, were important articles of commerce, as was also the Assyrian pottery, which, being enameled by an entirely different process from that of Egypt, and having a finer paste, brighter hue and thinner body, was largely exported to the latter countiy during the XVIIIth dynasty. Mineral tints w^ere used for coloring. Assyrian terra-cotta was remarkably fine and pure. Transparent glass was in use in the time of Sargon. A rock- crystal lens has been found at Nimroud, the only object of its kind as yet discovered among the remains of antiqiyty. In gem-cutting the Assyrians decidedly excelled the Egyptians, and the exceeding minuteness of some work on seals implies the use of powerful mag- nifiers. Most of the mechanical powers whereby heavy weights have com- monly been moved and raised among civilized nations were under 60 BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA. stood.* The Assyrians imported their steel and iron tools from the neighboring provinces of the Caucasus, where steel had long been manufactured; the carved ivories which ornamented their palaces probably came from Phoenicia. It will be seen that in all the com- mon arts and appliances of life the Assyrians were at least on a par with the Egyptians, while in taste they greatly excelled not only that nation, but all the Orientals. It must not be forgotten, how- ever, that Egyptian civilization was over a thousand years old when Assyria was in its infancy. 3. THE MANN:e3RS AND CUSTOMS. General Character. — The Assyrians were brave, hardy, aggres- sive, proud and haughty. Isaiah calls them a "fierce people," and Nahum speaks of Nineveh as " full of lies and robbery/' from which we infer that they were violent and treacherous. The Babylonians, also, were characterized as "terrible and dreadful, going through the breadth of the land to possess the dwelling-places that are not theirs." Less disciplined than the Assyrians, they marched with great tumult ; their chariots were "like the whirlwind," and "their horses swifter than the leopards and more fierce than the evening wolves." Though so "bitter and hasty" in march, they were patient and persistent in sieges, sitthig before Tyre thirteen years. To their captives they were savage and i>itiless. In peace they were " tender and delicate, given to pleasures, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads." Even more proud and cruel than the Assyrians, their covetousness and luxurious indulgences became a proverb. They were fond of giving banquets in their brilliantly-painted saloons, where their visitors, clothed in scarlet robes and resplendent in cosmetics and jewelry, trod on carpets which were the envy of the ancient world, and were served with rich meats and luscious fruits on gold and silver plates. The guests were not garlanded, as in Egypt, but a profusion of flowers in elegant vases adorned the rooms. Meantime, while the air was filled with music and heavy with perfumes, the merry revellers drank deeply of the abundant wine, and loudly sang the praises of their favorite gods. In pleasant contrast to their dissipation, appear their learning, enter- * The Assyrians wrought all the elaborate carvings of their colossi before raoving tnem. They then stood the figure on a wooden sledge, supporting it by heavy frame- work and bracing it with ropes and beams. The sledge was moved over rollers by gangs of men, levers and wedges being used to facilitate its progress. The entire process of transporting a colossal stone bull is graphically pictured in an extensive bas-relief found at Koyunjik, and now in the Britislx Museum. THE MANNERS- AND CUSTOMS. 61 prise and honesty in trade. In their intercourse with strangers, they are said to have cultivated calmness of manner, a virtue probably not natural to them, but which was founded upon an intense pride in their superior culture and scientific attainments. Religion. — The Assyrians and Babylonians were both, in an idola- trous way, religious nations, though much less ^o than the Egyptians. The sun, moon, and jdanets were conspicuous among their gods. Their ideas of one First Cause or Deity were even more obscure than those of the Egyptians, and although 11 or Ra, who stood at the head of the Chaldean Pantheon, was vaguely considered as the fount or origin of Deity, there were several other self-originated gods, each supreme over his own sphere. 11 was too dimly comprehended to be popular, and had apparently no temple in Chaldea. Two Triads were next in rank. The first comprised Ana, the lord of spirits and demons, who represented original chaos ; Bel or Bel- Nimrod, the hunter, lord and organizer of the world ; and Hoa, the lord of the abyss and regulator of the universe. The second triad embraced Sin, the moon-god ; San (called in Assyria Shamas), the sun-god ; and Vul, the air-god. Each god had a wife who received her share of divine honors. After these came the five planetary deities : JSln or Saturn, sometimes called the fish-god — his emblem in Assyria being the man-bull ; Bel-Merodach or Jupiter ; Nergal or Mars— the man-lion of Assyria ; Islitar or Venus ; and Neho or Mercury. A host of inferior gods made up the moon-god. Pantheon. In the later Babylonian empire, Bel, Mero- (From a Cyiin- dach, Nebo and Nergal were the favorite deities, the last two receiving especial worship at Babylon. The most popular god- desses were Bellis, wife of Bel-Nimrod and "mother of the great gods"; and Ishtar, "queen of the gods," who shared with Beltis the titles of goddess of fertility, of war, and of hunting.* The gods were symbolized by pictorial emblems, and also by mystic numbers. Thus, Hoa = 40, emblem a serpent „(^ \^ J^ ^^"*^ . gj^^ ^ g^^ emblem the moon li Ji; San = 20, emblem the sun * In all the Pagan relitjions the characteristics of one deity often trench upon those of another, and in Chaldea the most exalted epithets were divided between a number of gods. Thus, Bel is the " father of the gods, the king of the spirits ; " Ana and Merodach are each " the original chief" and " the most ancient ; " Nebo is the *' Lord of lords, who has no equal in power ; " Sin is " the king of the gods and the lord of spirits," etc. The same symbol also stands for different gods. Hoa and Nebo, as each the "god of intelligence," " teacher and instructor of men," have for one of their emblems the wedge or arrow-head characters used in cuneiform writing. 62 BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA. Among the emblems symbolizing otiier and, to us, unknown gods, is a double cross, generally repeated three times. There was a certain etiquette observed in religious honors, and here, as in Egypt, a temple, though dedicated to one particular deity, would have laudatory shrines erected to other gods. So also a Babylonian gentleman, having in- scribed upon his cylinder-seal some god or goddess chosen as his especial patron, out of respect and compliment added the emblems of various other deities. 1)1 Assyria, II was known as Asshur* and was the supreme object of worship. He was the guardian deity of king and country, and in the sculptures his emblem is always seen near the monarch. In the midst of battle, in processions of victory, in public worship, or in the pleasures of the chase, Asshur hovers over the scene, pointing his own arrow at the king's enemies, uplifting his hand with the king in wor- ship, or spreading his wings protectingly over the scene of enjoyment. In bas-reliefs representing worship, there also appear a " sacred tree," whose true symbolism is unknown, and winged eagle-headed deities or genii who hand to the king mysterious fruit from a sacred basket. Sin and Shamas were highly honored in Assyria, and their emblems were worn by the king on his neck. Upon the cylinders they are conjoined, the sun resting in the crescent of the moon. Bel was also a favorite god,f but iV*?i and Nergnl, the winged bull and lion, the gods who " made sharp the weapons " of kings, and who presided over war and hunting, were most devotedly worshipped. The race of kings was traditionally derived from Nin, and his name was given to the mighty capital (Nineveh). Below the Great Gods there were innumerable inferior ones, each town and city having its own local deities which elsewhere received small respect. Good and evil spirits were represented as perpetually warring with one another. Pestilence, fever, and all the ills of life were personified, and man was like a bewildered traveler struggling through a strange land, exposed to the malice of a host of unseen foes, whom he could subdue only by charms and exorcisms. The Assyrians apparently had no set religious festivals. When a feast was to be held in honor of any god, the king made special pro- clamation. During a fast, not only king, nobles and people abstained from food and drink, clothed themselves in sackcloth and sprinkled * In the original language, the name of the country, of the first capital, and the. term "an Assyrian," are all identical with the name of this god. t It was common for both Assyrian and Babylonian kings to signify their favorite, god by associating his name with their own. The gods most frequently allied with royal names in Assyria were Asshur, Bel and Nebo ; in Babylonia, Nebo and Merodach. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 63 ashes on their heads, but all the animals within the city walls were made to join in the penitential observance (see Jonah iii. 5-9). Image Worship, — The stone, clay, and metal images which adorned the temple shrines of Assyria and Babylonia were worshipped as real gods. So identified was a divinity with its idol, that, in the inscrip- tions of kings where the great gods were invoked in turn, the images of the same deity placed in different temples were often separately addressed, as Ishtar of Babylon, Ishtar of Arbela, Ishtar of Nineveh, etc. In worship, living sacrifices and offerings were made and oblations poured, the king taking the chief position, instead of the priest, as in Egypt. Curious Babylonish Customs. — If we are to believe Herodotus, the Babylonians buried their dead in honey and married their daughters by auction, the money brought by the handsome ones being given as a dowry to their less favored sisters. The marriage festival took place once a year, and no father could give his daughter at any other time or in any other way. Each bride received a clay model of an olive, on which was inscribed her name and that of her hus- band, with the date of the ceremony ; this was to be worn on her neck. Unlike the Egyptians, the Babylonians had no regular physicians ; the sick and infirm were brought out into the market - place, where the passers - by prescribed remedies which had proved effectual in their own experience or that of their friends ; it being against the law to pass by a sick person without inquiring into the nature of his disease. Every summer the slaves had a festival, called Sacees, when for five days they took command of their masters, one of them, clothed in a royal robe, respeiving the honors of a king. ASSYRIAN LAMPS. SCENES IN REAL LIFE. Scene I. — A Chaldean Home. — Let us visit the home of an ancient Chaldean as we should have found it over 3500 years ago. Before us rises a high brick platform, supporting an irregular cross-shaped house built of burnt or sun-dried bricks cemented with mud or bitumen. The outside is gayly adorned with colored terra-cotta cones imbedded in mud or plaster. Entering, we find long, narrow rooms opening one 64 BABYLOKIA AND ASSYRIA, into another. If there are windows, they are set high, near the roof or ceiling. Upon the plastered walls, which are often broken by little re- cesses, are cuneiform inscriptions, varied by red, black and white bands, or rude, bright-red figures of men and birds* The chairs or stools, of soft, light date- wood, have legs modeled after those of an ox. The invaluable palm-tree, as useful in Chaldea as in Egypt, has not only supplied the table itself, but much of the food upon it. Its fresh or dried fruit appears as bread or sweetmeats ; its sap, as wine, vin- egar and honey. The table ware is clay or bronze. The vases which contain the wine are mostly of coarse clay mixed with chopped straw ; but, here and there, one of a finer glaze shows the work of the potter's wheel and an idea of beauty. The master of the house wears a long linen robe, elaborately striped, flounced and fringed, which, passing over one shoulder, leaves the other bare, and falls to bis feet. His beard is long and straight, and his hair either gathered in a roll at the back of his head or worn in long curls. He does not despise jewelry on his own person, and his wife revels in armlets and bracelets, and in rings for the fingers and toes. Bronze and iron — which is so rare as to be a precious metal — are affected most by the Chaldean belle, but her ornaments are also of shell, agate, and sometimes of gold. For the common people, a short tunic tied around the waist and reaching to the knee is a per- petual fashion, suitable for a temperature which ranges from 100° to 130" F. in summer. In the severest winter season, where the ther- mometer falls to 30° above zero, the Chaldean hunter dons an extra wrap, which covers his shoulders and falls below his tunic ; then, barefooted and with a skull cap or a camel's-hair band on his head, he goes out, with his bronze arrow-head and bronze or flint knife, to shoot and dissect the wild boar. Our Chaldean gentleman makes out SIGNET CYLINDER OF URUCH.t (The earliest Chaldean king, of whom many remains have been found. Date, perhaps a century after Nimrod. See p. 45.) * This description is based upon the only two Chaldean residences which have, as yet, been exhumed. They date from between b. c. 1800 and 1600. t Unich probably lived at some time during the Pyramid dynasty (p. 16) of Egypt. From the above cylinder we learn that the Chaldeans at this early date dressed in delicate fabrics elaborately trimmed, and had tastefully-fashioned house- hold furniture. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. GS a deed or writes a letter with a small bronze or ivory tool suited to his minute, cuneiform script, on a bit of moist clay shaped like a tiny pillow (p. 52). He signs it by rolling across the face the little engraved jasper or chalcedony cylinder, which he wears at- tached by a string to his wrist. Having baked it, he encloses it in a thin clay-envelope, upon which he repeats his message or contract, and bakes it again. When the Chaldean dies^his friends shroud him in fine linen and encase him in two large stone ^ cylinder seal. jars, so that the upper part of his body rests in one and the lower part in the other, after which they cement the two Jars together with mud or bitumen ; or they lay him upon a brick plat- form with a reed-matting beneath him, and place over him a huge, burnt clay cover — a marvel of pottery, formed of a smgle piece and shaped like a modern tureen cover ; or they put him on the mat in the family arched vault, pillowing his head on a sun dried brick covered with a tapestry cushion. About him they arrange his ornaments and favorite implements ; vases of wine are within his reach, and in the palm of his left hand they rest a bronze or copper bowl filled with dates or other food to strengthen him in his mysterious journey through the silent land. Scene II. — .1 Morning in Nineveh, — "The Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, exalted above all the trees of the field, so that all the trees that were in the garden of God envied him, and not one was like unto him in his beauty" {Ezek. xxxi.). Six centuries and a half have passed since Chaldea was humbled by her northern neighbor, and Assyria, not dreaming that her own fall is so near, is in the full- ness of her splendor and arrogance. It is about the year 650 b. c, and the proud Asshurbanipal is on the throne — Asshurbanipal, who has subdued the land of the Pyramids and the Labyrinth, and made Kamak and Luxor mere adjuncts to his glory. Nineveh, with her great walls one hundred feet in height, upon which three chariots can run abreast, lies before us. The bright spring sun of the Orient looks down upon a country luxuriant with a rich but short-lived verdure. Green myrtles and blossoming oleanders fringe the swollen streams, and the air is filled with the sweet odors of the citron trees. The morning fog has loaded the dwarf oak with manna, and the rains have crowded the land with flowers. The towers, two hundred feet high, which mark the various city-gates, throw long shadows over rows of windowless houses, topped with open domes or high, steep, cone-like roofs. Out from these houses come the people, dressed according to their several stations ; bareheaded and barefooted laborers, clothed in one garment, a plain, short-sleeved tunic reaching to the knee ; pros- perous folk in sandals and fringed tunics, and the wealthy, in kilts 66 BABYLOKIA AKD ASSYRIA. THE MANNERS AKD CUSTOMS. 67 and trousers. The liigher orders, priests, soldiers and musicians, are alone privileged to cover their heads with a cap or tiara, but all, even the meanest, glory in long, elaborately-dressed hair. In the dwellings of the rich, we may see furniture of elegant design ; canopied beds and couches, and curtains of costly tapestry ; carved stools and tables with feet fashioned like gazelle-hoofs ; and, in the palace, luxurious chairs, an article sacred to gods and the king. In the west end of the city, abutting the swift-flow- ing Tigris, is a high platform covering one hundred acres, on which stands the magnifi- cent palace of Asshurbanipal. Near it is the still larger one built by Sennacherib, his grandfather, and about it are parks and hanging gardens. The palaces have immense portals guarded by colossal winged and human-headed bulls and lions ; great court- yards paved with elegantly- patterned slabs ; and arched- doorways, elaborately sculp- tured and faced by eagle- headed deities. We miss the warm lavished on Egyptian temples, COLOSSAL HUMAN-HEADED WINGED BULL. glowing colors so generously There are traces of the painter, but his tints are more subdued and more sparingly used. It is the tri- umphant day of the sculptor and the enameler, Asshurbanipal sits on his carved chair, arrayed in his embroidered robe and mantle. On his breast rests a large, circular ornament wrought with sacred em- blems ; golden rosettes glitter on his red-and- white tiara, and rosettes and crescents adorn his shoes. He wears a sword and daggers, and holds a golden sceptre. Necklaces, armlets, bracelets and earrings add to his costume. Behind him is his parasol-bearer, grasping with both hands a tall, thick pole supporting a fringed and curtained shade. His Grand- Vizier — whose dress approaches his own in magnificence — stands before him in an attitude of passive reverence to receive the royal orders ; the scribes are waiting to record the mandate, and p. host of attendants are at hand to perform it. Scene III. — A Royal Lion-Hunt. — To-day it is a lion-hunt. At the palace-gates, surrounded by a waiting retinue, stands the king's chariot, headed by three richly-caparisoned horses, champing bronze- bits and gayly tinkling the bells on their tasseled collars, while grooms hold other horses to be placed before the chariots of high officials, after 68 BABYLOKIA AKD ASSYRIA. the monarch shall have mounted. As the king steps into the box like chariot, his two favorite eunuchs adjust the well-stocked quivers, put in the long spears, and enter behind him ; the charioteer loosens the reins, and the horses start at full speed. At the park or "paradise," a large circuit is enclosed by a double rampart of spearmen and archers, and a row of hounds held in leashes. Here the lions kept for the king's sport wait in their cages. Having arrived at the park and received a ceremonious salute, the king gives the order to release the wild beasts. Cautiously creeping out from their cages, they seem at first to seek escape ; but the spearmen's large shields and bristling weapons dazzle their eyes ; the fierce dogs, struggling in their leashes, howl in their ears ; and the king's well-aimed arrows quickly enrage them to combat. Swifter and swifter fly the darts. The desperate beasts spring at the chariot sides only to receive death thrusts from the spears of the attendants, while the excited king shoots rapidly on THE ROYAL LION-HUNT (FROM THE SCULPTURES). in front. Now one has seized the chariot-wheel with his huge paws and grinds it madly with his teeth ; but he, too, falls in convulsions to the ground. The sport fires the blood of the fierce Asshurbanipal. He jumps from his chariot, orders fresh lions to be released, grasps his long spear, selects the most ferocious for a hand to-hand combat, furiously dispatches him, and, amid the deafening shouts of his ad- miring courtiers, proclaims his royal content. The hunt is over ; the dead lions have been collected for the king's inspection, and are now borne on the shoulders of men in a grand procession to the palace, whither the king precedes them. The chief oflBcers of the royal house- hold come out to welcome him : the cup bearer brings wine, and, while the king refreshes himself, busily plies his long fly- whisk about the royal head, the musicians meantime playing merrily upon their harps. It' remains to offer the finest and bravest of the game to the god of the chase ; and four of the largest lions are accordingly selected and arranged side by side before the altar. The king and his attendants, THE MAJTKERS A K B CUSTOMS. 69 all keeping time to formal music, march in stately majesty to the shrine, where Asshurbanipal raises the sacred cup to his lips, and slowly pours the solemn libation. A new sculpture depicting thie grand event of the day is ordered, and beneath it is inscribed : " I, Asshurbanipal, king of the nations, king of Assyria, in my great courage, fighting on foot with a lion terrible for itt» size, seized him by the ear. and in the name of Asshur and of Ishtar, Goddess of War, with the spear that was in my hand I terminated his life." Scene IV. — Asshurbanipal Going to War. — The king goes to war in his chariot, dressed in his most magnificent attire, and attended by a retinue of fan-bearers, parasol bearers, bow, quiver and mace-bearers. About these gather his body-guard of foot-spearmen, each one bran- dishing a tall spear and protected by scale armor, a pointed helmet, and a great metal shield. The detachment of horse-archers which follows, is also dressed in coats of mail, leather breeches, and jack- boots. Before and behind the royal cortege stretches the army— a vast array of glancing helmets, spears, shields, and battle-axes ; war- riors in chariots, on horse, and on foot ; heavy-armed archers in helmet and armor, with the strung bow on the shoulders and the highly-decorated quiver filled with bronzy or iron-headed arrows on the back ; light-armed archers with embroidered head bands and short tunics, and bare arms, limbs, and feet : spearmen who carry great wicker shields, which are made, in case of need, to join and furnish boats : and troops of slingers, mace-bearers, and axe-bearers. The massive throne of the king is in the cavalcade ; upon this, when the battle or siege is ended, he will sit in great state to receive the prisoners and spoil. Here, too, are his drinking-cups and washing-bowls ; his low-wheeled pleasure-chair, his dressing-table, and other toilet luxu- ries. Battering-rams, scaling-ladders, baggage-carts and the usual paraphernalia of a great army make up the rear, where also in carefully- closed ar'abas are the king's wives, who with the whole court follow him to war. The Ninevites come out in crowds to see the start ; the musicians — who, however, remain at home — play a brisk farewell on double-pipes, harps and drum; the women and children, standing in procession, clap their hands and sing ; and so, amid " the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping chariots" {Nahum iii. 2), the Assyrian army sets off. Scene V. — -.4 Royal Banquet. — After many days the host comes back victorious (the sculptures never record defeats), bringing great spoil of gold, silver, and fine furniture, countless oxen, sheep, horses and camels, prisoners of war, and captured foreign gods. Rejoicing and festivities abound. A royal feast is given in the most magnificent of the sculptured halls, where the tables glitter with gold and silver stands laden with dried locusts, pomegranates, grapes, and citrons. 70 BABYLOKIA A IST D ASSYRIA. There are choice meats, hare and garae-birds, and an abundance of mixed wine in the huge vases from which the busy attendants fill the beakers, of the guests. Afterward, the king invites the queen from her seclusion in the beautiful harem to sup with him in the garden. At this banquet, the luxurious Asshurbanipal re- clines on a couch, leaning his left elbow on a cush- ioned pillow, and holding in his hand a lotus, here, as in Egypt, the sacred flower. A table with dishes of incense stands by his bed, at the foot of which sits his handsome queen. Her tunic is fringed and patterned in the elaborate Assyrian style, and she is resplendent with jewelry. A grape-vine shelters the royal pair, and behind each of them stand two fan-bearers with long brushes, scattering the trou- blesome flies. Meantime the king and queen sip wine from their golden cups ; the attendants bring in fresh fruits ; the harpers play soft music, and, to complete the triumph of the feast, from a neigh- boring tree surrounded by hungry vultures, dan- gles the severed head of the king's newly-conquered enemy. ASSYRIAN KING AND ATTENDANTS. 4. SUMMARY. 1. Political History. — Our earliest glimpse of Chaldea is of a mighty hunter, Nimrod, who founds Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh. Semites, who migrate northward to escape the despotic Hamite rule, now build the Assyrian cities upon the Tigris. Hence- forth war rages between the rival states, and the seat of power fluc- tuates between Babylon and Nineveh. In 1250 B.C. Babylon is over- whelmed, and for 600 years Nineveh is the seat of empire. Here the Sargonidse — Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Asshurbanipal — develop the Golden Age of Assyrian rule. The Babylonians, however, con- tinue to revolt, and in 747 B. c. Nabonasser ascends the Babylonian throne, destroys the records of all the kings before his time, and establishes a new era from which to reckon dates. In 625 b. c, Nine- veh is finally overthrown by the Babylonians and the Medes, and Nabopolasser establishes the second Babylonian empire. Nebuchad- nezzar subdues the surrounding nations, humiliates Egypt, captures Tyre, crushes Judea, and with his captives brought back to Babylon makes that city the marvel of all eyes. It is, however, the last of her glory. Within the next quarter of a century Babylon is taken by the SUMMAKY 71 stratagem of Cyrus the Great, Belsliazzar is slain, and the mighty city falls never again to rise to her ancient glory. 2. Civilization. — The Early Chaldeans build vast temples of sun- dried brick cemented with bitumen ; write in cuneiform characters on clay-tablets ; engrave signet cylinders ; use implements of stone, flint and bronze ; manufacture cloth ; make boats and navigate the sea. They are learned in astronomy and arithmetic ; discover the equi- noctial precession {Steele's Astronomy^ p. 121) ; divide the day into twenty-four hours ; invent dials and calculate a table of squares. They place their houses on high platforms ; make their furniture of date-wood, and use table-ware of clay or bronze. The palm-tree fur- nishes them food. Their dead are buried in large clay -jars, or in dish- covered tombs, or are laid to rest in arched brick vaults. Like the Egyptians, they are Hamites. INTERIOR COURTYARD OF A MODERN ORIENTAL HOUSE. The Assyrians, their Semitic conquerors, are a fierce, warlike race, skilful in agriculture, in blowing glass and shaping pottery, in casting and embossing metals, and in engraving gems. They dye, weave, and are superior in plastic art. They build great palaces, adorning them with sculptured alabaster slabs, colossal bulls and lions, paved courts, and eagle-headed deities. They, too, write upon clay-tablets, and cover terracotta cylinders with cuneiform inscriptions. Their principal gods are the heavenly bodies. They do not worship animals, like the Egyptians, but place images of clay, stone or metal in their temples and treat them as real deities. Magic and sorcery abound. There is no caste among the people, but all are at the mercy of the king. Women are not respected as in Egypt, and they live secluded in their own apartments. Clay books are collected and libraries n SABYLOJSriA AKD ASSYRIA founded, but most of the learning comes from the conquered race, and the Chaldean is the classic language. Among the Later Chaldeans or Babylonians, caste is rigid ; but, as in Assyria, the king has unlimited power. The nobility live luxuriantly and are fond of banqueting. Industries flourish and commerce is extensive. Babylonian robes and tapestries surpass all others in fine- ness of texture and brightness of hue. Far below Assyria in the art of sculptured bas-relief, Babylonia excels in brick-enameling, and is greatly the superior in originality of invention, in literary culture and scientific attainment. From her, Assyria draws her learning, her architecture, her religious notions, her legal forms, and many of her customs and usages. "In Babylonia almost every branch of science made a beginning. She was the source to which the entire stream of Eastern civilization may be traced. It is scarcely too much to say that, but for Babylon, real civilization might not even yet have dawned upon the earth, and mankind might never have advanced beyond that spurious and false form of it, which in Egypt, India, China, Japan, Mexico, and Peru, contented the aspirations of the people."— i?aw/in«o?i'« Anc. Mon. READING REFERENCES. Rawlinson/s History of Ancient Monarchies.— Fergusson's History of Architecture, and Palaces of Nineveh and Persepolis Restored.— Lay ard's Monuments of Nineveh., and Nineveh and its Remains.— Viollet Le Due's Habitations of Man in all Ages.— Records of the Past (6 vols, of Assyrian texts). Sayce's Babylonian Literature.— LenormanVs Ancient Chaldean Magic— Loftus's Chaldea and Susiana. -Smith's Early History of AssyHa and Babylonia.— Also the General Ancient Histories namsd on page kU. CHRONOLOGY. Nimrod founded Babylon about 2300 Rise of Assyria • 1250 Era of Nabonassar 747 Pall of Nineveh • 625 Cyrus captured Babylon 538 Alexander captured Babylon 331 THE SITE OF ANCIENT BABYLON. PHCENICIA The Phoenicians were Semites. They inhabited a bar- ren strip of land, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, not more than one hundred and eighty miles long and a dozen broad. The country was never united under one king, but each city was a sovereignty by itself. A powerful aristocracy was connected with these little monarchies, but the bulk of the people were slaves brought from foreign countries. The principal cities were Sidon and Tyre,* which successively exercised a controlling influence over the others. The chief defence of the Phoenicians lay in their naval power. Situated midway between the east and the west, and at the junction of three continents, they carried on the trade of the world.f The Mediterranean became the mere highway of their commerce. They passed the Strait of Gibraltar on one hand, and reached India on the other. They settled Cyprus, Sicily, and Sardinia. In Spain, they founded Gades (now Cadiz) ; and in Africa, Utica, and Carthage — the latter destined to be in time the dreaded rival of Rome. They planted dep6ts on the Persian Gulf and the Geographical QuesUons.— Bound. Phoenicia. Locate Tyre. Sidon. Joppa. Name the principal Phoenician colonies. Where was Carthage ? Utica ? Tarshish ? Gades ? The Pillars of Hercules ? * Tyre, which was founded by Sidonians, has been called the Daughter of Sidon and the Mother of Carthage. t Read the 27th chapter of Ezekiel for a graphic account of the Phoenician com- merce in his day. 4 74 PHCEKICIA, Red Sea. They obtained tin from the British Isles,* amber from the Baltic, silver from Tarshish (southern Spain), and gold from Ophir (southeastern Arabia). In connection with their maritime trade they established great commercial * They concealed the source of their supplies so carefully that once a Phcenician captain, outward bound, flndinj; himself followed by a Roman ship sent to discover his destined port, lan his own vessel on the rocks to lead his enemy to destruction, and prevent revealing the secret. On his return home the goveniment compensated him for his loss. 1000 B.C.] PSCENICIA •^s routes by which their merchants penetrated the interior of Europe and Asia. With the growth of Carthage and the rising power of Greece they lost their naval supremacy. But the land traffic of Asia remained in their hands, and their caravans, following the main traveled route through Palmyra, Baalbec, and Babylon, permeated all the Orient. THE RUINS OF ANCIENT TYRE., Loss of Independence. — Rich perch ant cities were tempting prizes in those days of strife. From about 850 B. c. Phoenicia became the spoil of each of the great con- querors who successively achieved empire. It was made a province, in turn, of Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Egypt, Greece, and finally Rome. The Phoenicians patiently sub- mitted to the oppression of these various masters, and paid their tribute at Memphis or Nineveh, as the case might be. To them the mere question of liberty, or the amount of their taxes, was a small one compared with the opening or % ' I»Hle prisoners into Media. They disappeared from history, and are still known as the ** Lost tribes." The few Hebrews who re- mained combined with the foreign settlers to form the Samaritans. Judah (975 to 586 = 389 years) retained the national religion. Its twenty kings, save one usurper, were all of the house of David in regular descent. But it lay in the pathway of the mighty armies of Egypt and Assyria. Thrice its enemies held Jerusalem. At last Nebuchadnezzar de- stroyed the city and carried many of the principal inhab- itants to Babylon. The Captivity lasted about seventy years. The Jews prospered in their adopted country, and many, like Daniel, rose to high favor. The Restoration. — Cyrus, after the capture of Babylon (p. 51), was friendly to the Jews,* and allowed those who chose, to return to Judea and rebuild their temple. They were greatly changed by their bondage, and henceforth were faithful to their religion. While they had lost their native * This was owing to (1) similarity in their religions ; (2) the foretelling of the victories of Cyrus by the Jewish prophets ; and (3} the influence of Daniel. Read Daniel. Nehemiah, and Ezra. 536 B. c] THE CIVILIZATION. 85 language, they had acquired a love for commerce, and many afterward went to foreign countries and engaged in trade, for which they are still noted. Their later history was full of vicissitude. They be- came a part of Alexander's World-empire (p. 151). When that crumbled, Palestine fell to the Ptolemies of Egypt (p. 154). In the 1st century b. c, Judea was absorbed in the universal dominion of Rome. The Jews, however, frequently re- belled, until finally, after a siege of untold horror, Titus cap- tured Jerusalem and razed it to the ground. The Jewish nation perished in its ruins. ORIENTAL SANDAL. The Civilization. — The Jews were an agricultural people. The Mosaic law discouraged trade and intercourse with foreign nations. The priests, who received a share of the crops, naturally favoredthecultivationof the soil. There was no art nor science developed. When the Temple was to be built, Solomon obtained not only skilled laborers from the Phcenicians (p. 79), but also sailors for his fleet. Yet this people, occupy- ing a little territory 150 miles long and 50 broad, has, like no other, influenced the world's history. Its sacred books constitute the Bible; its religion has molded the faith of the most progressive and civilized nations ; while from its royal family descended the Christ who is to-day the ideal of a pure life, and the grandest factor in all history. The Jewish Commonwealth was the first republic of which we have any definite knowledge. The foundation was the house : thence the ascent was through the family or collection of houses, and the tribe or collection of families to the nation. There were twelve heads of tribes, or princes, and a senate of seventy elders, but the source of power was the popular assembly known as the " Congregation of ANCIENT JEWISH BOOK. < 86 JUDEA HEBREW PRIEST OFFERING INCENSE. Israel," in which every Hebrew proper had a voice. This gathering, like the centurion assembly of Rome (p. 215), formed the Jewish army. The Mosaic Laws were mild, far beyond the spirit of the age. The cities of refuge modified the rigors of the custom of personal retalia- tion, and gave to all the benefits of an impartial trial. The slave was protected against excessive punish- ment, and if of Hebrew birth was set free with his children at the Jubilee year. Land could not be sold for more than fifty years, and the debtor could always expect on the Jubilee to go back to the home of his fathers. The stranger secured hospitality and kindness. Usury was prohibited. For the benefit of the poor, fruit was left on the tree, and grain in the field, the law forbidding the harvest-land or vine- yard to be gleaned. Cruelty to animais was punished, and even the mother-bird with her young could not be taken. Learning was held in high esteem. All the Jews received what we should call a " comnum-school education." With this, the Levites, the hereditary teachers, blended instruction in the sacred history, the precepts of religion, and their duties to God and their coun- try. Every boy was compelled to learn a trade. Ignorance of some kind of handicraft was discreditable, and the greatest scholars and statesmen had some regular occupation. After the captivity, edu- cation seems to have been made compulsory. The.Hittites, frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, who inhabited the fertile valleys of the Orontes, and spread throughout southern Syria, are proved by recent discoveries to have been not only a military and commercial nation, but to have made great JEWISH SHEKEL. THE CI VILIZATIOK. 87 advances in civilization and the fine arts. A court poet is mentioned on the Egyptian monuments as having been among the retinue of a Hittite king, and the early art discovered in Cyprus by Di Cesnola is supposed to be largely derived from this people, who long resisted both the Assyrians and the Egyptians. The Egyptians called them the Kheta, and the victory of Rameses II. over the " vile chief of Kheta" is celebrated in the poem of Pentaur (p. 25). Some ^^^ famous sculptured figures along ancient key. the roads near Ephesus and from Smyrna to Sardis, which were attributed by Herodotus to Rameses II., prove now to be Hittite monuments. The language and various memorials of this onca-powerful people are being eagerly investi- gated by archaeologists, who have afready discovered the site of their commercial capital, Carchemish, in a huge mound on the lower Euphrates. In this mound, which is a mass of earth, frag- ments of masonry and debris, surrounded by ruined walls and broken towers, many important remains with inscriptions are now being found. CHRONOLOGY. B.C. Abraham migrated to Canaan, r.bout 2000 The Exodus, about 1491 Monarchy established 1095 Reign of Solomon , .* 1015-975 Division of the Kingdom 975 Sargon tooli Samaria 721 Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem 588 Titus toolc Jerusalem a. d. 70 JERUSALEM IN E.\RLY TIMES. MEDIA AND PERSIA 1. THE POLITICAL HISTORY. The Medes and Persians, two Aryan nations, were early conquered by the Assyrians. The Medes were the first to assert their independence. Under Cyaxares they de- stroyed Nineveh (625 b. c.) and divided Assyria between themselves and the Babylonians, who had aided them in this conquest (p. 47). During the reign of his successor, Asty'ages, the Persian king Cambyses acknowledged the Median monarch for his superior, and left his son Cyrus at that court as a hostage. Cyrus* was bold, athletic and ambitious, and soon Geographical Qteesfto»s.— Bound ancient Persia. Media. Where was Per- sepolis ? Susa ? Acbatana ? Name the countries of Asia Minor. Where was Lydia ? The Isle of Khodes ? Point out Alexander's march East and his return. What was the extent of the Persian Empire. at that time ? * Cyrus was the grandson of Asty'ages. According to the legend, that king, about the time Cyrus was born, had a dream, which the magi interpreted to mean that the child would live to conquer all Asia. In alarm, Astyages commanded an officer named Harpagus to put him to death ; but Harpagus, instead, gave the infant to a herdsman to expose upon a desolate mountain. The herdsman, struck with pity, took the child home and brought him up as his own son. One day, Cyrus, having been chosen in play by his companions to be their king, flogged a disobedient boy- subject. The father complained to Astyages, who summoned Cyrus to appear before him. There the noble features and equally noble replies " of the son of the cowherd " revealed his royal birth. Astyages sent for Harpagus, and, learning the truth, quietly directed him to send his son to be a companion for the young prince, and himself to attend a banquet at the palace. At this feast Harpagus was served with the roasted flesh of his own son. As a climax, the brulal Astyages offered him a basket, on opening which he discovered his boy's head aud limbs. The horrified 558 B.C.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 89 came to despise the now effeminate Medes. Arousing his warlike countrymen to revolt, he not only achieved their independence, but con- quered Media and estab- lished the Medo-Persian, the second great empire of western Asia. His reign was a succession of wars and conquests. He de- feated Croesus,* king of Lydia, thus adding to his dominions all Asia Minor west of the Halys. He captured Babylon (p. 51) and overthrew the Assyrian Empire. With the fall of Babylon the fabric of Semitic grandeur was shat- tered, the Great City be- came *'an astonishment and a hissing" {Jeremiah li. 37), and Persia took the lead in all western Asia. When Cyrus died, his kingdom reached from the borders of Macedonia to the banks of the Indus. A BAS-KELIEF OF CYRUS. father dared not show any emotion (p. 92), and on the king asking him how he liked the meat he had eaten, calmly replied that " what pleased his monarch pleased him." But the day of revenge soon came. Harpagus roused Cyrus to revolt, and having in the first battle betrayed the Median army to the young prince, became henceforth his most devoted general. * Croesus was so rich that his name has become proverbial. He was now doomed to die. Mounting the funeral pile, he exclaimed. " Solon ! Solon ! " Cyrus, won- dering, inquired the reason. The captive replied, that the Greek philosopher (p. 122) had once visited him and made light of his riches, saying that "no man should be judged happy until the manner of his death was known." Cyrus, struck by the reply, released Croesus and made him a confidential friend. 90 MEDIA AND PERSIA. [529-522 B. c. Cambyses (529 b. c), his son, succeeded to the throne. He conquered Egypt (p. 19) in a single battle, using, it is said, the stratagem of placing before his army cats, dogs, and other sacred animals which the Egyptians feared to harm. Af- ter this victory he CRGESUS ON THE FUNERAL PYRE (FROM AN ANCIENT VASE). invaded Ethiopia, but his army nearly perished in the burn- ing sands of the desert. Returning to Memphis, he acted the madman * till his death (522 B. c). * He had already secretly murdered his brother Smerdis. He now attempted to marry his sister, and ended by killing her. One day Cambyses asked Prexaspcs what the Persians thought of him. The nobleman replied, " They praise you greatly in all things except they think you love wine." Whereupon the king, to prove the steadiness of his nerves, aimed an arrow at the nobleman's son, who was standing in the vestibule, and pierced him through the heart. According to the Greek story, Cambyses, in a fit of passion slew the Apis, but a recently-discovered inscription 521-486 B.C.] THE CIVILIZATION-. 91 Darius I. (521) * organized the vast kingdom which Cyrus had conquered. There were twenty-three provinces, all restless and eager to be free. Insurrections were there- fore frequent. Darius divided the empire into twenty great "satrapies," each governed by a satrap. These officers were appointed by the king, and were amenable to him alone. The slightest suspicion of treachery was the signal for their instant death. To secure prompt communication between the monarch and distant portions of the empire, royal roads were established with couriers to be relieved by one another at the end of each day's jou^'ney. Every satrapy paid a regular tribute but retained its native king, laws and reli- gion.f The capital of the empire was fixed at Susa. The Later History of Persia presents the usual charac- teristics of oriental despotisms. There were scenes of cruelty, treachery and fraud. Brothers murdered by brothers, queens slaying their rivals, and eunuchs bartering the throne, assas- sinating the sovereign, and in turn perishing by justice or treachery, were merely ordinary events. The only interest to us clusters about the point where Persian history touches that of Greece (p. 125), until at last the empire itself crum- bled before the triumphant advance of Alexander. shows that this Apis died in 524 B. c, and was buried under the auspices of the Great King Cambyses himself! * During the absence of Cambyses in Egypt, the magi made one Gomates king, representing him to be Smerdis, the son of Cyrus (note, p. 90). Darius now con- spired with six otlier nobles, and slew the "False Smerdis." The seven noblemen agreed to ride out at sunrise of the following day, and that he whose horse first neighed should become king. Darius secured the prize, Herodotus says, by a trick of his groom in placing, near where they were to pass, a horse well known to his master's hors». t The satraps rivalled the king himself in the magnificence of their courts. Each tad several palaces with pleasure-gardens or "paradises," as they called them, attached. The income of the satrap of Babylon is said to have been four bushels of eilver coin per day, while his stables contained 17,0C0 studs, and his numerous dogs required the tribute of four towoi^ for their support 92 MEDIA AKr> PERSIA. 2. THE CIYILIZATION. Society. — The King, as in Assyria and ^^abylonia, held at his disposal the lives, liberties and property of his people. He was bound by the national customs as closely as his meanest subject, but otherwise his will was absolute. His command, once given, could not be revoked even by himself; hence arose the phrase, "Un- changeable as the laws of the Medes and Persians." His every caprice was accepted without question. If he chose, in pure wan- tonness, to shoot an innocent boy before the eyes of his father, the parent, so far from expressing horror at the crime, would praise his skillful archery ; and offenders, bastinadoed by royal order, declared themselves delighted that his majesty had condescended to notice them even with his displeasure. The king was the state. If he fell in battle, all was lost ; if he were saved, it outweighed every calamity. The Seven Princes (Esther i. 14 ; Ezra vii. 14) were grandees next to the king. One was of the royal family ; the others were chiefs of the six great houses from which the king was legally bound to choose his legitimate wives. No one except the Seven Princes could approach the royal person unless introduced by a court usher. They sat beside the king at public festivals, entered his apartment at their pleasure, and gave him advice on public and private matters. The Court vfus principally composed of magi (p. 97), who judged all moral and civil offences. The People seem to have been divided into two general classes, those who lived in towns and cities and who generally cultivated the soil, and the roving or pastoral tribes. Social grades were strongly marked, and the court etiquette was aped among all classes, special modes of salutation being prescribed for a man's superior, his equal, and his inferior. Trade and commerce were beld in great contempt, and the rich boasted that they neither bought nor sold. Writing. — Cuneiform Letters. — The Persian characters were formed much more simply than the Assyrian. They were, so far as now known, less than forty in number, and were written from left to right. For public documents the rock and chisel were used ; for private, prepared skin and the pen. Clay-tablets seem never to have been employed, and papyrus brought from Egypt was too costly. As the cuneiform letters are illy adapted to writing on parchment, it is probable that some cursive characters were also in THE CIVILIZATION. 93 use, though none have as yet been discovered. The Persian writing which has survived is almost entirely on stone, either upon the mountain side or on buildings, tablets, vases, and signet-cylinders. Science and Literature.— To science, the Persians contributed absolutely nothing. They had fancy, imagination, and a relish for poetry and art, but they were too averse to study to produce any- thing which required patient and laborious researcji. In this respect they furnish a striking contrast to the Babylonians. The Avesta or Sacred Text, written in Zend, the ancient idiom of Bactria, is all that remains to us of their literature. It is com- posed of eight distinct parts or books, compiled from various older works which have been lost, and purports to be a revelation made by Ormazd (p. 98) to Zoroaster,* the founder of the Persian religion. The principal books are the Vendidad and the Yaqng. : the former contains a moral and ceremonial code somewhat corresponding to the Hebrew Pentateuch ; the latter consists of prayers, hymns, etc., for use during sacrifice. The contents of the Zend-Avesta date from various ages, and portions were probably handed down by oral tra- dition for hundreds of years before being committed to writing. From the Zend-Avesta. "Zoroaster asked Ahura Mazda : ' Ahura Mazda, holiest spirit, creator of all exist- ent worlds, the truth loving 1 What was, O Ahura Mazda, the word existing before the heaven, before the water, before the earth, before the cow, before the tree, before the fire, the son of Ahura Mazda, before man the truthful, before the Devas and car- nivorous beasts, before the whole existing universe, before every good thing created by Ahura Mazda and springing from truth ? ' Then answered Ahura Mazda : ' It was the All of the creative word, most holy Zoroaster. I will teach It thee. Existing before the heaven, before the water, before the earth,' etc. (as before). ' Such is the All of the Creative Word, most holy Zoroaster, that even when neither pronounced, nor recited, it is worth one hundred other proceeding prayers, * Zoroaster was a reformer who lived in Bactria, probably about 1500 b. c, possibly earlier. Little is known of his actual history. The legends ascribe to him a seclu- sion of twenty years in a mountain cave, where he received his doctrines direct from Ormazd. His tenets, though overlaid by superstition, were remarkably pure and noble, and of all the ancient creeds approach the nearest to the inspired Hebrew faith. Their mutual hatred of idolatry formed a bond of sympathy between the early Persians and the Jews, Ormazd and Jehovah being recognized as the same Lord GoA{Isaiah xliv. 28; Ezra i. 2, 3). At the time of the Persian conquest by Alexander, the Zoroastrian books were said to number twenty-one volumes. During the five hundred years of foreign rule they were scattered and neglected. Under the Sassanian kings (-226-651 a. d.) the remaining fragments were carefully collected and translated, with explanatory notes, into the literary language of the day. This trans- lation was called Avesta-u-Zend (text and comments). By some mistake the word " Zend" was applied to the original language of the text, and is now generally used in that sense, hence " Zend-Avesta." 94 MEDIA AND PERSIA. neither pronounced, nor recited, nor chanted. And he, most holy Zoroaster, who in this existing world remembers the All of the Creative Word, utters it when remem- bered, chants it when uttered, celebrates when chanted, his soul will 1 thrice lead across the bridge to a better world, a better existence, better truth, better days. I pronounced this speech containing the Word, and it accomplished the creation of Heaven, before the creation of the water, of the earth, of the tree, of the four-footed beast, before the birth of the truthful, two-legged man.' " A Hymn.—'-'^ We worship Ahura Mazda, the pure, the master of purity. We praise all good, thoughts, all good words, all good deeds which are or shall be ; and we likewise keep clean and pure all that is good. O Ahura Mazda, thou true, happy being 1 We strive to think, to speak, and to do only such actions as may be best fitted to promote the two lives " (i. e., the life of the body and the life of the soul). We beseech the spirit of earth for the sake of these our beet works (i. e., agricul- ture) to grant us beautiful and fertile fields, to the believer as well as to the unbe- liever, to him who has riches as well as to him who has no possessions." Education.— " To ride, to draw the bow, and to speak the truth," were the great ends of Persian education. When a boy was five years old his training began. He was made to rise before dawn, and practice his exercises in running, slinging stones, and the use of the bow and javelin. He made long marches, exposed to all weathers, and sleeping in the open air. That he might learn to endure hunger, he was sometimes given but one meal in two days. When he was seven years old, he was taught to ride and hunt, in- cluding the ability to jump on and off his horse, to shoot the bow and to use the javelin, all with his steed at full gallop. At the age of fifteen, he became a soldier. Books and reading seem to have formed no part of an ordinary Persian education. The king himself was no exception. His scribes learned his wishes, and then wrote his letters, edicts, etc., affixing the royal seal without calling upon him even to sign his name.* Monuments and Art. — As the followers of Zoroaster wor- shipped in the open air, we need not look in Persia for temples, but must content ourselves with palaces and tombs. The palaces at Per- sepolist were as magnificent as those at Nineveh and Babylon had been, though different in style and architecture. Like them they were built on a high platform, but for the crude or burnt brick of Assyria * " Occasionally, to beguile weary hours, a monarch may have had the ' Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Persia and Media ' read before him ; but the kings themselves never opened a book or studied any branch of science or learning." — Sawlinson. t Remains of a large palace have been discovered at Susa, which is supposed to be the identical one described in the Book of Esther. On the bases of the pillars it is stated that the palace was erected by Darius and Xerxes, but repaired by Artaxerxes Memnon, who added the inscriptions. THE CIVILIZATION, 95 and Babylon were substituted enonnous blocks of hewn stone,* fast- ened with iron clamps. The platform was terraced, and the broad, gently sloping, and elaborately-sculptured staircases, wide enough to allow ten horsemen to ride abreast, were exceedingly grand and im- posing. The subjects of sculpture were much like those in Assyria : the king in combat with mythical monsters, or seated on his throne surrounded by his attendants ; long processions of royal guards, or of captives bringing tribute; and symbolical combats between bulls ( ' Y ^F "'^ ^ ' /^ 1 ^"^ " ' 1^ ' ' ^ V- 1. i PHi. PERSIAN SUBJECTS BRINGING TRIBUTE TO THE KING. and lions. Colossal winged and human-headed bulls, also copied from Assyria, guarded the palace portals. For effect, the Persians seem to have depended upon elegance of form, richness of material, and splendor of coloring, rather than upon immense size, as did the Egyptians and Babylonians. The " Great Hall of Xerxes," however, was larger than the " Great Hall of Karnak," and in proporrion and design far surpassed anything in Assyria. What enameled brick was to Babylon, and alabaster sculpture to Assyria, that the por- tico and pillar were to Persia. Forests of graceful columns, over sixty feet high, with elegantly-carved bases and capitals, rose in hall and colonnade, between which were magnificent hangings, white, * Att iUeft Ijorrowed from the conquered Egyptians. 96 MEDIA AND PERSIA green, and violet, " fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble." {Esther i. 7.) Pavements " of red, blue, white, and black marble," with carpets from Sardis spread for the king to walk upon ; walls covered with plates of gold and silver; the golden throne of the king, under an embroidered canopy, supported by pillars of gold inlaid with precious stones; a golden palm-tree ; gold and silver couches ; and over the royal bed a golden vine, each grape being a precious stone of enormous value, are all recorded as appurtenances to the royal palace. The Persian king, like the Egyptian, attended during his lifetime to the building of bis last resting-place. The most remarkable of the Persian tombs is that of Cyrus at Pasargadse, _^ - - ^- which has been called "a house ^^ ^ --^^^ upon a pedestal." Upon a pyra- midal base made of huge blocks of beautiful white marble was erected a TOMB OF CYRUS AT PASARGAD^. with a stone roof. Here, in a small chamber entered by a low and nar- row door, were deposited in a golden coffin the remains of the great con- queror. A colonriade of twenty-four pillars, whose broken shafts are still seen, seems to have inclosed the sacred spot. With this ex- ception, all the royal sepulchres that remain are rock-tombs, similar in situation to those we noticed in Egypt. Unlike those, however, they were made conspicuous, as if intended to catch the eye of an observer who might glance high up the mountain-side. A spot difficult of approach having been chosen, a chamber with one or more recesses was excavated in the solid rock, and marked by a porticoed and sculptured front some- |:|iMPiii||M||^^ what in the shape of a Greek cross. '"" The sarcophagi were cut m the rock-floor of the recesses, and were covered by stone slabs. Persian Architecture is distinguished for simplicity and regularity, in most buildings one-half being the exact duplicate of the other. Although many ideas were bor- rowed from the nations we have already considered, Persian art, in its best features, such as the grand sculptured staircases and the vast groves of tall and slender THE GREAT STAIRCASE AT PERSEPOLIS. THE MANi^ERS AKD CUSTOMS. 97 pillars,* with their peculiar ornamentation, was strikingly original. The Persian fancy seems to have run toward the grotesque and monstrous. When copying nature, the drawing of animals was much superior to that of the human form. Statuary was not attempted. The Practical Arts and Inventions were almost entirely wanting. No enameling, no pottery, no metal castings, no wooden or ivory carvings were made. A few spear and arrow-heads, coins, and gem-cylinders are all the small objects which have been dis- covered among the ruins. Persia thus presents a marked contrast to the other nations we have been studying. It was, indeed, the boast of the Persians that they needed not to toil, since by their skill in arms they could command every foreign production. " The carpets of Babylon and Sardis, the shawls of Kashmir and India, the fine linen of Borsippa and Egypt, the ornamental metal-work of Greece, the coverlets of Damascus, the muslins of Babylonia, and the multiform manufactures of the Phoenician towns " poured continu- ally into Persia as tributes, gifts, or merchandise, and left among the native population no ambition for home-industries. 3. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. General Character. — The Persian was keen-witted and ingeni- ous, generous, warm-hearted, hospitable, and courageous. He was bold and dashing in war ; sparkling, vivacious, and given to repartee in social life. Except in the presence of the king, where no sadness was allowed, he never checked the expression of his emotions, but childishly, regardless of all spectators, laughed and shouted when pleased, or wept and shrieked when in sorrow. In this he was very unlike the Babylonian gentleman, who studied calmness and repose of manner. He was self-indulgent and luxurious, but chary of debt. The early Persians were remarkable for truthfulness, lying being abhorred as the special characteristic of the evil spirit. Religion.— That of the Persians was Mazdeism, from Ahura Mazda (Ormazd), their great and good God ; it was also called Zoroas- trianism, after its founder (p. 93). That of the Medes was Magism, so named from the priests, who were of a caste called Magi. Mazdeism taught the existence of two great principles — one good, the other evil, which were in perpetual and eternal conflict. * In Assjrria the pillar was almost unknown, while in Egypt it was twice as broad in proportion to its height as in Persia. 5 98 MEDIA AND PERSIA Ormazd was the " All-perfect, all-powerful, all- wise, all-beautiful, all-pure ; sole source of true knowledge, of real happiness ; him wlio hath created us, him who sustains us, the wisest of all intelligences." — {Tagna.) Having created the earth, he placed man thereon to pre- serve it. He was represented by the sun, fire, and light. SYMBOL OF ORMAZD. (Copied by the Persians from that of the Assyrian god Asshur.) Ahriman was the author of evil and death, causing sin in man and barrenness upon the earth. Hence the cultivation of the soil was con- sidered a religious duty, as promoting the interests of Ormazd and defeating the malice of his opposer. Those who yielded to the seduc- tions of Ahriman were unable to cross the terrible bridge to which all souls were conducted the third night after death ; they fell into the gulf below, where they were forced to live in utter darkness and feed on poisoned banquets. The good were assisted across the bridge by an angel, who led them to golden thrones in the eternal abode of hap- piness. Thus this religion, like the Egyptian, contained the doctrine of the immortality of the soul and of future reward and punishment. Ormazd and Ahriman had each his councillors and emissaries, but they were simply genii or spirits, and not independent gods, like the lesser deities of the Egyptians and Assyrians. Zoroaatrian Worship consisted mainly in prayer and praises to Ormazd and his court, the recital of Gathas or hymns, and the per- formance of the Homa ceremony. In the last, during the recitation of certain prayers, the priests extracted the juice of a plant called homa, formally presenting the liquid to the sacrificial fire, after which a small portion was drunk by one of the priests and the remainder by the worshippers. This ceremony was supposed by some mystic force to secure the favor of Heaven, and, by the curative power of the plant, directly to bless the participant. Magism taught not only the worship of Ormazd, but also that of Ahriman, who under another name was the serpent-god of the Tura- nians. In Media, Ahriman was the principal object of adoration, since a good god, so it was reasoned, would not hurt men, but an evil THE MA7!iKERS AND CUSTOMS. 99 one must be appeased by honor and sacrifice. Sorcery and incanta- tions, wMcli were expressly forbidden by Zoroaster, were the out- growth of the Median faith. The Magi apparently held their office by hereditary succession. In time, Magismand Mazdeism became so assimilated that the Magi were accepted as the national priests of Persia. As we have seen the Egyp- tian religion characterized by animal and sun worship, and the Chal- deo-Assyrian by that of the sun, moon and planets, so we find the Persian distinguished by the worship_ of the elements. The sun, fire, air, earth and water were all objects of adoration and sacrifice. On lofty heights, whence they could be seen from afar, stood the fire- altars, crowned by the sacred flame, believed to have been kindled from Heaven, and never suffered to expire. It was guarded by the Magi, who so jealously kept its purity that to blow upon it with the breath was a capital offence. By these holy fires, flickering on lonely mountain-topg, the Magi, clad in white robes and with half concealed faces, chanted day after day their weird incantations, and, myste- riously waving before the awe-stricken spectators a bundle of tamarisk twigs (divining-rods), muttered their pretended prophecies. Sacrifice was not offered at the altar of the eternal flame, but on fires lighted from it, a horse being the favorite victim. A small part of the fat having been consumed by the fire, and the soul of the animal having been, according to the Magi, accepted by the god, the body was cut into joints, boiled and eaten, or sold by the worshippers. Sacri- fices to water were offered by the side of lakes, rivers and fountains, care being taken that not a drop of blood should touch the sacred element. No refuse was allowed to be cast into a river, nor was it even lawful to wash the hands in a stream. — The worship of these elements rendered the disposal of the dead a difficult matter. They could not be burnt, for that would pollute fire ; nor thrown into the river, for that would defile water ; nor buried in the ground, for that would corrupt earth. The Magi solved the problem by giving their own dead to be devoured by beasts of prey. The people revolted from this, and encased the lifeless bodies of their friends in a coating of wax ; having made this concession to the sacred earth, they ventured to bury their dead in its bosom. Domestic Life. — The early Persians were noted for their simple diet. They ate but one meal a day and drank only water. With their successes their habits changed. They still ate only one meal each day, but it began early and lasted till night. Water gave place to wine, and each man prided himself on the quantity he could drink. Drunkenness, at last, became a sort of duty. Every serious family- council ended in a debauch, and once a year, at the feast of Mithras, part of the royal display was the intoxication of the king. Love of 100 MEDIA AND PERSIA. ORDINARY PERSIAN COSTUME. dress increased, and to the purple or flowered robes and tunics, em- broidered trousers, tiaras and shoes of their Median predecessors, the Persians now added the hitherto unwonted fineries of gloves and stockings. They wore massive gold collars and bracelets, and studded the golden sheaths and handles of their swords and daggers with gems. They not only drank wine from gold and silver cups as did their fallen neighbors, the Babylonians, but they plated and inlaid the tables themselves with the precious metals. Even the horses felt the growing extravagance and champed bits made of gold instead of bronze. Every rich man's house was crowded with servants, each confining himself to a single duty. Not the least of these were the "adorners," who applied cosmetics to their mas- ter's face and hands, colored his eyelids, curled his hair and beard and adjusted his wig. The perfume- bearer, who was an indispensable valet, took charge of the perfumes and scented ointments, a choice se- lection of which was a Persian gentleman's pride. Women were kept secluded in their own apartments, called the harem or seraglio, and were allowed no communication with the other sex.* So rigid was etiquette in this respect, that a Persian wife might not even see her own father or brother. When she rode, her litter was closely curtained, yet even then it was a capital offence for a man simply to pass a royal litter in the street.f 17i6 King's Household numbered 15,000 per- sons. The titles of some of his servants reveal the despotism and dangers of the times. Such were his " Eyes " and " Ears," who were virtually spies and detectives ; and his " Tasters," who tried every dish set before him, to prove it were not poisoned. A monarch who held the life of his subjects so lightly as did the Persian kings, might well be on the alert for treachery and conspiracy against himself. Hence, the court customs and etiquette were extremely rigorous. ANCIENT PERSIAN -.?■.., . P , SILVER COIN. Even to touch the king s carpet m crossing the * Even at the present day it is considered a gross indecorum to ask a Persian after the health of his wife. t It is curious to notice that the same custom obtained in "Russia a few centuries ago. In 1674, two chamberlains were deprived of iheir ofllces for having accidentally met the carriage of the Tsaritsa Natalia. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 101 courts was a grave offence ; and to come into his chamber unan- nounced, unless the royal sceptre was ex"tei