Part 4 (1/2)

The Theban ruling-house gradually extended its supremacy over the land. The kings of the twelfth dynasty have left their inscriptions everywhere, and of several of them gigantic portrait-statues remain. _Amenemhat I._ and his successors are prosperous sovereigns. They carry on a lively intercourse of trade with the small states of Syria, reaching possibly to Babylon. Under the twelfth dynasty, the valley of the upper Nile was conquered. _Usurtasen III._, in after times, was revered as the subduer of the Nubian land. By monarchs of this epoch, vast structures, like the temple of Ammon at Thebes and the temple of the Sun at Heliopolis, were erected. _Amenemhat III._ built the immense artificial reservoir, Lake Moeris, to receive and dispense the waters of the Nile. Under the twelfth dynasty is the blossoming period of literature. The carving of hieroglyphics and the execution of the details of art reach their perfection. It is the culminating point of Egyptian culture.

THE MIDDLE EMPIRE (FROM ABOUT 2100 TO 1600 B.C.).--The season of prosperity under the twelfth dynasty was followed by anarchy and the downfall of the Theban rule. According to _Manetho_, it was under a king named _Timaos_ that a horde of invaders--the _Hyksos_, or _”shepherds”_--came in from the north, devastated the country, and made themselves its rulers. They were probably of Semitic descent, but nothing more is known as to their origin. In connection with them, Semitic, and in particular Canaanite, elements penetrated into Egypt, and left their traces in its language. The residence of their kings was _Tanis_, on the eastern Delta, a splendid city, which they still more adorned. They conquered Memphis, but their power was not permanently established in Lower Egypt. The duration of their control was a number of centuries,--how many can only be conjectured. It is believed by some scholars that either _Apepi,_ or _Nub_, kings of the Hyksos line, was the sovereign who made _Joseph_ his prime minister, and invited his family to settle in the land of Goshen. The elevation of a foreigner and a Semite to an exalted office is thought to be less improbable in connection with a Semitic dynasty.

The New Empire (from 1600 to 525 B.C.).--The expulsion of the Hyksos was effected by _Aahmes I_., first king of the eighteenth dynasty. It was accomplished, however, not all at once, but gradually. From this event Egypt enters on a new stage in its career. It becomes a military, an aggressive, and a conquering state. Notwithstanding the enormous sacrifice of life that must have been involved in the erection of pyramids and in other public works, the Egyptians had not been a cruel people: compared with most Semitic peoples, they had been disposed to peace. But now a martial spirit is evoked. A military cla.s.s arises. Wars for plunder and conquest ensue. The use of horses in battle is a new and significant fact. The character of the people changes for the worse. The priestly cla.s.s become more compact and domineering. Temples are the princ.i.p.al edifices, in the room of ma.s.sive sepulchers.

Under _Thothmes I_. and his successors, especially _Thothmes III_., wars were successfully waged against the Syrians, and against the Ethiopians on the south. The palaces and temples of Thebes, including the gigantic structures at _Karnak_ and _Luxor_, are witnesses to the grandeur of these monarchs. The Egyptian arms were carried through Syria, and as far even as Nineveh. During the reigns of _Amenophis III_. and _Amenophis IV_., that is, in the latter half of the fifteenth century B.C., the _Amarna Letters_ (see p. 44) were written. Under the _Ramessides_, the conquests of Egypt reached their farthest limit.

RAMSES II.--Ramses II., or Ramses the Great (1340-1273 B.C.),--who was called by the Greeks Sesostris, a name with which they linked many fabulous narratives,--is the most brilliant personage in Egyptian history. He is the first of the renowned conquerors, the forerunner of the Alexanders and Napoleons. His monuments are scattered over all Egypt. In his childhood he was a.s.sociated on the throne with his father, himself a magnificent monarch, _Seti I_. In the seventh year of the sole reign of the son he had to encounter a formidable confederacy under the lead of the Syrian _Hitt.i.tes_--the ”Khita”--in the north-east, a powerful nation. How he saved himself by his personal valor, on the field of _Kadesh_, is celebrated in the Egyptian Iliad, the heroic poem of _Pentaur_. A subsequent treaty with this people is one of the most precious memorials of his reign.

THE HITt.i.tES.--Recent explorations have shown that the _Hitt.i.tes_ of Scripture were families, or smaller communities, in Palestine, of a people whose proper seat was in northern Syria, especially the country lying along the Orontes; their territory being bounded on the east by the Euphrates, and extending westward into the Taurus Mountains. In one place they are spoken of as distant (Judg. i. 26). The ”Khita” of the Egyptians, called ”Khatti” by the a.s.syrians, were a civilized and powerful nation, whose sway was so extended that their outposts were at times on the western coast of Asia Minor. They were a non-Semitic people. The great victory of Ramses (1320 B.C.) was with difficulty won. The Hitt.i.tes were also rivals of the a.s.syrians from an early period. At length Sargon captured their capital, _Carchemish_ (717 B.C.), and broke down their power. Numerous. .h.i.tt.i.te inscriptions have been discovered, written in a hieroglyphic script which has not yet (1903) been deciphered.

Subsequently we find _Ramses_ in _Galilee_, as it was called later: we find him storming the city of _Askalon_ in Philistia, and in various military expeditions, in which he brought home with him mult.i.tudes of captives. The mighty temples which he built at Abydos, Thebes, and Memphis, and the gorgeous palace, ”the House of Ramses,”

south of Karnak, were in keeping with other displays of his energy and magnificence.

THE BONDAGE OF THE ISRAELITES.--Ramses II. has been generally believed to be ”the Pharaoh of the oppression,” under whom the Hebrews suffered; and his son _Menephthah_, to be the Pharaoh under whom the exodus took place. Recent discoveries have rendered these conclusions very doubtful, however. It is also quite uncertain how long the Egyptian bondage lasted. According to the Hebrew Old Testament, its duration was 430 years; according to the _Septuagint_, or Greek version, half that period (as implied in Gal. iii. 17).

To THE PERSIAN CONQUEST.--From about 1500 to 1300 B.C., Egypt was the foremost nation in culture, arts, and military prowess. Under the later kings bearing the name of Ramses, the empire began to decay. The Ethiopians in the south revolted, and set up an independent kingdom, _Meroe_, of which _Napata_ was the capital. _s.h.i.+shak_ (961-940 B.C.) aspired to restore the Egyptian rule in the East. He marched into Judaea, and captured and plundered Jerusalem. He made _Rehoboam_, king of Judah, a tributary, and strengthened Jeroboam, the ally of Egypt. He even led his forces across the valley of the Jordan. At length (730 B.C.) the Ethiopians gained the upper hand in Egypt. Their three kings form the twenty-fifth dynasty. As the power of Egypt was on the wane, the power of a.s.syria was more and more in the ascendant. _Shabak_ joined hands with _Hoshea_, king of Israel, but was defeated by the a.s.syrians, under _Sargon II_., in a pitched battle at _Raphia_, in which the superiority of the Asiatic kingdom was evinced. Later (701 B.C.) _Sennacherib_ defeated an Egyptian army, sent for the relief of Ekron, and made _Hezekiah_ a tributary. _Tirhakah,_ the ally of Hezekiah, continued the struggle. His army was saved from overthrow by the disaster which happened to Sennacherib's host in the neighboring camp on the eve of battle. Twenty years later, he was vanquished by an invading army under the son and successor of Sennacherib, _Esarhaddon._ The rule of the Ethiopian dynasty was subverted. The a.s.syrians intrusted the government to twenty governors, of whom the most were natives. Of these governors, one, then king of Sais, _Psammeticus I._ (663-616 B.C.), in alliance with Gyges, king of Lydia, and with the aid of Carians, Phoenicians, and Lycians, cast off the a.s.syrian yoke, and became sole ruler of Egypt. This epoch is marked by the introduction of numerous foreigners into the country, and by the exertion of a powerful and lasting Greek influence. _Neku II._--the _Necho_ of Scripture--(610-594 B.C.), the son of Psammeticus I., defeated _Josiah,_ king of Judah, at _Megiddo_ (608 B.C.); and Josiah fell in the battle. But, advancing to _Carchemish_ by the Euphrates, Neku, in turn, was vanquished by _Nebuchadnezzar,_ king of Babylon, which had now become the formidable power. The defeat of Neku ended Egyptian rule in the East. _Apries_ (588 B.C.), the _Hophra_ of Scripture, was dethroned by a revolt of his own soldiers, in a war with the Greeks of Cyrene, and was succeeded by _Aahmes,_ or _Amasis_ (570-526), under whose auspices foreigners, and especially Greeks, acquired an augmented influence. Egypt had escaped from permanent subjection to a.s.syria or Babylon; but a new empire, the Persian Empire of Cyrus, was advancing on the path to universal dominion. _Cyrus_ was too busy with other undertakings to attack Egypt; but _Cambyses,_ his successor, led an army into that country; and, having defeated _Psammeticus III.,_ at the battle of _Pelusium,_ he made it a Persian province (525 B.C.).

LITERATURE.--See the list on p. 16. 1. Works on Oriental History as a whole: DUNCKER'S _History of Antiquity._ It includes, also, Greece. Lenormant and Chevalier, _Manual of the Ancient History of the East_ (2 vols.); G. Rawlinson, _The Five Great Monarchies_ (3 vols.), _The Sixth Great Monarchy_ (Parthia), _The Seventh Great Monarchy_ (the Sa.s.sanidae), _The Origin of Nations_ (1 vol.), _Manual of Ancient History_ (1 vol.), _Egypt and Babylon_ (1 vol.). LENORMANT, _The Beginnings of History_ (1 vol.); P. Smith, _The Ancient History of the East_ (1 vol.), _History of the World_ (_Ancient History_, 3 vols.); Maspero, _History of the Ancient Orient_ (3 vols.); Doublier, _Gesch. des Alterthums_ (from the cultural point of view, 1 vol.); E. Meyer, _Gesch. des Alterthums._

2. Works on the History of Egypt. BRUGSCH-BEY, _History of Egypt under the Pharaohs_ (2 vols.); G. Rawlinson, _History of Ancient Egypt_ (2 vols.);, _Apercu de l'Histoire d'Egypte_ (1864), and numerous other writings; WILKINSON, _Manners and Customs of Egypt_ (3 vols.); ERMAN, _Egypt_; Petrie, _History of Egypt_; Erman, _Egyptian Life_ (1894); Birch, _Records of the Past_ (translations of Egyptian and a.s.syrian Monuments, 11 vols.), _Egypt from the Earliest Times_; Perrot and Chipiez, _History of Art in Ancient Egypt_ (1883); FERGUSSON'S _History of Architecture_; the great ill.u.s.trative works of the French _savans_ under Napoleon I.; the great ill.u.s.trated works of Rossellini, and the works of Lepsius; the novels of Ebers, _The Sisters; Uarda; The Egyptian Princess_.

CHAPTER II.

a.s.sYRIA AND BABYLON.

THE GEOGRAPHY.--a.s.syria and Babylonia were geographically connected. They were inhabited by the same race, and, for the greater part of their history, were under one government. Babylonia comprised the lower basin of the _Euphrates_ and _Tigris,_ while a.s.syria included the hilly region along the upper and middle Tigris; the boundary being where the two rivers, in their long progress from their sources in the mountains of Armenia, at length approach one another at a place about three hundred and fifty miles from their outlet in the Persian Gulf. Both streams, in particular the Euphrates, annually flooded the adjacent territory, and by ca.n.a.ls and dams were made to add to its productiveness. The sh.o.r.es of the Euphrates, after its descent from the plateau to the plains, were fertile beyond measure. Here the date-palm, whose juice as well as fruit were so highly prized, flourished. Even now wheat grows wild near the river's mouth.

THE EARLY INHABITANTS.--The oldest inhabitants of this region of whom we have any knowledge were the _Sumerians,_ whose territory included both _Sumer_ (”s.h.i.+nar”), or southern Babylonia, and _Akkad,_ or northern Babylonia. On the east were the _Elamites,_ with _Susa_ for their capital; to the north of these were the warlike _Ka.s.sites._ The Sumerians, who preceded the Semites in the occupancy of Babylonia, were of an unknown stock. They were the founders of Babylonian culture. Even by them the soil was skillfully cultivated with the help of dikes and ca.n.a.ls. They were the inventors of the cuneiform writing. The cuneiform characters were originally pictures; but these were resolved into wedge-shaped characters of uniform appearance, the significance of which was determined by their position and local relation to one another. It is not known how long the Sumerian period lasted, nor even when it closed; the chronology of the earliest Semitic period is also very uncertain. The south-Babylonian kings _Urukagina,_ of _s.h.i.+rpurla_ (Lagash), and _Ens.h.a.gkushana,_ of a district which included _Nippur,_ are dated by most a.s.syriologists as early as 4000 B.C., or even earlier. Whether they were Sumerians, or Semites, is not certain; their inscriptions do not settle the question. It was probably not far from this time, however, that the one race supplanted the other. A Semitic people--coming either directly from the ancestral home, Arabia, or from a previous settlement in Mesopotamia, north-west of Babylonia--invaded the land and conquered the Sumerians. They planted themselves first in northern Babylonia, and then gradually extended their power over the districts on the south. The conquerors adopted the civilization of the conquered. The earliest Semitic kings all used the Sumerian dialect in their inscriptions. It was only by slow degrees that the native language was superseded by that of the new rulers. Later,--before the time of _Hammurabi_; see below,--these Semites carried their settlements northward, and became the founders of a.s.syria.

SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE.--_Berosus_, a Babylonian priest, wrote a history of his country as early as 250 B.C. He was a trustworthy writer, as far as his means of knowledge went; but it is only fragments of his work that we possess, and these in inaccurate quotations, partly at second hand. Greek writers, as _Ctesias_, drew from Persian sources; and their narratives up to the later times of the Persian rule can not be relied on. The great source of knowledge is the rapidly increasing store of records in the cuneiform character. A vast number of inscriptions on stone and clay, representing nearly every department of literature, have been unearthed, and the material which they afford has already given us an extensive knowledge of Babylonian and a.s.syrian history. The site of _Nineveh_ has been extensively excavated, and we have, therefore, especially full information as to the history and literature of a.s.syria. Babylonian monuments in considerable number have more recently come to light. Aside from Nineveh and Babylon, especially important excavations have been undertaken at _Nifpur, Lagash_ (Telloh)--thus far the chief source of Sumerian material--and _Susa_.

I. THE OLD KINGDOM OF BABYLON.

EARLY HISTORY.--The history of ancient Babylonia is still very obscure, and the chronology only tentative. We see at first a number of independent cities, each ruled by a petty king, who was also a priest. Then appear groups of cities, one of which exercised sway over a more or less extended district. The center of power was now in Erech, now in Ur, or Babylon, or some other city, whose king ruled supreme over numerous va.s.sal kings. Among the first important names known to us are those of _Sargon I._ (3800 B.C.), king of Agade, a great conqueror and builder, and his son, _Naram-sin_. Another great builder was _Gudea_, king of s.h.i.+rpurla. Most conspicuous of all is _Hammurabi_ (2250 B.C.), king of Babylon, who is probably the ”Amraphel” of Gen. xiv. His kingdom included not only the whole of Babylonia proper, but also a.s.syria, and probably even the ”West Land”

as far as the Mediterranean. The records show him to have been a truly great ruler, both in war and in peace. He is known to us chiefly from a collection of his _Letters_ to certain officials of his kingdom, and from his elaborate _Code_ of civil laws, found at Susa in 1899, and first published in 1902; perhaps the most important single monument of early civilization which has thus far come to light. The laws, written in the Babylonian (Semitic) language, and engraved on a stele of hard black stone, were about two hundred and eighty in number, and bear an interesting general resemblance to the old Hebrew laws, especially those preserved in Exodus xxi. and xxii.

In the time of the kings _Kadashman-bel_ and _Burnaburiash II_. (about 1400 B.C.) falls the _Amarna Correspondence_ (see p. 40). At _Tell el-Amarna_, in upper Egypt, were unearthed, in 1887, more than three hundred clay tablets containing diplomatic dispatches, written in the cuneiform character, and nearly all in the Babylonian language. They were addressed to the Egyptian king, or to his ministers, and had been sent from various officials and royal personages in Babylonia, a.s.syria, Palestine (including a number of letters from _Abdi-khiba_ of _Jerusalem_), and other districts. They furnish a large amount of important information as to conditions in western Asia at that early period.

An important _Ka.s.site_ dynasty occupied the throne of Babylon from the eighteenth century to the twelfth century B.C. Under these Ka.s.site rulers, the kingdom at length declined, while the neighboring a.s.syrian state had increased in power. Later still, apparently not earlier than the ninth century B.C., the _Chaldoeans_ (of Semitic stock?) pushed north-westward into Babylonia from their district about the mouth of the Euphrates, and eventually made themselves masters of the land.

RELIGION AND SCIENCE.--If the events connected with old Babylon are less known, more is ascertained respecting its civilization. The groundwork, as was stated, was laid by the earlier conquered people. The religion of the Babylonians rested on the basis of the old Sumerian wors.h.i.+p. There was homage to demons, powerful for good or for evil, who were brought together into groups, and were figured now as human beings, now as lions or other wild animals, or as dragons and that sort of monsters. Of the great G.o.ds, _Anu_, the G.o.d of the sky, was the father and king of all. _Sin_, the moon-G.o.d, a Sumerian divinity, at the outset had the highest rank. _Bel_, or _Baal_, however, a Semitic divinity, was the G.o.d of the earth, and particularly of mankind. _Ea_ was the G.o.d of the deep, and of the underworld. The early development of astrology and its great influence in old Babylon were closely connected with the supposed a.s.sociation of the luminaries above with the G.o.ds. The stars were thought to indicate at the birth of a child what his fortunes would be, and to afford the means of foretelling other remarkable events. _Ishtar_, a G.o.ddess of war and of love, was wors.h.i.+ped also under the name _Beltis_, the Greek _Mylitta_. This deity embodied the _generative principle_, the spring of fertility, whose beneficent agency was seen in the abundant harvest. She was clothed with sensual attributes, and propitiated with unchaste rites. It was in the wors.h.i.+p of this divinity that the coa.r.s.e and licentious side of the Semitic nature expressed itself. At the same time, there was an opposite ascetic side in the service of this deity. Her priests were eunuchs: they ministered at her altar in woman's attire. On the relation of the human soul to the G.o.ds, and its condition after death, there was little speculation. In general, the Babylonians were more interested in religion and wors.h.i.+p, than the a.s.syrians. The former erected temples; the latter, palaces.

The attainments of the early Babylonians in mathematics and astronomy were far beyond those of the Egyptians. They divided the year into twelve months, and arrived at the signs of the ecliptic or zodiac. The week they fixed at seven days by the course of the moon. They divided the day into twelve hours, and the hour into sixty minutes. They invented weights and measures, the knowledge of which went from them to the other Asiatic nations. Architecture, as regards taste, was in a rude state. In pottery, they showed much skill and ingenuity, and invented the potter's wheel. In the engraving of gems, and in the manufacture of delicate fabrics,--linen, muslin, and silk,--they were expert. Trade and commerce, favored by the position of Babylon, began to flourish. As regards literature, the libraries of Nineveh and Babylon, at a later day, contained many books translated from the early Sumerian language. Among them are the ”Gilgamesh legends,” in which is contained a story of the flood that resembles in essential features the account in Genesis.