Part 2 (1/2)

3. =Persia= was originally a small province on the Persian Gulf, still known as _Fars_. But Persia Proper included, besides the sandy plain on the gulf, a mountainous plateau north of it, and was bounded by Media on the north, by Carmania on the east, by the Persian Gulf on the south, and by Elam on the west. Its people were of the Aryan race, and at first subject to the Medes. They revolted under Cyrus the Great, and became the controlling power in the conquest of Nebuchadnezzar's dominion. The Persian empire arose to greatness at the fall of Babylon, B.C. 536, conquered and ruled over all the lands from India to Ethiopia, and was by far the greatest of the great Oriental monarchies. It was subjected by Alexander the Great, B.C. 330. The capital of the Persian empire was Susa, called in the Bible ”Shushan the Palace” (Esther 1:2); which was, however, situated not in Persia Proper, but in Elam. The most important places in the province were Persepolis (its capital at one period), Pasargada, and Mesambria, none of which are named in the Bible.

II. LANDS OF THE PLAIN.

Of these, two are situated mainly between the Zagros chain of mountains and the Tigris river, a.s.syria and Elam; two are between the Tigris and Euphrates, Mesopotamia and Chaldea; and one is the vast Arabian desert.

1. =a.s.syria=, in the Hebrew everywhere a.s.shur, was properly the province now called _Kurdistan_, lying on the western slope of the Zagros Mountains, and extending across the Tigris to the Sinjar hills and the border of the Mesopotamian desert. The mountains separate it from Armenia; and the line of division from Elam, on the southeast, was near the place where the Tigris and Euphrates approach nearest before their separation. The land was occupied by people of various races, of which the Semitic were predominant. The earliest city was at a.s.shur, supposed to be _Kileh Sherghat_, where a dynasty of kings began to rule about 1800 B.C., while the Israelite tribes were in Egypt. The seat of government was afterward transferred to Calah, or Halah (_Nimrud_), north of a.s.shur; and finally a permanent location of the capital was made at Nineveh, which became the centre of the great a.s.syrian empire.

This will be described more fully with the map of that empire, on page 91. The a.s.syrian kingdom was long in its duration, but pa.s.sed through many vicissitudes, several times ruling all the lands of the Euphrates, and again, in a feeble condition. Its princ.i.p.al cities, besides Nineveh, were Calah, Resen (which may have been at _Selamiyeh_, three miles south of Nineveh), and Rehoboth. There is reason to believe that all the four cities named in Gen. 10:11, 12, were combined in the walls of Nineveh.

2. =Elam=, called Susiana by the Greeks, lay southeast of a.s.syria and west of Persia Proper, between the Zagros chain of mountains and the Tigris river. It included both a mountainous and a lowland tract, the latter very fertile. Shushan (Susa), the capital of the Persian empire, lay within this province, and was its princ.i.p.al city. The earliest conqueror named in the Bible, Amraphel, was the king of Elam, and held dominion over most of the lands as far west as Canaan. (See the map of his empire, on page 34.) This kingdom was not of long continuance as an independent state, but soon fell under the power of a.s.syria, though maintaining its own organization as a va.s.sal state until the Persian period, when it became a province of the empire.

3. =Mesopotamia=, called in Scripture Aram-naharaim, or ”Syria of the two rivers,” was a land of indefinite boundaries. The name means ”between the rivers,” and hence it was often applied to all the plain between the Tigris and Euphrates, including even Chaldea and a part of a.s.syria. A more frequent use of the name restricts it to the northwestern portion of the region between the rivers, above the place where they approach and separate again. The Sinjar hills, crossing, divide it into two sections, a higher and a lower, the former mountainous, and the latter mostly a great desert. The upper section contained the cities of Orfa (Edessa), formerly supposed to be the birthplace of Abraham; Haran, the patriarch's resting place on the way to Canaan; Nisibis and Amida, now _Nisibin_ and _Diarbekr_. The only time when Mesopotamia appears in Bible history as a kingdom was a brief interval during the period of the Judges. (Judg. 3:8.) Earlier it had been occupied by separate and warring tribes; later it was a part of a.s.syria.

4. =Chaldea= is also called s.h.i.+nar and Babylonia. The name Chaldea, in its most accurate sense, belongs to the southern portion of the province, but is generally used with reference to all the Mesopotamian plain south of _Baghdad_. It is perfectly level, and by nature one of the most fertile places on the whole earth. Its earliest inhabitants, at least the ruling portion of them, were Cus.h.i.+tes, of the stock of Ham. An early Oriental kingdom began at Ur (_Mugheir_) about B.C. 3900. It lasted, with varying fortunes, until B.C. 538. Babylon afterward became the capital, and in a later period was the greatest city of the East.

(See diagram on page 93.) Other cities of Chaldea were Erech (_Orchoe_), Calneh, and Sepharvaim. Further details of its political history are given in the account of the Babylonian empire of Nebuchadnezzar, on page 92.

5. The desert of =Arabia= occupies more than half of the map of the Old Testament World. That portion of it included upon the map is a vast triangle, having for its base the 28th parallel of lat.i.tude, from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, the Euphrates on its northeastern side, and the border of the Lebanon chain of mountains for its western. It is called in the Bible ”the land of Kedar.” It is a high, undulating, dry plain, with few oases, and almost impenetrable to travelers. From the days of Abraham until the present, the caravans have gone around it upon the north, following up the Euphrates to Tiphsah (Thapsacus), and then turning southward rather than face its terrors. Only once in history is it related that an army crossed it. This was when Nebuchadnezzar, while ravaging Palestine, learned of his father's death, and crossed this great desert by the most direct route, in order to take possession of the throne.

III. LANDS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN.

These lands will receive more extended treatment in connection with other maps, so that we give them only a brief mention here.

1. =Asia Minor= scarcely enters the field of the Old Testament, except as the ”land of the Hitt.i.tes.” It will be noticed under the topic of the Journeys of the Apostle Paul, page 117.

2. =Syria=, in the Hebrew Aram, is a name of indefinite signification, sometimes embracing all the territory north of The Wilderness of the Wandering, and therefore including Palestine and the provinces around it. But Syria Proper seems only to indicate the territory bounded by the Ama.n.u.s and Taurus ranges of mountains on the north, by the Euphrates and the desert on the east, by Palestine, beginning with Mount Hermon, on the south, by the Mediterranean and Phoenicia on the west. It reaches the Mediterranean only near the mouth of the Orontes. It consists of three portions: On the north an elevated tract, never thickly populated, having Carchemish and Samosata as its princ.i.p.al cities; between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges of mountains a great valley, called Coele-Syria, ”hollow Syria,” forming the bed of the Orontes, flowing north, and the Leontes (_Litany_), flowing south; and on the east a level country reaching to the desert, containing the cities of Damascus on the south, Tiphsah (Thapsacus) on the north, and Tadmor (Palmyra) in the desert. During the times from Jeroboam to Jehoash, Syria was an independent kingdom, the rival of Israel, with which its political relations may be seen on the map on page 86. In the Old Testament period, Damascus was its princ.i.p.al city, and exercised sovereignty; but later, Antioch, in the north, became more prominent, and was the Greek and Roman capital of the province.

3. =Phoenicia= is a narrow strip of territory between the Mediterranean Sea and Mount Lebanon, north of Palestine and south of the Orontes. Its two great cities were, Zidon, the mother of Mediterranean commerce; and Tyre, her daughter. Its boundaries were never extensive; but its vessels traded with every land, and its colonies were planted all along the sh.o.r.es of the Mediterranean.

4. =Palestine= lies south of Phoenicia, between the Mediterranean and the desert. It will be described in connection with the Physical Map of Palestine, page 29, and Moab and Edom, near it, on pages 39 and 45.

5. South of Palestine is =The Wilderness=, a part of Arabia, in which the Israelites wandered during forty years. Its description may be found on page 42.

6. =Egypt= lies in the northeastern corner of Africa. See its description on page 41.

OUTLINE FOR TEACHING AND REVIEW.

1. Let the teacher state the EXTENT of the Old Testament World, and its comparison in size with the United States, as given in the description; the cla.s.s taking down the figures in their note-books.

2. Let the teacher draw upon the blackboard the SEAS of the map, in presence of the cla.s.s, describing each as it is drawn. If drawn in advance with an ordinary slate pencil, the mark cannot be seen by the cla.s.s, but can be traced by the teacher with white chalk. Do not try to make the lines exact. A general sketch will answer far better than finished work. Write upon each its initial letter, but let the cla.s.s give its full name; and at the same time follow the teacher by drawing the map on slates or in note-books. Review the names of the seas: _Caspian_, _Persian Gulf_, _Red Sea_, _Mediterranean_ or _Great Sea_, _Dead Sea_, _Lake Arsissa_ or _Van_, _Lake Urumiyeh_.

3. Draw next the most important of the MOUNTAIN RANGES, showing their general lines, in blue or green color, naming each as drawn, requiring the cla.s.s to repeat its name, and to review at the close all the names: _Ararat_ (including _Masius_, _Niphates_, _Abus_), _Caspian_, _Zagros_, _Lebanon_, _Taurus_.

4. Draw the RIVERS in white chalk, and drill the cla.s.s upon their names as the course of each is shown: _Araxes_, _Tigris_, _Euphrates_, _Orontes_, _Jordan_, _Nile_. Review the names of seas, mountains, and rivers, before beginning the next subject.

5. Show the LANDS in their three cla.s.ses, and drill the cla.s.s upon their names. (1.) MOUNTAIN LANDS: _Armenia_, _Media_, _Persia_. (2.) LANDS OF THE PLAIN: _a.s.syria_, _Elam_, _Mesopotamia_, _Chaldea_, _Arabia_. (3.) LANDS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN: _Asia Minor_, _Syria_, _Phoenicia_, _Palestine_, _Wilderness_, _Egypt_.

Review the entire map, from the beginning; then erase it, and call for the cla.s.s to give the names as they are indicated by the pointer without marking.