_History of Rome, from the Earliest Times to the Fall of the
Western Empire._
Geographical Sketch of Italy. 245.
I. HISTORY OF THE ROMAN KINGDOM. 248.
Religion of Rome. 255.
II. HISTORY OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 260.
FIRST PERIOD. Growth of the Constitution. 260.
Laws of the Twelve Tables. 265.
Capture of Rome by the Gauls. 269.
SECOND PERIOD. Wars for the Possession of Italy. 274.
First Samnite War. 274.
Latin War, and Battle of Vesuvius. 275.
Second Samnite War. 276.
Third War with Samnites and the Italian League. 278.
War with Pyrrhus, King of Epirus. 279.
Colonies and Roads. 282.
THIRD PERIOD. Foreign Wars. 283.
First Punic War. 284.
War with the Gauls. 286.
Second Punic War, and Invasion of Italy by Hannibal. 287.
Battles of the Trebia, Lake Thrasymene, Cannæ. 288, 289.
Wars with Antiochus the Great; with Spain, Liguria, Corsica,
Sardinia, and Macedon. 293.
Third Punic War. 294.
Subjugation of the Spanish Peninsula. 295.
FOURTH PERIOD. Internal Commotions and Civil Wars. 296.
Reforms Proposed by the Gracchi. 297.
Jugurthine Wars, and Rise of Marius. 299.
Defeat of the Teutones and Cimbri. 302.
Servile Wars in Sicily. 303.
The Social War. 304.
Exile and Seventh Consulship of Marius. 305.
Dictatorship of Sulla. 306.
Sertorius in Spain. 307.
War of the Gladiators. 308.
Extraordinary Power of Pompey. 311.
Conspiracy of Catiline. 312.
Triumvirate of Pompey, Cæsar, and Crassus. 314.
Conquests of Cæsar in Gaul, Britain, and Germany. 315.
Civil War; Pompey defeated at Pharsalia. 319.
Cæsar Victor at Thapsus, and Master of Rome. 321.
Murder of Cæsar in the Senate-house. 323.
Triumvirate of Antony, Cæsar Octavianus, and Lepidus. 324.
Antony defeated at Actium; Octavianus becomes Augustus. 325.
III. HISTORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 326.
FIRST PERIOD.
Reigns of Augustus, 326; Tiberius, 328; Caligula, Claudius,
330; Nero, 331; Galba, Otho, Vitellius, 333; Vespasian, Titus,
Domitian, 334; Nerva, Trajan, 335; Hadrian, T. Antoninus Pius,
M. Aurelius Antoninus, 336; Commodus, 337.
SECOND PERIOD.
Reigns of Pertinax, Didius Julianus, 338; Severus, Caracalla,
Macrinus, Elagabalus, 339; Alexander Severus, 340; Maximin, the
Gordians, Pupienus and Balbinus, Gordian the Younger, Philip,
Decius, 341; Gallus, Æmilian, Valerian, Gallienus and the
“Thirty Tyrants,” 342; Aurelian, Tacitus, Florian, 343; Probus,
Carus, Numerian, Carinus, 344.
THIRD PERIOD.
Reigns of Diocletian and Maximian with two Cæsars, 345; of
Constantine, Maximian, and Maxentius in the West—Galerius,
Maximin, and Licinius in the East, 348; of Constantine alone,
and the Reörganization of the Empire, 349; of Constantine II.,
Constans, and Constantius II., 350; of Julian, Jovian, and
Valentinian I., 352; of Valens, 353; of Gratian, Valentinian
II., and Theodosius I., 354.
FOURTH PERIOD.
Final Separation of the Eastern and Western Empires. 356.
Reigns, in the West, of Honorius, 356; of Valentinian III.,
358; of Maximus, 359; of Avitus, Marjorian, Libius Severus,
Anthemius, Olybrius, Glycerius, and Julius Nepos, 360; of
Romulus Augustulus, 361.
MAPS.
I. The World as known to the Assyrians. facing 17.
II. Empire of the Persians. ” 97.
III. Ancient Greece and the Ægean Sea. ” 113.
IV. Empire of the Macedonians. ” 209.
V. Italy, with the Eleven Regions of Augustus. ” 257.
VI. The Roman Empire. ” 305.
INTRODUCTION.
SOURCES AND DIVISIONS OF HISTORY.
=1.= The former inhabitants of our world are known to us by three kinds
of evidence: (1) Written Records; (2) Architectural Monuments; (3)
Fragmentary Remains.
=2.= Of these the first alone can be considered as true sources of
History, though the latter afford its most interesting and valuable
illustrations. Several races of men have disappeared from the globe,
leaving no records inscribed either upon stone or parchment. Their
existence and character can only be inferred from fragments of their
weapons, ornaments, and household utensils found in their tombs or
among the ruins of their habitations. Such were the Lake-dwellers of
Switzerland, and the unknown authors of the shell-mounds of Denmark and
India, the tumuli of Britain, and the earthworks of the Mississippi
Valley.
=3.= The magnificent temples and palaces of Egypt, Assyria, and India
have only afforded materials of history since the patient diligence of
oriental scholars has succeeded in deciphering the inscriptions which
they bear. Within a few years they have added immeasurably to our
knowledge of primeval times, and explained in a wonderful manner the
brief allusions of the Bible.
=4.= The oldest existing books are the Hebrew Scriptures, which alone[1]
of ancient writings describe the preparation of the earth for the abode
of man; his creation and primeval innocence; the entrance of Sin into
the world, and the promise of Redemption; the first probation, and the
almost total destruction of the human race by a flood; the vain attempt
of Noah’s descendants to avert similar punishment in future by building a
“city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven,” and their consequent
dispersion. The Bible lays the foundation of all subsequent history by
sketching the division of the human race into its three great families,
and describing their earliest migrations.
=5.= The family of SHEM, which was appointed to guard the true primeval
faith, remained near the original home in south-western Asia. Of the
descendants of HAM, a part settled in the valleys of the Tigris and
Euphrates, and built the great cities of Nineveh and Babylon; while the
rest spread along the eastern and southern shores of the Mediterranean,
and became the founders of the Egyptian Empire. The children of JAPHETH
constituted the Indo-Germanic, or Aryan race, which was divided into two
great branches. One, moving eastward, settled the table-lands of Iran
and the fertile valleys of northern India; the other, traveling westward
along the Euxine and Propontis, occupied the islands of the Ægean Sea,
and the peninsulas of Greece and Italy. By successive migrations they
overspread all Europe.
=6.= Our First Book treats of the Hamitic and Semitic empires. With
the rise of the Medo-Persian monarchy, the Aryan race came upon the
scene, and it has ever since occupied the largest place in History.
The _Hamitic_ nations were distinguished by their material grandeur,
as exemplified by the enormous masses of stone employed in their
architecture, and even in their sculpture; the _Semitic_, by their
religious enthusiasm; the _Indo-Germanic_, by their intellectual
activity, as exhibited in the highest forms of art, literature, and
political organization.
=7.= History is divided into three great portions or periods: Ancient,
Mediæval, and Modern.
Ancient History narrates the succession of empires which ruled Asia,
Africa, and Europe, until the Roman dominion in Italy was overthrown by
northern barbarians, A. D. 476.
Mediæval History begins with the establishment of a German kingdom in
Gaul, and ends with the close of the fifteenth century, when the revival
of ancient learning, the multiplication of printed books, and the
expansion of ideas by the discovery of a new continent, occasioned great
mental activity, and led to the Modern Era, in which we live.
=8.= Ancient History may be divided into five books:
I. History of the Asiatic and African nations, from the
earliest times to the foundation of the Persian Empire, B. C.
558.
II. History of the Persian Empire, from the accession of Cyrus
the Great to the death of Darius Codomannus, B. C. 558-330.
III. History of the States and Colonies of Greece, from their
earliest period to the accession of Alexander of Macedon, B. C.
336.
IV. History of the Macedonian Empire, and the kingdoms formed
from it, until their conquest by the Romans.
V. History of Rome from its foundation to the fall of the
Western Empire, A. D. 476.
=9.= In the study of events, the two circumstances of time and place
constantly demand our attention. Accordingly, CHRONOLOGY and GEOGRAPHY
have been called the two eyes of History. It is only by the use of both
that we can gain a complete and life-like impression of events.
=10.= For the want of the former, a large portion of the life of man upon
the globe can be but imperfectly known. There is no detailed record of
the ages that preceded the Deluge and Dispersion; and even after those
great crises, long periods are covered only by vague traditions. We have
no complete chronology for the Hebrews before the building of Solomon’s
Temple, B. C. 1004; for the Babylonians before Nabonassar, B. C. 748; or
for the Greeks before the first Olympiad, B. C. 776. When its system of
computation was settled, each nation selected its own era from which to
date events; but we reduce all to our common reckoning of time before and
after the Birth of Christ.
=11.= The study of GEOGRAPHY is more intimately connected with that of
History than may at first appear. The growth and character of nations are
greatly influenced, if not determined, by soil and climate, the position
of mountains, and the course of rivers.
NOTE.—It is recommended to Teachers that the Geographical
sections which precede Parts 1 and 2 of Book I, Book III, and
Book V, be read aloud in the class, each pupil having his or
her eye upon the map, and pronouncing the name of each locality
mentioned, _only when it is found_. By this means the names
will become familiar, and questions upon the peculiarities of
each country can be afterward combined with the lessons. Many
details necessarily omitted from maps I., II., IV., and VI.,
will be found on maps III. and V.
Pupils are strongly urged to study History with the map before
them; if possible, even a larger and fuller map than can be
given in this book. Any little effort which this may cost, will
be more than repaid in the ease with which the lesson will be
remembered, when the places where events have occurred are
clearly in the mind.
BOOK I.
NATIONS OF ASIA AND AFRICA FROM THE DISPERSION AT BABEL TO THE FOUNDATION
OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE.
B. C. (ABOUT) 2700-558.
PART I. ASIATIC NATIONS.
VIEW OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF ASIA.
=12.= ASIA, the largest division of the Eastern Hemisphere, possesses
the greatest variety of soil, climate, and products. Its central and
principal portion is a vast table-land, surrounded by the highest
mountain chains in the world, on whose northern, eastern, and southern
inclinations great rivers have their rise. Of these, the best known to
the ancients were the Tigris and Euphra´tes, the Indus, Etyman´der,
Arius, Oxus, Jaxar´tes, and Jordan.
=13.= NORTHERN ASIA, north of the great table-land and the Altai range,
is a low, grassy plain, destitute of trees, and unproductive, but
intersected by many rivers abounding in fish. It was known to the Greeks
under the general name of Scythia. From the most ancient times to the
present, it has been inhabited by wandering tribes, who subsisted mainly
upon the milk and flesh of their animals.
=14.= CENTRAL ASIA, lying between the Altai on the north, and the Elburz,
Hindu Kûsh, and Himala´ya Mountains on the south, has little connection
with ancient History. Three countries in its western part are of some
importance: _Choras´mia_, between the Caspian and the Sea of Aral;
_Sogdia´na_ to the east, and _Bac´tria_ to the south of that province.
The modern Sam´arcand is Maracan´da, the ancient capital of Sogdiana.
Bactra, now Balkh, was probably the first great city of the Aryan race.
=15.= SOUTHERN ASIA may be divided into eastern and western sections by
the Indus River. The eastern portion was scarcely known to the Persians,
Greeks, and Romans; and materials are yet lacking for its authentic
history: the western, on the contrary, was the scene of the earliest and
most important events.
=16.= SOUTH-WESTERN ASIA may be considered in three portions: (1) Asia
Minor, or the peninsula of Anato´lia; (2) The table-land eastward to the
Indus, including the mountains of Arme´nia; (3) The lowland south of this
plateau, extending from the base of the mountains to the Erythræ´an Sea.
=17.= ASIA MINOR, in the earliest period, contained the following
countries: Phry´gia and Cappado´cia, on its central table-land, divided
from each other by the river Ha´lys; Bithy´nia and Paphlago´nia on the
coast of the Euxine; Mysia, Lydia, and Caria, on that of the Æge´an;
Lycia, Pamphyl´ia, and Cilic´ia, on the borders of the Mediterranean.
It possessed many important islands: Proconne´sus, in the Propon´tis;
Ten´edos, Les´bos, Chi´os, Sa´mos, and Rhodes, in the Ægean; and Cy´prus,
in the Levant´.
=18.= _Phrygia_ was a grazing country, celebrated from the earliest times
for its breed of sheep, whose fleece was of wonderful fineness, and black
as the plumage of the raven. The Ango´ra goat and the rabbit of the same
region were likewise famed for the fineness of their hair. _Cappadocia_
was inhabited by the White Syrians, so called because they were of fairer
complexion than those of the south. The richest portion of Asia Minor lay
upon the coast of the Ægean; and of the three provinces, _Lydia_, the
central, was most distinguished for wealth, elegance, and luxury. The
Lydians were the first who coined money. The River Pacto´lus brought from
the recesses of Mt. Tmolus a rich supply of gold, which was washed from
its sands in the streets of Sardis, the capital.
=19.= The Grecian colonies, which, at a later period, covered the coasts
of Asia Minor, will be found described in Book III.[2] This peninsula
was the field of many wars between the nations of Europe and Asia. From
its intermediate position, it was always the prize of the conqueror;
and after the earliest period of history, it was never occupied by any
kingdom of great extent or of long duration.
=20.= The highlands of south-western Asia contained seventeen countries,
of which only the most important will here be named. _Arme´nia_ has been
called the Switzerland of Western Asia. Its highest mountain is Ar´arat,
17,000 feet above the sea-level. From this elevated region the Tigris
and Euphrates take their course to the Persian Gulf; the Halys to the
Euxine; the Arax´es and the Cyrus to the Caspian Sea. _Colchis_ lay east
of the Euxine, upon one of the great highways of ancient traffic. It was
celebrated, in very early times, for its trade in linen. _Media_ was
a mountainous region, extending from the Araxes to the Caspian Gates.
_Persia_ lay between Media and the Persian Gulf. Its southern portion is
a sandy plain, rendered almost desert in summer by a hot, pestilential
wind from the Steppes of Kerman. Farther from the sea, the country rises
into terraces, covered with rich and well-watered pastures, and abounding
in pleasant fruits. The climate of this region is delightful; but it soon
changes, toward the north, into that of a sterile mountain tract, chilled
by snows, which cover the peaks even in summer, and affording only a
scanty pasturage to flocks of sheep.
=21.= The lowland plain of south-western Asia comprised Syr´ia, Arabia,
Assyr´ia, Susia´na, and Babylo´nia. _Syria_ occupied the whole eastern
coast of the Mediterranean, and consisted of three distinct parts: (1)
Syria Proper had for its chief river the Oron´tes, which flowed between
the parallel mountain ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon. (2) Phœni´cia
comprised the narrow strip of coast between Lebanon and the sea. (3)
Palestine, south of Phœnicia, had for its river the Jordan, and for its
principal mountains Hermon and Carmel. Syria becomes less fertile as it
recedes from the mountains, and merges at last into a desert, with no
traces of cities or of settled habitations. Yet even this sandy waste
is varied by a few fertile spots. The site of Palmy´ra, “Queen of the
Desert,” may be discerned even now in her magnificent ruins. In more
prosperous days she afforded entertainment to caravans on their way from
India to the coast of the Mediterranean.
=22.= _Arabia_ is a vast extent of country south and east of Syria, lying
between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Though more than one-fourth
the size of Europe, it was of little importance in ancient times; for
its usually rocky or sandy soil sustained few inhabitants, and afforded
little material for commerce.
_Assyria Proper_ lay east of the Tigris and west of the Median Mountains.
The great empire which bore that name varied in extent under different
monarchs, and the name of Assyria is often applied to all the territory
between the Zagros Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. The region
between the two great rivers and north of Babylonia was called by the
Greeks _Mesopota´mia_. It differed from the more southerly province
in being richly wooded: the forests near the Euphrates more than once
supplied materials for a fleet to Roman emperors in later times.
_Susiana_ lay along the Tigris, south-east of Assyria. It was crossed by
numerous rivers, and was very rich in grain. Its only important city was
Susa, its capital.
=23.= _Babylonia_ comprised the great alluvial plain between the lower
waters of the Tigris and Euphrates, and sometimes included the country
south of the latter river, on the borders of Arabia Deserta, which is
better known as _Chaldæ´a_. When the snows melt upon the mountains of
Armenia, both rivers, but especially the Euphrates, become suddenly
swollen, and tend to overflow their banks. In fighting against this
aggression of Nature, the Babylonians early developed that energy of mind
which made their country the first abode of Eastern civilization. The
net-work of canals which covered the country served the three purposes
of internal traffic, defense, and irrigation. Immense lakes were dug or
enlarged for the preservation of surplus waters; and the earth thrown
out of these excavations formed dykes along the banks of the rivers. The
fertile plain, so thoroughly watered, produced enormous quantities of
grain, the farmer being rewarded with never less than two hundred fold
the seed sown, and in favorable seasons, with three hundred fold. We
shall not be surprised, therefore, to learn that Babylonia was, from the
earliest times, the seat of populous cities, crowded with the products of
human industry, and that its people long constituted the leading state
of Western Asia. Though the plain of Babylonia afforded neither wood nor
stone for building, Nature had provided for human habitations a supply of
excellent clay for brick, and wells of bitumen which served for mortar.
(Gen. xi: 3.)
=24.= SOUTH-EASTERN ASIA. _India_ extends from the Indus eastward to the
boundaries of China, being bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean,
and on the north by the Himala´yas, from whose snowy heights many great
rivers descend to fertilize the plains. The richness of the soil fits it
for the abode of a swarming population; and roads, temples, and other
structures, dating from a very remote period, attest the skill and
industry of the people. Herod´otus[3] names them as the greatest and
wealthiest of nations, though he had not seen them. It was only in the
fifth century before Christ that the Indian peninsulas became distinctly
known to the Greeks; and it was two centuries later, in the invasion
by Alexander, that the remarkable features of the country were first
described to the Western world by eye-witnesses. “Wool-bearing trees”
were mentioned as a most peculiar production; for cotton, as well as
sugar, was first produced in India. The pearl fisheries, however, of
the eastern coast, the diamonds of Golcon´da, the rubies of Mysore´, as
well as the abundant gold of the river-beds, the aromatic woods of the
forests, and the fine fabrics of cotton, silk, and wool, for which India
was already famous,[4] drew the merchants of Phœnicia at a much earlier
period to the banks of the Indus.
=25.= _China_ was even less known than India to the inhabitants of the
ancient world. The province of Se´rica, which formed the north-western
corner of what is now the Chinese Empire, was visited, however, by
Babylonian and Phœnician merchants, for its most peculiar product, silk.
The extreme reserve of the Chinese in their dealings with foreigners, may
already be observed in the account given by Herodotus of their trade with
the neighboring Scythians. The Sericans deposited their bales of wool or
silk in a solitary building called the Stone Tower. The merchants then
approached, deposited beside the goods a sum which they were willing to
pay, and retired out of sight. The Sericans returned, and, if satisfied
with the bargain, took away the money, leaving the goods; but if they
considered the payment insufficient, they took away the goods and left
the money. The Chinese have always been remarkable for their patient and
thorough tillage of the soil. Chin-nong, their fourth emperor, invented
the plow; and for thousands of years custom required each monarch,
among the ceremonies of his coronation, to guide a plow around a field,
thus paying due honor to agriculture, as the art most essential to the
civilization, or, rather, to the very existence of a state.
[Illustration: MAP OF THE WORLD AS KNOWN TO THE ASSYRIANS.]
CHALDÆAN MONARCHY.
=26.= After the dispersion of other descendants of Noah from Babel,[5]
Nimrod, grandson of Ham, remained near the scene of their discomfiture,
and established a kingdom south of the Euphrates, at the head of the
Persian Gulf. The unfinished tower was converted into a temple, other
buildings sprang from the clay of the plain, and thus Nimrod became
the founder of Babylon, though its grandeur and magnificent adornments
date from a later period. Nimrod owed his supremacy to the personal
strength and prowess which distinguished him as a “mighty hunter before
the Lord.” In the early years after the Flood, it is probable that wild
beasts multiplied so as to threaten the extinction of the human race,
and the chief of men in the gratitude and allegiance of his fellows
was he who reduced their numbers. Nimrod founded not only Babylon, but
E´rech, or O´rchoë, Ac´cad, and Cal´neh. The Chaldæans continued to be
notable builders; and vast structures of brick cemented with bitumen,
each brick bearing the monarch’s or the architect’s name, still attest,
though in ruins, their enterprise and skill. They manufactured, also,
delicate fabrics of wool, and possessed the arts of working in metals and
engraving on gems in very high perfection. Astronomy began to be studied
in very early times, and the observations were carefully recorded. The
name of Chaldæan became equivalent to that of seer or philosopher.
=27.= The names of fifteen or sixteen kings have been deciphered upon
the earliest monuments of the country, but we possess no records of their
reigns. It is sufficient to remember the dynasties, or royal families,
which, according to Bero´sus,[6] ruled in Chaldæa from about two thousand
years before Christ to the beginning of connected chronology.
1. A Chaldæan Dynasty, from about 2000 to 1543 B. C. The only known kings
are Nimrod and Chedorlao´mer.
2. An Arabian Dynasty, from about 1543 to 1298 B. C.
3. A Dynasty of forty-five kings, probably Assyrian, from 1298 to 772 B.
C.
4. The Reign of Pul, from 772 to 747 B. C.
During the first and last of these periods, the country was flourishing
and free; during the second, it seems to have been subject to its
neighbors in the south-west; and, during the third, it was absorbed into
the great Assyrian Empire, as a tributary kingdom, if not merely as a
province.
ASSYRIAN MONARCHY.
=28.= At a very early period a kingdom was established upon the Tigris,
which expanded later into a vast empire. Of its earliest records only the
names of three or four kings remain to us; but the quadrangular mounds
which cover the sites of cities and palaces, and the rude sculptures
found by excavation upon their walls, show the industry of a large and
luxurious population. The history of Assyria may be divided into three
periods:
I. From unknown commencement of the monarchy to the Conquest of
Babylon, about 1250 B. C.
II. From Conquest of Babylon to Accession of Tiglath-pileser
II, 745 B. C.
III. From Accession of Tiglath-pileser to Fall of Nineveh, 625
B. C.
[Sidenote: B. C. 1270.]
One king of the FIRST PERIOD, Shalmaneser I, is known to have made war
among the Armenian Mountains, and to have established cities in the
conquered territory.
[Sidenote: B. C. 1130.]
[Sidenote: B. C. 1100-909.]
[Sidenote: B. C. 886-858.]
[Sidenote: B. C. 858-823.]
=29.= SECOND PERIOD, B. C. 1250-745. About the middle of the thirteenth
century B. C., Tiglathi-nin conquered Babylon. A hundred and twenty years
later, a still greater monarch, Tiglath-pileser I, extended his conquests
eastward into the Persian mountains, and westward to the borders of
Syria. After the warlike reign of his son, Assyria was probably weakened
and depressed for two hundred years, since no records have been found.
From the year 909 B. C., the chronology becomes exact, and the materials
for history abundant. As´shur-nazir-pal I carried on wars in Persia,
Babylonia, Armenia, and Syria, and captured the principal Phœnician
towns. He built a great palace at Ca´lah, which he made his capital. His
son, Shalmane´ser II, continued his father’s conquests, and made war in
Lower Syria against Benha´dad, Haza´el, and A´hab.
=30.= B. C. 810-781. I´va-lush (Hu-likh-khus IV) extended his empire both
eastward and westward in twenty-six campaigns. He married Sam´mura´mit
(Semi´ramis), heiress of Babylonia, and exercised, either in her right
or by conquest, royal authority over that country. No name is more
celebrated in Oriental history than that of Semiramis; but it is probable
that most of the wonderful works ascribed to her are purely fabulous. The
importance of the real Sammuramit, who is the only princess mentioned in
Assyrian annals, perhaps gave rise to fanciful legends concerning a queen
who, ruling in her own right, conquered Egypt and part of Ethiopia, and
invaded India with an army of more than a million of men. This mythical
heroine ended her career by flying away in the form of a dove. It became
customary to ascribe all buildings and other public works whose origin
was unknown, to Semiramis; the date of her reign was fixed at about
2200 B. C.; and she was said to have been the wife of Ninus, an equally
mythical person, the reputed founder of Nineveh.
[Sidenote: B. C. 771-753.]
[Sidenote: B. C. 753-745.]
=31.= Asshur-danin-il II was less warlike than his ancestors. The time of
his reign is ascertained by an eclipse of the sun, which the inscriptions
place in his ninth year, and which astronomers know to have occurred June
15, 763 B. C. After Asshur-likh-khus, the following king, the dynasty was
ended with a revolution. Nabonas´sar, of Babylon, not only made himself
independent, but gained a brief supremacy over Assyria. The Assyrians,
during the Second Period, made great advances in literature and arts.
The annals of each reign were either cut in stone or impressed upon a
duplicate series of bricks, to guard against destruction either by fire
or water. If fire destroyed the burnt bricks, it would only harden the
dried; and if the latter were dissolved by water, the former would remain
uninjured. Engraved columns were erected in all the countries under
Assyrian rule.
[Sidenote: B. C. 745-727.]
=32.= THIRD PERIOD, B. C. 745-625. Tiglath-pileser II was the founder
of the New or Lower Assyrian Empire, which he established by active
and successful warfare. He conquered Damascus, Samaria, Tyre, the
Philistines, and the Arabians of the Sinaitic peninsula; carried away
captives from the eastern and northern tribes of Israel, and took tribute
from the king of Judah. (2 Kings xv: 29; xvi: 7-9.) Shalmaneser IV
conquered Phœnicia, but was defeated in a naval assault upon Tyre. His
successor, Sargon, took Samaria, which had revolted, and carried its
people captive to his newly conquered provinces of Media and Gauzanitis.
He filled their places with Babylonians, whose king, Merodach-baladan, he
had captured, B. C. 709. An interesting inscription of Sargon relates his
reception of tribute from seven kings of Cyprus, “who have fixed their
abode in the middle of the sea of the setting sun.” The city and palace
of Khor´sabad´ were entirely the work of Sargon. The palace was covered
with sculptures within and without; it was ornamented with enameled
bricks, arranged in elegant and tasteful patterns, and was approached
by noble flights of steps through splendid porticos. In this “palace of
incomparable splendor, which he had built for the abode of his royalty,”
are found Sargon’s own descriptions of the glories of his reign. “I
imposed tribute on Pharaoh, of Egypt; on Tsamsi, Queen of Arabia; on
Ithamar, the Sabæan, in gold, spices, horses, and camels.” Among the
spoils of the Babylonian king, he enumerates his golden tiara, scepter,
throne and parasol, and silver chariot. In the old age of Sargon,
Merodach-baladan recovered his throne, and the Assyrian king was murdered
in a conspiracy.
[Sidenote: B. C. 705-680.]
=33.= His son, Sennach´erib, reëstablished Assyrian power at the eastern
and western extremities of his empire. He defeated Merodach-baladen,
and placed first an Assyrian viceroy, and afterward his own son,
Assarana´dius, upon the Babylonian throne. He quelled a revolt of the
Phœnician cities, and extorted tribute from most of the kings in Syria.
He gained a great battle at El´tekeh, in Palestine, against the kings of
Egypt and Ethiopia, and captured all the “fenced cities of Judah.” (2
Kings xviii: 13.) In a second expedition against Palestine and Egypt,
185,000 of his soldiers were destroyed in a single night, near Pelusium,
as a judgment for his impious boasting. (2 Kings xix: 35, 36.) On his
return to Nineveh, two of his sons conspired against him and slew him,
and E´sarhad´don, another son, obtained the crown. His reign (B. C.
680-667) was signalized by many conquests. He defeated Tir´hakeh, king
of Egypt, and broke up his kingdom into petty states. He completed the
colonization of Samaria with people from Babylonia, Susiana, and Persia.
His royal residence was alternately at Nineveh and Babylon.
[Sidenote: B. C. 667-647.]
=34.= Under As´shur-ba´ni-pal, son of Esarhaddon, Assyria attained her
greatest power and glory. He reconquered Egypt, which had rallied under
Tirhakeh, overran Asia Minor, and imposed a tribute upon Gyges, king of
Lydia. He subdued most of Armenia, reduced Susiana to a mere province of
Babylonia, and exacted obedience from many Arabian tribes. He built the
grandest of all the Assyrian palaces, cultivated music and the arts, and
established a sort of royal library at Nineveh.
[Illustration: COURT OF SARGON’S PALACE, AT KHORSABAD.]
[Sidenote: B. C. 647-625.]
=35.= The reign of his son, Asshur-emid-ilin, called Saracus by the
Greeks, was overwhelmed with disasters. A horde of barbarians, from the
plains of Scythia, invaded the empire, and before it could recover from
the shock, it was rent by a double revolt of Media on the north, and
Babylonia on the south. Nabopolassar, the Babylonian, had been general
of the armies of Saracus; but finding himself stronger than his master,
he made an alliance with Cyax´ares, king of the Medes, in concert with
whom he besieged and captured Nineveh. The Assyrian monarch perished in
the flames of his palace, and the two conquerors divided his dominions
between them. Thus ended the Assyrian Empire, B. C. 625.
=36.= The THIRD PERIOD was the Golden Age of Assyrian Art. The sculptured
marbles which have been brought from the palaces of Sargon, Sennacherib,
and Asshur-bani-pal, show a skill and genius in the carving which remind
us of the Greeks. A few may be seen in collections of colleges and other
learned societies in this country. The most magnificent specimens are
in the British Museum, the Louvre at Paris, and the Oriental Museum at
Berlin. During the same period the sciences of geography and astronomy
were cultivated with great diligence; studies in language and history
occupied multitudes of learned men; and modern scholars, as they decipher
the long-buried memorials, are filled with admiration of the mental
activity which characterized the times of the Lower Empire of Assyria.
KINGS OF ASSYRIA.
For the First and more than half the Second Period, the names are
discontinuous and dates unknown. We begin, therefore, with the era of
ascertained chronology.
_Kings of the Second Period._
Asshur-danin-il I died B. C. 909.
Hu-likh-khus III reigned ” 909-889.
Tiglathi-nin II ” ” 889-886.
Asshur-nasir-pal I ” ” 886-858.
Shalmaneser II ” ” 858-823.
Shamas-iva ” ” 823-810.
Hu-likh-khus IV ” ” 810-781.
Shalmaneser III ” ” 781-771.
Asshur-danin-il II ” ” 771-753.
Asshur-likh-khus ” ” 753-745.
_Kings of the Third Period._
Tiglath-pileser II, usurper,[7] B. C. 745-727.
Shalmaneser IV, ” 727-721.
Sargon, usurper, ” 721-705.
Sennacherib, ” 705-680.
Esarhaddon, ” 680-667.
Asshur-bani-pal, about ” 667-647.
Asshur-emid-ilin, ” 647-625.
RECAPITULATION.
A kingdom of mighty hunters and great builders is founded by
Nimrod, B. C. 2000. Chaldæa becomes subject, first to Arabian,
then to Assyrian invaders, but is made independent by Pul,
B. C. 772. The Assyrian monarchy absorbs the Chaldæan, and
extends itself from Syria to the Persian mountains. After two
hundred years’ depression, its records become authentic B.
C. 909. Iva-lush and Sammuramit reign jointly over greatly
increased territories. The Lower Empire is established by
Tiglath-pileser II, whose dominion reaches the Mediterranean.
Sargon records many conquests in his palace at Khorsabad.
Sennacherib recaptures Babylon and gains victories over Egypt
and Palestine. The Assyrian Empire is increased by Esarhaddon,
and culminates under Asshur-bani-pal, only to be overthrown in
the next reign by a Scythian invasion and a revolt of Media and
Babylonia.
MEDIAN MONARCHY.
=37.= Little is known of the Medes before the invasion of their country
by Shalmaneser II, B. C. 830, and its partial conquest by Sargon,[8]
in 710. They had some importance, however, in the earliest times after
the Deluge, for Berosus tells us that a Median dynasty governed Babylon
during that period. The country was doubtless divided among petty
chieftains, whose rivalries prevented its becoming great or famous in the
view of foreign nations.
In Babylonian names, Nebo, Merodach, Bel, and Nergal correspond to
Asshur, Sin, and Shamas in Assyrian. Thus, Abed-nego (for Nebo) is the
“Servant of Nebo;” Nebuchadnezzar means “Nebo protect my race,” or “Nebo
is the protector of landmarks;” Nabopolassar = “Nebo protect my son”—the
exact equivalent of Asshur-nasir-pal in the Assyrian Dynasty of the
Second Period.
=38.= About 740 B. C., according to Herodotus, the Medes revolted from
Assyria, and chose for their king Dei´oces, whose integrity as a judge
had marked him as fittest for supreme command. He built the city of
Ecbat´ana, which he fortified with seven concentric circles of stone,
the innermost being gilded so that its battlements shone like gold. Here
Deioces established a severely ceremonious etiquette, making up for his
want of hereditary rank by all the external tokens of the divinity that
“doth hedge a king.” No courtier was permitted to laugh in his presence,
or to approach him without the profoundest expressions of reverence.
Either his real dignity of character or these stately ceremonials had
such effect, that he enjoyed a prosperous reign of fifty-three years.
Though Deioces is described by Herodotus as King of the Medes, it is
probable that he was ruler only of a single tribe, and that a great part
of his story is merely imaginary.
=39.= The true history of the Median kingdom dates from B. C. 650,
when Phraor´tes was on the throne. This king, who is called the son of
Deioces, extended his authority over the Persians, and formed that close
connection of the Medo-Persian tribes which was never to be dissolved.
The supremacy was soon gained by the latter nation. The double kingdom
was seen by Daniel in his vision, under the form of a ram, one of whose
horns was higher than the other, and “the higher came up last.” (Daniel
viii: 3, 20.) Phraor´tes, reinforced by the Persians, made many conquests
in Upper Asia. He was killed in a war against the last king of Assyria,
B. C. 633.
=40.= Determined to avenge his father’s death, Cyaxares renewed the war
with Assyria. He was called off to resist a most formidable incursion
of barbarians from the north of the Caucasus. These Scythians became
masters of Western Asia, and their insolent dominion is said to have
lasted twenty-eight years. A band of the nomads were received into the
service of Cyaxares as huntsmen. According to Herodotus, they returned
one day empty-handed from the chase; and upon the king’s expressing his
displeasure, their ferocious temper burst all bounds. They served up to
him, instead of game, the flesh of one of the Median boys who had been
placed with them to learn their language and the use of the bow, and then
fled to the court of the King of Lydia. This circumstance led to a war
between Alyat´tes and Cyaxares, which continued five years without any
decisive result. It was terminated by an eclipse of the sun occurring
in the midst of a battle. The two kings hastened to make peace; and the
treaty, which fixed the boundary of their two empires at the River Halys,
was confirmed by the marriage of the son of Cyaxares with the daughter of
Alyattes. The Scythian oppressions were ended by a general massacre of
the barbarians, who, by a secretly concerted plan, had been invited to
banquets and made drunken with wine.
=41.= Cyaxares now resumed his plans against Assyria. In alliance with
Nabopolassar, of Babylon, he was able to capture Nineveh, overthrow the
empire, and render Media a leading power in Asia. The successful wars
of Cyaxares secured for himself and his son nearly half a century of
peace, during which the Medes rapidly adopted the luxurious habits of the
nations they had conquered. The court of Ecbatana became as magnificent
as that of Nineveh had been when at the height of its grandeur. The
courtiers delighted in silken garments of scarlet and purple, with
collars and bracelets of gold, and the same precious metal adorned
the harness of their horses. Reminiscences of the old barbaric life
remained in an excessive fondness for hunting, which was indulged either
in the parks about the capital, or in the open country, where lions,
leopards, bears, wild boars, stags, and antelopes still abounded. The
great wooden palace, covered with plates of gold and silver, as well as
other buildings of the capital, showed a barbarous fondness for costly
materials, rather than grandeur of architectural ideas. The Magi, a
priestly caste, had great influence in the Median court. The education of
each young king was confided to them, and they continued throughout his
life to be his most confidential counselors.
=42.= B. C. 593. Cyaxares died after a reign of forty years. His son,
Asty´ages, reigned thirty-five years in friendly and peaceful alliance
with the kings of Lydia and Babylon. Little is known of him except the
events connected with his fall, and these will be found related in the
history of Cyrus, Book II.
Known Kings of Media.
Phraortes died B. C. 633.
Cyaxares reigned ” 633-593.
Astyages ” ” 593-558.
NOTE.—It is impossible to reconcile the chronology of the reign
of Cyaxares with _all_ the ancient accounts. If the Scythian
invasion occurred _after_ the beginning of his reign, continued
twenty-eight years, and ended before the Fall of Nineveh, it
is easy to see that the date of the latter event must have
been later than is given in the text. The French school of
Orientalists place it, in fact, B. C. 606, and the accession of
Cyaxares in 634. The English school, with Sir H. Rawlinson at
their head, give the dates which we have adopted.
BABYLONIAN MONARCHY.
=43.= For nearly five hundred years, Babylon had been governed by
Assyrian viceroys, when Nabonassar (747 B. C.) threw off the yoke, and
established an independent kingdom. He destroyed the humiliating records
of former servitude, and began a new era from which Babylonian time was
afterward reckoned.
[Sidenote: B. C. 721-709.]
=44.= Merodach-baladan, the fifth king of this line, sent an embassy
to Hezekiah, king of Judah, to congratulate him upon his recovery from
illness, and to inquire concerning an extraordinary phenomenon connected
with his restoration. (Isaiah xxxviii: 7, 8; xxxix: 1.) This shows that
the Babylonians were no less alert for astronomical observations than
their predecessors, the Chaldæans. In fact, the brilliant clearness of
their heavens early led the inhabitants of this region to a study of the
stars. The sky was mapped out in constellations, and the fixed stars
were catalogued; time was measured by sun-dials, and other astronomical
instruments were invented by the Babylonians.
[Sidenote: B. C. 680-667.]
[Sidenote: B. C. 667-647.]
[Sidenote: B. C. 647-625.]
=45.= The same Merodach-baladan was taken captive by Sargon, king of
Assyria, and held for six years, while an Assyrian viceroy occupied his
throne. He escaped and resumed his government, but was again dethroned
by Sennacherib, son of Sargon. The kingdom remained in a troubled
state, usually ruled by Assyrians, but seeking independence, until
Esarhaddon, son of Sennacherib, conquered Babylon, built himself a
palace, and reigned alternately at that city and at Nineveh. His son,
Sa´os-duchi´nus, governed Babylon as viceroy for twenty years, and was
succeeded by Cinnelada´nus, another Assyrian, who ruled twenty-two years.
[Sidenote: B. C. 625-604.]
[Sidenote: B. C. 608.]
[Sidenote: B. C. 605.]
=46.= B. C. 625. SECOND PERIOD. Nabopolas´sar, a Babylonian general,
took occasion, from the misfortunes of the Assyrian Empire, to end
the long subjection of his people. He allied himself with Cyaxares,
the Median king, to besiege Nineveh and overthrow the empire. In the
subsequent division of spoils, he received Susiana, the Euphrates
Valley, and the whole of Syria, and erected a new empire, whose history
is among the most brilliant of ancient times. The extension of his
dominions westward brought him in collision with a powerful neighbor,
Pha´raoh-ne´choh, of Egypt, who actually subdued the Syrian provinces,
and held them a few years. But Nabopolassar sent his still more powerful
son, Nebuchadnez´zar, who chastised the Egyptian king in the battle of
Car´chemish, and wrested from him the stolen provinces. He also besieged
Jerusalem, and returned to Babylon laden with the treasures of the temple
and palace of Solomon. He brought in his train Jehoi´akim, king of Judah,
and several young persons of the royal family, among whom was the prophet
Daniel.
[Sidenote: B. C. 604-561.]
=47.= During his son’s campaign, Nabopolassar had died at Babylon,
and the victorious prince was immediately acknowledged as king.
Nebuchadnezzar made subsequent wars in Phœnicia, Palestine, and Egypt,
and established an empire which extended westward to the Mediterranean
Sea. He deposed the king of Egypt, and placed Amasis upon the throne as
his deputy. Zedeki´ah, who had been elevated to the throne of Judah,
rebelled against Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar set out in person to punish
his treachery. He besieged Jerusalem eighteen months, and captured
Zedekiah, who, with true Eastern cruelty, was compelled to see his
two sons murdered before his eyes were put out, and he was carried in
chains to Babylon. In a later war, Nebuzar-adan, general of the armies
of Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed Jerusalem, burned the temple and palaces,
and carried the remnant of the people to Babylon. The strong and wealthy
city of Tyre revolted, and resisted for thirteen years the power of the
great king, but at length submitted, and all Phœnicia remained under the
Babylonian yoke, B. C. 585.
=48.= The active mind of Nebuchadnezzar, absorbed in schemes of conquest,
began to be visited by dreams, in one of which the series of great
empires which were yet to arise in the east was distinctly foreshadowed.
Of all the wise men of the court, Daniel alone was enabled to interpret
the vision; and his spiritual insight, together with the singular
elevation and purity of his character, gained him the affectionate
confidence of the king. (Read Daniel ii.)
=49.= The reign of Nebuchadnezzar was illustrated by grand public works.
His wife, a Median princess, sighed for her native mountains, and was
disgusted with the flatness of the Babylonian plain, the greatest in the
ancient world. To gratify her, the elevated—rather than “hanging”—gardens
were created. Arches were raised on arches in continuous series until
they overtopped the walls of Babylon, and stairways led from terrace to
terrace. The whole structure of masonry was overlaid with soil sufficient
to nourish the largest trees, which, by means of hydraulic engines,
were supplied from the river with abundant moisture. In the midst of
these groves stood the royal winter residence; for a retreat, which in
other climates would be most suitable for a summer habitation, was here
reserved for those cooler months in which alone man can live in the
open air. This first great work of landscape gardening which history
describes, comprised a charming variety of hills and forests, rivers,
cascades, and fountains, and was adorned with the loveliest flowers the
East could afford.
=50.= The same king surrounded the city with walls of burnt brick, two
hundred cubits high and fifty in thickness, which, together with the
gardens, were reckoned among the Seven Wonders of the World. During his
reign and that of his son-in-law, Nabona´dius, the whole country was
enriched by works of public utility: canals, reservoirs, and sluices were
multiplied, and the shores of the Persian Gulf were improved by means of
piers and embankments.
=51.= Owing to these encouragements, as well as to her fortunate position
midway between the Indus and the Mediterranean, with the Gulf and the
two great rivers for natural highways, Babylon was thronged with the
merchants of all nations, and her commerce embraced the known world.
Manufactures, also, were numerous and famous. The cotton fabrics of
the towns on the Tigris and Euphrates were unsurpassed for fineness of
quality and brilliancy of color; and carpets, which were in great demand
among the luxurious Orientals, were nowhere produced in such magnificence
as in the looms of Babylon.
=52.= It is not strange that the pride of Nebuchadnezzar was kindled by
the magnificence of his capital. As he walked upon the summit of his
new palace, and looked down upon the swarming multitudes who owed their
prosperity to his protection and fostering care, he said, “Is not this
great Babylon, that _I_ have built for the house of the kingdom by the
might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?” At that moment the
humiliation foretold in a previous dream, interpreted by Daniel, came
upon him. We can not better describe the manner of the judgment than in
the king’s own words (Daniel iv: 31-37):
“While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven,
saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is
departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling
shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass
as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the
Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever
he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar:
and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body
was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’
feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws. And at the end of the days, I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding
returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored
him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom is from generation to generation.… At the same time my
reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and
brightness returned unto me; and my counselors and my lords sought unto
me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added
unto me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of
heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that
walk in pride he is able to abase.”
[Sidenote: B. C. 561-559.]
[Sidenote: B. C. 559-555.]
[Sidenote: B. C. 555-538.]
=53.= The immediate successors of Nebuchadnezzar were not his equals
in character or talent. Evil-merodach, his son, was murdered after a
reign of two years by Nereglis´sar, his sister’s husband. This prince
was advanced in years when he ascended the throne, having been already
a chief officer of the crown thirty years before at the siege of
Jerusalem. He reigned but four years, and was succeeded by his son,
La´borosoar´chod. The young king was murdered, after only nine months’
reign, by Nabona´dius, who became the last king of Babylon. The usurper
strengthened his title by marrying a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar—probably
the widow of Nereglissar—and afterward by associating their son
Belshaz´zar with him in the government. He also sought security in
foreign alliances. He fortified his capital by river walls, and
constructed water-works in connection with the river above the city, by
which the whole plain north and west could be flooded to prevent the
approach of an enemy.
=54.= A new power was indeed arising in the East, against which the
three older but feebler monarchies, Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt, found
it necessary to combine their forces. After the conquest of Lydia, and
the extension of the Persian Empire to the Ægean Sea, Nabonadius had
still fifteen years for preparation. He improved the time by laying up
enormous quantities of food in Babylon; and felt confident that, though
the country might be overrun, the strong walls of Nebuchadnezzar would
enable him cheerfully to defy his foe. On the approach of Cyrus he
resolved to risk one battle; but in this he was defeated, and compelled
to take refuge in Bor´sippa. His son Belshazzar, being left in Babylon,
indulged in a false assurance of safety. Cyrus, by diverting the course
of the Euphrates, opened a way for his army into the heart of the city,
and the court was surprised in the midst of a drunken revel, unprepared
for resistance. The young prince, unrecognized in the confusion, was
slain at the gate of his palace. Nabonadius, broken by the loss of his
capital and his son, surrendered himself a prisoner; and the dominion of
the East passed to the Medo-Persian race. Babylon became the second city
of the empire, and the Persian court resided there the greater portion of
the year.
RECAPITULATION.
Deioces, the first reputed king of Media, built and adorned
Ecbatana. Phraortes united the Medes and Persians into one
powerful kingdom. In the reign of Cyaxares, the Scythians
ruled Western Asia twenty-eight years. After their expulsion,
Cyaxares, in alliance with the Babylonian viceroy, overthrew
the Assyrian Empire, divided its territories with his ally, and
raised his own dominion to a high degree of wealth. His son
Astyages reigned peacefully thirty-five years.
Babylon, under Nabonassar, became independent of Assyria, B.
C. 747. Merodach-baladan, the fifth native king, was twice
deposed, by Sargon and Sennacherib, and the country again
remained forty-two years under Assyrian rule. It was delivered
by Nabopolassar, whose still more powerful son, Nebuchadnezzar,
gained great victories over the kings of Judah and Egypt,
replacing the latter with viceroys of his own, and transporting
the former, with the princes, nobles, and sacred treasures of
Jerusalem, to Babylon. By a thirteen years’ siege, Tyre was
subdued and all Phœnicia conquered. From visions interpreted
by Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar learned the future rise and fall of
Asiatic empires. He constructed the Hanging Gardens, the walls
of Babylon, and many other public works. His pride was punished
by seven years’ degradation. Evil-merodach was murdered by
Nereglissar, who after four years bequeathed his crown to
Laborosoarchod. Nabonadius obtained the throne by violence,
and in concert with his son Belshazzar, tried to protect his
dominions against Cyrus; but Babylon was taken and the empire
overthrown, B. C. 538.
KINGDOMS OF ASIA MINOR.
=55.= The Anatolian peninsula, divided by its mountain chains into
several sections, was occupied from very ancient times by different
nations nearly equal in power. Of these, the PHRYGIANS were probably
the earliest settlers, and at one time occupied the whole peninsula.
Successive immigrations from the east and west pressed them inward from
the coast, but they still had the advantage of a large and fertile
territory. They were a brave but rather brutal race, chiefly occupied
with agriculture, and especially the raising of the vine.
=56.= The Phrygians came from the mountains of Armenia, whence they
brought a tradition of the Flood, and of the resting of the ark on
Mount Ararat. They were accustomed, in primitive times, to hollow their
habitations out of the rock of the Anatolian hills, and many of these
rock cities may be found in all parts of Asia Minor. Before the time of
Homer, however, they had well-built towns and a flourishing commerce.
=57.= Their religion consisted of many dark and mysterious rites, some of
which were afterward copied by the Greeks. The worship of Cyb´ele, and
of Saba´zius, god of the vine, was accompanied by the wildest music and
dances. The capital of Phrygia was Gor´dium, on the Sanga´rius. The kings
were alternately called Gor´dias and Mi´das, but we have no chronological
lists. Phrygia became a province of Lydia B. C. 560.
=58.= In later times LYDIA became the greatest kingdom in Asia Minor,
both in wealth and power, absorbing in its dominion the whole peninsula,
except Lycia, Cilicia, and Cappadocia. Three dynasties successively bore
rule: the _Atyadæ_, before 1200 B. C.; the _Heraclidæ_, for the next
505 years; and the _Mermnadæ_, from B. C. 694 until 546, when Crœsus,
the last and greatest monarch, was conquered by the Persians. The name
of this king has become proverbial from his enormous wealth. When
associated with his father as crown prince, he was visited by Solon of
Athens, who looked on all the splendor of the court with the coolness
of a philosopher. Annoyed by his indifference, the prince asked Solon
who, of all the men he had encountered in his travels, seemed to him
the happiest. To his astonishment, the wise man named two persons in
comparatively humble stations, but the one of whom was blessed with
dutiful children, and the other had died a triumphant and glorious death.
The vanity of Crœsus could no longer abstain from a direct effort to
extort a compliment. He asked if Solon did not consider him a happy man.
The philosopher gravely replied that, such were the vicissitudes of life,
no man, in his opinion, could safely be pronounced happy until his life
was ended.
=59.= Crœsus extended his power over not only the whole Anatolian
peninsula, but the Greek islands both of the Ægean and Ionian seas. He
made an alliance with Sparta, Egypt, and Babylon to resist the growing
empire of Cyrus; but his precautions were ineffectual; he was defeated
and made prisoner. He is said to have been bound upon a funeral pile, or
altar, near the gate of his capital, when he recalled with anguish of
heart the words of the Athenian sage, and three times uttered his name,
“Solon, Solon, Solon!” Cyrus, who was regarding the scene with curiosity,
ordered his interpreters to inquire what god or man he had thus invoked
in his distress. The captive king replied that it was the name of a man
with whom he wished that every monarch might be acquainted; and described
the visit and conversation of the serene philosopher who had remained
undazzled by his splendor. The conqueror was inspired with a more
generous emotion by the remembrance that he, too, was mortal; he caused
Crœsus to be released and to dwell with him as a friend.
KINGS OF LYDIA.
Of the First and Second Dynasties, the names are only partially known,
and dates are wanting.
_Atyadæ_ _Heraclidæ, last six:_ _Mermnadæ:_
Manes, Adyattes I, Gyges, B. C. 694-678.
Atys, Ardys, Ardys, ” 678-629.
Lydus, Adyattes II, Sadyattes, ” 629-617.
Meles, Meles, Alyattes, ” 617-560.
Myrsus, Crœsus, ” 560-546.
Candaules.
PHŒNICIA.
=60.= The small strip of land between Mount Lebanon and the sea was more
important to the ancient world than its size would indicate. Here arose
the first great commercial cities, and Phœnician vessels wove a web of
peaceful intercourse between the nations of Asia, Africa, and Europe.
=61.= Sidon was probably the most ancient, and until B. C. 1050, the
most flourishing, of all the Phœnician communities. About that year
the Philistines of Askalon gained a victory over Sidon, and the exiled
inhabitants took refuge in the rival city of Tyre. Henceforth the
daughter surpassed the mother in wealth and power. When Herodotus visited
Tyre, he found a temple of Hercules which claimed to be 2,300 years old.
This would give Tyre an antiquity of 2,750 years B. C.
=62.= Other chief cities of Phœnicia were Bery´tus (Beirût), Byb´lus,
Tri´polis, and Ara´dus. Each with its surrounding territory made an
independent state. Occasionally in times of danger they formed themselves
into a league, under the direction of the most powerful; but the name
Phœnicia applies merely to territory, not to a single well organized
state, nor even to a permanent confederacy. Each city was ruled by its
king, but a strong priestly influence and a powerful aristocracy, either
of birth or wealth, restrained the despotic inclinations of the monarch.
=63.= The commerce of the Phœnician cities had no rival in the earlier
centuries of their prosperity. Their trading stations sprang up rapidly
along the coasts and upon the islands of the Mediterranean; and even
beyond the Pillars of Hercules, their city of Gades (Kadesh), the modern
Cadiz, looked out upon the Atlantic. These remote colonies were only
starting points from which voyages were made into still more distant
regions. Merchantmen from Cadiz explored the western coasts of Africa and
Europe. From the stations on the Red Sea, trading vessels were fitted out
for India and Ceylon.
=64.= At a later period, the Greeks absorbed the commerce of the
Euxine and the Ægean, while Carthage claimed her share in the Western
Mediterranean and the Atlantic. By this time, however, Western Asia was
more tranquil under the later Assyrian and Babylonian monarchs; and the
wealth of Babylon attracted merchant trains from Tyre across the Syrian
Desert by way of Tadmor. Other caravans moved northward, and exchanged
the products of Phœnician industry for the horses, mules, slaves, and
copper utensils of Armenia and Cappadocia. A friendly intercourse was
always maintained with Jerusalem, and a land-traffic with the Red Sea,
which was frequented by Phœnician fleets. Gold from Ophir, pearls
and diamonds from Eastern India and Ceylon, silver from Spain, linen
embroidery from Egypt, apes from Western Africa, tin from the British
Isles, and amber from the Baltic, might be found in the cargoes of Tyrian
vessels.
=65.= The Phœnicians in general were merchants, rather than
manufacturers; but their bronzes and vessels in gold and silver, as well
as other works in metal, had a high repute. They claimed the invention of
glass, which they manufactured into many articles of use and ornament.
But the most famous of their products was the “Tyrian purple,” which they
obtained in minute drops from the two shell-fish, the _buccinum_ and
_murex_, and by means of which they gave a high value to their fabrics of
wool.
=66.= About the time of Pygma´lion, the warlike expeditions of
Shalmaneser II overpowered the Phœnician towns, and for more than two
hundred years they remained tributary to the Assyrian Empire. Frequent
but usually vain attempts were made, during the latter half of this
period, to throw off the yoke. With the fall of Nineveh it is probable
that Phœnicia became independent.
=67.= B. C. 608. It was soon reduced, however, by Necho of Egypt, who
added all Syria to his dominions, and held Phœnicia dependent until he
himself was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar (B. C. 605) at Carchemish.
The captive cities were only transferred to a new master; but, in 598,
Tyre revolted against the Babylonian, and sustained a siege of thirteen
years. When at length she was compelled to submit, the conqueror found no
plunder to reward the extreme severity of his labors, for the inhabitants
had secretly removed their treasures to an island half a mile distant,
where New Tyre soon excelled the splendor of the Old.
=68.= Phœnicia remained subject to Babylon until that power was overcome
by the new empire of Cyrus the Great. The local government was carried on
by native kings or judges, who paid tribute to the Babylonian king.
=69.= The religion of the Phœnicians was degraded by many cruel and
uncleanly rites. Their chief divinities, Baal and Astar´te, or Ashtaroth,
represented the sun and moon. Baal was worshiped in groves on high
places, sometimes, like the Ammonian Moloch, with burnt-offerings
of human beings; always with wild, fanatical rites, his votaries
crying aloud and cutting themselves with knives. Melcarth, the Tyrian
Hercules, was worshiped only at Tyre and her colonies. His symbol was
an ever-burning fire, and he probably shared with Baal the character
of a sun-god. The marine deities were of especial importance to these
commercial cities. Chief of these were Posi´don, Ne´reus, and Pontus. Of
lower rank, but not less constantly remembered, were the little Cabi´ri,
whose images formed the figure-heads of Phœnician ships. The seat of
their worship was at Berytus.
=70.= The Phœnicians were less idolatrous than the Egyptians, Greeks,
or Romans; for their temples contained either no visible image of their
deities, or only a rude symbol like the conical stone which was held to
represent Astarte.
KINGS OF TYRE.
_First Period._
Abibaal, partly contemporary with David in Israel.
Hiram, his son, friend of David and Solomon, B. C. 1025-991.
Balea´zar, ” 991-984.
Abdastar´tus, ” 984-975.
One of his assassins, whose name is unknown, ” 975-963.
Astartus, ” 963-951.
Aser´ymus, his brother, ” 951-942.
Phales, another brother, who murdered Aserymus, ” 942-941.
Ethba´al,[9] high priest of Astarte, ” 941-909.
Bade´zor, his son, ” 909-903.
Matgen, son of Badezor and father of Dido, ” 903-871.
Pygmalion, brother of Dido, ” 871-824.
For 227 years Tyre remained tributary to the Eastern Monarchies, and we
have no list of her native rulers.
_Second Period._
Ethbaal II, contemporary with Nebuchadnezzar, B. C. 597-573.
Baal, ” 573-563.
Ec´niba´al, judge for three months, ” 563.
Chel´bes, judge ten months, ” 563-562.
Abba´rus, judge three months, ” 562.
Mytgon and Gerastar´tus, judges five years, ” 562-557.
Bala´tor, king, ” 557-556.
Merbal, king, ” 556-552.
Hiram, king, ” 552-532.
SYRIA.
=71.= Syria Proper was divided between several states, of which the most
important in ancient times was Damascus, with its territory, a fertile
country between Anti-Lebanon and the Syrian Desert. Beside this were
the northern Hittites, whose chief city was Carchemish; the southern
Hittites, in the region of the Dead Sea; the Pate´na on the lower, and
Hamath on the upper Orontes.
=72.= Damascus, on the Abana, is among the oldest cities in the world.
It resisted the conquering arms of David and Solomon, who, with this
exception, reigned over all the land between the Jordan and the
Euphrates; and it continued to be a hostile and formidable neighbor to
the Hebrew monarchy, until Jews, Israelites, and Syrians were all alike
overwhelmed by the growth of the Assyrian Empire.
KINGS OF DAMASCUS.
Hadad, contemporary with David, about B. C. 1040.
Rezon, ” Solomon, ” 1000.
Tab-rimmon, ” Abijah, ” 960-950.
Ben-hadad I, ” Baasha and Asa, ” 950-920.
Ben-hadad II, ” Ahab, ” 900.
Hazael, ” Jehu and Shalmaneser II, ” 850.
Ben-hadad III, ” Jehoahaz, ” 840.
Unknown until Rezin, ” Ahaz of Judah, ” 745-732.
JUDÆA.
=73.= The history of the Hebrew race is better known to us than that of
any other people equally ancient, because it has been carefully preserved
in the sacred writings. The separation of this race for its peculiar and
important part in the world’s history, began with the call of Abraham
from his home, near the Euphrates, to the more western country on the
Mediterranean, which was promised to himself and his descendants. The
story of his sons and grandsons, before and during their residence in
Egypt, belongs, however, to family rather than national history. Their
numbers increased until they became objects of apprehension to the
Egyptians, who tried to break their spirit by servitude. At length, Moses
grew up under the fostering care of Pharaoh himself; and after a forty
years’ retirement in the deserts of Midian, adding the dignity of age
and lonely meditation to the “learning of the Egyptians,” he became the
liberator and law-giver of his people.
=74.= The history of the Jewish nation begins with the night of their
exodus from Egypt. The people were mustered according to their tribes,
which bore the names of the twelve sons of Jacob, the grandson of
Abraham. The sons of Joseph, however, received each a portion and gave
their names to the two tribes of Ephraim and Manas´seh. The family
of Jacob went into Egypt numbering sixty-seven persons; it went out
numbering 603,550 warriors, not counting the Levites, who were exempted
from military duty that they might have charge of the tabernacle and the
vessels used in worship.
=75.= After long marches and countermarches through the Arabian
desert—needful to arouse the spirit of a free people from the cowed
and groveling habits of the slave, as well as to counteract the long
example of idolatry by direct Divine revelation of a pure and spiritual
worship—the Israelites were led into the land promised to Abraham, which
lay chiefly between the Jordan and the sea. Two and a half of the twelve
tribes—Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh—preferred the fertile
pastures east of the Jordan; and on condition of aiding their brethren in
the conquest of their more westerly territory, received their allotted
portion there.
=76.= Moses, their great leader through the desert, died outside the
Promised Land, and was buried in the land of Moab. His lieutenant,
Joshua, conquered Palestine and divided it among the tribes. The
inhabitants of Gibeon hastened to make peace with the invaders by a
stratagem. Though their falsehood was soon discovered, Joshua was
faithful to his oath already taken, and the Gibeonites escaped the usual
fate of extermination pronounced upon the inhabitants of Canaan, by
becoming servants and tributaries to the Hebrews.
=77.= The kings of Palestine now assembled their forces to besiege the
traitor city, in revenge for its alliance with the strangers. Joshua
hastened to its assistance, and in the great battle of Beth-horon
defeated, routed, and destroyed the armies of the five kings. This
conflict decided the possession of central and southern Palestine. Jabin,
“king of Canaan,” still made a stand in his fortress of Hazor, in the
north. The conquered kings had probably been in some degree dependent
on him as their superior, if not their sovereign. He now mustered all
the tribes which had not fallen under the sword of the Israelites, and
encountered Joshua at the waters of Merom. The Canaanites had horses and
chariots; the Hebrews were on foot, but their victory was as complete
and decisive as at Beth-horon. Hazor was taken and burnt, and its king
beheaded.
=78.= The nomads of the forty years in the desert now became a settled,
civilized, and agricultural people. Shiloh was the first permanent
sanctuary; there the tabernacle constructed in the desert was set up, and
became the shrine of the national worship.
=79.= Jewish History is properly divided into three periods:
I. From the Exodus to the establishment of the Monarchy, B. C.
1650-1095. (See Note, page 47.)
II. From the accession of Saul to the separation into two
kingdoms, B. C. 1095-975.
III. From the separation of the kingdoms to the Captivity at
Babylon, B. C. 975-586.
=80.= During the First Period the government of the Hebrews was a simple
theocracy, direction for all important movements being received through
the high priest from God himself. The rulers, from Moses down, claimed
no honors of royalty, but led the nation in war and judged it in peace
by general consent. They were designated to their office at once by
revelation from heaven, and by some special fitness in character or
person which was readily perceived. Thus the zeal and courage of Gideon,
the lofty spirit of Deb´orah, the strength of Samson, rendered them most
fit for command in the special emergencies at which they arose. The
“Judge” usually appeared at some time of danger or calamity, when the
people would gladly welcome any deliverer; and his power, once conferred,
lasted during his life.
After his death a long interval usually occurred, during which “every
man did that which was right in his own eyes,” until a new invasion
by Philis´tines, Ammonites, or Zidonians called for a new leader. The
chronology of this period is very uncertain, as the sacred writers only
incidentally mention the time of events, and their records are not always
continuous. The system of chronology was not settled until a later
period.
RULERS AND JUDGES OF ISRAEL.
_Under the Theocracy._
Moses, liberator, law-giver, and judge, 40 years
Joshua, conqueror of Palestine, and judge, 25 ”
Anarchy, idolatry, submission to foreign rulers, 20 _or_ 30 ”
Servitude under Chushan-rishathaim of Mesopotamia, 8 ”
Othniel, deliverer and judge, 40 ”
Servitude under Eglon, king of Moab, 18 ”
{Ehud,
{Shamgar. In these two reigns the land has rest, 80 ”
Servitude under Jabin, king of Canaan, 20 ”
Deborah, 40 ”
Servitude under Midian, 7 ”
Gideon, 40 ”
Abimelech, king, 3 ”
Interregnum of unknown duration, —
Tola, judge, 23 ”
Jair, judge, 22 ”
Idolatry and anarchy, 5 ”
Servitude under Philistines and Ammonites, 18 ”
Jephthah, 6 ”
Ibzan, 7 ”
Elon, 10 ”
Abdon, 8 ”
Servitude under Philistines, 40 ”
Samson, during last half of this period, rules south-western
Palestine, 20 ”
Eli, high priest, and judge in south-western Palestine, 40 ”
Samuel, the last of the judges, arises after interregnum of, 20 ”
=81.= SECOND PERIOD. The Israelites at length became dissatisfied with
the irregular nature of their government, and demanded a king. In
compliance with their wishes, Saul, the son of Kish, a young Benjamite
distinguished by beauty and loftiness of stature, was chosen by Divine
command, and anointed by Samuel, their aged prophet and judge.
=82.= He found the country in nearly the same condition in which Joshua
had left it. The people were farmers and shepherds; none were wealthy;
even the king had “no court, no palace, no extraordinary retinue; he was
still little more than leader in war and judge in peace.” The country was
still ravaged by Ammonites on one side, and Philistines on the other; and
under the recent incursions of the latter, the Israelites had become so
weak that they had no weapons nor armor, nor even any workers in iron. (1
Samuel xiii: 19, 20.)
=83.= Saul first defeated the Ammonites, who had overrun Gilead from the
east; then turned upon the Philistines, and humbled them in the battle of
Michmash, so that they were driven to defend themselves at home, instead
of invading Israel, until near the close of his reign. He waged war also
against the Am´alekites, Mo´abites, E´domites, and the Syrians of Zobah,
and “delivered Israel out of the hand of them that spoiled them.”
=84.= He forfeited the favor of God by disobedience, and David, his
future son-in-law, was anointed king. Jonathan, the son of Saul, was
a firm friend and protector of David against the jealous rage of his
father. Even the king himself, in his better moods, was moved to
admiration and affection by the heroic character of David.
=85.= In Saul’s declining years, the Philistines, under A´chish, king of
Gath, again invaded the country, and defeated the Israelites at Mount
Gilboa. Saul and all but one of his sons fell in the battle. Ishbo´sheth,
the surviving son, was acknowledged king in Gilead, and ruled all the
tribes except Judah for seven years. But David was crowned in Hebron, and
reigned over his own tribe until the death of Ishbosheth, when he became
ruler of the whole nation.
[Illustration: JERUSALEM.]
=86.= He conquered Jerusalem from the Jeb´usites, made it his capital,
and established a kingly court such as Israel had never known. The ark
of the covenant was removed from its temporary abode at Kirjathje´arim,
and Jerusalem became henceforth the Holy City, the seat of the national
religion as well as of the government.
=87.= The wars of David were still more victorious than those of Saul,
and the empire of Israel was now extended from the borders of the Red Sea
to those of the Euphrates. Moab was rendered tributary, the Philistines
punished, and all the Syrian tribes east and north of Palestine subdued.
(2 Samuel viii.)
=88.= Great as was the military glory of David, his fame with later
times is derived from his psalms and songs. He was the first great poet
of Israel, and perhaps the earliest in the world. The freshness of
the pastures and mountain-sides among which his youth was passed, the
assurance of Divine protection amid the singular and romantic incidents
of his varied career, the enlargement of his horizon of thought with the
magnificent dominion which was added to him in later life, all gave a
richness and depth to his experience, which were reproduced in sacred
melody, and found their fitting place in the temple service; and every
form of Jewish and Christian worship since his time has been enriched by
the poetry of David.
=89.= This great hero and poet was not exempt from common human sins and
follies, and the only disasters of his reign sprang directly from his
errors. The consequences of his plurality of wives, in the jealousies
which arose between the different families of princes, distracted his
old age with a succession of crimes and sorrows. His sons Ab´salom and
Adoni´jah at different times plotted against him and assumed the crown.
Both were punished for their treason, the one by death in battle, the
other by the sentence of Solomon after his father’s death.
[Sidenote: B. C. 1015.]
=90.= Solomon, the favorite son of David, succeeded to a peaceful
kingdom. All the neighboring nations acknowledged his dignity, and the
king of Egypt gave him his daughter in marriage. The Israelites were
now the dominant race in Syria. Many monarchs were tributary to the
great king, and the court of Jerusalem rivaled in its splendors those of
Nineveh and Memphis.
=91.= Commerce received a great impulse both from the enterprise and the
luxury of the king. Hiram, king of Tyre, was a firm friend of Solomon, as
he had been of David his father. Cedars were brought from the forests of
Lebanon for the construction of a palace and temple. Through his alliance
with Hiram, Solomon was admitted to a share in Tyrian trade; and by the
influence of Pharaoh, his father-in-law, he gained from the Edomites the
port of Ezion-ge´ber, on the Red Sea, where he caused a great fleet of
merchant vessels to be constructed. Through these different channels of
commerce, the rarest products of Europe, Asia, and Africa were poured
into Jerusalem. Gold and precious stones, sandalwood and spices from
India, silver from Spain, ivory from Africa, added to the luxury of the
court. Horses from Egypt, now first introduced into Palestine, filled the
royal stables. By tribute as well as trade, a constant stream of gold and
silver flowed into Palestine.
=92.= The greatest work of Solomon was the Temple on Mount Moriah, which
became the permanent abode of the ark of the covenant, and the holy place
toward which the prayers of Israelites, though scattered throughout the
world, have ever turned. The temple precincts included apartments for
the priests, and towers for defense, so that it has been said that the
various purposes of forum, fortress, university, and sanctuary were here
combined in one great national building. The superior skill of the
Phœnicians in working in wood and metal, was enlisted by Solomon in the
service of the temple. Hiram, the chief architect and sculptor, was half
Tyrian, half Israelite, and his genius was held in equal reverence by the
two kings who claimed his allegiance. More than seven years were occupied
in the building of the temple. The Feast of the Dedication drew together
a vast concourse of people from both extremities of the land—“from Hamath
to the River of Egypt.” And so important is this event as a turning point
in the history of the Jews, that it constitutes the beginning of their
connected record of months and years.
=93.= The early days of Solomon were distinguished by all the virtues
which could adorn a prince. In humble consciousness of the greatness of
the duties assigned him, and the insufficiency of his powers, he chose
wisdom rather than long life or riches or great dominion, and he was
rewarded by the possession of even that which he had not asked. His
wisdom became greater than that of all the philosophers of the East; his
knowledge of natural history, improved by the collections of rare plants
and curious animals which he gathered from all parts of the world, was
considered miraculous. (1 Kings iii: 5-15; iv: 29-34.)
=94.= But prosperity corrupted his character. He introduced the
licentious luxury of an Oriental court into the Holy City of David, and
even encouraged the degrading rites of heathen worship. His commerce
enriched himself, not his people. His enormous and expensive court was
sustained by the most exhausting taxes. The great public works which he
carried on withdrew vast numbers of men from the tillage of the soil, and
thus lessened the national resources.
[Sidenote: B. C. 975.]
=95.= The glory of Solomon dazzled the people and silenced their
complaints, but on the accession of his son the smothered discontent
broke forth. Rehobo´am, instead of soothing his subjects by needed
reforms, incensed them by his haughty refusal to lighten their burdens.
(1 Kings xii: 13, 14.) The greater number of the people immediately
revolted, under the lead of Jerobo´am, who established a rival
sovereignty over the Ten Tribes, henceforth to be known as the Kingdom of
Israel. The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to the house
of David.
KINGS OF THE UNITED MONARCHY.
Saul, B. C. 1095-1055.
David at Hebron, and Ishbosheth at Mahanaim, ” 1055-1048.
David, over all Israel, ” 1048-1015.
Solomon, ” 1015-975.
=96.= THIRD PERIOD. The Kingdom of Israel had the more extensive and
fertile territory, and its population was double that of Judah. It
extended from the borders of Damascus to within ten miles of Jerusalem;
included the whole territory east of the Jordan, and held Moab as a
tributary. But it had no capital equal in strength, beauty, or sacred
associations to Jerusalem. The government was fixed first at She´chem,
then at Tir´zah, then at Sama´ria.
=97.= Its first king, Jeroboam, in order to break the strongest tie which
bound the people to the house of David, made golden calves for idols, and
set up sanctuaries in Bethel and Dan, saying, “It is too much for you to
go up to Jerusalem; behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out
of the land of Egypt!” A new priesthood was appointed in opposition to
that of Aaron, and many Levites and other faithful adherents of the old
religion emigrated into the kingdom of Judah.
=98.= The people too readily fell into the snare. A succession of
prophets, gifted with wonderful powers, strove to keep alive the true
worship; but the poison of idolatry had entered so deeply into the
national life, that it was ready to fall upon the first assault from
without. In the time of Elijah, only seven thousand were left who had not
“bowed the knee unto Baal;” and even these were unknown to the prophet,
being compelled by persecution to conceal their religion.
=99.= The kings of Israel belonged to nine different families, of which
only two, those of Omri and Jehu, held the throne any considerable
time. Almost all the nineteen kings had short reigns, and eight died
by violence. The kingdom was frequently distracted by wars with Judah,
Damascus, and Assyria. Jeroboam was aided in his war with Judah by his
friend and patron in days of exile, Shishak, king of Egypt. Nadab, son
of Jeroboam, was murdered by Baasha, who made himself king. This monarch
began to build the fortress of Ramah, by which he intended to hold the
Jewish frontier, but was compelled to desist by Ben-hadad, of Syria, who
thus testified his friendship for Asa, king of Judah.
=100.= Ahab, of the house of Omri, allied himself with Ethbaal, king of
Tyre, by marrying his daughter Jez´ebel; and the arts of this wicked
and idolatrous princess brought the kingdom to its lowest pitch of
corruption. Her schemes were resisted by Elijah the Tishbite, one of the
greatest of the prophets, who, in a memorable encounter on Mount Carmel,
led the people to reaffirm their faith in Jehovah and exterminate the
priests of Baal. (1 Kings xviii: 17-40.) The evil influence of Jezebel
and the Tyrian idolatry were not removed from Israel until she herself
and her son Jehoram had been murdered by order of Jehu, a captain of the
guard, who became first of a new dynasty of kings. Jehu lost all his
territories east of the Jordan in war with Hazael, of Damascus, and paid
tribute, at least on one occasion, to Asshur-nazir-pal, of Assyria.[10]
His son Jehoahaz also lost cities to the Syrian king; but Joash,
the grandson of Jehu, revived the Israelite conquests. He defeated
Ben-hadad, son of Hazael, and won back part of the conquered territory.
His son, Jeroboam II, had the longest and most prosperous reign in the
annals of the Ten Tribes. He not only regained all the former possessions
of Israel, but captured Hamath and Damascus. But this was the end of
Israelite prosperity. Two short reigns followed, each ended by an
assassination, and then Men´ahem of Tirzah made a vain attempt to renew
the glories of Jeroboam II by an expedition to the Euphrates. He captured
Thapsacus, but drew upon himself the vengeance of Pul, king of Chaldæa,
who invaded his dominions and made Menahem his vassal.
=101.= In the later years of Israelite history, Tiglath-pileser, king
of Assyria, desolated the country east of the Jordan, and threatened
the extinction of the kingdom. Hosh´ea, the last king, acknowledged his
dependence upon the Assyrian Empire, and agreed to pay tribute; but he
afterward strengthened himself by an alliance with Egypt, and revolted
against his master. Shalmaneser came to chastise this defection, and
besieged Samaria two years. At length it fell, and the disgraceful annals
of the Israelite kingdom came to an end.
=102.= According to the despotic custom of Eastern monarchs, the people
were transported to Media and the provinces of Assyria; and for a time
the country was so desolate that wild beasts multiplied in the cities.
People were afterward brought from Babylon and the surrounding country to
take the places of the former inhabitants.
KINGS OF ISRAEL.
Jeroboam, B. C. 975-954.
Nadab, ” 954-953.
Baasha, ” 953-930.
Elah, ” 930-929.
Zimri, slew Elah and reigned 7 days, ” 929.
Omri, captain of the host under Elah, ” 929-918.
Ahab, ” 918-897.
Ahaziah, ” 897-896.
Jehoram, ” 896-884.
Jehu, ” 884-856.
Jehoahaz, ” 856-839.
Joash, ” 839-823.
Jeroboam II, ” 823-772.
Zechariah, reigned 6 months, ” 772.
Shallum, murdered Zechariah and was himself murdered, ” 772.
Menahem, ” 772-762.
Pekahiah, ” 762-760.
Pekah, ” 760-730.
Hoshea, ” 730-721.
=103.= The Kingdom of Judah began its separate existence at the same time
with that of revolted Israel, but survived it 135 years. It consisted of
the two entire tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with numerous refugees from
the other ten, who were willing to sacrifice home and landed possessions
for their faith. The people were thus closely bound together by their
common interest in the marvelous traditions of the past and hopes for the
future.
=104.= Notwithstanding danger from numerous enemies, situated as it was
on the direct road between the two great rival empires of Egypt and
Assyria, this little kingdom maintained its existence during nearly four
centuries; and, unlike Israel, was governed during all that time by kings
of one family, the house of David.
The first king, Rehoboam, saw his capital seized and plundered by
Shi´shak, king of Egypt, and had to maintain a constant warfare with the
revolted tribes. Abijam, his son, gained a great victory over Jeroboam,
by which he recovered the ancient sanctuary of Bethel and many other
towns. Asa was attacked both by the Israelites on the north and the
Egyptians on the south, but defended himself victoriously from both. With
all the remaining treasures of the temple and palace, he secured the
alliance of Ben-hadad, king of Damascus, who, by attacking the northern
cities of Israel, drew Baasha away from building the fortress of Ramah.
The stones and timbers which Baasha had collected were carried away, by
order of Asa, to his own cities of Geba in Benjamin, and Mizpeh in Judah.
=105.= Jehosh´aphat, son of Asa, allied himself with Ahab, king of
Israel, whom he assisted in his Syrian wars. This ill-fated alliance
brought the poison of Tyrian idolatry into the kingdom of Judah. In
the reign of Jehoram, who married the daughter of Ahab, Jerusalem was
captured by Philistines and Arabs. His son, Ahaziah, while visiting
his Israelitish kindred, was involved in the destruction of the house
of Ahab; and after his death his mother, Athali´ah, a true daughter of
Jezebel, murdered all her grandchildren but one, usurped the throne for
six years, and replaced the worship of Jehovah with that of Baal. But
Jehoi´ada, the high priest, revolted against her, placed her grandson,
Joash, on the throne, and kept the kingdom clear, so long as he lived,
from the taint of idolatry.
=106.= Amaziah, the son of Joash, captured Pe´tra from the Edomites, but
lost his own capital to the king of Israel, who carried away all its
treasures. Azariah, his son, conquered the Philistines and the Arabs,
and reëstablished on the Red Sea the port of Elath, which had fallen
into decay since the days of Solomon. During a long and prosperous reign
he strengthened the defenses of Jerusalem, reorganized his army, and
improved the tillage of the country. But he presumed upon his dignity and
the excellence of his former conduct to encroach upon the office of the
priests, and was punished by a sudden leprosy, which separated him from
human society the rest of his days. In the reign of Ahaz, his grandson,
Jerusalem was besieged by the kings of Israel and Syria, who carried
away from Judah two hundred thousand captives. Ahaz invoked the aid of
Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, and became his tributary. The Assyrian
conquered Damascus, and thus relieved Jerusalem. Ahaz filled the cities
of Judah with altars of false gods, and left his kingdom more deeply
stained than ever with idolatry.
=107.= Hezekiah, his son, delivered the land from foreign dominion
and from heathen superstitions. He became for a time tributary to
Sennacherib, but afterward revolted and made an alliance with Egypt.
During a second invasion, the army of Sennacherib was destroyed and his
designs abandoned; but the kingdom of Judah continued to be dependent
upon the empire.
=108.= Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, brought back all the evil which
his father had expelled. Even the temple at Jerusalem was profaned by
idols and their altars, and the Law disappeared from the sight and memory
of the people, while those who tried to remain faithful to the God of
their fathers were violently persecuted. In the midst of this impiety,
Manasseh fell into disgrace with the Assyrian king, who suspected him of
an intention to revolt. He was carried captive to Babylon, where he had
leisure to reflect upon his sins and their punishment. On his return to
Jerusalem, he confessed and forsook his errors, and wrought a religious
reformation in his kingdom.
=109.= His son Amon restored idolatry; but his life and reign were
speedily ended by a conspiracy of his servants, who slew him in his own
house.
The assassins were punished with death, and Josiah, the rightful heir,
ascended the throne at the age of eight years. He devoted himself with
pious zeal and energy to the cleansing of his kingdom from the traces
of heathen worship; carved and molten images and altars were ground to
powder and strewn over the graves of those who had officiated in the
sacrilegious rites. The king journeyed in person not only through the
cities of Judah, but through the whole desolate land of Israel, as far
as the borders of Naphtali and the upper waters of the Jordan, that he
might witness the extermination of idolatry. This part of his work being
completed, he returned to Jerusalem to repair the Temple of Solomon,
which had fallen into ruins, and restore, in all its original solemnity,
the worship of Jehovah.
=110.= In the progress of repairs an inestimable manuscript was found,
being no less than the “Book of the Law of the Lord, given by the hand of
Moses.” These sacred writings had been so long lost, that even the king
and the priests were ignorant of the curses that had been pronounced upon
idolatry. The tender conscience of the king was overwhelmed with distress
as he read the pure and perfect Law, which presented so stern a contrast
with the morals of the people; but he was comforted with the promise that
he should be gathered to his grave in peace before the calamities which
the Law foretold, and the sins of Judah had deserved, should come upon
the kingdom. In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign a grand passover
was held, to which all the inhabitants of the northern kingdom who
remained from the captivity were invited. This great religious festival,
which signalized the birth of the nation and its first deliverance, had
not been kept with equal solemnity since the days of Samuel the prophet.
The entire manuscript lately discovered was read aloud by the king
himself in the hearing of all the people, and the whole assembly swore to
renew and maintain the covenant made of old with their fathers.
[Sidenote: B. C. 634-632.]
=111.= The end of Josiah’s reign was marked by two great calamities. A
wild horde of Scythians,[11] from the northern steppes, swept over the
land, carrying off flocks and herds. They advanced as far as As´calon, on
the south-western coast, where they plundered the temple of Astarte, and
were then induced to retire by the bribes of the king of Egypt. One trace
of their incursion remained a thousand years, in the new name of the old
city Bethshan, on the plain of Esdrae´lon. It was named by the Greeks
Scythopolis, or the city of the Scythians. This was the first eruption of
northern barbarians upon the old and civilized nations of southern Asia
and Europe. Later events in the same series will occupy a large portion
of our history.
[Sidenote: B. C. 609.]
=112.= The other and greater calamity of Josiah’s reign arose from a
different quarter. Necho, king of Egypt, had become alarmed by the growth
of Babylonian power, and was marching northward with a great army. Though
in no way the object of his hostility, Josiah imprudently went forth to
meet him, hoping to arrest his progress in the plain of Esdraelon. The
battle of Megid´do followed, and Josiah was slain. Never had so great a
sorrow befallen the Jewish people. The prophet Jeremiah, a friend and
companion of Josiah from his youth, bewailed the nation’s loss in his
most bitter “Lamentation”: “The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of
the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow
we shall live among the heathen.” For more than a hundred years the
anniversary of the fatal day was observed as a time of mourning in every
family.
=113.= In the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, Nebuchadnezzar, prince
of Babylon, gained a great victory[12] over Necho, and extended his
father’s kingdom to the frontier of Egypt. Jehoiakim submitted to be
absorbed into the empire, but afterward revolted and was put to death.
Jehoiachin, his son, was made king; but, three months after his
accession, was carried captive to Babylon. Zedeki´ah, reigning at
Jerusalem, rebelled and allied himself with Apries, king of Egypt. Upon
this, the ever active Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to the revolted city.
In the second year it was taken and destroyed; the king and the whole
nation, with the treasures of the temple and palace, were conveyed to
Babylon, and the history of the Jews ceased for seventy years.
KINGS OF JUDAH.
Rehoboam, B. C. 975-958.
Abijam, ” 958-956.
Asa, ” 956-916.
Jehoshaphat, ” 916-892.
Jehoram, ” 892-885.
Ahaziah, slain by Jehu after 1 year, ” 885-884.
Athaliah, murders her grandchildren and reigns, ” 884-878.
Joash, son of Ahaziah, ” 878-838.
Amaziah, ” 838-809.
Azariah, or Uzziah, ” 809-757.
Jotham, ” 757-742.
Ahaz, ” 742-726.
Hezekiah, ” 726-697.
Manasseh, ” 697-642.
Amon, ” 642-640.
Josiah, ” 640-609.
Jehoahaz, dethroned by Necho after 3 months, ” 609.
Jehoiakim, tributary to Necho 4 years, ” 609-598.
Jehoiachin, ” 598-597.
Zedekiah, ” 597-586.
RECAPITULATION.
The Phrygians, earliest settlers of Asia Minor, were active
in tillage and trade, and zealous in their peculiar religion.
Lydia afterward became the chief power in the peninsula. At the
end of three dynasties, it had reached its greatest glory under
Crœsus, when it was conquered by Cyrus, and became a province
of Persia, B. C. 546.
The first great commercial communities in the world were the
Phœnician cities, of which Sidon and Tyre were the chief; their
trade extending by sea from Britain to Ceylon, and by land to
the interior of three continents. Tyrian dyes, and vessels of
gold, silver, bronze, and glass were celebrated. Phœnicia was
subject four hundred years to the Assyrian Empire, and became
independent at its fall, only to pass under the power of Necho
of Egypt, and, in turn, to be subdued by Nebuchadnezzar of
Babylon. Baal, Astarte, Melcarth, and the marine deities were
objects of Phœnician worship.
Syria Proper was divided into five states, of which Damascus
was the oldest and most important.
The Hebrew nation began its existence under the rule of
Moses, who led his people forth from Egypt, and through the
Arabian Desert, in a journey of forty years. Joshua conquered
Palestine by the two decisive battles of Beth-horon and the
waters of Merom, and divided the land among the twelve tribes.
Judges ruled Israel nearly six hundred years.
Saul, being anointed as king, subdued the enemies of the Jews;
but, becoming disobedient, he was slain in battle, and David
became king, first of Judah, and afterward of all Israel. He
made Jerusalem his capital, and extended his dominion over
Syria and Moab, and eastward to the Euphrates. His sacred
songs are the source of his enduring fame. Solomon inherited
the kingdom, which he enriched by commerce and adorned with
magnificent public works, both for sacred and secular uses. The
Dedication of the Temple is the great era in Hebrew chronology.
The wisdom of Solomon was widely famed, but the luxury of his
court exhausted his kingdom, and on the accession of Rehoboam
ten tribes revolted, only Judah and Benjamin remaining to the
house of David.
Jeroboam fixed his capital at Shechem, and the shrines of
his false gods at Bethel and Dan. In spite of the faithful
warnings of the prophets, the kingdom of Israel became
idolatrous. The nineteen kings who ruled B. C. 975-721 belonged
to nine different families. Ahab and Jezebel persecuted true
believers and established Tyrian idolatry; but their race was
exterminated and Jehu became king. The Ten Tribes reached their
greatest power and wealth under Jeroboam II. In the reign of
Menahem they became subject to Pul, of Chaldæa. A revolt of
Hoshea against Assyria led to the capture of Samaria, and the
captivity of both king and people.
The kingdom of Judah, with a smaller territory, had a
people more united in faith and loyalty, and was ruled four
hundred years by descendants of David. Jehoshaphat made a
close alliance with Ahab, which brought many calamities upon
Judah. In the reign of Jehoram, Jerusalem was taken by Arabs
and Philistines; and after the death of Ahaziah, Athaliah,
daughter of Jezebel, usurped the throne. Joash, her grandson,
was protected and crowned by Jehoiada, the high priest. The
prosperity of Judah was restored by the conquests and efficient
policy of Azariah. Ahaz became tributary to Tiglath-pileser,
of Assyria, and degraded his kingdom with idolatry. Hezekiah
resisted both the religion and the supremacy of the heathen.
Manasseh was carried captive to Babylon, and on his return
reformed his administration. Josiah cleansed the land from
marks of idolatry, rebuilt the Temple, discovered the Book
of the Law, and renewed the celebration of the Passover. The
Scythians invaded Palestine. Josiah was slain in the battle of
Megiddo, and his sons became vassals of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar
subdued both Egypt and Palestine, captured Jerusalem, and
transported two successive kings and the mass of the people to
Babylon.
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW.
BOOK I.—PART I.
1. What are the sources of historical information? §§ 1-4.
2. Describe the character and movements of the three families
of the sons of Noah. 5, 6.
3. Into what periods may history be divided? 7, 8.
4. Name six primeval monarchies in Western Asia.
5. What were the distinguishing features of the Chaldæan
Monarchy? 26.
6. Name the principal Assyrian kings of the Second Period. 29-31.
7. Who was Semiramis? 30.
8. Describe the founder of the Lower Assyrian Empire. 32.
9. What memorials exist of Sargon? 32.
10. Describe the career of Sennacherib. 33.
11. What was the condition of Assyria under Asshur-bani-pal? 34.
12. What under his son? 35.
13. What was the early history of Media? 37, 38.
14. What of Phraortes? 39.
15. Describe the reign of Cyaxares. 40, 41.
16. The character of the Babylonians. 43, 44.
17. The career of Merodach-baladan. 45.
18. The empire of Nabopolassar. 46.
19. The conquests and reverses of the greatest
Babylonian monarch. 47-52.
20. The decline and fall of Babylon. 53, 54.
21. Relate the whole history of Lydia. 58, 59.
22. Describe the Phœnician cities and their commerce. 61-64.
23. To what four kingdoms were they successively subject? 66-68.
24. Describe the religion of the Phœnicians. 69, 70.
25. What were the divisions of Syria Proper? 71, 72.
26. Describe the rise of the Jewish nation. 73, 74.
27. Their conquest of Palestine. 76, 77.
28. Their government during the First Period. 80.
29. The reign of Saul. 81-83.
30. The conquests and character of David. 84-89.
31. The acts and wisdom of Solomon. 90-94.
32. What changes occurred at his death? 95.
33. Compare the two kingdoms. 96-100, 105, 106.
34. What was the policy of Jeroboam? 97, 98.
35. Describe the reign of Ahab. 101.
36. What kings of Israel had dealing with Assyria? 100, 101.
37. Mention three kings of Judah who had wars with Israel. 104.
38. Three in alliance with Israel. 105.
39. Describe the reign of Azariah; of Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh. 106-108.
40. The events of Josiah’s reign. 109-112.
41. The relations of three kings with Babylon. 113.
NOTE.—A discrepancy will be found between the Egyptian and
the Hebrew chronology. The latter, before the accession of
Saul, is mainly conjectural; as it is possible that two or
more judges were reigning at the same time in different parts
of the land. The periods of the several judges and of foreign
servitude on p. 36, are copied literally from the Bible; the
times of inter-regnum are conjectured, but probably fall below
rather than exceed the truth. _If continuous_, these periods
added together make 535 years,—a longer interval than can be
found between the reign of Menephthah and that of Saul (§§ 79
and 154.) It may here be said that many historians believe the
“Pharaoh’s daughter” who rescued Moses to have been Mesphra or
Amen-set (§ 146.) In this case, Thothmes IV was the Pharaoh of
the Exodus, and we gain nearly 200 years for the transitional
period of the Hebrews.
It may be hoped that Egyptian MSS. now in the hands of diligent
and accomplished scholars will soon throw light on this
interesting question.
PART II. AFRICAN NATIONS.
GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINE OF AFRICA.
=114.= The continent of Africa differs in many important respects from
that of Asia. The latter, extending into three zones, has its greatest
extent in the most favored of all, the North Temperate. Africa is
almost wholly within the tropics, only a small portion of its northern
and southern extremities entering the two temperate zones, where their
climate is most nearly torrid. Asia has the loftiest mountains on the
globe, from which flow great rivers spreading fertility and affording
every means of navigation. Africa has but two great rivers, the Nile and
the Niger, and but few mountains of remarkable elevation.
=115.= Africa is thus the hottest, driest, and least accessible of the
continents. One-fifth of its surface is covered by the great sea of sand
which stretches from the Atlantic nearly to the Red Sea. Much of the
interior consists of marshes and impenetrable forests, haunted only by
wild beasts and unfit for human habitation. With the exception of a very
few favored portions, Africa is therefore unsuited to the growth of great
states; and it is only through two of these, Egypt and Carthage, that it
claims an important part in ancient history.
=116.= NORTHERN AFRICA alone was known to the ancients, and its features
were well marked and peculiar. Close along the Mediterranean lay a narrow
strip of fertile land, watered by short streams which descended from
the Atlas range. These mountains formed a rocky and scantily inhabited
region to the southward, though producing in certain portions abundance
of dates. Next came the Great Desert, varied only by a few small and
scattered oases, where springs of water nourished a rich vegetation.
South of the Sahara was a fertile inland country, near whose large rivers
and lakes were cities and a numerous population; but these central
African states were only visited by an occasional caravan which crossed
the desert from the north, and had no political connection with the rest
of the world.
=117.= In the western portion of Northern Africa, the mountains rise more
gradually by a series of natural terraces from the sea, and the fertile
country here attains a width of two hundred miles. This well watered,
fruitful, and comparatively healthful region, is one of the most favored
on the globe. In ancient times it was one vast corn-field from the Atlas
to the Mediterranean. Here the native kingdom of Maurita´nia flourished;
and after it was subdued by the Romans, the same fertile fields afforded
bread to the rest of the civilized world.
=118.= Eastward from Mauritania the plain becomes narrower, the rivers
fewer, and the soil less fertile, so that no great state, even if it had
originated there, could have long maintained itself. The north-eastern
corner of the continent, however, is the richest and most valuable of all
the lands it contains. This is owing to the great river which, rising in
the highlands of Abyssin´ia, and fed by the perpetual rains of Equatorial
Africa, rolls its vast body of waters from south to north, through a
valley three thousand miles in length. Every year in June it begins to
rise; from August to December it overflows the country, and deposits a
soil so rich that the farmer has only to cast his grain upon the retiring
waters, and abundant harvests spring up without further tillage.
=119.= The soil of Egypt was called by its inhabitants the “Gift of the
Nile.” In a climate almost without rain, this country without its river
would, indeed, have been only a ravine in the rocky and sandy desert;
as barren as Sahara itself. The prosperity of the year was, from the
earliest times, accurately measured by the Nilometers at Mem´phis and
Elephan´tine. If the water rose less than eighteen feet, famine ensued;
a rise of from eighteen to twenty-four feet betokened moderate harvests;
twenty-seven feet were considered “a good Nile;” a flood of thirty feet
was ruinous, for, in such a case, houses were undermined, cattle swept
away, the land rendered too spongy for the following seed-time, the labor
of the farmer was delayed, and often fevers were bred by the stagnant and
lingering waters. Usually, however, the Nile was the great benefactor
of the Egyptians, and was considered a fit emblem of the creating and
preserving Osi´ris. Its waters were carefully distributed by canals and
regulated by dykes. During the inundation, the country appeared like a
great inland lake girdled by mountains. Lower Egypt, or the Delta, was
compared by Herodotus to the Grecian Archipelago, dotted with villages
which appeared like white islands above the expanse of waters.
=120.= Lower Egypt is a vast plain; Upper Egypt a narrowing valley. The
fertile portion of the latter occupies only a part of the space between
the Lib´yan Desert and the sea. In its widest part it is less than
eleven, in its narrowest only five miles in width; and in some places
the granite or limestone cliff springs directly from the river. Being so
well fitted to support a numerous people, the whole valley of the Nile,
through Nubia and Abyssinia as well as Egypt, was very early colonized
from the opposite shores of Asia. The hair, features, and form of the
skull represented in the human figures on the monuments, prove the
dominant race in these countries to have been of the same great family
with the people on the neighboring peninsula of Arabia.
=121.= Before the conquests of the Persians, Northern Africa was divided
between five nations: the Egyptians, Ethiopians, Phœnicians, Libyans, and
Greeks.
=122.= The ETHIOPIANS occupied the Nile Valley above Egypt, including
what is now known as Abyssinia. The great plateau between the headwaters
of the Nile and the Red Sea is rendered fertile by frequent and abundant
rains; and the many streams which descend from it to the Nile cause in
part the yearly overflow which fertilizes Egypt. Mer´oë was the chief
city of the Ethiopians. Some learned men have supposed its monuments of
architecture and sculpture to be even older than those of Egypt.
=123.= Arabian traditions say that the inhabitants of the northern coasts
of Africa were descendants of the Canaanites whom the Children of Israel
drove out of Palestine. As late as the fourth century after Christ,
two pillars of white marble near Tangier still bore the inscription in
Phœnician characters: “We are they that fled from before the face of the
robber Joshua, the son of Nun.” Whether or not this legend expressed
a historical fact, it expressed the wide-spread belief of the people;
and it is well known by other evidence that the African coasts of the
Mediterranean were very early dotted with PHŒNICIAN settlements, such as
the two Hip´pos, U´tica, Tu´nes, Hadrume´tum, Lep´tis, and greatest of
all, though among the latest, Carthage.
=124.= The LIBYANS occupied a greater portion of Northern Africa than any
other nation, extending from the borders of Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean,
and from the Great Desert, with the exception of the foreign settlements
on the coast, to the Mediterranean Sea. They had, however, comparatively
little power, consisting chiefly as they did of wandering tribes,
destitute of settled government or fixed habitations. In the western
and more fertile portion, certain tribes of Libyans cultivated the soil
and became more nearly civilized; but these were soon subjected to the
growing power of the Phœnician colonies.
=125.= The GREEKS possessed a colony on that point of Northern Africa
which approached most nearly to their own peninsula. They founded Cyre´ne
about B. C. 630, and Barca about seventy years later. They had also a
colony at Naucra´tis in Egypt, and probably upon the greater oasis. The
history of these Grecian settlements will be found in Book III.
HISTORY OF EGYPT.
PERIODS.
I. The Old Empire, from earliest times to B. C. 1900.
II. Middle Empire, or that of the Shepherd Kings, ” 1900-1525.
III. The New Empire, ” 1525-525.
=126.= From the island of Elephantine to the sea, a distance of 526
miles the Nile Valley was occupied by EGYPT, a monarchy the most
ancient, with a history among the most wonderful in the world. While
other nations may be watched in their progress from ignorance and
rudeness to whatever art they have possessed, Egypt appears in the
earliest morning light of history “already skillful, erudite, and
strong.” Some of her buildings are older than the Migration of Abraham,
but the oldest of them show a skill in the quarrying, transporting,
carving, and joining of stone which modern architects admire but can not
surpass.
=127.= FIRST PERIOD. The early Egyptians believed that there had been a
time when their ancestors were savages and cannibals, dwelling in caves
in those ridges of sandstone which border the Nile Valley on the east;
and that their greatest benefactors were Osiris and Isis, who elevated
them into a devout and civilized nation, eating bread, drinking wine and
beer, and planting the olive. The worship of Osiris and Isis, therefore,
became prevalent throughout Egypt, while the several cities and provinces
had each its own local divinities. According to Manetho, a native
historian of later times,[13] gods, spirits, demigods, and _manes_, or
the souls of men, were the first rulers of Egypt. This is merely an
ancient way of saying that the earliest history of Egypt, as of most
other countries, is shrouded in ignorance and fabulous conjecture.
=128.= Instead of commencing its existence as a united kingdom, Egypt
consisted at first of a number of scattered _nomes_, or petty states,
each having for its nucleus a temple and a numerous establishment of
priests. Fifty-three of these nomes are mentioned by one historian,
thirty-six by another. As one became more powerful, it sometimes
swallowed up its neighbors, and grew into a kingdom which embraced a
large portion or even the whole of the country.
=129.= The first mortal king of Mis´raim, the “double land,” was Menes,
of This. His inheritance was in Upper Egypt, but by his talents and
exploits he made himself master of the Lower, and selected there a site
for his new capital. For this purpose he drained a marshy tract which at
certain seasons had been overflowed by the Nile, made a dyke to confine
the river within its regular channel, and on the reclaimed ground built
the city of Memphis. Menes may therefore be considered as the founder of
the empire.
=130.= Athothes (Thoth), his son and successor, was skilled in medicine
and wrote works on anatomy. Of the six following kings in regular descent
who form this dynasty little is known, and it is even possible that they
belong rather to tradition than to ascertained history. After the two
Thoths came Mnevis, or Uenephes, who bore the name of the Sacred Calf
of Heliopolis. He is said, nevertheless, to have been a high-minded,
intelligent man, and the most affable prince on record. He built the
pyramid of Koko´me, whose site can not now be identified. During his
reign there was famine in Egypt.
=131.= The Third Dynasty reigned at Memphis; its founder was Sesorcheres
the Giant. The third king, Sesonchosis, was a wise and peaceful monarch,
who advanced the three arts of writing, medicine, and architecture,
and was celebrated by a grateful people in hymns and ballads as among
their greatest benefactors. He introduced the fashion of building with
hewn stones, previous structures having been made either of rough,
irregular stones or of brick. He was known to the Greeks as the “peaceful
Sesostris,” while the two later monarchs who bore this name were great
warriors and conquerors.
=132.= His son, Sasychis (Mares-sesorcheres), was a celebrated law-giver.
He is said to have organized the worship of the gods, and to have
invented geometry and astronomy. He also made that singular law by which
a debtor might give his father’s mummy as security for a debt. If the
money was not paid, neither the debtor nor his father could ever rest
in the family sepulcher, and this was considered the greatest possible
disgrace.
[Sidenote: B. C. 2440.]
=133.= The monumental and more certain history begins with the Second,
Fourth, and Fifth Dynasties of Manetho, which reigned simultaneously in
Lower, Middle, and Upper Egypt. Of these the Fourth Dynasty, reigning at
Memphis, was most powerful, the others being in some degree dependent.
Proofs of its greatness are found in the vast structures of stone which
overspread Middle Egypt between the Libyan Mountains and the Nile; for
the Fourth Dynasty may be remembered as that of the pyramid-builders.
=134.= The name of Soris, the first of the family, has been found upon
the northern pyramid of Abousir. Suphis I, or Shufu, was the Cheops of
Herodotus, and is regarded as the builder of the Great Pyramid. His
brother, Suphis II, or Nou-shufu, had part in this work. He reigned
jointly with Suphis I, and alone, after his death, for three years. These
two kings were oppressors of the people and despisers of the gods. They
crushed the former by the severe toils involved in their public works,
and ordered the temples of the latter to be closed and their worship to
cease.
=135.= Mencheres the Holy, son of Suphis I, had, like his father, a
reign of sixty-three years, but differed from him in being a good and
humane sovereign. He re-opened the temples which his father had closed,
restored religious ceremonies of sacrifice and praise, and put an end to
the oppressive labors. He was therefore much venerated by the people, and
was the subject of many ballads and hymns. The four remaining kings of
the Fourth Dynasty are known to us only by names and dates. The family
included eight kings in all, and the probable aggregate of their reigns
is 220 years.
=136.= The kings of the Second Dynasty ruling Middle Egypt from This
or Abydus, and those of the Fifth ruling Upper Egypt from the Isle of
Elephantine, were probably related by blood to the powerful sovereigns
of Lower Egypt, and the tombs of all three families are found in the
neighborhood of Memphis. The structure of the Pyramids shows great
advancement in science and the mechanical arts. Each is placed so as
exactly to face the cardinal points, and the Great Pyramid is precisely
upon the 30th parallel of latitude. The wonderful accuracy of the latter
in its astronomical adjustments, has led a few profound scholars[14] of
the present day to believe that it could only have been built by Divine
revelation; not by the Egyptians, but by a people led from Asia for the
purpose, the object being to establish a perfectly trustworthy system of
weights and measures.
=137.= The Arabian copper-mines of the Sinaitic peninsula were worked
under the direction of the Pyramid kings. At this period the arts had
reached their highest perfection. Drawing,[15] sculpture, and writing, as
well as modes of living and general civilization, were much the same as
fifteen centuries later.
=138.= B. C. 2220. While a sixth royal family succeeded the
pyramid-builders at Memphis, the second and fifth continued to reign at
This and Elephantis, while two more arose at Heracleop´olis and Thebes;
so that Egypt was now divided into five separate kingdoms, the Theban
becoming gradually the most powerful. Thus weakened by division, and
perhaps exhausted by the great architectural works which had withdrawn
the people from the practice of arms, the country easily became the prey
of nomad tribes from the neighboring regions of Syria and Arabia. These
were called Hyk´sos, or Shepherd Kings. They entered Lower Egypt from the
north-east, and soon became masters of the country from Memphis to the
sea.
=139.= SECOND PERIOD. B. C. 1900-1525. Native dynasties continued for a
time to reign in Middle and Upper Egypt; and even in the heart of the
Delta a new kingdom sprang up at Xo´is, which maintained itself during
the whole time that the Shepherds were in the land. A large number of the
enslaved Egyptians continued to cultivate the soil, paying tribute to
the conquerors; and, in time, the example of their good order may have
mollified the fierce invaders. The latter built themselves a strongly
fortified camp, Ava´ris, in the eastern portion of the Delta, near the
later city of Pelusium.