RACE MOVEMENTS THAT SHATTERED EMPIRES
The Third Semitic Migration--Achaean Conquest of Greece--Fall of
Crete--Tribes of Raiders--European Settlers in Asia Minor--The Muski
overthrow the Hittites--Sea Raids on Egypt--The Homeric
Age--Israelites and Philistines in Palestine--Culture of
Philistines--Nebuchadrezzar I of Babylonia--Wars against Elamites
and Hittites--Conquests in Mesopotamia and Syria--Assyrians and
Babylonians at War--Tiglath-pileser I of Assyria--His Sweeping
Conquests--Muski Power broken--Big-game Hunting in
Mesopotamia--Slaying of a Sea Monster--Decline of Assyria and
Babylonia--Revival of Hittite Civilization--An Important Period in
History--Philistines as Overlords of Hebrews--Kingdom of David and
Saul--Solomon's Relations with Egypt and Phoenicia--Sea Trade with
India--Aramaean Conquests--The Chaldaeans--Egyptian King plunders
Judah and Israel--Historical Importance of Race Movements.
Great changes were taking place in the ancient world during the
period in which Assyria rose into prominence and suddenly suffered
decline. These were primarily due to widespread migrations of pastoral
peoples from the steppe lands of Asia and Europe, and the resulting
displacement of settled tribes. The military operations of the great
Powers were also a disturbing factor, for they not only propelled
fresh movements beyond their spheres of influence, but caused the
petty States to combine against a common enemy and foster ambitions to
achieve conquests on a large scale.
Towards the close of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, of which
Amenhotep III and Akhenaton were the last great kings, two
well-defined migrations were in progress. The Aramaean folk-waves had
already begun to pour in increasing volume into Syria from Arabia, and
in Europe the pastoral fighting folk from the mountains were
establishing themselves along the south-eastern coast and crossing the
Hellespont to overrun the land of the Hittites. These race movements
were destined to exercise considerable influence in shaping the
history of the ancient world.
The Aramaean, or Third Semitic migration, in time swamped various
decaying States. Despite the successive efforts of the great Powers to
hold it in check, it ultimately submerged the whole of Syria and part
of Mesopotamia. Aramaean speech then came into common use among the
mingled peoples over a wide area, and was not displaced until the time
of the Fourth Semitic or Moslem migration from Arabia, which began in
the seventh century of the Christian era, and swept northward through
Syria to Asia Minor, eastward across Mesopotamia into Persia and
India, and westward through Egypt along the north African coast to
Morocco, and then into Spain.
When Syria was sustaining the first shocks of Aramaean invasion, the
last wave of Achaeans, "the tamers of horses" and "shepherds of the
people", had achieved the conquest of Greece, and contributed to the
overthrow of the dynasty of King Minos of Crete. Professor Ridgeway
identifies this stock, which had been filtering southward for several
centuries, with the tall, fair-haired, and grey-eyed "Keltoi"
(Celts),[413] who, Dr. Haddon believes, were representatives of "the
mixed peoples of northern and Alpine descent".[414] Mr. Hawes,
following Professor Sergi, holds, on the other hand, that the Achaeans
were "fair in comparison with the native (Pelasgian-Mediterranean)
stock, but not necessarily blonde".[415] The earliest Achaeans were
rude, uncultured barbarians, but the last wave came from some unknown
centre of civilization, and probably used iron as well as bronze
weapons.
The old Cretans were known to the Egyptians as the "Keftiu", and
traded on the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It is significant to
find, however, that no mention is made of them in the inscriptions of
the Pharaohs after the reign of Amenhotep III. In their place appear
the Shardana, the Mykenaean people who gave their name to Sardinia,
the Danauna, believed to be identical with the Danaoi of Homer, the
Akhaivasha, perhaps the Achaeans, and the Tursha and Shakalsha, who
may have been of the same stock as the piratical Lycians.
When Rameses II fought his famous battle at Kadesh the Hittite king
included among his allies the Aramaeans from Arabia, and other
mercenaries like the Dardanui and Masa, who represented the
Thraco-Phrygian peoples who had overrun the Balkans, occupied Thrace
and Macedonia, and crossed into Asia Minor. In time the Hittite
confederacy was broken up by the migrating Europeans, and their
dominant tribe, the Muski[416]--the Moschoi of the Greeks and the
Meshech of the Old Testament--came into conflict with the Assyrians.
The Muski were forerunners of the Phrygians, and were probably of
allied stock.
Pharaoh Meneptah, the son of Rameses II, did not benefit much by the
alliance with the Hittites, to whom he had to send a supply of grain
during a time of famine. He found it necessary, indeed, to invade
Syria, where their influence had declined, and had to beat back from
the Delta region the piratical invaders of the same tribes as were
securing a footing in Asia Minor. In Syria, Meneptah fought with the
Israelites, who apparently had begun their conquest of Canaan during
his reign.
Before the Kassite Dynasty had come to an end, Rameses III of Egypt
(1198-1167 B.C.) freed his country from the perils of a great invasion
of Europeans by land and sea. He scattered a fleet on the Delta coast,
and then arrested the progress of a strong force which was pressing
southward through Phoenicia towards the Egyptian frontier. These
events occurred at the beginning of the Homeric Age, and were followed
by the siege of Troy, which, according to the Greeks, began about 1194
B.C.
The land raiders who were thwarted by Rameses III were the
Philistines, a people from Crete.[417] When the prestige of Egypt
suffered decline they overran the coastline of Canaan, and that
country was then called Palestine, "the land of the Philistines",
while the Egyptian overland trade route to Phoenicia became known as
"the way of the Philistines". Their conflicts with the Hebrews are
familiar to readers of the Old Testament. "The only contributions the
Hebrews made to the culture of the country", writes Professor
Macalister, "were their simple desert customs and their religious
organization. On the other hand, the Philistines, sprung from one of
the great homes of art of the ancient world, had brought with them the
artistic instincts of their race: decayed no doubt, but still superior
to anything they met with in the land itself. Tombs to be ascribed to
them, found in Gezer, contained beautiful jewellery and ornaments. The
Philistines, in fact, were the only cultured or artistic race who ever
occupied the soil of Palestine, at least until the time when the
influence of classical Greece asserted itself too strongly to be
withstood. Whatsoever things raised life in the country above the dull
animal existence of fellahin were due to this people.... The peasantry
of the modern villages ... still tell of the great days of old when it
(Palestine) was inhabited by the mighty race of the 'Fenish'."[418]
When the Kassite Dynasty of Babylonia was extinguished, about 1140
B.C., the Amorites were being displaced in Palestine by the
Philistines and the Israelitish tribes; the Aramaeans were extending
their conquests in Syria and Mesopotamia; the Muski were the overlords
of the Hittites; Assyrian power was being revived at the beginning of
the second period of the Old Empire; and Egypt was governed by a
weakly king, Rameses VIII, a puppet in the hands of the priesthood,
who was unable to protect the rich tombs of the Eighteenth Dynasty
Pharaohs against the bands of professional robbers who were plundering
them.
A new dynasty--the Dynasty of Pashe--had arisen at the ancient
Sumerian city of Isin. Its early kings were contemporary with some of
the last Kassite monarchs, and they engaged in conflicts with the
Elamites, who were encroaching steadily upon Babylonian territory, and
were ultimately able to seize the province of Namar, famous for its
horses, which was situated to the east of Akkad. The Assyrians, under
Ashur-dan I, were not only reconquering lost territory, but invading
Babylonia and carrying off rich plunder. Ashur-dan inflicted a
crushing defeat upon the second-last Kassite ruler.
There years later Nebuchadrezzar I, of the Dynasty of Pashe, seized
the Babylonian throne. He was the most powerful and distinguished
monarch of his line--an accomplished general and a wise statesman. His
name signifies: "May the god Nebo protect my boundary". His first duty
was to drive the Elamites from the land, and win back from them the
statue of Merodach which they had carried off from E-sagila. At first
he suffered a reverse, but although the season was midsummer, and the
heat overpowering, he persisted in his campaign. The Elamites were
forced to retreat, and following up their main force he inflicted upon
them a shattering defeat on the banks of the Ula, a tributary of the
Tigris. He then invaded Elam and returned with rich booty. The
province of Namar was recovered, and its governor, Ritti Merodach, who
was Nebuchadrezzar's battle companion, was restored to his family
possessions and exempted from taxation. A second raid to Elam resulted
in the recovery of the statue of Merodach. The Kassite and Lullume
mountaineers also received attention, and were taught to respect the
power of the new monarch.
Having freed his country from the yoke of the Elamites, and driven the
Assyrians over the frontier, Nebuchadrezzar came into conflict with
the Hittites, who appear to have overrun Mesopotamia. Probably the
invaders were operating in conjunction with the Muski, who were
extending their sway over part of northern Assyria. They were not
content with securing control of the trade route, but endeavoured also
to establish themselves permanently in Babylon, the commercial
metropolis, which they besieged and captured. This happened in the
third year of Nebuchadrezzar, when he was still reigning at Isin.
Assembling a strong force, he hastened northward and defeated the
Hittites, and apparently followed up his victory. Probably it was at
this time that he conquered the "West Land" (the land of the Amorites)
and penetrated to the Mediterranean coast. Egyptian power had been
long extinguished in that region.
The possession of Mesopotamia was a signal triumph for Babylonia. As
was inevitable, however, it brought Nebuchadrezzar into conflict some
years later with the Assyrian king, Ashur-resh-ishi I, grandson of
Ashur-dan, and father of the famous Tiglath-pileser I. The northern
monarch had engaged himself in subduing the Lullume and Akhlami hill
tribes in the south-east, whose territory had been conquered by
Nebuchadrezzar. Thereafter he crossed the Babylonian frontier.
Nebuchadrezzar drove him back and then laid siege to the border
fortress of Zanki, but the Assyrian king conducted a sudden and
successful reconnaissance in force which rendered perilous the
position of the attacking force. By setting fire to his siege train
the Babylonian war lord was able, however, to retreat in good order.
Some time later Nebuchadrezzar dispatched another army northward, but
it suffered a serious defeat, and its general, Karashtu, fell into the
hands of the enemy.
Nebuchadrezzar reigned less than twenty years, and appears to have
secured the allegiance of the nobility by restoring the feudal system
which had been abolished by the Kassites. He boasted that he was "the
sun of his country, who restored ancient landmarks and boundaries",
and promoted the worship of Ishtar, the ancient goddess of the people.
By restoring the image of Merodach he secured the support of Babylon,
to which city he transferred his Court.
Nebuchadrezzar was succeeded by his son Ellil-nadin-apil, who reigned
a few years; but little or nothing is known regarding him. His
grandson, Marduk-nadin-akhe, came into conflict with Tiglath-pileser I
of Assyria, and suffered serious reverses, from the effects of which
his country did not recover for over a century.
Tiglath-pileser I, in one of his inscriptions, recorded significantly:
"The feet of the enemy I kept from my country". When he came to the
throne, northern Assyria was menaced by the Muski and their allies,
the Hittites and the Shubari of old Mitanni. The Kashiari hill tribes
to the north of Nineveh, whom Shalmaneser I subdued, had half a
century before thrown off the yoke of Assyria, and their kings were
apparently vassals of the Muski.
Tiglath-pileser first invaded Mitanni, where he routed a combined
force of Shubari hillmen and Hittites. Thereafter a great army of the
Muski and their allies pressed southward with purpose to deal a
shattering blow against the Assyrian power. The very existence of
Assyria as a separate power was threatened by this movement.
Tiglath-pileser, however, was equal to the occasion. He surprised the
invaders among the Kashiari mountains and inflicted a crushing defeat,
slaying about 14,000 and capturing 6000 prisoners, who were
transported to Asshur. In fact, he wiped the invading army out of
existence and possessed himself of all its baggage. Thereafter he
captured several cities, and extended his empire beyond the Kashiari
hills and into the heart of Mitanni.
His second campaign was also directed towards the Mitanni district,
which had been invaded during his absence by a force of Hittites,
about 4000 strong. The invaders submitted to him as soon as he drew
near, and he added them to his standing army.
Subsequent operations towards the north restored the pre-eminence of
Assyria in the Nairi country, on the shores of Lake Van, in Armenia,
where Tiglath-pileser captured no fewer than twenty-three petty kings.
These he liberated after they had taken the oath of allegiance and
consented to pay annual tribute.
In his fourth year the conqueror learned that the Aramaeans were
crossing the Euphrates and possessing themselves of Mitanni, which he
had cleared of the Hittites. By a series of forced marches he caught
them unawares, scattered them in confusion, and entered Carchemish,
which he pillaged. Thereafter his army crossed the Euphrates in boats
of skin, and plundered and destroyed six cities round the base of the
mountain of Bishru.
While operating in this district, Tiglath-pileser engaged in big-game
hunting. He recorded: "Ten powerful bull elephants in the land of
Haran and on the banks of the Khabour I killed; four elephants alive I
took. Their skins, their teeth, with the living elephants, I brought
to my city of Asshur."[419] He also claimed to have slain 920 lions,
as well as a number of wild oxen, apparently including in his record
the "bags" of his officers and men. A later king credited him with
having penetrated to the Phoenician coast, where he put to sea and
slew a sea monster called the "nakhiru". While at Arvad, the narrative
continues, the King of Egypt, who is not named, sent him a
hippopotamus (pagutu). This story, however, is of doubtful
authenticity. About this time the prestige of Egypt was at so low an
ebb that its messengers were subjected to indignities by the
Phoenician kings.
The conquests of Tiglath-pileser once more raised the Mesopotamian
question in Babylonia, whose sphere of influence in that region had
been invaded. Marduk-nadin-akhe, the grandson of Nebuchadrezzar I,
"arrayed his chariots" against Tiglath-pileser, and in the first
conflict achieved some success, but subsequently he was defeated in
the land of Akkad. The Assyrian army afterwards captured several
cities, including Babylon and Sippar.
Thus once again the Assyrian Empire came into being as the predominant
world Power, extending from the land of the Hittites into the heart of
Babylonia. Its cities were enriched by the immense quantities of booty
captured by its warrior king, while the coffers of state were glutted
with the tribute of subject States. Fortifications were renewed,
temples were built, and great gifts were lavished on the priesthood.
Artists and artisans were kept fully employed restoring the faded
splendours of the Old Empire, and everywhere thousands of slaves
laboured to make the neglected land prosperous as of old. Canals were
repaired and reopened; the earthworks and quay wall of Ashur were
strengthened, and its great wall was entirely rebuilt, faced with a
rampart of earth, and protected once again by a deep moat. The royal
palace was enlarged and redecorated.
Meanwhile Babylonia was wasted by civil war and invasions. It was
entered more than once by the Aramaeans, who pillaged several cities
in the north and the south. Then the throne was seized by
Adad-aplu-iddina, the grandson of "a nobody", who reigned for about
ten years. He was given recognition, however, by the Assyrian king,
Ashur-bel-kala, son of Tiglath-pileser I, who married his daughter,
and apparently restored to him Sippar and Babylon after receiving a
handsome dowry. Ashur-bel-kala died without issue, and was succeeded
by his brother, Shamshi-Adad.
An obscure period followed. In Babylonia there were two weak dynasties
in less than half a century, and thereafter an Elamite Dynasty which
lasted about six years. An Eighth Dynasty ensued, and lasted between
fifty and sixty years. The records of its early kings are exceedingly
meagre and their order uncertain. During the reign of Nabu-mukin-apli,
who was perhaps the fourth monarch, the Aramaeans constantly raided
the land and hovered about Babylon. The names of two or three kings
who succeeded Nabu-mukin-apli are unknown.
A century and a half after Tiglath-pileser I conquered the north
Syrian possessions of the Hittites, the Old Assyrian Empire reached
the close of its second and last period. It had suffered gradual
decline, under a series of inert and luxury-loving kings, until it was
unable to withstand the gradual encroachment on every side of the
restless hill tribes, who were ever ready to revolt when the authority
of Ashur was not asserted at the point of the sword.
After 950 B.C. the Hittites of North Syria, having shaken off the last
semblance of Assyrian authority, revived their power, and enjoyed a
full century of independence and prosperity. In Cappadocia their
kinsmen had freed themselves at an earlier period from the yoke of the
Muski, who had suffered so severely at the hands of Tiglath-pileser I.
The Hittite buildings and rock sculptures of this period testify to
the enduring character of the ancient civilization of the "Hatti".
Until the hieroglyphics can be read, however, we must wait patiently
for the detailed story of the pre-Phrygian period, which was of great
historical importance, because the tide of cultural influence was then
flowing at its greatest volume from the old to the new world, where
Greece was emerging in virgin splendour out of the ruins of the
ancient Mykenaean and Cretan civilizations.
It is possible that the conquest of a considerable part of Palestine
by the Philistines was not unconnected with the revival of Hittite
power in the north. They may have moved southward as the allies of the
Cilician State which was rising into prominence. For a period they
were the overlords of the Hebrews, who had been displacing the older
inhabitants of the "Promised Land", and appear to have been armed with
weapons of iron. In fact, as is indicated by a passage in the Book of
Samuel, they had made a "corner" in that metal and restricted its use
among their vassals. "Now", the Biblical narrative sets forth, "there
was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel; for the
Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords and spears; but
all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man
his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock".[420] "We
are inclined", says Professor Macalister, "to picture the West as a
thing of yesterday, new fangled with its inventions and its
progressive civilization, and the East as an embodiment of hoary and
unchanging traditions. But when West first met East on the shores of
the Holy Land, it was the former which represented the magnificent
traditions of the past, and the latter which looked forward to the
future. The Philistines were of the remnant of the dying glories of
Crete; the Hebrews had no past to speak of, but were entering on the
heritage they regarded as theirs, by right of a recently ratified
divine covenant."[421]
Saul was the leader of a revolt against the Philistines in northern
Palestine, and became the ruler of the kingdom of Israel. Then David,
having liberated Judah from the yoke of the Philistines, succeeded
Saul as ruler of Israel, and selected Jerusalem as his capital. He
also conquered Edom and Moab, but was unsuccessful in his attempt to
subjugate Ammon. The Philistines were then confined to a restricted
area on the seacoast, where they fused with the Semites and ultimately
suffered loss of identity. Under the famous Solomon the united kingdom
of the Hebrews reached its highest splendour and importance among the
nations.
If the Philistines received the support of the Hittites, the Hebrews
were strengthened by an alliance with Egypt. For a period of two and a
half centuries no Egyptian army had crossed the Delta frontier into
Syria. The ancient land of the Pharaohs had been overshadowed meantime
by a cloud of anarchy, and piratical and robber bands settled freely
on its coast line. At length a Libyan general named Sheshonk (Shishak)
seized the throne from the Tanite Dynasty. He was the Pharaoh with
whom Solomon "made affinity",[422] and from whom he received the city
of Gezer, which an Egyptian army had captured.[423] Solomon had
previously married a daughter of Sheshonk's.
Phoenicia was also flourishing. Freed from Egyptian, Hittite, and
Assyrian interference, Tyre and Sidon attained to a high degree of
power as independent city States. During the reigns of David and
Solomon, Tyre was the predominant Phoenician power. Its kings, Abibaal
and his son Hiram, had become "Kings of the Sidonians", and are
believed to have extended their sway over part of Cyprus. The
relations between the Hebrews and the Phoenicians were of a cordial
character, indeed the two powers became allies.
And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had
heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father:
for Hiram was ever a lover of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram,
saying, Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an
house unto the name of the Lord His God for the wars which were
about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles
of his feet. But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every
side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. And,
behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord my
God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom
I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house
unto my name. Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar
trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants:
and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all
that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among
us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians. And
it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he
rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the Lord this day, which
hath given unto David a wise son over this great people. And Hiram
sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou
sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire concerning timber
of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. My servants shall bring
them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea
in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will
cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them:
and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my
household. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees
according to all his desire. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty
thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty
measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year. And
the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was
peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league
together.[424]
Hiram also sent skilled workers to Jerusalem to assist in the work of
building the temple and Solomon's palace, including his famous
namesake, "a widow's son of the (Hebrew) tribe of Naphtali", who, like
his father, "a man of Tyre", had "understanding and cunning to work
all works in brass".[425]
Solomon must have cultivated good relations with the Chaldaeans, for
he had a fleet of trading ships on the Persian Gulf which was manned
by Phoenician sailors. "Once in three years", the narrative runs,
"came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and
apes, and peacocks."[426] Apparently he traded with India, the land of
peacocks, during the Brahmanical period, when the Sanskrit name
"Samudra", which formerly signified the "collected waters" of the
broadening Indus, was applied to the Indian Ocean.[427]
The Aramaeans of the Third Semitic migration were not slow to take
advantage of the weakness of Assyria and Babylon. They overran the
whole of Syria, and entered into the possession of Mesopotamia, thus
acquiring full control of the trade routes towards the west. From time
to time they ravaged Babylonia from the north to the south. Large
numbers of them acquired permanent settlement in that country, like
the Amorites of the Second Semitic migration in the pre-Hammurabi Age.
In Syria the Aramaeans established several petty States, and were
beginning to grow powerful at Damascus, an important trading centre,
which assumed considerable political importance after the collapse of
Assyria's Old Empire.
At this period, too, the Chaldaeans came into prominence in Babylonia.
Their kingdom of Chaldaea (Kaldu, which signifies Sealand) embraces a
wide stretch of the coast land at the head of the Persian Gulf between
Arabia and Elam. As we have seen, an important dynasty flourished in
this region in the time of Hammurabi. Although more than one king of
Babylon recorded that he had extinguished the Sealand Power, it
continued to exist all through the Kassite period. It is possible that
this obscure kingdom embraced diverse ethnic elements, and that it was
controlled in turn by military aristocracies of Sumerians, Elamites,
Kassites, and Arabians. After the downfall of the Kassites it had
become thoroughly Semitized, perhaps as a result of the Aramaean
migration, which may have found one of its outlets around the head of
the Persian Gulf. The ancient Sumerian city of Ur, which dominated a
considerable area of steppe land to the west of the Euphrates, was
included in the Sealand kingdom, and was consequently referred to in
after-time as "Ur of the Chaldees".
When Solomon reigned over Judah and Israel, Babylonia was broken up
into a number of petty States, as in early Sumerian times. The feudal
revival of Nebuchadrezzar I had weakened the central power, with the
result that the nominal high kings were less able to resist the
inroads of invaders. Military aristocracies of Aramaeans, Elamites,
and Chaldaeans held sway in various parts of the valley, and struggled
for supremacy.
When Assyria began to assert itself again, it laid claim on Babylonia,
ostensibly as the protector of its independence, and the Chaldaeans
for a time made common cause with the Elamites against it. The future,
however, lay with the Chaldaeans, who, like the Kassites, became the
liberators of the ancient inhabitants. When Assyria was finally
extinguished as a world power they revived the ancient glory of
Babylonia, and supplanted the Sumerians as the scholars and teachers
of Western Asia. The Chaldaeans became famous in Syria, and even in
Greece, as "the wise men from the east", and were renowned as
astrologers.
The prestige of the Hebrew kingdom suffered sharp and serious decline
after Solomon's death. Pharaoh Sheshonk fostered the elements of
revolt which ultimately separated Israel from Judah, and, when a
favourable opportunity arose, invaded Palestine and Syria and
reestablished Egypt's suzerainty over part of the area which had been
swayed by Rameses II, replenishing his exhausted treasury with rich
booty and the tribute he imposed. Phoenicia was able, however, to
maintain its independence, but before the Assyrians moved westward
again, Sidon had shaken off the yoke of Tyre and become an independent
State.
It will be seen from the events outlined in this chapter how greatly
the history of the ancient world was affected by the periodic
migrations of pastoral folks from the steppe lands. These human tides
were irresistible. The direction of their flow might be diverted for a
time, but they ultimately overcame every obstacle by sheer persistency
and overpowering volume. Great emperors in Assyria and Egypt
endeavoured to protect their countries from the "Bedouin peril" by
strengthening their frontiers and extending their spheres of
influence, but the dammed-up floods of humanity only gathered strength
in the interval for the struggle which might be postponed but could
not be averted.
These migrations, as has been indicated, were due to natural causes.
They were propelled by climatic changes which caused a shortage of the
food supply, and by the rapid increase of population under peaceful
conditions. Once a migration began to flow, it set in motion many
currents and cross currents, but all these converged towards the
districts which offered the most attractions to mankind. Prosperous
and well-governed States were ever in peril of invasion by barbarous
peoples. The fruits of civilization tempted them; the reward of
conquest was quickly obtained in Babylon and Egypt with their
flourishing farms and prosperous cities. Waste land was reclaimed then
as now by colonists from centres of civilization; the migrating
pastoral folks lacked the initiative and experience necessary to
establish new communities in undeveloped districts. Highly civilized
men sowed the harvest and the barbarians reaped it.
It must not be concluded, however, that the migrations were historical
disasters, or that they retarded the general advancement of the human
race. In time the barbarians became civilized and fused with the
peoples whom they conquered. They introduced, too, into communities
which had grown stagnant and weakly, a fresh and invigorating
atmosphere that acted as a stimulant in every sphere of human
activity. The Kassite, for instance, was a unifying and therefore a
strengthening influence in Babylonia. He shook off the manacles of the
past which bound the Sumerian and the Akkadian alike to traditional
lines of policy based on unforgotten ancient rivalries. His concern
was chiefly with the future. The nomads with their experience of
desert wandering promoted trade, and the revival of trade inaugurated
new eras of prosperity in ancient centres of culture, and brought them
into closer touch than ever before with one another. The rise of
Greece was due to the blending of the Achaeans and other pastoral
fighting folks with the indigenous Pelasgians. Into the early States
which fostered the elements of ancient Mykenaean civilization, poured
the cultural influences of the East through Asia Minor and Phoenicia
and from the Egyptian coast. The conquerors from the steppes meanwhile
contributed their genius for organization, their simple and frugal
habits of life, and their sterling virtues; they left a deep impress
on the moral, physical, and intellectual life of Greece.