EARLY ISRAELAND THESURROUNDING NATIONS

BY THEREV. A. H. SAYCEPROFESSOR OF ASSYRIOLOGY AT OXFORD

AUTHOR OF"THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS, " &c

LondonSERVICE & PATON5 HENRIETTA STREETCOVENT GARDEN1899

INTRODUCTION

One of the first facts which strike the traveller in Palestine is thesmallness of a country which has nevertheless occupied so large a spacein the history of civilised mankind. It is scarcely larger than anEnglish county, and a considerable portion of it is occupied by rockymountains and barren defiles where cultivation is impossible. Itspopulation could never have been great, and though cities and villageswere crowded together on the plains and in the valleys, and perched attimes on almost inaccessible crags, the difficulty of finding sustenancefor their inhabitants prevented them from rivalling in size the Europeanor American towns of to-day. Like the country in which they dwelt, thepeople of Palestine were necessarily but a small population whencompared with the nations of our modern age. 

And yet it was just this scanty population which has left so deep animpress on the thoughts and religion of mankind, and the narrow strip ofterritory they inhabited which formed the battle-ground of the ancientempires of the world. Israel was few in numbers, and the Canaan itconquered was limited in extent; but they became as it were the centreround which the forces of civilisation revolved, and towards which theyall pointed. Palestine, in fact, was for the eastern world what Athenswas for the western world; Athens and Attica were alike insignificant inarea and the Athenians were but a handful of men, but we derive fromthem the principles of our art and philosophic speculation just as wederive from Israel and Canaan the principles of our religion. Palestinehas been the mother-land of the religion of civilised man. 

The geographical position of Palestine had much to do with this result. It was the outpost of western Asia on the side of the Mediterranean, asEngland is the outpost of Europe on the side of the Atlantic; and justas the Atlantic is the highroad of commerce and trade for us of to-day, so the Mediterranean was the seat of maritime enterprise and the sourceof maritime wealth for the generations of the past. Palestine, moreover, was the meeting-place of Asia and Africa. Not only was the way open forits merchants by sea to the harbours and products of Europe, but thedesert which formed its southern boundary sloped away to the frontiersof Egypt, while to the north and east it was in touch with the greatkingdoms of western Asia, with Babylonia and Assyria, Mesopotamia andthe Hittites of the north. In days of which we are just beginning tohave a glimpse it had been a province of the Babylonian empire, and whenEgypt threw off the yoke of its Asiatic conquerors and prepared to winan empire for itself, Canaan was the earliest of its spoils. In a laterage Assyrians, Babylonians, and Egyptians again contended for themastery on the plains of Palestine; the possession of Jerusalem allowedthe Assyrian king to march unopposed into Egypt, and the battle ofMegiddo placed all Asia west of the Euphrates at the feet of theEgyptian Pharaoh. 

Palestine is thus a centre of ancient Oriental history. Its occupationby Babylonians or Egyptians marks the shifting of the balance of powerbetween Asia and Africa. The fortunes of the great empires of theeastern world are to a large extent reflected in its history. The riseof the one meant the loss of Palestine to the other. 

The people, too, were fitted by nature and circumstances for the partthey were destined to play. They were Semites with the inborn religiousspirit which is characteristic of the Semite, and they were also a mixedrace. The highlands of Canaan had been peopled by the Amorites, a tallfair race, akin probably to the Berbers of northern Africa and the Keltsof our own islands; the lowlands were in the hands of the Canaanites, apeople of Semitic blood and speech, who devoted themselves to thepursuit of trade. Here and there were settlements of other tribes orraces, notably the Hittites, who had descended from the mountain-rangesof the Taurus and spread over northern Syria. Upon all these variedelements the Israelites flung themselves, at first in hostile invasion, afterwards in friendly admixture. The Israelitish conquest of Palestinewas a slow process, and it was only in its earlier stages that it wasaccompanied by the storming of cities and the massacre of theirinhabitants. As time went on the invaders intermingled with the olderpopulation of the land, and the heads of the captives which surmount thenames of the places captured by the Egyptian Pharaoh Shishak in thekingdom of Judah all show the Amorite and not the Jewish type ofcountenance. The main bulk of the population, in fact, must havecontinued unchanged by the Israelitish conquest, and conquerors andconquered intermarried together. The genealogies given by the Hebrewwriters prove how extensive this intermingling of racial elements musthave been; even David counted a Moabitess among his ancestors, andsurrounded himself with guards of foreign nationality. Solomon'ssuccessor, the first king of Judah, was the son of an Ammonite mother, and we have only to read a few pages of the Book of Judges to learn howsoon after the invasion of Canaan the Israelites adopted the gods andreligious practices of the older population, and paid homage to the oldCanaanite shrines. 

A mixed race is always superior to one of purer descent. It possessesmore enterprise and energy, more originality of thought and purpose. Thevirtues and failings of the different elements it embodies are alikeintensified in it. We shall probably not go far wrong if we ascribe tothis mixed character of the Israelitish people the originality whichmarks their history and finds its expression in the rise of prophecy. They were a race, moreover, which was moulded in different directions bythe nature of the country in which it lived. Palestine was partlymountainous; the great block of limestone known as the mountains ofEphraim formed its backbone, and was that part of it which was firstoccupied by the invading Israelites. But besides mountains there werefertile plains and valleys, while on the sea-coast there were harbours, ill adapted, it is true, to the requirements of modern ships, butsufficient for the needs of ancient navigation. The Israelites were thustrained on the one hand to the habits of hardy warriors, living a lifeof independence and individual freedom in the fastnesses of the hills, and on the other hand were tempted to become agriculturists andshepherds wherever their lot was cast in the lowlands. The sea-coast wasleft to the older population, and to the Philistines, who had settledupon it about the time of the Hebrew exodus from Egypt; but thePhilistines eventually became the subject-vassals of the Jewish kings, and friendly intercourse with the Phoenicians towards the north not onlybrought about the rise of a mixed people, partly Canaanite and partlyIsraelitish, but also introduced among the Israelites the Phoenicianlove of trade. 

Alike, therefore, by its geographical position, by the characteristicsof its population, and by the part it played in the history of thecivilised East, Palestine was so closely connected with the countriesand nations which surrounded it that its history cannot be properlyunderstood apart from theirs. Isolated and alone, its history is inlarge measure unintelligible or open to misconception. The keenestcriticism is powerless to discover the principles which underlie it, todetect the motives of the policy it describes, or to estimate thecredibility of the narratives in which it is contained, unless it isassisted by testimony from without. It is like a dark jungle where thediscovery of a path is impossible until the sun penetrates through thefoliage and the daylight streams in through the branches of the trees. 

Less than a century ago it seemed useless even to hope that suchexternal testimony would ever be forthcoming. There were a few scraps ofinformation to be gleaned from the classical authors of Greece and Rome, which had been so sifted and tortured as to yield almost any sense thatwas required; but even these scraps were self-contradictory, and, as wenow know, were for the most part little else than fables. It wasimpossible to distinguish between the true and the false; to determinewhether the Chaldæan fragments of Berossos were to be preferred to thesecond and third hand accounts of Herodotus, or whether the Egyptianchronology of Manetho was to be accepted in all its startling magnitude. And when all was said and done, there was little that threw light on theOld Testament story, much less that supplemented it. 

But the latter part of the nineteenth century has witnessed discoverieswhich have revolutionised our conceptions of ancient Oriental history, and illuminated the pages of the Biblical narrative. While scholars andcritics were disputing over a few doubtful texts, the libraries of theold civilised world of the East were lying underground, waiting to bedisinterred by the excavator and interpreted by the decipherer. Egypt, Assyria, and Babylonia have yielded up their dead; Arabia, Syria, andAsia Minor are preparing to do the same. The tombs and temples of Egypt, and the papyri which have been preserved in the sandy soil of a landwhere frost and rain are hardly known, have made the old world of theEgyptians live again before our eyes, while the clay books of Babyloniaand Assyria are giving us a knowledge of the people who wrote and readthem fully equal to that which we have of Greece or Rome. And yet we arebut at the beginning of discoveries. What has been found is but anearnest of the harvest that is yet in store. It is but two years sincethat the French excavator, de Sarzec, discovered a library of 30, 000tablets at Tello in southern Chaldæa, which had already been formed whenGudea ruled over the city in B. C. 2700, and was arranged in shelves oneabove the other. At Niffer, in the north of Babylonia, the Americanexcavators have found an even larger number of tablets, some of which goback to the age of Sargon of Akkad, or 6000 years ago, while freshtablets come pouring into the museums of Europe and America from otherlibraries found by the Arabs at Bersippa and Babylon, at Sippara andLarsa. The Babylonia of the age of Amraphel, the contemporary ofAbraham, has, thanks to the recent finds, become as well known to us asthe Athens of Periklês; the daily life of the people can be traced inall its outlines, and we even possess the autograph letters written byAmraphel himself. The culture and civilisation of Babylonia were alreadyimmensely old. The contracts for the lease and sale of houses or otherestate, the documents relating to the property of women, the reports ofthe law cases that were tried before the official judges, all set beforeus a state of society which changed but little down to the Persian era. Behind it lie centuries of slow development and progress in the arts oflife. The age of Amraphel, indeed, is in certain respects an age ofdecline. The heyday of Babylonian art lay nearly two thousand yearsbefore it, in the epoch of Sargon and his son Naram-Sin. It was thenthat the Babylonian empire was established throughout western Asia asfar as the Mediterranean, that a postal service was organised along thehighroads which led from one city of the empire to another, and thatBabylonian art reached its climax. It was then, too, that the Babyloniansystem of writing practically took its final form. 

The civilisation of western Asia is, as has been said, immensely old. That is the net result of modern discovery and research. As far back asexcavation can carry us there is still culture and art. We look in vainfor the beginnings of civilised life. Even the pictures out of which thewritten systems of the ancient East were developed belong to a past ofwhich we have but glimpses. Of savagery or barbarism on the banks of thelower Euphrates there is not a trace. So far as our materials enable usto judge, civilised man existed from the beginning in "the land ofShinar. " The great temples of Babylonia were already erected, theoverflow of the rivers controlled, and written characters imprinted ontablets of clay. Civilisation seems to spring up suddenly out of a nightof darkness, like Athena from the head of Zeus. 

This is one of the chief lessons that have been taught us by Orientalarchaeology. Culture and civilisation are no new thing, at all events inthe East; long before the days of classical Greece, long before the dayseven of Abraham, man was living in ease and comfort, surrounded byobjects of art and industry, acquainted with the art of writing, andcarrying on intercourse with distant lands. We must rid ourselves oncefor all of the starveling ideas of chronology which a classical trainingonce encouraged, and of the belief that history, in the true sense ofthe word, hardly goes back beyond the age of Darius or Periklês. Thecivilisations of Babylonia and Egypt were already decrepid when theancestors of Periklês were still barbarians. 

Another lesson is the danger of forming conclusions from imperfectevidence. Apart from the earlier records of the Old Testament, there wasno literature which claimed a greater antiquity than the Homeric Poemsof ancient Greece; no history of older date than that of Hellas, unlessindeed the annals of China were to be included, which lay altogetheroutside the stream of European history. Criticism, accordingly, deemeditself competent to decide dogmatically on the character and credibilityof the literature and history of which it was in possession; to measurethe statements of the Old Testament writings by the rules of Greek andLatin literature, and to argue from the history of Europe to that of theEast. Uncontrolled by external testimony, critical scepticism playedhavoc with the historical narratives that had descended to it, andstarting from the assumption that the world of antiquity was illiterate, refused to credit such records of the past as dwarfed the proportions ofGreek history, or could not be harmonised with the canons of the critichimself. It was quite sufficient for a fact to go back to the secondmillennium B. C. For it to be peremptorily ruled out of court. 

The discoveries of Oriental archaeology have come with a rude shock todisturb both the conclusions of this imperfectly-equipped criticism andthe principles on which they rest. Discovery has followed discovery, each more marvellous than the last, and re-establishing the truth ofsome historical narrative in which we had been called upon todisbelieve. Dr. Schliemann and the excavators who have come after himhave revealed to an incredulous world that Troy of Priam which had beenrelegated to cloudland, and have proved that the traditions of Mykenæanglory, of Agamemnon and Menelaos, and even of voyages to the coast ofEgypt, were not fables but veritable facts. Even more striking have beenthe discoveries which have restored credit to the narratives of the OldTestament, and shown that they rest on contemporaneous evidence. It wasnot so long ago that the account of the campaign of Chedor-laomer andhis allies in Canaan was unhesitatingly rejected as a mere reflectioninto the past of the campaigns of later Assyrian kings. Even the namesof the Canaanite princes who opposed him were resolved into etymologicalpuns. But the tablets of Babylonia have come to their rescue. We nowknow that long before the days of Abraham not only did Babylonian armiesmarch to the shores of the Mediterranean, but that Canaan was aBabylonian province, and that Amraphel, the ally of Chedor-laomer, actually entitles himself king of it in one of his inscriptions. We nowknow also that the political condition of Babylonia described in thenarrative is scrupulously exact. Babylonia was for a time under thedomination of the Elamites, and while Amraphel or Khammurabi was allowedto rule at Babylon as a vassal-prince, an Elamite of the name of Eri-Akuor Arioch governed Larsa in the south. Nay more; tablets have recentlybeen found which show that the name of the Elamite monarch wasKudur-Laghghamar, and that among his vassal allies was Tudkhula orTidal, who seems to have been king of the Manda, or "nations" ofKurdistan. Khammurabi, whose name is also written Ammurapi, has left usautograph letters, in one of which he refers to his defeat ofKudur-Laghghamar in the decisive battle which at last deliveredBabylonia from the Elamite yoke. 

The story of Chedor-laomer's campaign preserved in Genesis has thusfound complete verification. The political situation presupposed init--however unlikely it seemed to the historian but a few years ago--hasturned out to be in strict harmony with fact; the names of the chiefactors in it have come down to us with scarcely any alteration, and afragment of old-world history, which could not be fitted into the schemeof the modern historian, has proved to be part of a larger story whichthe clay books of Babylonia are gradually unfolding before our eyes. Itis no longer safe to reject a narrative as "unhistorical" simply on theground of the imperfection of our own knowledge. 

Or let us take another instance from the later days of Assyrian history, the period which immediately precedes the first intercourse betweenGreece and the East. We are told in the Books of the Chronicles thatManasseh of Judah rebelled against his Assyrian master and was inconsequence carried in chains to Babylon, where he was pardoned andrestored to his ancestral throne. The story seemed at first sight ofdoubtful authenticity. It is not even alluded to in the Books of theKings; Nineveh and not Babylon was the capital of the Assyrian empire, and the Assyrian monarchs were not in the habit of forgiving theirrevolted vassals, much less of sending them back to their own kingdoms. And yet the cuneiform inscriptions have smoothed away all theseobjections. Esar-haddon mentions Manasseh among the subject princes ofthe West, and it was just Esar-haddon who rebuilt Babylon after itsdestruction by his father, and made it his residence during a part ofthe year. Moreover, other instances are known in which a revolted princewas reinstated in his former power. Thus Assur-bani-pal forgave theEgyptian prince of Sais when, like Manasseh, he had been sent in chainsto Assyria after an unsuccessful rebellion, and restored him to his oldprincipality. What was done by Assur-bani-pal might well have been doneby the more merciful Esar-haddon, who showed himself throughout hisreign anxious to conciliate the conquered populations. It is evenpossible that Assur-bani-pal himself was the sovereign against whomManasseh rebelled and before whom he was brought. In this caseManasseh's revolt would have been part of that general revolt of theAssyrian provinces under the leadership of Babylon, which shook theempire to its foundations, and in which the Assyrian king expresslytells us Palestine joined. The Jewish king would thus have been carriedto Babylon after the capture of that city by the Assyrian forces ofAssur-bani-pal. 

But the recent history of Oriental archaeology is strewn with instancesof the danger of historical scepticism where the evidence is defective, and a single discovery may at any moment throw new and unexpected lighton the materials we possess. Who, for instance, could have supposed thatthe name of the Israelites would ever be found on an Egyptian monument?They were but a small and despised body of public slaves, settled inGoshen, on the extreme skirts of the Egyptian territory. And yet in 1886a granite stela was found by Professor Flinders Petrie containing a hymnof victory in honour of Meneptah the son of Ramses II. , and declaringhow, among other triumphs, "the Israelites" had been left "withoutseed. " The names of all the other vanquished or subject peoplesmentioned in the hymn have attached to them the determinative of place;the Israelites alone are without it; they alone have no fixedhabitation, no definite locality of their own, so far at least as thewriter knew. It would seem that they had already escaped into thedesert, and been lost to sight in its recesses. Who could ever haveimagined that in such a case an Egyptian poet would have judged it worthhis while even to allude to the vanished serfs?

Still more recently the tomb of Menes, the founder of the unitedEgyptian monarchy, and the leader of the first historical dynasty, hasbeen discovered by M. De Morgan at Negada, north of Thebes. It was onlya few months previously that the voice of historical criticism hadauthoritatively declared him to be "fabulous" and "mythical. " The"fabulous" Menes, nevertheless, has now proved to be a very historicalpersonage indeed; some of his bones are in the museum of Cairo, and theobjects disinterred in his tomb show that he belonged to an age ofculture and intercourse with distant lands. The hieroglyphic system ofwriting was already complete, and fragments of obsidian vases turned onthe lathe indicate commercial relations with the Ægean Sea. 

If we turn to Babylonia the story is the same. Hardly had the criticpronounced Sargon of Akkad to be a creature of myth, when at Niffer andTelloh monuments both of himself and of his son were brought to light, which, as in the case of Menes, proved that this "creature of myth"lived in an age of advanced culture and in the full blaze of history. AtNiffer he and his son Naram-Sin built a platform of huge bricks, eachstamped with their names, and at Telloh clay _bullæ_ have beendiscovered, bearing the seals and addresses of the letters which wereconveyed during their reigns by a highly organised postal service alongthe highroads of the kingdom. Numberless contract-tablets exist, datedin the year when Sargon "conquered the land of the Amorites, " as Syriaand Canaan were called, or accomplished some other achievement; and acadastral survey of the district in which Telloh was situated, made forthe purpose of taxation, incidentally refers to "the governor" who wasappointed over "the Amorites. "

Perhaps, however, the discovery which above all others hasrevolutionised our conceptions of early Oriental history, and reversedthe critical judgments which had prevailed in regard to it, was that ofthe cuneiform tablets of Tel el-Amarna. The discovery was made in 1887at Tel el-Amarna on the eastern bank of the Nile, midway between themodern towns of Minia and Siût. Here is the site of the city built byKhu-n-Aten, the "Heretic" Pharaoh, when the dissensions between himselfand the Theban priesthood became too acute to allow him to remain anylonger in the capital of his fathers. He migrated northward, accordingly, with his court and the adherents of the new creed which hesought to impose upon his subjects, carrying with him the archives ofthe kingdom and the foreign correspondence of the empire. It was thisforeign correspondence which was embodied in the cuneiform tablets. Theymake it clear that even under Egyptian rule the Babylonian language andthe Babylonian system of writing continued to be the official languageand script of western Asia, and that the Egyptian government itself wasforced to keep Babylonian secretaries who understood them. The factproves the long and permanent influence of Babylonian culture from thebanks of the Euphrates to the shores of the Mediterranean, and isintelligible only in the light of the further fact that the empire ofSargon of Akkad had been founded more than two thousand years before. Nothing but a prodigiously long lapse of time could explain the firmhold thus obtained by a foreign language, and a system of writing themost complex and difficult to learn that has ever been invented. 

The tablets further prove the existence throughout the Oriental world ofschools and libraries where the Babylonian language and characters couldbe taught and learned and its voluminous literature stored and studied. The age of Khu-n-Aten, which is also the age of Moses, was essentially aliterary age; a knowledge of reading and writing was widely spread, andan active correspondence was being constantly carried on from one partof the civilised world to the other. Even the Bedâwin shêkhs, who actedas free-lances in Palestine, sent letters to the Pharaoh and read hisreplies. The archive-chambers of the cities of Canaan containednumberless documents contemporaneous with the events they recorded, andthe libraries were filled with the treasures of Babylonian literature, with legends and stories of the gods, and the earlier history of theEast. Doubtless, as in Babylonia, so too in Palestine there were also inthem contracts and inventories of property, dated in the Babylonianfashion by the events which characterised the years of a king's reign. The scribes and upper classes could read and write, and therefore hadaccess to all these stores of literature and historical materials. 

There is no longer any reason, therefore, for doubting that Moses andhis contemporaries could have read and written books, or that the Hebrewlegislator was learned in "all the wisdom of the Egyptians. " If we areto reject the historical trustworthiness of the Pentateuch, it must beon other grounds than the assumption of the illiterateness of the age orthe impossibility of compiling at the time an accurate register offacts. The Tel el-Amarna tablets have made it impossible to return tothe old critical point of view; the probabilities henceforward are infavour of the early date and historical truth of the Old Testamentnarratives, and not against them. Accurately-dated history and a readingpublic existed in Babylonia long before the days of Abraham; in the ageof Moses the whole Eastern world from the Nile to the Euphrates was knittogether in the bonds of literary intercourse, and all who were incontact with the great nations of the East--with Egypt, with Babylonia, or with Assyria--came of necessity under its influence and held the bookand its author in the highest reverence. 

But besides thus revolutionising our ideas of the age that preceded theHebrew Exodus, the Tel el-Amarna letters have thrown a welcome light onthe political causes of the Exodus itself. They have made it clear thatthe reaction against the reforms and government of "the Heretic King"Khu-n-Aten was as much national as religious. It was directed quite asmuch against the foreigner who had usurped the chief offices of state, as against the religion which the foreigner was believed to have broughtwith him. The rise of the Nineteenth dynasty marks the triumph of thenational uprising and the overthrow of Asiatic influence. The movementof which it was the result resembled the revolt of Arabi in our owndays. But there was no England at hand to prevent the banishment of thestranger and his religion; the Semites who had practically governedEgypt under Khu-n-Aten were expelled or slain, and hard measure wasdealt out to such of their kinsfolk as still remained in the land. Thefree-born sons of Israel in the district of Goshen were turned intopublic serfs, and compelled to work at the buildings with which RamsesII. Was covering the soil of Egypt, and their "seed" was still furtherdiminished by the destruction of their male offspring, lest they shouldjoin the enemies of Egypt in any future invasion of the country, orassist another attempt from within to subvert the old faith of thepeople and the political supremacy of the Theban priests. That the fearwas not without justification is shown by the words of Meneptah, the sonof Ramses, at the time when the very existence of the Egyptian monarchywas threatened by the Libyan invasion from the west and the sea-robberswho attacked it from the Greek seas. The Asiatic settlers, he tells us, had pitched "their tents before Pi-Bailos" (or Belbeis) at the westernextremity of the land of Goshen, and the Egyptian "kings foundthemselves cut off in the midst of their cities, and surrounded byearthworks, for they had no mercenaries to oppose to" the foe. It wouldseem that the Israelites effected their escape under cover of the Libyaninvasion in the fifth year of Meneptah's reign, and on this account itis that their name is introduced into the pæan wherein the destructionof the Libyan host is celebrated and the Pharaoh is declared to haverestored peace to the whole world. 

If the history of Israel thus receives light and explanation on the oneside from the revelations of Oriental archaeology, on the other side itsometimes clears up difficulties in the history of the great nations ofOriental antiquity. The Egyptologist, for instance, is confronted by afact towards the explanation of which the monuments furnish no help. This is the curious change that passed over the tenure of land in Egyptduring the period of Hyksos rule. When the Fourteenth dynasty fell, alarge part of the soil of Egypt was in the hands of private holders, many of whom were great feudal landowners whose acknowledgment of theroyal supremacy was at times little more than nominal. When, however, the Hyksos were at last driven back to Asia, and Ahmes succeeded infounding the Eighteenth dynasty, these landowners had disappeared. Allthe landed estate of the country had passed into the possession of thePharaoh and the priests, and the old feudal aristocracy had beenreplaced by a bureaucracy, the members of which owed their power andposition to the king. The history of Joseph accounts for this, and it isthe only explanation of the fact which is at present forthcoming. Faminecompelled the people to sell their lands to the king and his minister, and a Hyksos Pharaoh and his Hebrew vizier thus succeeded in destroyingthe older aristocracy and despoiling the natives of their estates. Itwas probably at this period also that the public granaries, of which wehear so much in the age of the Eighteenth dynasty, were firstestablished in Egypt, in imitation of those of Babylonia, where they hadlong been an institution, and a superintendent was appointed over themwho, as in Babylonia, virtually held the power of life and death in hishands. 

One of the main results, then, of recent discovery in the East has beento teach us the solidarity of ancient Oriental history, and theimpossibility of forming a correct judgment in regard to any one part ofit without reference to the rest. Hebrew history is unintelligible aslong as it stands alone, and the attempt to interpret it apart and byitself has led to little else than false and one-sided conclusions; itis only when read in the light of the history of the great empires whichflourished beside it that it can be properly understood. Israel and thenations around it formed a whole, so far as the historian is concerned, which, like the elements of a picture, cannot be torn asunder. If wewould know the history of the one, we must know the history of the otheralso. And each year is adding to our knowledge; new monuments are beingexcavated, new inscriptions being read, and the revelations of to-dayare surpassed by those of to-morrow. We have already learnt much, but itis only a commencement; Egypt is only now beginning to be scientificallyexplored, a few only of the multitudinous libraries of Babylonia havebeen brought to light, and the soil of Assyria has been little more thantouched. Elsewhere, in Elam, in Mesopotamia, in Asia Minor, in Palestineitself, everything still remains to be done. The harvest truly isplentiful, but the labourers are few. 

We have, however, learnt some needful lessons. The historian has beenwarned against arguing from the imperfection of his own knowledge, andrejecting an ancient narrative merely because it seems unsupported byother testimony. He has been warned, too, against making his ownprepossessions and assumptions the test of historical truth, of layingdown that a reported fact could not have happened because it runscounter to what he assumes to have been the state of society in someparticular age. Above all, the lesson of modesty has been impressed uponhim, modesty in regard to the extent of his own knowledge and thefallibility of his own conclusions. It does not follow that what weimagine ought to have happened has happened in reality; on the contrary, the course of Oriental history has usually been very different from thatdreamed of by the European scholar in the quietude of his study. IfOriental archæology has taught us nothing else, it has at least taughtus how little we know. 

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

I. THE ISRAELITES

II. CANAAN

III. THE NATIONS OF THE SOUTH-EAST

IV. THE NATIONS OF THE NORTH-EAST

V. EGYPT

VI. BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA

VII. CONCLUSION

APPENDICES

CHAPTER I

THE ISRAELITES

Israel traced its origin to Babylonia. It was from "Ur of the Chaldees"that Abraham "the Hebrew" had come, the rock out of which it was hewn. Here on the western bank of the Euphrates was the earliest home of theHebrews, of whom the Israelites claimed to be a part. 

But they were not the only nation of the ancient Oriental world whichderived its ancestry from Abraham. He was the father not only of theIsraelites, but of the inhabitants of northern and central Arabia aswell. The Ishmaelites who were settled in the north of the Arabianpeninsula, the descendants of Keturah who colonised Midian and thewestern coast, were also his children. Moab and Ammon, moreover, tracedtheir pedigree to his nephew, while Edom was the elder brother ofIsrael. Israel, in fact, was united by the closest ties of blood to allthe populations which in the historic age dwelt between the borders ofPalestine and the mountain-ranges of south-eastern Arabia. They formed asingle family which claimed descent from a common ancestor. 

Israel was the latest of them to appear on the scene of history. Moaband Ammon had subjugated or absorbed the old Amorite population on theeastern side of the Jordan, Ishmael and the Keturites had madethemselves a home in Arabia, Edom had possessed itself of themountain-fastnesses of the Horite and the Amalekite, long before theIsraelites had escaped from their bondage in Egypt, or formed themselvesinto a nation in the desert. They were the youngest member of the Hebrewfamily, though but for them the names of their brethren would haveremained forgotten and unknown. Israel needed the discipline of a longpreparation for the part it was destined to play in the future historyof the world. 

The Hebrews belonged to the Semitic race. The race is distinguished bycertain common characteristics, but more especially by the possession ofa common type of language, which is markedly different from the otherlanguages of mankind. Its words are built on what is termed theprinciple of triliteralism; the skeleton, as it were, of each of themconsisting of three consonants, while the vowels, which give flesh andlife to the skeleton, vary according to the grammatical signification ofthe word. The relations of grammar are thus expressed for the most partby changes of vocalic sound, just as in English the plural of "man" isdenoted by a change in the vowel. The verb is but imperfectly developed;it is, in fact, rather a noun than a verb, expressing relation ratherthan time. Compound words, moreover, are rare, the compounds of ourEuropean languages being replaced in the Semitic dialects by separatewords. 

Perhaps one of the most remarkable characteristics of the Semitic familyof speech is its conservatism and resistance to change. As compared withthe other languages of the world, its grammar and vocabulary have alikeundergone but little alteration in the course of the centuries duringwhich we can trace its existence. The very words which were used by theBabylonians four or five thousand years ago, can still be heard, withthe same meaning attached to them, in the streets of Cairo. _Kelb_ is"dog" in modern Arabic as _kalbu_ was in ancient Babylonian, and themodern Arabic _tayyîb_, "good, " is the Babylonian _tâbu_. One of theresults of this unchangeableness of Semitic speech is the closesimilarity and relationship that exist between the various languagesthat represent it. They are dialects rather than distinct languages, more closely resembling one another than is the case even with theRomanic languages of modern Europe, which are descended from Latin. 

Most of the Semitic languages--or dialects if we like so to callthem--are now dead, swallowed up by the Arabic of Mohammed and theQorân. The Assyrian which was spoken in Assyria and Babylonia isextinct; so, too, are the Ethiopic of Abyssinia, and the Hebrew languageitself. What we term Hebrew was originally "the language of Canaan, "spoken by the Semitic Canaanites long before the Israelitish conquest ofthe country, and found as late as the Roman age on the monuments ofPhoenicia and Carthage. The Minæan and the Sabæan dialects of southernArabia still survive in modern forms; Arabic, which has now overflowedthe rest of the Semitic world, was the language of central Arabia alone. In northern Arabia, as well as in Mesopotamia and Syria, Aramaicdialects were used, the miserable relics of which are preserved to-dayamong a few villagers of the Lebanon and Lake Urumîyeh. These Aramaicdialects, it is now believed, arose from a mixture of Arabic with "thelanguage of Canaan. "

On the physical side, the Semitic race is not so homogeneous as it is onthe linguistic side. But this is due to intermarriage with other races, and where it is purest it displays the same general characteristics. Thick and fleshy lips, arched nose, black hair and eyes, and whitecomplexion, distinguish the pure-blooded Semite. Intellectually he isclever and able, quick to learn and remember, with an innate capacityfor trade and finance. Morally he is intense but sensuous, strong in hishate and in his affections, full of a profound belief in a personal Godas well as in himself. 

When Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldees the power and influence ofBabylonia had been firmly established for centuries throughout thelength and breadth of western Asia. From the mountains of Elam to thecoast of the Mediterranean the Babylonian language was understood, theBabylonian system of writing was taught and learned, Babylonianliterature was studied, Babylonian trade was carried on, and Babylonianlaw was in force. From time to time Syria and Canaan had obeyed the ruleof the Babylonian kings, and been formed into a Babylonian province. Infact, Babylonian rule did not come to an end in the west till after thedeath of Abraham; Khammurabi, the Amraphel of Genesis, entitles himselfking of "the land of the Amorites, " as Palestine was called by theBabylonians, and his fourth successor still gives himself the sametitle. The loss of Canaan and the fall of the Babylonian empire seem tohave been due to the conquest of Babylon by a tribe of Elamitemountaineers. 

The Babylonians of Abraham's age were Semites, and the language theyspoke was not more dissimilar from Canaanitish or Hebrew than Italian isfrom Spanish. But the population of the country had not always been ofthe Semitic stock. Its first settlers--those who had founded its cities, who had invented the cuneiform system of writing and originated itsculture--were of a wholly different race, and spoke an agglutinativelanguage which had no resemblance to that of the Semites. They had, however, been conquered and their culture absorbed by the SemiticBabylonians and Assyrians of later history, and the civilisation andculture which had spread throughout western Asia was a Semiticmodification and development of the older culture of Chaldæa. Itselements, indeed, were foreign, but long before it had been communicatedto the nations of the west it had become almost completely Semitic incharacter. The Babylonian conquerors of Canaan were Semites, and the artand trade, the law and literature they brought with them were Semiticalso. 

In passing, therefore, from Babylonia to Canaan, Abraham was but passingfrom one part of the Babylonian empire to another. He was not migratinginto a strange country, where the government and civilisation were alikeunknown, and the manners and customs those of another world. The road hetraversed had been trodden for centuries by soldiers and traders andcivil officials, by Babylonians making their way to Canaan, and byCanaanites intending to settle in Babylonia for the sake of trade. Harran, the first stage on his journey, bore a Babylonian name, and itsgreat temple of the Moon-god had been founded by Babylonian princesafter the model of the temple of the Moon-god at Ur, the birthplace ofthe patriarch. Even in Canaan itself the deities of Babylonia wereworshipped or identified with the native gods. Anu the god of the sky, Rimmon the god of the air, Nebo the interpreter and prophet ofBel-Merodach, were all adored in Palestine, and their names werepreserved to later times in the geography of the country. EvenAshtoreth, in whom all the other goddesses of the popular cult came tobe merged, was of Babylonian origin. 

Abraham took with him to the west the traditions and philosophy ofBabylonia, and found there a people already well acquainted with theliterature, the law, and the religion of his fatherland. The fact is animportant one; it is one of the most striking results of moderndiscovery, and it has a direct bearing on our estimate of thecredibility of the narratives contained in the Book of Genesis. Writtenand contemporaneous history in Babylonia went back to an age longanterior to that of Abraham--his age, indeed, marks the beginning of thedecline of the Babylonian power and influence; and consequently, thereis no longer any reason to treat as unhistorical the narrativesconnected with his name, or the statements that are made in regard tohimself and his posterity. His birth in Ur, his migration to Harran andPalestine, have been lifted out of the region of doubt into that ofhistory, and we may therefore accept without further questioning allthat we are told of his relationship to Lot or to the tribes ofnorth-western Arabia. 

In Canaan, however, Abraham was but a sojourner. Though he came there asa Babylonian prince, as an ally of its Amoritish chieftains, as a leaderof armed troops, even as the conqueror of a Babylonian army, his onlypossession in it was the burial-place of Machpelah. Here, in the closeneighbourhood of the later Hebron, he bought a plot of ground in thesloping cliff, wherein a twofold chamber had been excavated in the rockfor the purposes of burial. The sepulchre of Machpelah was the solepossession in the land of his adoption which he could bequeath to hisdescendants. 

Of these, however, Ishmael and the sons of Keturah moved southward intothe desert, out of the reach of the cultured Canaanites and thedomination of Babylonia. Isaac, too, the son of his Babylonian wife, seemed bent upon following their example. He established himself on theskirts of the southern wilderness, not far on the one hand from theborders of Palestine, nor on the other from the block of mountainswithin which was the desert sanctuary of Kadesh-barnea. His sons Esauand Jacob shared the desert and the cultivated land between them. Esauplanted himself among the barren heights of Mount Seir, subjugating orassimilating its Horite and Amalekite inhabitants, and securing the roadwhich carried the trade of Syria to the Red Sea; while Jacob sought hiswives among the settled Aramæans of Harran, and, like Abraham, pitchedhis tent in Canaan. At Shechem, in the heart of Canaan, he purchased afield, not, as in the case of Abraham, for the sake of burial, but inorder that he might live upon it in tent or house, and secure a springof water for his own possession. 

In Jacob the Israelites saw their peculiar ancestor. His twelve sonsbecame the fathers and representatives of the twelve tribes of Israel, and his own name was changed to that of Israel. The inscribed tablets ofearly Babylonia have taught us that both Israel and Ishmael were thenames of individuals in the Patriarchal age, not the names of tribes orpeoples, and consequently the Israelites, like the Ishmaelites, of alater day must have been the descendants of an individual Israel andIshmael as the Old Testament records assert. Already in the reign of theBabylonian king Ammi-zadok, the fourth successor of Amraphel, thecontemporary of Abraham, a high-priest in the district of northernChaldasa assigned to "Amorite" settlers from Canaan, bore the name ofSar-ilu or Israel. [1]

The fuller and older form of Jacob is Jacob-el. We find it in contractsdrawn up in Babylonia in the time of Abraham; we also find it as thename of an Egyptian king in the period when Egypt was ruled by Asiaticconquerors. The latter fact is curious, taken in connection with thefurther fact, that the son of the Biblical Jacob--the progenitor of theIsraelites--was the viceroy of an Egyptian Pharaoh, and that his fatherdied in the Egyptian land of Goshen. Goshen was the district whichextends from Tel el-Maskhuta or Pithom near Ismailîya to Belbeis andZagazig, and includes the modern Wadi Tumilât; the traveller on therailway passes through it on his way from Ismailîya to Cairo. It layoutside the Delta proper, and, as the Egyptian inscriptions tell us, hadfrom early times been handed over to the nomad Bedâwin and their flocks. Here they lived, separate from the native agriculturists, herding theirflocks and cattle, and in touch with their kinsmen of the desert. Here, too, the children of Israel were established, and here they multipliedand became a people. 

The growth of a family into a tribe or people is in accordance with Arabrule. There are numerous historical instances of a single individualbecoming the forefather of a tribe or a collection of tribes which underfavourable conditions may develop into a nation. The tribe or people isknown as the "sons" of their ancestor; his name is handed down fromgeneration to generation, and the names of his leading descendants, therepresentatives of the tribe, are handed down at the same time. Where wespeak of the population of a country, the Arab speaks of the "children"of a certain man. Such a mode of expression is in harmony with Semitichabits of thought. The genealogical method prevails alike in history andgeography; a colony is the "daughter" or "son" of its mother-city, andthe town of Sidon is the "first-born" of Canaan. 

Jacob had twelve sons, and his descendants were accordingly divided intotwelve tribes. But the division was an artificial one; it never at anytime corresponded exactly with historical reality. Levi was not a tribein the same sense as the rest of his brethren; no territory was assignedto him apart from the so-called Levitical cities; and he represented thepriestly order wherever it might be found and from whatever ancestors itmight be derived. Simeon and Dan hardly existed as separate tribesexcept in name; their territories were absorbed into that of Judah, andit was only in the city of Laish in the far north that the memory of Dansurvived. The tribe of Joseph was split into two halves, Ephraim andManasseh, while Judah was a mixture of various elements--of Hebrews whotraced their origin alike to Judah, to Simeon, and to Dan; of Kenitesand Jerahmeelites from the desert of Arabia; and of Kenizzites fromEdom. Benjamin or Ben-Oni was, as a tribe, merely the southern portionof the house of Joseph, which had settled around the sanctuary ofBeth-On or Beth-el. Benjamin means the "Southerner, " and Ben-Oni "theinhabitant of Beth-On. " It is even questionable whether the son of Jacobfrom whom the tribe was held to be descended bore the name of Benjamin. Had the name of Esau not been preserved we should not have known thetrue name of the founder of Edom, and it may be that the name of thetribe of Benjamin has been reflected back upon its ancestor. 

In Goshen, at all events, the tribes of Israel would have beendistinguished by the names of their actual forefathers. They would havebeen "the sons" of Reuben or Judah, of Simeon or Gad. But they were allfamilies within a single family. They were all "Israelites" or "sons ofIsrael, " and in an inscription of the Egyptian king Meneptah they areaccordingly called _Israelu_, "Israelites, " without any territorialadjunct. They lived in Goshen, like the Bedâwin of to-day, and theirsocial organisation was that of Arabia. 

The immediate occasion of the settlement of Israel on the outskirts ofEgypt was that which has brought so many Bedâwin herdsmen to the valleyof the Nile both before and since. The very district of Goshen in whichthey settled was occupied again, shortly after their desertion of it, bynomads from Edom who had besought the Pharaoh for meadow-land on whichto feed their flocks. The need of pasturage from time immemorial hasurged the pastoral tribes of the desert towards the fertile land of theNile. When want of rain has brought drought upon Canaan, parching thegrass and destroying the corn, the nomad has invariably set his facetoward the country which is dependent for its fertility, not upon therains of heaven, but upon the annual overflow of its river. It was afamine in Canaan, produced by the absence of rain, which made Jacob andhis sons "go down into Egypt. "

But besides this immediate cause there was yet another. They wereassured of a welcome in the kingdom of the Nile and the gift of adistrict in which they might live. One of the sons of Jacob had becomethe Vizier of the Egyptian Pharaoh. Joseph, the Hebrew slave who hadbeen sold into bondage by his brothers, had risen to be the firstminister of the king and the favourite of his sovereign. He had foretoldthe coming years of plenty and dearth; but he had done more--he hadpointed out how to anticipate the famine and make it subserve theinterests of despotism. He was not a seer only, he was a skilfuladministrator as well. He had taken advantage of the years of scarcityto effect a revolution in the social and political constitution ofEgypt. The people had been obliged to sell their lands and eventhemselves to the king for bread, and become from henceforth apopulation of royal slaves. The lands of Egypt were divided between theking and the priests; the peasantry tilled them for the state and forthe temples, while the upper classes owed their wealth and position tothe offices which they received at court. 

It would seem that the Israelites entered Egypt when the country wasgoverned by the last of those foreign dynasties from Asia which hadconquered the kingdom of the Pharaoh, and are known by the name of theHyksos or Shepherd kings. The Egyptian monuments have shown us thatduring their dominion its internal constitution underwent precisely thechange which is described in the history of Joseph. Before the Hyksosconquest there was a great feudal aristocracy, rich in landed estatesand influence, which served as a check upon the monarch, and at timeseven refused to obey his authority. When the Hyksos conquerors arefinally expelled, we find that this feudal aristocracy has disappeared, and its place has been taken by a civil and military bureaucracy. Theking has become a supreme autocrat, by the side of whom the priestsalone retain any power. The land has passed out of the hands of thepeople; high and low alike are dependent for what they have on thefavour of the king. 

The Hyksos dynasties were allied in race and sympathies with thesettlers from Asia. Joseph must have died before their expulsion, but itis probable that he saw the outbreak of the war which ended in it, andwhich after five generations of conflict restored the Egyptians toindependence. The Eighteenth dynasty was founded by the native princesof Thebes, and the war against the Asiatic stranger which had begun inEgypt was carried into Asia itself. Canaan was made an Egyptianprovince, and the Egyptian empire was extended to the banks of theEuphrates. 

But the conquest of Asia brought with it the introduction of Asiaticinfluences into the country of the conqueror. The Pharaohs marriedAsiatic wives, and their courts became gradually Asiatised. At lengthAmenophis IV. , under the tutelage of his mother, attempted to abolishthe national religion of Egypt, and to substitute for it a sort ofpantheistic monotheism, based on the worship of the Asiatic Baal asrepresented by the Solar Disk. The Pharaoh transferred his capital fromThebes to a new site farther north, now known as Tel el-Amarna, changedhis own name to Khu-n-Aten, "the Glory of the Solar Disk, " and filledhis court with Asiatic officials and the adherents of the new cult. Thereaction, however, soon came. The native Egyptians rose in revolt; theforeigner fled from the valley of the Nile, and the capital ofKhu-n-Aten fell into ruin. A new dynasty, the Nineteenth, arose underRamses I. , whose grandson, Ramses II. , reigned for sixty-seven years, and crowded Egypt with his buildings and monuments. 

One of the cities he built has been shown by the excavations of Dr. Naville to have been Pa-Tum, the Pithom of the Old Testament. RamsesII. , therefore, must have been the Pharaoh of the Oppression. Thepicture set before us in the first chapter of Exodus fits in exactlywith the character of his reign. The dynasty to which he belongedrepresented the reaction against the domination and influence of theforeigner from Asia, and the oppression of the Israelites wouldnaturally have been part of its policy. Such of the Asiatics as stillremained in Egypt were turned into public serfs, and measures were takento prevent them from multiplying so as to be dangerous to their masters. The free spirit of the Bedâwin was broken by servitude, and every carewas used that they should be unable to help their brethren from Asia incase of another "Hyksos" invasion. The incessant building operations ofRamses needed a constant supply of workmen, and financial as well aspolitical interests thus suggested that merciless _corvée_ of theIsraelites which rendered them at once politically harmless andserviceable to the state. 

In spite of all repression, however, the oppressed people continued tomultiply, and eventually escaped from their "house of bondage. " Thestela of Meneptah, on which the name of "Israelites" occurs, impliesthat they had already been lost to sight in the desert. The othernationalities over whom Meneptah is said to have triumphed all have theterm "country" attached to their names; the "Israelites" alone arewithout local habitation. Egyptian legend, as reported by the nativehistorian Manetho, placed the Exodus in the reign of Meneptah, and asMeneptah was the son and successor of Ramses II. , the correctness of thestatement is antecedently probable. It was in the fifth year of hisreign that the Delta was attacked by a formidable combination of foes. The Libyans threatened it on the west: on the north, bands ofsea-pirates from the coasts of Asia Minor and the islands of theMediterranean attacked it by sea and land. A mutilated inscription ofMeneptah tells us how the tents of the invaders had been pitched on theoutskirts of the land of Goshen, within reach of the Bedâwin shepherdswho fed their flocks there, and how the troops of the Pharaoh, pressedat once by the enemy and by the disaffected population of Goshen, hadbeen cooped up within the walls of the great cities, afraid to ventureforth. The fate of the invasion was sealed, however, by a decisivebattle in which the Egyptians almost annihilated their foes. But theland of Goshen was left empty and desolate; the foreign tribes who haddwelt in it fled into the wilderness under the cover of the Libyaninvasion. The pressure of the invasion had forced the Pharaoh to allowhis serfs a free passage out of Egypt, quite as much as the "signs andwonders" which were wrought by the hand of Moses. Egypt was protected onits eastern side by a line of fortifications, and through thesepermission was given that the Israelites should pass. But the permissionwas hardly given before it was recalled. A small body of cavalry, notmove than six hundred in number, was sent in pursuit of the fugitives, who were loaded with the plunder they had carried away from theEgyptians. They were a disorganised and unwarlike multitude, consistingpartly of serfs, partly of women and children, partly of stragglers fromthe armies of the Libyan and Mediterranean invaders. Six hundred menwere deemed sufficient either to destroy them or to reduce them oncemore to captivity. 

But the fugitives escaped as it were by miracle. A violent wind from theeast drove back the shallow waters at the head of the Gulf of Suez, bythe side of which they were encamped, and the Israelites passed dryshodover the bed of "the sea. " Before their pursuers could overtake them, the wind had veered, and the waters returned on the Egyptian chariots. The slaves were free at last, once more in the wilderness in which Isaachad tended his flocks, and in contact with their kinsmen of Edom andMidian. 

Moses had led them out of Egypt, and Moses now became their lawgiver. The laws which he gave them formed them into a nation, and laid thefoundations of the national faith. Henceforth they were to be a separatepeople, bound together by the worship of one God, who had revealedHimself to them under the name of Yahveh. First at Sinai, among themountains of Seir and Paran, and then at Kadesh-barnea, the modern 'AinQadîs, the Mosaic legislation was promulgated. The first code wascompiled under the shadow of Mount Sinai; its provisions weresubsequently enlarged or modified by the waters of En-Mishat, "theSpring of Judgment. "

The Israelites lay hidden, as it were, in the desert for many longyears, preparing themselves for the part they were afterwards to play inthe history of mankind. But from the moment of their departure fromEgypt their goal had been Canaan. They were not mere Bedâwin; theybelonged to that portion of the Semitic race which had made settlementsand founded kingdoms in Moab and Ammon and Edom, and their residence inthe cultured land of the Nile had made it impossible for them ever todegenerate into the lawless robbers of the wilderness. They were settledBedâwin, not Bedâwin proper; not Bedâwin by blood and descent, butSemites who had adopted the wandering and pastoral habits of the Bedâwintribes. They were like their brethren of Edom, who, though they came toEgypt seeking pasturage for their cattle, had nevertheless founded athome an elective monarchy. The true Bedâwin of the Old Testament are theAmalekites, and between the Israelite and the Amalekite there was thedifference that there is between the peasant and the gypsy. The fact isimportant, and the forgetfulness of it has led more than one historianastray. 

The first attempt to invade Canaan failed. It was made from the south, from the shelter of the block of mountains within which stood thesanctuary of Kadesh-barnea. The Israelitish forces were disastrouslydefeated at Zephath, the Hormah of later days, and the invasion of thePromised Land was postponed. The desert life had still to continue for awhile. In the fastness of 'Ain Qadîs the forces of Israel grew andmatured, and a long series of legislative enactments organised it into ahomogeneous whole. At length the time came when the Israelites feltstrong enough once more to face an enemy and to win by the sword acountry of their own. It was from the east that they made their secondattack. Aaron the high-priest was dead, but his brother Moses was stilltheir leader. The Edomites refused them a passage along the high-road oftrade which led northward from the Gulf of Aqaba; skirting Edomaccordingly, they marched through a waterless desert to the green wadisof Moab, and there pitched their camp. The Amorite kingdoms of Sihon andOg fell before their assault. The northern part of Moab, which Sihon hadconquered, was occupied by the invaders, and the plateau of Bashan, overwhich Og had ruled, fell into Israelitish hands. The invaders nowprepared to cross the Jordan and advance into the highlands of Canaan. Moses died on the summit of a Moabite mountain and his place was takenby Joshua. 

Joshua was a general and not a legislator. He could win battles anddestroy cities, but he could not restore what he had destroyed, ororganise his followers into a state. Jericho, which commanded the fordacross the Jordan, fell into his hands; the confederate kings ofsouthern Canaan were overthrown in battle, and the tribe of Ephraim, towhich Joshua belonged, was established in the mountainous region whichafterwards bore its name. Henceforward the mountains of Ephraim formedthe centre and the stronghold of Israelitish power in Palestine, fromwhence the invading tribes could issue forth to conquest, or to whichthey could retreat for shelter in case of need. 

Beyond leading his people into Canaan and establishing them too firmlyin its midst to be ever dislodged, Joshua personally did but little. Theconquest of Canaan was a slow process, which was not completed till thedays of the monarchy. Jerusalem was not captured till the reign ofDavid, Gezer was the dowry received by Solomon along with his Egyptianwife. At first the Canaanites were treated with merciless ferocity. Their cities were burned, the inhabitants of them massacred, and thespoil divided among the conquerors. But a time soon came when tributewas accepted in place of extermination, when leagues were made with theCanaanitish cities, and the Israelites intermarried with the olderpopulation of the country. As in Britain after the Saxon conquest, theinvaders settled in the country rather than in the towns, so that whilethe peasantry was Israelite the townsfolk either remained Canaanite orwere a mixture of the two races. 

The mixture introduced among the Israelites the religion and thebeliefs, the manners and the immoralities, of the Canaanitish people. The Mosaic legislation was forgotten; the institutions prescribed in thewilderness were ignored. Alone at Shiloh, in the heart of Ephraim, was amemory of the past observed; here the descendants of Aaron served in thetabernacle, and kept alive a recollection of the Mosaic code. Here aloneno image stood in the sanctuary of the temple; the ark of the covenantwas the symbol of the national God. 

But the influence of Shiloh did not extend far. The age that succeededthe entrance into Canaan, was one of anarchy and constant war. Hardlyhad the last effort of the Canaanites against their invaders beenoverthrown on the banks of the Kishon, when a new enemy appeared in thesouth. The Philistines, who had planted themselves on the sea-coastshortly before the Israelites had invaded the inland, now turned theirarms against the new-comers, and contended with them for the possessionof the country. The descendants of Jacob were already exhausted bystruggle after struggle with the populations which surrounded them. Moabites and Midianites, Ammonites and Bedâwin, even the king of distantMesopotamia, had sacked their villages, had overrun their fields, andexacted tribute from the Israelitish tribes. The tribes themselves hadlost coherence; they had ranged themselves under different "judges" or"deliverers, " had forgotten their common origin and common faith, andhad even plunged into interfraternal war. Joshua was scarcely deadbefore the tribe of Benjamin was almost exterminated by its brethren;and a few generations later, the warriors of Ephraim, the stalwartchampion of Israel, were massacred by the Israelites east of the Jordan. In the south, a new tribe, Judah, had arisen out of variouselements--Hebrew, Kenite, and Edomite; and it was not long before therewas added to the cleavage between the tribes on the two banks of theJordan, the further and more lasting cleavage between Judah and thetribes of the north. Israel was a house divided against itself, andplanted in the midst of foes. 

It needed a head, a leader who should bring its discordant elements intopeace and order, and lead its united forces against the common enemy. Monarchy alone could save it from destruction. The theocracy had failed, the authority of the high-priests and of the Law they administered washardly felt beyond Shiloh; an age of war and anarchy required militaryrather than religious control. The Israelites were passing through thesame experience as other kindred members of the Semitic race. In Assyriathe high-priests of Assur had been succeeded by kings; in southernArabia the high-priest had similarly been superseded by the king, andthe kings of Edom had but recently taken the place of _alûphîm_ or"dukes. "

The first attempt to found a monarchy was made by the northern tribes. Jerubbaal, the conqueror of the Midianites, established his power amongthe mixed Hebrew and Canaanite inhabitants of Ophrah and Shechem, andhis son Abimelech by a Canaanitish wife received the title of king. Butthe attempt was premature. The kingdom of Manasseh passed away withAbimelech; the other tribes were not yet ready to acknowledge thesupremacy of a chieftain who was not sprung from themselves, andAbimelech, moreover, was half-Canaanitish by descent. 

The pressure of Philistine conquest at last forced the Israelites with acommon voice to "demand a king. " Reinforced by bodies of their kinsfolkfrom Krete and the islands of the Greek seas, the Philistines pouredover the frontier of Judah, plundering and destroying as they went. Atfirst they were contented with raids; but the raids gradually passedinto a continuous warfare and a settled purpose to conquer Canaan, andreduce it to tribute from one end to the other. The Israelitish forceswere annihilated in a decisive battle, the ark of the covenant was takenby the heathen, and the two sons of the high-priest perished on thefield of battle. The Philistine army marched northward into the heart ofthe mountains of Ephraim, the sanctuary of Shiloh was destroyed and itspriesthood dispersed. It was not long before the Philistine dominationwas acknowledged throughout the Israelitish territory on the westernside of the Jordan, and Canaan became Palestine, "the land of thePhilistines. "

In the more inaccessible parts of Benjamin, indeed, a few Israelitesstill maintained a fitful independence, and Samuel, the representativeof the traditions of Shiloh, was allowed to judge his own people, andpreside over a Naioth or "monastery" of dervish-like prophets under theeye of a Philistine garrison. Israel seemed about to disappear fromamong the nations of the world. 

But it had not yet wholly forgotten that it was a single people, thedescendants of a common forefather, sharers in a common history, andabove all, worshippers of the same God. In their extremity theIsraelites called for a king. Saul, the Benjamite of Gibeah, waselected, and events soon proved the wisdom of the choice. Jabesh-gileadwas rescued from the Ammonite king, the Philistine garrisons were drivenout of the centre of the country, and, for a time at least, a large partof the Israelitish territory was cleared of its enemies. Saul was ableto turn his arms against the Amalekite marauders of the desert, as wellas the princes of Zobah to the north-east of Ammon. 

But the Philistine war still continued. Saul had incorporated in hisbody-guard a young shepherd of Beth-lehem in Judah of the name of David. David showed himself a brave and skilful soldier, and quickly rose tohigh command in the Hebrew army, and to be the son-in-law of Saul. Hisvictories over the Philistines were celebrated in popular songs, and theking began to suspect him of aiming at the throne. He was forced to flyfor his life, and to hide among the mountain fastnesses of Judah, wherehis boyhood had been spent. Here he became a brigand-chief, outlaws andadventurers gathering around him, and exacting food from the richerlandowners. Saul pursued him in vain; David slipped out of his handstime after time, thanks to the nature of the country in which he hadtaken refuge; and the only result of the pursuit was to open the roadonce more to Philistine invasion. Meanwhile David and his followers hadleft the Israelitish territory, and offered their services to Achish ofGath; the Philistine prince enrolled them in his body-guard and settledthem in the town of Ziklag. 

Saul and the priests were now at open war. Samuel, perhaps naturally, had quarrelled with the king who had superseded his authority, and hadespoused the cause of David. We are told, indeed, that he had anointedDavid as king in the place of Saul. When, therefore, David escaped fromthe court, Saul accused the Shilonite priests who were established atNob of intentionally aiding the rebel. The high-priest vainly protestedtheir innocence, but the furious king refused to listen, and the priestswere massacred in cold blood. Abiathar, the son of the murderedhigh-priest, alone escaped to David to tell the tale. He carried withhim the sacred ephod through which the will of Yahveh was made known, and from henceforth the influence of the priesthood was thrown againstthe king. 

Saul had lost his best general, who had gone over to the enemy; he hademployed his troops in hunting a possible rival through the Judæan wildswhen they ought to have been guarding the frontier against the nationalfoe, and the whole force of Israelitish religion had been turned againsthim. There was little cause for wonder, therefore, that the Philistinearmies again marched into the Israelitish kingdom, and made their waynorthward along the coast into the plain of Jezreel. A battle on theslopes of Jezreel decided the fate of Israel. The Hebrew army was cut topieces, and Saul and his sons were slain. One only survived, Esh-baal, too young or too feeble to take part in the fight. Esh-baal was carriedacross the Jordan by Abner and the relics of the Israelitish forces, andthere proclaimed king at Mahanaim. The Philistines became undisputedmasters of Israel west of the Jordan, while their tributary vassal, David, was proclaimed King of Judah at Hebron. His nephew Joab was madecommander-in-chief. 

War soon broke out between David and Esh-baal. Esh-baal grew continuallyweaker, and his general Abner intrigued with David to betray him intothe hands of the Jewish king. Abner, however, was slain by Joab while inthe act of carrying out his treason, but Esh-baal was murdered shortlyafterwards by two of his servants. David declared himself his successor, and claimed rule over all Israel. 

This brought him into conflict with his Philistine overlords. It wasequivalent to revolt, and the Philistine army swept the lowlands ofJudah. David fled from Hebron and took refuge in his old retreat. Herehe organised his forces; the Philistines were defeated in battle afterbattle, and David not only succeeded in driving them out of Judah andIsrael, but in carrying the war into their own country. The Philistinecities were conquered, and soldiers from Gath, where David had himselfonce served as a mercenary, were drafted into the body-guard of theHebrew sovereign. 

Before the Philistine war was over, Jerusalem had fallen into David'shands. The stronghold of the Jebusites was one of the last of theCanaanitish cities to surrender to the Israelites. Its older inhabitantswere allowed to live in it side by side with colonists from Judah andBenjamin. The city itself was made the capital of the kingdom. Itscentral position, its natural strength, and its independence of thehistory of any special tribe, all combined to justify the choice. HereDavid built his palace, and planned the erection of a temple to Yahveh. 

Meanwhile the kingdom of Israel was passing into an empire. Joab and hisveterans gained victory after victory, and the Hebrew army became whatthe Assyrian army was in later days, the most highly disciplined andirresistible force in western Asia. Moab and Ammon were subdued; theAramaic kinglets to the north-east were made tributaries, and thekingdom of Zobah, which had risen on the ruins of the Hittite power, wasoverthrown. The limits of David's rule were extended to the banks of theEuphrates, and the Syrians on either side of the river were utterlycrushed. Even Edom, which had successfully defied the Pharaohs in thedays of Egyptian greatness, was compelled to submit to the Jewishconqueror; its male population was mercilessly massacred, and its portson the Gulf of Suez fell into Israelitish hands. In the north Hamathmade alliance with the new power that had arisen in the Oriental world, while Hiram of Tyre was glad to call himself the friend of theIsraelitish king, and to furnish him with skilled workmen and articlesof luxury. 

The latter years of David were troubled by revolts which had theirorigin partly in the polygamy in which he had indulged, partly in thediscontent of a people still imperfectly welded together, and restlessunder military conscription. His son Solomon secured his throne byputting to death all possible rivals or opponents, including thegrey-haired Joab. Solomon was cultured and well-educated, but hisculture was selfish, and his extravagance knew no bounds. Palaces werebuilt at Jerusalem in imitation of those of Phoenicia or Egypt, andPhoenician architects and artisans erected there a sumptuous temple inhonour of the national God. Trade was encouraged and developed: thepossession of the Edomite seaports gave Solomon the command of theArabian trade, while his alliance with Hiram opened to him the harboursof the Mediterranean coast. But the wealth which David had accumulated, the tribute of the conquered provinces, and the trading monopolies ofthe king himself did not suffice for the extravagance of hisexpenditure, and heavy fiscal burdens had to be laid on the Israelitishtribes. Disaffection grew up everywhere except in Judah, where the kingresided, and where the wealth raised elsewhere was spent. 

Revolts broke out in Edom and the north. Garrisons, indeed, were plantedin Zobah, which secured the caravan road through Tadmor or Palmyra tothe Euphrates; but Damascus was lost, and became in a few years aformidable adversary of Israel. The death of Solomon was the signal fora revolt in Palestine itself. The northern tribes under Jeroboamseparated from Judah and established a kingdom of their own, while Judahand Benjamin remained faithful to the house of David and to the capital, which lay on the frontier of both. The Levites also naturally attachedthemselves to the kingdom which contained the great national sanctuary, and to the royal family whose chapel it was. The disruption of themonarchy necessarily brought with it the fall of the empire; Moab, however, continued to be tributary to the northern kingdom and Edom tothat of Judah. 

Five years after the accession of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, thekingdom of Judah seemed in danger of perishing altogether. Shishak, theEgyptian Pharaoh, invaded the country and sacked Jerusalem itself. ButJeroboam lost the opportunity thus afforded him of extending his ruleover the south; his own territories had been partially overrun by theEgyptians, and he was probably not in a position to commence a war. Judah had time to recover; the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt, and theArabian trade soon supplied it with fresh resources. 

The long and prosperous reign of Asa, the grandson of Rehoboam, placedthe line of David on a solid foundation. The Jewish kingdom was compact;its capital was central, and was not only a strongly-fortified fortress, but also an ancient and venerable sanctuary. As time went on feelings ofrespect and affection gathered round the royal house; the people ofJudah identified it with themselves, and looked back with pride andregret to the glorious days of David and Solomon. Religion, moreover, lent its sanction to the Davidic dynasty. The Levitical priesthood hadits centre in the temple which had been built by Solomon, and was, as itwere, the private chapel of his descendants; here were preserved therites and traditions of the Mosaic Law, and the ark of the covenantbetween Israel and its God. The northern kingdom, on the contrary, hadnone of these elements of stability. The first king was a rebel, who hadno glorious past behind him, no established priesthood to support histhrone, no capital even, around which all his subjects could rally. Thesword had given him his crown, and the sword was henceforth the arbiterof his kingdom. The conservative forces which were strong in Judah wereabsent in the north; there the army became more and more powerful, andits generals dethroned princes and established short-lived dynasties. Northern Israel, moreover, was not homogeneous; the tribes on the twosides of the Jordan were never welded together like the inhabitants ofJudah, and the divergence of interests that had once existed betweenthem was never wholly forgotten. 

Israel perished while Judah survived. Dynasty after dynasty had arisenin it; its capital had been shifted from time to time; it did not evenpossess a religious centre. Before a line of kings had time to win theloyalty of the people they were swept away by revolution, and the armybecame the dominating power in the state. There was no body of prieststo preserve the memory of the Mosaic Law and insist upon its observance, and the prophets who took their place protested in vain against thenational apostasy. Alliance with the neighbouring kingdom of Phoeniciabrought with it the worship of the Phoenician Baal, and Yahveh wasforsaken for a foreign god. In B. C. 722 Samaria, the later capital ofthe country, was taken by the Assyrian king Sargon, and northern Israelceased to be a nation. 

Judah, on the other hand, successfully defied the Assyrian power. Theinvasion of Sennacherib was rolled back from the walls of Jerusalem, andthough the Jewish kings paid tribute to Nineveh, they were left inpossession of their territories. Edom, indeed, had long since been lost, and with it the trade with the Arabian seas, but the Philistinescontinued to acknowledge the supremacy of Judah, and commercialrelations were kept up with Egypt. It was not until the Babylonianempire of Nebuchadrezzar had arisen on the ruins of that of Assyria thatJerusalem and its temple were destroyed, and the Davidic dynasty passedaway. But they had accomplished their work; a nation had been createdwhich through exile and disaster still maintained its religion and itscharacteristics, and was prepared, when happier days should come, toreturn again to its old home, to rebuild the temple, and carry out allthe ordinances of its faith. From henceforth Judah realised its missionas a peculiar people, separated from the rest of the world, whoseinstructor in religion it was to be. More and more it ceased to be anation and became a race--a race, moreover, which had its roots in acommon religious history, a common faith, and a common hope. Israelaccording to the flesh became Israel according to the spirit. 

[Footnote 1: See Pinches in the _Journal_ of the Royal Asiatic Society, July 1897. In a tablet belonging to a period long before that ofAbraham, Isma-ilu or Ishmael is given as the name of an "Amorite" slavefrom Palestine (Thureau-Dangin, _Tablettes chaldéennes inédites_, p. 10). ]

CHAPTER II

CANAAN

Canaan was the inheritance which the Israelites won for themselves bythe sword. Their ancestors had already settled in it in patriarchaldays. Abraham "the Hebrew" from Babylonia had bought in it aburying-place near Hebron; Jacob had purchased a field near Shechem, where he could water his flocks from his own spring. It was the"Promised Land" to which the serfs of the Pharaoh in Goshen lookedforward when they should again become free men and find a new home forthemselves. 

Canaan had ever been the refuge of the Asiatic population of Egypt, thegoal at which they aimed when driven out of the land of the Nile. TheHyksos conquerors from Asia had retreated to Jerusalem when the nativeEgyptians recovered their independence and had expelled them from theirseats in the Delta. Though Moses had assured the Pharaoh that all theIsraelites needed was to go a short journey of three days into thewilderness, and there sacrifice to their God, it was well understoodthat the desert was not to be the end of their pilgrimage. Canaan, andCanaan only, was the destined country they had in view. 

In the early inscriptions of Babylonia, Canaan is included in the restof Syria under the general title of "the land of the Amorites. " TheAmorites were at the time the dominant population on the Mediterraneancoast of western Asia, and after them accordingly the whole countryreceived its name. The "land of the Amorites" had been overrun by thearmies of Babylonia at a very remote period, and had thus come under theinfluence of Babylonian culture. As far back as the reigns of Sargon ofAkkad and his son Naram-Sin (B. C. 3800), three campaigns had laid it atthe feet of the Chaldæan monarch, and Palestine and Syria became aprovince of the Babylonian empire. Sargon erected an image of himself bythe shore of the sea, and seems even to have received tribute fromCyprus. Colonies of "Amorite" or Canaanitish merchants settled inBabylonia for the purposes of trade, and there obtained various rightsand privileges; and a cadastral survey of southern Babylonia made at thetime mentions "the governor of the land of the Amorites. "

The Amorites, however, though they were the dominant people of Syria, were not its original inhabitants; nor, it is probable, did they evenform the largest part of its population. They were essentially theinhabitants of the mountains, as we are told in the Book of Numbers(xiii. 29), and appear to have come from the west. We have learnt a gooddeal about them from the Egyptian monuments, where the "Amurru" orAmorites are depicted with that fidelity to nature which characterisedthe art of ancient Egypt. They belonged to the white race, and, likeother members of the white race, were tall in stature and impatient ofthe damp heat of the plains. Their beard and eye-brows are painted red, their hair a light red-brown, while their eyes are blue. The skin is asunburnt white, the nose straight and regular, the forehead high, andthe lips thin. They wore whiskers and a pointed beard, and dressed inlong robes furnished with a sort of cape. Their physical characteristicsare those of the Libyan neighbours of the Egyptians on the west, theforefathers of the fair-skinned and blue-eyed Kabyles or Berbers whoinhabit the mountains of northern Africa to-day. Anthropologists connectthese Libyans with the Kelts of our own islands. At one time, it wouldseem, a Kelto-Libyan race existed, which spread along the northern coastof Africa to western Europe and the British Isles. The Amorites wouldappear to have been an eastern offshoot of the same race. 

Wherever they went, the members of the race buried their dead in rudestone cairns or cromlechs, the dolmens of the French antiquarians. Wefind them in Britain and France, in the Spanish peninsula, and the northof Africa. They are also found in Palestine, more especially in thatportion of it which was the home of the Amorites. The skulls found inthe cairns are for the most part of the dolichocephalic or long-headedtype; this too is the shape of skull characteristic of the modernKabyle, and it has been portrayed for us by the Egyptian artists in thepictures of their Amorite foes. 

In the days of the Egyptian artists--the age of the Eighteenth and twofollowing dynasties (B. C. 1600-1200)--the special seat of the Amoriteswas the mountainous district immediately to the north of Palestine. ButAmorite kingdoms were established elsewhere on both sides of the Jordan. Not long before the Israelitish invasion, the Amorite king Sihon hadrobbed Moab of its territory and founded his power on the ruins of thatof the Egyptian empire. Farther north, in the plateau of Bashan, anotherAmorite king, Og, had his capital, while Amorite tribes were settled onthe western side of the Jordan, in the mountains of southern Canaan, where the tribe of Judah subsequently established itself. We even hearof Amorites in the mountain-block of Kadesh-barnea, in the desert southof Canaan; and the Amorite type of face, as it has been depicted for uson the monuments of Egypt, may still be often observed among the Arabtribes of the district between Egypt and Palestine. 

Jerusalem, Ezekiel tells us, had an Amorite as well as a Hittiteparentage, and Jacob declares that he had taken his heritage at Shechemout of the hand of the Amorite with his sword and bow. It must beremembered, however, that the term "Amorite" is sometimes used in theOld Testament in its Babylonian sense, as denoting an inhabitant ofCanaan, whatever might be the race to which he belonged; we cannotalways infer from it the nationality or race of those to whom it isapplied. Moreover, individual branches of the Amorite stock had names oftheir own. In the north they were known as Hivites, at Hebron they werecalled Anakim, at Jerusalem they were Jebusites. The Amorite kings ofBashan are described as Rephaim, a word which the Authorised Versiontranslates "giants. " It was only on the northern frontier of Palestineand in the kingdom of Sihon that the name of "Amorite" alone was used. 

The Babylonian conquests introduced into Canaan the government and law, the writing and literature, of Babylonian civilisation. The Babylonianlanguage even made its way to the west, and was taught, along with thescript, in the schools which were established in imitation of those ofChaldæa. Babylonian generals and officials lived in Palestine andadministered its affairs, and an active trade was carried on between theEuphrates and the Mediterranean coast. The trade-road ran throughMesopotamia past the city of Harran, and formed a link between theMediterranean and the Persian Gulf. 

From an early date libraries had existed in Babylonia stored with theliterature of the country. Similarly, libraries now grew up in "the landof the Amorites, " and the clay tablets with which they were filled madeknown to the west the legends and records of Chaldæa. Amorite culturewas modelled on that of Babylonia. 

Babylonian influence lasted for centuries in western Asia. In the age ofAbraham the Amorites still obeyed the suzerainty of the Babyloniankings. Khammurabi, the Amraphel of the Book of Genesis, calls himselfking of the country of the Amorites as well as of Babylon, and hisgreat-grandson does the same. At a later date Babylonia itself wasconquered by a foreign line of kings, and Canaan recovered itsindependence. But this was of no long duration. Thothmes III. , of theEighteenth Egyptian dynasty (B. C. 1503-1449), made it a province ofEgypt, and the Amorites were governed by Egyptian prefects andcommissioners. The cuneiform tablets found at Tel el-Amarna in UpperEgypt give us a vivid picture of its condition at the close of theEighteenth dynasty. The Egyptian power was falling to pieces, andPalestine was threatened by Hittite invaders from the north. The nativegovernors were fighting with one another or intriguing with the enemiesof Egypt, while all the time protesting their loyalty to the Pharaoh. Ebed-Asherah and his son Aziru governed the Amorites in the north, andthe prefect of Phoenicia sends bitter complaints to the Egyptian courtof their hostility to himself and their royal master. Aziru, however, was an able ruler. He succeeded in clearing himself from the charge ofcomplicity with the Hittites against whom he had been sent, as well asin getting the better of his Phoenician rival. The latter disappearsfrom history, while the Amorites are allowed to settle undisturbed inZemar and other cities of inland Phoenicia. 

Under Ramses II. Of the Nineteenth dynasty, Canaan still yielded areluctant obedience to Egypt. In the troubles which had followed thefall of the Eighteenth dynasty, it had shaken itself free from foreignauthority, but had been reconquered by Seti I. , the father of Ramses. Egyptian authority was re-established even on the eastern side of theJordan; but it did not continue for long. Ramses was hardly dead beforeEgypt was invaded by Libyans from the west and robber hordes from theGreek seas, and though the invasion was ultimately beaten back, itsstrength had been exhausted in the struggle. The Egyptian empire inCanaan passed away for ever, and the Canaanites were left free to governthemselves. 

The kingdom of Sihon was one of the results of this ending of Egyptianrule. The Amorites became a power once more. A few years later Egypt wasagain attacked by armed invaders from the north. The assailants pouredinto it both by sea and land. Fleets of ships filled with Philistinesand Achæans and other northern tribes entered the mouths of the Nile, while a vast army simultaneously attacked it by land. The army, we aretold, had encamped in "the land of the Amorites, " and they carried withthem on their farther march recruits from the countries through whichthey passed. The Amorite "chief" himself was among those who followedthe barbarians to Egypt, eager for the spoils of the wealthiest countryin the ancient world. 

Ramses III. Of the Twentieth dynasty was now on the throne. He succeededin rolling back the wave of invasion, in gaining a decisive victory overthe combined military and naval forces of the enemy, and in pursuingthem to the frontiers of Asia itself. Gaza, the key to the military roadwhich ran along the sea-board of Palestine, fell once more into Egyptianhands; and the Egyptian troops overran the future Judah, occupying thedistricts of Jerusalem and Hebron, and even crossing the Jordan. But nopermanent conquest was effected; Ramses retired again to Egypt, and formore than two centuries no more Egyptian armies found their way intoCanaan. Gaza and the neighbouring cities became the strongholds of thePhilistine pirates, and effectually barred the road to Asia. 

The campaign of Ramses III. In southern Palestine must have taken placewhen the Israelites were still in the desert. Between the two invasionsof Egypt by the barbarians of the north, there was no great interval oftime. The Exodus, which had been due in part to the pressure of thefirst of them in the reign of Meneptah, was separated by only a fewyears from the capture of Hebron by Caleb, which must have occurredafter its evacuation by the Egyptian troops. The great movement whichbrought the populations of Asia Minor and the Greek islands upon Canaanand the Nile, and which began in the age of the Exodus, was over beforethe children of Israel had emerged from the wilds of the desert. 

In the Old Testament the Amorites are constantly associated with anotherpeople, the Hittites. When Ezekiel ascribes an Amorite parentage toJerusalem, he ascribes to it at the same time a Hittite parentage aswell. The same interlocking of Amorite and Hittite that meets us in theBible, meets us also on the monuments of Egypt. Here, too, we are toldthat Kadesh on the Orontes, the Hittite capital, was "in the land of theAmorites. " It was, in fact, on the shores of the Lake of Homs, in themidst of the district over which the Amorites claimed rule. 

The Hittites were intruders from the north. The Egyptian monuments haveshown us what they were like. Their skin was yellow, their eyes and hairwere black, their faces were beardless. Square and prominent cheeks, aprotrusive nose, with retreating chin and forehead and lozenge-shapedeyes, gave them a Mongoloid appearance. They were not handsome to lookupon, but the accuracy of their portraiture by the artists of Egypt isconfirmed by their own monuments. The heads represented on the Egyptianmonuments are repeated, feature by feature, in the Hittite sculptures. Ugly as they were, they were not the caricatures of an enemy, but thetruthful portraits of a people whose physical characteristics are stillfound, according to Sir Charles Wilson, in the modern population ofCappadocia. 

The Hittites wore their hair in three plaits, which fell over the backlike the pigtail of a Chinaman. They dressed in short tunics over whicha long robe was worn, which in walking left one leg bare. Their feetwere shod with boots with turned-up ends, a sure indication of theirnorthern origin. Such boots, in fact, are snow-shoes, admirably adaptedto the inhabitants of the mountain-ranges of Asia Minor, but whollyunsuited for the hot plains of Syria. When, therefore, on the walls ofthe Ramesseum we find the Theban artists depicting the defenders ofKadesh on the Orontes with them, we may conclude that the latter hadcome from the colder north just as certainly as we may conclude, fromthe use of similar shoes among the Turks, that they also have come froma northern home. In the Hittite system of hieroglyphic writing, the bootwith upturned end occupies a prominent place. 

When the Tel el-Amarna tablets were written (B. C. 1400), the Hittiteswere advancing on the Egyptian province of Syria. Tunip, or Tennib, nearAleppo, had fallen, and both Amorites and Canaanites were intriguingwith the invader. The highlands of Cappadocia and the ranges of theTaurus seem to have been the cradle of the Hittite race. Here they firstcame into contact with Babylonian culture, which they adopted andmodified, and from hence they poured down upon the Aramæan cities of thesouth. Carche-mish, now Jerablûs, which commanded the chief ford acrossthe Euphrates, fell into their hands, and for many centuries remainedone of their capitals. But it was not until the stormy period whichsignalised the overthrow of the Eighteenth Egyptian dynasty, that theHittites succeeded in establishing themselves as far south as Kadesh onthe Orontes. The long war, however, waged with them by Ramses II. Prevented them from advancing farther; when peace was made at lastbetween them and the Egyptians, both sides had been exhausted by thestruggle, and the southern limit of Hittite power had been fixed. 

The kings of Kadesh had, however, been at the head of a veritableempire; they were able to summon allies and vassals from Asia Minor, andit is probable that their rule extended to the banks of the Halys inCappadocia, where Hittite remains have been found. Military roadsconnected the Hittite cities of Cappadocia with the rest of Asia Minor, and monuments of Hittite conquest or invasion have been met with as farwest as the neighbourhood of Smyrna. These monuments are all alikedistinguished by the same peculiar style of art, and by the same systemof pictorial writing. The writing, unfortunately, has not yet beendeciphered, but as the same groups of characters occur wherever aninscription in it is found, we may infer that the language concealedbeneath it is everywhere one and the same. 

When the Assyrians first became acquainted with the West, the Hittiteswere the ruling people in Syria. As, therefore, the Babylonians hadincluded all the inhabitants of Syria and Palestine, whatever might betheir origin, under the general name of Amorites, the Assyrians includedthem under the name of Hittites. Even the Israelites and Ammonites arecalled "Hittites" by an Assyrian king. It is possible that traces ofthis vague and comprehensive use of the name are to be met with in theOld Testament; indeed, it has been suggested that the Hittites, or "sonsof Heth, " from whom Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah, owed theirname to this cause. In the later books of the Hebrew Scriptures theHittites are described as a northern population, in conformity with theEgyptian and Assyrian accounts. 

The Hittites of Hebron, however, may really have been an offshoot of theHittite nations of the north. The "king of the Hittites" accompanied thenorthern barbarians when they invaded Egypt in the reign of Ramses III. , and Hittite bands may similarly have followed the Hyksos conquerors ofEgypt several centuries before. One of these bands may easily havesettled on its way at Hebron, which, as we are told, was built sevenyears before Zoan, the Hyksos capital. At Karnak, moreover, an Egyptianartist has represented the people of Ashkelon with faces of a Hittitetype, while Ezekiel bears witness to the presence of a Hittite elementin the founders of Jerusalem. But the fact that Thothmes III. In thecentury before Moses calls the Hittite land of the north "the Greater, "is the best proof we can have that there was a Hittite colony elsewhere, which was well known to the Egyptian scribes. The "Greater" implies theLess, and the only Lesser Hittite land with which we are acquainted isthat of which the Book of Genesis speaks. 

So far as we can judge from the evidence of proper names, the Hittitesbelonged to a race which was spread from the Halys in Asia Minor to theshores of Lake Urumiyeh. The early inhabitants of Armenia, who have leftus inscriptions in the cuneiform character, also belonged to it. So alsodid the people of Comagênê, and it seems probable that the ruling classin northern Mesopotamia did the same. Here there existed a kingdom whichat one time exercised a considerable amount of power, and whoseprincesses were married to the Pharaohs of the Eighteenth dynasty. Thiswas the kingdom of Aram Naharaim, called Naharina in the Egyptian texts, Mitanni by its own inhabitants. The language of Mitanni was of a verypeculiar type, as we learn from the tablets of Tel el-Amarna, one or twoof which are written in it. Like the Hittites in Syria, the Mitanniansappear to have descended from the north upon the cities of the Semites, and to have established themselves in them. Mitanni was at the height ofits influence in the sixteenth and fifteenth centuries before our era;its armies made their way even into Canaan, and the Canaanite princesintrigued from time to time against their Egyptian masters, not onlywith the Babylonians and Hittites, but also with the kings of Mitanni. 

Before the time of David the power and almost the name of Mitanni hadpassed away. The Hittite empire also had been broken up, and henceforthwe hear only of "the kings of the Hittites" who ruled over a number ofsmall states. The Semites of Syria had succeeded in rolling back thewave of Hittite conquest, and in absorbing their Hittite conquerors. Thecapture of Carchemish by Sargon of Assyria in B. C. 717 marks the end ofHittite dominion south of the Taurus. 

But the Hittite invasion had produced lasting results. It had severedthe Semites of Assyria and Babylonia from those of the West, and plantedthe barrier of a foreign population on the highroad that ran fromNineveh to the Mediterranean. The tradition of Babylonian culture inwestern Asia was broken; new influences began to work there, and thecuneiform system of writing to be disused. Room was given for theintroduction of a new form of script, and the Phoenician alphabet, inwhich the books of the Old Testament were written, made its way intoCanaan. When Joshua crosses the Jordan there is no longer any trace inPalestine of either Babylonian or Egyptian domination. 

Like the Amorites and the Amorite tribe of Jebusites at Jerusalem, theHittites were mountaineers. [2] The hot river-valleys and the sea-coastwere inhabited by Canaanites. Canaan is supposed to mean "the lowlands"of the Mediterranean shore; here the Canaanites had built their cities, and ventured in trading ships on the sea. But they had also settled inthe inland plains, and more especially in the valley of the Jordan. Theplain of Jezreel formed, as it were, the centre of the Canaanitishkingdoms. 

The Canaanites were Semites in speech, if not in blood. The language ofCanaan is what we term Hebrew, and must have been adopted either by theIsraelites or by the patriarchs their forefathers. Between the dialectof the Phoenician inscriptions and that of the Old Testament thedifference is but slight, and the tablets of Tel el-Amarna carry backthe record of this Canaanitish speech to the century before the Exodus. 

In person, as we learn from the Egyptian monuments, the Canaanitesresembled their descendants, the modern inhabitants of Palestine. Theybelonged to the white race, but had black hair and eyes. They dressed inbrilliantly-coloured garments, stained with that purple or scarlet dyein search of which they explored the coasts of the Greek seas, and whichwas extracted from the shell of the murex. On their feet they worehigh-laced sandals; their hair was bound with a fillet. Their skill assailors was famous throughout the Oriental world; the cities of thePhoenician coast already possessed fleets of ships in the age of theEighteenth Egyptian dynasty, and their merchants carried on a maritimetrade with the islands of the Ægean and the coast of Africa. Before thetime of Solomon their vessels had found their way to Tartessus in Spain, perhaps even to Cadiz, and the alliance between Hiram and theIsraelitish king enabled the Tyrians to import gold and other preciousthings from Africa and Arabia through the ports of southern Edom. TheTel el-Amarna letters refer to the riches of Tyre, and excavations onthe site of Lachish have brought to light amber beads ef the same age, which indicate intercourse with the Baltic. It is possible that the tinwhich was needed in such large quantities for the bronze tools andweapons of the ancient East was derived from Cornwall; if so, it wouldhave been brought, like the amber, across Europe along the road whichended at the extremity of the Adriatic Gulf. 

The wealth of the Canaanitish merchants was great. The spoils carriedaway to Egypt by Thothmes III. After his conquest of Palestine are trulyastonishing. Beautiful vases of gold and silver, artistically mouldedbronzes, furniture carved out of ebony and cedar and inlaid with ivoryand precious stones, were among the booty. Iron, which was found in thehills, was freely used, and made into armour, weapons, and chariots. Itwas "the chariots of iron" which prevented the Israelites from capturingand sacking the cities of the plains. Wealth brought with it acorresponding amount of luxury, which to the simpler Hebrews of thedesert seemed extravagant and sinful. It was associated with alicentiousness which Canaanitish religion encouraged rather thanrepressed. 

The religion was a nature-worship. The supreme deity was addressed asBaal or "Lord, " and was adored in the form of the Sun. And as the Suncan be baleful as well as beneficent, parching up the soil and blastingthe seed as well as warming it into life, so too Baal was regardedsometimes as the friend and helper of man, sometimes as a fierce andvengeful deity who could be appeased only by blood. In times of nationalor individual distress his worshippers were called upon to sacrifice tohim their firstborn; nothing less costly could turn away from them theanger of their god. By the side of Baal was his colourless wife, a merereflection of the male divinity, standing in the same state ofdependence towards him as the woman stood to the man. It was only theunmarried goddess, Ashêrah as she was called by the Canaanites, who hada personality of her own. And since Ashêrah came in time to besuperseded by Ashtoreth, who was herself of Babylonian origin, it isprobable that the idea of separate individuality connected with Ashêrah. Was due to the influence of Babylonian culture. Ashêrah was the goddessof fertility, and though the fertility of the earth depends upon theSun, it was easy to conceive of it as an independent principle. 

The name Baal was merely a title. It was applied to the supreme deity ofeach city or tribe, by whatever special name he might otherwise beknown. There were as many Baals or Baalim as there were states or cults. Wherever a high-place was erected, a Baal was worshipped. His power didnot extend beyond the district in which he was adored and to which hewas territorially attached. The Baal of Lebanon was distinct from theBaal of Tyre or Sidon, though in every case the general conception thatwas formed of him was the same. It was the attributes of particularBaalim which differed; Baal was everywhere the Sun-god, but in one placehe showed himself under one shape, in another place under another. Thegoddesses followed the analogy of the gods. Over against the Baalim orBaals stood the Ashtaroth or Ashtoreths. The Canaanitish goddessmanifested herself in a multitude of forms. 

As the firstborn was sacrificed to the god, so chastity was sacrificedto the goddess. The temples of Ashtoreth were crowded with religiousprostitutes, and the great festivals of Canaan were orgies of licentioussin. It was a combination of nature-worship with the luxury that wasborn of wealth. 

The Canaanites of Phoenicia believed that they had originally migratedfrom the Persian Gulf. In Canaan, at all events, according to the Bookof Genesis, the "Fishers" city of Sidon was the first that was built. But Tyre also, a few miles to the north of it, claimed considerableantiquity. The temple of Melkarth or Melek-Kiryath, "the King of theCity, " the name under which the Baal of Tyre was worshipped, had beenbuilt on the island-rock twenty-three centuries before the time ofHerodotus, or B. C. 2700. Gebal or Byblos, still farther to the north, had been renowned for its sanctity from immemorial times. Here stood thesanctuary of Baalith, the "lady" of Gebal, of whom we hear in thetablets of Tel el-Amarna. Still farther north were other cities, ofwhich the most famous was Arvad, with its harbour and fleet. Southwardwere Dor and Joppa, the modern Jaffa, while inland were Zemar and Arqa, mentioned in the Book of Genesis and the Tel el-Amarna correspondence, but which ceased to be remembered after the age of the Exodus. Beforethe Israelites entered Canaan they had been captured by the Amorites, and had passed into insignificance. 

Between the Canaanites of the coast and the Canaanites of the interior adifference grew up in the course of centuries. This was caused by thesea-trade in which the cities on the coast engaged. The "Phoenicians, "as they were termed, on the coast became sailors and merchants, whiletheir brethren farther inland were content to live on the products ofagriculture and import from abroad the luxuries they required. WhileTyre and Sidon were centres of manufacture and maritime trade, Megiddoand Hazor remained agricultural. After the Hebrew invasion thedifference between them became greater: Phoenicia continued independent;the Canaanites of the interior were extirpated by the Israelites or paidtribute to their conquerors. Little by little the latter amalgamatedwith the conquered race; towns like Shechem contained a mixedpopulation, partly Hebrew and partly native; and the Israelites adoptedthe manners and religion of the Canaanites, worshipping at the oldhigh-places of the country, and adoring the Baalim and Ashtaroth. TheAmorite heads depicted at Karnak above the names of the places capturedby Shishak in Judah show how little the population of southern Palestinehad changed up to the time of Solomon's death. 

Canaan was ruined by its want of union. The Canaanitish cities wereperpetually fighting with one another; even the strong hand of thePharaoh in the days of Egyptian supremacy could not keep them at peace. Now and again, indeed, they united, generally under a foreign leader, but the union was brought about by the pressure of foreign attack, andwas never more than temporary. There was no lack of patriotism amongthem, it is true; but the patriotism was confined to the particular cityor state to which those who were inspired by it belonged. The politicalcondition of Canaan resembled its religious condition; as each districthad its separate Baal, so too it had its separate political existence. If there were many Baals, there were also many kinglets. 

The fourteenth century B. C. Was a turning-point in the history ofCanaan. It witnessed the fall of the Egyptian supremacy which hadsucceeded the supremacy of Babylonia; it also witnessed the severance ofwestern Asia from the kingdoms on the Euphrates and Tigris, and theconsequent end of the direct influence of Babylonian culture. TheHittites established themselves in Syria "in the land of the Amorites, "while at the same time other invaders threatened Canaan itself. TheIsraelites made their way across the Jordan; the Philistines seized thesouthern portion of the coast. 

The Philistine invasion preceded that of the Israelites by a few years. The Philistines were sea-robbers, probably from the island of Krete. Zephaniah calls them "the nation of the Cherethites" or Kretans, andtheir features, as represented on the Egyptian monuments, are of a Greekor Aryan type. They have the straight nose, high forehead, and thin lipsof the European. On their heads they wear a curious kind of pleated cap, fastened round the chin by a strap. They are clad in a pair of drawersand a cuirass of leather, while their arms consist of a small roundshield with two handles, a spear, and a short but broad sword of bronze. Greaves of bronze, like those of the Homeric heroes, protected theirlegs in battle. 

The Philistines formed part of the host which invaded Egypt in the reignof Ramses III. Along with their kinsfolk, the Zakkal, they had alreadymade themselves formidable to the coast of the Delta and of southernCanaan. The sea had long been infested by their ships, bent on plunderand piracy; the Zakkal had attacked Egypt in the time of Meneptah, andthe road from Egypt to Asia which skirted the sea had long been known as"the way of the Philistines. " When Ramses III. Overran southern Canaan, Gaza still belonged to Egypt, as it had done for the three precedingcenturies; but it is probable that the Philistines were already settledin its neighbourhood. At all events, it was not long before they madethemselves masters of Gaza, and thus closed for Egypt the way to Asia. Henceforward Gaza and its four companion cities became the strongholdsof the Philistines (B. C. 1200). The southern coast as far north as MountCarmel fell into their hands: the Zakkal established themselves at Dor, and the port of Joppa was lost to the Phoenicians. 

Hardly were the Israelites planted in the Promised Land before they wereconfronted by the Philistines. Shamgar, we are told, one of the earliestof the Judges, slew six hundred of them "with an ox-goad. " But it wasnot until the close of the period of the Judges that they became reallyformidable to Israel. Judah had become a distinct and powerful tribe, formed out of Hebrew, Kenite, and Edomite elements, and its frontieradjoined Philistia. At first there was desultory warfare; thePhilistines made raids into Judæan territory, and the Jews retaliatedwhenever the opportunity occurred. But the Philistines were a nation ofwarriors, and their forces were recruited from time to time by fresharrivals from Krete or other parts of the eastern Mediterranean. Year byyear, therefore, the Philistine attack became more formidable; the raidsof the enemy were no longer confined to Judah, but extended intoBenjamin and Mount Ephraim. The Philistines began to dream of conqueringthe whole of Canaan, which was henceforth to bear the name of Palestine, "the land of the Philistines. "

The Israelitish army was shattered in a decisive battle, the ark of thecovenant between Israel and its national God was taken by the heathen, and the priests of Shiloh, the central sanctuary, were slain. Thevictors marched unresisted through the country, burning and spoiling, and securing the passes by means of permanent garrisons. Shiloh and itstemple were destroyed, and its priesthood scattered abroad. 

The Philistine supremacy lasted for several years. A few outlawsmaintained a guerilla warfare in the mountains of Benjamin, and theprophet Samuel, the representative of Shiloh, was allowed to declare theoracles of Yahveh to his countrymen. But the vanquished population wasdeprived of the means for revolt. The Israelites were forbidden the useof arms, and no itinerant smith was permitted to enter their territory. The Hebrew who wished to sharpen his ploughshare or axe was forced to goto a Philistine city. 

The condition of Israel became intolerable. There was but one remedy:the people needed a leader who should organise them into an army and anation, and lead them forth against their foes. Saul was elected king, and the choice was soon justified by the results. The Philistines weredriven out of the country, and Saul set up his court in the very spotwhere a Philistine garrison had stood. 

But the Philistines were not yet subdued. Civil war broke out in Israelbetween Saul and his son-in-law David; the troops which should have beenemployed in resisting the common enemy were used in pursuing David, andDavid himself took service as a mercenary under Achish, King of Gath. Saul and his sons fell in battle on Mount Gilboa; the relics of theIsraelitish army fled across the Jordan, and the Philistine again ruledsupreme on the western side of the Jordan. David was allowed to governJudah as a tributary vassal of the Philistine "lords. "

The murder of the feeble scion of Saul's house who had the name of kingon the eastern side of the Jordan put an end to all this. David threwoff his allegiance to the Philistines, and was crowned King of Israel. This act of open defiance was speedily followed by the invasion ofJudah. At first the war went against the Israelitish king; he was forcedto fly from his capital, Hebron, and take refuge in an inaccessiblecavern. Here he organised his forces, and at last ventured into thefield. The Philistine forces were defeated in battle after battle; thewar was carried into their own territory, and their cities werecompelled to surrender. Philistia thus became a part of the Israelitishkingdom, and never again made any serious attempt to recover itsindependence. At the division of the Israelitish kingdom it fell toJudah, and its vassal princes duly paid their tribute to the Jewishkings. It would seem from the Assyrian inscriptions that they wereplayed off one against the other, and that signs of disaffection in anyone of them were speedily followed by his imprisonment in Jerusalem. Atall events, the Philistine cities remained in the possession of Judahdown to the time of the overthrow of the monarchy, and the most devotedof David's body-guard were the Philistines of Gath. 

It has been said above that Judah was a mixture of Hebrew, Kenite, andEdomite elements. Kenite means "smith, " and the tribe furnished thoseitinerant smiths who provided Canaan with its tools and arms. Referenceis made to one of them in the _Travels of a Mohar_, a sarcasticdescription of a tourist's misadventures in Palestine which was writtenby an Egyptian author in the reign of Ramses II. , and of which a copy onpapyrus has been preserved to us. The horses of the hero of the story, we are told, ran away and broke his carriage to pieces; he hadaccordingly to betake himself to "the iron-workers" and have itrepaired. Similar itinerant ironsmiths wandered through Europe in theMiddle Ages, handing down from father to son the secrets of their craft. 

The Kenites came from the desert, and were apparently of Midianitishdescent. Balaam had looked down upon their rocky strongholds from theheights of Moab; and they had accompanied their Hebrew comrades of Judahfrom their first camping-ground near Jericho to the wilderness south ofArad. Here they lived among the Amalekite Bedâwin down to the days ofSaul. To the last they maintained their nomadic habits, and the Kenitefamily of Rechab still dwelt in tents and avoided wine in that later agewhen the kingdom of Judah was about to fall. [3]

The Edomite element in Judah was stronger than the Kenite. It consistedof the two clans of Jerahmeel and Kenaz, or the house of Caleb as it wascalled in the time of David. [4] Kenaz was a grandson of Esau, and thefact that the Kenizzites shared with the Israelitish tribes in theconquest of Canaan throws light on the law of Deuteronomy[5] which gavethe Edomite of "the third generation" all the rights and privileges of aJew. Caleb, the conqueror of Hebron, was a Kenizzite; so also wasOthniel, the first of the Judges of Israel. Edomites, rather thanHebrews, were the founders of the future Judah. 

This accounts for the comparatively late appearance of Judah as aseparate tribe in the history of Israel, as well as for the antagonismwhich existed between it and the more pure-blooded tribes of the north. In the Song of Deborah and Barak, Judah is not mentioned; Ephraim andBenjamin, and not Judah, are still regarded as forming the bulwark ofIsrael against the Amalekite marauders of the southern wilderness. Itwas the Philistine wars which first created the Judah of later days. They forced Hebrews, Edomites, and Kenites to unite against the commonenemy, and welded them into a single whole. Though the three peoplesstill continued to be spoken of separately, this was but a survival ofancient modes of speech, and after the accession of David alldistinction between them disappears. From this time forward the kingdomof Judah is one undivided community. 

But the Amalekites were ever on its borders. The Amalekite of the OldTestament is the Bedâwi of to-day. Now, as ever, he is the scourge ofhis more settled neighbours, whose fields he harries and whose familieshe murders. He lives by robbery and theft; too idle to work himself, heplunders those who do. A strong government forces him to hide himself inthe depth of the wilderness; when the countries that skirt the desertfall into decay he emerges from his retreat like a swarm of flies. Theancient Oriental world saw in Amalek "the firstborn of nations;" he wasfor them the representative of the primitive savage who had survived inthe wilds of the desert. Untamed and untamable, his hand was againstevery man, and every man's hand against him. 

Before Babylonian culture had been brought to the West, Amalek alreadyexisted. He was older than the oldest of the civilised kingdoms of theearth. But civilisation had raised a barrier against him which he wasever on the watch to break through. He never lost the opportunity ofraiding the inhabitants of the cultivated lands, and escaping again intothe desert with his booty before he could be overtaken and punished. Thedesert between Palestine and Egypt was his chief camping-ground. He hadoccupied the wadis of Mount Seir before the Edomites had entered them, and a part of the later population of the country traced its descentfrom a mixture of the Bedâwi with the Edomite. The Egyptians had manynames for the Bedâwin hordes. Sometimes they were the Herusha or "Lordsof the Sands, " sometimes the Shasu or "Plunderers, " sometimes again theSutê or "Archers. " The third name was borrowed from the Babylonians; inreturn, as we learn from the tablets of Tel el-Amarna, the Babyloniansadopted the second. 

Hardly had the Israelites escaped from Egypt when they were called uponto dispute with the Amalekites the possession of the desert. At Rephidimthe Bedâwin robbers fell upon the Israelitish camp. But they were beatenoff with slaughter, and never again ventured to molest the people ofYahveh during their wanderings in the wilderness. The attack, however, was never forgotten, and vengeance was exacted for it in the reign ofSaul. Then the Amalekites were pursued into their desert domain andmercilessly slaughtered. They had their home, it is said, in the desertwhich extended from Shur to Havilah. Shur was the line of fortificationwhich defended the eastern frontier of Egypt, and ran pretty much wherethe Suez Canal has been dug to-day; Havilah was the "sandy" desert ofnorthern Arabia. Here was the "city" of tents of which Agag was shêkh, and which the troops of the Israelitish king burnt and spoiled. 

But the remembrance of the expedition did not last long. When civil warhad weakened the power of Saul, and the march of the Philistine army tothe north had left the south of Canaan without defenders, an Amalekitetribe again poured into Judah and sacked the Philistine town of Ziklag. The wives and property of David and his followers were carried off intothe wilderness. But the marauders were overtaken by the Israelites theyhad robbed, and summary vengeance taken upon them. Men, women, andchildren were alike put to the sword; four hundred only escaped throughthe fleetness of their camels. 

In the Tel el-Amarna tablets we find the Bedâwin and their shêkhsplaying a part in the politics of Canaan. Their services were hired bythe rival princes of Palestine, and from time to time we hear of theirseizing or plundering its cities on their own account. They have neverceased indeed to infest the land. Amalekite bands joined with theMidianites in devastating the villages of central Israel in the days ofGideon, and the Amalekite who brought to David the news of Saul's deathwas one of those who had hovered on the skirts of the contending armies, eager when the fight was over to murder the wounded and strip the slain. In a later age the "Arabs" who, according to the inscriptions ofSennacherib, formed the body-guard of Hezekiah were probably Bedâwin, and Geshem the Arabian in the time of Nehemiah seems to have representedthe Amalekite chieftain of an earlier epoch. The Bedâwin still haunt theplains and unfrequented paths of Palestine, waylaying the traveller androbbing the peasant of his flocks. 

The peasantry or fellahin are the Perizzites of the Hebrew Scriptures. "Perizzite, " in fact, means "villager, " and the word is a descriptivetitle rather than the name of a people or a race. It denotes theagricultural population, whatever their origin may have been. Anotherword of similar signification is Hivite. If any distinction is to bedrawn between them, it is that the term Perizzite was specially appliedto the fellahin of southern Canaan, while the term Hivite was restrictedto the inhabitants of the north. In two passages, it is true, "Hivite"seems to be used with an ethnic meaning. Esau is said in one of them tohave married the granddaughter of "Zibeon the Hivite, " while in theother we read of "the Hivite" who dwelt under Mount Hermon. But acomparison of the first passage with the later verses of the samechapter shows that "Hivite" must be corrected into "Horite, " and in thesecond passage it is probable that "Hittite" instead of "Hivite" shouldbe read. 

Amorite and Hittite, Canaanite and Philistine, were all alike emigrantsfrom other lands. The Hittites had come from the mountains of AsiaMinor, the Amorites had probably wandered from the northern coast ofAfrica, the Canaanites traced their ancestry to the Persian Gulf, thePhilistines had sailed from the harbours of the Greek seas. Canaan hadbeen inhabited, however, before any of them had found their way to it, and this prehistoric population of the country was known to the Hebrewsby the name of Rephaim. In the English translation of the Bible the wordis usually rendered "giants;" it seems, however, to have been a propername, which survived in the name of one of the cities of Bashan. Doubtless it often included other elements besides that to which it wasproperly applied. At times it was extended to the Amorites, whoseoccupation of Palestine went back to a remote past, just as in theBabylonian inscriptions the name of Amorite itself was extended to theaboriginal population. Among the Philistines this older population wascalled Avvim, the people of "the ruins. "

Such then were the races who lived in Canaan, and with whom the invadingIsraelites had to contend. There was firstly the primitive population ofthe country, whose rude rock-sculptures may still be seen in the Wadiel-Qana near Tyre. Then there were the intrusive Amorites andCanaanites, the Amorites with their fair skins and blue eyes who madethemselves a home in the mountains, and the Semitic Canaanites whosettled on the coast and in the plains. The Amorite migration went backto an epoch long before that of the first Babylonian conquests in theWest; the Canaanitish migration may have been coeval with the latterevent. Next came the Hittites, to whom the Jebusites of Jerusalem mayhave belonged; then the Philistines, who seized the southern coast but afew years previously to the Israelitish invasion. Canaan was a land ofmany races and many peoples, who had taken shelter in its highlands, orhad found their further progress barred by the sea. Small as it was, itwas the link between Asia and Africa, the battle-ground of the greatkingdoms which arose on the Euphrates and the Nile. It formed, in fact, the centre of the ancient civilised world, and the mixture of raceswithin it was due in great measure to its central position. The cultureof Babylonia and Egypt met there and coalesced. 

[Footnote 2: Numb. Xiii. 29. ]

[Footnote 3: 1 Chr. Ii. 55; Jer. Xxxv. 3-10. ]

[Footnote 4: 1 Sam. Xxx. 14. ]

[Footnote 5: Deut. Xxiii 8. ]

CHAPTER III

THE NATIONS OF THE SOUTH-EAST

Israel was cut in two by the Jordan. The districts east of the Jordanwere those that had first been conquered; it was from thence that thefollowers of Joshua had gone forth to possess themselves of Canaan. Butthis division of the territory was a source of weakness. The interestsof the tribes on the two sides of the river were never quite the same;at times indeed they were violently antagonistic. When the disruption ofthe monarchy came after the death of Solomon, Judah was the stronger forthe fact that the eastern tribes followed those of the north. Theeastern tribes were the first to lose their independence; they werecarried into Assyrian captivity twelve years before the fall of Samariaitself. 

The eastern side of Jordan, in fact, belonged of right to the kinsfolkof the Israelites, the children of Lot. Ammon and Moab derived theirorigin from the nephew of Abraham, not from the patriarch himself, theancestor of Ammon being Ben-Ammi, "the Son of Ammi, " the national god ofthe race. It was said that the two peoples were the offspring of incest, and the cave was pointed out where they had been born. Ammon occupiedthe country to the north which in earlier days had been the home of theaboriginal Zuzini or Zamzummim. But they had been treated as theCanaanites were treated by the Israelites in later days; their citieswere captured by the invading Ammonites, and they themselves massacredor absorbed into the conquerors. 

To the north the territory of Ammon was bounded by the plateau of Bashanand the Aramaic kingdoms of Gilead. Southward it extended towards thefrontier of Moab, if indeed the borders of the two nations did not atone time coincide. When the Israelitish invasion, however, took place, the Amorites under Sihon had thrust themselves between, and had carvedfor themselves a kingdom out of the northern half of Moab. The landnorth of the Arnon became Amorite; but the Ammonite frontier was toowell defended to be broken through. 

The kingdom of Ammon maintained itself down to the time of David. At onetime, in the days of the Judges, the Ammonites had made the Israelitishtribes on the eastern side of the Jordan tributary to them, and had evencrossed the river and raided the highlands of Ephraim. Under Saul, Ammonand Israel were at constant feud. Saul had begun his reign by rescuingJabesh in Gilead from the Ammonite king Nahash, who had threatened totreat its inhabitants with innate Semitic barbarity. When civil warbroke out in Israel, Nahash naturally befriended David, and the alliancecontinued after David's accession to the throne. Common interestsbrought them together. Esh-Baal, the successor of Saul in Gilead, wasthe enemy of both: his frontier adjoined that of Ammon, while betweenhim and the King of Judah there was perpetual war. David hadstrengthened himself by marrying the daughter of the king of the Aramaicdistrict of Geshur, which bounded Gilead on the north, and Ammonites andAramæans were in close alliance with each other. 

As long as Nahash lived, there was peace between him and David. But withthe accession of his son Hanun came a change. The King of Judah hadbecome King of Israel, and his general, Joab, had subdued theneighbouring kingdom of Moab, and was looking out for a fresh field offame. Hanun determined to forestall the war which he believed to beinevitable, and, in alliance with the Aramæans, to crush the risingpower of David. Family quarrels also probably conspired to bring aboutthis resolution. In the after days of Absalom's rebellion we find Davidentertained in Gilead by Shobi the brother of Hanun;[6] it may be, therefore, that Hanun had had a rival in his brother, who had receivedshelter and protection at David's court. At all events the Israelitishambassadors were grossly insulted, and a long war with Ammon began. Campaign followed upon campaign; the City of Waters, Rabbah, the"capital" of Ammon, was closely invested, and the Aramaic allies ofHanun were put to flight. Rabbah fell at last; its defenders weretortured and slain, and the kingdom of Ammon annexed to the Israelitishempire. 

When it recovered its independence we do not know. In the days ofAssyrian conquest in the West it was already again governed by its ownkings. One of them, Baasha, the son of Rehob, was, like Ahab of Samaria, an ally of Damascus against the Assyrian invader, and we hear of twoothers, one of whom bears the same name as "Shinab, King of Admah. " Thestorm of Babylonian conquest which overwhelmed Judah spared Ammon; afterthe destruction of Jerusalem Baalis was still king of the Ammonites, andready to extend his power over the desolated fields of Judah. [7]

The language of Ammon, if we may argue from the proper names, was, likethat of Moab, a mere dialectal variety of that of Israel. The "languageof Canaan" must have been adopted by the Ammonites and Moabites just asit was by the Israelitish tribes. The Moabite Stone has proved thisconclusively. Moabite and Ammonite, Phoenician and Hebrew, were allalike dialects of one language, which differed from one another merelyas one English dialect differs from another. Hebrew had retained a few"Arabisms, " a few traces of its ancient contact with Arabic-speakingtribes; that was all. In other respects it was the same as "the languageof Canaan" on either side of the Jordan. 

The Ammonites believed themselves to be the children of the national godAmmi. But Ammi was usually worshipped under the title of Malcham orMilcom, "the King. " It was to Milcom that Solomon erected an altar atJerusalem, in honour of that Ammonite wife whose son Rehoboam succeededhim on the throne, and it was from the head of his image at Kabbah thathis crown of gold and precious stones, 131 pounds in weight, was removedto grace the triumph of David. [8]

Moab was more exposed to the inroads of its nomadic neighbours from thewilderness than its sister-kingdom of Ammon. It lay along the easternshores of the Dead Sea, and was a land of lofty mountains and fertileriver-plains. Its wadis were coveted by the tribes of the desert; thewell-watered valley of the Arnon attracted more powerful foes. When theIsraelites encamped in "the plain of Moab, " Balak, the Moabite king, sent in terror to Balaam, the seer of Pethor. He had indeed cause foralarm. The Amorites had already robbed him of the fairest portion of hisdominions; Moab north of the Arnon had fallen into their hands. TheAmorite song of triumph has been preserved in the Book of Numbers. "Comeunto Heshbon, " it said; "let the city of Sihon be built and fortified. For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon;it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the Baalim of the high-places of Arnon. Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: [Chemosh] hathgiven his sons that escaped [the battle], and his daughters, intocaptivity unto Sihon, King of the Amorites. "[9]

Moab was avenged by Israel. The Amorites were crushed by the Israelitishforces, though the lands they had taken from Moab were not restored totheir original owners. The conquerors settled in them, and a mixedIsraelitish and Moabite population was the result. The Moabites, infact, were powerless to resist. The southern portion of the kingdom hadbeen overrun by Midianite hordes; the enemy with whom the Israelites hadto contend on Moabite soil was Midianite and not Moabite. Those whocorrupted Israel on the high-place of Peor were Midianites in race. 

The Midianites seem to have continued in occupation of Moabite territoryfor several generations. Reuben was enabled to pasture his flocks inpeace in its valleys, and it is probable that it was not till Hadad, theKing of Edom, "smote Midian in the plain of Moab" that Midianitishsupremacy came finally to an end. It may be that Gideon's successagainst the Midianite oppressors of Gilead was one of the results oftheir overthrow by the Edomite prince. 

At the same time, Midianitish supremacy did not mean the destruction ofthe Moabite kingdom. Moab was still governed by its own kings, tributaryvassals though they were to the foreigner. One of them, Eglon, madehimself master of southern Palestine shortly after the Israelitishconquest of the country, and was murdered by the Benjamite Ehud. BetweenMoab and Judah there was, as might be expected from their geographicalposition, constant intercourse. A Moabitess was the ancestress of David, and it was to the court of the King of Moab that David entrusted hisparents when hard pressed by Saul. Possibly the Moabite prince was notill pleased to befriend the enemy of his own enemy, the King of Israel. 

It had been better for the Moabites, however, had David never lived tosucceed Saul. The conquest of the Philistines by his troops was followedby the conquest of Moab. The vanquished people were decimated, everysecond man being mercilessly slain. So thoroughly was the countrysubdued that it was more than a century before it ventured to break awayfrom its Israelitish master. After the disruption of Solomon's heritageit fell to the share of the northern kingdom, though native kings oncemore sat upon its throne. Now and again they revolted, to be broughtback to obedience, however, when Israel recovered its strength. Such wasthe case when Omri founded his dynasty at Samaria; Moab again became adependency of the Israelitish monarch, and its ruler was forced to paytribute and homage to his over-lord. The tribute consisted in sheep, orrather in their skins, which were tanned by the Israelites into leather, while the fleeces upon them were woven into cloth. In the time of Ahab, Mesha, the son of Chemosh-melech, sent each year 100, 000 lambs and100, 000 rams. 

Mesha subsequently succeeded in shaking off the foreign yoke. He hasleft us a record of his victories, the so-called Moabite Stone, whichwas discovered among the ruins of his capital, Dibon. The country northof the Arnon was wrested from Israelitish hands, and the King of Israel, in spite of help from Judah and Edom, failed to recover it. Moab waspermanently lost to the kingdom of Samaria. The Assyrian texts mentionsome of its later rulers. One of them was Shalman, who may be thespoiler of Beth-Arbel referred to by Hosea;[10] another wasChemosh-nadab, the contemporary of Hezekiah. 

Chemosh-nadab signifies "Chemosh is noble. " Chemosh was the national godof Moab, as Milcom or Ammi was of Ammon. Like Yahveh of Israel, he stoodalone, with no wife to share his divinity. So entirely, in fact, had theconception of a goddess vanished from the mind of the Moabite, that, aswe learn from the Moabite Stone, the Babylonian Istar, the Ashtoreth ofCanaan, had been transformed into a male deity, and identified withChemosh. It was to Ashtar-Chemosh, Mesha tells us, and not to Ashtoreth, that he devoted the captive women of Israel. 

The older population, expelled or enslaved by the conquering Moabites, went by the name of Emim. It is probable that they belonged to the samestock as the Zamzummim or Zuzim whose country had been seized by theAmmonites. We may gather from the narrative in Genesis that the invadersforced their way eastward and northward from the valley of the Jordanand the shores of the Dead Sea. 

South of Moab were the rugged and barren mountains of Seir, the seat ofthe kingdom of Edom. In prehistoric days they had been the home of theHorites, whose name may denote that they were of the "white" Amoriterace or that they were dwellers in "caves. " To the Egyptians it wasknown as "the Red Land, " along with the desert that stretched westward;"Edom" is merely the Hebrew or Canaanitish translation of the Egyptiantitle. The title was one which well befitted the red cliffs of Seir. 

Through the centre of the mountains a rift extended from the Dead Sea tothe Gulf of Aqaba. In geological times it had been the channel of theJordan; now it is called the Wadi el-Araba. It was this rift whichbrought wealth to Edom; through it passed the highroad of commerce whichconnected Syria with the harbours at the head of the gulf. The spices ofArabia, the gold of Africa, were unshipped at Elath and Ezion-gaber, andcarried from thence on the backs of camels to the nations of the north. The tolls levied on the merchandise made the kingdom of Edom wealthy, and at the same time an object of envy to its poorer neighbours. Inconquering Edom, David doubtless desired to secure the trade with theRed Sea and the ports through which the trade passed. 

Edom was the elder brother of Israel. The two nations never forgot thatthey were of one blood and one parentage. Their languages were the same, as we may gather from the Edomite proper names; indeed, it would seemthat the dialect of Edom agreed with Hebrew in those Arabisingpeculiarities which marked it off from the language of the Canaanites. Edomites took part in the Israelitish conquest of Palestine, and bothCaleb and Othniel were Kenizzites by race. 

The Edomite occupation of Seir was long subsequent to the settlement ofthe Ammonites and Moabites in the regions which bore their names, thoughit preceded the Israelitish settlement in Canaan. While Israel washerding its flocks in Egypt, Edom was establishing itself in themountains of Seir. Esau, the brother of Jacob, had already gatheredaround him a body of followers, and had married into the family of aHorite chief. His descendants, partly by conquest, partly by absorption, planted themselves securely in the country which was henceforth to becalled Edom. Horite and Amalekite Bedâwin were alike absorbed into thenew-comers, whose position in Edom resembled that of the Israelites inCanaan. 

How long the work of conquest and settlement lasted we do not know. Itresulted in the formation of numerous tribes, each under its chieftain, the _alûph_ or "duke" as he was termed. These "dukes" corresponded withthe "princes" of the tribes of Israel. But whereas the "princes" of theIsraelitish tribes did not survive the life in the desert, the "dukes"of Edom give way only to kings. For this there was a good reason. Theinvasion of Canaan and the promulgation of the Mosaic Law changed thewhole organisation of the Hebrew people. On the one hand, the Israelitesrequired a leader who should lead them in the first instance against theCanaanites, in the second against the foreign oppressors who enslavedthem from time to time. On the other hand, the high-priests at Shilohexercised many of the functions which would naturally have belonged tothe head of the tribe. Neither "judge" nor high-priest was needed inEdom. There the native population was weak and uncivilised; it possessedneither cities nor chariots of iron, and its subjugation was nodifficult task. Once in possession of the fastnesses of Seir, theEdomites were comparatively safe from external attack. It was a land ofdangerous defiles and barren mountains, surrounded on all sides by thedesert. There was no central sanctuary, no Levitical priesthood, noMosaic Law. The "duke" consequently had no rival; the history of Edomknows nothing of judges or high-priests. 

The law of evolution, however, which governed other Semitic communitiesprevailed also in Edom. The dukes had to give place to a king. Thetribes were united under a single leader, and the loosely federatedclans became a kingdom. As in Israel, so too in Edom the kingdom waselective. But, unlike Israel, it remained elective; there was nopressure of Philistine conquest, no commanding genius like David, nocentral capital like Jerusalem to make it centralised and hereditary. Several generations had to pass before the Edomites were called upon tofight for their independence against a foreign invader, and when theydid so the struggle ended in their subjugation. The elective principleand the want of a common centre and feeling of unity that resulted fromit had much to do with the victory of David. 

The song of triumph with which the Israelitish fugitives celebrated theoverthrow of their Egyptian enemies mentions the _alûphím_ or "dukes" ofEdom. But before the Israelites had emerged from the wilderness thedukes had been supplanted by a king. It was a king who refused a passagethrough his dominions to Moses and his followers, and in this king somescholars have seen the Aramæan seer Balaam the son of Beor. At allevents, the first Edomite king is said to have been Bela or Balaam theson of Beor, and the name of the city of Din-habah, from which he came, has a close resemblance to that of Dunip in northern Syria. 

A list of the kings of Edom is given in the thirty-sixth chapter ofGenesis, extracted from the state annals of the country. It seems to bebrought down to the time when Saul was elected king over Israel. Thechronicles of Edom were probably taken to Jerusalem at the time of itsconquest by David; at any rate, they would then have become accessibleto an Israelitish writer. The conquest was very thorough, all the malepopulation being put to the sword, and a few only escaping to Egypt. Among these was a member of the royal house, Hadad by name, who grew upat the Egyptian court, and, after marrying the sister-in-law of thePharaoh, returned to his native mountains, where he played the part of abandit chief. The caravans which passed from the Gulf of Aqaba to thenorth were attacked and plundered, and Solomon up to the end of hisreign failed to suppress the brigands. With the disruption of theIsraelitish monarchy, Edom, as was natural, fell to the lot of Judah, and for many years was governed by a viceroy. It was not until after thedeath of Jehoshaphat that the Edomites succeeded in revolting from theirmasters, and in recovering their ancient independence. Three of theirrulers are mentioned in the Assyrian inscriptions, from which we learnthat there was a city of Edom, as well as a country of that name. 

Of the religion of the Edomites we know but little. The supreme Baal wasthe Sun-god Hadad; another god worshipped by them was Qaus or Kos. Ofgoddesses we hear nothing. The Israelites, however, recognised in theEdomites brethren of their own, whose religion was not far removed fromthat of the descendants of Jacob. An Edomite of the third generationcould enter "into the congregation of the Lord, " and we hear of no rivaldeity in Edom to Yahveh of Israel. Indeed, in the old poetry of IsraelYahveh was said to have risen up "from Seir, " and the charge broughtagainst Edom by the prophet Obadiah is not that of idolatry or theworship of a "strange god, " but of standing on the side of the"foreigners" on the day that Jerusalem was destroyed. 

The southern part of Edom was known as Teman; it was to the east ofTeman that the Kadmonites or "children of the East" pitched their tents. We first hear of them in an Egyptian papyrus of the age of the Twelfthdynasty (B. C. 2500). Then they received with hospitality a politicalfugitive from Egypt; he married one of their princesses and became oneof their chiefs. Their wisdom was celebrated in Palestine like that oftheir Edomite neighbours of Teman, and the highest praise that could bebestowed on Solomon was that his "wisdom excelled all the wisdom of thechildren of the East. "

Not far from the camping-places of the Kadmonites was the land of Uz, famous as the home of Job. Uz, in fact, was a province of Edom; Edomitecolonists, so we are told in the Book of Lamentations, [11] inhabited it. Indeed, it has been suggested that the difficulties presented by thelanguage of the Book of Job are due to the fact that it is the languageof Edom rather than of the Jews, differing from the latter only as anEnglish dialect may differ from that of a neighbouring county. At allevents, Job was as much a hero of Hebrew as of Edomite tradition, whilethe last chapter of the Book of Proverbs contains the wise sayings of aking whose territory adjoined the land of Edom. Lemuel, according to theHebrew text, which is mistranslated in the Authorised Version, ruledover Massa, and Massa, the Mash of Genesis, is described in the Assyrianinscriptions as that part of northern Arabia which spread eastward fromEdom. The Hebrew of Palestine doubtless included it in the country of"the children of the East. "

The larger part of northern Arabia, however, was the home of theIshmaelites. They lived, it is said, "from Havilah unto Shur, " like theAmalekites or Bedâwin. But whereas the Amalekites were the wild, untamable natives of the desert, the Ishmaelites came of a culturedancestry, half Babylonian, half Egyptian, and the traditions of it werenever forgotten. They lived a settled life in fenced villages andfortified castles, as their descendants still do to-day. Like theIsraelites, they were divided into twelve tribes, the eldest and mostimportant of which were the Nabatheans, who spread from the frontiers ofBabylonia to Petra in the far west. Kedar was another powerful tribe; inthe days of the later Assyrian empire its kings contended in battle withthe armies of Nineveh. 

The name of Ishmael is met with in Babylonian contracts of the age ofAbraham. It is a name which belongs to Canaan rather than to Babyloniaor Arabia. The Ishmaelite tribes, in fact, spoke dialects in whichCanaanitish and Arabic elements were mingled together. They are thedialects we term Aramaic, and represent a mixture of Arabic withCanaanitish or Hebrew. As we go northwards into Syria the Canaanitishelement predominates; southward the Arabic element is the morepronounced. 

The Ishmaelites were merchants and traders. They lived on thecaravan-road which brought the spices of southern Arabia to Canaan andEgypt, and the trade was largely in their hands. In the history ofJoseph we hear of them carrying the balm of Gilead and the myrrh of thesouth on their camels to Egypt, and in the second century before theChristian era the merchant princes of Petra made their capital one ofthe wealthiest of Oriental cities. It was not until 105 A. D. That theNabathean state was conquered by Rome, and the Ishmaelites of northernArabia transformed into Roman subjects. They have left their tombs andinscriptions among the rocks of Petra, while the cliffs of the SinaiticPeninsula are covered with the scrawls of Nabathean travellers. 

Southward of the Ishmaelites came the Midianites. Midianites andIshmaelites were alike of the same blood. Both traced their descent fromAbraham; it was only on the side of the mother that their origin wasdifferent. While the Ishmaelites claimed connection with Egypt, theMidianites were more purely Arabic in race. The name of Keturah theirancestress means "incense, " and points to the incense-bearing lands ofthe south. Midian was properly the district which stretched along thewestern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba towards Mecca, if not towards Yemen. But Midianite tribes had also pushed northwards and mingled with thedescendants of Ishmael. "Ishmaelites" and "Midianites" seem convertibleterms in the story of Joseph, and the Midianites who swarmed into thenorth of Israel in the days of Gideon, along with the Amalekites and"the children of the East, " must have been as much Ishmaelite asMidianite in descent. 

Between the Midianites and the Israelitish fugitives from Egypt therehad been close affinity. Moses had found a refuge in Midian, and hiswife and children were Midianite in race. His father-in-law, "the priestof Midian, " had visited him under the shadow of Sinai, and had given himhis first lessons in political organisation. A Midianite remained toguide the Israelites through the wilderness, and the Kenites, who tookpart with the tribe of Judah in the conquest of Canaan, appear to havemigrated from Midian. It was not until just before the invasion ofPalestine that the old bonds of friendship and mixture between Israeland Midian were broken asunder. Midianite hosts had overrun the land ofMoab as at a later time they overran the land of Israel, and theIsraelites had forsaken Yahveh for the worship of the MidianiteBaal-Peor. This was the result of intermarriage; the Israelites hadtaken Midianite wives and conformed to the licentious rites of aMidianite god. 

Israel, however, was saved by its Levite priests. They rallied roundYahveh and Moses, and in the struggle that ensued the forces on the sideof the national God proved the stronger. The Midianitish faction wasannihilated, its leaders put to death, and the Midianites themselvesattacked and despoiled. Among the slain was the seer of Pethor, Balaamthe son of Beor. 

The Moabites must have hailed the Israelites as saviours. They haddelivered them from their two assailants, the Amorites on the north, theMidianites on the east. But the Midianite power was broken only for atime. We hear at a subsequent date of the Edomite king Hadad "who smoteMidian in the field of Moab, " and a time came when Midianite shêkhsoverran Gilead, and penetrated into the valleys and villages of Manassehon the western side of the Jordan. After their defeat by Gideon, however, we hear of them no more. They passed out of the Israelitishhorizon; henceforth their raiding bands never approached the frontiersof Israel. The land of Midian alone is mentioned as adjoining Edom; theMidianites who had traversed the desert and carried terror to theinhabitants of Canaan become merely a name. 

Midian was originally governed by high-priests. This was the case amongother Semitic peoples as well. In Assyria the kings were preceded by thehigh-priests of Assur, and recently-discovered inscriptions show that insouthern Arabia, in the land of Sheba, the high-priest came before theking. Jethro, "the priest of Midian, " represented a peculiarly Arabianinstitution. 

The name of "Arab" was applied to certain tribes only of northernArabia. We hear of them in the Old Testament as well as in the Assyrianinscriptions. In the Old Testament the name seems to include theIshmaelite clans to the east of Edom. Their "kings, " it is said, broughttribute to Solomon; a colony of them was established at Gur-Baal in thesouth of Judah. We learn from the Assyrian texts that they could begoverned by queens; two of their queens indeed are mentioned by name. 

It was also a "queen of the south, " it will be remembered, who came tohear the wisdom of Solomon. Sheba, the Saba of classical antiquity, wasan important kingdom of south-western Arabia, which had grown wealthythrough its trade in spicery. From time immemorial Egypt had importedfrankincense from the southern coasts of the Arabian peninsula, and theprecious spices had been carried by merchants to the far north. Thecaravan-road of trade ran northward to Midian and Edom, touching on theone side on the frontier of Egypt, on the other on that of Palestine. The road and the country through which it passed were in the hands ofthe south Arabian kings. Their inscriptions have been discovered atTeima, the Tema of the Old Testament, not far inland from El-Wej, and inthe days of Tiglath-pileser the kings of Saba claimed rule as far as theEuphrates. It was no strange thing, therefore, for a queen of Sheba tohave heard of the power of Solomon, or to have sought alliance with sowealthy and luxurious a neighbour. His province of Edom adjoined her ownpossessions; his ports on the Gulf of Aqaba were open to her merchants, and the frankincense which grew in her dominions was needed for thetemple at Jerusalem. 

The people of Sheba belonged to the south Arabian stock. In both bloodand language they differed considerably from the Semites of the north. Physically they bore some resemblance to the Egyptians, and it has beensuggested that the Egyptians were originally emigrants from theirshores. They lived in lofty castles, and terraced the slopes of themountains for the purpose of cultivation, as they still do to-day. Civilisation among them was old; it was derived, at least in part, fromBabylonia, and the dynasty which reigned over Babylon in the age ofAbraham was of south Arabian descent. Some of them crossed the Red Seaand founded colonies in Africa, in the modern Abyssinia, where theybuilt cities and introduced the culture of their former homes. Like theEgyptians and the Babylonians, they were a literary people; theirinscriptions are still scattered thickly among the ruins of their towns, written in the letters of the alphabet which is usually termedPhoenician. But it is becoming a question whether it was not from southArabia that Phoenicia first borrowed it, and whether it would not bemore truthfully called Arabian. 

The religion of southern Arabia was highly polytheistic. Each districtand tribe had its special god or gods, and the goddesses were almost asnumerous as the gods. Along with Babylonian culture had come theadoption of several Babylonian divinities;--Sin, the Moon-god, forinstance, or Atthar, the Ashtoreth of Canaan. How far westward theworship of Sin was carried may be judged from the fact that Sinai, thesacred mountain whereon the law of Israel was promulgated, took its namefrom that of the old Babylonian god. 

In the tenth chapter of Genesis Sheba is one of the sons of Joktan, theancestor of the south Arabian tribes. Foremost among them isHazarmaveth, the Hadhramaut of to-day; another is Ophir, the port towhich the gold of Africa was brought. But the same chapter also assignsto Sheba a different origin. It couples him with Dedan, and sees in hima descendant of Ham, a kinsman of Egypt and Canaan. Both genealogies areright. They are geographical, not ethnic, and denote, in accordance withSemitic idiom, the geographical relationships of the races and nationsof the ancient world. Sheba belonged not only to south Arabia but tonorthern Arabia as well. The rule of the Sabæan princes extended to theborders of Egypt and Canaan, and Sheba was the brother of Hazarmavethand of Dedan alike. For Dedan was a north Arabian tribe, whose home wasnear Tema, and whose name may have had a connection with that sometimesgiven by the Babylonians to the whole of the west. 

Such, then, was Arabia in the days of the Hebrew writers. The south wasoccupied by a cultured population, whose rule, at all events after thetime of Solomon, was acknowledged throughout the peninsula. The peopleof the north and the centre differed from this population in both raceand language, though all alike belonged to the same Semitic stock. TheMidianites on the western coast perhaps partook of the characteristicsof both. But the Ishmaelites were wholly northern; they were the kinsmenof the Edomites and Israelites, and their language was that Aramaicwhich represents a mixture of Arabic and Canaanitish elements. Wanderingtribes of savage Bedâwin pitched their tents in the desert, or robbedtheir more settled neighbours, as they do to-day; these were theAmalekites of the Old Testament, who were believed to be the firstcreated of mankind, and the aboriginal inhabitants of Arabia. Apart fromthem, however, the peninsula was the seat of a considerable culture. Theculture had spread from the spice-bearing lands of the south, where ithad been in contact with the civilisations of Babylonia on the one sideand of Egypt on the other, and where wealthy and prosperous kingdoms hadarisen, and powerful dynasties of kings had held sway. It is to Arabia, in all probability, that we must look for the origin of the alphabet--initself a proof of the culture of those who used it; and it was fromArabia that Babylonia received that line of monarchs which first madeBabylon a capital, and was ruling there in the days of Abraham. We mustcease to regard Arabia as a land of deserts and barbarism; it was, onthe contrary, a trading centre of the ancient world, and the Moslems whowent forth from it to conquer Christendom and found empires, were butthe successors of those who, in earlier times, had exercised a profoundinfluence upon the destinies of the East. 

[Footnote 6: 2 Sam. Xvii. 27. ]

[Footnote 7: Jer. Xl. 14. ]

[Footnote 8: Rehoboam is an Ammonite name, compounded with that of thegod Am or Ammi. Rehob, which is the first element in it, was also anAmmonite name, as we learn from the Assyrian inscriptions. ]

[Footnote 9: Numb. Xxi. 27-29. ]

[Footnote 10: x. 14. ]

[Footnote 11: iv. 21. ]

CHAPTER IV

THE NATIONS OF THE NORTH-EAST

Canaan is but the southern continuation of Syria, which shades off, asit were, into the waterless wilderness. The name of Syria is usuallysupposed to be an abbreviation of Assyria, but it is more probable thatit comes from Suri, the name by which the Babylonians denotedMesopotamia and Syria of the north, and in which Assyria itself wassometimes included. As we have seen, the Syria of our own maps, and moreespecially the southern half of it, was commonly known to theBabylonians as the land of the Amorites; in the later inscriptions ofAssyria the place of the Amorites is taken by the Hittites. When Assyriaappeared upon the scene of history the Hittites had become the dominantpeople in the west. 

The main part of the population of Syria and Mesopotamia wasAramæan--that is to say, it consisted of Semites from Arabia who spokeAramaic dialects. But it was exposed to constant attacks from the north, and from time to time passed under the yoke of a northern conqueror. Atone time it was the Hittites who poured down the slopes of Mount Taurusand occupied the fertile plains and cities of northern Syria. At anothertime a kindred people from the highlands of Armenia established akingdom in Mesopotamia known as that of Mitanni to its own subjects, asthat of Aram-Naharaim to the Hebrews. 

The northern invaders sundered the Semites of the West from those of theEast. The kings of Mitanni held guard over the fords of the Euphrates, and intrigued in Palestine against the Egyptian Pharaohs. But this didnot prevent them from marrying into the Pharaoh's family, while theirdaughters were sent to the harem of the Egyptian king. Towards the endof the Eighteenth dynasty the sacred blood of the Pharaohs becamecontaminated by these foreign alliances. For two generations insuccession the queen-mother was a Mitannian princess, and a king finallysat upon the Pharaohs' throne who attempted to supplant the religion ofwhich he was the official head by a foreign cult, and thereby broughtabout the fall of his house and empire. 

The power of Mitanni or Aram-Naharaim--Aram of the Two Rivers--does notseem to have long survived this event. Chushan-rishathaim, we learn fromthe Book of Judges, held Palestine in subjection for eight years, untilhe was driven out by the Kenizzite Othniel, and about the same timeRamses III. Of Egypt records his victory over the Mesopotamian king. After this we hear no more of a king of Aram-Naharaim in Canaan or onthe frontier of Egypt, and when the name of Mitanni is met with a littlelater in the Assyrian inscriptions it is that of a small andinsignificant state. 

The Hittites had grown at the expense of Mitanni, but their glory toowas of no long duration. In the days of Ramses II. , the Pharaoh of theOppression, their power was at its height. From their southern capitalat Kadesh on the Orontes their armies had gone forth to contend on equalterms with the forces of the Nile, and after twenty-one years ofwarfare, peace was made between the two combatants, neither side havinggained an advantage in the long struggle. The text of the treaty isengraved on the walls of Karnak. There we may read how the two rivalsswore henceforth to be friends and allies, how the existing boundariesof their respective territories in Syria were to remain unchanged forever, and how a general amnesty was to be granted to the politicalfugitives on either side. It was only the criminal to whom the right ofasylum in the dominions of the other was denied. 

In the war they had waged with Egypt the Hittite princes of Kadesh hadsummoned their vassal allies from the distant coasts of Asia Minor. Lycians and Dardanians had come from the far west; and were joined bythe troops of Aram-Naharaim from the east. The extension of Hittitesupremacy to the shores of the Ægean Sea is testified by the monumentsit has left behind. Hittite inscriptions have been found near Smyrnaengraved on the rocks, as well as the figures of Hittite warriorsguarding the westernmost pass of the ancient road. The summer residencesof the Hittite princes were on the eastern bank of the Halys. Here theroads of Asia Minor converged, and here we still see the sculpturedbas-reliefs of a Hittite palace and long rows of Hittite deities. 

The Hittite empire broke up into a multitude of small principalities. Ofthese Carchemish, now Jerablûs, on the Euphrates, was perhaps the mostimportant. It commanded the ford across the river, and the high-road ofcommerce from east to west. Its merchants grew rich, and "the mina ofCarchemish" became a standard of value in the ancient world. Its captureby Sargon destroyed a rival of Assyrian trade, and opened the road tothe Mediterranean to the armies of Assyria. 

The decay of the Hittite and Mitannian power meant the revival of theolder Aramæan population of the country. The foreigner was expelled orabsorbed; Syria and Mesopotamia became more and more Semitic. Aramæankingdoms arose on all sides, and a feeling of common kinship andinterests arose among them at the same time. To the north of the Gulf ofAntioch, in the very heart of the Hittite territory, German excavatorshave lately found the earliest known monuments of Aramæan art. The art, as is natural, is based on that of their Hittite predecessors; even theinscriptions in the alphabet of Phoenicia are cut in relief like theolder hieroglyphs of the Hittites. But they prove that the triumph ofthe Aramæan was complete. The foreigner and his works were swept away;no trace has been discovered of a Hittite text, barely even of a Hittitename. The gods are all Semitic--Hadad the Sun-god and Shahr theMoon-god, the Baal of Harran, and Rekeb-el, "the Chariot of God. "

Hittite inscriptions have been found at Hamath on the Orontes. But theymust belong to a period earlier than that of David. The rulers of Hamathwho made alliance with David bear Semitic names. The crown-prince camehimself to Jerusalem, bringing with him costly vessels of gold andsilver and bronze. His name was Hadoram, "Hadad is exalted;" but out ofcompliment to the Israelitish king, the name of Hadad was changed intothat of the God of Israel, and he became known to history as Joram. Acommon enmity united Hamath and Israel. The war with Ammon had broughtDavid into conflict with Zobah, an Aramaic kingdom which underHadad-ezer was aiming at the conquest of the whole of Syria. In thereign of Saul, Zobah was divided into a number of separate clans orstates; these had been welded together by Hadad-ezer, who had added tohis empire the smaller Aramaic principalities of central Syria. Geshur, Maachah, Damascus all acknowledged his authority. He had secured thecaravan-road which led across the desert, past the future Palmyra, tothe Euphrates, and eastward of that river the Aramæan states sent himhelp in war. Like the Pharaohs of a former generation, he had erected amonument of his victory on the banks of the great river, marking thefarthest limit of his dominions. 

Hamath was threatened by the growing power of Hadad-ezer, when a newforce entered the field. Joab, the commander of the Israelitish army, was a consummate general, and the veterans he led had been trained toconquer. Ammon was easily crushed, and while its capital was closelyinvested the Israelitish troops fell upon the Aramæans in campaign aftercampaign. Victory followed victory; the forces of Zobah and its allieswere annihilated, and the Aramæan states as far as Hamath and even theEuphrates became the tributaries of David. Wealth flowed into the royaltreasury at Jerusalem; the cities of northern Syria were plundered oftheir bronze, and the yearly tribute of the subject states, as well asthe proceeds of the desert trade, yielded an unfailing revenue to theconqueror. The attempt of Hadad-ezer to found an Aramæan empire hadfailed. 

But the empire of David was hardly longer lived. The murder of Joab, andthe unwarlike character and extravagance of Solomon, brought about itsdownfall. Damascus revolted under Rezon; and though in the war thatensued Solomon succeeded in keeping the cities of Zobah which kept guardover the caravan road, it never returned to Israelitish rule. When thedisruption of the Israelitish kingdom came after Solomon's death, theAramæans rallied round the successors of Rezon. Damascus increased instrength, and at times laid northern Israel under tribute. Between thetwo kingdoms there was indeed constant intercourse, sometimes peaceful, sometimes hostile. Syrian merchants had bazaars in Samaria, where theycould buy and sell, undisturbed by tolls and exactions, and Israelitishtraders had similar quarters assigned to them by treaty in Damascus. "Damask couches" were already famous, and Ahab sent a contingent of10, 000 men and 2000 chariots to the help of Ben-Hadad II. In his waragainst Assyria. This Ben-Hadad is called Hadad-idri or Hadad-ezer inthe Assyrian texts; Ben-Hadad, in fact, was a god, who was worshipped bythe Syrians by the side of his father Hadad. 

In the struggle with Assyria the Aramæan forces were led by Hamath. Mostof the states of western Asia contributed troops; even the "Arabs" tookpart in the conflict. But the confederates were overthrown with greatslaughter at Karkar on the Orontes in B. C. 853, and immediatelyafterwards we find Ahab at war with his late ally. Hadad-idri lived onlya few years longer. In B. C. 842 he was murdered by Hazael, who seizedthe throne. But Hazael, like his predecessor, was soon called upon toface an Assyrian army. Year after year the Assyrians invaded theterritories of Damascus, and though they never succeeded in capturingthe capital, the country was devastated, and a countless amount of bootycarried away. The Syrian kingdom was utterly exhausted, and in nocondition to resist the attacks of the Israelitish kings Jehoash andJeroboam II. Jehoash, we are told, gained three victories over hishereditary enemy, while Jeroboam occupied its cities. When an Assyrianarmy once more appeared at the gates of Damascus in B. C. 797, its kingMariha was glad to purchase peace by rich presents and the offer ofhomage. Gold and silver, bronze and iron in large quantities wereyielded up to the conqueror, and Damascus for a while was the vassal ofNineveh. 

But a respite was granted it in which to recover its strength. Civil warsapped the strength of the kingdom of Israel, and Assyria fell intodecay. Freed from its enemies, Damascus again amassed wealth through thetrade across the desert, and was recognised as the head of the smallerAramæan states. In conjunction with the Israelitish king Pekah, RezonII. Proposed to overthrow Judah and supplant the Davidic dynasty by aSyrian vassal-prince. The fall of Judah would have meant the fall alsoof Edom and the submission of the Philistines, as well as that of Moaband Ammon. The strength of its capital made Judah the champion andprotector of southern Canaan; with Jerusalem in their hands, theconfederate rulers of Damascus and Samaria could do as they chose. Ahazof Judah turned in his despair to the Assyrians, who had once moreappeared on the scene. Tiglath-pileser III. Had overthrown the olderAssyrian dynasty and put new life into the kingdom. In the interests ofthe merchants of Nineveh he aimed at incorporating the whole of westernAsia and its commerce into his empire, and the appeal of Ahaz gave himan excuse for interfering in the affairs of Palestine. Ahaz became hisvassal; Pekah was put to death, and an Assyrian nominee made king in hisplace, while Rezon was shut up in his capital and closely besieged. Fortwo years the siege continued; then Damascus was taken, its last kingslain, and its territory placed under an Assyrian satrap. 

Hamath had already fallen. A portion of its population had beentransported to the north, and their places filled with settlers fromBabylonia. Its king had become an Assyrian vassal, who along with theother subject princes of Asia attended the court held by Tiglath-pileserat Damascus after its capture, there to pay homage to the conqueror andswell his triumph. A few years later, on the accession of Sargon, Hamathmade a final effort to recover its freedom. But the effort wasruthlessly crushed, and henceforward the last of the Aramæan kingdomswas made an Assyrian province. When an Aramæan tribe again played a partin history it was in the far south, among the rocky cliffs of Petra andthe desert fortress of the Nabathean merchants. 

In the Book of Genesis, Mesopotamia, the country between the Euphratesand Tigris, is called not only Aram-Naharaim, "Aram of the Two Rivers, "but also Padan-Aram, "the acre of Aram. " Padan, as we learn from theAssyrian inscriptions, originally signified as much land as a yoke ofoxen could plough; then it came to denote the "cultivated land" or"acre" itself. The word still survives in modern Arabic. In the Egypt ofto-day land is measured by _feddans_, the _feddan_ (or _paddmi_) beingthe equivalent of our acre. _Paddan_ was used in the same sense in theBabylonia of the age of Abraham. Numerous contracts have been found forthe lease or sale of estates in which the "acreage" or number of_paddani_ is carefully stated. The application of the name to the plainof Mesopotamia was doubtless clue to the Babylonians. An earlyBabylonian king claims rule over the "land of Padan, " and elsewhere weare told that it lay in front of the country of the Arman or Aramæans. 

It was in western Padan that the kingdom of Mitanni was established. Itsfounders, as we have seen, came from the north. From the river Halys inAsia Minor to Lake Urumiyeh, east of Armenia, there was a multitude oftribes, most of whom seem to have belonged to the same race and to havespoken dialects of the same language. The Hittites of Cappadocia and theranges of the Taurus have already been described. East of them came theMeshech and Tubal of the Bible as well as the kingdom of Comagênê, ofwhich we often hear in the Assyrian texts. But of all these northernpopulations the most important--at all events in the later Old Testamentage--were the inhabitants of a country called Biainas, but to which itsneighbours gave the name of Ararat. Ararat corresponded to southernArmenia, Biainas being the modern Van, and the Mount Ararat of moderngeography lying considerably to the north of it. In the ninth centurybefore our era a powerful dynasty arose at Van, which extended itsconquests far and wide, and at one time threatened to destroy even theAssyrian empire. It signalised its accession to power by borrowing thecuneiform writing of Nineveh, and numerous inscriptions exist recordingthe names and victories of its sovereigns, the buildings they erected, and the gods they served. The language of the inscriptions is strangeand peculiar; it seems to be distantly related to modern Georgian, andmay be akin to the dialects of the Hittites or of Mitanni. 

If we may trust the representations of the Assyrian artists, the peopleof Ararat did not all belong to the same race. Two ethnic types havebeen handed down to us--one with beardless faces, resembling that of theHittites, the other of a people with high fore-heads, curved and pointednoses, thin lips, and well-formed chin. Both, however, wear the samedress. On the head is a crested helmet like that of the Greeks, on thefeet the Hittite boot with upturned end; the body is clad in a tunicwhich reaches to the knee, and a small round target is used in battle. 

For many centuries the Semites and the people of the north contended forthe possession of the Syrian plains. Horde after horde descended fromthe northern mountains, capturing the Aramæan cities and setting upkingdoms in their midst. At one time it seemed as if the Semites of theeast and west were to be permanently sundered from one another. Thedecay of Babylonia and Egypt enabled the Mitannians and Hittites toestablish themselves in Mesopotamia and Syria, and to gain possession ofthe fords of the Euphrates and the great lines of trade. But thenortherner was not suited by nature for the hot and enervating climateof the south. His force diminished, his numbers lessened, and thesubjugated Semite increased in strength. Mitanni perished like theHittite empire, and with the rise of the second Assyrian empire theintruding nations of the north found themselves compelled to strugglefor bare existence. Ararat had become the leader among them, and in thelatter days of the older Assyrian dynasty had wrested territory from theAssyrians themselves, and had imposed its dominion from the borders ofCappadocia to the shores of Lake Urumiyeh. But on a sudden all waschanged. Tiglath-pileser swept the land of Ararat to the very gates ofits capital, destroying and plundering as he went, and a war beganbetween north and south which ended in the triumph of Assyria. Araratindeed remained, though reduced to its original dimensions in theneighbourhood of Lake Van; but its allies in Comagênê and Cappadocia, inCilicia and among the Hittites, were subjugated and dispersed. Thetribes of Meshech and Tubal retreated to the coasts of the Black Sea, and Ararat and its sister-kingdom of Minni were too exhausted towithstand the invasion of a new race from new quarters of the world. TheAryan Kimmerians from Russia poured through them, settling on their wayin Minni; while other Aryans from Phrygia made themselves masters ofArarat, which henceforth took the name of Armenia. The Aramæan wasavenged: the invaders who in days before the Exodus had already robbedhim of his lands were themselves pursued to their northern retreats. Thesouth proved to them a land of decay and destruction; Gog and his hostwere given, "on the mountains of Israel, " to the vulture and the beastof prey. 

CHAPTER V

EGYPT

Egypt had been the bondhouse of Israel. It was there that Israel hadgrown from a family into a people, which the desert was to transforminto a nation. The Exodus out of Egypt was the beginning of Israelitishhistory, the era from which it dated. Down to the last the kingdom ofthe Pharaohs exercised upon it an influence more or less profound; theextravagant splendour of Solomon was modelled after that of the Egyptianmonarchs, his merchants found their best market on the banks of theNile, and the last Canaanitish city which passed into Israelitish handswas the gift to him of the Pharaoh. The invasion of the Egyptian kingprevented Rehoboam from attempting to reconquer the revolted tribes, andin the days of Assyrian ascendancy it was Egypt that was played offagainst the Assyrian invader by the princes and statesmen of the west. The defeat of Necho at Carchemish handed Palestine over to theBabylonians, and indirectly brought about the destruction of Jerusalem;even in the age of the Ptolemies Egypt still influenced the history ofIsrael, and the Jews of Alexandria prepared the way for the ChristianChurch. For centuries Palestine was the battle-ground of the nations;but it was so because it lay between the two great powers of the ancientEast, between Egypt on the one side and Assyria and Babylonia on theother. 

Egypt is the creation of the Nile. Outside the Delta and the strip ofland which can be watered from the river there is only desert. When theannual inundation covers the fields the land of Egypt exists no more; itbecomes a watery plain, out of which emerge the villages and towns andthe raised banks which serve as roads. For more than 1600 miles the Nileflows without an affluent; in the spring it falls so low that itschannel becomes almost unnavigable; but in the late summer, its waters, swollen by the rains and melted snows of Central Africa, and laden withthe fertilising silt of the Abyssinian mountains, spread over thecultivated country, and bring fertility wherever they go. 

The waters of the inundation must have been confined by dykes, and madeto flow where the cultivator needed them, at a very remote date. Recentdiscoveries have thrown light on the early history of the country. Wefind it inhabited by at least one race, possibly of Libyan origin, whichfor the present we must term pre-historic. Its burial-places are metwith in various localities in Upper Egypt. The members of the race werenot acquainted with the use of metals, but they were expert artificersin stone and clay. Stone was skilfully carved into vessels of differentforms, and vases of clay were fashioned, with brightly polishedsurfaces. Sometimes the vases were simply coloured red and black, oradorned with patterns and pictures in incised white lines; at othertimes, and more especially in the later tombs, they were artisticallydecorated with representations of men and animals, boats, andgeometrical patterns in red upon a pale drab ground. 

The pre-historic race or races had already reached a fair level ofcivilisation--neolithic in type though it may have been--when a newpeople appeared upon the scene, bringing with them the elements of ahigh culture and a knowledge of working in metals. These were thePharaonic Egyptians, who seem to have come from Babylonia and the coastsof southern Arabia. Cities were built and kingdoms were founded on thebanks of the Nile, and the older population was forced to become theserfs of the new-comers, to cultivate their fields, to confine the Nilewithin artificial boundaries, and to carry out those engineering workswhich have made the valley of the Nile what it is to-day. 

The Pharaonic Egyptians are the Egyptians of history. They wereacquainted with the art of writing, they mummified their dead, and theypossessed to a high degree the faculty of organisation. The gods theyworshipped were beneficent deities, forms of the Sun-god from whom theirkings derived their descent. It was a religion which easily passed intoa sort of pantheistic monotheism in the more cultivated minds, and itwas associated with a morality which is almost Christian in itscharacter. A belief in a future world and a resurrection of the fleshformed an integral part of it; hence came the practice of embalming thebody that it might be preserved to the day of resurrection; hence toothe doctrine of the dead man's justification, not only through his owngood works, but through the intercession of the Sun-god Horus as well. Horus was addressed as "the Redeemer;" he had avenged the death of hisfather Osiris upon his enemy Set, the lord of evil, and through faith inhim his followers were delivered from the powers of darkness. Horus, however, and Osiris were but forms of the same deity. Horus was theSun-god when he rises in the morning; Osiris the Sun-god as he journeysat night through a world of darkness; and both were identical with Tum, the Sun-god of the evening. The gods who watched over the great citiesof Egypt, some of which had been the capitals of principalities, wereidentified with the Sun-god in these his various forms. Thus Ptah ofMemphis became one with Osiris; so also did Ra, the Sun-god ofHeliopolis, while in those later days when Thebes rose to sovereignpower its local god Amon was united with Ra. 

Along with this higher and spiritual religion went--at least inhistorical times--a worship of sacred animals. The anomaly can beexplained only by that mixture of races of which archaeology has assuredus. Beast-worship must have been the religion of the pre-historicinhabitants of Egypt, and just as Brahmanism has thrown its protectionover the superstitions of the aboriginal tribes of India and identifiedthe idols of the populace with its own gods, so too in ancient Egypt afusion of race must have brought about a fusion of ideas. The sacredanimals of the older cult were associated with the deities of thenew-comers; in the eyes of the upper classes they were but symbols; thelower classes continued to see in them what their fathers had seen, thegods themselves. While the Pharaonic Egyptian adored Horus, the olderrace knew of Horus only as a hawk. If we may trust Manetho, the Egyptianhistorian, it was not till the beginning of the Second historicaldynasty that the sacred animals of popular worship were received intothe official cult. 

The Pharaonic Egyptian resembled in body and character the typicalnative of Central Egypt to-day. He was long-headed, with a high andintellectual forehead, straight nose, and massive lower jaw. His limbswere well-proportioned and muscular, his feet and hands were small. Hebelonged to the white race, but his hair and eyes were black, the hairbeing also straight. His artistic and intellectual faculties were highlydeveloped, he was singularly good-tempered and light-hearted, averse tocruelty, though subject at times to fits of fanatical excitement andferocity. At once obstinate and industrious, he never failed to carryout what he had once taken in hand. The Nile valley was reclaimed forthe use of man, and swamp and jungle, the home of wild beasts andvenomous serpents, were turned by his labours into a fruitful paradise. 

By the side of the long-headed Egyptian of the ruling classes we find inthe age of the earlier dynasties a wholly different type, of which thefamous wooden statue now in the Cairo Museum, and commonly known as the"Shêkh el-Beled, " may be taken as an illustration. Here the skull isround instead of long, the lips and nostrils are thick and fleshy, theexpression good-humoured rather than intellectual. The type is that of aportion of the lower classes, and disappears from the monuments afterthe fall of the Sixth dynasty. After that epoch the races whichinhabited Egypt were more completely fused together, and the roundedskull became rare. 

Egyptian history begins with Menes, the founder of the united monarchy, and of the First historical dynasty. Our glimpses of the age thatpreceded him--the age of the followers of Horus, as the Egyptians termedit--are few and scanty. Egypt was divided into several kingdoms, whichwere gradually unified into two only, those of the north and the south. The northern kingdom was symbolised by the snake and papyrus, thesouthern kingdom by the vulture and aloe. The vulture was the emblem ofNekheb, the goddess of the great fortress whose ruins are now calledEl-Kab; and it is probable that the city of Nekhen, which stood oppositeit on the western bank of the Nile, was once the capital of the south. However this may be, when Menes mounted the throne he was hereditaryruler of This, a city which adjoined the sacred burial-place of Osirisat Abydos, and of which Girgeh is the modern successor. 

Menes made himself master of the north, and so united all Egypt underone rule. He then undertook and carried through a vast engineering work, one of the greatest the world has ever seen. The Nile was turned asideout of its old channel under the Libyan cliffs into a new channel to theeast. The dyke which forced the river from its old course still remains, and two or three thousand years before the bed of the valley had risento its present level the destruction of the dyke would have meant thereturn of the Nile to its former path. North of the dyke Englishengineers have found that the alluvial soil bears witness tointerference with the natural course of the river of a far-reachingkind, and its long straight course resembles that of a canal rather thanof the naturally winding stream of the Nile. 

On the embankment thus won from the waters Menes built his capital, which bore the two names of Men-nefer or Memphis, "the Beautiful Place, "and Hâ-ka-Ptah or Ægyptos, "the Temple of the Double of Ptah. " On thenorth side of it, in fact, stood the temple of Ptah, the local god, thescanty remains of which are still visited by the tourist. In front ofthe shrine was the sacred lake across which, on days of festival, theimage of the god was ferried, and which now serves as a village pond. 

Menes was followed by six dynasties of kings, who reigned in all 1478years. The tombs of the two first dynasties have been found at Abydos. Menes himself was buried on the edge of the desert near Negada, abouttwenty miles to the north of Thebes. His sepulchre was built inrectangular form, of crude bricks, and filled with numerous chambers, inthe innermost and largest of which the corpse of the king was laid. Thenwood was heaped about the walls and the whole set on fire, so that theroyal body and the objects that were buried with it were half consumedby the heat. The mode of burial was peculiar to Babylonia. Here, in analluvial plain, where stone was not procurable, and where the cemeteriesof the dead adjoined the houses of the living, brick was needful insteadof stone, and sanitary considerations made cremation necessary. But inthe desert of Egypt, at the foot of rocky cliffs, such customs were outof place; their existence can be explained only by their importationfrom abroad. The use of seal-cylinders of Babylonian pattern, and ofclay as a writing material, in the age of Menes and his successors, confirms the conclusion to which the mode of burial points. The cultureof Pharaonic Egypt must have been derived from the banks of theEuphrates. 

That Menes should have been buried at Negada, and not, like the rest ofhis dynasty, in the sacred necropolis of his mother-city, is strange. But we are told that he was slain by a hippopotamus, the Egyptian symbolof a foe. It may be, therefore, that he fell fighting in battle, andthat his sepulchre was erected near the scene of his death. However thatmay be, the other monarchs of the first two dynasties were entombed atAbydos, The mode of burial was the same as in the case of Menes. 

The objects found in the tombs of Menes and his successors prove thatthe culture of Egypt was already far advanced. The hieroglyphic systemof writing was fully developed, tools and weapons of bronze were used inlarge quantities, the hardest stones of the Red Sea coast were carvedinto exquisitely-shaped vases, plaques of ivory were engraved with highartistic finish, and even obsidian was worked into vases by means of thelathe. As the nearest source of obsidian to Egypt that is known are theislands of Santorin and Melos in the Ægean Sea, there must have alreadybeen a maritime trade with the Greek seas. Art had already reachedmaturity; a small dog carved out of ivory and discovered in the tomb ofMenes is equal to the best work of later days. Finally, the titlesassumed by the Pharaohs are already placed above the double name of theking, and the symbols employed to denote them are the same as thosewhich continued in use down to the end of the Egyptian monarchy. 

The first six dynasties are known to Egyptologists as the Old Empire. Kings of the Fourth dynasty, Khufu, Khafra, and Menkaura, built thegreat pyramids of Giza, the largest of which is still one of the wondersof the world. Its huge granite blocks are planed with mathematicalexactitude, and, according to Professor Flinders Petrie, have beenworked by means of tubular drills fitted with the points of emeralds orsome equally hard stone. It was left for the nineteenth century tore-discover the instrument when the Mont Cenis tunnel was halfcompleted. The copper for the bronze tools employed by the workmen wasbrought from the mines of Sinai, where the Egyptian kings had kept anarmed garrison for many generations; the tin mixed with the copper musthave come from India and the Malayan Peninsula, or else from Spain andBritain. 

While the Fifth and Sixth dynasties were reigning, exploring expeditionswere sent into the lands of the Upper Nile. The two dynasties had sprungfrom the island of Elephantinê, opposite Assuan; it was, therefore, perhaps natural that they should take an interest in the country to thesouth. One expedition made its way into the land of Punt, to the northof Abyssinia, and brought back a Danga dwarf, whose tribal name stillsurvives under the form of Dongo. Later expeditions explored the banksof the Nile as far south as the country of the Dwarfs, as well as theoases of Libya. 

The Old Empire was followed by a period of decline. Egypt was overrun bybarbarians, its kings lost their power, and the whole land suffereddecay. The pyramid tombs of the Old Empire were entered and despoiled;the bodies of the monarchs within them were torn to pieces, and theprecious objects that had been buried with them were carried away. Asthe power of the kings diminished, that of the great landowners andnobles increased; a feudal aristocracy grew up, which divided Egyptbetween its members, and treated the royal authority with only nominalrespect. Memphis ceased to be the capital, and a new dynasty, the Ninth, was founded by the feudal prince of Herakleopolis, now Ahnas, south ofthe Fayyûm. For a time the Tenth dynasty succeeded in reducing itsrebellious vassals to obedience, but the princes of Thebes steadily grewin strength, and at length one of them seized the throne of the Pharaohsand established the Eleventh dynasty. Thebes became the capital of thekingdom, and under the Twelfth dynasty was the capital of an empire. 

Once more Egypt revived. The power of the aristocracy was broken, andthe local princes became court officials. Temples were built, andengineering works undertaken all over the country. The ancient temple ofRa at Heliopolis was restored, and two obelisks, one of which is stillstanding, were planted in front of it. The depression west of the Nile, now known as the Fayyûm, was drained of its waters, and by means ofembankments transformed from a pestiferous marsh into fertile fields. The Nile was brought to it by a river-like canal, and the supply ofwater regulated by locks. Fresh exploring expeditions were sent to theSomali coast and elsewhere. The gold-mines of Hammamât were worked inthe eastern desert, and Egypt became the California or Australia of theancient world. The eastern frontier was defended against the Asiatictribes, while campaign after campaign was carried on in the south, resulting in the conquest of the Sudan. 

The Thirteenth dynasty came to an end in the midst of internal troubles. The short reigns of the kings of the dynasty that followed show that theline of the Pharaohs was again becoming feeble. It closed in disasterand overthrow. Hordes of invaders poured into Egypt from Asia andoverran the whole country. They are known as the Hyksos or Shepherds, and the greater part of them were of Semitic descent. For 669 years theyruled the valley of the Nile in three dynasties, and the recollection oftheir hated sway never faded from the Egyptian mind. At first theyburned and plundered, then they established themselves in Memphis andZoan, and from thence governed the rest of the country. But they soonsubmitted to the influence of Egyptian culture. The conquered peopletook their conquerors captive, and the Hyksos kings became veritablePharaohs. The manners and customs, the writing and titles of the nativemonarchs were adopted, and, in course of time, even the language also. The court was filled with native officials, the cities and temples wererestored, and Egyptian learning was patronised. One of the few Egyptiantreatises on mathematics that have come down to us is dedicated to aHyksos sovereign. It was only in religion that the new rulers of Egyptremained foreign. 

They continued to worship a form of the Semitic Baal, who was invokedunder the Hittite name of Sutekh. An attempt to impose his worship uponthe native Egyptians led to the war of independence which ended in theexpulsion of the stranger. Apophis III. , of the Seventeenth dynasty, sent messengers to Skenen-Ra, the prince of Thebes, bidding him renounceAmon of Thebes for the god of his suzerain. Skenen-Ra resisted, and along war followed, which, after lasting through five generations, resulted in the complete triumph of the Egyptians. The Hyksos weredriven back into Asia, and the prince of Thebes was acknowledged thePharaoh of an united Egypt (B. C. 1600). 

It was while the Hyksos kings were reigning that Abraham visited theDelta. Their court was held at Zoan, now Sân, close to the Asiaticfrontier, and on the frontier itself stood their fortress of Avaris, which served at once to bar the way from Asia and to overawe theconquered Egyptians. The Pharaoh of Joseph was probably Apophis III. Ifso, the Hebrew vizier would have witnessed the outbreak of the war ofindependence towards the close of the long reign of the Hyksos king. Itmay be that the policy which transferred the soil of Egypt from thepeople to the king and the priests gave its first impulse to themovement. 

The Eighteenth dynasty founded an Egyptian empire. Its kings carried thewar into Asia, and planted the boundaries of Egyptian dominion on thebanks of the Euphrates. Thothmes III. (B. C. 1503-1449) made Canaan anEgyptian province, dividing it into districts, each under a governor ora vassal prince, who was visited from time to time by a royalcommissioner. Carriage roads were constructed, with posting inns atintervals along them where food and lodging could be procured. Thecountry east of the Jordan equally obeyed Egyptian rule. The plateau ofBashan was governed by a single prefect; Ammon and Moab were tributary;Edom alone retained its independence, thanks to its barren mountains, and inaccessible ravines. Thebes, the capital of the dynasty, wasadorned with splendid buildings, and all the wealth and luxury of Asiawas poured into it. Thothmes established zoological and botanicalgardens, where the strange plants, birds, and animals he had collectedin his campaigns could be preserved. His immediate predecessor, QueenHatshepsu, had already revived the exploring expeditions of earliercenturies. An exploring fleet had been sent by her to Punt, the land offrankincense, and it returned home with rarities of all kinds, includingapes and giraffes. The history of the expedition and the treasures itbrought back were depicted on the walls of the temple built by the queenat Dêr el-Bâhari, after the design of the architect Sen-Mut. 

The authority of Egypt was not extended to the Euphrates only. Cyprussent tribute to the Pharaoh, the coasts of Asia Minor, perhaps also ofGreece, were harried, and the Sudan was conquered as far south asBerber, if not Khartûm. Under Amen-hotep III. , the grandson of ThothmesIII. , the empire underwent still farther extension. Egyptian templeswere erected on the banks of the Upper Nile, and Napata, the futurecapital of Ethiopia, was built at Gebel Barkal, beyond Dongola. 

In Asia, Mitanni was the first neighbour of Egypt that had maintainedits independence. Assyria and the Mesopotamian prince of Singar orShinar had paid tribute to Thothmes III. ; so, too, had the Hittite king, and even Babylonia had been forced to acquiesce sullenly in theannexation by Egypt of her old province of Canaan, and to beg for giftsof gold from the Egyptian mines. But Mitanni was too powerful to beattacked. Her royal family accordingly married into the Solar race ofEgypt. One of her princesses was the mother of Amen-hotep III. ; anotherwas probably the mother of his son and successor, Amen-hotep IV. 

Amen-hotep IV. Was one of the most remarkable monarchs that have eversat upon a throne. His father died while he was still a boy, and he wasbrought up under the Asiatic influences of his mother Teie. But he was aphilosopher by nature rather than a king. The purpose of his life was toreform the religion of Egypt, to replace it, in fact, by a pantheisticmonotheism, the visible symbol of which was the solar disk. For thefirst time in history a religious persecution was entered on; theworship of Amon, the god of Thebes, was proscribed, and his very nameerased from the monuments. Amen-hotep changed his own name toKhu-n-Aten, "the glory of the solar disk, " and every effort was made toextirpate the state religion, of which he was himself the official head. But the ancient priesthood of Thebes proved too strong for the king. Heleft the city of his fathers, and built a new capital farther north, where its ruins are now known as Tel el-Amarna. Here he lived with theadherents of the new creed, and here he erected a temple to the god ofhis worship and a stately palace for himself. 

Along with the reformation in religion had gone a reformation in art. The old conventionalised art of Egypt was cast aside, and an attempt wasmade to imitate nature, exactly, even to the verge of caricature. Thewall and floor paintings that have been discovered at Tel el-Amarna aremarvels of realistic art. Plants and animals and birds are alikerepresented in them with a spirit and faithfulness to nature which isindeed astonishing. Like the houses of his followers, the palace of theking was adorned with similar frescoes. But it was also decorated with alavish profusion of precious materials; its walls and columns wereinlaid with gold and bronze and precious stones, statues almost Greek intheir type stood within it, and even its stuccoed floors were coveredwith costly paintings. Roads were made in the desert eastward of thecity, where its wealthier inhabitants took their morning drives, and theking occupied the earlier part of the clay in giving lectures or sermonson the articles of his faith. 

The archives of the empire had been transferred from Thebes to the newcapital. Among them was the foreign correspondence, written upon claytablets in the cuneiform characters, and (for the most part) in thelanguage of Babylonia. We have learnt from it that the Babylonianlanguage and script were the common means of intercommunication from theEuphrates to the Nile in the century before the Exodus. It proves howlong and how profound must have been the influence and rule of Babyloniain western Asia. Throughout the civilised world of Asia the educatedclasses were compelled to learn a foreign writing and language, and whenthe empire passed from Babylonia to Egypt, Egypt itself, whose scriptand literature went back to immemorial times, was forced to do the same. The correspondence was active and far-reaching. There are letters in itfrom the kings of Babylonia and Assyria, of Mitanni and Cappadocia, aswell as from the Egyptian governors in Canaan. Even Bedâwin shêkhs takepart in it, and the letters are sometimes on the most trivial ofsubjects. It is clear that schools and libraries must have existedthroughout the civilised East, where the Babylonian characters could betaught and learned, and where Babylonian literature and officialcorrespondence could be stored up. Among the tablets found at Telel-Amarna are some fragments of Babylonian literature, one of which hasserved as a lesson-book, and traces of dictionaries have also beendiscovered there. 

The religious reforms of Khu-n-Aten resulted in the fall of the dynastyand the Egyptian empire. The letters from Canaan, more especially thosefrom the vassal-king of Jerusalem, show that the power of Egypt in Asiawas on the wane. The Hittites were advancing from the north, Mitanni andBabylonia were intriguing with disaffected Canaanites, and theCanaanitish governors themselves were at war with one another. ThePharaoh is entreated to send help speedily; if his troops do not come atonce, it is reputed, they will come too late. But it would seem that thetroops could not be spared at home. There, too, civil war was breakingout, and though Khu-n-Aten died before the end came, his sepulchre wasprofaned, his mummy rent to pieces, and the city he had built destroyed. The stones of the temple of his god were sent to Thebes, there to beused in the service of the victorious Amon; and the tombs prepared forhis mother and his followers remained empty. In the national reactionagainst the Asiatised court and religion of Khu-n-Aten, the Canaanitishforeigners who had usurped the highest offices were either put to deathor driven into exile, and a new dynasty, the Nineteenth, arose, whosepolicy was "Egypt for the Egyptians. "

Ramses I. Was regarded as the founder of the Nineteenth dynasty. Hisreign was short, and he was followed by his son Seti I. , who once moreled his armies into Asia and subdued the coast-land of Syria. Seti wassucceeded by his son Ramses II. , who died at a great age after a reignof sixty-seven years (B. C. 1348-1281), and whose mummy, like that of hisfather, is now in the Cairo Museum. He set himself to restore theAsiatic empire of Thothmes. But the Hittites barred his way. They hadestablished themselves at Kadesh on the Orontes, and a long war oftwenty-one years ended at last in a treaty of peace in which the twocombatants agreed to respect from henceforth the existing boundaries ofEgypt and Kadesh. Egypt was left with Palestine on both sides of theJordan, a possession, however, which it lost soon after Ramses' death. The treaty was cemented by the marriage of the Hittite princess with thePharaoh. 

Ramses II. Was the great builder of Egypt. Go where we will, we find theremains of the temples he erected or restored, of the cities he founded, and of the statues he set up. His architectural conceptions werecolossal; the temple of Abu-Simbel, hewn out of a mountain, and theshattered image of himself at Thebes, are a proof of this. But heattempted too much for the compass of a single reign, however long. Muchof his work is pretentious but poor, and indicative of the feverishhaste with which it was executed. 

Among the cities he built in the Delta were Ramses and Pithom. Pithom, or Pa-Tum, is now marked by the mounds of Tel el-Maskhuta, on the lineof railway between Ismailîa and Zagazig; it lay at the eastern extremityof Qoshem or Goshen, in the district of Succoth. Like Ramses, it hadbeen built by Israelitish labour, for the free-born Israelites of Goshenhad been turned into royal serfs. None had suffered more from therevolution which overthrew the Asiatised court of the Eighteenth dynastyand brought in a "new king which knew not Joseph. "

They had been settled in the strip of pasture-land which borders theFreshwater Canal of to-day, and is still a place of resort for theBedâwin from the east. It lay apart from the cultivated lands of theEgyptian peasantry, it adjoined the desert which led to Asia, and it wasnear the Hyksos capital of Zoan. Meneptah, the son and successor ofRamses II. , tells us that from of old it had been given by the Pharaohsto the nomad shepherds of Asia; and after the departure of theIsraelitish tribes the same king is informed in a letter from one of hisofficials that the deserted district had been again handed over toBedâwin from Edom. This was in the eighth year of the king's reign, three years later than that in which the Exodus must have taken place. 

For 400 years the Israelites had been "afflicted" by the Egyptians. Butwhile the Eighteenth dynasty was in power their lot could not have beenhard. They still remained the free herdsmen of the Pharaoh, feedingtheir flocks and cattle on the royal demesne. During the reign ofKhu-n-Aten, indeed, their own Semitic kinsmen from Canaan held the chiefoffices of state, and the Pharaoh was endeavouring to force upon hissubjects a form of monotheism which had much in common with that ofIsrael. The language of the hymns engraved on the walls of the tombs atTel el-Amarna reads not unfrequently like the verses of a Hebrew Psalm. 

The national reaction which found its expression in the rise of theEighteenth dynasty swept away the power and influence of Asia, andbrought back the gods and religion of Egypt. The Semites who hadabsorbed the government of the country were expelled or slain; theirweaker brethren, the Israelites in Goshen, were enslaved. Egypt becamefor them a house of bondage, and they had to toil under the lash of thetaskmaster at the cities and temples which the Pharaoh built. Ramsesheld his court at Zoan, like the Hyksos of old days, but it was to keepguard over the Asiatic frontier, not to be in touch with a kindredpeople in Canaan. Canaan itself was conquered afresh, and theCanaanitish captives--the "mixed multitude" of the Bible--assisted theIsraelites in erecting the monuments of their conqueror. 

Nevertheless, the people multiplied. The memory of the Hyksos invasionhad not passed away, and the Pharaoh and his subjects alike feared thepossibility of other invaders from Asia being joined by theirdisaffected kinsfolk in Egypt itself. That their fears were justified isshown by what happened less than a century later. When the Nineteenthdynasty fell in the midst of civil war, a Canaanite, Arisu by name, seized the throne and made himself master of Egypt. Ramses determined toprevent such a catastrophe by destroying as many as possible of the malechildren of the Hebrews. The men were worn down in body and mind byconstant labour, the children were not allowed to live. 

Egyptian testimony confirms the statement of Scripture that this policywas actually carried out. A hymn of victory addressed to Meneptahalludes to "the Israelites" to whom "no seed" had been left. But thepolicy was ineffectual. The opportunity came at last when the serfscould fly from their enforced labour and escape into the wilderness. 

It was in the fifth year of Meneptah (B. C. 1276). Egypt was threatenedby formidable enemies. The Libyans advanced against it by land, thenations of the Greek seas attacked it by water. Achæans came from thenorth, Lycians from Asia Minor, Sardinians and Sicilians from theislands of the west. The Delta was overrun by swarms of barbarians, whopitched their tents in front of Belbeis at the western end of the landof Goshen. Plague after plague descended upon the Egyptians, and thefreedom of his serfs was wrung from the Pharaoh. They fled by night, carrying with them the spoil they had taken from their masters, only tofind that the gate of the great line of fortification which protectedthe eastern frontier of Egypt was closed against them. Meneptah hadrepented of his act, and a squadron of six hundred chariots was sent inpursuit of the fugitives. 

But a violent wind drove back the sea from the shallows at the southernextremity of the forts, and enabled the Israelites to cross them. Whiletheir pursuers were following in their footsteps, the dropping of thewind caused the waters to return upon them, and chariots, horses, andmen were alike overwhelmed. The Israelites were saved as it were bymiracle, and the Pharaoh lost his bondsmen. 

But Egypt also succeeded in repelling the storm of invasion which hadfallen upon it. The Libyans and their northern allies were annihilatedin a decisive battle, their king, Murai, fled from the field, and acountless amount of booty and prisoners fell into the hands of thevictorious Egyptians. Canaan, however, was lost, with the exception ofGaza, which defended the road from Egypt, and was still garrisoned byEgyptian troops. But Gaza, the Calais of Egypt, was not destined toremain long in their power. Already the coast-road was made dangerous bythe attacks of Philistine pirates from Crete; and it was not long beforethe pirates took permanent possession of the southern corner ofPalestine, and established themselves in its five chief towns. TheEgyptian domination in Asia had passed away for ever. 

After Meneptah's death the Nineteenth dynasty soon came to an ingloriousend. Civil war distracted the country, and for a time it obeyed the ruleof a foreign chief. Then came the rise of the Twentieth dynasty, and athird Ramses restored the prestige and prosperity of his kingdom. Butonce more the foreign invader was upon its soil. The nations of thenorth had again poured southward, partly by land, partly by sea, greedyfor the wealth that was stored in the cultured lands of the Orientalworld, and eager to find new settlements for an expanding population. Greek traditions spoke of the movement as a consequence of the Trojanwar, and delighted to dwell on the voyages of its heroes into unknownseas, of the piratical descents to which it led, and of the colonieswhich were planted by it. The Philistine occupation of southernPalestine was one of its results. 

As in the time of Meneptah, the Libyans took part with the northerntribes in the assault upon Egypt, and Sardinians and Sicilians followedbehind them. But the main bulk of the invaders came from the Greek seas. The Danaans take the place of the Achæans, and the Philistines are amongtheir allies. The invaders had swept through western Asia, plunderingand destroying as they marched, and bringing in their train contingentsfrom the countries through which they passed. Hittites, Mitannians, andAmorites all followed with them, and the motley host of men and shipsfinally reached the Egyptian frontier. Here, however, they were met bythe Pharaoh. The battle raged by sea and land, and ended in a triumph ofthe Egyptians. The invaders were utterly overthrown, their ships burned, their kings and leaders made captive. Egypt was once more saved fromdestruction, and Ramses III. Was free to develop its resources andrepair the damage that had been done. 

First came a campaign in Canaan and Syria, the object of which was notto acquire territory, but to teach the Asiatic that there was once morean army in Egypt. The Egyptian forces seem to have gone as far asHamath; at all events, they occupied southern Palestine, capturing Gaza, Hebron, and Jerusalem, and made their way across the Jordan into Moab. Another campaign carried the Egyptian troops into Edom, where theyburned the "tents" of the Bedâwin, and for the first and last time inhistory planted the Egyptian standard on the slopes of Mount Seir. Ramses now turned to the internal administration of his country, and thecopper-mines of Sinai, like the gold-mines of the eastern desert, wereworked with fresh vigour. The spoil won from the northern invaders madethe Pharaoh the richest monarch of the age. Temples were built, andendowed with lavish generosity, and the priesthood must have grievedwhen he died at last after a reign of thirty-three years. 

He was followed by a line of feeble princes. The high-priests of Amon atThebes usurped their power, and finally dispossessed the last of them ofthe throne. A new dynasty arose in the Delta. In the south thegovernment was practically in the hands of the Theban high-priests. Witha divided kingdom the strength of Egypt passed away. 

It was restored by a foreigner, Shishak I. , the captain of the Libyanmercenaries. The Pharaoh whose daughter was married by Solomon must havebeen the last king of the old dynasty. Perhaps he sought to strengthenhimself against his enemies in Egypt by an alliance with his powerfulneighbour. At all events, the King of Israel allowed his army to marchthrough Palestine as far as Gezer. The Egyptians flattered themselvesthat they had thereby asserted their old claim to sovereignty overPalestine, but the substantial gainer was the Israelitish monarch. Hewon the last independent Canaanite city without effort or expenditure, and was allowed to marry into the Solar race. 

Shishak had no need of Israelitish alliances. On the contrary, Solomonwas connected by marriage with the dethroned dynasty, and the power ofIsrael, if unchecked, was a menace to his own kingdom. But while Solomonlived he was afraid to move. He kept at his court, however, anIsraelitish rebel, who might prove useful when the time came. Hardly wasSolomon dead when Jeroboam returned to his native country, and thekingdom of David was sundered in twain. Shishak seized the opportunityof striking a blow at what remained of it. With contemptuousimpartiality he overran the territories of both Judah and the revoltedtribes, but it was Judah which suffered the most. The unfinishedfortifications of Jerusalem were stormed, the treasures accumulated bySolomon carried to the Nile, and the King of Judah compelled toacknowledge himself the vassal of Shishak. Judah never recovered fromthe blow: had it not been for the Egyptian invasion, and the consequentloss of its hoarded wealth, it might have been able to suppress therebellion of Jeroboam, and to reduce all the tribes of Israel once moreunder one sceptre. The names of the captured cities of Palestine arestill to be read on the walls of the temple of Karnak. 

Shishak's successors of the Twenty-second dynasty did not inherit hismilitary vigour and skill. The central authority grew gradually weaker, and Egypt again fell back into the condition from which he had rescuedit. The tribes of the Sûdan could no longer be hindered from attackingthe enfeebled land, and Ethiopian princes made their way to Memphis, carrying back with them to their capital of Napata the spoil and tributeof a defeated and disunited people. At last the Ethiopian raids changedinto permanent conquest, and a negro dynasty--the Twenty-fifth--sat onthe throne of Menes. 

But the kings who belonged to it, Shabaka and Taharka, were vigorous, and for a short while there was peace in the valley of the Nile. Assyria, however, had already arisen in its strength, and was claimingthe empire over western Asia which had belonged to Babylon in the dawnof history. The states of Palestine endeavoured in vain to play offAssyria against Egypt. Again and again the Egyptian armies were defeatedon the borders of Canaan, and Taharka was saved from invasion only bythe disaster which befell Sennacherib during his siege of Jerusalem. Butthe respite was only momentary. Asia at last submitted to the dominionof Nineveh, the King of Judah became an Assyrian vassal, andEsar-haddon, the successor of Sennacherib, was now ready to marchagainst the land of the Nile. In B. C. 674 he entered the Delta andscattered the forces of the Ethiopians. But two more campaigns wereneeded before the country was thoroughly subdued. At last, in June B. C. 670, he drove the Egyptian forces before him in fifteen days from thefrontier to Memphis, twice defeating them with heavy loss and woundingTaharka himself. Three days later Memphis opened its gates, and Taharkafled to Egypt, leaving Egypt in the hands of the Assyrian. It wasdivided among twenty satraps, most of whom were Egyptians by birth. 

Two years, however, were hardly past when it revolted, and while on themarch to subdue it Esar-haddon fell ill, and died on the 10th ofMarchesvan or October. But the revolt was quickly suppressed by hissuccessor Assur-bani-pal, and the twenty satrapies restored. It was notlong, however, before the satraps quarrelled with one another, intriguedwith Taharka, and rebelled against their suzerain. Headed by Necho ofSais, they invited the Ethiopians to return; but the plot wasdiscovered, and Necho and his fellow-conspirators sent in chains toNineveh. Sais, Mendes, and other cities of northern Egypt were sacked, and Taharka, who had advanced as far as Thebes and even Memphis, fled toEthiopia and there died. Meanwhile Necho had been pardoned and loadedwith honours by the Assyrian king; his son, who took an Assyrian name, was made satrap of Athribis, near the modern Benha, and the satraps ofthe Delta henceforward remained faithful to their Assyrian master. Butanother Ethiopian prince, Tuant-Amon, made a last attempt to recover thedominion of his fathers. Thebes received him with acclamation, andMemphis was taken without difficulty. There the satrap of Goshen came topay him homage on behalf of his brother-governors in the north. 

His triumph, however, was short-lived. Assur-bani-pal determined toinflict a terrible punishment on the rebel country, and to reduce it tosubjection once for all. Thebes had been the centre of disaffection; itspriesthood looked with impatience on the rule of the Asiatic, and wereconnected by religion and tradition with Ethiopia; on Thebes and itspriesthood, therefore, the punishment had to fall. The Ethiopian armyretreated to Nubia without striking a blow, and Egypt was leftdefenceless at the mercy of the Assyrian. The Assyrian army enteredThebes, the No or "City" of Amon, bent on the work of destruction. Itstemple-strongholds were plundered and overthrown, its inhabitantscarried into slavery, and two obelisks, seventy tons in weight, weresent as trophies to Nineveh. The sack of Thebes made a deep impressionon the Oriental world; we find it referred to in the prophecies of Nahum(iii. 8). 

Egypt now enjoyed peace, but it was the peace of exhaustion andpowerlessness. Psammetikhos had succeeded his father Necho, who had beenput to death by Tuant-Amon. He was a man of vigour and ability, and heaimed at nothing less than sovereignty over an united and independentEgypt. His opportunity came in B. C. 655. The Assyrian empire was shakento its foundations by a revolt of which Babylonia was the centre andwhich had spread to its other provinces. For a time it was called on tostruggle for bare existence. While the Assyrian armies were employedelsewhere, Psammetikhos shook himself free of its authority, and, withthe help of Greek and Karian mercenaries from Lydia, overcame his rivalsatraps and mounted the throne of the Pharaohs. Once more, under theTwenty-sixth dynasty, Egypt enjoyed rest and prosperity; theadministration was re-organised, the cities and temples restored, andart underwent an antiquarian revival. Psammetikhos even dreamed ofrecovering the old supremacy of Egypt in Asia; the Assyrian empire wasfalling into decay, and Egypt was endeavouring to model its life afterthe pattern of the past. After a long siege Ashdod was taken, and thecontrol of the road into Palestine was thus secured. 

But the power of the Twenty-sixth dynasty rested upon its Greekmercenaries. The kings themselves were, it is probable, Libyans bydescent, and the feelings of the native priesthood towards them do notseem to have been cordial. Their policy and ideas were European ratherthan Egyptian. Necho, the son and successor of Psammetikhos, cleared outthe old canal which united the Red Sea with the Nile, and did all thathe could to encourage trade with the Mediterranean. An exploring fleetwas even sent under Phoenician pilots to circumnavigate Africa. Threeyears were spent on the voyage, and the ships finally returned throughthe Straits of Gibraltar to the mouths of the Nile. Meanwhile, thePharaoh had marched into Palestine. Gaza was captured, and the Jewishking, Josiah, slain in his attempt to bar the way of his unexpectedenemy. Jerusalem surrendered, and a nominee of the Egyptians was placedupon its throne. 

The Asiatic empire of the Eighteenth dynasty was thus restored. But itlasted barely three years. In B. C. 605 the Egyptians were defeated byNebuchadrezzar under the walls of Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Asiapassed into the possession of the Babylonians. Once more Palestinebecame a shuttlecock between the kingdoms of the Nile and the Euphrates. Trusting to the support of Egypt, Zedekiah of Judah revolted from hisBabylonian master. His policy at first seemed successful. The Babylonianarmy which was besieging Jerusalem retired on the approach ofPsammetikhos II. , who had succeeded his father Necho, and the Jewishstatesmen again breathed freely. But the respite lasted for only sixyears. The Babylonian troops returned with increased strength; theEgyptians retreated to their own country, and Jerusalem fell in B. C. 588, one year after the death of the Egyptian king. 

His son Hophra or Apries had made a vain attempt to rescue Zedekiah. Hisfleet had held the sea, while his army marched along the coast ofPalestine and occupied Tyre and Sidon. But the fall of Jerusalem obligedit to retire. The dream of an Asiatic empire was over, and the Pharaohhad more than enough to do to defend himself against his own subjects. They saw with growing impatience that the power and wealth of the Greekmercenaries continually increased. The native army had already desertedto Ethiopia; now the priests complained that the revenues of the templeswere sacrilegiously confiscated for the support of the foreigner. InB. C. 570 discontent reached a head; civil war broke out between Hophraand his brother-in-law Ahmes or Amasis, which ended in the defeat ofHophra and his loss of the crown. 

But Amasis found the Greeks more indispensable than ever, and they wereloaded with favours even more than before. They were moved to Memphisthat they might be close to the king, and at the same time overawe thenative Egyptians, and Amasis himself married a Greek wife. The invasionof Egypt by Nebuchadrezzar in B. C. 567 showed that the policy of Amasishad been a wise one. The Babylonians were unable to penetrate beyond theeastern part of the Delta; the Greek troops fought too well. The limitsof the Babylonian empire were permanently fixed at the frontiers ofPalestine. 

That empire, however, was overthrown by Cyrus, and it was easy to seethat the conqueror who had proved so irresistible in Asia would notallow Egypt to remain at peace. Amasis prepared himself accordingly forthe coming storm. Cyprus was occupied, and therewith the command of thesea was assured. The maritime policy of the Twenty-sixth dynasty was anindication of Greek influence; in older days the sea had been to theEgyptian a thing abhorred. 

Kambyses carried out the invasion which his father, Cyrus, had planned. Unfortunately for the Egyptians, Amasis died while the Persian army wason its march, and the task of opposing it fell to his young andinexperienced son. The Greek mercenaries fought bravely, but to nopurpose: the battle of Pelusium gave Egypt to the invader, Memphis wastaken, and the Pharaoh put to death. In the long struggle between Asiaand Egypt, Asia had been finally the victor. 

The Egyptians did not submit tamely to the Persian yoke. Kambyses indeedseemed inclined to change himself into an Egyptian Pharaoh; he took uphis residence at Memphis and sent an expedition to conquer the Sudân. But under Darius and his successors, whose Zoroastrian monotheism was ofa sterner description, there was but little sympathy between theconquered and their conquerors. Time after time the Egyptians broke intorevolt, once against Xerxes, once again against Artaxerxes I. , and athird time against Artaxerxes II. The last insurrection was moresuccessful than those which had preceded it, and Egypt remainedindependent for sixty-five years. Then the crimes and incompetence ofits last native king, Nektanebo II. , opened the way to the Persian, andthe valley of the Nile once more bowed its neck under the Persian yoke. Its temples were ruined, the sacred Apis slain, and an ass set up inmockery in its place. 

A few years later Egypt welcomed the Macedonian Alexander as adeliverer, and recognised him as a god. The line of the Pharaohs, theincarnations of the Sun-god, had returned in him to the earth. It wasnot the first time that the Egyptian and the Greek had stood side byside against the common Persian foe. Greek troops had disputed thepassage of Kambyses into Egypt. The first revolt of Egypt had savedGreece from the impending invasion of Darius, and postponed it to thereign of his feebler son, and during its second revolt Athenian shipshad sailed up the Nile and assisted the Egyptians in the contest withthe Persians. If Egypt could not be free, it was better that its mastershould be a Greek. 

Alexander was followed by the Ptolemies. They were the ablest of hissuccessors, the earlier of them being equally great in war and in peace. Alexandria, founded by Alexander on the site of the village of Rakotis, became the commercial and literary centre of the world; thousands ofbooks were collected in its Library, and learned professors lectured inthe halls of its Museum. An elaborate fiscal system was devised andcarefully superintended, and enormous revenues poured into the treasuryof the king. As time passed on, the Ptolemies identified themselves moreand more with their subjects; the temples were rebuilt or restored, andthe Greek king assumed the attributes of a Pharaoh. The Jews flockedinto the country, where special privileges were granted to them, andwhere many of them were raised to offices of state. A rival temple tothat of Jerusalem was built at Onion near Heliopolis, the modern Telel-Yahudîya, or "Mound of the Jews, " and the books of the HebrewScriptures were translated into Greek. A copy of the Septuagint, as theGreek translation was called, was needed for the Alexandrine Library. 

Egypt, once the house of bondage, thus became a second house of Israel. It gave the world a new version of the Hebrew Bible which largelyinfluenced the writers of the New Testament; it gave it also a new Canonwhich was adopted by the early Christian Church. The prophecy of Isaiahwas fulfilled: "The Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptiansshall know the Lord. "

In the course of centuries, however, the monotheistic element inEgyptian religion had grown clearer and more pronounced in the minds ofthe educated classes. The gods of the official cult ceased to beregarded as different forms of the same deity; they became meremanifestations of a single all-pervading power. As M. Grébaut puts it:they were "the names received by a single Being in his variousattributes and workings.... As the Eternal, who existed before allworlds, then as organiser of the universe, and finally as the Providencewho each day watches over his work, he is always the same being, reuniting in his essence all the attributes of divinity. " It was thehidden God who was adored under the name whatever the latter might be, the God who is described in the texts as "without form" and "whose nameis a mystery, " and of whom it is said that He is the one God, "besidewhom there is no other. " In Ptah of Memphis or Amon of Thebes or Ra ofHeliopolis, the more educated Egyptian recognised but a name and symbolfor the deity which underlay them all. 

Along with this growth in a spiritual conception of religion went, aswas natural, a growth in scepticism. There was a sceptical as well as abelieving school, such as finds its expression in the festal Dirge ofKing Antef of the Eleventh dynasty. Here we read in Canon Rawnsley'sversified translation--

 "What is fortune? say the wise. Vanished are the hearths and homes, What he does or thinks, who dies, None to tell us comes. 

 Eat and drink in peace to-day, When you go, your goods remain; He who fares the last, long way, Comes not back again. "

A curious work of much later date that has come down to us is in theform of a discussion between an Ethiopian cat and the unbelieving jackalKufi, in which the arguments of a sceptical philosophy are urged withsuch force and sympathy as to show that they were the author's own. Butsuch scepticism was confined to the few; the Egyptian enjoys this lifetoo much, as a rule, to be troubled by doubts about another, and he hasalways been distinguished by an intensity of religious belief. 

With his religion there were associated ideas and beliefs some of whichhave a strangely Christian ring. He was a believer in the resurrectionof the body; hence the care that was taken from the time of the Thirddynasty onwards to preserve it by embalmment, and to place above theheart the scarab beetle, the symbol of evolution, which by its magicalpowers would cause it to beat again. Hence, too, the long texts from theRitual of the Dead which enabled the deceased to pass in safety throughthe perils that encompassed the entrance to the next world, as well asthe endeavour to place the corpse where it should not be found andinjured. 

The Egyptian believed also in a Messiah. Thus, in a papyrus of the timeof Thothmes III. , we read that "a king will come from the south, Amenithe truth-declaring by name.... He will assume the crown of Upper Egypt, and will lift up the red crown of Lower Egypt.... The people of the ageof the Son of Man will rejoice, and establish his name for all eternity. They will be far from evil, and the wicked will humble their mouths forfear of him. The Asiatics will fall before his blows, and the Libyansbefore his flame. "

Even the conception of a son who is born of a virgin and a god is metwith in the temples of Hatshepsu at Dêr el-Bâhari, and of Amenophis III. At Luxor. Here Amon-Ra is said to have "gone to" the queen, "that hemight be a father through her. He made her behold him in his divineform, so that she might bear a child at the sight of his divine beauty. His charms penetrated her flesh, filling it with the odours of Punt. "And the god is finally made to declare to her: "Amen-hotep shall be thename of the son that is in thy womb. He shall grow up according to thewords that proceed out of thy mouth. He shall exercise sovereignty andrighteousness in this land unto its very end. My soul is in him, and heshall wear the twofold crown of royalty, ruling the two lands like thesun for ever. "

Religious dogmas did not weaken the firm hold the Egyptian had uponmorality. His moral code was very high. Even faith in Horus the"Redeemer" did not suffice by itself to ensure an entrance for the deadman into the fields of Alu, the Egyptian Paradise. His deeds wereweighed in the balance, and if they were found wanting, he was condemnedto the fiery pains of hell. Each man, after death, was called upon tomake the "Negative Confession, " to prove that he had not sinned againsthis fellows, that he had not oppressed or taken bribes, had not judgedwrongfully, had not injured a slave or overtasked the poor man, had notmurdered or stolen, lied or committed adultery, had not given shortweight or robbed the gods and the dead, had made none to "hunger" or"weep. " Only when all the questions of the awful judges in theunderworld had been answered satisfactorily was he allowed to pass intothe presence of Osiris and to cultivate the fields of Alu with his ownhands. 

This was the last trial demanded from the justified Egyptian, and it wasa hard one for the rich and noble who had done no peasants' work in thispresent life. Accordingly, small images of labourers were buried withthe dead, and it was supposed that their "doubles" or shadows wouldassist him in his labours. The supposition rested on a theory whichascribed to all things, whether animate or inanimate, a double orreflection which corresponded to the thing itself in every particular. It was like a shadow, except that it was invisible to mortal eyes, anddid not perish with the object which had projected it. 

The "double" was called _ka_, and the _ka_ of a man was his exactrepresentation in the other world, a spiritual representation, it istrue, but nevertheless one which had the same feelings, the same needs, and the same moral nature as himself. It thus differed from the _ba_ or"soul, " which flew away to the gods on the dissolution of the body. Itwas, in fact, the Personality of the man. 

From the outset the Pharaonic Egyptians were a nation of readers andwriters. Nothing is more astonishing than the way in which the simplestarticles of daily use are covered with inscriptions. Even the rocks onthe river-bank are scribbled over by the generations who once passedbeside them. Already in the time of Menes the hieroglyphic system ofwriting was fully developed, and before the end of the Third dynasty a"hieratic" or running hand had been formed out of it. The more cumbrousand picturesque hieroglyphics were reserved for engraving on wood orstone or metal, or for the sacred texts; the ordinary book was writtenin hieratic. The papyrus which grew in the marshes of the Delta was thewriting material, and in spite of its apparently fragile character, ithas been found to last as long as paper. When its use was at lastdiscontinued in the tenth century of our era, the cultivation of thepapyrus ceased also, and it became extinct in its ancient home. Tradition, however, asserted that leather had been employed by thescribe before papyrus, and in the time of Pepi of the Sixth dynasty adescription of the plan of the temple of Dendera was discoveredinscribed on parchment. Even in later ages leather was sometimesemployed. 

Egyptian literature covered a wide field. Two of the oldest books thathave come down to us are the wise sayings of Qaqemna and Ptah-hotep, thefirst of whom lived under the Third, the second under the Fifth dynasty. They are moral treatises like the Proverbs of Solomon or the Discoursesof Confucius. Ptah-hotep already laments that men were not as they hadbeen. He had reached the age of a hundred and ten years, and had fallenupon degenerate days. Perhaps he was right, for it would seem that theexamination system had already been introduced for the disposal ofofficial posts. Ptah-hotep's style, too, is involved and elaborate; hewrites for a _blasé_ circle of readers who can no longer appreciatesimplicity. 

The historical novel was an Egyptian invention. Several of the worksthat have survived are examples of it. But light literature of everykind was much in fashion. A tale written for Seti II. When he wascrown-prince contains an episode which closely resembles the history ofJoseph and Potiphar's wife, and the reign of Ramses II. Produced asarcastic account of the misadventures of a tourist in Canaan, theobject of which was to ridicule the style and matter of another writer. Poetry--heroic, lyrical, and religious--flourished, and a sort ofEgyptian Iliad was constructed by the poet Pentaur out of a deed ofpersonal prowess on the part of Ramses II. During the war with theHittites. 

Reference has already been made to the work on mathematics that wascomposed when the Hyksos were ruling Egypt. A century or two later awork on medicine was written, a copy of which is known as the EbersPapyrus. It shows that medicine has not advanced very rapidly since theage of the Eighteenth Egyptian dynasty. Diseases were already carefullydiagnosed and treated, much as they are to-day. The medicalprescriptions read like those of a modern doctor; we have the sameformulæ, the same admixture of various drugs. 

The Egyptians were not only a people of scribes and readers, they werealso a people of artists. They had the same power as the Japanese ofexpressing in a few outlines the form and spirit of an object; theirdrawing is accurate, and at the same time spirited. It is true thattheir canon of perspective was not the same as our own, but the greaterdifficulties it presented to the artist were successfully overcome. Their portraits of foreign races are marvellously true to life, andtheir caricatures are as excellent as their more serious drawings. Itwas in statuary, however, that the Egyptian artist was at his best. Thehardest of stones were carved into living likenesses, or invested with adignity and pathos which it is difficult to match. Such at least was thecase with the statuary of the Old Empire, before the conventionalisedart of a later day had placed restrictions on the sculptor and stifledhis originality. The great statue of King Khaf-Ra of the Fourth dynasty, seated on his throne with the imperial hawk behind his head, is carvedout of diorite, and nevertheless the sculptor has thrown an idealiseddivinity over the face, which we yet feel to be a speaking likeness ofthe man. The seated scribe in the Museum of Cairo, with his highforehead, sparkling eyes, and long straight hair divided in the middle, has a countenance that is the very ideal of intellectuality, and in thewooden figure of the "Shêkh el-beled, " we have an inimitable portrait ofthe sleek and wealthy _bourgeois_ as he walks about his farm. All thesestatues are older than the Sixth dynasty. 

In disposition the Egyptian was remarkably kindly. He was affectionateto his family, fond of society, and, alone among the nations ofantiquity, humane to others. His laws aimed at saving life andreclaiming the criminal. Diodoros states that punishments were inflictednot merely as a deterrent, but also with a view towards reforming theevil-doer, and Wilkinson notices that at Medinet Habu, where the artistis depicting the great naval battle which saved Egypt from thebarbarians in the reign of Ramses III. , he has represented Egyptiansoldiers rescuing the drowning crew of an enemy's ship. 

The Pharaoh derived his title from the Per-âa or "Great House" in whichhe lived, and where he dispensed justice. The title thus resembles thatof the "Sublime Porte. " Next to him, the priests were the most powerfulbody in the kingdom; indeed, after the close of the struggle betweenKhu-n-Aten and the priesthood of Thebes the latter obtained more andmore power, until under the kings of the Twentieth dynasty they were thevirtual rulers of the state. They stood between the labouring classesand the great army of bureaucracy which from the days of the Eighteenthdynasty onward carried on the administration of the kingdom. Thelabouring classes, however, knew how to defend their own interests; theartisans formed unions and "went on strike. " Curious accounts have beenpreserved of strikes among them at Thebes in the time of Ramses III. Thefree labouring population must be distinguished from the slaves, whowere partly negroes, partly captives taken in war. The greater part ofthe latter were employed on the public works. The mines and quarrieswere worked by criminals. 

At home the well-to-do Egyptian was artistic in his tastes. The wallsand columns of his house were frescoed with pictures, and his furniturewas at once comfortable and tasteful. Chairs and tables are of patternswhich might well be imitated to-day, and the smallest and commonestarticles of toilet were aesthetically and carefully made. Nothing canexceed the beauty of the jewellery found at Dahshur, and belonging toprincesses of the Twelfth dynasty. Precious stones are so exquisitelyinlaid in gold as to look like enamel, and are formed into the mostbeautiful of designs; small forget-me-nots, for example, alternate withplain gold crosses on one of the coronets, and the workmanship of thepectoral ornaments could hardly be equalled at the present day. Indress, however, the Egyptian was simple; his limbs were not overloadedwith jewellery, and he preferred light and muslin-like linen, which waskept as scrupulously clean as his own person. 

But he was fond of social entertainments, and Egyptian cookery andconfectionery were famous throughout the world. Table and guests alikewere adorned with fragrant flowers, and musicians and singers werecalled in to complete the banquet. The house was surrounded by a garden, if possible, near the river. It was open to the air and sun. TheEgyptian loved the country, with its fresh air and sunshine, as well asits outdoor amusements--hunting and fishing, fowling and playing atball. Like his descendants to-day, he was an agriculturist at heart. Thewealth and very existence of Egypt depended on its peasantry, and thoughthe scribes professed to despise them and to hold the literary lifealone worth living, the bulk of the nation was well aware of the fact. Even the walls of the tombs are covered with agricultural scenes. In oneof them--that of Pa-heri, at El-Kab--the songs of the labourers havebeen preserved. Thus the ploughmen sing at the plough: "'Tis a fine day, we are cool, and the oxen are drawing the plough; the sky is doing as wewould; let us work for our master!" and of the reapers we read: "Inanswering chant they say: 'Tis a good day, come out to the country, thenorth wind blows, the sky is all we desire, let us work and take heart. "The best known, however, of the songs, is that sung by the driver of theoxen who tread out the corn, which was first deciphered by Champollion--

"Thresh away, oxen, thresh away faster, The straw for yourselves, and the grain for your master!"

Such were the Egyptians and such was Egypt where the childhood of Israelwas passed. It was a land of culture, it was a land of wealth andabundance, but it was also a land of popular superstition and idolatry, and the idolatry and culture were too closely associated in the minds ofthe Israelites to be torn apart. In turning their backs on the Egyptianidols, it was necessary that they should turn them on Egyptiancivilisation as well. Hence it was that intercourse with Egypt wasforbidden, and the King of Israel who began by marrying an Egyptianprincess and importing horses from the valley of the Nile, ended bybuilding shrines to the gods of the heathen. Hence, too, it was that thedistinctive beliefs and practices of Egypt are ignored or disallowed. Even the doctrine of the resurrection is passed over in silence; thePentateuch keeps the eyes of the Israelite fixed on the present life, where he will meet with his punishment or reward. The doctrine of theresurrection was part of the faith in Osiris, Isis, and Horus, andYahveh of Israel would have no other god beside Himself. 

Moreover, the Israelites saw but little of the better side of theEgyptians. They lived in Goshen, on the outskirts of northern Egypt, where the native population was largely mixed with foreign elements. When they first settled there the Pharaoh and his court were Asiatic orof Asiatic descent. And in later days the rise of a purely nativegovernment meant for them a bitter bondage and the murder of theirchildren. Between the Israelite and the Egyptian there was hostilityfrom the first; Joseph began by confiscating the lands of both peasantand noble; the natives revenged themselves by reducing his kinsfolk to acondition of serfdom, and the last act in the drama of the Exodus wasthe "spoiling of the Egyptians. "

CHAPTER VI

BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA

While the influence of Egypt upon Israel may be described as negative, that of Babylonia was positive. Abraham was a Babylonian by birth; theAsiatic world through which he wandered was Babylonian in civilisationand government, and the Babylonian exile was the final turning-point inthe religious history of Judah. The Semitic Babylonians were allied inrace and language to the Hebrews; they had common ideas and commonpoints of view. Though Egyptian influence is markedly absent from theMosaic Code, we find in it old Semitic institutions and beliefs whichequally characterised Babylonia. 

But the Semites were not the first occupants of Babylonia. Thecivilisation of the country had been founded by a race which spoke anagglutinative language, like that of the modern Finns or Turks, andwhich scholars have now agreed to call Sumerian. The Sumerians had beenthe builders of the cities, the reclaimers of the marshy plain, theinventors of the picture-writing which developed into the cuneiform orwedge-shaped characters, and the pioneers of a culture which profoundlyaffected the whole of western Asia. The Semites entered upon theinheritance, adopting, modifying, and improving upon it. The Babyloniancivilisation, with which we are best acquainted, was the result of thisamalgamation of Sumerian and Semitic elements. 

Out of this mixture of Sumerians and Semites there arose a mixed people, a mixed language, and a mixed religion. The language and race ofBabylonia were thus like those of England, probably also like those ofEgypt. Mixed races are invariably the best; it is the more pure-bloodedpeoples who fall behind in the struggle for existence. 

Recent excavations have thrown light on the early beginnings ofBabylonia. The country itself was an alluvial plain, formed by the siltdeposited each year by the Tigris and Euphrates. The land grows at therate of about ninety feet a year, or less than two miles in a century;since the age of Alexander the Great the waters of the Persian Gulf havereceded more than forty-six miles from the shore. When the Sumeriansfirst settled by the banks of the Euphrates it must have been on thesandy plateau to the west of the river where the city of Ur, the modernMugheir, was afterwards built. At that time the future Babylonia was apestiferous marsh, inundated by the unchecked overflow of the riverswhich flowed through it. The reclamation of the marsh was the first workof the new-comers. The rivers were banked out and the inundationregulated by means of canals. All this demanded no little engineeringskill; in fact, the creation of Babylonia was the birth of the scienceof engineering. 

Settlements were made in the fertile plain which had thus been won, andwhich, along with the adjoining desert, was called by the Sumerians the_Edin_, or "Plain. " On the southern edge of this plain, and on what wasthen the coast-line of the Persian Gulf, the town of Eridu was built, which soon became a centre of maritime trade. Its site is now marked bythe mounds of Abu Shahrein or Nowâwis, nearly 150 miles from the sea;its foundation, therefore, must go back to about 7500 years, or 5500B. C. Ur, a little to the north-west, with its temple of the Moon-god, was a colony of Eridu. 

In the plain itself many cities were erected, which rose around thetemples of the gods. In the north was Nippur, now Niffer, whose greattemple of Mul-lil or El-lil, the Lord of the Ghost-world, was a centreof Babylonian religion for unnumbered centuries. After the Semiticconquest Mul-lil came to be addressed as Bel or "Lord, " and when therise of Babylon caused the worship of its patron-deity Bel-Merodach tospread throughout the country, the Bel of Nippur became known as the"older Bel. " Nippur was watered by the canal Kabaru, the Chebar ofEzekiel, and to the south of it was the city of Lagas, now Tello, whereFrench excavators have brought to light an early seat of Sumerian power. A little to the west of Lagas was Larsa, the modern Senkereh, famous forits ancient temple of the Sun-god, a few miles to the north-west ofwhich stood Erech, now Warka, dedicated to the Sky-god Anu and hisdaughter Istar. 

Northward of Nippur was Bab-ili or Babylon, "the Gate of God, " a Semitictranslation of its original Sumerian name, Ka-Dimirra. It was a doublecity, built on either side of the Euphrates, and adjoining its suburb ofBorsippa, once an independent town. Babylon seems to have been a colonyof Eridu, and its god, Bel-Merodach, called by the Sumerians "Asari whodoes good to man, " was held to be the son of Ea, the culture-god ofEridu. E-Saggil, the great temple of Bel-Merodach, rose in the midst ofBabylon; the temple of Nebo, his "prophet" and interpreter, rose hard byin Borsippa. Its ruins are now known as the Birs-i-Nimrûd, in whichtravellers have seen the Tower of Babel. 

In the neighbourhood of Babylon were Kish (_El-Hymar_) and Kutha(_Tel-Ibrahim_); somewhat to the north of it, and on the banks of theEuphrates, was Sippara or Sepharvaim, whose temple, dedicated to theSun-god, has been found in the mounds of Abu-Habba. Sippara was thenorthern fortress of the Babylonian plain; it stood where the Tigris andEuphrates approached most nearly one another, and where, therefore, theplain itself came practically to an end. Upi or Opis, on the Tigris, still farther to the north, lay outside the boundaries of primævalChaldæa. 

East of Babylonia were the mountains of Elam, inhabited by non-Semitictribes. Among them were the Kassi or Kossæeans, who maintained a rudeindependence in their mountain fastnesses, and who, at one time, overranBabylonia and founded a dynasty there which lasted for severalcenturies. The capital of Elam was Susa or Shushan, the seat of an earlymonarchy, whose civilisation was derived from the Babylonians. 

In the south the Tigris and Euphrates made their way to the region ofsalt-marshes, called Marratu in the inscriptions, Merathaim by theprophet Jeremiah. They were inhabited by the Semitic tribe of the Kaldâ, whose princes owned an unwilling obedience to the Babylonian kings. Oneof them, Merodach-baladan, succeeded in making himself master ofBabylonia, and from that time forward the Kaldâ became so integral apart of the population as eventually to give their name to the whole ofit. For the writers of Greece and Rome the Babylonians are Chaldæans. Itis probable that Nebuchadrezzar was of Kaldâ origin; if so, this wouldhave been a further reason for the extension of the tribal name to thewhole country. 

The settlement of the Kaldâ in the marshes was of comparatively latedate. Indeed, in the early age of Babylonian history these marshes didnot as yet exist; it was not until Eridu had ceased to be a seaport thatthey were reclaimed from the sea. The Kaldâ were the advance-guard ofthe Nabatheans and other Aramaic tribes of northern Arabia, who migratedinto Babylonia and pitched their tents on the banks of the Euphrates, first of all as herdsmen, afterwards as traders. After the fall of theBabylonian monarchy their numbers and importance increased, and theAramaic they spoke--the so-called "Chaldee"--came more and more tosupersede the language of Babylonia. 

When first we get a glimpse of Babylonian history, the country isdivided into a number of small principalities. They are all Sumerian, and among them the principality of Kish occupies a leading place. Thetemple of Mul-lil at Nippur is the central sanctuary, to which theybring their offerings, and from which a civilising influence emanates. It is an influence, however, which reflects the darker side of life. Mul-lil was the lord of the dead; his priests were sorcerers andmagicians, and their sacred lore consisted of spells and incantations. Supplementing the influence of Nippur, and in strong contrast with it, was the influence of Eridu. Ea or Oannes, the god of Eridu, was a godwho benefited mankind. He was the lord of wisdom, and his wisdomdisplayed itself in delivering men from the evils that surrounded them, and in teaching them the arts of life. But he was lord also of thewater, and it was told of him how he had arisen, morning after morning, from the depths of the Persian Gulf, and had instructed the people ofChaldæa in all the elements of civilisation. Eridu was the home of thehymns that were sung to the gods of light and life, and which came to belooked upon as divinely inspired. 

It is clear that the myth of Cannes points to foreign intercourse as theultimate cause of Babylonian culture. It is natural that such shouldhave been the case. Commerce is still the great civiliser, and thetraders and sailors of Eridu created tastes and needs which they soughtto satisfy. 

The small states of Babylonia were constantly at war with each other, even though they shared in a common civilisation, worshipped the samegods, and presented their offerings to the same sanctuary of Nippur. Southern Babylonia--or Kengi, "the land of canals and reeds, " as it wasoften named--was already divided against the north. At times itexercised supremacy as far as Nippur. En-sakkus-ana of Kengi conqueredKis, like one of his predecessors who had dedicated the statue, thestore of silver, and the furniture of the conquered prince to Mul-lil. Kis claimed sovereignty over the Bedâwin "archers, " who had their homein the district now called Jokha. But Kis eventually revenged itself. One of its rulers made himself master of Nippur, and the kingdom ofKengi passed away. The final blow was struck by Lugal-zaggi-si, the sonof the high-priest of the city of Opis. Lugal-zaggi-si not onlyconquered Babylonia, he also created an empire. On the vases ofdelicately-carved stone which he dedicated to the god of Nippur, a longinscription of one hundred and thirty-two lines describes his deeds, andtells how he had extended his dominion from the Persian Gulf to theMediterranean Sea. It may be that at this time the culture of Babyloniawas first brought to the west, and that his conquests first communicateda knowledge of the Sumerian language and writing to the nations ofwestern Asia. With the spoils of his victories the walls of Ur wereraised "high as heaven, " and the temple of the Sun-god at Larsa wasenlarged. Erech was made his capital, and doubtless now received itsSumerian title of "the City" _par excellence_. 

The dynasty of Erech was supplanted by the First dynasty of Ur. Erechwas captured by Lugal-kigub-nidudu of Ur, and took the second rank inthe new kingdom. The position of Ur on the western bank of the Euphratesexposed it to the attacks of the Semitic tribes of northern Arabia, andthus accustomed its inhabitants to the use of arms, while at the sametime its proximity to Eridu made it a centre of trade. In Abrahamic daysit had long been a place of resort and settlement by Arabian andCanaanite merchants. 

How long the supremacy of Ur lasted we do not know. Nor do we knowwhether it preceded or was followed by the supremacy of Lagas. The kingsof Lagas had succeeded in overcoming their hereditary enemies to thenorth. The so-called "Stela of the Vultures, " now in the Louvre, commemorates the overthrow of the forces of the land of Upe or Opis, anddepicts the bodies of the slain as they lie on the battlefield devouredby the birds of prey. E-ana-gin, the king of Lagas who erected it, neverrested until he had subjected the rest of southern Babylonia to hissway. The whole of "Sumer" was subdued, and the memory of a time when aking of Kis, Mesa by name, had subjected Lagas to his rule, was finallywiped out. 

High-priests now took the place of kings in Kis and the country of Opis. But a time came when the same change occurred also at Lagas. Doubtlessin consequence of its conquest by some superior power. One of themonuments discovered at Tello, the ancient Lagas, describes thevictories of the "high-priest" Entemena over the ancestral foe, and theappointment of a certain Ili as "high-priest" of the land of Opis. Fromhenceforward Kis and Opis disappear from history. 

A new power had meanwhile appeared on the scene. While the Sumerianprinces were engaged in mutual war, the Semites were occupying northernBabylonia, and establishing their power in the city of Agadê or Akkad, not far from Sippara. Here, in B. C. 3800, arose the empire ofSargani-sar-ali, better known to posterity as "Sargon" of Akkad. Hebecame the hero of the Semitic race in Babylonia. Legends told how hehad been hidden by his royal mother in an ark of bulrushes daubed withpitch, and intrusted to the waters of the Euphrates, how he had beenfound and adopted as a son by Akki the irrigator, and how the goddessIstar had loved him and restored him to his kingly estate. At allevents, the career of Sargon was a career of victories. Babylonia wasunited under his rule, Elam was subjugated, and three campaigns sufficedto make "the land of the Amorites, " Syria and Canaan, obedient to hissway. He caused an image of himself to be carved on the shores of theMediterranean, and demanded tribute from Cyprus, Uru-Malik or Urimelechbeing appointed governor of Syria, as we learn from a cadastral surveyof the district of Lagas. A revolt of the Sumerian states, however, called him home, and for a time fortune seemed against him. He wasbesieged in Akkad, but a successful sally drove back the rebels, andthey were soon utterly crushed. Then Sargon marched into Suri orMesopotamia, subduing that country as well as the future Assyria. It wasthe last, however, of his exploits. His son Naram-Sin succeeded himshortly afterwards (B. C. 3750), and continued the conquests of hisfather, Canaan was already a Babylonian province, and Naram-Sin nowcarried his arms against Magan, or the Sinaitic Peninsula, where hesecured the precious mines of copper and turquoise. Building stone fromMagan had already been imported to Babylonia by Ur-Nina, a king ofLagas, and grandfather of E-ana-gin, but it must have been brought inthe ships of Eridu. 

Naram-Sin's son was Bingani-sar-ali. A queen, Ellat-Gula, seems to havesat on the throne not many years later, and with her the dynasty mayhave come to an end. At any rate, the empire of Akkad is heard of nomore. But it left behind it a profound and abiding impression on westernAsia. Henceforward the culture and art of the west wasBabylonian, --Semitic Babylonian, however, and no longer SumerianBabylonian as in the days of Lugal-zaggi-si. Sargon was a patron ofliterature as well as a warrior. Standard works on astronomy andastrology and the science of omens were compiled for the great libraryhe established at Akkad, where numerous scribes were kept constantly atwork. Sumerian books were brought from the cities of the south andtranslated into Semitic; commentaries were written on the olderliterature of the country, and dictionaries and grammars compiled. Itwas now that that mixed language arose, or at least was admitted intothe literary dialect, which made Babylonian so much resemble modernEnglish. The lexicon was filled with Sumerian words which had put on aSemitic form, and Semitic lips expressed themselves in Sumerian idioms. 

Art, too, reached a high perfection. The seal-cylinders of the reign ofSargon of Akkad represent the highest efforts of the gem-cutter's skillin ancient Babylonia, and a bas-relief of Naram-Sin, found at Diarbekrin northern Mesopotamia, while presenting close analogies to theEgyptian art of the Old Empire, is superior to anything of the kind asyet discovered in Babylonia of either an earlier or a later date. As inEgypt, so too in Babylonia, the sculpture of later times showsretrogression rather than advance. It is impossible not to believe thatbetween the art of Egypt in the age of the Old Empire and that ofBabylonia in the reigns of Sargon and Naram-Sin there was an intimateconnection. The mines of the Sinaitic Peninsula were coveted by bothcountries. 

Sumerian princes still continued to rule in Sumer or southern Babylonia, but after the era of Sargon their power grew less and less. A SecondSumerian dynasty, however, arose at Ur, and claimed sovereignty over therest of Chaldæa. One of its kings, Ur-Bau, was a great builder andrestorer of the temples, and under his son and successor Dungi (B. C. 2700), a high-priest of the name of Gudea governed Lagas, the monumentsof which have given us an insight into the condition of the country inhis age. His statues of hard diorite from the Peninsula of Sinai are nowin the Louvre; one of them is that of the architect of his palace, witha copy of its plan upon his lap divided according to scale. Gudea, though owning allegiance to Dungi, carried on wars on his own behalf, and boasts of having conquered "Ansan of Elam. " The materials for hisnumerous buildings were brought from far. Hewn stones were imported fromthe "land of the Amorites, " limestone and alabaster from the Lebanon, gold-dust and acacia-wood from the desert to the south of Palestine, copper from northern Arabia, and various sorts of wood from the Armenianmountains. Other trees came from Dilmun in the Persian Gulf, from Gozanin Mesopotamia, and from Gubin, which is possibly Gebal. The bitumen wasderived from "Madga in the mountains of the river Gurruda, " in whichsome scholars have seen the name of the Jordan, and the naphtha springsof the vale of Siddim. 

The library of Gudea has been found entire, with its 30, 000 tablets orbooks arranged in order on its shelves, and filled with informationwhich it will take years of labour to examine thoroughly. Not long afterhis death, the Second dynasty of Ur gave way to a Third, this time ofSemitic origin. Its kings still claimed that sovereignty over Syria andPalestine which had been won by Sargon. One of them, Inê-Sin, carriedhis arms to the west, and married his daughters to the "high-priests" ofAnsan in Elam, and of Mer'ash in northern Syria. His grandson, Gimil-Sin, marched to the ranges of the Lebanon and overran the land ofZamzali, which seems to be the Zamzummim of Scripture. 

But with Gimil-Sin the strength of the dynasty seems to have come to anend. Babylonia was given over to the stranger, and a dynasty of kingsfrom southern Arabia fixed its seat at Babylon. The language they spokeand the names they bore were common to Canaan and the south of Arabia, and sounded strangely in Babylonian ears. The founder of the dynasty wasSumu-abi, "Shem is my father, " a name in which we cannot fail torecognise the Shem of the Old Testament. His descendants, however, hadsome difficulty in extending and maintaining their authority. The nativeprinces of southern Babylonia resisted it, and the Elamites harried thecountry with fire and sword. In B. C. 2280 Kudur-Nankhundi, the Elamiteking, sacked Erech and carried away the image of its goddess, and notlong afterwards we find another Elamite king, Kudur-Laghghamar orChedor-laomer, claiming lordship over the whole of Chaldsea. The westernprovinces of Babylonia shared in the fate of the sovereign power, and anElamite prince, Kudur-Mabug by name, was made "Father" or "Governor ofthe land of the Amorites. " His son Eri-Aku, the Arioch of Genesis, wasgiven the title of king in southern Babylonia, with Larsa as hiscapital. Larsa had been taken by storm by the Elamite forces, and itsnative king, Sin-idinnam, driven out. He fled for refuge to the court ofthe King of Babylon, who still preserved a semblance of authority. 

Khammurabi or Amraphel, the fifth successor of Sumu-abi, was now on thethrone of Babylon. His long reign of fifty-five years marked an epoch inBabylonian history. At first he was the vassal of Kudur-Laghghamar, andalong with his brother vassals, Eri-Aku of Larsa and Tudghula or Tidalof Kurdistan, had to serve in the campaigns of his suzerain lord inCanaan. But an opportunity came at last for revolt, it may be inconsequence of the disaster which had befallen the army of the invadersin Syria at the hands of Abram and his Amorite allies. The war lastedlong, and at the beginning went against the King of Babylon. Babylonitself was captured by the enemy, and its great temple laid in ruins. But soon afterwards the tide turned. Eri-Aku and his Elamite supporterswere defeated in a decisive battle. Larsa was retaken, and Khammurabiruled once more over an independent and united Babylonia. Sin-idinnamwas restored to his principality, and we now possess several of theletters written to him by Khammurabi, in which his bravery is praised on"the day of Kudur-Laghghamar's defeat, " and he is told to send back theimages of certain Elamite goddesses to their original seats. They haddoubtless been carried to Larsa when it fell into the hands of theElamite invaders. 

As soon as Babylonia was cleared of its enemies, Khammurabi set himselfto the work of fortifying its cities, of restoring and building itstemples and walls, and of clearing and digging canals. The great canalknown as that of "the King, " in the northern part of the country, waseither made or re-excavated by him, and at Kilmad, near the modernBagdad, a palace was erected. Art and learning were encouraged, and aliterary revival took place which brought back the old glories of theage of Sargon. Once more new editions were made of standard works, poetsarose to celebrate the deeds of the monarch, and books becamemultiplied. Among the literary products of the period was the greatChaldæan Epic in twelve books, recording the adventures of the heroGilgames, and embodying the Chaldæan story of the Deluge. 

The supremacy over western Asia passed to Khammurabi, along withsovereignty over Babylonia, and he assumed the title of "King of theland of the Amorites. " So too did his great-grandson, Ammi-ditana. Twogenerations later, with Samas-ditana the First dynasty of Babylon cameto an end. It had made Babylon the capital of the country--a positionwhich it never subsequently lost. It had raised Bel-Merodach, the god ofBabylon, to the head of the pantheon, and it had lasted for 304 years. It was followed by a Sumerian dynasty from the south, which governed thecountry for 368 years, but of which we know little more than the namesof the kings composing it and the length of their several reigns. 

It fell before the avalanche of an invasion from the mountains of Elam. The Kassites poured into the Babylonian plain, and Kassite kings ruledat Babylon for 576 years and a half. During their domination the map ofwestern Asia underwent a change. The Kassite conquest destroyed theBabylonian empire; Canaan was lost to it for ever, and eventually becamea province of Egypt. The high-priests of Assur, now Kaleh Sherghat, nearthe confluence of the Tigris and Lower Zab, made themselves independentand founded the kingdom of Assyria, which soon extended northward intothe angle formed by the Tigris and Upper Zab, where the cities ofNineveh and Calah afterwards arose. The whole country had previouslybeen included by the Babylonians in Gutium or Kurdistan. 

The population of Assyria seems to have been more purely Semitic thanthat of Babylonia. Such at least was the case with the ruling classes. It was a population of free peasants, of soldiers, and of traders. Itsculture was derived from Babylonia; even its gods, with the exception ofAssur, were of Babylonian origin. We look in vain among the Assyriansfor the peace-loving tendencies of the Babylonians; they were, on thecontrary, the Romans of the East. They were great in war, and in thetime of the Second Assyrian empire great also in law and administration. But they were not a literary people; education among them was confinedto the scribes and officials, rather than generally spread as inBabylonia. War and commerce were their two trades. 

The Kassite conquerors of Babylonia soon submitted to the influences ofBabylonian civilisation. Like the Hyksos in Egypt, they adopted themanners and customs, the writing and language, of the conquered people, sometimes even their names. The army, however, continued to be mainlycomposed of Kassite troops, and the native Babylonians began to forgetthe art of fighting. The old claims to sovereignty in the west, however, were never resigned; but the Kassite kings had to content themselveswith intriguing against the Egyptian government in Palestine, eitherwith disaffected Canaanites, or with the Hittites and Mitannians, whileat the same time they professed to be the firm friends of the EgyptianPharaoh. Burna-buryas in B. C. 1400 writes affectionately to his"brother" of Egypt, begging for some of the gold which in Egypt hedeclares is as abundant "as the dust, " and which he needs for hisbuildings at home. He tells the Egyptian king how his father Kuri-galzuhad refused to listen to the Canaanites when they had offered to betraytheir country to him, and he calls Khu-n-Aten to account for treatingthe Assyrians as an independent nation and not as the vassals ofBabylonia. 

The Assyrians, however, did not take the same view as the Babylonianking. They had been steadily growing in power, and had intermarried intothe royal family of Babylonia. Assur-yuballidh, one of whose letters tothe Pharaoh has been found at Tel el-Amarna, had married his daughter tothe uncle and predecessor of Burna-buryas, and his grandson became kingof Babylon. A revolt on the part of the Kassite troops gave theAssyrians an excuse for interfering in the affairs of Babylonia, andfrom this time forward their eyes were turned covetously towards thekingdom of the south. 

As Assyria grew stronger, Babylonia became weaker. Calah, now _Nimrud_, was founded about B. C. 1300 by Shalmaneser I. , and his son and successorTiglath-Ninip threw off all disguise and marched boldly into Babyloniain the fifth year of his reign. Babylon was taken, the treasures of itstemple sent to Assur, and Assyrian governors set over the country, whilea special seal was made for the use of the conqueror. For seven yearsthe Assyrian domination lasted. Then Tiglath-Ninip was driven back toAssyria, where he was imprisoned and murdered by his son, and the oldline of Kassite princes was restored in the person of Rimmon-sum-uzur. But it continued only four reigns longer. A new dynasty from the town ofIsin seized the throne, and ruled for 132 years and six months. 

It was while this dynasty was reigning that a fresh line of energeticmonarchs mounted the Assyrian throne. Rimmon-nirari I. , the father ofShalmaneser I. (B. C. 1330-1300) had already extended the frontiers ofAssyria to the Khabur in the west and the Kurdish mountains in thenorth, and his son settled an Assyrian colony at the head-waters of theTigris, which served to garrison the country. But after the successfulrevolt of the Babylonians against Tiglath-Ninip the Assyrian powerdecayed. More than a century later Assur-ris-isi entered again on acareer of conquest and reduced the Kurds to obedience. 

His son, Tiglath-pileser I. , was one of the great conquerors of history. He carried his arms far and wide. Kurdistan and Armenia, Mesopotamia andComagênê, were all alike overrun by his armies in campaign aftercampaign. The Hittites paid tribute, as also did Phoenicia, where hesailed on the Mediterranean in a ship of Arvad and killed a dolphin inits waters. The Pharaoh of Egypt, alarmed at the approach of soformidable an invader, sent him presents, which included a crocodile anda hippopotamus, and on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, nearCarchemish and Pethor, he hunted wild elephants, as Thothmes III. Haddone before him. His son still claimed supremacy in the west, as isshown by the fact that he erected statues in "the land of the Amorites. "But the energy of the dynasty was now exhausted, and Assyria for a timepassed under eclipse. This was the period when David established hisempire; there was no other great power to oppose him in the Orientalworld, and it seemed as if Israel was about to take the place that hadonce been filled by Egypt and Babylon. But the opportunity was lost; themurder of Joab and the unwarlike character of Solomon effectuallychecked all dreams of conquest, and Israel fell back into two pettystates. 

The military revival of Assyria was as sudden as had been its decline. In B. C. 885, Assur-nazir-pal II. Ascended the throne. His reign oftwenty-five years was passed in constant campaigns, in ferociousmassacres, and the burning of towns. In both his inscriptions and hissculptures he seems to gloat over the tortures he inflicted on thedefeated foe. Year after year his armies marched out of Nineveh toslaughter and destroy, and to bring back with them innumerable captivesand vast amounts of spoil. Western Asia was overrun, tribute wasreceived from the Hittites and from Phoenicia, and Armenia wasdevastated by the Assyrian forces as far north as Lake Van. The policyof Assur-nazir-pal was continued by his son and successor ShalmaneserII. , with less ferocity, but with more purpose (B. C. 860-825). Assyriabecame dominant in Asia; its empire stretched from Media on the east tothe Mediterranean on the west. But it was an empire which was withoutorganisation or permanency. Every year a new campaign was needed tosuppress the revolts which broke out as soon as the Assyrian army wasout of sight, or to supply the treasury with fresh spoil. The campaignswere in most cases raids rather than the instruments of deliberatelyplanned conquest. Hence it was that the Assyrian monarch found himselfchecked in the west by the petty kings of Damascus and the neighbouringstates. Ben-Hadad and Hazael, it is true, were beaten again and againalong with their allies, while Omri of Israel offered tribute to theinvader, like the rich cities of Phoenicia; but Damascus remaineduntaken and its people unsubdued. 

The war with Assyria, however, saved Israel from being swallowed up byits Syrian neighbour. Hazael's strength was exhausted in struggling forhis own existence; he had none left for the conquest of Samaria. Shalmaneser himself, towards the end of his life, was no longer in aposition to attack others. A great revolt broke out against him, headedby his son Assur-dain-pal, the Sardanapallos of the Greeks, whoestablished himself at Nineveh, and there reigned as rival king forabout seven years. His brother Samas-Rimmon, who had remained faithfulto his father, at last succeeded in putting down the rebellion. Ninevehwas taken, and its defenders slain. Henceforth Samas-Rimmon reigned withan undisputed title. 

But Assyria was long in recovering from the effects of the revolt, whichhad shaken her to the foundations. The dynasty itself never recovered. Samas-Rimmon, indeed, at the head of the army which had overcome hisbrother, continued the military policy of his predecessors; the tribesof Media and southern Armenia were defeated, and campaigns were carriedon against Babylonia, the strength of which was now completely broken. In B. C. 812 Babylon was taken, but two years later Samas-Rimmon himselfdied, and was succeeded by his son Rimmon-nirari III. His reign waspassed in constant warfare on the frontiers of the empire, and in B. C. 804 Damascus was surrendered to him by its king Mariha, who became anAssyrian tributary. In the following year a pestilence broke out, andwhen his successor, Shalmaneser III. , mounted the throne in B. C. 781, hefound himself confronted by a new and formidable power, that of Ararator Van. The eastern and northern possessions of Assyria were taken fromher, and the monarchy fell rapidly into decay. In B. C. 763 an eclipse ofthe sun took place on the 15th of June, and was the signal for theoutbreak of a revolt in Assur, the ancient capital of the kingdom. Itspread rapidly to other parts of the empire, and though for a time thegovernment held its own against the rebels, the end came in B. C. 745. Assur-nirari, the last of the old dynasty, died or was put to death, andPulu or Pul, one of his generals, was proclaimed king on the 13th ofIyyar or April under the name of Tiglath-pileser III. 

Tiglath-pileser III. Was the founder of the Second Assyrian empire, which was based on a wholly different principle from that of the first. Occupation and not plunder was the object of its wars. The ancientempire of Babylonia in western Asia was to be restored, and the commerceof the Mediterranean to be diverted into Assyrian hands. The campaignsof Tiglath-pileser and his successors were thus carried on in accordancewith a deliberate line of policy. They aimed at the conquest of thewhole civilised world, and the building up of a great organisation ofwhich Nineveh and its ruler were the head. It was a new principle and anew idea. And measures were at once adopted to realise it. 

The army was made an irresistible engine of attack. Its training, discipline, and arms were such as the world had never seen before. Andthe army was followed by a body of administrators. The conqueredpopulation was transported elsewhere or else deprived of its leaders, and Assyrian colonies and garrisons were planted in its place. Theadministration was intrusted to a vast bureaucracy, at the head of whichstood the king. He appointed the satraps who governed the provinces, andwere responsible for the taxes and tribute, as well as for themaintenance of order. The bureaucracy was partly military, partly civil, the two elements acting as a check one upon the other. 

But it was necessary that Ararat should be crushed before the plans ofthe new monarch could be carried out. The strength of the army was firsttested in campaigns against Babylonia and the Medes, and thenTiglath-pileser marched against the confederated forces of the Armenianking. A league had been formed among the princes of northern Syria inconnection with that of the Armenians, but the Assyrian king annihilatedthe army of Ararat in Comagênê, and then proceeded to besiege Arpad. Arpad surrendered after a blockade of three years; Hamath, which hadbeen assisted by Azariah of Judah, was reduced into an Assyrianprovince; and a court was held, at which the sovereigns of the west paidhomage and tribute to the conqueror (B. C. 738). Among these were Rezonof Damascus and Menahem of Samaria. Tiglath-pileser was still known inPalestine under his original name of Pul, and the tribute of Menahem isaccordingly described by the Israelitish chronicler as having been givento Pul. 

The Assyrian king was now free to turn the full strength of his forcesagainst Ararat. The country was ravaged up to the very gates of itscapital, the modern Van, and only the strong walls of the city kept theinvader out of it. The Assyrian army next moved eastward to the southernshores of the Caspian, striking terror into the Kurdish and Mediantribes, and so securing the lowlands of Assyria from their raids. Theaffairs of Syria next claimed the attention of the conqueror. Rezon andPekah, the new king of Samaria, had attempted to form a league againstAssyria; and, with this end in view, determined to replace Ahaz, theyouthful king of Judah, by a creature of their own. Ahaz turned in hisextremity to Assyrian help, and Tiglath-pileser seized the opportunityof accepting the vassalage of Judah, with its strong fortress ofJerusalem, and at the same time of overthrowing both Damascus andSamaria. Rezon was closely besieged in his capital, while the rest ofthe Assyrian army was employed in overrunning Samaria, Ammon, Moab, andthe Philistines (B. C. 734). Pekah was put to death, and Hosea appointedby the Assyrians in his place. After a siege of two years, Damascus fellin B. C. 732, Rezon was slain, and his kingdom placed under an Assyriansatrap. Meanwhile Tyre was compelled to purchase peace by an indemnityof 150 talents. 

Syria was now at the feet of Nineveh. A great gathering of the westernkings took place at Damascus, where Tiglath-pileser held his court afterthe capture of the city, and the list of those who came to do homage tohim includes Jehoahaz or Ahaz of Judah, and the kings of Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Hamath. Hosea, it would seem, was not yet on the Israelitishthrone. 

The old empire of Babylonia was thus restored as far as theMediterranean. All that remained was for the Assyrian usurper tolegitimise his title by occupying Babylon itself, and there receivingthe crown of Asia. In B. C. 731, accordingly, he found a pretext forinvading Babylonia and seizing the holy city of western Asia. Two yearslater he "took the hands" of Bel-Merodach, and was thereby adopted bythe god as his own son. But he did not live long to enjoy the fruits ofhis victories. He died December B. C. 727, and another usurper, Ululâ, possessed himself of the throne, and assumed the name of Shalmaneser IV. His reign, however, was short. He died while besieging Samaria, whichhad revolted after the death of its conqueror, and in December B. C. 722, a third general seized the vacant crown. He took the name of the oldBabylonian monarch, Sargon, and the court chroniclers of after-daysdiscovered that he was a descendant of the legendary kings of Assyria. His first achievement was the capture of Samaria. Little spoil, however, was found in the half-ruined city; and the upper classes, who wereresponsible for the rebellion, were carried into captivity to the numberof 27, 280 persons. The city itself was placed under an Assyriangovernor. 

Sargon found that the empire of Tiglath-pileser had in great measure tobe re-conquered. Neither Tiglath-pileser nor his successor had been ableto leave the throne to their children, and the conquered provinces hadtaken advantage of the troubles consequent on their deaths to revolt. Babylonia had been lost. Merodach-baladan, the Chaldæan prince, hademerged from the marshes of the south and occupied Babylon, where he wasproclaimed king immediately after Shalmaneser's death. For twelve yearshe reigned there, with the help of the Elamites, and one of the firsttasks of Sargon was to drive the latter from the Assyrian borders. Sargon had next to suppress a revolt in Hamath, as well as an invasionof Palestine by the Egyptians. The Egyptian army, however, was defeatedat Raphia, and the Philistines with whom it was in alliance returned totheir allegiance to the Assyrian king. 

Now came, however, a more serious struggle. Ararat had recovered fromthe blow it had received at the hands of Tiglath-pileser, and hadorganised a general confederacy of the northern nations against theirdangerous neighbour. For six years the struggle continued. But it endedin victory for the Assyrians. Carchemish, the Hittite stronghold whichcommanded the road across the Euphrates, was taken in B. C. 717, and theway lay open to the west. The barrier that had existed for sevencenturies between the Semites of the east and west was removed, and thelast relic of the Hittite conquests in Syria passed away. In thefollowing year Sargon overran the territories of the Minni betweenArarat and Lake Urumiyeh, and two years later the northern confederacywas utterly crushed. The fortress of Muzazir, under Mount Rowandiz, wasadded to the Assyrian dominions, its gods were carried into captivity, and the King of Ararat committed suicide in despair. From henceforwardAssyria had nothing to fear on the side of the north. The turn of theMedes came next. They were compelled to acknowledge the supremacy ofNineveh; so also was the kingdom of Ellipi, the later Ekbatana. Sargoncould now turn his attention to Babylonia. 

Merodach-baladan had foreseen the coming storm, and had done his best tosecure allies. An alliance was made with the Elamites, who were alarmedat the conquest of Ellipi; and ambassadors were sent to Palestine (inB. C. 711), there to arrange a general rising of the population, simultaneously with the outbreak of war between Sargon and theBabylonian king. But before the confederates were ready to move, Sargonhad fallen upon them separately. Ashdod, the centre of the revolt in thewest, was invested and taken by the Turtannu or commander-in-chief; itsruler, a certain "Greek, " who had been raised to power by theanti-Assyrian party, fled to the Arabian desert in the vain hope ofsaving his life, and Judah, Moab, and Edom were forced to renew theirtribute. The Egyptians, who had promised to assist the rebels inPalestine, prudently retired, and the Assyrian yoke was fixed morefirmly than ever upon the nations of Syria. Merodach-baladan was left toface his foe alone. In B. C. 709 he was driven out of Babylon, and forcedto take refuge in his ancestral kingdom in the marshes. Sargon enteredBabylon in triumph, and "took the hands of Bel. " His title to rule wasacknowledged by the god and the priesthood, and an Assyrian was oncemore the lord of western Asia. 

Four years later the old warrior was murdered by a soldier, and on the12th of Ab, or July, his son Sennacherib was proclaimed king. Sennacherib was a different man from his father. Sargon had been an ableand energetic general, rough perhaps and uncultured, but vigorous anddetermined. His son was weak and boastful, and under him thenewly-formed Assyrian empire met with its first check. It is significantthat the Babylonian priests never acknowledged him as the successor oftheir ancient kings; he revenged himself by razing the city andsanctuary of Bel to the ground. 

Merodach-baladan re-entered Babylon immediately after the death ofSargon in B. C. 705, but he was soon driven back to his retreat in theChaldæan marshes, and an Assyrian named Bel-ibni was appointed king inhis place. The next campaign of importance undertaken by Sennacherib wasin B. C. 701. Palestine had revolted, under the leadership of Hezekiah ofJudah. The full strength of the Assyrian army was accordingly hurledagainst it. The King of Sidon fled to Cyprus, and Phoenicia, Ammon, Moab, and Edom hastened to submit to their dangerous foe. Hezekiah andhis Philistine vassals alone ventured to resist. 

The Philistines, however, were soon subdued. A new king was appointedover Ashkelon, and Hezekiah was compelled to restore to Ekron its formerprince, whom he had imprisoned in Jerusalem on account of his loyalty toAssyria. The priests and nobles of Ekron, who had given him up toHezekiah, were ruthlessly impaled. Meanwhile Tirhakah, the Ethiopianking of Egypt, on whose help Hezekiah had relied, was marching to theassistance of his ally. Sennacherib met him at Eltekeh, and there thecombined forces of the Egyptians and Arabians were defeated andcompelled to retreat. Hezekiah now endeavoured to make peace by theoffer of rich and numerous presents, including thirty talents of goldand 800 of silver. But nothing short of the death of the Jewish king andthe transportation of his people would content the invader. Hezekiahaccordingly shut himself up within the strong walls of his capital, while the Assyrians ravaged the rest of the country and prepared tobesiege Jerusalem. The cities and villages were destroyed, and 200, 150persons were led away into captivity. But at this moment a catastrophebefell the Assyrians which saved Hezekiah and "the remnant" of Israel. The angel of death smote the Assyrian army, and it was decimated by asudden pestilence. Sennacherib fled from the plague-stricken camp, carrying with him his spoil and captives, and the scanty relics of histroops. It was the last time he marched to the west, and his rebelliousvassal remained unpunished. 

In the following year troubles in Babylonia called him to the south. Merodach-baladan was hunted out of the marshes, and fled with hissubjects across the Persian Gulf to the opposite coast of Elam, while ason of Sennacherib was made king of Babylon. But his reign did not lastlong. Six years later he was carried off to Elam, and a new king ofnative origin, Nergal-yusezib by name, was proclaimed by the Elamites. This was in return for an attack made by Sennacherib upon the Chaldæancolony in Elam, where the followers of Merodach-baladan had found arefuge. Sennacherib had caused ships to be built at Nineveh byPhoenician workmen, and had manned them with Tyrian, Sidonian, andIonian sailors who were prisoners of war. The ships sailed down to theTigris and across the gulf, and then fell unexpectedly upon theChaldæans, burning their settlement, and carrying away all who hadescaped massacre. 

Nergal-yusezib had reigned only one year when he was defeated andcaptured in battle by the Assyrians; but the Elamites were stillpredominant in Babylonia, and another Babylonian, Musezib-Merodach, wasset upon the throne of the distracted country (B. C. 693). In B. C. 691Sennacherib once more entered it, with an overwhelming army, determinedto crush all opposition. But the battle of Khalulê, fought between theAssyrians on the one side, and the combined Babylonians and Elamites onthe other, led to no definite result. Sennacherib, indeed, claimed thevictory, but so he had also done in the case of the campaign againstHezekiah. Two years more were needed before the Babylonians at lastyielded to the superior forces of their enemy. In B. C. 689 Babylon wastaken by storm, and a savage vengeance wreaked upon it. The sacred cityof western Asia was levelled with the dust, the temple of Bel himselfwas not spared, and the Arakhtu canal which flowed past it was chokedwith ruins. The Babylonian chronicler tells us that for eight yearsthere were "no kings;" the image of Bel-Merodach had been cast to theground by the sacrilegious conqueror, and there was none who couldlegitimise his right to rule. 

On the 20th of Tebet, or December, B. C. 681, Sennacherib was murdered byhis two sons, and the Babylonians saw in the deed the punishment of hiscrimes. His favourite son, Esar-haddon, was at the time commanding theAssyrian army in a war against Erimenas of Ararat. As soon as the newsof the murder reached him, he determined to dispute the crown with hisbrothers, and accordingly marched against them. They were in no positionto resist him, and after holding Nineveh for forty-two days, fled to thecourt of the Armenian king. Esar-haddon followed, and a battle foughtnear Malatiyeh, on the 12th of Iyyar, or April, B. C. 680, decided thefate of the empire. The veterans of Esar-haddon utterly defeated theconspirators and their Armenian allies, and at the close of the day hewas saluted as king. He then returned to Nineveh, and on the 8th ofSivan, or May, formally ascended the throne. 

Esar-haddon proved himself to be not only one of the best generalsAssyria ever produced, but a great administrator as well. He endeavouredto cement his empire together by a policy of reconciliation, and one ofhis first actions was to rebuild Babylon, to bring back to it its godsand people, and to make it one of the royal residences. Bel acknowledgedhim as his adopted son, and for twelve years Esar-haddon ruled overwestern Asia by right divine as well as by the right of conquest. 

But a terrible danger menaced Assyria and the rest of the civilisedOriental world at the very beginning of his reign. Sennacherib'sconquest of Ellipi, and the wars against Ararat and Minni, had weakenedthe barriers which protected the Assyrian empire from the incursions ofthe barbarians of the north. The Gimirrâ or Kimmerians, the Gomer of theOld Testament, driven by the Scyths from their seats on the Dniester andthe Sea of Azof, suddenly appeared on the horizon of western Asia. Swarming through the territories of the Minni to the east of Ararat, they swooped down upon the Assyrian frontier, along with other northernnations from Media, Sepharad, and Ashchenaz. While a body of Kimmeriansunder Teuspa marched westward, the rest of the allies, under Kastarit orKyaxares of Karu-Kassi, attacked the fortresses which defended Assyriaon the north-east. At Nineveh all was consternation, and public prayers, accompanied by fasting, were ordered to be offered up for a hundred daysand nights to the Sun-god, that he might "forgive the sin" of hispeople, and avert the dangers that threatened them. The prayers wereheard, and the invaders were driven into Ellipi. Then Esar-haddonmarched against Teuspa, and forced him to turn from Assyria. TheKimmerians made their way instead into Asia Minor, where they sacked theGreek and Phrygian cities, and overran Lydia. 

The northern and eastern boundaries of the empire were at lengthsecured. It was now necessary to punish the Arab tribes who had takenadvantage of the Kimmerian invasion to harass the empire on the south. Esar-haddon accordingly marched into the very heart of the Arabiandesert--a military achievement of the first rank, the memory of whichwas not forgotten for years. The empire at last was secure. 

The Assyrian king was now free to complete the policy of Tiglath-pileserby conquering Egypt. Palestine was no longer a source of trouble. Judahhad returned to its vassalage to Assyria, and the abortive attempts ofSidon and Jerusalem to rebel had been easily suppressed. True to hispolicy of conciliation, Esar-haddon had dealt leniently with Manasseh ofJudah. He had been brought in fetters before his lord at Babylon, andthere pardoned and restored to his kingdom. It was a lesson whichneither he nor his successors forgot, like the similar lesson impresseda few years later upon the Egyptian prince Necho. 

The Assyrian conquest of Egypt has been already described. The firstcampaign of Esar-haddon against it was undertaken in B. C. 674; and itwas while on the march to put down a revolt in B. C. 668 that he fell illand died, on the 10th of Marchesvan, or October. The empire was dividedbetween his two sons. Assur-bani-pal had already been named as hissuccessor, and now took Assyria, while Saul-sum-yukin became king ofBabylonia, subject, however, to his brother at Nineveh. It was anattempt to flatter the Babylonians by giving them a king of their own, while at the same time keeping the supreme power in Assyrian hands. 

The first few years of Assur-bani-pal's reign were spent intranquillising Egypt by means of the sword, in suppressinginsurrections, and in expelling Ethiopian invaders. After thedestruction of Thebes in B. C. 661 the country sullenly submitted to theforeign rule; its strength was exhausted, and its leaders and priesthoodwere scattered and bankrupt. Elam was now almost the only civilisedkingdom of western Asia which remained independent. It was, moreover, aperpetual thorn in the side of the Assyrians. It was always ready togive the same help to the disaffected in Babylonia that Egypt was to therebels in Palestine, with the difference that whereas the Egyptians werean unwarlike race, the Elamites were a nation of warriors. Assur-bani-pal was not a soldier himself, and he would have preferredremaining at peace with his warlike neighbour. But Elamite raids madethis impossible, and the constant civil wars in Elam resulting fromdisputed successions to the throne afforded pretexts and favourableopportunities for invading it. The Elamites, however, defendedthemselves bravely, and it was only after a struggle of many years, whentheir cities had fallen one by one, and Shushan, the capital, was itselfdestroyed, that Elam became an Assyrian province. The conquerors, however, found it a profitless desert, wasted by fire and sword, and inthe struggle to possess it their own resources had been drained andwell-nigh exhausted. 

The second Assyrian empire was now at the zenith of its power. Ambassadors came from Ararat and from Gyges of Lydia to offer homage, and to ask the help of the great king against the Kimmerian and Scythianhordes. His fame spread to Europe; the whole of the civilised worldacknowledged his supremacy. 

But the image was one which had feet of clay. The empire had been won bythe sword, and the sword alone kept it together. Suddenly a revolt brokeout which shook it to its foundations. Babylonia took the lead; theother subject nations followed in its train. 

Saul-suma-yukin had become naturalised in Babylonia. The experiment ofappointing an Assyrian prince as viceroy had failed; he had identifiedhimself with his subjects, and like them dreamed of independence. Headopted the style and titles of the ancient Babylonian mouarchs; eventhe Sumerian language was revived in public documents, and the son ofEsar-haddon put himself at the head of a national movement. The Assyriansupremacy was rejected, and once more Babylon was free. 

The revolt lasted for some years. When it began we do not know; but itwas not till B. C. 648 that it was finally suppressed, andSaul-suma-yukin put to death after a reign of twenty years. Babylon hadbeen closely invested, and was at last starved into surrender. But, taught by the experience of the past, Assur-bani-pal did not treat itseverely. The leaders of the revolt, it is true, were punished, but thecity and people were spared, and its shrines, like those of Kutha andSippara, were purified, while penitential psalms were sung to appeasethe angry deities, and the daily sacrifices which had been interruptedwere restored. A certain Kandalanu was made viceroy, perhaps with thetitle of king. 

Chastisement was now taken upon the Arabian tribes who had joined in therevolt. But Egypt was lost to the empire for ever. Psammetikhos hadseized the opportunity of shaking off the yoke of the foreigner, andwith the help of the troops sent by Gyges from Lydia, had driven out theAssyrian garrisons and overcome his brother satraps. 

Assur-bani-pal was in no position to punish him. The war with Elam andthe revolt of Babylonia had drained the country of its fighting men andthe treasury of its resources. And a new and formidable enemy hadappeared on the scene. The Scyths had followed closely on the footstepsof the Kimmerians, and were now pouring into Asia like locusts, andravaging everything in their path. The earlier chapters of Jeremiah aredarkened by the horrors of the Scythian invasion of Palestine, andAssur-bani-pal refers with a sigh of relief to the death of that "limbof Satan, " the Scythian king Tugdamme or Lygdamis. This seems to havehappened in Cilicia, and Assyria was allowed a short interval of rest. 

Assur-bani-pal's victories were gained by his generals. He himself neverappears to have taken the field in person. His tastes were literary, hishabits luxurious. He was by far the most munificent patron of learningAssyria ever produced; in fact, he stands alone in this respect amongAssyrian kings. The library of Nineveh was increased tenfold by hispatronage and exertions; literary works were brought from Babylonia, anda large staff of scribes was kept busily employed in copying andre-editing them. Unfortunately, the superstition of the monarch led himto collect more especially books upon omens and dreams, and astrologicaltreatises, but other works were not overlooked, and we owe to him alarge number of the syllabaries and lists of words in which thecuneiform characters and the Assyrian vocabulary are explained. 

When Assur-bani-pal died the doom of the Assyrian empire had alreadybeen pronounced. The authority of his two successors, Assur-etil-ilani-yukin and Sin-sar-iskun, or Saracos, was stillacknowledged both in Syria and in Babylonia, where Kandalanu had beensucceeded as viceroy by Nabopolassar. One of the contract-tablets fromthe north of Babylonia is dated as late as the seventh year ofSin-sar-iskun. But not long after this the Babylonian viceroy revoltedagainst his sovereign, and with the help of the Scythian king, who hadestablished himself at Ekbatana, defeated the Assyrian forces and laidsiege to Nineveh. The siege ended in the capture and destruction of thecity, the death of its king, and the overthrow of his empire. In B. C. 606 the desolator of the nations was itself laid desolate, and its sitehas never been inhabited again. 

Nabopolassar entered upon the heritage of Assyria. It has been supposedthat he was a Chaldæan like Merodach-baladan; whether this be so or not, he was hailed by the Babylonians as a representative of their ancientkings. The Assyrian empire had become the prey of the first-comer. Elamhad been occupied by the Persians, the Scyths, whom classical writershave confounded with the Medes, had overrun and ravaged Assyria andMesopotamia, while Palestine and Syria had fallen to the share of Egypt. But once established on the Babylonian throne, Nabopolassar set aboutthe work of re-organising western Asia, and the military abilities ofhis son Nebuchadrezzar enabled him to carry out his purpose. Themarriage of Nebuchadrezzar to the daughter of the Scythian monarchopened the road through Mesopotamia to the Babylonian armies; theEgyptians were defeated at Carchemish in B. C. 604, and driven back totheir own land. From Gaza to the mouth of the Euphrates, western Asiaagain obeyed the rule of a Babylonian king. 

The death of Nabopolassar recalled Nebuchadrezzar to Babylon, where heassumed the crown. But the Egyptians still continued to intrigue inPalestine, and the Jewish princes listened to their counsels. Twice hadNebuchadrezzar to occupy Jerusalem and carry the plotters intocaptivity. In B. C. 598 Jehoiachin and a large number of the upperclasses were carried into exile; in B. C. 588 Jerusalem was taken after along siege, its temple and walls razed to the ground, and itsinhabitants transported to Babylonia. The fortress-capital could nolonger shelter or tempt the Egyptian foes of the Babylonian empire. 

The turn of Tyre came next. For thirteen years it was patientlyblockaded, and in B. C. 573 it passed with its fleet intoNebuchadrezzar's hands. Five years later the Babylonian army marchedinto Egypt, the Pharaoh Amasis was defeated, and the eastern part of theDelta overrun. But Nebuchadrezzar did not push his advantage anyfurther; he was content with impressing upon the Egyptians a sense ofhis power, and with fixing the boundaries of his empire at the southernconfines of Palestine. 

His heart was in Babylonia rather than in the conquests he had made. Thewealth he had acquired by them was devoted to the restoration of thetemples and cities of his country, and, above all, to making Babylon oneof the wonders of the world. The temples of Merodach and Nebo wererebuilt with lavish magnificence, the city was surrounded withimpregnable fortifications, a sumptuous palace was erected for the king, and the bed of the Euphrates was lined with brick and furnished withquays. Gardens were planted on the top of arched terraces, and the wholeeastern world poured out its treasures at the feet of "the great king. "His inscriptions, however, breathe a singular spirit of humility andpiety, and we can understand from them the friendship that existedbetween the prophet Jeremiah and himself. All he had done is ascribed toBel-Merodach, whose creation he was and who had given him thesovereignty over mankind. 

He was succeeded in B. C. 562 by his son Evil-Merodach, who had a shortand inglorious reign of only two years. Then the throne was usurped byNergal-sharezer, who had married a daughter of Nebuchadrezzar, and wasin high favour with the priests. He died in B. C. 556, leaving a child, whom the priestly chroniclers accuse of impiety towards the gods, andwho was murdered three months after his accession. Then Nabu-nahid orNabonidos, the son of Nabu-balasu-iqbi, another nominee of thepriesthood, was placed on the throne. He was unrelated to the royalfamily, but proved to be a man of some energy and a zealous antiquarian. He caused excavations to be made in the various temples of Babylonia, inorder to discover the memorial-stones of their founders and verify thehistory of them that had been handed down. But he offended localinterests by endeavouring to centralise the religious worship of thecountry at Babylon, in the sanctuary of Bel-Merodach, as Hezekiah haddone in the case of Judah. The images of the gods were removed from theshrines in which they had stood from time immemorial, and the localpriesthoods attached to them were absorbed in that of the capital. Theresult was the rise of a powerful party opposed to the king, and aspirit of disaffection which the gifts showered upon the temples ofBabylon and a few other large cities were unable to allay. The standingarmy, however, under the command of the king's son, Belshazzar, prevented this spirit from showing itself in action. 

But a new power was growing steadily in the East. The larger part ofElam, which went by the name of Anzan, had been seized by the Persiansin the closing days of the Assyrian empire, and a line of kings ofPersian origin had taken the place of the old sovereigns of Shushan. Cyrus II. , who was still but a youth, was now on the throne of Anzan, and, like his predecessors, acknowledged as his liege-lord the Scythianking of Ekbatana, Istuvegu or Astyages. His first act was to defeat anddethrone his suzerain, in B. C. 549, and so make himself master of Media. A year or two later he obtained possession of Persia, and a war withLydia in B. C. 545 led to the conquest of Asia Minor. Nabonidos haddoubtless looked on with satisfaction while the Scythian power was beingoverthrown, and had taken advantage of its fall to rebuild the temple ofthe Moon-god at Harran, which had been destroyed by the Scythiansfifty-four years before. But his eyes were opened by the conquest of hisally the King of Lydia, and he accordingly began to prepare for a warwhich he saw was inevitable. The camp was fixed near Sippara, towardsthe northern boundary of Babylonia, and every effort was made to put thecountry into a state of defence. 

Cyrus, however, was assisted by the disaffected party in Babyloniaitself, amongst whose members must doubtless be included the Jewishexiles. In B. C. 538 a revolt broke out in the south, in the old districtof the Chaldæans, and Cyrus took advantage of it to march into thecountry. The Babylonian army moved northward to meet him, but wasutterly defeated and dispersed at Opis in the beginning of Tammuz, orJune, and a few days later Sippara surrendered to the conqueror. Gobryas, the governor of Kurdistan, was then sent to Babylon, which alsoopened its gates "without fighting, " and Nabonidos, who had concealedhimself, was taken prisoner. The daily services in the temples as wellas the ordinary business of the city proceeded as usual, and on the 3rdof Marchesvan Cyrus himself arrived and proclaimed a general amnesty, which was communicated by Gobryas to "all the province of Babylon, " ofwhich he had been made the prefect. Shortly afterwards, the wife--or, according to another reading, the son--of Nabonidos died; publiclamentations were made for her, and Kambyses, the son of Cyrus, conducted the funeral in one of the Babylonian temples. Cyrus now tookthe title of "King of Babylon, " and associated Kambyses with himself inthe government. Conquest had proved his title to the crown, and thepriests and god of Babylon hastened to confirm it. Cyrus on his sideclaimed to be the legitimate descendant of the ancient Babylonian kings, a true representative of the ancient stock, who had avenged the injuriesof Bel-Merodach and his brother-gods upon Nabonidos, and who professedto be their devoted worshipper. Offerings to ten times the usual amountwere bestowed on the Babylonian temples, and the favour of theBabylonian priesthood was secured. The images which Nabonidos hadsacrilegiously removed from their shrines were restored to their oldhomes, and the captive populations in Babylonia were allowed to returnto their native soil. The policy of transportation had proved a failure;in time of invasion the exiles had been a source of danger to thegovernment, and not of safety. 

Each people was permitted to carry back with it its ancestral gods. TheJews alone had no images to take; the sacred vessels of the temple ofJerusalem were accordingly given to them. It was a faithful remnant thatreturned to the land of their fathers, consisting mostly of priests andLevites, determined henceforward to obey strictly the laws of their God, and full of gratitude to their deliverer. In Jerusalem Cyrus thus had acolony whose loyalty to himself and his successors could be trusted, andwho would form, as it were, an outpost against attacks on the side ofEgypt. 

As long as Cyrus and his son Kambyses lived Babylonia also was tranquil. They flattered the religious and political prejudices of theirBabylonian subjects, and the priesthood saw in them the successors of aSargon of Akkad. But with the death of Kambyses came a change. The newrulers of the empire of Cyrus were Persians, proud of their nationalityand zealous for their Zoroastrian faith. They had no reverence for Bel, no belief in the claim of Babylon to confer a title of legitimacy on thesovereign of western Asia. The Babylonian priesthood chafed, theBabylonian people broke into revolt. In October B. C. 521 a pretenderappeared who took the name of Nebuchadrezzar II. , and reigned for nearlya year. But after two defeats in the field, he was captured in Babylonby Darius and put to death in August 520. Once more, in B. C. 514, another revolt took place under a second pretender to the name of"Nebuchadrezzar the son of Nabonidos. " The strong walls of Babylonresisted the Persian army for more than a year, and the city was at lasttaken by stratagem. The walls were partially destroyed, but this did notprevent a third rebellion in the reign of Xerxes, while the Persianmonarch was absent in Greece. On this occasion, however, it was sooncrushed, and Ê-Sagila, the temple of Bel, was laid in ruins. But a latergeneration restored once more the ancient sanctuary of Merodach, at allevents in part, and services in honour of Bel continued to be held theredown to the time when Babylon was superseded by the Greek town ofSeleucia, and the city of Nebuchadrezzar became a waste of shapelessmounds. 

Babylonian religion was a mixture of Sumerian and Semitic elements. Theprimitive Sumerian had believed in a sort of animism. Each object hadits _zi_ or "spirit, " like men and beasts; the _zi_ gave it itspersonality, and endowed it, as it were, with vital force. The _zi_corresponded with the _ka_ or "double" of the Egyptians, whichaccompanied like a shadow all things in heaven and earth. The godsthemselves had each his _zi_; it was this alone that made them permanentand personal. With such a form of religion there could be neitherdeities nor priests in the usual sense of the words. The place of thepriest was taken by the sorcerer, who knew the spells that could avertthe malevolence of the "spirits" or bring down their blessings uponmankind. 

With the progress of civilisation, certain of the "spirits" emergedabove the rest, and became veritable gods. The "spirit" of heaven becameAna of Erech, the Sky-god; the "spirit" of earth passed into El-lil ofNippur; and the "spirit" of the deep into Ea of Eridu. The change washastened by contact with the Semite. The Semite brought with him a newreligious conception. He believed in a god who revealed himself in thesun, and whom he addressed as Baal or "Lord. " By the side of Baal stoodhis colourless reflection, the goddess Baalath, who owed her existencepartly to the feminine gender possessed by the Semitic languages, partlyto the analogy of the human family. But the Baalim were as multitudinousas their worshippers and the high-places whereon they were adored; therewas little difficulty, therefore, in identifying the gods and "spirits"of Sumer with the local Baals of the Semitic creed. 

El-lil became Bel of Nippur, Asari or Merodach Bel of Babylon. But intaking a Semitic form, the Sumerian divinities did not lose their oldattributes. Bel of Nippur remained the lord of the ghost-world, Bel-Merodach the god who "raises the dead to life" and "does good toman. " Moreover, in one important point the Semite borrowed from theSumerian. The goddess Istar retained her independent position among thecrowd of colourless female deities. Originally the "spirit" of theevening-star, she had become a goddess, and in the Sumerian world thegoddess was the equal of the god. It is a proof of the influence of theSumerian element in the Babylonian population, that this conception ofthe goddess was never forgotten in Babylonia; it was only whenBabylonian culture was handed on to the Semitic nations of the west thatIstar became either the male Atthar of southern Arabia and Moab, or theemasculated Ashtoreth of Canaan. 

The official religion of Babylonia was thus the Baal-worship of theSemites engrafted on the animism of the Sumerians. It was furthermodified by the introduction of star-worship. How far this went back toa belief in the "spirits" of the stars, or whether it had a Semiticorigin, we do not know; but it is significant that the cuneiformcharacter which denotes "a god" is a picture of a star, and that theBabylonians were from the first a nation of star-gazers. In theastro-theology of a later date the gods of the pantheon were identifiedwith the chief stars of the firmament, but the system was purelyartificial, and must have been the invention of the priests. 

The religion and deities of Babylonia were adopted by the Assyrians. Butin Assyria they were always somewhat of an exotic, and even the learnedclass invoked Assur rather than the other gods. Assur was thepersonification of the old capital of the country and of the nationitself, and though the scribes found an etymology for the name in thatof An-sar, the primæval god of Sumerian cosmogony, the fact was alwaysremembered. Assur was purely Semitic in his attributes, and, like Yahvehof Israel or Chemosh of Moab, was wifeless and childless. It is truethat a learned scribe now and then found a wife for him among thenumerous divinities of the Babylonian cult, but the discovery was neveraccepted, and Assur for the mass of his worshippers remained single andalone. It was through trust in him that the Assyrian kings believedtheir victories were gained, and it was to punish those who disbelievedin him that their campaigns were undertaken. 

In the worship of Assur, accordingly, a tendency to monotheism revealsitself. The tendency was even more pronounced in a certain literaryschool of thought in Babylonia. We have texts which resolve the deitiesof the popular faith into forms of one god; sometimes this is Anu ofErech, sometimes it is Merodach of Babylon. 

Babylonian worship necessitated a large hierarchy of priests. At thehead was the high-priest, who in early times possessed temporal powerand in many states was the predecessor of the king. The king, in fact, inherited his priesthood from him, and was consequently qualified toperform priestly functions. Under the high-priest there were numerousclasses of ministers of the gods, such as the "anointers, " whose duty itwas to anoint the holy images with oil, the ordinary "priests, " the"seers, " and the "prophets. " The prophets enjoyed high consideration;they even accompanied the army to the field, and decided whether thecampaign would result in victory or defeat. Quite apart from all thesewere the astrologers, who did not belong to the priesthood at all. Onthe contrary, they professed to be men of science, and the predictionsof the future which they read in the stars were founded on the recordsand observations of former generations. 

A chief part of the duty of the priests consisted in offering sacrificeand reciting the services. The sacrifices were of two kinds, as in theJewish ritual. The same animals and the same fruits of the earth wereoffered by both Babylonians and Israelites, and in many cases theregulations relating to the sacrifices were similar. The services wereelaborate, and the rubrics attached to the hymns and prayers which hadto be recited are minute and complicated. The hymns had been formed intoa sort of Bible, which had in time acquired a divine authority. Sosacred were its words, that a single mispronunciation of them wassufficient to impair the efficacy of the service. Rules for theirpronunciation were accordingly laid down, which were the more necessaryas the hymns were in Sumerian. The dead language of Sumer had becomesacred, like Latin in the Middle Ages, and each line of a hymn wasprovided with a translation in Semitic Babylonian. 

In appearance, a Babylonian temple was not very unlike those of Canaanor of Solomon. The image of the god stood in the innermost shrine, theHoly of Holies, where also was the mercy-seat, whereon it was believed, as upon a throne, the deity was accustomed to descend at certain timesof the year. In the little temple of Balawât, near Nineveh, discoveredby Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, the mercy-seat was shaped like an ark, andcontained two written tables of stone; no statue of the god, however, seems in this instance to have stood beside it. In front of it was thealtar, approached by steps. 

In the court of the temple was a "sea" or "deep, " like that which wasmade by Solomon. An early hymn which describes the construction of oneof them, states that it was of bronze, and that it rested on the figuresof twelve bronze oxen. It was intended for the ablutions of the priestsand the vessels of the sanctuary, and was a representation of thatprimæval deep out of which it was believed that the world originated. 

One peculiarity the Babylonian temples possessed which was not shared bythose of the west. Each had its _ziggurat_ or "tower, " which served forthe observation of the stars, and in the topmost storey of which was thealtar of the god. It corresponded with the "high-place" of Canaan, whereman imagined himself nearest to the gods of heaven. But in the flatplain of Babylonia it was needful that the high-place should be ofartificial construction, and here accordingly they built the towerswhose summits "reached to" the sky. 

The temples and their ministers were supported partly by endowments, partly by voluntary gifts, sometimes called _kurbanni_, the Hebrew_korban_, partly by obligatory contributions, the most important ofwhich was the _esrâ_ or "tithe. " Besides the fixed festivals, which wereenumerated in the calendar, special days of thanksgiving or humiliationwere appointed from time to time. There was also a weekly Sabattu or"Sabbath, " on the 1st, 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th days of the month, aswell as on the 19th, the last day of the seventh week from the beginningof the previous month. The Sabbath is described as "a day of rest forthe heart, " and all work upon it was forbidden. The king was not allowedto change his dress, to ride in his chariot, or even to take medicine, while the prophet himself was forbidden to utter his prophecies. 

The mass of the people looked forward to a dreary existence beyond thegrave. The shades of the dead flitted like bats in the darkness of theunder-world, hungry and cold, while the ghosts of the heroes of the pastsat beside them on their shadowy thrones, and Allat, the mistress ofHades, presided over the warders of its seven gates. The Sumerians hadcalled it "the land whence none return, " though in the theology of Eriduand Babylon Asari or Merodach was already a god who, through the wisdomof his father Ea, "restored the dead to life. " But as the centuriespassed, new and less gloomy ideas grew up in regard to the future life. In a prayer for the Assyrian king the writer asks that he may enjoy anendless existence hereafter in "the land of the silver sky, " and therealms of the gods of light had been peopled with the heroes ofBabylonian literature at an early date. 

The belief in Hades went back to those primitive ages when the Sumeriansof Eridu conceived of the earth as floating on the deep, whichsurrounded it as a snake with its coils, while the sky covered it abovelike an extinguisher, and was supported on the peak of "the mountain ofthe world, " where the gods had their abode. This primitive cosmologicalconception underwent changes in the course of time, but the underlyingidea of an abyss of waters out of which all things were shaped remainedto the end. The Chaldæan Epic of the Creation declares that "in thebeginning, " "the chaos of the deep" had been the "mother" of both heavenand earth, out of whom first came the primæval deities Lakhmu andLakhamu, and then An-sar and Ki-sar, the upper and lower firmament. Longages had to elapse before the Trinity of the later theology--Anu, Ea, and Bel--were born of these, and all things made ready for the genesisof the present world. Merodach, the champion of the gods of light andlaw, had first to do battle with Tiamat, "the dragon" of "the deep, " andher allies of darkness and disorder. He had proved his powers bycreating and annihilating by means of his "word" alone, and the conflictwhich he waged ended in the destruction of the enemy. The body of Tiamatwas torn asunder and transformed into the heaven and earth, her springsof water were placed under control, and the forces of anarchy and chaoswere banished from the universe. Then followed the creation of theexisting order of things. The sun and moon and stars were fixed in theirplaces, and laws given to them which they should never transgress, plants and animals were created, and finally man. 

Babylonian literature went back to a remote date. The age of Sargon ofAkkad was already a highly literary one, and the library he founded atAkkad contained works which continued to be re-edited down to the latestdays of Babylonian literature. Every great city had its library, whichwas open to every reader, and where the books were carefully cataloguedand arranged on shelves. Here too were kept the public records, as wellas title-deeds, law-cases, and other documents belonging to privateindividuals. The office of librarian was held in honour, and was notunfrequently occupied by one of the sons of the king. Every branch ofliterature and science known at the time was represented. Theology wasnaturally prominent, as well as works on omens and charms. The standardwork on astronomy and astrology, in seventy-two books, had been compiledfor the library of Sargon of Akkad; so too had the standard work onterrestrial omens. There was also a standard work on medicine, in whichmedical prescriptions and spells were mixed together. Philologicaltreatises were numerous. There were dictionaries and grammars forexplaining the Sumerian language to Semitic pupils, interlineartranslations of Sumerian texts, phrase-books, lists of synonyms, andcommentaries on difficult or obsolete words and passages, besidessyllabaries, in which the cuneiform characters were catalogued andexplained. Mathematics were diligently studied, and tables of squaresand cubes have come to us from the library of Larsa. Geography wasrepresented by descriptions of the countries and cities known to theBabylonians, natural history by lists of animals and birds, insects andplants. The Assyrians were endowed with a keen sense of history, and hadinvented a system of reckoning time by means of certain officers called_limmi_, who gave their names to their years of office. The historicaland chronological works of the Assyrian libraries are thereforeparticularly important. They have enabled us to restore the chronologyof the royal period of Israelitish history, and to supplement the OldTestament narrative with the contemporaneous records of the Assyriankings. The Babylonians were less historically exact, perhaps becausethey had less of the Semitic element in their blood; but they, too, carefully kept the annals of their kings, and took a deep interest inthe former history of their country. 

Contract and other tablets relating to trade and business formed, however, the larger part of the contents of most Babylonian libraries. They have revealed to us the inner and social life of the people, sothat the age of Khammurabi, or even of Sargon, in Babylonia, isbeginning to be as well known to us as the age of Periklês in Greece. Along with the contract-tablets must be counted the numerous legaldocuments and records of law-cases which have been preserved. Babylonianlaw was, like English law, built upon precedents, and an elaborate andcarefully considered code had been formed at an early date. 

Collections of letters, partly royal, partly private, were also to befound in the libraries. The autograph letters of Khammurabi, theAmraphel of Genesis, have come down to us, and we even have letters ofhis time from a lover to his mistress, and from a tenant to hislandlord, whom he begs to reduce his rent. Boys went to school early, and learning the cuneiform syllabary was a task that demanded no smallamount of time and application, especially when it is remembered that inthe case of the Semitic Babylonian this involved also acquiring aknowledge of the dead language of Sumer. One of the exercises of theSumerian schoolboy bids him "rise like the dawn, if he would excel inthe school of the scribes. "

Purely literary texts were numerous, especially poems, though nothingcorresponding to the Egyptian novel has been met with. The epic ofGilgames, composed by Sin-liqi-unnini, has already been referred to. Itstwelve books answered to the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and theeleventh accordingly contains the episode of the Deluge. Gilgames wasthe son of a royal mother, whose son was fated to slay his grandfather, and who was consequently confined in a tower. But an eagle carried himto a place of safety, and when he grew up he delivered Erech from itsfoes, and made it the seat of his kingdom. He slew the tyrant Khumbabain the forest of cedars, and by means of a stratagem tempted the satyrEa-bant to leave the woods and become his counsellor and friend. Istarwooed him, but he scorned her offers, and taunted her with her misdeedsto the hapless lovers who had been caught in her toils. In revenge thegoddess persuaded her father Anu to create a winged bull, which shouldwork havoc in the country of the Babylonians. But Gilgames destroyed thebull, an achievement, however, for which he was punished by Heaven. Ea-bani died of the bite of a gadfly, and his spirit mounted to theskies, while Gilgames himself was smitten by a sore disease. To heal ithe sailed beyond the mouth of the Euphrates and the river of death, leaving behind him the deserts of Arabia and the twin-mountain where menin the shape of huge scorpions guard the gateways of the sun. At last hefound Xisuthros, the hero of the Deluge, and learned from him how he hadescaped death. Cured of his malady, he returned homeward with a leaf ofthe tree of life. But as he rested at a fountain by the way it wasstolen by a serpent, and man lost the gift of immortality. 

In Babylonia, and to a lesser extent in Assyria, women were practicallyon a footing of equality with the men. They could trade in their ownnames, could make wills, could appear as witnesses or plaintiffs incourt. We hear of a father transferring his property to his daughter, reserving only the use of it during his life. Polygamy was not common;indeed, we find it stipulated in one instance that in the case of asecond marriage on the part of the husband the dowry of the first wifeshould be returned to her, and that she should be free to go where shewould. Of course these rules did not apply to concubines, who were oftenpurchased. Adoptions were frequent, and slaves could be adopted into thefamily of a freeman. 

The large number of slaves caused the wages of the free labourer to below. But the slaves were treated with humanity. From early times it wasa law that if a slave were hired to another, the hirer should pay apenalty to his master whenever he was incapable of work, thus preventing"sweating" or overwork. Similarly, injuries to a slave were punished bya fine. The slave could trade and acquire property for himself, couldreceive wages for his work when hired to another, could give evidence ina court of law, and might obtain his freedom either by manumission, bypurchase, by adoption, or by impressment into the royal service. 

Farms were usually held on a sort of _métayer_ system, half the producegoing to the landlord as rent. Sometimes, however, the tenant receivedonly a third, a fourth, or even a tenth part of the produce, two-thirdsof the annual crop of dates being also assigned to the owner of theland. The tenant had to keep the farm-buildings in order, and to buildany that were required. House-property seems to have been even morevaluable than farm-land. The deeds for the lease or sale of it enterinto the most minute particulars, and carefully define the limits of theestate. The house was let for a term of years, the rent being paideither twice or three times a year. At the expiration of the lease, theproperty had to be returned in the state in which the tenant had foundit, and any infringement of the legal stipulations was punished with aheavy fine. Agents were frequently employed in the sale or letting ofestates. 

The cities were busy centres of trade. Commercial intercourse wascarried on with all parts of the known world. Wheat was exported inlarge quantities, as well as dates and date-wine. The staple ofBabylonian industry, however, was the manufacture of cloths and carpets. Vast flocks of sheep were kept on the western bank of the Euphrates, andplaced under the charge of Bedâwin from Arabia. Their wool was made intocurtains and rugs, and dyed or embroidered fabrics of various kinds. Even Belshazzar, the heir-apparent of Nabonidos, did not disdain to be awool-merchant, and we find him lending twenty manehs, the proceeds ofthe sale of some of it, and taking as security for the repayment of thedebt certain house-property in Babylon. It was "a goodly Babylonishgarment, " secreted by Achan from among the spoil of Jericho, thatbrought destruction upon himself and his family. 

Money-lending naturally occupied a prominent place in the transaction ofbusiness. The ordinary rate of interest was 20 per cent, paid in monthlyinstalments; in the time of Nebuchadrezzar, however, it tended to belower, and we find loans made at 13-1/2 per cent. The penalty was severeif the capital were not repaid at the specified date. The payment wasoccasionally in kind, but money was the usual medium of exchange. Itconsisted of rings or tongue-like bars of gold, silver, and copper, representing manehs and shekels. The maneh was divided into sixtyshekels, and the standard used in later Babylonia had been fixed byDungi, king of Ur. One of the standard maneh-weights of stone, from themint of Nebuchadrezzar, is now in the British Museum. In the time of theSecond Babylonian empire stamped or coined money was introduced, as wellas pieces of five or more shekels. This was the period when the greatbanking firm of Egibi flourished, which anticipated the Rothschilds inmaking loans to the State. 

The Babylonian cemetery adjoined the cities of the living, and was laidout in imitation of the latter. The tombs were built of crude bricks, and were separated from one another by streets, through which flowedstreams of "living water. " Gardens were planted by the side of some ofthe tombs, which resembled the houses of the living, and in front ofwhich offerings were made to the dead. After a burial, brushwood washeaped round the walls of the tomb and set on fire, partially crematingthe body and the objects that were interred with it within. Sanitaryreasons made this partial cremation necessary, while want of space inthe populous plain of Babylonia caused the brick tombs to be built, likethe houses of the towns, one on the top of the other. 

Babylonia and Assyria were both administered by a bureaucracy, butwhereas in Assyria the bureaucracy was military, in Babylonia it wastheocratic. The high-priest was the equal and the director of the king, and the king himself was a priest, and the adopted child of Bel. InAssyria, on the contrary, the arbitrary power of the monarch waspractically unchecked. Under him was the Turtannu or Tartan, thecommander-in-chief, who commanded the army in the absence of the king. The Rab-saki, Rab-shakeh, or vizier, who ranked a little below him, wasthe head of the civil officials; besides him we hear of the Rab-sa-resior Rabsaris, "the chief of the princes, " the Rab-mugi or Rab-Mag, "thecourt physician, " and an endless number of other officers. The governorsof provinces were selected from among the higher aristocracy, who alonehad the privilege of sharing with the king the office of _limmu_, oreponymous archon after whom the year was named. Most of these officersseem to have been confined to Assyria; we do not hear of them in thesouthern kingdom of Babylonia. There, however, from an early periodroyal judges had been appointed, who went on circuit and sat under apresident. Sometimes as many as four or six of them sat on a case, andsubscribed their names to the verdict. 

The main attention of the Assyrian government was devoted to the army, which was kept in the highest possible state of efficiency. It wasrecruited from the free peasantry of the country--a fact which, while itexplains the excellence of the Assyrian veterans, also shows why it wasthat the empire fell as soon as constant wars had exhausted the nativepopulation. Improvements were made in it from time to time; thus, cavalry came to supersede the use of chariots, and the weapons andarmour of the troops were changed and improved. Engineers and sappersaccompanied it, cutting down the forests and making roads as it marched, and the commissariat was carefully attended to. The royal tent wasarranged like a house, and one of its rooms was fitted up as a kitchen, where the food was prepared as in the palace of Nineveh. In Babylonia itwas the fleet rather than the army which was the object of concern, though under Nebuchadrezzar and his successors the army also became animportant engine of war. But, unlike the Assyrians, the Babylonians hadbeen from the first a water-faring people, and the ship of war floatedon the Euphrates by the side of the merchant vessel and the state bargeof the king. 

Such then were the kingdoms of Babylonia and Assyria. Each exercised aninfluence on the Israelites and their neighbours, though in a differentway and with different results. The influence of Assyria was ephemeral. It represented the meteor-like rise of a great military power, whichcrushed all opposition, and introduced among mankind the new idea of acentralised world-empire. It destroyed the northern kingdom of Samaria, and made Palestine once more what it had been in pre-Mosaic days, thebattle-ground between the nations of the Nile and the Tigris. On theinner life of western Asia it left no impression. 

The influence of Babylonia, on the other hand, was that of a venerableand a widely reaching culture. The Canaan of the patriarchs and theCanaanitish conquest was a Canaan whose civilisation was derived fromthe Euphrates, and this civilisation the Israelites themselvesinherited. Abraham was a Babylonian, and the Mosaic Law is not Egyptianbut Babylonian in character, wherever it ceases to be specificallyIsraelite. The influence of Babylonia, moreover, continued to the last. It was the Babylonish Exile which changed the whole nature of the Jewishpeople, which gave it new aims and ideals, and prepared it for thecoming of the Messiah. The Babylonian influence which had been workingin the West for four thousand years received, as it were, a freshimpulse, and affected the religion and life of Judah in a new andspecial manner. Nor has the influence of Babylonian culture vanishedeven yet. Apart from the religious beliefs we have received from Israel, there is much in European civilisation which can be traced back to theold inhabitants of Chaldæa. It came through Canaanitish hands; perhaps, too, through the hands of the Etruscans. At all events, the system ofaugury which Rome borrowed from Etruria had a Babylonian origin, and theprototype of the strange liver-shaped instrument by means of which theEtruscan soothsayer divined, has been found among the relics of aBabylonian library. 

CHAPTER VII

CONCLUSION

Our task is finished. We have passed under review some of the factswhich have been won by modern discovery from the monuments of thenations who helped to create the history of Israel. That history nolonger stands alone like a solitary peak rising from the plain. Egypt, Babylonia, and Assyria have yielded up their dead; Canaan and evenArabia are now beginning to do likewise. The Oriental world of the pastis slowly developing before our eyes; centuries which were deemedpre-historic but a few years ago have now become familiar to us, and wecan study the very letters written by the contemporaries andpredecessors of Abraham, and read the same books as those that were readby them. A new light has been poured upon the Old Testament; its storyhas been supplemented and explained; its statements tested and proved. 

The Israelites were but one out of many branches of the same family. Their history is entwined around that of their brethren, theircharacteristics were shared by others of the same race. The Canaan theyoccupied was itself inhabited by more than one people, and after thefirst few years of invasion, its influence became strong upon them. Inrace, indeed, the Jew was by no means pure; at the outset a mixture ofIsraelite and Edomite, he was further mingled with Moabite andPhilistine elements. The first king of Judah as a separate kingdom hadan Ammonite mother, and bore an Ammonite name, while the portraits whichsurmount the names of Shishak's conquests in southern Palestine showthat the old Amorite population was still predominant there. It wasreligion and history that made the Jew, not purity of race. 

That Egypt must have exercised an influence upon Israel has long beenknown. The Israelites were born as a nation in the land of Goshen, andthe Exodus from Egypt is the starting-point of their national history. But it is only since the decipherment of the Egyptian inscriptions thatit has been possible to determine how far this influence extended, andto what extent it prevailed. And the result is to show that it wasnegative rather than positive; that the regulations of the Mosaic Codewere directed to preventing the people from returning to Egypt and itsidolatries by suppressing all reference to Egyptian beliefs and customs, and silently contradicting its ideas and practices. Even the doctrine ofthe future life, and the resurrection of the body, which plays soprominent a part in Egyptian religion, is carefully avoided, and the TenCommandments have little in common with the ethical code of Egypt. 

But while the influence of Egypt has thus been shown to be negativerather than positive, the influence of Babylonia has proved to beoverwhelming. Perhaps this is one of the greatest surprises of modernresearch, though it might have been expected had we remembered thatAbraham was a native of Babylonia, and that Israelites and SemiticBabylonians belonged to the same race. We have seen that the earlyculture of western Asia was wholly Babylonian, and that Babylonianinfluence continued undiminished there down to the days of the Exodus. The very mode of writing and the language of literature were Babylonian;the whole method of thought had been modelled after a Babylonian patternfor unnumbered generations. Israel in Goshen was no more exempt fromthese influences than were the patriarchs in Canaan. 

Babylonian influence is deeply imprinted on the Mosaic laws. Theinstitution of the Sabbath went back to the Sumerian days of Chaldæa;the name itself was of Babylonian origin. The great festivals of Israelfind their counterparts on the banks of the Euphrates. Even the year ofJubilee was a Babylonian institution, and Gudea, the priest-king ofLagas, tells us that when he kept it the slave became "for seven daysthe equal of his master. " It was only the form and application of theold institutions that were changed in the Levitical legislation. Theywere adapted to the needs of Israel, and associated with the events ofits history. But in themselves they were all of Babylonian descent. 

There is yet one more lesson to be learnt from the revelations of themonuments. They have made it clear that civilisation in the East isimmensely old. As far back as we can go we find there all the elementsof culture; man has already invented a system of writing, and has madesome progress in art. It is true that by the side of all thiscivilisation there were still races living in the lowest barbarism ofthe Stone Age, just as there were Tasmanians who employed stone weaponsof palaeolithic shape less than sixty years ago; but between thecivilised man of the Babylonian plain and the barbarians around himthere existed the same gulf that exists to-day between the European andthe savage. The history of the ancient East contains no record of thedevelopment of culture out of savagery. It tells us, indeed, ofdegeneracy and decay, but it knows of no period when civilisation began. So far as archaeology can teach us, the builders of the Babyloniancities, the inventors of the cuneiform characters, had behind them nobarbarous past. 

APPENDICES

I

EGYPTIAN CHRONOLOGY

Egypt was originally divided into several independent principalities. Eventually these became the kingdoms of Northern (or Lower), andSouthern (or Upper) Egypt. Among the kings of Northern Egypt were (1)Pu, (2) Ska, (3) Katfu (?), (4) Tau, (5) Thesh, (6) Nenau (?), and (7)Mekhâ; among the kings of Southern Egypt was Besh. 

The two kingdoms were united by Men or Meni (Menes), king of This, whobuilds Memphis and founds the First dynasty of the united monarchy. 

DYNASTY I. (THINITE). 

1. Meni. 2. Teta I. 3. Atotha. 4. Ata. 5. Husapti. 6. Mer-ba-pa, 73 years. 7. Samsu, 72 years. 8. Qabhu, 83 years. 

DYNASTY II. (THINITE). 

1. Buzau or Bai-neter, 95 years. 2. Kakau. 3. Ba-neter-en, 95 years. 4. Uznas, 70 years. 5. Send, 74 years. 6. Per-ab-sen or Ka-Ra (?). 7. Nefer-ka-Ra, 70 years. 

DYNASTY III. (MEMPHITE). 

1. Nefer-ka-Sokar (2) 8 years, 4 months, 2 days. 2. Hu-zefa, 25 (?) years, 8 months, 4 days. 3. Babai. 4. Zazai, 37 years, 2 months, 1 day. 5. Neb-ka-Ra, 19 years. 6. Zoser, 19 years, 2 months. 7. Zoser-teta, 6 years. 8. Sezes. 9. Nefer-ka-Ra I. , 6 years. 10. Huni, 24 years. 

DYNASTY IV. (MEMPHITES). 

1. Snefru, 24 years. 2. Sharu. 3. Khufu (Cheops), 23 years. 4. Ra-dad-f, 8 years. 6. Khâ-f-Ha (Chephren). 6. Men-kau-Ra (Mykerinos). 7. Shepseskaf. 

DYNASTY V. (ELEPHANTINES). 

1. User-ka-f, 28 years. 2. Sahu-Ra, 4 years. 3. Kaka, 2 years. 4. Nefer-ar-ka-Ra I. , 7 years. 5. Shepses-ka-Ra, 12 years. 6. Khâ-nefer-Ra. 7. Ra-n-user An, 25 years. 8. Men-ka-Hor, 8 years. 9. Dad-ka-Ra Assa, 28 years. 10. Unas, 30 years. 11. Akau-Hor, 7 years. 

DYNASTY VI. (ELEPHANTINES). 

1. Teta III. 2. User-ka-Ra. 3. Meri-Ra Pepi I. , 20 years. 4. Mer-en-Ra Miht-em-saf I. , 14 years. 5. Nefer-ka-Ra II. Pepi II. , 94 years. 6. Mer-en-Ra Miht-em-saf II. , 1 year, 1 month. 7. Neit-aker (Nitôkris), a queen. 

DYNASTIES VII. AND VIII. (MEMPHITES). 

1. Nefer-ka, 2 years, 1 month, 1 day. 2. Neferus, 4 years, 2 months, 1 day. 3. Ab-en-Ra I. , 2 years, 1 month, 1 day. 4. ... 1 year, 8 days. 5. Ab-en-Ra II. 6. Hanti. 7. Pest-sat-en-Sopd. 8. Pait-Kheps. 9. Serhlinib.... Dad-nefer-Ra Dudumes.... Neter-ka-Ra. Men-ka-Ra. Nefer-ka-Ra III. Nefer-ka-Ra IV. Nebi. Dad-ka-Ea Shema. Nefer-ka-Ra V. Khondu. Mer-en-Hor. Snefer-ka I. Ka-n-Ra. Nefer-ka-Ra VI. Terel. Nefer-ka-Hor. Nefer-ka-Ra VII. Pepi-seneb. Snefer-ka II. Annu. [User]-kau-Ra. Nefer-kau-Ra. Nefer-kau-Hor. Nefer-ar-ka-Ra II. 

DYNASTY IX. (HERAKLEOPOLITES). 

1. Khiti or Khruti I. Mer-ab-Ra... Mâa-ab-Ra. Khâ-user-Ra. Âa-hotep-Ra. Skhâ-n-Ra. Aah-mes (?)-Ra. Se-n (?)-mu-Ra. 

DYNASTY X. (HERAKLEOPOLITES). 

Mer-ka-Ea.... Ra-hotep-ab Amu-si-Hor-nez-hirtef.... Nefer-ka-Ra VIII. Khiti II. Se-heru-herri. [Ameni?]

According to Lauth, the Turin Papyrus gives 19 kings to the Tenthdynasty, and 185 years. 

DYNASTY XI. (THEBAN). 

1. Antef I. Seshes-Hor-ap-mâa-Ra Antuf-Âa, prince of Thebes. 2. Neb-hotep Mentu-hotep I. 3. Uah-ankh [Ter(?)-] seshes-ap-mâa-Ra Antef-Âa II. , his son. 4. Seshes-herher-mâa-Ra-Antef III. , his brother. 5. Neter-nefer Neb-taui-Ra Mentu-hotep II. 6. Nub-kheper-Ra Antauf, more than 50 years. 7. Neb-khru-Ra Mentu-hotep III. , more than 46 years. 8. A'a'h, a queen. 9. Antef V. , her son. 10. S-ânkh-ka-Ra I. 

According to Lauth, the Turin Papyrus makes the sum of the Eleventhdynasty 243 years, Neb-khru-Ra reigning 51 years. 

DYNASTY XII. (THEBAN). 

1. Amon-em-hat I. S-hotep-ab-Ra, alone 20 years. With Usertesen I. , 10 years. 2. Usertesen I. Kheper-ka-Ra, alone 32 years. With Amon-em-hat II. , 3 years. 3. Amon-em-hat II. Nub-kau-Ra, alone 29 years. With Usertesen II. , 6 years. 4. Usertesen II. Khâ-kheper-Ra, 19 years. 5. Usertesen III. Khâ-kau-Ra, 3 [8] years. 6. Amon-em-hat III. Mâat-en-Ra, 43 years. 7. Amon-em-hat IV. Mâa-khru-Ra, 9 years, 3 months, 27 days. 8. Sebek-nefru-Ra, a, queen, 3 years, 10 months, 24 days. 

The Turin Papyrus makes the sum of the Twelfth dynasty 213 years, 1month, 17 days. 

DYNASTIES XIII. (THEBAN) AND XIV. (XOITE). 

According to the Turin Papyrus:

1. Sebek-hotep I. Sekhem-khu-taui-Ra, son of Sebek-nefru-Ra, 1 year, 3 months, 24 days. 2. Sekhem-ka-Ra, 6 years. 3. Ra Amon-em-hat V. 4. S-hotep-ab-Ra II. 5. Aufni, 2 years. G. S-ânkh-ab-Ra Ameni Antuf Amon-em-hat VI. , 1 year. 7. S-men-ka-Ra. 8. S-hotep-ab-Ra III. 9. S-ânkh-ka-Ra II. 10, 11. Names lost. 12. Nezem-ab-Ra. 13. Ra Sebek-hotep II. 14. Ren-seneb. 15. Autu-ab-Ra I. Hor. 16. Sezef-ka-Ra. 17. Sekhem-khu-taui-Ra II. Sebek-hotep III. 18. User-en-Ra. 19. S-menkh-ka-Ra Mer-menfiu. 20. ... Ka-Ra. 21. S-user-set-Ra. 22. Sokhem-uaz-taui-Ka Sebek-hotep IV. 23. Khâ-seshesh-Ra Nefer-hotep, son of Ra-ânkh-f. 24. Si-Hathor-Ra. 25. Khâ-nefer-Ra Sebek-hotop V. 26. [Khâ-ka-Ra]. 27. [Khâ-ânkh-Ra Sebek-hotep VI. ]28. Khâ-hotep-Ra Sebek-hotep VII. , 4 years, 8 months, 29 days. 29. Uab-Ra Âa-ab, 10 years, 8 months, 29 days. 30. Mer-nefer-Ea Ai, 23 (or 13) years, 8 months, 18 days. 31. Mer-hotep-Ra Ana, 2 years, 2 months, 9 days. 32. S-ânkh-en-s-uaztu-Ra, 3 years, 2 months. 33. Mer-sekhem-Ra Andu, 3 years, 1 month. 34. S-uaz-ka-Ra Ur, 5 years, ... Months, 8 days. 35. Anemen ... Ra. 36-46. Names lost. 47. Mer-kheper-Ra. 48. Mer-kau-Ra Sebek-hotep VIII. 49-53. Names lost. 54. ... Mes-Ra. 55. ... Mât-Ra Aba. 56. Nefer-uben-Ra I. 57. ... Ka-Ra. 58. S-uaz-en-Ra. 59-60. Names lost. 61. Nehasi-Ra. 62. Khâ-khru-Ra. 63. Neb-f-autu-Ra, 2 years, 5 months, 15 days. 64. S-heb-Ra, 3 years. 65. Mor-zefa-Ra, 3 years. 66. S-uaz-ka-Ra, 1 year. 67. Neb-zofa-Ra, 1 year. 68. Uben-Ra I. 69-70. Names lost. 71. [Neb-] zefa-Ra II. , 4 years. 72. [Nefer-] uben-Ea II. 73. Autu-ab-Ra II. 74. Her-ab-Ra. 75. Neb-sen-Ra. 76-79. Names lost. 80. S-kheper-en-Ra. 81. Dad-khru-Ra. 82. S-ânkh-ka-Ra III. 83. Nefer-tum-Ra. 84. Sekhem-... -Ra. 85. Ka-... -Ra. 86. Nefer-ab-Ra. 87. A... Ka-Ra. 88. Khâ-... -Ra, 2 years. 89. Nez-ka-... -Ra. 90. S-men-... -Ra. 91-111. Names lost. 112. Sekhem-... -Ra. 113. Sekhem-... -Ra. 114. Sekhem-us... -Ra. 115. Sesen-... -Ra. 116. Neb-ati-uzu-Ra. 117. Neb-aten-uzu-Ra. 118. S-men-ka-Ra. 119. S-user-... -Ra. 120. Khâ-sekhem-[hent]-Ra. 

About thirty-seven more names are illegible. 

DYNASTIES XV. , XVI. AND XVII. (HYKSOS). 

According to Josephus, quoted from Mauetho:--

1. Salatis, 13 years. 2. Beon or Bnôn, 44 years. 3. Apakhnas or Pakhnan, 36 years, 7 months. 4. Apôphis, 61 years. 5. Iannas or Annas, 50 years, 1 month. 6. Assis, 49 years, 2 months.... Ya'qob-hal (Jacob-el).... Khian (Iannas) S-user-Set-en-Ra.... Apopi I. Aa-user-Ra (reigned more than 33 years).... Apopi III. Ra-âa-kenen. 

A dynasty of Theban princes was contemporary with the Seventeenth Hyksosdynasty, the last four of whom were independent:

Skenen-Ra Taa I. (revolted against Apopi III. ). Skenen-Ra Taa II. Aa. Skenen-Ra Taa III. Ken. Uaz-kheper-Ra Ka-mes and wife Aah-hotep. 

DYNASTY XVIII. (THEBAN). 

1. Neb-pehuti-Ra Aahmes I. (Amosis), more than 20 years. 2. Ser-ka-Ra Amon-hotep I. , his son (Amenophis I, ), 20 years, 7 months. 3. Aa-kheper-ka-Ra Dehuti Dehuti-mes I. , his son, and queen Amen-sit. 4. Aa-kheper-en-Ra Dehuti-mes II. , his son (more than 9 years), and wife (and sister) Hatshepsu II. Mâ-ka-Ra (daughter of Hatshepsu I. ). 5. Khnum-Amon Hatshepsu II. Mâ-ka-Ra, more than 16 years. 6. Ra-men-kheper Dehuti-mes (Thothmes) III. , her half-brother, 57 years, 11 months, 1 day (B. C. 1503, March 20, to 1449 February 14, according to Dr. Mahler's astronomical determination). 7. Aa-khepru-Ra Amon-hotep II. , his son, more than 5 years. 8. Men-khepru-Ra Dehuti-mes IV. , his son, more than 7 years. 9. Neb-mâ-Ra Amon-hotep III. , his son (more than 35 years), and wife Teie. 10. Neter-khepru-Ra Amon-hotep IV. Khu-n-Aten, his son, more than 17 years. 11. Ankh-khepru-Ra and wife Meri-Aten. 12. Tut-ânkh-Amon Khepru-neb-Ra and wife Ankh-nes-Amon. 13. Aten-Ra-nefer-nefru--mer-Aten. 14. Ai Kheper-khepru-ar-mâ-Ra, more than 4 years. 15. Hor-em-hib (Armais) Mi-Amon Ser-khepru-ka, more than 3 years. 

DYNASTY XIX. (THEBAN). 

1. Men-pehuti-Ra Ramessu I. (Ramesses), more than 2 years. 2. Men-mâ-Ra Seti I. (Sethos) Mer-en-Ptah I. , more than 27 years. 3. User-mâ-Ra (Osymandyas) Sotep-en-Ra Ramessu II. (Ramses) Mi-Amon (the Sesostris of the Greeks), B. C. 1348-1281 (according to Dr. Mahler). 4. Mer-en-Ptah II. (Ammenephthes) Hotep-hi-ma Ba-n-Ra Mi-Amon. 5. User-khepru-Ra Seti II. Mer-en-Ptah III. 6. Amon-messu Hik-An Mer-kha-Ra Sotep-en-Ra. 7. Khu-n-Ra Sotop-en-Ra Mer-en-Ptah IV. Si-Ptah and wife Ta-user. 

DYNASTY XX. (THEBAN). 

1. Set-nekht Merer Mi-Amon (recovered the kingdom from the Canaanite Arisu). 2. Ramessu III. Hik-an, more than 32 years. 3. Ramessu IV. Hik-Mâ Mi-Amon, more than 11 years. 4. Ramessu V. User-mâ-s-kheper-en-Ra Mi-Amon, more than 4 years. 5. Ramessu VI. Neb-mâ-Ra Mi-Amon Amon-hir-kho-pesh-ef (called Meri-Tum in northern Egypt). 6. Ramessu VII. At-Amon User-mâ-Ra Mi-Amon. 7. Ramessu VIII. Set-hir-kho-pesh-ef Mi-Amon User-mâ-Ra Khu-n-Amon. 8. Ramessu IX. Si-Ptah S-khâ-n-Ra Mi-Amon, 19 years. 9. Ramessu X. Nefer-ka-Ra Mi-Amon Sotep-en-Ra, more than 10 years. 10. Ramessu XI. Amon-hir-kho-pesh-ef Kheper-mâ-Ra Sotep-en-Ra. 11. Ramessu XII. Men-mâ-Ra Mi-Amon Sotep-en-Ptah Khâ-m-uas, more than 27 years. 

DYNASTY XXI. (TANITE). 

1. Nes-Bindidi (Smendes) Mi-Amon. 2. P-seb-khâ-n I. (Psusennes I. ) Mi-Amon Aa-kheper-Ra Sotep-en-Amon. 3. [Nefer-ka-Ra] (Nephelkheres). 4. Amon-em-apt (Amenophthis). 5. ... (Osokhor). 6. Pinezem (?) (Psinakhes). 7. Hor-P-seb-khâ-n II. (Psusennes II. ). 

Contemporary with the Twenty-first dynasty was an illegitimate dynastyof high-priests at Thebes:--

(1. ) Hir-Hor Si-Amon. (2. ) Piankhi. (3. ) Pinezem I. (4. ) Pinezem II. With title of "king. "(5. ) Men-kheper-Ra and wife Isis-em-kheb. (6. ) Pinezem III. 

DYNASTY XXII. (BUBASTITE). 

1. Shashanq I. (Shishak) Mi-Amon Hez-kheper-Ra Sotep-en-Ra, son of Nemart, captain of the Libyan mercenaries, more than 21 years. 2. Usarkon I. Mi-Amon Sek-hem-kheper-Ra. 3. Takelet I. Mi-Amon Si-Isis User-mâ-Ra Sotep-en-Amon, more than 23 years. 4. Usarkon II. Mi-Amon Si-Bast User-mâ-Ra, more than 23 years. 5. Shashanq II. Mi-Amon Sek-hem-kheper-Ra. 6. Takelet II. Mi-Amon Si-Isis Hez-kheper-Ra, more than 15 years. 7. Shashanq III. Mi-Amon Si-Bast User-mâ-Ra, 52 years. 8. Pimai Mi-Amon User-mâ-Ra Sotep-en-Amon. 9. Shashanq IV. Aa-kheper-Ra, more than 37 years. 

DYNASTY XXIII. 

1. S-hir-ab-Ra Petu-si-Bast. 2. Usarkon III. Mi-Amon Aa-kheper-Ra Sotep-en-Amon. 3. P-si-Mut User-Ra Sotep-en-Ptah. 

_Interregnum_. 

Egypt is divided between several princes, including Tef-nekht, father ofBak-en-ran-ef. It is overrun by Piankhi the Ethiopian, while UsarkonIII. Reigns at Bubastis. The son and successor of Piankhi wasMi-Amon-Nut. 

DYNASTY XXIV. (SAITE). 

Bak-en-ran-ef (Bokkhoris) Uah-ka-Ra, more than 16 years. 

DYNASTY XXV. (ETHIOPIAN). 

1. Shabaka (Sabako) Nefer-ka-Ra, son of Kashet, 12 years. 2. Shabatoka (Sebikhos) Dad-ka-Ra. 3. Taharka (Tirhakah) Nefer-Tum-khu-Ra, 26 years. 

_Interregnum_. 

Egypt is conquered by the Assyrian king Esar-haddon, and divided into 20satrapies, B. C. 672-660. Taharka and his successor Urdamanu (Rud-Amon), or Tan-damanu (Tuant-Amon), make vain attempts to recover it. Finally, Psamtik, son of Niku (Necho), satrap of Sais, shakes off the foreignyoke. 

DYNASTY XXVI. (SAITE). 

 B. C. 1. Psamtik I. (Psammeti-khos) Uah-ab-Ra 6642. Nekau (Necho) Nem-ab-Ra 6103. Psamtik II. Nefer-ab-Ra 5944. Uah-ab-Ra (Apries or Hophra) Haa-ab-Ra 5895. Aahmes II. (Amasis) Si-Nit Khnum-ab-Ra 5706. Psamtik III. Ankh-ka-n-Ra 526

DYNASTY XXVII. (PERSIAN). 

1. Kambathet (Cambyses), Sam-taui Mestu-Ra 5252. Ntariush (Darius I. ) Settu-Ra 5213. Khabbash Senen Tanen Sotep-en-Ptah, native prince 4854. Khsherish (Xerxes) 4845. Artakhsharsha (Artaxerxes) 4656. Ntariush (Darius II. ) Mi-Amon-Ra 424

DYNASTY XXVIII. (SAITE). 

Amon-art-t-rut (Amyrtæus), more than 6 years 415

DYNASTY XXIX. (MENDESIAN). 

1. Nef-âa-rut I. Ba-n-Ra Mi-neteru, more than 4 years. 2. Hakori Khnum-mâ-Râ Sotep-en-Ptah, 13 years. 3. P-si-Mut User-Ptah-sotep-en-Ra, 1 year. 4. Hor-neb-kha, 1 year. 5. Nef-âa-rut II. , 1 year. 

DYNASTY XXX. (SEBENNYTE). 

1. Nekht-Hor-hib Ra-snezem-ab Sotep-en-Anhur, son of Nef-âa-rut I. , 19 years. 2. Zihu (Teos), 1 year. 3. Nekht-neb-ef (Nektanebo) Kheper-ka-Ra, 18 years. 

Egypt reconquered by the Persians, B. C. 349. 

II

BABYLONIAN CHRONOLOGY

En-sag-saganna, king of Kengi. 

Lugal-zaggisi, king of Erech, founds an empire in western Asia cir. B. C. 5000 (?). 

KINGS OF LAGAS, cir. B. C. 4000. 

Ur-duggina. Lugal-suggur, vassal of Me-sa, king of Kis. Gursar. Nini-khaldu, his son. Ur-Nina, his son. Akur-gal, his son. E-annatum, his son. En-annadu I. , his brother, high-priest. Entemena, his nephew, high-priest. En-annadu II. , high-priest. 

Lugal-usum-gal, vassal of Sargon of Akkad. 

KINGS OF KIS. 

Me-sa. Enne-Ugun. Alusarsid. Lugal-khassi. 

DYNASTY OF AGADE (AKKAD). 

Sargon or Sargani-sar-ali, B. C. 3800. Naram-Sin, his son, B. C. 3750. Bingani-sar-ali, his son. Queen Ellat-Gula (?). 

FIRST DYNASTY OF UR. 

Lugal-kigub-nidudu. Lugal-kisal-si, his son. 

SECOND DYNASTY OF UR. 

Ur-Bau, cir. B. C. 2700; his step-son, Nammakhani, high-priest of Lagas. Dungi I. , his son; Gudea and his son, Ur-Nin-girsu, vassal high-priestsof Lagas. 

DYNASTY OF ERECH. 

Sin-gamil. Sin-gasid. 

DYNASTY OF ISIN. 

Isbi-girra. Libit-Istar. Pur-Sin I. Ur-Ninip. Isme-Dagan. En-annatum, his son, vassal of Gungunum of Ur. 

THIRD DYNASTY OF UR. 

Gungunum. Dungi II. (reigns at least 41 years). Pur-Sin II. (reigns at least 12 years). Gimil-Sin (reigns at least 9 years). Inê-Sin (probably followed by Sumu-abi). 

FIRST DYNASTY OF BABYLON, B. C. 2478. 

Sumu-abi or Samu-abi, 14 (or 15) years. [12]Sumu-la-ilu, his son, 36 (or 35) years. Zabium or Zabu, his son, 14 years. Abil-Sin, his son, 18 years. Sin-muballidh, his son, 20 (or 30) years. 

Babylonia conquered by the Elamites; Kudur-Laghghamar (Chedor-laomer)king of Elam is suzerain, while Eri-Aku (Arioch) governs southernBabylonia and makes Larsa his capital. 

Khammurabi or Ammurapi, the Amraphel of Genesis, 43 (or 55) years (B. C. 2376-2333). He defeats the Elamites, restores Sin-idinnam to Larsa, and reunitesBabylonia. Samsu-iluna, his son, 38 (or 35) years. Abesukh (Abishua) or Ebisum, 25 years. Ammi-ditana, his son, 25 years. Ammi-zadok, his son, 21 years. Samsu-ditana, his son, 31 years. 

DYNASTY OF SISKU, B. C. 2174. 

Anman, 60 years. Ki-annibi, 56 years. Damki-ilisu, 26 years. Iskipal, 15 years. Sussi, 24 years. Gulkisar, 55 years. Kirgal-daramas, 50 years. Â-dara-kalamma, 28 years. E-kur-ul-anna, 26 years. Melamma-kurkurra, 8 years. Ea-ga ... 20 years. 

THE DYNASTY OF THE KASSITES, B. C. 1806. [13]

Gandis, 16 years. Agum-si, 22 years. Agu-yasi, 22 years. Ussi, his son, 9 years. Adumetas. Tazzigurumas. Agum-kak-rime, his son. 

Eight unknown kings. Kara-indas. Kadasman-Bel (correspondedwith the Egyptian king Amenophis III. )Kuri-galzu I. Burna-huryas, his son. Kuri-galzu II. , his son. [14]Kara-khardas. Kadasman-kharbe I. , his son. 

The throne usurped by Nazi-bugas. Kuri-galzu III. , son of Kadas-man-kharbe, 35 (?) years. Nazi-Maruttas, his son, 26 years, B. C. 1378. Kadasman-Turgu, his son, 17 years. Kadasman-buryas, 14 years. Kudur-Bel, 6 years. Sagarkti-buryas, his son, 13 years (800 years before Nabonidos). Bibeyasu, 8 years. Bel-sum-iddin, 1-1/2 year. Kadasman-kharbe II. , 1-1/2 year. Rimmon-sum-uzur, 30 years (includingthe 7 years duringwhich the Assyrian king Tig-lath-Birheld Babylon). Meli-sipak, 15 years. Merodach-baladan I. , his son, 13 years. Zamama-sum-iddin, 1 year. Bel-sum-iddin, 3 years. 

THE DYNASTY OF ISIN, B. C. 1229. 

Merodach- ... 18 years. Four unknown kings. Nebuchadrezzar I. Bel-nadin-pal. Merodach-nadin-akhi, 22 years. [15]Merodach- ... 1-1/2 year. 

The throne usurped by Rimmon-baladan. Merodach-sapik-zer-mati, 12 years. Nabu-nadin, 8 years. 

THE DYNASTY OF THE SEA-COAST, B. C. 1096. 

Simbar-sipak, 18 years. Ea-mukin-zeri, 5 months. Kassu-nadin-akhi, 3 years. 

THE DYNASTY OF BIT-BAZI, B. C. 1075. 

Ê-Ulmas-sakin-sumi, 17 years. Bir-kudur-uzur I. , 3 years. Silanim-Sukamuna, 3 months. 

THE DYNASTY OF ELAM, B. C. 1055. 

An ... , an Elamite, 6 years. 

THE SECOND DYNASTY OF BABYLON, B. C. 1049. 

Nebo-kin abli, 36 years. Bir-kudur-uzur II. (?), 8 months, 12 days. Probably four names missing. 

 B. C. Samas-mudammik cir. 920Nebo-sum-iskun cir. 900Nebo-baladan cir. 880Merodach-nadin-sumi. Cir. 860Merodach-baladhsu-ikbi cir. 830Bau-akhi-iddin cir. 810

Probably two names missing. 

Nebo-sum-iskun, son of Dakuri cir. 760Nabonassar, 14 years 747Nebo-nadin-sumi, his son, 2 years 733Nebo-sum-yukin, his son, 1 month, 12 days 731

THE DYNASTY OF SAPÊ. 

Yukin-zera or Khinziros, 3 years 730Pulu (Pul or Poros), calledTiglath-pileser III. In Assyria, 2 years 727Ululâ, called Shalmaneser IV. In Assyria 725

Merodach-baladan II the Chaldæan from the Sea-coast 721Sargon of Assyria 709Sennacherib, his son 705Merodach-zakir-sumi, 1 month 702Merodach-baladan III. , 6 months 702Bel-ebus of Babylon 702Assur-nadin-sumi, son of Sennacherib 700Nergal-yusezib 694Musezib-Merodach 693Sennacherib a second time 689Esar-haddon, his son 681Samas-sum-yukin (Saos-du-khinos), his son 668Kandalanu (Kineladanos) 648Nabopolassar 626Nabu-kudurri-uzur (Nebuchadrezzar II. ), his son 605Amil-Marduk (Evil-Merodach), his son 662Nergal-sarra-uzur (Nergal-sharezer) 560Labasi-Marduk (Laborosoar-chod), his son, 3 months. 556Nabu-nahid (Nabonidos) 556Cyrus conquers Babylon 538 B. C. Cambyses, his son 529Gomates (Gaumata) the Magian usurps the throne, 7 months 521Nebuchadrezzar III. , native king 521Darius (Dârayavaush), son of Hystaspes 520Nebuchadrezzar IV. , rebel king 514Darius restored 513Xerxes I. (Khshayârshâ), his son 485Samas-erba, rebel king 480Xerxes restored 479Artaxerxes I. (Artakhshatra) Longimanus, his son 465Xerxes II. , his son, 2 months 425Sogdianos, his half-brother, 7 months 425Darius II. Nothos, his brother 424Artaxerxes II. Mnêmon, his son 405Okhos (Uvasu), son of Artaxerxes 362Arses, his son 339Darius III. Kodomannos 336Conquered by Alexander the Great 330

[Footnote 12: The first date is that of a chronological tablet compiledin the reign of Ammi-zadok; the second that of the Dynastic Tabletcompiled probably in the reign of Nabonidos. In the latter the reigns ofillegitimate kings, Pungun-ilu, Immerum, and Eri-Aku, seem to beincluded in those of the legitimate rulers of the dynasty. Immerum, theson of Lilium, was a contemporary of Sumu-la-ilu, and perhaps, likeNur-Rimmon and Sin-idinnam in the time of Sin-muballidh and Khammurabi, was vassal king of Larsa in southern Babylonia. ]

[Footnote 13: The date is probably from 15 to 20 years too high. ]

[Footnote 14: The position of this Kuri-galzu is not certain. One of theKuri-galzus calls himself "son of Burna-buryas, " but since Nabonidosstates that a Burna-buryas reigned 700 years after Khammurabi, it ispossible that among the eight (or in this ease nine) unknown Kassitekings there was a Burna-buryas I. , B. C. 1640, whose son was Kuri-galzuI. ]

[Footnote 15: As Sennacherib makes Merodach-nadin-akhi defeat theAssyrians in B. C. 1107, while the Dynastic Tablet places the death ofthe Babylonian king in B. C. 1118, there must be a chronological error inthe latter. ]

III

ASSYRIAN CHRONOLOGY

Sargon asserts that he was preceded by 330 Assyrian kings, among theearlier of them being Adasi and his son Bel-bani. 

HIGH-PRIESTS OF ASSUR. 

 B. C. Isme-Dagon 1850Samsi-Rimmon I. , his son 1820Igur-kapkapu (?)Samsi-Rimmon II. , his son (?)Khallu (?)Irisum, his son (?)

 KINGS OF ASSYRIA. 

Bel-kapkapu, "the founder of the monarchy. "Assur-suma-esir (?)Bir-tuklat-Assur, his son, (contemporary of the Babylonian king Kharbe-sipak). Erba-Rimmon (?)Assur-nadin-akhe I. , his son (?)Assur-bil-nisi-su cir. 1450Buzur-Assur 1440Assur-nadin-akhe II. 1420Assur-yuballidh, his son cir 1400Bel-nirari, his son 1380Pudilu (Pedael), his son 1360Rimmon-nirari I. , his son 1340Shalmaneser I. , his son (the builder of Calah) 1320Tiglath-Bir I. , his son 1300Conquers Babylon and reigns there 7 years 1290Assur-nazir-pal I. , his son, 6 years 1280Tiglath-Asaur-Bel 1275Assur-narara 1260Nebo-dan, his son 1250Bel-kudurri-uzur. 1225Bir-pileser 1215Assur-dan I. , his son[16] 1185Mutaggil-Nebo, his son 1160Assur-ris-isi, his son[17] 1140Tiglath-pileser I. , his son 1120Assur-bil-kala, his son 1090Samsi-Rimmon I. , his brother 1070Assur-nazir-pal II. , his son 1050

Assur-irbi (?)Tiglath-pileser II 950Assur-dan II. , his son 930Rimmon-nirari II. , his son 911Tiglath-Bir II. , his son 889Assur-nazir-pal III. His son 883Shalmaneser II. , his son 858Assur-dain-pal (Sardana-pallos), rebel king 825Samsi-Rimmon II. , his brother 823Rimmon-nirari II. , his son 810Shalmaneser III. 781Assur-dân III. 771Assur-nirari 753Pulu (Pul), usurper, takes the name of Tiglath-pileser III. 745Conquers Babylon 729Ululâ, usurper, takes the name of Shalmaneser IV. 727Sargon, usurper 722Sennacherib (Sin-akhe-erba), his son 705Esar-haddon (Assur-akh-iddin), his son 681Assur-bani-pal, his son 668Assur-etil-ilani-yukinni, his son (?)Sin-sarra-iskun (Sarakos) (?)Destruction of Nineveh 606

[Footnote 16: A contemporary of the Babylonian king Zamama-sum-iddin. Ifthis is the last king but one of the Kassite dynasty, and not rather oneof the unknown kings of the dynasty of Isin, the date of Assurdan I. Will have to be pushed about 40 years further back. ]

[Footnote 17: A contemporary of the Babylonian king Nebuchadrezzar I. ]

IV

HEBREW CHRONOLOGY AS CORRECTED BY THE ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS

The Israelitish Exodus out of Egypt in the fifth year of Meneptah, son of Ramses II. 1276Campaign of Ramses III. In southern Palestine cir. 1230Chushan-rishathaim of Aram-Naharaim or Mitanni conquers Canaan cir. 1225Saul elected King of Israel cir. 1020Accession of David cir. 1000Accession of Solomon cir. 960Accession of Rehoboam, division of the kingdom cir. 930Invasion of Palestine by Shishak I. Of Egypt 927

JUDAH. 

Rehoboam (17 years) cir. 932Abijah 915Asa 912Jehoshapbat 871Jeboram 846Ahaziah or Jehoahaz 842Athaliah 842Joash 837Amaziah 797Uzziah or Azariah 768Jotham 736Ahaz 734Becomes tributary to Tig-lath-pileser 734Damascus taken by the Assyrians 732Hezekiah 727Invasion of Judah by Sennacherib 701Manasseh 697Amon 642Josiah 640Jehoahaz 608Jehoiakim 608Jehoiachin 597Zedekiah 597Jerusalem destroyed by Nebuchadrezzar 586

ISRAEL. 

Jeroboam (22 years) 932Nadab 910Baasha 908Elah 884Zimri, for 7 days 882Omri 882Ahab 874Ahab and his allies defeated by the Assyrians at Qarqar 853Ahaziah 852Revolt of Mesha of Moab 851Joram 850Jehu 842He pays tribute to Assyria 841Jehoanaz 814Jehoash 798Jeroboam II. 783Zeohariah 742Shallum 741Menahem 741Pays tribute to Tiglath-pileser 738Pekahiah 737Pekah 736Hoshea 733 or 729Samaria taken by the Assyrians 722

V

THE LETTERS OF EBEB-TOB (OR EBED KHEBA), VASSAL KING OF JERUSALEM, TOAMENOPHIS IV. , KING OF EGYPT

I. "To the king my lord thus speaks Ehed-Tob thy servant: At the feet ofthe king my lord seven times seven I prostrate myself. What have I doneagainst the king my lord? They have slandered me before the king mylord, saying: Ebed-Tob has revolted from the king his lord. Behold, neither my father nor my mother have exalted me in this place; the armof the Mighty King has made me enter the house of my father. Why shouldI have committed a sin against the king my lord? By the life of theking, I say to the Commissioner of the king my lord: Why dost thou lovethe Khabiri (Confederates) and hate the (loyal) governors? And yetcontinually are they slandering me before the king my lord, because Isay that the provinces of the king my lord are being destroyed. Continually are they slandering me to the king my lord. But let the kingmy lord consider, since the king my lord has established the garrisonswhich have taken the fortresses ... May the king send help to hiscountry. [May he send troops] to his country! The cities of the king mylord are lost which Elimelech is destroying, even all the country of theking; so let the king my lord send help to his country. I say: I will godown to the king my lord, and shall I not see the tears of the king mylord? but the enemy are strong against me, and I have not been able togo down to the king my lord. So let the king incline towards my face anddespatch a garrison to me, and I will go down and see the tears of theking my lord. Since by the life of the king, when the Commissionerdeparted, I say: The provinces of the king are being destroyed, (yet)thou dost not listen to me. All the governors are destroyed, no governorremains to the king my lord. May the king turn his face to the men andsend the troops of the king my lord. No provinces remain unto the king;the Khabiri have wasted all the provinces of the king. If troops comethis year, the provinces of the king my lord will be preserved; but ifno troops come, the provinces of the king my lord will be destroyed. --Tothe Secretary of the king my lord, Ebed-Tob thy servant: make a clearreport of my words to the king my lord that all the provinces of theking my lord are being destroyed. "

II. "To the king my lord, my Sun-god, thus speaks Ebed-Tob thy servant:At the feet of the king my lord seven times seven I prostrate myself. Behold, the king my lord has established his name at the rising of thesun and the setting of the sun. They have uttered slanders against me. Behold, I am not a governor, a dependent of the king my lord. Behold, Iam the king's friend, and I pay tribute to the king, even I. Neither myfather nor my mother, but the arm of the Mighty King has established mein the house of my father. [When the governor of the king my lord] cameto me, I gave him 13 prisoners (?) and 10 slaves. Sûta (Seti) theCommissioner of the king came to me; I gave 21 slavewomen and 20 maleprisoners into the hands of Sûta as a present for the king my lord. Maythe king give counsel to his country! The country of the king is beingdestroyed, all of it. Hostilities are being carried on against me. Behold, the mountains of Seir (see Josh, xv. 10) as far as Gath-Carmelhave united against all the other governors and are at war with myself. If one looks, shall not one see the tears of the king my lord becausewar has been made upon me? While there were ships in the midst of thesea the arm of the Mighty King possessed Naharaim and Babylonia, but nowthe Khabiri possess the cities of the king (of Egypt). Not a singlegovernor remains (among them) to the king my lord; all are destroyed. Behold, Turbazu has been slain in the gate of the city of Zilû (Zelah), and the king does nothing. Behold, Zimrida of Lachish has been thrown tothe ground by (his) servants and murdered. Yaptikh-Addu (Jephthah-Hadad)has been slain in the gate of the city of Zilû, and the king doesnothing.... Let the king [my lord] send help [to his country], let theking turn his face [to his servants]. Let him despatch troops to thecountry [of Jerusalem]. [Behold], if no troops come this year, all theprovinces of the king my lord will be utterly destroyed. They do nottell to the face of the king my lord that the country of the king mylord is destroyed and all the governors are destroyed. If no troops comethis year, let the king send a Commissioner, and let him come to me withallies, and we will die with the king our lord. --To the Secretary of theking my lord, Ebed-Tob thy servant: At thy feet [I prostrate myself]. Make a clear report of these my words to the king my lord that thyfaithful servant am I. "

III. "To the king my lord thus speaks Ebed-Tob thy servant: at the feetof my lord the king seven times seven I prostrate myself. Behold, hasnot Malchiel revolted to the sons of Labai and the sons of Arzai todemand the country of the king for themselves? As for the governor whodoes this deed, why does not the king question him? Behold, Malchiel andTagi (the father-in-law of Malchiel) are they who have done this, sincethey have taken the city of Rubutê (Rabbah, Josh. Xv. 60).... There isno royal garrison. May the king live for ever! Verily Pûru (Pa-Hor) hasgone down to him; he has left me and is in the city of Gaza. But let theking remember him and send fifty men as a garrison to defend thecountry. All the country of the king has revolted. Send Yikhbil-Khamu, and let him consider the country of the king. To the Secretary of theking, Ebed-Tob thy servant: make a clear report of my words to the king:'Abundant good fortune be unto thee! I am thy servant. '"

IV. "To the king my lord thus speaks Ebed-Tob thy servant: at the feetof the king my lord seven times seven I prostrate myself. [Behold thedeed] which Malchiel and Suardatum have done against the country of theking my lord, hiring (?) the forces of the cities of Gezer, of Gath, andof Keilah, and occupying the country of the city of Rubutê (Rabbah). Thecountry of the king has gone over to the Khabiri. And now at this momentthe city of the mountain of Jerusalem (Uru-salim), whose name is Bit-Bir(the temple of the god Bir), the city of the king, is separated from thelocality of the men of Keilah. Let the king listen to Ebed-Tob thyservant, and let him despatch troops that I may restore the country ofthe king to the king. But if no troops arrive, the country of the kingis gone over to the Khabiri. This is the deed of Suardatum and Malchiel. But may the king send help to his country. "

V. _The commencement is lost_. --"And now as to the city of Jerusalem, ifthis country belongs to the king, why is it that Gaza is made the seatof the garrison for the king? Behold, the country of the city ofGath-Carmel has fallen away to Tagi and the men of Gath. He is inBit-Sâni, and we have effected that they should give Labai and thecountry of the Bedâwin (Suta) to the Khabiri. Malchiel has sent to Tagiand takes his sons as servants. He has granted all their requests to themen of Keilah, and we have delivered the city of Jerusalem. The garrisonwhom thou sentest by the hand of Khapi (Apis), the son of Miyaria(Meri-Ra) Hadad-el has taken and has established in his house in Gaza. "

VI. "To the king my lord thus speaks Ebed-Tob thy servant: at the feetof the king my lord seven times seven I prostrate myself. [Let the kinglisten to] the words [of his servant which] have been conveyed to[him].... Let the king know that all the provinces have united inhostility against me, and let the king send help to his country. Behold, the country of the cities of Gezer, of Askalon and of Lachish have giventhem food, oil, and whatever they wanted; so let the king send help tothe troops and despatch troops against the men who have committed sinagainst the king my lord. If troops come this year, then there willremain both provinces and governors to the king my lord; but if notroops arrive, there will remain no provinces or governors to the kingmy lord. Behold, this country of the city of Jerusalem neither my fathernor my mother has given to me; the arm of the Mighty King gave it to me, even to me. Behold, this is the deed of Malchiel and the deed of thesons of Labai, who have given the country of the king to the Khabiri. Behold, O king my lord, be just towards me as regards the Babylonians;let the king ask the Commissioners whether they have acted violently(?). But they have taken upon themselves a very grievous sin. They havetaken their goods and ... Let the king ask (them); they had abundance offood, abundance of oil and abundance of clothes, until Pauru theCommissioner of the king came up to the country of the city ofJerusalem, and Adai revolted, together with the garrison and thedependents upon the king. Let the king know that (Pauru) said to me:Adai has revolted from me, do not leave the city. This [year] send me agarrison and a royal Commissioner. Let thy favour be towards me. I havesent to the king my lord 5000 prisoners and ... Tribute-bearers. Thecaravans of the king have been robbed in the field of Ajalon. Let theking my lord know that I am not able to send a caravan to the king mylord according to thy instructions. Behold, the king has established hisname in the country of Jerusalem for ever, and he cannot forsake theterritory of the city of Jerusalem. --To the Secretary of the king mylord, Ebed-Tob thy servant. At thy feet I fall: I am thy servant. Make aclear report of my words to the king my lord, that I am the vassal ofthe king. Abundance of good fortune to thee!--And thou hast performeddeeds I cannot enumerate against the men of the land of Cush. ... Banais not slain. There are Babylonians in my house. Let the king my lordask in regard to them... "

 * * * * *

LETTER OF SUWARDATUM TO AMENOPHIS IV. 

"To the king my lord, my gods, my Sun-god, thus speaks Suwardata thyservant, the dust of thy feet: at the feet of the king my lord, my gods, my Sun-god, seven times seven I prostrate myself. The king my lorddirected me to make war in the city of Keilah; I made war; it is (now)at peace with me; my city is restored to me. Why does Ebed-Tob send tothe men of Keilah, saying: 'Take silver and march after me'? And theking my lord knows that Ebed-Tob has taken my city out of my hand. Againlet the king my lord inquire whether I have taken a man, or an ox, or anass from him or his jurisdiction. Again Labai is the conspirator who hadtaken our cities, and now Labai has taken Ebed-Tob, and they have takenour cities. And the king knows. To his servant let him grant power, forI did not know they had done anything until the king had sent an accountof it to his servant. "

 * * * * *

LETTER FROM LABAI TO AMENOPHIS IV. 

"To the king my lord and my Sun-god thus (speaks) Labai thy servant andthe dust of thy feet: at the feet of the king my lord and my Sun-god, seven times seven I prostrate myself. I have heard the words which theking has sent to me, and here am I, and the king apportions his countryunto me. Behold, I am a faithful servant of the king, and I have notsinned, and I have not offended, and I do not withhold my tribute, and Ido not refuse the requests of the Commissioner that is set over me. Behold, they have slandered me, and the king my lord will not be hard onmy offence. Again it is an offence in me that I have entered the city ofGezer and ordered the city to assemble, saying, 'The king has taken myproperty and the property of Malchiel. ' How could I know what Malchielhas done against me? Again the king has written to Bin-Sumya; he doesnot know that Bin-Sumya has marched along with the Bedâwin, and lo, Ihave delivered him into the hand of Adda-dan. Again, if the king sendsfor my wife, how shall I withhold her; and if the king writes to myself, 'Plunge an iron sword in thy heart and die, ' how shall I not perform thecommandment of the king?"

IV

THE MOABITE STONE

(_See page 112_)

1. I am Mesha the son of Chemosh-melech, king of Moab, the Dibonite. 

2. My father reigned over Moab thirty years, and I reigned

3. After my father. I made this monument to (the god) Chemosh atKorkhah, as a monument

4. Of salvation, for he saved me from all invaders, and let me see mydesire upon all my enemies. Omri

5. Was king of Israel, and he oppressed Moab many days, for Chemosh wasangry with his

6. Land. His son followed him, and he also said: I will oppress Moab. Inmy days [Chemosh] said:

7. I will see my desire on him and his house, and Israel shall surelyperish for ever. Omri took the land of

8. Medeba (Numb. Xxi. 30), and [Israel] dwelt in it during his days andhalf the days of his son, altogether forty years. But there dwelt in it

9. Chemosh in my days. I built Baal-Meon (Josh. Xiii. 17) and madetherein the reservoirs; I built

10. Kirjathain (Numb, xxxii. 37). The men of Gad dwelt in the land ofAtaroth (Numb, xxxii. 3) from of old, and the king of Israel built there

11. (the town) of Ataroth; but I made war against the town and took it. And I slew all the [people]

12. Of the town, for the pleasure of Chemosh and Moab. I took fromthence the Ariel (champion) of (the god) Doda and tore

13. Him before Chemosh in Kerioth (Jer. Xlviii. 24). And I placedtherein the men of Sharon and the men

14. Of Me-khereth. And Chemosh said unto me: Go, seize Nebo upon Israel;and

15. I went in the night and fought against it from the break of dawntill noon; and I took

16. It, and slew all (therein), 7000 men, [boys], women, [girls], 17. And female slaves, and devoted them to Ashtor-Chemosh. And I tookfrom it the Ariels of Yahveh, and tore them before Chemosh. And the kingof Israel had built

18. Jahaz (Isa. Xv. 4), and dwelt in it, whilst he waged war against me, (but) Chemosh drove him out before me. And

19. I brought from Moab 200 men, all chiefs, and carried them to Jahaz, which I took

20. To add to it Dibon. I built Korkhah, the wall of the forests and thewall

21. Of the citadel: I built its gates and I built its towers. And

22. I built the temple of Moloch, and I made sluices of thewater-ditches in the middle

23. Of the town. And there was no cistern in the middle of the town ofKorkhah, and I said to all the people: Make for

24. Yourselves every man a cistern in his house. And I dug the canalsfor Korkhah by means of the prisoners

25. Of Israel. I built Aroer and I made the road in [the province of]the Arnon. [And]

26. I built Beth-Bamoth, for it was destroyed. I built Bezer (Deut. Iv. 43), for [it was] in ruins. 

27. [And all the chiefs] of Dibou were fifty, for all Dibon was subject(to me); and I placed

28. 100 [chiefs] in the towns which I added to the land. I built

29. Beth-Medeba (Numb. Xxi. 30), and Beth-diblathain (Jer. Xlviii. 22), and Beth-baal-meon, and transported thereto the ... 

30. [and the shepherds] of the flocks of the land. And at Horonaim (Isa. Xv. 5) there dwelt... 

31. ... And Chemosh said unto me: Go down, make war upon Horonaim. Iwent down [and made war]

32. [and took the city]; and Chemosh dwelt in it in my days. I went upfrom thence ... 

33. ... And I ... 

VII

THE TREATY BETWEEN RAMSES II. AND THE HITTITES (_Brugsch's Translation_)

(_See page 79_)

In the year 21, in the month of Tybi, on the 21st day of the month, inthe reign of King Ramessu Mi-Amun, the dispenser of life eternally andfor ever, the worshipper of the divinities Amun-Ra (of Thebes), Hor-em-khu (of Heliopolis), Ptah (of Memphis), Mut the lady of the AsherLake (at Karnak), and Khonsu the peace-loving, there took place a publicsitting on the throne of Horus among the living, resembling his father, Hor-em-khu in eternity, in eternity, evermore. 

On that day the king was in the city of Ramses, presenting hispeace-offerings to his father Amun-Ra and to the gods Hor-em-khu-Tum, the lord of Heliopolis (On), and to Amun of Ramessu Mi-Amun, to Ptah ofRamessu Mi-Amun, and to Sutekh, the strong, the son of Nut the goddessof heaven, that they might grant to him many thirty years' jubileefeasts, and innumerable happy years, and the subjection of all peoplesunder his feet for ever. 

Then came forward the ambassador of the king and the governor [of hishouse, by name ... , and presented the ambassadors] of the great king ofthe Hittites, Khata-sir, who were sent to Pharaoh to propose friendshipwith the king Ramessu Mi-Amun, the dispenser of life, eternally and forever, just as his father, the Sun-god [dispenses it] each day. 

This is the copy of the contents of the silver tablet which the greatking of the Hittites, Khata-sir, had caused to be made, and which waspresented to the Pharaoh by the hand of his ambassador Tar-tisubu andhis ambassador Rames, to propose friendship to the king Ramessu Mi-Amun, the bull among the princes, who places his boundary-marks where itpleases him in all lands. 

The treaty which had been proposed by the great king of the Hittites, Khata-sir, the powerful, the son of Mar-sir, the great king of theHittites, the powerful, the grandson of Sapalili, the great king of theHittites, the powerful, on the silver tablet, to Ramessu Mi-Amun, thegreat prince of Egypt, the powerful--this was a good treaty forfriendship and concord, which assured peace [and established concord]for a longer period than was previously the case for a long time. For itwas the agreement of the great prince of Egypt in common with the greatking of the Hittites that the god should not allow enmity to existbetween them, on the basis of a treaty. 

To wit, in the times of Mutal, the great king of the Hittites, mybrother, he was at war with [Meneptah Seti I. ] the great prince ofEgypt. 

But now, from this very day forward, Khata-sir, the great king of theHittites, shall look upon this treaty so that the agreement may remainwhich the Sun-god Ra has made, which the god Sutekh has made, for thepeople of Egypt and for the people of the Hittites, that there should beno enmity between them for evermore. 

And these are the contents:--

Khata-sir, the great king of the Hittites, is in covenant with RamessuMi-Amun, the great prince of Egypt, from this very day forward, thatthere may subsist a good friendship and a good understanding betweenthem for evermore. 

He shall be my ally; he shall be my friend. I will be his ally; I willbe his friend, for ever. 

To wit: in the time of Mutal, the great king of the Hittites, hisbrother Khata-sir, after his murder, placed himself on the throne of hisfather as the great king of the Hittites I strove for friendship withRamessu Mi-Amun, the great prince of Egypt, and it is [my wish] that thefriendship and the concord may be better than the friendship and theconcord which before existed, and which was broken. 

I declare: I, the great king of the Hittites, will hold together with[Ramessu Mi-Amun] the great prince of Egypt, in good friendship and goodconcord. The sons of the sons of the great king of the Hittites willhold together and be friends with the sons of the sons of RamessuMi-Amun, the great prince of Egypt. 

In virtue of our treaty for concord, and in virtue of our agreement [forfriendship, let the people] of Egypt [be bound in friendship] with thepeople of the Hittites. Let a like friendship and a like concord subsistin such measure for ever. 

Never let enmity rise between them. Never let the great king of theHittites invade the land of Egypt, if anything has been plundered fromit (i. E. The land of the Hittites). Never let Ramessu Mi-Amun, the greatprince of Egypt, overstep the boundary [of the land of the Hittites], ifanything shall have been plundered from [the land of Egypt]. 

The just treaty which existed in the times of Sapalili, the great kingof the Hittites, likewise the just treaty which existed in the times ofMutal, the great king of the Hittites, my brother, that will I keep. 

Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great prince of Egypt, declares that he will keepit. [We have come to an understanding about it] with one another at thesame time from this day forward, and we will fulfil it, and will act ina righteous manner. 

If another shall come as an enemy to the lands of Ramessu Mi-Amun, thegreat prince of Egypt, then let him send an embassy to the great king ofthe Hittites to this effect: "Come and make me stronger than him. " Thenshall the great king of the Hittites [assemble his warriors], and theking of the Hittites [shall come] and smite his enemies. But if itshould not be the wish of the great king of the Hittites to march out inperson, then he shall send his warriors and his chariots that they maysmite his enemies. Otherwise [he would incur] the wrath of RamessuMi-Amun [the great prince of Egypt. And if Ramessu Mi-Amun, the greatprince of Egypt, should banish for a crime] subjects from his country, and they should commit further crime against him, then shall the king ofthe Hittites come forward to kill them. The great king of the Hittitesshall act in common with [the great prince of Egypt]. 

[If another should come as an enemy to the lands of the great king ofthe Hittites, then shall he send an embassy to the great prince of Egyptwith the request that] he would come in great power to kill his enemies;and if it be the intention of Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great prince ofEgypt, (himself) to come, he shall [smite the enemies of the great kingof the Hittites. If it is not the intention of the great prince of Egyptto march out in person, then he shall send his warriors and his two-]horse chariots, while he sends back the answer to the people of theHittites. 

If any subjects of the great king of the Hittites have offended him, then Ramessu Mi-Amun [the great prince of Egypt, shall not receive themin his land, but shall advance to kill them] ... The oath with the wishto say, I will go ... Until ... Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great prince ofEgypt, living for ever ... That he may be given for them (?) to thelord, and that Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great prince of Egypt, may speakaccording to his agreement for evermore ... 

[If servants shall flee away] out of the territories of Ramessu Mi-Amun[the great prince of Egypt, to betake themselves to] the great king ofthe Hittites, the great king of the Hittites shall not receive them, butthe great king of the Hittites shall give them up to Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great prince of Egypt [that they may be punished]. 

If servants of Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great prince of Egypt, leave hiscountry and betake themselves to the land of the Hittites, to makethemselves servants of another, they shall not remain in the land of theHittites [but shall be given up] to Ramessu Mi-Amuu, the great prince ofEgypt. 

If, on the other hand, there should flee away [servants of the greatking of the Hittites, in order to betake themselves to] Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great prince of Egypt [in order to stay in Egypt], then those whohave come from the land of the Hittites in order to betake themselves toRamessu Mi-Amun, the great prince of Egypt, shall not be [received] byRamessu Mi-Amun, the great prince of Egypt, (but) the great prince ofEgypt, Ramessu Mi-Amun, [shall deliver them up to the great king of theHittites]. 

[And if there shall leave the land of the Hittites persons] of skilledmind, so that they come to the land of Egypt to make themselves servantsof another, then Ramessu Mi-Amun shall not allow them to settle, heshall deliver them up to the great king of the Hittites. 

When this [treaty] shall be known [by the inhabitants of the land ofEgypt and of the land of the Hittites, then shall they not offendagainst it, for all that stands written upon] the silver tablet, theseare words which will have been approved by the company of the gods, among the male deities and among the female deities, among those namelyof the land of the Hittites, and by the company of the gods, among themale deities and among the female deities, among those namely of theland of Egypt. They are witnesses for me [to the validity] of thesewords. 

This is the catalogue of the gods of the land of the Hittites:--

 [Sutekh of the city of] Tump (Tennib). Sutekh of the land of the Hittites. Sutekh of the city of Arnema. Sutekh of the city of Zaranda, Sutekh of the city of Pairaka. Sutekh of the city of Khisasap. Sutekh of the city of Sarsu. Sutekh of the city of Aleppo. Sutekh of the city of ... [Sutekh of the city of ... ] Sutekh of the city of Sarpina. Astartha of the land of the Hittites. The god of the land of Zaiath-Khirri. The god of the land of Ka ... The god of the land of Kher ... The goddess of the city of Akh ... [The goddess of the city of ... ] and of the land of A ... Ua. The goddess of the land of Zaina. The god of the land of ... Nath ... Er. 

[I have invoked these male and these] female [deities of the land of theHittites; these are the gods] of the land, as [witnesses to] my oath. [With them have been associated the male and the female deities] of themountains and of the rivers of the land of the Hittites, the gods of theland of Kazawadana (Cappadocia), Amun, Ra, Sutekh, and the male andfemale deities of the land of Egypt, of the earth, of the sea, of thewinds, and of the storms. 

With regard to the commandment which the silver tablet contains for thepeople of the Hittites and for the people of Egypt, he who shall notobserve it shall be given over [to the vengeance] of the company of thegods of the Hittites, and shall be given over [to the vengeance of the]company of the gods of Egypt, [he] and his house and his servants. 

But he who shall observe these commandments which the silver tabletcontains, whether he be of the people of the Hittites or [of the peopleof the Egyptians], because he has not neglected them, the company of thegods of the land of the Hittites, and the company of the gods of theland of Egypt shall secure his reward and preserve life [for him] andhis servants, and those who are with him and with his servants. 

If there flee away [one] of the inhabitants [from the land of Egypt], ortwo, or three, and they betake themselves to the great king of theHittites, the great king of the Hittites shall take them and send themback to Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great prince of Egypt. 

Now with regard to the inhabitant of the land of Egypt who is deliveredup to Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great prince of Egypt, his fault shall not beavenged upon him, his house shall not be taken away, nor his wife norhis children. He shall not be put to death, neither shall he bemutilated in his eyes, nor in his ears, nor in his mouth, nor on thesoles of his feet, so that thus no crime shall be brought forwardagainst him. 

In the same way shall it be done if inhabitants of the land of theHittites take to flight, be it one alone or two or three, to betakethemselves to Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great king of Egypt; Ramessu Mi-Amun, the great king of Egypt, shall cause them to be seized, and they shallbe delivered up to the great prince of the Hittites. 

With regard to him who is delivered up, his crime shall not be broughtforward against him. His house shall not be destroyed, nor his wife, norhis children; he shall not be put to death, he shall not be mutilated inhis eyes, nor in his ears, nor on his mouth, nor on the soles of hisfeet, nor shall any accusation be brought forward against him. 

That which is in the middle of this silver tablet and on its front sideis a likeness of the god Sutekh embracing the great prince of theHittites, surrounded by an inscription to this effect: "The seal of thegod Sutekh the sovereign of heaven, " and "The seal of the writing madeby Khata-sir, the great and powerful prince of the Hittites, the son ofMar-sir, the great and powerful prince of the Hittites. " That which isin the middle of the frame is the seal of Sutekh the sovereign ofheaven. That which is on the other side (of the tablet) is the likenessof the god of the Hittites embracing the great princess of the Hittites, surrounded by an inscription to the following effect: "The seal of theSun-god of the city of Iranna, the lord of the earth, " and "The seal ofPuu-khipa, the great princess of the land of the Hittites, the daughterof the land of Qazawadana, the [servant of the goddess Iskhara of]Iranna, the regent of the earth; the servant of the goddess. " That whichis in the middle of the frame is the seal of the Sun-god of Iranna, thelord of all the earth. 

VIII

THE TRAVELS OF A MOHAR

A SATIRICAL ACCOUNT OF A TOURIST'S MISADVENTURES IN CANAAN, WRITTEN INTHE TIME OF RAMSES II. , THE PHARAOH OF THE OPPRESSION

(_See page 189_)

I will portray for thee the likeness of a Mohar; I will let thee knowwhat he does. Thou hast not gone to the land of the Hittites, nor hastthou beheld the land of Aupa. The appearance of Khatuma thou knowestnot. Likewise the land of Igadai, what is it like? The Zar (Plain) ofSesostris and the city of Aleppo are on none of its sides. How is itsford? Thou hast not taken thy road to Kadesh (on the Orontes) andTubikhi (the Tibhath of 1 Chr. Xviii. 8), neither hast thou gone to theShasu (Bedâwin) with numerous foreign soldiers, neither hast thoutrodden the way to the Magharat (the caves of the Magoras near Beyrout), where the heaven is dark in the daytime. The place is planted with mapletrees, oaks, and acacias, which reach up to heaven, full of beasts, bears and lions, and surrounded by Shasu in all directions. Thou hastnot gone up to the mountain of Shaua (in the northern Lebanon), neitherhast thou trodden it; there thy hands hold fast to the [rein] of thychariot; a jerk has shaken thy horses in drawing it. I pray thee, let usgo to the city of Beeroth (cisterns). Thou must hasten to its ascent, after thou hast passed over its ford in front of it. 

Do thou explain the attraction to be a Mohar! Thy chariot lies there[before] thee; thy [strength] has fallen lame; thou treadest thebackward path at eventide. All thy limbs are ground small. Thy [bones]are broken to pieces. Sweet is [sleep]. Thou awakest. There has been atime for a thief in this unfortunate night. Thou wast alone, in thebelief that the brother could not come to the brother. Some groomsentered into the stable; the horse kicks out; the thief goes back in thenight; thy clothes are stolen. Thy groom wakes up in the night; he seeswhat has happened to him; he takes what is left, he goes to theevil-doers, he mixes himself up with the tribes of the Shasu. He acts asif he were an Amu (Asiatic). The enemies come, they [feel about] for therobber. He is discovered, and is immovable from terror. Thou awakest, thou findest no trace of them, for they have carried off thy property. 

Become (again) a Mohar, who is fully accoutred. Let thy ear be full ofthat which I relate to thee besides. 

The town 'Hidden'--such is the meaning of its name Gebal--what is itsstate? Its goddess (we will speak of) at another time. Thou hast notvisited it. Be good enough to look out for Beyrout, Sidon, and Sarepta. Where are the fords of the land of Nazana? The land of Usu (Palætyrus), what is its state? They speak of another city in the sea, Tyre the havenis her name. Drinking water is brought to her in boats. She is richer infish than in sand. I will tell thee of something else. Dangerous is itto enter into Zorah. Thou wilt say it is burning with a very painfulsting (?) Mohar, come! Go forward on the way to the land of Pa-Kâkina. Where is the road to Achshaph? Towards no city. Pray look at themountain of User. How is its crest? Where is the mountain of Shechem?Who can surmount it? Mohar, whither must you take a journey to the cityof Hazor? How is its ford? Let me (choose) the road to Hamath, Dagara, (and) Dagar-el. Here is the road where all Mohars meet. Be good enoughto spy out its road, cast a look on Yâ ... When one goes to the land ofAdamim, to what is one opposite? Do not draw back, but instruct us!Guide us that we may know, thou leader!

I will name to thee other cities besides these. Thou hast not gone tothe land of Takhis, Kafir-Malona, Tamnah, Kadesh, Dapul, Azai, Har-Nammata, nor hast thou beheld Kirjath-eneb near Beth-Sopher(Kirjath-Sepher or Debir); nor dost thou know Adullam (and) Zidiputha, nor dost thou know any better the name of Khalza in the land of Aupa, the bull on its frontiers (?). Here is the place where all the mightywarriors are seen. Be good enough to look and see how Qina is situated, and tell me about Rehob. Describe Beth-sha-el (Bethel) along withTarqa-el. The ford of the land of the Jordan, how is it crossed? Teachme to know the passage in order to enter into the city of Megiddo whichlies in front of it. Verily thou art a Mohar, well skilled in the workof the strong hand. Pray, is there found a Mohar like thee, to place atthe head of the army, or a _seigneur_ who can beat thee in shooting?

Drive along the edge of the precipice, on the slippery height, over adepth of 2000 cubits, full of rocks and boulders. Thou takest thy wayback in a zigzag, thou bearest thy bow, thou takest the iron in thy lefthand. Thou lettest the old men see, if their eyes are good, how, worn-out with fatigue, thou supportest thyself with thy hand. _Il estperdu, le chameau, le Mohar! Eh bien![18]_ Make to thyself a name amongthe Mohars and the knights of the land of Egypt. Let thy name be likethat of Qazirnai the lord of Aser, because he discovered lions in theinterior of the balsam-forest of Baka at the narrow passes, which arerendered dangerous by the Shasu who lie in ambush among the trees. (Thelions) measured fourteen cubits by five cubits. Their noses reached tothe soles of their feet. Of a grim appearance, without softness, theycared not for caresses. Thou art alone, no stronger one is with thee, no_armée_ is behind thee, no Ariel (see 2 Sam. Xxiii. 20, Isa. Xxix. 1)who prepares the way for thee, and gives thee counsel on the road beforethee. Thou knowest not the road. The hair on thy head stands on end; itbristles up. Thy soul is given into thy hands. Thy path is full of rocksand boulders, there is no way out near; it is overgrown with creepersand wolf's-foot. Abysses are on one side of thee, the mountain and thewall of rock on the other. Thou drivest in against it. The chariot jumpson which thou art. Thou art troubled to hold up thy horses. If it fallsinto the abyss, the pole drags thee down too. Thy _ceintures_ are pulledaway. They fall down. Thou shacklest the horse, because the pole isbroken on the path of the narrow pass. Not knowing how to tie it up, thou understandest not how it is to be repaired. The _essieu_ is left onthe spot, as the load is too heavy for the horses. Thy courage hasevaporated. Thou beginnest to run. The heaven is cloudless. Thou artthirsty; the enemy is behind thee; a trembling seizes thee; a twig ofthorny acacia worries thee; thou thrustest it aside; the horse isscratched, till at length thou findest rest. 

Explain thou thy attraction to be a Mohar!

Thou comest into Joppa. Thou findest the date-palm in full bloom in itstime. Thou openest wide the aperture of thy mouth in order to eat. Thoufindest that the maid who keeps the garden is fair. She does whateverthou wantest of her.... Thou art recognised, thou art brought to trial, and owest thy preservation to being a Mohar. Thy girdle of the fineststuff, thou payest it as the price of a bad rag. Thou sleepest everyevening with a rug of fur over thee. Thou sleepest a deep sleep, forthou art weary. A thief takes thy bow and thy sword from thy side; thyquiver and thy armour are broken to pieces in the darkness; thy pair ofhorses run away. The groom takes his course over a slippery path thatrises in front of him. He breaks thy chariot in pieces; he follows thyfoot-tracks. [He finds] thy equipments, which had fallen on the ground, and had sunk into the sand, leaving only an empty space. 

Prayer does not avail thee; even when thy mouth says: "Give food inaddition to water that I may reach my goal in safety, " they are deaf andwill not hear. They say not yes to thy words. The iron-workers enterinto the smithy; they rummage in the workshops of the carpenters; thehandi-craftsmen and soldiers are at hand; they do whatever thourequirest. They put together thy chariot: they put aside the parts of itthat have been made useless; thy spokes are _façonné_ quite new; thywheels are put on, they put the _courroies_ on the axles and on thehinder part; they splice thy yoke, they put on the box of thy chariot;the [workmen] in iron forge the ... ; they put the ring that is wantingon thy whip, they replace the _lunières_ upon it. 

Thou goest quickly onward to fight on the battlefield, to do the deedsof a strong hand and of firm courage. 

Before I wrote I sought me out a Mohar who knows his power, who leadsthe _jeunesse_, a chief in the _armée_ [who goes forward] even to theend of the world. 

Answer me not, "That is good, this is bad;" repeat not to me thyopinion. Come, I will tell thee all which lies before thee at the end ofthy journey. 

I begin for thee with the palace of Sesostris (Ramses II. ). Thou hastnot set foot in it by force. Thou hast not eaten the fish in the brookof .... Thou hast not washed thyself in it. With thy permission I willremind thee of Huzana (near El-Arish); where is its fortress? Come, Ipray thee, to the palace of the land of Uzi, of Sesostris Osymandyas inhis victories, to Saz-el together with Absaqbu. I will inform thee ofthe land of Ainin (the Two Springs), the customs of which thou knowestnot. The land of the lake of Nakhai and the land of Rehoburtha(Rehoboth, Gen. Xxvi. 22) thou hast not seen since thou wast born, OMohar. Rapih (the modern boundary between Egypt and Turkey) is widelyextended. What is its wall like? It extends for a mile in the directionof Gaza. 

[Footnote 18: By the use of French words and expressions Brugschendeavours to represent the Canaanitish terms which the Egyptian writerhas affectedly introduced into his work. ]

IX

THE NEGATIVE CONFESSION OF THE EGYPTIANS

(_Sir P. Le Page Renouf's Translation_)

(_See page 186_)

The 125th chapter of the Book of the Dead contains the confession whichthe soul of the dead man was required to make before Osiris and theforty-two divine judges of the dead, before he could be justified andadmitted to the Paradise of Aalu:--

Said on arriving at the Hall of Righteousness, that N (the soul of thedead man) may be loosed from all the sins which he hath committed, andthat he may look upon the divine countenances. 

He saith:--Hail to thee, mighty God, lord of Righteousness!

I am come to thee, O my Lord! I have brought myself that I may look uponthy glory. I know thee, and I know the name of the forty-two gods whomake their appearance with thee in the Hall of Righteousness; devouringthose who harbour mischief and swallowing their blood, upon the day ofthe searching examination in the presence of Un-neferu (Osiris). 

Verily "Thou of the Pair of Eyes, Lord of Righteousness, " is thy name. 

Here am I; I am come to thee; I bring to thee Right and have put a stopto Wrong. 

I am not a doer of wrong to men. 

I am not one who slayeth his kindred. 

I am not one who telleth lies instead of truth. 

I am not conscious of treason. 

I am not a doer of mischief. 

I do not exact as the first-fruits of each day more work than should bedone for me. 

My name cometh not to the Bark of the god who is at the Helm. 

I am not a transgressor against the God. 

I am not a tale-bearer. 

I am not a detractor. 

I am not a doer of that which the gods abhor. 

I hurt no servant with his master. 

I cause no famine. 

I cause not weeping. 

I am not a murderer. 

I give not orders for murder. 

I cause not suffering to men. 

I reduce not the offering in the temples. 

I lessen not the cakes of the gods. 

I rob not the dead of their funereal food. 

I am not an adulterer. 

I am undefiled in the sanctuary of the god of my domain. 

I neither increase nor diminish the measures of grain. 

I am not one who shorteneth the palm's length. 

I am not one who cutteth short the field's measurement. 

I put not pressure upon the beam of the balance. 

I snatch not the milk from the mouth of infants. 

I drive not the cattle from their pastures. 

I net not the birds of the manors of the gods. 

I catch not the fish of their ponds. 

I stop not the water at its appointed time. 

I divide not an arm of the water in its course. 

I extinguish not the lamp during its appointed time. 

I do not defraud the Divine Circle of their sacrificial joints. 

I drive not away the cattle of the sacred estate. 

I stop not a god when he cometh forth. 

I am pure, I am pure, I am pure, I am pure!

X

LETTERS OF KHAMMURABI OR AMMURAPI (THE AMRAPHEL OP GEN. Xiv. 1) TOSIN-IDINNAM, KING OF LARSA (THE ELLASAR OF GENESIS)

I. "To Sin-idinnam thus says Khammurabi: The goddesses of the land ofEmudbalum restored your courage to you on the day of the defeat ofKudur-Laghghamar (Chedor-laomer). Because they have supported you amongthe army of thy hand, turn back the army and let them restore thegoddesses to their own seats. "

II. "To Sin-idinnam thus says Khummarabi: When you have seen this letteryou will understand in regard to Amil-Samas and Nur-Nintu, the sons ofGisdubba, that if they are in Larsa or in the territory of Larsa youwill order them to be sent away, and that one of your servants on whomyou can depend shall take them and bring them to Babylon. "

III. "To Sin-idinnam thus says Khammurabi: As to the officials who haveresisted you in the accomplishment of their work, do not impose uponthem any additional task, but oblige them to do what they ought to haveperformed, and then remove them from the influence of him who hasbrought them. "

Sin-idinnam seems to have been the legitimate prince of Larsa, who hadbeen expelled from his dominions by the Elamite invader Eri-Aku orArioch, and had taken refuge at the court of Khammurabi in Babylon. After the overthrow of the Elamites, Sin-idinnam was restored byKhammurabi to his ancestral principality. 

XI

THE BABYLONIAN ACCOUNT OF THE DELUGE

1. Sisuthros spake thus unto him, even to Gilgames:

2. 'Let me reveal unto thee, O Gilgames, the tale of my preservation, 3. And the oracle of the gods let me declare unto thee. 

4. The city of Surippak, which, as thou knowest, is built [on the bank]of the Euphrates, 5. This city was (already) old when the gods within it

6. Set their hearts to cause a flood, even the great gods

7. [as many as] exist: Anu the father of them, 8. The warrior Bel their prince, 9. Bir their throne-bearer, En-nugi (Hades) their chief. 

10. Ea the lord of wisdom conferred with them, and

11. Repeated their words to the reed-bed: 'Reed-bed, O reed-bed! Frame, O frame!

12. Hear, O reed-bed, and understand, O frame!

13. O man of Surippak, son of Ubara-Tutu, 14. Frame the house, build a ship: leave what thou canst; seek life!

15. Resign (thy) goods, and cause thy soul to live, 16. And bring all the seed of life into the midst of the ship. 

17. As for the ship which thou shalt build, 18. ... Cubits shall be in measurement its length;

19. And ... Cubits the extent of its breadth and its height. 

20. Into the deep [then] launch it. '

21. I understood and spake to Ea my lord:

22. 'As for the building of the ship, O my lord, which thou hast orderedthus, 23. I will observe and accomplish it. 

24. [But what] shall I answer the city, the people and the old men?'

25. [Ea opened his mouth and] says, he speaks to his servant, even tome:

26. ['If they question thee] thou shalt say unto them:

27. Since (?) Bel is estranged from me and

28. I will not dwell in your city, I will not lay my head [in] the landof Bel;

29. But I will descend into the deep; with [Ea] my lord will I dwell. 

30. (Bel) will rain fertility on you, 31. [flocks] of birds, shoals of fish. '

_Lines 32 to 42 are lost_. 

43. On the fifth day I laid the plan of it (i. E. The ship);

44. In its hull (?) its walls were 10 _gar_ (120 cubits?) high;

45. 10 _gar_ were the size of its upper part. '

Another version of the account of the Deluge, of which a fragment hasbeen preserved, puts a wholly different speech into the mouth of Ea, andgives the hero of the story the name of Adra-Khasis. This fragment is asfollows:--

'I will judge him above and below, [But] shut [not thou thy door][until] the time that I shall tell thee of. [Then] enter the ship, and close the door of the vessel. [Bring into] it thy corn, thy goods, [thy] property, thy [wife], thy slaves, thy handmaids, and the sons of [thy] people, the [cattle] of the field, the beasts of the field, as many as I appoint ... I will tell thee of (the time), and the door [of thy ship] shall preserve them. 'Adra-Khasis opened his mouth and says, he speaks to Ea [his] lord:

'[O my lord, ] none has ever made a ship [on this wise]that it should sail over the land. ' ... 

Here the fragment is broken off. The other version proceeds thus:--

46. 'I fashioned its side, and closed it in;

47. I built six storeys (?), I divided it into seven parts;

48. Its interior I divided into nine parts. 

49. I cut worked (?) timber within it. 

50. I looked upon the rudder and added what was lacking. 

51. I poured 6 _sars_ of pitch over the outside;

52. [I poured] 3 _sars_ of bitumen over the inside;

53. 3 _sars_ of oil did the men carry who brought it ... 

54. I gave a _sar_ of oil for the workmen to eat;

55. 2 _sars_ of oil the sailors stored away. 

56. For the [workmen?] I slaughtered oxen;

57. I killed [sheep?] daily. 

58. Beer, wine, oil and grapes

59. [I distributed among] the people like the waters of a river, and

60. [I kept] a festival like the festival of the new year. 

61. ... I dipped my hand [in] oil:

62. [I said to] Samas (the Sun-god): 'The storeys (?) of the ship arecomplete;

63. The ... Is strong, and

64. The oars (?) I introduced above and below. '

65. [Those who should be saved?] went two-thirds of them. 

66. With all I had I filled it; with all the silver I possessed I filledit;

67. With all the gold I possessed I filled it;

68. With all that I possessed of the seed of life of all kinds I filledit. 

69. I brought into the ship all my slaves and my handmaids, 70. The cattle of the field, the beasts of the field, the sons of mypeople, all of them did I bring into it. 

71. The Sun-god appointed the time and

72. Utters the oracle: 'In the night will I cause the heavens to raindestruction;

73. Enter the ship, and close thy door. '

74. That time drew near whereof he uttered the oracle:

75. 'On this night will I cause the heavens to rain destruction. '

76. I watched with dread the dawning of the day;

77. I feared to behold the day. 

78. I entered into the ship and closed my door. 

79. When I had closed the ship, to Buzur-sadi-rabi the sailor

80. I entrusted the palace with all its goods. 

81. Mu-seri-ina-namari (the waters of the morning at dawn)

82. Arose from the horizon of heaven, a black cloud;

83. The storm-god Rimmon thundered in its midst, and

84. Nebo and Merodach the king marched in front;

85. The throne-bearers marched over mountain and plain;

86. The mighty god of death lets loose the whirlwind;

87. Bir marches causing the storm (?) to descend;

88. The spirits of the underworld lifted up (their) torches, 89. With the lightning of them they set on fire the world;

90. The violence of the storm-god reached to heaven;

91. All that was light was turned to [darkness]. 

92. In the earth like ... [men] perished (?)

_Two lines are lost here_. 

95. Brother beheld not his brother, men knew not one another. In theheaven

96. The gods feared the deluge, and

97. Hastened to ascend to the heaven of Anu. 

98. The gods cowered like a dog who lies in a kennel. 

99. Istar cried like a woman in travail, 100. The great goddess spoke with a loud voice:

101. 'The former generation is turned to clay. 

102. The evil which I prophesied in the presence of the gods, 103. When I prophesied evil in the presence of the gods, 104. I prophesied the storm for the destruction of my people. 

105. What I have home, where is it?

106. Like the spawn of the fish it fills the deep. '

107. The gods wept with her because of the spirits of the underworld;

108. The gods sat dejected in weeping, 109. Their lips were covered ... 

110. Six days and nights

111. Rages the wind; the flood and the storm devastate. 

112. The seventh day when it arrived the flood ceased, the storm

113. Which had fought like an army

114. Rested, the sea subsided, and the tempest of the deluge was ended. 

115. I beheld the deep and uttered a cry, 116. For the whole of mankind was turned to clay;

117. Like the trunks of trees did the bodies float. 

118. I opened the window and the light fell upon my face;

119. I stooped, and sat down weeping;

120. Over my face ran my tears. 

121. I beheld a shore beyond the sea;

122. Twelve times distant rose a land. 

123. On the mountain of Nizir the ship grounded;

124. The mountain of the country of Nizir held the ship and allowed itnot to float. 

125. One day and a second day did the mountain of Nizir hold it. 

126. A third day and a fourth day did the mountain of Nizir hold it. 

127. A fifth day and a sixth day did the mountain of Nizir hold it. 

128. When the seventh day came I sent forth a dove and let it go. 

129. The dove went and returned; a resting-place it found not and itturned back. 

130. I sent forth a swallow and let it go; the swallow went andreturned;

131. A resting-place it found not and it turned back. 

132. I sent forth a raven and let it go;

133. The raven went and saw the going down of the waters, and

134. It approached, it waded, it croaked and did not turn back. 

135. Then I sent forth (everything) to the four points of the compass; Ioffered sacrifices;

136. I built an altar on the summit of the mountain. 

137. I set libation-vases seven by seven;

138. Beneath them I piled up reeds, cedar-wood and herbs. 

139. The gods smelt the savour, the gods smelt the sweet savour;

140. The gods gathered like flies over the sacrificer. 

141. Already at the moment of her coming, the great goddess

142. Lifted up the mighty bow which Anu had made according to his wish(?). 

143. 'These gods, ' (she said), 'by my necklace, never will I forget!

144. Those days, I will think of them and never will forget them. 

145. Let the gods come to my altar;

146. (but) let not Bel come to my altar, 147. Since he did not take counsel but caused a flood and counted my menfor judgment. '

148. Already at the moment of his coming, Bel

149. Saw the ship and stood still;

150. He was filled with wrath at the gods, the spirits of heaven, (saying):

151. 'Let no living soul come forth, let no man survive in thejudgment!'

152. Bir opened his mouth and says, he speaks to the warrior Bel:

153. 'Who except Ea can devise a speech?

154. For Ea understands all kinds of wisdom. '

155. Ea opened his mouth and speaks, he says to the warrior Bel:

156. 'Thou art the seer of the gods, O warrior!

157. Why, O why didst thou not take counsel, but didst cause a deluge?

158. (Let) the sinner bear his own sin, (let) the evil-doer bear his ownevil-doing. 

159. Grant (?) that he be not cut off, be merciful that he be not[destroyed]. 

160. Instead of causing a deluge, let lions come and minish mankind;

161. Instead of causing a deluge, let hyænas come and minish mankind;

162. Instead of causing a deluge, let there be a famine and let it[devour] the land;

163. Instead of causing a deluge, let the plague-god come and minishmankind!

164. I did not reveal (to men) the oracle of the great gods, 165. But sent a dream to Adra-khasis and he heard the oracle of thegods. '

166. Then Bel again took counsel and ascended into the ship. 

167. He took my hand and caused me, even me, to ascend, 168. He took up my wife (also, and) caused her to bow at my side;

169. He turned to us and stood between us; he blessed us (saying):

170. 'Hitherto Sisuthros has been mortal, but

171. Henceforth Sisuthros and his wife shall be like unto the gods, evenunto us, and

172. Sisuthros shall dwell afar at the mouth of the rivers, '

173. Then he took us afar, at the mouth of the rivers he made us dwell. 

XII

THE BABYLONIAN EPIC OF THE CREATION

TABLET I. 

When the heaven above was not yet namedor the earth beneath had recorded a name, the primæval (_ristû_) deep was their generator, Mummu-Tiamat (the chaos of the sea) was the mother of them all. Their waters were embosomed together, andthe corn-field was unharvested, the reed-bed was ungrown. When the gods had not yet appeared, any one of them, by no name were they recorded, no destiny [was fixed]. Then the great gods were created, Lakhmu and Lakhamu issued forth [the first], until they grew up [when]Ansar and Kisar (the upper and lower firmaments) were created. Long were the days, extended [was the time, till]the gods [Anu, Bel, and Ea were born], Ansar [and Kisar gave them birth]. 

 * * * * *

The deep [opened] its mouth [and said, ]to [Tiamat], the glorious, [it spake]:While their path ... I will overthrow their path ... Let lamentations arise, let complaining [be made][When] Tiamat [undertakes] this [work]

 * * * * *

Their way shall be difficult ... [Then] the god Mummu answered [his] father the deep:

 * * * * *

Their way [shall be overthrown], the light shall be darkened, let [it be] as the night!The deep [heard] him and [his] countenance was lightened;evil planned they against the gods. 

 * * * * *

Tiamat, the mother of the gods, lifted up herself against them, gathering her forces, madly raging. The gods united themselves together with her, until (all) that had been created marched at her side. Banning the day they followed Tiamat, wrathful, devising mischief, untiring (?) day and night, prepared for the conflict, fiercely raging, they gathered themselves together and began the battle. The mother of the deep (?) (_Khubur_), the creatress of them all, added victorious weapons, creating monstrous serpents, with sharp fangs, unsparing in their attack. With poison for blood she filled their bodies. Horrible adders she clothed with terror, she decked them with fear, and raised high their ... 'May their appearance ... Make huge their bodies that none may withstand their breast!'She created the adder, the horrible serpent, the Lakhamu, the great monster, the raging dog, the scorpion-man, the dog-days, the fish-man and the (Zodiacal) ram, who carry weapons that spare not, who fear not the battle, insolent of heart, unconquerable by the enemy. Moreover that she might create (?) eleven such-like monsters, among the gods, her sons, whom she had summoned together, she raised up Kingu, and magnified him among them:'To march before the host, be that thy duty!Order the weapons to be uplifted and the onset of battle!'That he might be the first in the conflict, the leader in victory, she took his hand and set him on a throne:'I have uttered the spell for thee; exalt thyself among the gods, assume dominion over all the gods!Highly shalt thou be exalted, thou that art alone my husband;thy name shall be magnified over [all the world]!'Then she gave to him the tablets of destiny, and laid them on his breast:'Let thy command be obeyed, let the word of thy mouth be established!'When Kingu had exalted himself, and made himself like Anu (the god of heaven), she determined for the gods her sons their destiny:'The opening of your mouth shall quench the fire;The exalted of Kidmuri (i. E. Kingu) shall dissolve its flame. '

 * * * * *

TABLET II. 

(_Begins with a speech of Ansar to Merodach_. )

"Tiamat our mother has risen up against us, gathering her forces, madly raging. The gods have united themselves together with her, until (all) that has been created marches at her side. Banning the day they have followed Tiamat, wrathful, devising mischief, untiring (?) day and night, prepared for the conflict, fiercely raging, they have gathered themselves together and begun the battle. The mother of the deep (?), the creatress of them all, has added victorious weapons, creating monstrous serpents, with sharp fangs, unsparing in their attack. With poison for blood she has filled their bodies. Horrible adders she has clothed with terror, she has decked them with fear, and raised high their ... 'May their appearance ... May their bodies be huge so that none may withstand theirbreast!'She has created the adder, the horrible serpent, the Lakh-amu, the great monster, the raging dog, the scorpion-man, the dog-days, the fish-man (Aquarius), and the (Zodiacal) ram, who carry weapons that spare not, who fear not the battle, insolent of heart, unconquerable by the enemy. Moreover that she may create (?) eleven such-like monsters, among the gods, her sons, whom she has summoned together, she has raised up Kingu and magnified him among them. 'To march before the host, ' (she has said, ) 'be that thy duty!Order the weapons to be uplifted and the onset of battle!'That he may be the first in the conflict, the leader in victory, she has taken his hand and seated him on a throne:'I have uttered the spell for thee; exalt thyself among the gods, assume dominion over all the gods!Highly shalt thou be exalted, thou that art alone my husband;thy name shall be magnified over [all the world]!'Thereupon she has given him the tablets of destiny and laidthem on his breast:'Let thy command be obeyed, let the word of thy mouth be established!'When Kingu had exalted himself, and made himself as Anu, she determined for the gods her sons their destiny:'The opening of your mouth shall quench the fire;the exalted of Kidmuri shall dissolve its flame!'[When Merodach heard this, his heart] was grievously troubled, he ... ... And his lips he bit;..... His heart grew angry...... His cry....... [he determined on] battle. [Then spake he to] his father (Ea): 'Be not troubled;...... Thou shalt become the lord of the deep....... With Tiamat will I contend. '"

 * * * * *

Merodach [heard] the words of his father, in the fulness (?) of his heart he said to his father:'O lord of the gods, offspring (?) of the great gods, if indeed I am your avenger, Tiamat to overpower and you to rescue, make ready an assembly, prepare a banquet(?). Enter joyfully into Ubsugina (the seat of oracles) all together. With my mouth like you will I give the oracle. What I create shall never be changed, the word of my lip shall never go back or be unfulfilled!'

TABLET III. 

Thereupon Ansar opened his mouth, to [Gâgâ] his [messenger] he uttered the word:'O angel [Gâgâ] who rejoicest my heart, [to Lakhmu and Lakh]amu will I send thee;[the command of my heart] thou shalt gladly hear(?):'Ansar, your son, has sent me, the wish of his heart he has caused me to know. Tiamat our mother has risen up against us, gathering her forces, madly raging. The gods, all of them, have united themselves unto her, all whom she has created march at her side. Banning the day they have followed Tiamat, wrathful, devising mischief, untiring (?) day and night, prepared for the conflict, fiercely raging, they have gathered themselves together and begin the fray. The mother of the deep (?), the creatress of them all, has given them victorious weapons, creating monstrous serpentswith sharp fangs, unsparing in the onset. With poison for blood she has filled their bodies. Horrible adders she has clothed with terror, she has decked them with fear, and raised high their ... 'May their appearance ... May their bodies grow huge so that none may stand before them!'She has created the adder, the horrible serpent, the Lakhamu, the great monster, the raging dog, the scorpion-man, the dog-days, the fish-man and the ram, who carry weapons that spare not, who fear not the conflict, insolent of heart, unconquerable by the enemy. Moreover that she may have eleven such monsters, among the gods, her sons, whom she has summoned together, she has raised up Kingu and magnified him among them:'To march before the host, be that thy duty!Order the weapons to be uplifted and the onset of battle!'That he may be first in the conflict, the leader in victory, she has taken his hand and set him on a throne:'I have uttered the spell for thee, exalt thyself among the gods, assume dominion over all the gods!Highly shalt thou be exalted, thou that art alone my husband;thy name shall be magnified over [all the world]!'Then she gave him the tablets of destiny, and laid them on his breast:'Let thy command be obeyed; let the word of thy mouth be established!'When Kingu had exalted himself and made himself as Anushe determined for the gods her sons their destiny:'The opening of your mouth shall quench the fire, the exalted of Kidmuri shall dissolve its flame. 'I sent forth Anu, but he would not meet her;Ea was terrified and turned back. Then I bade Merodach, the counsellor of the gods, your son;to attack Tiamat his heart urged him. He opened his mouth and spake unto me:'If I am indeed your avenger, Tiamat to overpower, you to rescue, make ready an assembly, prepare a banquet (?). Enter joyfully into Ubsugina, all together. With my mouth, like you, will I then pronounce an oracle, what I create shall never be changed;the word of my lip shall never go back or be unfulfilled. 'Hasten therefore and determine at once for him his destinythat he may go forth and meet your mighty foe!'Lakhmu and Lakhamu heard this and lamented, the gods of heaven, all of them, bitterly grieved:'Foolish are they who thus desire battle (?);nor can we understand the [design] of Tiamat. 'Then they came together and marched ... The great gods, all of them, who determine [destinies]. They came before (?) Ansar, they filled [his abode], they crowded one on the other in the gathering ... They sat down to the feast, [they devoured] the food;they eat bread, they drank [wine], with sweet honey wine they filled themselves, they drank beer, and delighted their soul (?).... They ascended into their [seats], to determine the destiny of Merodach their avenger. 

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TABLET IV. 

Then they set him on a princely throne;before his fathers he seated himself as ruler. 'Yea, thou art glorious among the great gods, thy destiny has no rival, thy name (?) is Anu;from this day forward unchanged be thy command, high and low entreat thy hand!Let the word of thy mouth be established, thy judgment never be violated, let none among the gods overpass thy bounds!as an adornment has (thy hand) founded the shrine of the gods, may the place of their gathering (?) become thy home. O Merodach, thou art he that avenges us, we give unto thee the sovereignty over the multitudes of the universe. Thou givest counsel, let thy word be exalted;may thy weapons be victorious, may thine enemies tremble!O lord, be gracious to the soul of him who putteth his trust in thee, but pour out the soul of the god who has hold of evil. 'Then place they in their midst a robe;they spake to Merodach their first-born:'May thy destiny, O lord, excel that of the gods;command destruction and creation, and so it shall be done. Set thy mouth that it may destroy the robe;bid it return and the robe shall be restored!'He spake and with his mouth destroyed the robe;he spake to it again, and the robe was re-created. When the gods his fathers beheld (the power) of the word of his mouth, they rejoiced, they saluted Merodach the king, they bestowed upon him the sceptre, the throne and reign, they gave him a weapon unrivalled, consuming the hostile:'Go, ' (they said, ) 'and cut off the life of Tiamat, let the winds carry her blood to secret places. '(Thus) the gods, his fathers, determined for Bel his destiny, they showed his path, and they bade him listen and take the road. He made ready the bow and used it as his weapon;he made the club swing, he fixed its seat;then he lifted up the weapon which he caused his right hand to hold;the bow and the quiver he hung at his side. He set the lightning before him, with glancing flame he filled its body. He made also a net to enclose the dragon Tiamat. He seized the four winds that they might not issue out of it, the south wind, the north wind, the east wind (and) the west wind;he made them enter the net, the gift of his father Anu. He created the evil wind, the hostile wind, the storm, the tempest, the four winds, the seven winds, the whirlwind, the unending wind:he caused the winds he had created to issue forth, seven in all, confounding the dragon Tiamat, as they swept after him. Then Bel lifted up the Deluge, his mighty weapon:he rode in a chariot incomparable, (and) terrible. He stood firm, and harnessed four horses to its side, [steeds] that spare not, spirited and swift, [with sharp] teeth, that carry poison, which know how to sweep away [the opponent]. [On the right] ... Mighty in battle, on the left they open ......... Before thee. [Bring to the feast] the gods, all of them, [let them sit down and] satisfy themselves with food, [let them eat bread], let them drink wine, [let them ascend to their seats?] and determine the future. [Go now, ] Gâgâ, approach before them, deliver unto them [the message I entrust to] thee:'Ansar, your son, has sent me, the wish of his heart he has caused me to know. Tiamat, our mother, has risen up against us, gathering her forces, madly raging. The gods, all of them, have united themselves unto her, even those who created you march at her side. Banning the day they have followed Tiamat, wrathful, devising mischief, untiring(?) day and night, prepared for the conflict, fiercely raging, they have gathered themselves together and begin the battle. The mother of the deep(?), the creatress of them all, has given them victorious weapons, creating monstrous serpents, with sharp fangs, unsparing in their attack. With poison for blood she has filled their bodies. Horrible adders she has clothed with terror, she has decked them with fear, and raised high their.... 'May their appearance, ' (she has said).... 'Let their bodies grow huge so that none may stand before them!'She has created the adder, the horrible serpent, the Lakh-amu, the great monster, the raging dog, the scorpion-man, the dog-days, the fish-man and the ram, who carry weapons that spare not, who fear not the fight, insolent of heart, unconquerable by the enemy. Moreover that she may have eleven such monsters, among the gods, her sons, whom she has summoned together, she has raised up Kingu and magnified him among them. 'To march before the host, be that thy duty!Order the weapons to be uplifted and the onset of battle!'That he may be the first in the conflict, the leader in victory, she has taken his hand and set him on a throne:'I have uttered the spell for thee, ' (she has said); 'exalt thyself among the gods, assume dominion over all the gods!Highly shalt thou be exalted, thou that art alone my husband;thy name shall be magnified over [all the world]!'Thereupon she has given him the tablets of destiny, and laid them on his breast:'Let thy command be obeyed, let the word of thy mouth be established!'When Kingu had exalted himself and made himself like Anushe fixed for the gods, her sons, their destiny'The opening of your mouth shall quench the fire;the exalted of Kidmuri shall dissolve its flame. 'I sent forth Anu, but he would not meet her;Ea was terrified and turned back. Then I sent forth Merodach, the counsellor of the gods, your son;to attack Tiamat his heart urged him. He opened his mouth and said unto me:'If I indeed am your avenger, Tiamat to overpower and you to rescue, make ready an assembly, prepare a banquet (?). Enter joyfully into Ubsugina all together. With my mouth like you will I pronounce the oracle. What I create shall never be changed, the word of my lip shall never go back or be unfulfilled!'Hasten therefore and determine for him at once his destiny, that he may go forward and meet your powerful foe!'Then went Gâgâ and completed his journeyunto Lakhmu and Lakhamu the gods, his fathers, he prostrated himself and kissed the ground at their feet, he bowed himself and stood up and spake unto them:... Clothed with fear;with lustre and terror he covered his head. He directed also his way, he made his path descend, to the place where Tiamat [stood] he turned his countenance;with his lip he kept back ... His finger holds the.... On that day they extolled him, the gods extolled him, the gods, his fathers, extolled him, the gods extolled him. Then Bel drew near, eager for the struggle with Tiamat, looking for victory over Kingu her husband. When she beheld him, her resolution was destroyed, her understanding was overthrown, her plans confounded. And the gods, his helpers, who marched beside himbeheld (how Merodach) the prince amazes their eyes. He laid judgment on Tiamat, yet she turned not her neck;with her hostile lips she uttered defiance:'Let the gods, O Bel, enter on battle behind thee, [behold, ] they are gathered together to where thou art. 'Bel [launched] the Deluge, his mighty weapon;against Tiamat, who had raised herself (?), thus he sent it. 'Thou wert mighty [below, ' he cries, ] 'exalted above, yet thy heart [has urged thee] to begin the strife, [to lead the gods from] their fathers to [thy side];[thou hast gathered them around thee] and raisest thyself [against us], [thou hast made] Kingu thy husband[and hast bestowed on] him divine power.... Thou hast devised evil, [against the] gods, my fathers, hast thou directed thy enmity. [May] thy host be fettered, thy weapons be restrained!Stand up, and I and thou will fight together. 'When Tiamat heard this, she uttered her former spells, she repeated her command. Tiamat also cried out vehemently with a loud voice. From her roots she rocked herself completely. She uttered an incantation, she cast a spell, and the gods of battle demand for themselves their arms. Then Tiamat attacked Merodach the counsellor of the gods;in combat they joined; they engaged in battle. Then Bel opened his net and enclosed her;the evil wind that seizes behind he sent before him. Tiamat opened her mouth to swallow it;he made the evil wind to enter so that she could not close her lips. The violence of the winds tortured her stomach, andher heart was prostrated, and her mouth was torn open. He swung the club; he shattered her stomach;he cut out her entrails; he divided her heart;he overpowered her and ended her life;he threw down her corpse; he stood upon it. When Tiamat who marched before them was conquered, he dispersed her forces, her host was overthrown, and the gods her allies who marched beside hertrembled and feared and turned their backs. They fled away to save their lives;they clung to one another, fleeing helplessly. He followed them and broke their arms;he flung his net and they are caught in the snare. Then filled they the world with their lamentations;they bear their sin and are shut up in prison, and the elevenfold creatures are troubled with fear. The host of spirits (?) who marched beside them (?)he throws into fetters and [binds] their hands, and [tramples] their opposition under him. And the god Kingu who [had been made leader over] them, he bound him also and did to him as to the [other] gods. And he took from him the tablets of destiny [that were on] his breast;he sealed them with his pen and hung them from his own breast. From the time he had bound and overmastered his foeshe led the illustrious foe captive like an ox, bringing to full completion the victory of Ansar over his antagonists. The warrior Merodach (thus) performed the purpose of Ea. Over the gods in bondage he strengthened his watch, andhe turned backwards Tiamat whom he had overpowered. Then Bel trampled on the body of Tiamat;with his club that spares not he smote her skull, he broke it and caused her blood to flow;the north wind bore it away to secret places. Then his fathers beheld, they rejoiced and were glad;they bade peace-offerings to be brought to him. And Bel rested; his body he fed;he strengthened his mind (?), he formed a clever plan, and he stripped her like a fish of her skin in two halves;one half he took and with it overshadowed the heavens;he stretched out the skin, he appointed watchersbidding them that her waters should not issue forth;he lit up the sky, the sanctuary rejoiced, and he set it over against the deep, the seat of Ea. Then Bel measured the form of the deep;as a palace like unto it he made E-Sarra (the upper firmament). The palace of the upper firmament, which he created as heaven, he caused Anu, Bel and Ea to inhabit as their stronghold. 

TABLET V. 

He made the stations of the great gods;he fixed the stars, even the twin-stars, to correspond with them;he ordained the year, appointing the signs of the Zodiac over it;for each of the twelve months he fixed three stars, from the day when the year issues forth to its close. He established the station of Jupiter that they might know their bounds, that they might not err, that they might not go astray in any way. He established the station of Bel and Ea along with himself. He opened also the gates on either side, the bolts he strengthened on the left hand and on the right, and in their midst he set the zenith. He illuminated the Moon-god that he might watch over the night, and ordained him for a guardian of the night that the time might be known, (saying): 'Month by month, without break, make full thine orb;at the beginning of the month, when the night begins, shine with thy horns that the heaven may know. On the seventh day, halve thy disk;stand upright on the Sabbath with the [first] half. At the going down of the sun [rise] on the horizon;stand opposite it [on the fourteenth day] in full splendour (?). [On the 15th] draw near to the path of the sun;[on the 21st] stand upright against it for the second time. "

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TABLET VI. (?)

The gods in their assembly created [the beasts], they made perfect the mighty [monsters];they caused the living creatures of the [field] to come forth, the cattle of the field, the wild beasts of the field, and the creeping things of the [field];[they fixed their habitations] for the living creatures [of the field][and] adorned [the dwelling-places] of the cattle and creeping things of the city;[they created] the multitude of creeping things, all the offspring [of the earth]!

XIII

A SUMERIAN ACCOUNT OF THE CREATION FROM THE CITY OF ERIDU

The glorious temple, the temple of the gods, in the holy place (of Eridu) had not yet been made;no reed had been brought forth, no tree had been created;no brick had been made, no roof had been formed;no house had been built, no city had been constructed;no city had been made, no dwelling-place prepared. Nippur had not been built, E-kur (the temple of Nippur) had not been constructed. Erech had not been built, E-Ana (the temple of Erech) had not been constructed. The deep had not been created, Eridu had not been constructed. The glorious temple, the temple of the gods, its seat had not been made. All lands were sea. When within the sea there arose a movement, on that day Eridu was built, E-Sagila was constructed, E-Sagila where the god Lugal-du-azaga dwells within the deep. Babylon was built, E-Sagila was completed. The gods and the spirits of the earth were created all together. The holy city (Eridu), the seat of the joy of their hearts, they proclaimed supreme. Merodach bound together a reed-bed on the waters;dust he made, and he poured it out on the reed-bed. That the gods might dwell in a seat of the joy of their hearts, he formed mankind. The goddess Aruru created the seed of mankind along with him. He made the beasts of the field and the living creatures of the desertHe made the Tigris and Euphrates and set them in their place;he declared their names to be good. The _ussu_-plant, the _dittu_-plant of the marshland, the reed and the forest he created. He created the verdure of the plain, the lands, the marshes, and the greensward also, oxen, and calves, the wild ox and its young, the sheep and the lamb, meadows and forests also. The he-goat and the gazelle brought forth (?) to him. Then Merodach heaped up an embankment at the edge of the sea;... As it had not before been made, ... He caused it to exist. [Bricks] he made in their place, ... Roofs he constructed;[houses he built], cities he constructed;[cities he made], dwelling-places he prepared;[Nippur he built], E-kur he constructed;[Erech he built], E-Ana he constructed.