Authorities J. Gardner Wilkinson: The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians. Adolph Erman: Life in Ancient Egypt. J. P. Mahaffy: Empire of the Ptolemies. James H. Brestead: Ancient Records of Egypt. CHAPTER VII CHALDEA, BABYLONIA, JUDEA AND PERSIA While only a small part of the people of Europe trace their descent from inhabitants of the territory in Asia now dominated by the Turks, religious teachings have caused them to regard some spot in or near this territory as the earliest home, not only of their own progenitors, but also of the whole human race. Egyptian civilization had its influence on Greeks and Romans, yet it has been far less regarded than that of the early people of the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris and the region bordering on the eastern end of the Mediterranean. It is impossible to accurately measure the extent to which the religion, morals, laws and governments now existing, not only throughout Europe but wherever Europeans dominate, have been moulded by the lessons transmitted to us from those people. Comparative philology teaches the kinship of people long supposed to be altogether foreign to each other, and the Persians, Brahmans of India, Germans and allied people of Europe are all assigned to one race. Nevertheless the influence of the civilization of ancient Chaldea, Babylonia, Persia, Media, Assyria, Palestine, Phoenicial and Greek Asia has not descended to us with the blood of ancestors but mainly by example and teachings. The Biblical account of creation fills a space which substantially all people fill with fanciful and romantic accounts of a beginning. Belief in a particular account usually depends on the educational influences to which the individual is subjected. Records reaching back to the origin of any race of people are of necessity wholly lacking. The earliest clear evidence of man and his works in the regions named is derived from the ruins of ancient cities. The oldest of these of which we have knowledge are of the Chaldeans, who occupied the lower valley of the Euphrates and Tigris and neighboring country. According to the Bible, the Israelites derived their origin from the city of Ur in Chaldea. "And Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran his son's son and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees to go unto the land of Canaan, and they came unto Haran and dwelt there".1 The first people of whom any accounts are attainable, were familiar with the leading mechanical arts, the use of money, the cultivation of the soil, the use of domestic animals and the art of writing. As in Egypt formal written contracts were common and are found on the clay tablets disclosed by recent excavations. Abraham bought land and paid for it in silver. There were cities and villages, merchants and traders as well as hunters, herdsmen and husbandmen. How much or what part of their arts, if any, were borrowed is not known. The earliest records introduce us to the land of Shinar with its cities of Babel, Erech, Accad and Calneh and out of this country went forth Asshur and builded Nineveh. From the earliest times throughout the whole region we are considering, with some exceptions hereafter noticed, the character of the governments, of which we have historic account, was military despotism without check or limitation on the power of the kings. Nothing can be more dreary than the recital of the rise and fall of successive dynasties, always tending to reproduce the same evils. Through the ancient tablets and cylinders, the Bible and the writings of historians, we are informed of the names and the military feats of many rulers styled successively, Chaldees, Babylonians, Assyrians, Medes, Persians, Parthians, Scythians, Bactrians, Arabs, Turks and Tartars. With all of them the fundamental idea of government has been similar if not identical, paternal kingly power. While this is clearly apparent, the structure of society at different periods has undoubtedly passed through many changes and modifications. These, owing to the vanity of kings and the lack of independent historians, are difficult to trace. The influence of the priesthood and of the religious 'Genesis XI-31. beliefs of the people has always been very great, and it is to this portion of the earth and neighboring portions of Asia, that we look as the birthplace of all the great religious systems, which have so profoundly impressed mankind, and which are now taught throughout the world. Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Christ and Mohammed have successively taught lessons which are accepted by generation after generation as the direct and authoritative expression of divine truth. The profound influence of these various teachings, not only on private morals but on governments, human laws, customs and the structure of society, is to be noticed everywhere. In the earliest times of which we have accounts, we find the people prone to have a special god or gods for each tribe or nation which gained a well defined status as such. The early Hebrews did not deny the existence of other gods besides Jehovah, but maintained his superiority. The Old Testament mentions numerous gods of the people with whom the Israelites contended, as really existing, but unworthy to be followed. The people were taught to be faithful to their own god. It is impossible to assign a date for the earliest general adoption of a belief in a single god, not only supreme in power but without rival or participant in authority. This singleness of spiritual power accorded with the human despotisms, which have flourished in that region, and contrasts with the sprightly pantheon of the Greeks, who were experimentalists and jealous of unrestrained authority. With an absolute despot at the head of the government, the distribution of inferior and local authority was on the same principle. Wherever the king delegated his power to a satrap of a district, he ruled as a despot, accountable only to the king. The general purpose of all the different rulers, of whatever particular nation they chanced to come, in extending their dominions, was to collect tribute. There seems to have been very little disposition to interfere with the modes of life of the people or the local governments, so long as the tribute was paid. Egyptian conquest in Asia merely meant tribute from Asia to the Pharaoh, and when Egypt became subject to the Assyrians, and afterward the Persians, Egypt paid tribute to the king. The taxes were collected by the local authorities, and the satrap accounted to the king for the full sum charged to his districts. Some things relating to the primary organization of society are known, polygamy and slavery were everywhere and at all times allowed. Surplus males were consumed in wars or converted into eunuchs for domestic service. The families and dependents of the rich were very numerous. Abraham's household as described in the Bible is doubtless typical of ancient as of modern patriarchal families. It is not to be understood, however, that all the people were included as members of such establishments. Babylon and Nineveh were very great cities. In order to maintain their vast multitudes of people, agriculture was carried on with great industry and success. Manufacturing flourished, and trade was extended to distant lands. The descriptions we have of the people of Babylon indicate that it had a vast combination of good and evil, like every other great city. That the people were industrious, skillful and intelligent is abundantly proved by history and the ruins still remaining. That they were fond of luxurious living and addicted to many vices hardly differentiates them from the dwellers in modern cities, yet some of their customs certainly appear most abominable. The recent discovery of the Code of Hammurabi affords us a copy of the written law of Babylon promulgated about 2250 years B.C. (Still more recent researches on the site of ancient Assur have brought to light tablets inscribed with parts of the Assyrian code, considerable fragments of which have been translated. Full summaries of the available parts of these codes are given in the appendix.) There is no better index of the state of the civilization of a people than the code of laws under which they live. It indicates their industrial and business activities, their vices, their superstitions and their views of social duty. How long these codes remained in force we are not informed. It was probably 1800 years later than the time of Hammurabi when Herodotus visited Babylon and many changes had taken place. He tells us that once in each vear in each village the maid |