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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16163-0.txt b/16163-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6340770 --- /dev/null +++ b/16163-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5055 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient +Eastern World, Vol 3. (of 7): Media, by George Rawlinson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 3. (of 7): Media + The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, + Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian + or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations. + +Author: George Rawlinson + +Illustrator: George Rawlinson + +Release Date: July 1, 2005 [EBook #16163] +Last Updated: September 6, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + + +THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES + +OF THE + +ANCIENT EASTERN WORLD; + + +OR, + + +THE HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AND ANTIQUITIES OF CHALDAEA, ASSYRIA + +BABYLON, MEDIA, PERSIA, PARTHIA, AND SASSANIAN, + +OR NEW PERSIAN EMPIRE. + + +BY + +GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A., + +CAMDEN PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD + + + +IN THREE VOLUMES. + + + +VOLUME II. + + + +WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS + + + + +THE THIRD MONARCHY. + + + +MEDIA. + + +[Illustration: MAP] + + + + +CHAPTER I. DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. + + +Along the eastern flank of the great Mesopotamian lowland, curving +round it on the north, and stretching beyond it to the south and the +south-east, lies a vast elevated region, or highland, no portion of +which appears to be less than 3000 feet above the sea-level. This +region may be divided, broadly, into two tracts, one consisting of lofty +mountainous ridges, which form its outskirts on the north and on the +west; the other, in the main a high flat table-land, extending from the +foot of the mountain chains, southward to the Indian Ocean, and eastward +to the country of the Afghans. The western mountain-country consists, +as has been already observed, of six or seven parallel ridges, having +a direction nearly from the north-west to the south-east, enclosing +between them, valleys of great fertility, and well watered by a large +number of plentiful and refreshing streams. This district was known to +the ancients as Zagros, while in modern geography it bears the names of +Kurdistan and Luristan. It has always been inhabited by a multitude of +warlike tribes, and has rarely formed for any long period a portion +of any settled monarchy. Full of torrents, of deep ravines, or rocky +summits, abrupt and almost inaccessible; containing but few passes, and +those narrow and easily defensible; secure, moreover, owing to the rigor +of its climate, from hostile invasion during more than half the year; +it has defied all attempts to effect its permanent subjugation, whether +made by Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Parthians, or Turks, and remains +to this day as independent of the great powers in its neighborhood as it +was when the Assyrian armies first penetrated its recesses. Nature seems +to have constructed it to be a nursery of hardy and vigorous men, a +stumbling-block to conquerors, a thorn in the side of every powerful +empire which arises in this part of the great eastern continent. + +The northern mountain country--known to modern geographers as Eiburz--is +a tract of far less importance. It is not composed, like Zagros, of +a number of parallel chains, but consists of a single lofty ridge, +furrowed by ravines and valleys, from which spurs are thrown +out, running in general at right angles to its axis. Its width is +comparatively slight; and instead of giving birth to numerous large +rivers, it forms only a small number of insignificant streams, often dry +in summer, which have short courses, being soon absorbed either by the +Caspian or the Desert. Its most striking feature is the snowy peak of +Demavend, which impends over Teheran, and appears to be the highest +summit in the part of Asia west of the Himalayas. + +The elevated plateau which stretches from the foot of those two mountain +regions to the south and east is, for the most part, a flat sandy +desert, incapable of sustaining more than a sparse and scanty +population. The northern and western portions are, however, less arid +than the east and south, being watered to some distance by the streams +that descend from Zagros and Elburz, and deriving fertility also from +the spring rains. Some of the rivers which flow from Zagros on this side +are large and strong. One, the Kizil-Uzen, reaches the Caspian. Another, +the Zenderud, fertilizes a large district near Isfahan. A third, the +Bendamir, flows by Persepolis and terminates in a sheet of water of +some size--lake Bakhtigan. A tract thus intervenes between the mountain +regions and the desert which, though it cannot be called fertile, is +fairly productive, and can support a large settled population. This +forms the chief portion of the region which the ancients called Media, +as being the country inhabited by the race on whose history we are about +to enter. + +Media, however, included, besides this, another tract of considerable +size and importance. At the north-western angle of the region above +described, in the corner whence the two great chains branch out to +the south and to the east, is a tract composed almost entirely of +mountains, which the Greeks called Atropatene, and which is now known +as Azerbijan. This district lies further to the north than the rest of +Media, being in the same parallels with the lower part of the Caspian +Sea. It comprises the entire basin of Lake Urumiyeh, together with the +country intervening between that basin and the high mountain chain which +curves round the south-western corner of the Caspian, It is a region +generally somewhat sterile, but containing a certain quantity of very, +fertile territory, more particularly in the Urumiyeh basin, and towards +the mouth of the river Araxes. + +The boundaries of Media are given somewhat differently by different +writers, and no doubt they actually varied at different periods; but the +variations were not great, and the natural limits, on three sides at any +rate, may be laid down with tolerable precision. Towards the north the +boundary was at first the mountain chain closing in on that side the +Urumiyeh basin, after which it seems to have been held that the true +limit was the Araxes, to its entrance on the low country, and then the +mountain chain west and south of the Caspian. Westward, the line of +demarcation may be best regarded as, towards the south, running along +the centre of the Zagros region; and, above this, as formed by that +continuation of the Zagros chain which separates the Urumiyeh from +the Van basin. Eastward, the boundary was marked by the spur from the +Elburz, across which lay the pass known as the Pylse Caspise, and below +this by the great salt desert, whose western limit is nearly in the +same longitude. Towards the south there was no marked line or natural +boundary; and it is difficult to say with any exactness how much of the +great plateau belonged to Media and how much to Persia. Having regard, +however, to the situation of Hamadan, which, as the capital, should have +been tolerably central, and to the general account which historians and +geographers give of the size of Media, we may place the southern limit +with much probability about the line of the thirty-second parallel, +which is nearly the present boundary between Irak and Fars. + +The shape of Media has been called a square; but it is rather a +long parallelogram, whose two principal sides face respectively the +north-east and the south-west, while the ends or shorter sides front to +the south-east and to the northwest. Its length in its greater direction +is about 600 miles, and its width about 250 miles. It must thus contain +nearly 150,000 square miles, an area considerably larger than that of +Assyria and Chaldaea put together, and quite sufficient to constitute a +state of the first class, even according to the ideas of modern Europe. +It is nearly one-fifth more than the area of the British Islands, and +half as much again as that of Prussia, or of peninsular Italy. It equals +three fourths of France, or three fifths of Germany. It has, moreover, +the great advantage of compactness, forming a single solid mass, with no +straggling or outlying portions; and it is strongly defended on almost +every side by natural barriers offering great difficulties to an +invader. + +In comparison with the countries which formed the seats of the two +monarchies already described, the general character of the Median +territory is undoubtedly one of sterility. The high table-land is +everywhere intersected by rocky ranges, spurs from Zagros, which have +a general direction from west to east, and separate the country into a +number of parallel broad valleys, or long plains, opening out into the +desert. The appearance of these ranges is almost everywhere bare, arid, +and forbidding. Above, they present to the eye huge masses of gray rock +piled one upon another; below, a slope of detritus, destitute of trees +or shrubs, and only occasionally nourishing a dry and scanty herbage. +The appearance of the plains is little superior; they are flat and +without undulations, composed in general of gravel or hard clay, and +rarely enlivened by any show of water; except for two months in +the spring, they exhibit to the eye a uniform brown expanse, almost +treeless, which impresses the traveller with a feeling of sadness and +weariness. Even in Azerbijan, which is one of the least arid portions +of the territory, vast tracks consist of open undulating downs, desolate +and sterile, bearing only a coarse withered grass and a few stunted +bushes. + +Still there are considerable exceptions to this general aspect of +desolation. In the worst parts of the region there is a time after +the spring rains when nature puts on a holiday dress, and the country +becomes gay and cheerful. The slopes at the base of the rocky ranges are +tinged with an emerald green: a richer vegetation springs up over the +plains, which are covered with a fine herbage or with a variety of +crops; the fruit trees which surround the villages burst out into the +most luxuriant blossom; the roses come into bloom, and their perfume +everywhere fills the air. For the two months of April and May the +whole face of the country is changed, and a lovely verdure replaces the +ordinary dull sterility. + +In a certain number of more favored spots beauty and fertility are +found during nearly the whole of the year. All round the shores of Lake +Urumiyeh, more especially in the rich plain of Miyandab at its southern +extremity, along the valleys of the Aras, the Kizil-uzen, and the +Jaghetu, in the great valley of Linjan, fertilized by irrigation from +the Zenderud, in the Zagros valleys, and in various other places, +there is an excellent soil which produces abundantly with very slight +cultivation. + +The general sterility of Media arises from the scantiness of the water +supply. It has but few rivers, and the streams that it possesses run for +the most part in deep and narrow valleys sunk below the general level of +the country, so that they cannot be applied at all widely to purposes of +irrigation. Moreover, some of them are, unfortunately, impregnated +with salt to such an extent that they are altogether useless for +this purpose; and indeed, instead of fertilizing, spread around +them desolation and barrenness. The only Median streams which are +of sufficient importance to require description are the Aras, the +Kizil-Uzen, the Jaghetu, the Aji-Su and the Zenderud, or river of +Isfahan. + +The Aras is only very partially a Median stream. It rises from several +sources in the mountain tract between Kars and Erzeroum, and runs with +a generally eastern direction through Armenia to the longitude of Mount +Ararat, where it crosses the fortieth parallel and begins to trend +southward, flowing along the eastern side of Ararat in a south-easterly +direction, nearly to the Julfa ferry on the high road from Erivan to +Tabriz. From this point it runs only a little south of east to long. +46° 30’ E. from Greenwich, when it makes almost a right angle and runs +directly north-east to its junction with the Kur at Djavat. Soon after +this it curves to the south, and enters the Caspian by several mouths in +lat. 39° 10’ nearly. The Aras is a considerable stream almost from its +source. At Hassan-Kaleh, less than twenty miles from Erzeroum, where +the river is forded in several branches, the water reaches to the +saddle-girths. At Keupri-Kieui, not much lower, the stream is crossed +by a bridge of seven arches. At the Julfa ferry it is fifty yards wide, +and runs with a strong current. At Megree, thirty miles further down, +its width is eighty yards. In spring and early summer the stream +receives enormous accessions from the spring rains and the melting of +the snows, which produce floods that often cause great damage to the +lands and villages along the valley. Hence the difficulty of maintaining +bridges over the Aras, which was noted as early as the time of Augustus, +and is attested by the ruins of many such structures remaining along its +course. Still, there are at the present day at least three bridges over +the stream--one, which has been already mentioned, at Keupri-Kieui, +another a little above Nakshivan, and the third at Khudoperinski, +a little below Megree. The length of the Aras, including only main +windings, is 500 miles. + +The Kizil-Uzen, or (as it is called in the lower part of its course) the +Sefid-Rud, is a stream of less size than the Aras, but more important +to Media, within which lies almost the whole of its basin. It drains a +tract of 180 miles long by 150 broad before bursting through the Elburz +mountain chain, and descending upon the low country which skirts the +Caspian. Rising in Persian Kurdistan almost from the foot of Zagros, +it runs in a meandering course with a general direction of north-east +through that province into the district of Khamseh, where it suddenly +sweeps round and flows in a bold curve at the foot of lofty and +precipitous rocks, first northwest and then north, nearly to Miana, when +it doubles back upon itself, and turning the flank of the Zenjan range +runs with a course nearly south-east to Menjil, after which it resumes +its original direction of north-east, and, rushing down the pass of +Budbar, crosses Ghilan to the Caspian. Though its source is in direct +distance no more than 320 miles from its mouth, its entire length, owing +to its numerous curves and meanders, is estimated at 490 miles. It is a +considerable stream, forded with difficulty, even in the dry season, as +high up as Karagul, and crossed by a bridge of three wide arches before +its junction with the Garongu river near Miana. In spring and early +summer it is an impetuous torrent, and can only be forded within a short +distance of its source. + +The Jaghetu and the Aji-Su are the two chief rivers of the Urumiyeh +basin. The Jaghetu rises from the foot of the Zagros chain, at a very +little distance from the source of the Kizil-Uzen. It collects the +streams from the range of hills which divides the Kizil-Uzen basin from +that of Lake Urumiyeh, and flows in a tolerably straight course first +north and then north-west to the south-eastern shore of the lake. Side +by side with it for some distance flows the smaller stream of the Tatau, +formed by torrents from Zagros; and between them, towards their mouths, +is the rich plain of Miyandab, easily irrigated from the two streams, +the level of whose beds is above that of the plain, and abundantly +productive even under the present system of cultivation. The Aji-Su +reaches the lake from the north-east. It rises from Mount Sevilan, +within sixty miles of the Caspian, and flows with a course which is at +first nearly due south, then north-west, and finally south-west, past +the city of Tabriz, to the eastern shore of the lake, which it enters in +lat. 37° 50’. The waters of the Aji-Su are, unfortunately, salt, and it +is therefore valueless for purposes of irrigation. + +The Zenderud or river of Isfahan rises from the eastern flank of the +Kuh-i-Zerd (Yellow Mountain), a portion of the Bakhti-yari chain, and, +receiving a number of tributaries from the same mountain district, flows +with a course which is generally east or somewhat north of east, past +the great city of Isfahan--so long the capital of Persia--into the +desert country beyond, where it is absorbed in irrigation. Its entire +course is perhaps not more than 120 or 130 miles; but running chiefly +through a plain region, and being naturally a stream of large size, +it is among the most valuable of the Median rivers, its waters being +capable of spreading fertility, by means of a proper arrangement of +canals, over a vast extent of country, and giving to this part of Iran a +sylvan character, scarcely found elsewhere on the plateau. + +It will be observed that of these streams there is not one which reaches +the ocean. All the rivers of the great Iranic plateau terminate in lakes +or inland seas, or else lose themselves in the desert. In general the +thirsty sand absorbs, within a short distance of their source, the +various brooks and streams which flow south and east into the desert +from the northern and western mountain chains, without allowing them to +collect into rivers or to carry fertility far into the plain region. The +the river of Isfahan forms the only exception to this rule within the +limits of the ancient Media. All its other important streams, as has +been seen, flow either into the Caspian or into the great lake of +Urumiyeh. + +That lake itself now requires our attention. It is an oblong basin, +stretching in its greater direction from N.N.W. to S.S. E., a distance +of above eighty miles, with an average width of about twenty-five miles. +On its eastern side a remarkable peninsula, projecting far into its +waters, divides it into two portions of very unequal size--a northern +and a southern. + +The southern one, which is the largest of the two, is diversified +towards its centre by a group of islands, some of which are of a +considerable size. The lake, like others in this part of Asia, is +several thousand feet above the sea level. Its waters are heavily +impregnated with salt, resembling those of the Dead Sea. No fish can +live in them. When a storm sweeps over their surface it only raises the +waves a few feet; and no sooner is it passed than they rapidly subside +again into a deep, heavy, death-like sleep. The lake is shallow, nowhere +exceeding four fathoms, and averaging about two fathoms--a depth which, +however, is rarely attained within two miles of the land. The water is +pellucid. To the eye it has the deep blue color of some of the northern +Italian lakes, whence it was called by the Armenians the Kapotan Zow or +“Blue Sea.” + +According to the Armenian geography, Media contained eleven districts; +Ptolemy makes the number eight; but the classical geographers in +general are contented with the twofold division already indicated, +and recognized at the constituent parts of Media only Atropatene (now +Azerbijan) and Media Magna, a tract which nearly corresponds with the +two provinces of Irak Ajemj and Ardelan. Of the minor subdivisions there +are but two or three which seem to deserve any special notice. One of +these is Ehagiana, or the tract skirting the Elburz Mountains from the +vicinity of the Kizil-Uzen (or Sefid-Eud) to the Caspian Gates, a long +and narrow slip, fairly productive, but excessively hot in summer, which +took its name from the important city of Rhages. Another is Nissea, a +name which the Medes seem to have carried with them from their early +eastern abodes, and to have applied to some high upland plains west +of the main chain of Zagros, which were peculiarly favorable to the +breeding of horses. As Alexander visited these pastures on his way from +Susa to Ecbatana, they must necessarily have lain to the south of the +latter city. Most probably they are to be identified with the modern +plains of Kbawah and Alishtar, between Behistun and Khorramabad, which +are even now considered to afford the best summer pasturage in Persia. + +It is uncertain whether any of these divisions were known in the time of +the great Median Empire. They are not constituted in any case by marked +natural lines or features. On the whole it is perhaps most probable +that the main division--that into Media Magna and Media Atropatene--was +ancient, Astro-patene being the old home of the Medes, and Media Magna a +later conquest; but the early political geography of the country is too +obscure to justify us in laying down even this as certain. The minor +political divisions are still less distinguishable in the darkness of +those ancient times. + +From the consideration of the districts which composed the Median +territory, we may pass to that of their principal cities, some of which +deservedly obtained a very great celebrity. Tho most important of all +were the two Ecbatanas--the northern and the southern--which seem to +have stood respectively in the position of metropolis to the northern +and the southern province. Next to these may be named Rhages, which was +probably from early times a very considerable place; while in the +third rank may be mentioned Bagistan--rather perhaps a palace than +a town--Concobar, Adrapan, Aspadan, Charax, Kudrus, Hyspaostes, +Urakagabarna, etc. + +The southern Ecbatana or Agbatana--which the Medes and Persians +themselves knew as Hagmatan--was situated, as we learn from Polybius and +Diodorus, on a plan at the foot of Mont Orontes, a little to the east of +the Zagros range. The notices of these authors, combined with those of +Eratosthenes, Isidore, Pliny, Arrian, and others, render it as nearly +certain as possible that the site was that of the modern town of +Hamadan, the name of which is clearly but a slight corruption of the +true ancient appellation. [PLATE I., Fig. 2.] Mount Orontes is to +be recognized in the modern Elwend or Erwend--a word etymologically +identical with _Oront-es_--which is a long and lofty mountains standing +out like a buttress from the Zagros range, with which it is connected +towards the north-west, while on every other side it stands isolated, +sweeping boldly down upon the flat country at its base. Copious streams +descend from the mountain on every side, more particularly to the +north-east, where the plain is covered with a carpet of the most +luxuriant verdure, diversified with rills, and ornamented with numerous +groves of large and handsome forest trees. It is here, on ground sloping +slightly away from the roots of the mountain, that the modern town, +which lies directly at its foot, is built. The ancient city, if we may +believe Diodorus, did not approach the mountain within a mile or a mile +and a half. At any rate, if it began where Hamadan now stands, it most +certainly extended very much further into the plain. We need not suppose +indeed that it had the circumference, or even half the circumference, +which the Sicilian romancer assigns to it, since his two hundred and +fifty stades would give a probable area of fifty square miles, more than +double that of London! Ecbatana is not likely to have been at its most +flourishing period a larger city than Nineveh; and we have already seen +that Nineveh covered a space, within the walls, of not more than 1800 +English acres. + +[Illustration: PLATE I.] + +The character of the city and of its chief edifices has, unfortunately, +to be gathered almost entirely from unsatisfactory authorities. Hitherto +it has been found possible in these volumes to check and correct the +statements of ancient writers, which are almost always exaggerated, +by an appeal to the incontrovertible evidence of modern surveys +and explorations. But the Median capital has never yet attracted a +scientific expedition. The travellers by whom it has been visited have +reported so unfavorably of its character as a field of antiquarian +research that scarcely a spadeful of soil has been dug, either in the +city or in its vicinity, with a view to recover traces of the ancient +buildings. Scarcely any remains of antiquity are apparent. As the site +has never been deserted, and the town has thus been subjected for nearly +twenty-two centuries to the destructive ravages of foreign conquerors, +and the still more injurious plunderings of native builders, anxious +to obtain materials for new edifices at the least possible cost and +trouble, the ancient structures have everywhere disappeared from sight, +and are not even indicated by mounds of a sufficient size to attract the +attention of common observers. Scientific explorers have consequently +been deterred from turning their energies in this direction; more +promising sites have offered and still offer themselves; and it is as +yet uncertain whether the plan of the old town might not be traced +and the position of its chief edifices fixed by the means of careful +researches conducted by fully competent persons. In this dearth of +modern materials we have to depend entirely upon the classical writers, +who are rarely trustworthy in their descriptions or measurements, and +who, in this instance, labor under the peculiar disadvantage of being +mere reporters of the accounts given by others. + +Ecbatana was chiefly celebrated for the magnificence of its palace, +a structure ascribed by Diodorus to Semiramis, but most probably +constructed originally by Cyaxares, and improved, enlarged, and +embellished by the Achaemenian monarchs. According to the judicious +and moderate Polybius, who prefaces his account by a protest against +exaggeration and over-coloring, the circumference of the building +was seven stades, or 1420 yards, somewhat more than four fifths of an +English mile. This size, which a little exceeds that of the palace +mound at Susa, while it is in its turn a little exceeded by the palatial +platform at Persepolis, may well be accepted as probably close to +the truth. Judging, however, from the analogy of the above-mentioned +palaces, we must conclude that the area thus assigned to the royal +residence was far from being entirely covered with buildings. One half +of the space, perhaps more, would be occupied by large open courts, +paved probably with marble, surrounding the various blocks of buildings +and separating them from one another. The buildings themselves may be +conjectured to have resembled those of the Achaemenian monarchs at Susa +and Persepolis, with the exception, apparently, that the pillars, which +formed their most striking characteristic, were for the most part of +wood rather than o£ stone. Polybius distinguishes the pillars into +two classes, those of the main buildings, and those which skirted the +courts, from which it would appear that at Ecbatana the courts were +surrounded by colonnades, as they were commonly in Greek and Roman +houses. These wooden pillars, all either of cedar or of cypress, +supported beams of a similar material, which crossed each other at right +angles, leaving square spaces between, which were then filled in with +woodwork. Above the whole a roof was placed, sloping at an angle, and +composed (as we are told) of silver plates in the shape of tiles. The +pillars, beams, and the rest of the woodwork were likewise coated with +thin laminse of the precious metals, even gold being used for this +purpose to a certain extent. + +Such seems to have been the character of the true ancient Median palace, +which served probably as a model to Darius and Xerxes when they designed +their great palatial edifices at the more southern capitals. In the +additions which the palace received under the Achaemenian kings, stone +pillars may have been introduced; and hence probably the broken shafts +and bases, so nearly resembling the Persepolitan, one of which Sir E. +Ker Porter saw in the immediate neighborhood of Hamadan on his visit +to that place in 1818. [PLATE I., Fig. 1.] But to judge from the +description of Polybius, an older and ruder style of architecture +prevailed in the main building, which depended for its effect not on the +beauty of architectural forms, but on the richness and costliness of the +material. A pillar architecture, so far as appears, began in this part +of Asia with the Medes, who, however, were content to use the more +readily obtained and more easily worked material of wood; while the +Persians afterwards conceived the idea of substituting for these +inartificial props the slender and elegant stone shafts which formed the +glory of their grand edifices. + +At a short distance from the palace was the “Acra,” or citadel, an +artificial structure, if we may believe Polybius, and a place of very +remarkable strength. Here probably was the treasury, from which Darius +Codomanus carried off 7000 talents of silver, when he fled towards +Bactria for fear of Alexander. And here, too, may have been the Record +Office, in which were deposited the royal decrees and other public +documents under the earlier Persian kings. Some travellers are of +opinion that a portion of the ancient structure still exists; and there +is certainly a ruin on the outskirts of the modern town towards the +south, which is known to the natives as “the inner fortress,” and which +may not improbably occupy some portion of the site whereon the original +citadel stood. But the remains of building which now exist are certainly +not of an earlier date than the era of Parthian supremacy, and they can +therefore throw no light on the character of the old Median stronghold. +It may be thought perhaps that the description which Herodotus gives +of the building called by him “the palace of Deioces” should be here +applied, and that by its means we might obtain an exact notion of the +original structure. But the account of this author is wholly at variance +with the natural features of the neighborhood, where there is no such +conical hill as he describes, but only a plain surrounded by mountains. +It seems, therefore, to be certain that either his description is a pure +myth, or that it applies to another city, the Ecbatana of the northern +province. It is doubtful whether the Median capital was at any time +surrounded with walls. Polybius expressly declares that it was an +unwalled place in his day and there is some reason to suspect that it +had always been in this condition. The Medes and Persians appear to have +been in general content to establish in each town a fortified citadel or +stronghold, round which the houses were clustered, without superadding +the further defence of a town wall. Ecbatana accordingly seems never to +have stood a siege. When the nation which held it was defeated in the +open field, the city (unlike Babylon and Nineveh) submitted to the +conqueror without a struggle. Thus the marvellous description in the +book of Judith, which is internally very improbable, would appear to be +entirely destitute of any, even the slightest, foundation in fact. + +The chief city of northern Media, which bore in later times the names of +Gaza, Gazaca, or Canzaca, is thought to have also been called Ecbatana, +and to have been occasionally mistaken by the Greeks for the southern or +real capital. The description of Herodotus, which is irreconcilably +at variance with the local features of the Hamadan site, accords +sufficiently with the existing remains of a considerable city in the +province of Azerbijan; and it seems certainly to have been a city in +these parts which was called by Moses of Chorene “the second Ecbatana, +the seven-walled town.” The peculiarity of this place was its situation +on and about a conical hill which sloped gently down from its summit +to its base, and allowed of the interposition of seven circuits of wall +between the plain and the hill’s crest. At the top of the hill, within +the innermost circle of the defences, were the Royal Palace and +the treasuries; the sides of the hill were occupied solely by the +fortifications; and at the base, outside the circuit of the outermost +wall, were the domestic and other buildings which constituted the town. +According to the information received by Herodotus, the battlements +which crowned the walls were variously colored. Those of the outer +circle were white, of the next black, of the third scarlet, of the +fourth blue, of the fifth orange, of the sixth silver, and of the +seventh gold. A pleasing or at any rate a striking effect was thus +produced--the citadel, which towered above the town, presenting to the +eye seven distinct rows of colors. + +If there was really a northern as well as a southern Ecbatana, and if +the account of Herodotus, which cannot possibly apply to the southern +capital, may be regarded as truly describing the great city of the +north, we may with much probability fix the site of the northern town +at the modern Takht-i-Suleiman, in the upper valley of the Saruk, a +tributary of the Jaghetu. [PLATE I., Fig. 3.] Here alone in northern +Media are there important ruins occupying such a position as that which +Herodotus describes. Near the head of a valley in which runs the main +branch of the Saruk, at the edge of the hills which skirt it to the +north, there stands a conical mound projecting into the vale and rising +above its surface to the height of 150 feet. The geological formation of +the mound is curious in the extreme. It seems to owe its origin entirely +to a small lake, the waters of which are so strongly impregnated with +calcareous matter that wherever they overflow they rapidly form a +deposit which is as hard and firm as natural rock. If the lake was +originally on a level with the valley, it would soon have formed +incrustations round its edge, which every casual or permanent overflow +would have tended to raise; and thus, in the course of ages, the entire +hill may have been formed by a mere accumulation of petrefactions. The +formation would progress more or less rapidly according to the tendency +of the lake to overflow its bounds; which tendency must have been strong +until the water reached its present natural level--the level, probably, +of some other sheet of water in the hills, with which it is connected +by an underground siphon. The lake, which is of an irregular shape, +is about 300 paces in circumference. Its water, notwithstanding the +quantity of mineral matter held in solution, is exquisitely clear, and +not unpleasing to the taste. Formerly it was believed by the natives to +be unfathomable; but experiments made in 1837 showed the depth to be no +more than 156 feet. + +The ruins which at present occupy this remarkable site consist of a +strong wall, guarded by numerous bastions and pierced by four gateways, +which runs round the brow of the hill in a slightly irregular ellipse, +of some interesting remains of buildings within this walled space, and +of a few insignificant traces of inferior edifices on the slope between +the plain and the summit. As it is not thought that any of these remains +are of a date anterior to the Sassanian kingdom, no description will be +given of them here. We are only concerned with the Median city, and that +has entirely disappeared. Of the seven walls, one alone is to be traced; +and even here the Median structure has perished, and been replaced by +masonry of a far later age. Excavations may hereafter bring, to light +some remnants of the original town, but at present research has done no +more than recover for us a forgotten site. + +The Median city next in importance to the two Ecbatanas was Raga or +Rhages, near the Caspian Gates, almost at the extreme eastern limits of +the territory possessed by the Medes. + +The great antiquity of this place is marked by its occurrence in the +Zendavesta among the primitive settlements of the Arians. Its celebrity +during the time of the Empire is indicated by the position which it +occupies in the romances of Tobit and Judith. It maintained its rank +under the Persians, and is mentioned by Darius Hystaspis as the scene of +the struggle which terminated the great Median revolt. The last Darius +seems to have sent thither his heavy baggage and the ladies of his +court, when he resolved to quit Ecbatana and fly eastward. It has been +already noticed that Rhages gave name to a district; and this district +maybe certainly identified with the long narrow tract of fertile +territory intervening between the Elburz mountain-range and the desert, +from about Kasvin to Khaar, or from long. 30° to 52° 30’. The exact site +of the city of Rhages within this territory is somewhat doubtful. All +accounts place it near the eastern extremity; and as there are in this +direction ruins of a town called Rhei or Rhey, it has been usual to +assume that they positively fix the locality. But similarity, or even +identity, of name is an insufficient proof of a site; and, in the +present instance, there are grounds for placing Rhages very much nearer +to the Caspian Gates than the position of Rhei. Arrian, whose accuracy +is notorious, distinctly states that from the Gates to Rhages was only a +single day’s march, and that Alexander accomplished the distance in that +time. Now from Rhei to the Girduni Surdurrah pass, which undoubtedly +represents the Pylae Cacpise of Arrian, is at least fifty miles, a +distance which no army could accomplish in less time than two days. +Rhages consequently must have been considerably to the east of +Rhei, about half-way between it and the celebrated pass which it was +considered to guard. Its probable position is the modern Kaleh Erij, +near Veramin, about 23 miles from the commencement of the Surdurrah +pass, where there are considerable remains of an ancient town. + +In the same neighborhood with Rhages, but closer to the Straits, perhaps +on the site now occupied by the ruins known as Uewanukif, or possibly +even nearer to the foot of the pass, was the Median city of Charax, a +place not to be confounded with the more celebrated city called Gharax +Spasini, the birthplace of Dionysius the geographer, which was on the +Persian Gulf, at the mouth of the Tigris. + +The other Median cities, whose position can be determined with an +approach to certainty, were in the western portion of the country, in +the range of Zagros, or in the fertile tract between that range and the +desert. The most important of these are Bagistan, Adrapan, Concobar, and +Aspadan. + +Bagistan is described by Isidore as a “city situated on a hill, where +there was a pillar and a statue of Semiramis.” Diodorus has an account +of the arrival of Semiramis at the place, of her establishing a royal +park or paradise in the plain below the mountain, which was watered +by an abundant spring, of her smoothing the face of the rock where it +descended precipitously upon the low ground, and of her carving on the +surface thus obtained her own effigy, with an inscription in Assyrian +characters. The position assigned to Bagistan by both writers, and the +description of Diodorus, identify the place beyond a doubt with the now +famous Behistun, where the plain, the fountain, the precipitous rock, +and the scarped surface are still to be seen, through the supposed +figure of Semiramis, her pillar, and her inscription have disappeared. +[PLATE II., Fig. 1.] This remarkable spot, lying on the direct route +between Babylon and Ecbatana, and presenting the unusual combination of +a copious fountain, a rich plain, and a rock suitable for sculptures, +must have early attracted the attention of the great monarchs who +marched their armies through the Zagros range, as a place where they +might conveniently set up memorials of their exploits. The works of this +kind ascribed by the ancient writers to Semiramis were probably either +Assyrian or Babylonian, and (it is most likely) resembled the ordinary +monuments which the kings of Babylon and Nineveh delighted to erect +in countries newly conquered. The example set by the Mesopotamians was +followed by their Arian neighbors, when the supremacy passed into +their hands; and the famous mountain, invested by them with a sacred +character, was made to subserve and perpetuate their glory by receiving +sculptures and inscriptions which showed them to have become the lords +of Asia. The practice did not even stop here. When the Parthian kingdom +of the Arsacidee had established itself in these parts at the expense +of the Seleucidse, the rock was once more called upon to commemorate +the warlike triumphs of a new race. Gotarzes, the contemporary of the +Emperor Claudius, after defeating his rival Meherdates in the plain +between Behistun and Kermanshah, inscribed upon the mountain, which +already bore the impress of the great monarchs of Assyria and Persia, a +record of his recent victory. + +[Illustration: PLATE II.] + +The name of Adrapan occurs only in Isidore, who places it between +Bagistan and Ecbatana, at the distance of twelve schoeni--36 Roman or 34 +British miles from the latter. It was, he says, the site of an ancient +palace belonging to Ecbatana, which Tigranes the Armenian had destroyed. +The name and situation sufficiently identify Adrapan with the modern +village of Arteman, which lies on the southern face of Elwend near +its base, and is well adapted for a royal residence. Here, during the +severest winter, when Hamadan and the surrounding country are buried in +snow, a warm and sunny climate is to be found; whilst in the summer +a thousand rills descending from Elwend diffuse around fertility +and fragrance. Groves of trees grow up in rich luxuriance from the +well-irrigated soil, whose thick foliage affords a welcome shelter from +the heat of the noonday sun. The climate, the gardens, and the manifold +blessings of the place are proverbial throughout Persia; and naturally +caused the choice of the site for a retired palace, to which the court +of Ecbatana might adjourn when either the summer heat and dust or the +winter cold made residence in the capital irksome. + +In the neighborhood of Adrapan, on the road leading to Bagistan, stood +Concobar, which is undoubtedly the modern Kungawar, and perhaps the +Chavon of Diodorus. Here, according to the Sicilian historian, Semiramis +built a palace and laid out a paradise; and here, in the time of +Isidore, was a famous temple of Artemis. Colossal ruins crown the summit +of the acclivity on which the town of Kungawar stands, which may be the +remains of this latter building; but no trace has been found that can be +regarded as either Median or Assyrian. + +The Median town of Aspadan, which is mentioned by no writer but Ptolemy, +would scarcely deserve notice here, if it were not for its modern +celebrity. Aspadan, corrupted into Isfahan, became the capital of +Persia, under the Sen kings, who rendered it one of the most magnificent +cities of Asia. It is uncertain whether it existed at all in the time +of the great Median empire. If so, it was, at best, an outlying town of +little consequence on the extreme southern confines of the territory, +where it abutted upon Persia proper. The district wherein it lay was +inhabited by the Median tribe of the Parastaceni. + +Upon the whole it must be allowed that the towns of Media were few +and of no great account. The Medes did not love to congregate in large +cities, but preferred to scatter themselves in villages over their +broad and varied territory. The protection of walls, necessary for +the inhabitants of the low Mesopotamian regions, was not required by a +people whose country was full of natural fastnesses to which they could +readily remove on the approach of danger. Excepting the capital and +the two important cities of Gazaca and Rhages, the Median towns were +insignificant. Even those cities themselves were probably of moderate +dimensions, and had little of the architectural splendor which gives +so peculiar an interest to the towns of Mesopotamia. Their principal +buildings were in a frail and perishable material, unsuited to bear the +ravages of time; they have consequently altogether disappeared, and in +the whole of Media modern researches have failed to bring to light a +single edifice which can be assigned with any show of probability to the +period of the Empire. + +The plan adopted in former portions of this work makes it necessary, +before concluding this chapter, to glance briefly at the character of +the various countries and districts by which Media was bordered--the +Caspian district upon the north, Armenia upon the north-west, the Zagros +region and Assyria upon the west, Persia proper upon the south, and upon +the east Sagartia and Parthia. + +North and north-east of the mountain range which under different names +skirts the southern shores of the Caspian Sea and curves round +its south-western corner, lies a narrow but important strip of +territory--the modern Ghilan and Mazanderan. [PLATE II., Fig. 2.] This +is a most fertile region, well watered and richly wooded, and forms one +of the most valuable portions of the modern kingdom of Persia. At first +it is a low flat tract of deep alluvial soil, but little raised above +the level of the Caspian; gradually however it rises into swelling +hills which form the supports of the high mountains that shut in this +sheltered region, a region only to be reached by a very few passes over +or through them. The mountains are clothed on this side nearly to their +summit with dwarf oaks, or with shrubs and brushwood; while, lower +down, their flanks are covered with forests of elms, cedars, chestnuts, +beeches, and cypress trees. The gardens and orchards of the natives +are of the most superb character; the vegetation is luxuriant; lemons, +oranges, peaches, pomegranates, besides other fruits, abound; rice, +hemp, sugar-canes, mulberries are cultivated with success; vines grow +wild; and the valleys are strewn with flowers of rare fragrance, among +which may be noted the rose, the honeysuckle, and the sweetbrier. +Nature, however, with her usual justice, has balanced these +extraordinary advantages with peculiar drawbacks; the tiger, unknown +in any other part of Western Asia, here lurks in the thickets, ready to +spring at any moment on the unwary traveller; inundations are frequent, +and carry desolation far and wide; the waters, which thus escape from +the river beds, stagnate in marshes, and during the summer and autumn +heats pestilential exhalations arise, which destroy the stranger, +and bring even the acclimatized native to the brink of the grave. The +Persian monarch chooses the southern rather than the northern side of +the mountains for the site of his capital, preferring the keen winter +cold and dry summer heat of the high and almost waterless plateau to the +damp and stifling air of the low Caspian region. + +The narrow tract of which this is a description can at no time have +sheltered a very numerous or powerful people. During the Median period, +and for many ages afterwards, it seems to have been inhabited by various +petty tribes of predatory habits--Cadusians, Mardi, Tapyri, etc.,--who +passed their time in petty quarrels among themselves, and in plundering +raids upon their great southern neighbor. Of these tribes the Cadusians +alone enjoyed any considerable reputation. They were celebrated for +their skill with the javelin--a skill probably represented by the modern +Persian use of the _djereed_. According to Diodorus, they were engaged +in frequent wars with the Median kings, and were able to bring into the +field a force of 200,000 men! Under the Persians they seem to have been +considered good soldiers, and to have sometimes made a struggle for +independence. But there is no real reason to believe that they were +of such strength as to have formed at any time a danger to the Median +kingdom, to which it is more probable that they generally acknowledged a +qualified subjection. + +The great country of Armenia, which lay north-west and partly north of +Media, has been generally described in the first volume; but a few +words will be here added with respect to the more eastern portion, which +immediately bordered upon the Median territory. This consisted of +two outlying districts, separated from the rest of the country, the +triangular basin of Lake Van, and the tract between the Kur and +Aras rivers--the modern Karabagh and Erivan. The basin of Lake Van, +surrounded by high ranges, and forming the very heart of the mountain +system of this part of Asia, is an isolated region, a sort of natural +citadel, where a strong military power would be likely to establish +itself. Accordingly it is here, and here alone in all Armenia, that we +find signs of the existence, during the Assyrian and Median periods, of +a great organized monarchy. + +The Van inscriptions indicate to us a line of kings who bore sway in the +eastern Armenia--the true Ararat--and who were both in civilization +and in military strength far in advance of any of the other princes who +divided among them the Armenian territory. The Van monarchs may have +been at times formidable enemies of the Medes. They have left traces of +their dominion, not only on the tops of the mountain passes which lead +into the basin of Lake Urumiyeh, but even in the comparatively low plain +of Miyandab on the southern shore of that inland sea. It is probable +from this that they were at one time masters of a large portion of Media +Atropatene, and the very name of Urumiyeh, which still attaches to the +lake, may have been given to it from one of their tribes. In the tract +between the Kur and Aras, on the other hand, there is no sign of +the early existence of any formidable power. Here the mountains are +comparatively low, the soil is fertile, and the climate temperate. The +character of the region would lead its inhabitants to cultivate the arts +of peace rather than those of war, and would thus tend to prevent them +from being formidable or troublesome to their neighbors. + +The Zagros region, which in the more ancient times separated between +Media and Assyria, being inhabited by a number of independent tribes, +but which was ultimately absorbed into the more powerful country, +requires no notice here, having been sufficiently described among the +tracts by which Assyria was bordered. At first a serviceable shield +to the weak Arian tribes which were establishing themselves along its +eastern base upon the high plateau, it gradually passed into their +possession as they increased in strength, and ultimately became a main +nursery of their power, furnishing to their armies vast numbers both of +men and horses. The great horse pastures, from which the Medes first and +the Persians afterwards, supplied their numerous and excellent +cavalry, were in this quarter; and the troops which it furnished--hardy +mountaineers accustomed to brave the severity of a most rigorous +climate--must have been among the most effective of the Median forces. + +On the south Media was bounded by Persia proper--a tract which +corresponded nearly with the modern province of Farsistan. The complete +description of this territory, the original seat of the Persian nation, +belongs to a future volume of this work, which will contain an account +of the “Fifth Monarchy.” For the present it is sufficient to observe +that the Persian territory was for the most part a highland, very +similar to Media, from which it was divided by no strongly marked line +or natural boundary. The Persian mountains are a continuation of the +Zagros chain, and Northern Persia is a portion--the southern portion--of +the same great plateau, whose western and north-western skirts formed +the great mass of the Median territory. Thus upon this side Media was +placed in the closest connection with an important country, a country +similar in character to her own, where a hardy race was likely to grow +up, with which she might expect to have difficult contests. + +Finally, towards the east lay the great salt desert, sparsely inhabited +by various nomadic races, among which the most important were the +Cossseans and the Sagartians. To the latter people Herodotus seems to +assign almost the whole of the sandy region, since he unites them with +the Sarangians and Thamanseans on the one hand, with the Utians and +Mycians upon the other. They were a wild race, probably of Arian origin, +who hunted with the lasso over the great desert mounted on horses, and +could bring into the field a force of eight or ten thousand men. Their +country, a waste of sand and gravel, in parts thickly encrusted with +salt, was impassable to an army, and formed a barrier which effectively +protected Media along the greater portion of her eastern frontier. +Towards the extreme north-east the Sagartians were replaced by the +Cossseans and the Parthians, the former probably the people of the +Siah-Koh mountain, the latter the inhabitants of the tract known now +as the Atak, or “skirt,” which extends along the southern flank of the +Elburz range from the Caspian Gates nearly to Herat, and is capable +of sustaining a very considerable population. The Cossseans were +plunderers, from whose raids Media suffered constant annoyance; but they +were at no time of sufficient strength to cause any serious fear. +The Parthians, as we learn from the course of events, had in them the +materials of a mighty people; but the hour for their elevation and +expansion was not yet come, and the keenest observer of Median times +could scarcely have perceived in them the future lords of Western Asia. +From Parthia, moreover, Media was divided by the strong rocky spur which +runs out from the Elburz into the desert in long. 52° 10’ nearly, over +which is the narrow pass already mentioned as the Caspian Gates. Thus +Media on most sides was guarded by the strong natural barriers of seas, +mountains, and deserts lying open only on the south, where she adjoined +upon a kindred people. Her neighbors were for the most part weak in +numbers, though warlike. Armenia, however, to the north-west, Assyria to +the west, and Persia to the south, were all more or less formidable. +A prescient eye might have foreseen that the great struggles of +Media would be with these powers, and that if she attained imperial +proportions it must be by their subjugation or absorption. + + + + +CHAPTER II. CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. + + +Media, like Assyria, is a country of such extent and variety that, in +order to give a correct description of its climate, we must divide it +into regions. Azerbijan, or Atropatene, the most northern portion, has +a climate altogether cooler than the rest of Media; while in the more +southern division of the country there is a marked difference between +the climate of the east and of the west, of the tracts lying on the +high plateau and skirting the Great Salt Desert, and of those contained +within or closely abutting upon the Zagros mountain range. The +difference here is due to the difference of physical conformation, which +is as great as possible, the broad mountainous plains about Kasvin, +Koum, and Kashan, divided from each other by low rocky ridges, offering +the strongest conceivable contrast to the perpetual alternations of +mountain and valley, precipitous height and deep wooded glen, which +compose the greater part of the Zagros region. + +The climate of Azerbijan is temperate and pleasant, though perhaps +somewhat overwarm, in summer; while in winter it is bitterly severe, +colder than that of almost any other region in the same latitude. This +extreme rigor seems to be mainly owing to elevation, the very valleys +and valley plains of the tract being at a height of from 4000 to 5000 +feet above the sea level. Frost commonly sets in towards the end of +November--or at latest early in December; snow soon covers the ground +to the depth of several feet; the thermometer falls below zero; the sun +shines brightly except when from time to time fresh deposits of snow +occur; but a keen and strong wind usually prevails, which is represented +as “cutting like a sword,” and being a very “assassin of life.” Deaths +from cold are of daily occurrence; and it is impossible to travel +without the greatest risk. Whole companies or caravans occasionally +perish beneath the drift, when the wind is violent, especially if a +heavy fall happen to coincide with one of the frequent easterly gales. +The severe weather commonly continues till March, when travelling +becomes possible, but the snow remains on much of the ground till May, +and on the mountains still longer. The spring, which begins in April, is +temperate and delightful; a sudden burst of vegetation succeeds to the +long winter lethargy; the air is fresh and balmy, the sun pleasantly +warm, the sky generally cloudless. In the month of May the heat +increases--thunder hangs in the air--and the valleys are often close +and sultry. Frequent showers occur, and the hail-storms are sometimes so +violent as to kill the cattle in the fields. As the summer advances the +heats increase, but the thermometer rarely reaches 90° in the shade, and +except in the narrow valleys the air is never oppressive. The autumn is +generally very fine. Foggy mornings are common; but they are succeeded +by bright pleasant days, without wind or rain. On the whole the climate +is pronounced healthy, though somewhat trying to Europeans, who do not +readily adapt themselves to a country where the range of the thermometer +is as much as 90° or 100°. In the part of Media situated on the great +plateau--the modern Irak Ajemi--in which are the important towns of +Teheran, Isfahan, Hamadan, Kashan, Kasvin, and Koum. the climate is +altogether warmer than in Azerbijan, the summers being hotter, and the +winters shorter and much less cold. Snow indeed covers the ground +for about three months, from early in December till March; but the +thermometer rarely shows more than ten or twelve degrees of frost, and +death from cold is uncommon. The spring sets in about the beginning of +March, and is at first somewhat cool, owing to the prevalence of the +_baude caucasan_ or north wind,a which blows from districts where the +snow still lies. But after a little time the weather becomes delicious; +the orchards are a mass of blossom; the rose gardens come into bloom; +the cultivated lands are covered with springing crops; the desert itself +wears a light livery of green. Every sense is gratified; the nightingale +bursts out with a full gush of song; the air plays softly upon the +cheek, and comes loaded with fragrance. Too soon, however, this charming +time passes away, and the summer heats begin, in some places as early as +June 18 The thermometer at midday rises to 90 or 100 degrees. Hot gusts +blow from the desert, sometimes with great violence. The atmosphere is +described as choking; and in parts of the plateau it is usual for the +inhabitants to quit their towns almost in a body, and retire for several +months into the mountains. This extreme heat is, however, exceptional; +in most parts of the plateau the summer warmth is tempered by cool +breezes from the surrounding mountains, on which there is always a good +deal of snow. At Hamadan, which, though on the plain, is close to the +mountains, the thermometer seems scarcely ever to rise above 90°, and +that degree of heat is attained only for a few hours in the day. The +mornings and evenings are cool and refreshing; and altogether the +climate quite justifies the choice of the Persian monarchs, who selected +Ecbatana for their place of residence during the hottest portion of the +year. Even at Isfahan, which is on the edge of the desert, the heat is +neither extreme nor prolonged. The hot gusts which blow from the east +and from the south raise the temperature at times nearly to a hundred +degrees; but these oppressive winds alternate with cooler breezes from +the west, often accompanied by rain; and the average highest temperature +during the day in the hottest month, which is August, does not exceed +90°. + +A peculiarity in the climate of the plateau which deserves to be noticed +is the extreme dryness of the atmosphere. In summer the rains which fall +are slight, and they are soon absorbed by the thirsty soil. There is a +little dew at nights, especially in the vicinity of the few streams; +but it disappears with the first hour of sunshine, and the air is left +without a particle of moisture. In winter the dryness is equally +great; frost taking the place of heat, with the same effect upon the +atmosphere. Unhealthy exhalations are thus avoided, and the salubrity of +the climate is increased; but the European will sometimes sigh for the +soft, balmy airs of his own land, which have come flying over the sea, +and seem to bring their wings still dank with the ocean spray. + +Another peculiarity of this region, produced by the unequal rarefaction +of the air over its different portions, is the occurrence, especially in +spring and summer, of sudden gusts, hot or cold, which blow with great +violence. These gusts are sometimes accompanied with, whirlwinds, which +sweep the country in different directions, carrying away with them +leaves, branches, stubble, sand, and other light substances, and causing +great annoyance to the traveller. They occur chiefly in connection with +a change of wind, and are no doubt consequent on the meeting of two +opposite currents. Their violence, however, is moderate, compared +with that of tropical tornadoes, and it is not often that they do any +considerable damage to the crops over which they sweep. + +One further characteristic of the flat region may be noticed. The +intense heat of the summer sun striking on the dry sand or the saline +efflorescence of the desert throws the air over them into such a state +of quivering undulation as produces the most wonderful and varying +effects, distorting the forms of objects, and rendering the most +familiar strange and hard to be recognized. A mud bank furrowed by the +rain will exhibit the appearance of a magnificent city, with columns, +domes, minarets, and pyramids; a few stunted bushes will be transformed +into a forest of stately trees; a distant mountain will, in the space of +a minute, assume first the appearance of a lofty peak, then swell out at +the top, and resemble a mighty mushroom, next split into several parts, +and finally settle down into a flat tableland. Occasionally, though not +very often that semblance of water is produced which Europeans are are +apt to suppose the usual effect of mirage. The images of objects are +reflected at their base in an inverted position; the desert seems +converted into a vast lake; and the thirsty traveller, advancing towards +it, finds himself the victim of an illusion, which is none the less +successful because he has been a thousand times forewarned of its +deceptive power. + +In the mountain range or Zagros and the tracts adjacent to it, the +climate, owing to the great differences of elevation, is more varied +than in the other parts of the ancient Media. Severe cold prevails in +the higher mountain regions for seven months out of the twelve, while +during the remaining five the heat is never more than moderate. In +the low valleys, on the contrary, and in other favored situations, the +winters are often milder than on the plateau; while in the summers, if +the heat is not greater, at any rate it is more oppressive. Owing to the +abundance of the streams and proximity of the melting snows, the air is +moist; and the damp heat, which stagnates in the valleys, broods fever +and ague. Between these extremes of climate and elevation, every variety +is to be found; and, except in winter, a few hours’ journey will almost +always bring the traveller into a temperate region. + +In respect of natural productiveness, Media (as already observed) +differs exceedingly in different, and even in adjacent, districts. The +rocky ridges of the great plateau, destitute of all vegetable mold, are +wholly bare and arid, admitting not the slightest degree of cultivation. +Many of the mountains of Azerbijan, naked, rigid, and furrowed, may +compare even with these desert ranges for sterility. The higher parts +of Zagros and Elburz are sometimes of the same character; but more often +they are thickly clothed with forests, affording excellent timber and +other valuable commodities. In the Elburz pines are found near the +summit, while lower down there occur, first the wild almond and the +dwarf oak, and then the usual timber-trees of the country, the Oriental +plane, the willow, the poplar, and the walnut. The walnut grows to a +large size both here and in Azerbijan, but the poplar is the wood most +commonly used for building purposes. In Zagros, besides most of these +trees, the ash and the terebinth or turpentine-tree are common; the oak +bears gall-nuts of a large size; and the gum-tragacanth plant frequently +clothes the mountain-sides. The valleys of this region are full of +magnificent orchards, as are the low grounds and more sheltered nooks of +Azerbijan. The fruit-trees comprise, besides vines and mulberries, the +apple, the pear, the quince, the plum, the cherry, the almond, the nut, +the chestnut, the olive, the peach, the nectarine, and the apricot. + +On the plains of the high plateau there is a great scarcity of +vegetation. Trees of a large size grow only in the few places which are +well watered, as in the neighborhood of Hamadan, Isfahan, and in a +less degree of Kashan. The principal tree is the Oriental plane, which +flourishes together with poplars and willows along the water-courses; +cypresses also grow freely; elms and cedars are found, and the orchards +and gardens contain not only the fruit-trees mentioned above, but also +the jujube, the cornel, the filbert, the medlar, the pistachio nut, the +pomegranate, and the fig. Away from the immediate vicinity of the rivers +and the towns, not a tree, scarcely a bush, is to be seen. The common +thorn is indeed tolerably abundant in a few places; but elsewhere the +tamarisk and a few other sapless shrubs are the only natural products of +this bare and arid region. + +In remarkable contrast with the natural barrenness of this wide tract +are certain favored districts in Zagros and Azerbijan, where the herbage +is constant throughout the summer, and sometimes only too luxuriant. +Such are the rich and extensive grazing grounds of Khawah and Alishtar, +near Kermanshah, the pastures near Ojan and Marand, and the celebrated +Chowal Moghan or plain of Moghan, on the lower course of the Araxes +river, where the grass is said to grow sufficiently high to cover a +man on horseback. These, however, are rare exceptions to the general +character of the country, which is by nature unproductive, and scarcely +deserving even of the qualified encomium of Strabo. + +Still Media, though deficient in natural products, is not ill adapted +for cultivation. The Zagros valleys and hillsides produce under a very +rude system of agriculture, besides the fruits already noticed, rice, +wheat, barley, millet, sesame, Indian corn, cotton, tobacco, mulberries, +cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and the castor-oilplant. In Azerbijan the +soil is almost all cultivable, and if ploughed and sown will bring good +crops of the ordinary kinds of grain. Even on the side of the desert, +where Nature has shown herself most niggardly, and may seem perhaps to +deserve the reproach of Cicero, that she behaves as a step mother to +a man rather than as a mother, a certain amount of care and scientific +labor may render considerable tracts fairly productive. The only want +of this region is water; and if the natural deficiency of this necessary +fluid can be anyhow supplied, all parts of the plateau will bear crops, +except those which form the actual Salt Desert. In modern, and still +more in ancient times, this fact has been clearly perceived, and an +elaborate system of artifical irrigation, suitable to the peculiar +circumstances of the country, has been very widely established. The +system of _kanats_, as they are called at the present day, aims at +utilizing to the uttermost all the small streams and rills which descend +towards the desert from the surrounding mountains, and at conveying +as far as possible into the plain the spring water, which is the +indispensable condition of cultivation in a country where--except for +a few days in the spring and autumn--rain scarcely ever falls. As the +precious element would rapidly evaporate if exposed to the rays of the +summer sun, the Iranian husbandman carries his conduit underground, +laboriously tunnelling through the stiff argillaceous soil, at a depth +of many feet below the surface. The mode in which he proceeds is as +follows. At intervals along the line of his intended conduit he first +sinks shafts, which he then connects with one another by galleries, +seven or eight feet in height, giving his galleries a slight incline, +so that the water may run down them freely, and continuing them till he +reaches a point where he wishes to bring the water out upon the surface +of the plain. Here and there, at the foot of his shafts, he digs wells, +from which the fluid can readily be raised by means of a bucket and a +windlass; and he thus brings under cultivation a considerable belt of +land along the whole line of the _kanat_, as well as a large tract at +its termination. These conduits, on which the cultivation of the plateau +depends, were established at so remote a date that they were popularly +ascribed to the mythic Semiramis, the supposed wife of Ninus. It is +thought that in ancient times they were longer and more numerous than at +present, when they occur only occasionally, and seldom extend more than +a few miles from the base of the hills. + +By help of the irrigation thus contrived, the great plateau of Iran will +produce good crops of grain, rice, wheat, barley, Indian corn, doura, +millet, and sesame. It will also bear cotton, tobacco, saffron, rhubarb, +madder, poppies which give a good opium, senna, and assafoetida. +Its garden vegetables are excellent, and include potatoes, cabbages, +lentils, kidney-beans, peas, turnips, carrots, spinach, beetroot, and +cucumbers. The variety of its fruit-trees has been already noticed. +The flavor of their produce is in general good, and in some cases +surpassingly excellent. No quinces are so fine as those of Isfahan, +and no melons have a more delicate flavor. The grapes of Kasvin are +celebrated, and make a remarkably good wine. + +Among the flowers of the country must be noted, first of all, its roses, +which flourish in the most luxuriant abundance, and are of every variety +of hue. The size to which the tree will grow is extraordinary, standards +sometimes exceeding the height of fourteen or fifteen feet. Lilacs, +jasmines, and many other flowering shrubs are common in the gardens, +while among wild flowers may be noticed hollyhocks, lilies, tulips, +crocuses, anemones, lilies of the valley, fritillaries, gentians, +primroses, convolvuluses, chrysanthemums, heliotropes, pinks, +water-lilies, ranunculuses, jonquils, narcissuses, hyacinths, mallows, +stocks, violets, a fine campanula (Michauxia levigata), a mint (Nepeta +longiflora), several sages, salsolas, and fagonias. In many places the +wild flowers during the spring months cover the ground, painting it with +a thousand dazzling or delicate hues. + +The mineral products of Media are numerous and valuable. Excellent stone +of many kinds abounds in almost every part of the country, the most +important and valuable being the famous Tabriz marble. This curious +substance appears to be a petrifaction formed by natural springs, which +deposit carbonate of lime in large quantities. It is found only in one +place, on the flanks of the hills, not far from the Urumiyeh lake. The +slabs are used for tombstones, for the skirting of rooms, and for the +pavements of baths and palaces; when cut thin they often take the place +of glass in windows, being semi-transparent. The marble is commonly of +a pale yellow color, but occasionally it is streaked with red, green, or +copper-colored veins. + +In metals the country is thought to be rich, but no satisfactory +examination of it has been as yet made. Iron, copper, and native steel +are derived from mines actually at work; while Europeans have observed +indications of lead, arsenic, and antimony in Azerbijan, in Kurdistan, +and in the rocky ridges which intersect the desert. Tradition speaks +of a time when gold and silver were procured from mountains near +Takht-i-Suleman, and it is not unlikely that they may exist both there +and in the Zagros range. Quartz, the well-known matrix of the precious +metal, abounds in Kurdistan. + +Of all the mineral products, none is more abundant than salt. On the +side of the desert, and again near Tabriz at the mouth of the Aji Su, +are vast plains which glisten with the substance, and yield it readily +to all who care to gather it up. Saline springs and streams are also +numerous, from which salt can be obtained by evaporation. But, besides +these sources of supply, rock salt is found in places, and this is +largely quarried, and is preferred by the natives. + +Other important products of the earth are saltpetre, which is found +in the Elburz, and in Azerbijan; sulphur, which abounds in the same +regions, and likewise on the high plateau; alum, which is quarried near +Tabriz; naphtha and gypsum, which are found in Kurdistan; and talc, +which exists in the mountains near Koum, in the vicinity of Tabriz, and +probably in other places. + +The chief wild animals which have been observed within the limits of +the ancient Media are the lion, the tiger, the leopard, the bear, the +beaver, the jackal, the wolf, the wild ass, the ibex or wild goat, the +wild sheep, the stag, the antelope, the wild boar, the fox, the hare, +the rabbit, the ferret, the rat, the jerboa, the porcupine, the mole, +and the marmot. The lion and tiger are exceedingly rare; they seem to +be found only in Azerbijan, and we may perhaps best account for their +presence there by considering that a few of these animals occasionally +stray out of Mazanderan, which is their only proper locality in this +part of Asia. Of all the beasts, the most abundant are the stag and the +wild goat, which are numerous in the Elburz, and in parts of Azerbijan, +the wild boar, which abounds both in Azerbijan, and in the country about +Hamadan, and the jackal, which is found everywhere. Bears flourish in +Zagros, antelopes in Azerbijan, in the Elburz, and on the plains near +Sultaniyeh. The wild ass is found only in the desert parts of the high +plateau; the beaver only in Lake Zeribar, near Sulefmaniyeh. + +The Iranian wild ass differs in some respects from the Mesopotamian. His +skin is smooth, like that of a deer, and of a reddish color, the belly +and hinder parts partaking of a silvery gray; his head and ears are +large and somewhat clumsy; but his neck is fine, and his legs are +beautifully slender. His mane is short and black, and he has a black +tuft at the end of his tail, but no dark line runs along his back or +crosses his shoulders. The Persians call him the _gur-khur_, and chase +him with occasional success, regarding his flesh as a great delicacy. +He appears to be the _Asinus onager_ of naturalists, a distinct species +from the _Asinus hemippus_ of Mesopotamia, and the _Asinus hemionus_ of +Thibet and Tartary. + +It is doubtful whether some kind of wild cattle does not still inhabit +the more remote tracts of Kurdistan. The natives mention among the +animals of their country “the mountain ox;” and though it has been +suggested that the beast intended is the elk, it is perhaps as likely +to be the Aurochs, which seems certainly to have been a native of the +adjacent country of Mesopotamia in ancient times. At any rate, until +Zagros has been thoroughly explored by Europeans, it must remain +uncertain what animal is meant. Meanwhile we may be tolerably sure that, +besides the species enumerated, Mount Zagros contains within its folds +some large and rare ruminant. + +Among the birds the most remarkable are the eagle, the bustard, the +pelican, the stork, the pheasant, several kinds of partridges, the +quail, the woodpecker, the bee-eater, the hoopoe, and the nightingale. +Besides these, doves and pigeons, both wild and tame, are common; as are +swallows, goldfinches, sparrows, larks, blackbirds, thrushes, linnets, +magpies, crows, hawks, falcons, teal, snipe, wild ducks, and many other +kinds of waterfowl. The most common partridge is a red-legged species +(_Caccabis chukar_ of naturalists), which is unable to fly far, and is +hunted until it drops. Another kind, common both in Azerbijan and in +the Elburz, is the black-breasted partridge (_Perdix nigra_)--a bird not +known in many countries. Besides these, there is a small gray partridge +in the Zagros range, which the Kurds call seslca. The bee-eater (_Merops +Persicus_) is rare. It is a bird of passage, and only visits Media +in the autumn, preparatory to retreating into the warm district of +Mazandoran for the winter months. The hoopoe (_Upupa_) is probably still +rarer, since very few travellers mention it. The woodpecker is found in +Zagros, and is a beautiful bird, red and gray in color. + +Media is, on the whole, but scantily provided with fish. Lake Urumiyeh +produces none, as its waters are so salt that they even destroy all the +river-fish which enter them. Salt streams, like the Aji Su, are equally +unproductive, and the fresh-water rivers of the plateau fall so low +in summer that fish cannot become numerous in them. Thus it is only in +Zagros, in Azerbijan, and in the Elburz, that the streams furnish any +considerable quantity. The kinds most common are barbel, carp, dace, +bleak, and gudgeon. In a comparatively few streams, more especially +those of Zagros, trout are found, which are handsome and of excellent +quality. The river of Isfahan produces a kind of crayfish, which is +taken in the bushes along its banks, and is very delicate eating. + +It is remarkable that fish are caught not only in the open streams of +Media, but also in the _kanats_ or underground conduits, from which +the light of day is very nearly excluded. They appear to be of one sort +only, viz., barbel, but are abundant, and often grow to a considerable +size. Chardin supposed them to be unfit for food; but a later observer +declares that, though of no great delicacy, they are “perfectly sweet +and wholesome.” + +Of reptiles, the most common are snakes, lizards, and tortoises. In the +long grass of the Moghan district, on the lower course of the Araxes, +the snakes are so numerous and venomous that many parts of the plain are +thereby rendered impassable in the summer-time. A similar abundance +of this reptile near the western entrance of the Girduni Siyaluk pass +induces the natives to abstain from using it except in winter. Lizards +of many forms and hues disport themselves about the rocks and stones, +some quite small, others two feet or more in length. They are quite +harmless, and appear to be in general very tame. Land tortoises are also +common in the sandy regions. In Kurdistan there is a remarkable frog, +with a smooth skin and of an apple-green color, which lives chiefly in +trees, roosting in them at night, and during the day employing itself in +catching flies and locusts, which it strikes with its fore paw, as a cat +strikes a bird or a mouse. + +Among insects, travellers chiefly notice the mosquito, which is in many +places a cruel torment; the centipede, which grows to an unusual size; +the locust, of which there is more than one variety; and the scorpion, +whose sting is sometimes fatal. + +The destructive locust (the _Acridium peregrinum_, probably) comes +suddenly into Kurdistan and southern Media in clouds that obscure the +air, moving with a slow and steady flight and with a sound like that +of heavy rain, and settling in myriads on the fields, the gardens, the +trees, the terraces of the houses, and even the streets, which they +sometimes cover completely. Where they fall, vegetation presently +disappears; the leaves, and even the stems of the plants, are devoured; +the labors of the husbandman through many a weary month perish in a day; +and the curse of famine is brought upon the land which but now enjoyed +the prospect of an abundant harvest. It is true that the devourers are +themselves devoured to some extent by the poorer sort of people; but the +compensation is slight and temporary; in a few days, when all verdure is +gone, either the swarms move to fresh pastures, or they perish and cover +the fields with their dead bodies, while the desolation which they have +created continues. [PLATE III., Fig. 2.] + +[Illustration: PLATE III.] + +Another kind of locust, observed by Mr. Rich in Kurdistan, is called by +the natives _shira-kulla_, a name seemingly identical with the +_chargol_ of the Jews, and perhaps the best clue which we possess to +the identification of that species. Mr. Rich describes it as “a large +insect, about four inches long, with no wings, but a kind of sword +projecting from the tail. It bites,” he says, “pretty severely, but +does no harm to the cultivation.” We may recognize in this description +a variety of the great green grasshopper (_Locusta viridissima_), many +species of which are destitute of wings, or have wing-covers only, and +those of a very small size. + +The scorpion of the country (_Scorpio crassicauda_) has been represented +as peculiarly venomous, more especially that which abounds in the city +and neighborhood of Kashan; but the most judicious observers deny that +there is any difference between the Kashan scorpion and that of other +parts of the plateau, while at the same time they maintain that if the +sting be properly treated, no danger need be apprehended from it. The +scorpion infests houses, hiding itself under cushions and coverlets, and +stings the moment it is pressed upon; some caution is thus requisite +in avoiding it; but it hurts no one unless molested, and many Europeans +have resided for years in the country without having ever been stung by +it. [PLATE III., Fig. 3.] + +The domestic animals existing at present within the limits of the +ancient Media are the camel, the horse, the mule, the ass, the cow, the +goat, the sheep, the dog, the cat, and the buffalo. The camel is the +ordinary beast of burden in the flat country, and can carry an enormous +weight. Three kinds are employed--the Bactrian or two-humped camel, +which is coarse and low; the taller and lighter Arabian breed; and a +cross between the two, which is called _ner_, and is valued very +highly. The ordinary burden of the Arabian camel is from seven to eight +hundredweight; while the Bactrian variety is said to be capable of +bearing a load nearly twice as heavy. + +Next to the camel, as a beast of burden, must be placed the mule the +mules of the country are small, but finely proportioned, and carry a +considerable weight. They travel thirty miles a day with ease, and are +preferred for journeys on which it is necessary to cross the mountains. +The ass is very inferior, and is only used by the poorer classes. + +Two distinct breeds of horses are now found in Media, both of which seem +to be foreign--the Turkoman and the Arabian. The Turkoman is a large, +powerful, enduring animal, with long legs, a light body, and a big +head. The Arab is much smaller, but perfectly shaped, and sometimes +not greatly inferior to the very best produce of Nejd. A third breed is +obtained by an intermixture of those two, which is called the _bid-pai_, +or “wind footed,” and is the most prized of all. + +The dogs are of various breeds, but the most esteemed is a large kind of +gray hound, which some suppose to have been introduced into this part of +Asia by the Macedonians, and which is chiefly employed in the chase of +the antelope. The animal is about the height of a full sized English +grayhound, but rather stouter; he is deep-chested, has long, smooth +hair, and the tail considerably feathered. His pace is inferior to that +of our grayhounds, but in strength and sagacity he far surpasses them. + +We do not find many of the products of Media celebrated by ancient +writers. Of its animals, those which had the highest reputation were its +horses, distinguished into two breeds, an ordinary kind, of which +Media produced annually many thousands, and a kind of rare size and +excellence, known under the name of Nisaean. These last are celebrated +by Herodotus, Strabo, Arrian, Ammianus Marcellinus, Suidas, and others. +They are said to have been of a peculiar shape; and they were equally +famous for size, speed, and stoutness. Strabo remarks that they resemble +the horses known in his own time as Parthian; and this observation seems +distinctly to connect them with the Turkoman breed mentioned above, +which is derived exactly from the old Parthian country. In color they +were often, if not always, white. We have no representation on the +monuments which we can regard as certainly intended for a Nissean horse, +but perhaps the figure from Persepolis may be a Persian sketch of the +animal. [PLATE III., Fig. 4.] + +The mules and small cattle (sheep and goats) were in sufficient repute +to be required, together with horses, in the annual tribute paid to the +Persian king. + +Of vegetable products assigned to Media by ancient writers, the most +remarkable is the “Median apple,” or citron. Pliny says it was the sole +tree for which Media was famous, and that it would only grow there +and in Persia. Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Virgil, and other writers, +celebrate its wonderful qualities, distinctly assigning it to the same +region. The citron, however, will not grow in the country which has been +here termed Media. It flourishes only in the warm tract between Shiraz +and the Persian Gulf, and in the low sheltered region, south of the +Caspian, the modern Ghilan and Mazanderan. No doubt it was the inclusion +of this latter region within the limits of Media by many of the +later geographers that gave to this product of the Caspian country an +appellation which is really a misnomer. + +Another product whereto Media gave name, and probably with more reason, +was a kind of clover or lucerne, which was said to have been introduced +into Greece by the Persians in the reign of Darius, and which was +afterwards cultivated largely in Italy. Strabo considers this plant to +have been the chief food of the Median horses, while Dioscorides assigns +it certain medicinal qualities. Clover is still cultivated, in the +Elburz region, but horses are now fed almost entirely on straw and +barley. + +Media was also famous for its silphium, or assafoetida, a plant which +the country still produces, though not in any large quantity. No drug +was in higher repute with the ancients for medicinal purposes; and +though the Median variety was a coarse kind, inferior in repute, not +only to the Cyrenaic, but also to the Parthian and the Syrian, it seems +to have been exported both to Greece and Borne, and to have been largely +used by druggists, however little esteemed by physicians. + +The other vegetable products which Media furnished, or was believed to +furnish, to the ancient world, were bdellium, amomum, cardamomum, gum +tragacanth, wild-vine oil, and sagaponum, or the _Ferula persica_. Of +these, gum tragacanth is still largely produced, and is an important +article of commerce. Wild vines abound in Zagros and Elburz, but no oil +is at present made from them. Bdellium, if it is benzoin, amomum, and +cardamomum were perhaps rather imported through Media than the actual +produce of the country, which is too cold in the winter to grow any good +spices. + +The mineral products of Media noted by the ancient writers are nitre, +salt, and certain gems, as emeralds, lapis lazuli, and the following +obscurer kinds, the zathene, the gassinades, and the narcissitis. The +nitre of Media is noticed by Pliny, who says it was procured in +small quantities, and was called “halmyraga.” It was found in certain +dry-looking glens, where the ground was white with it, and was obtained +there purer than in other places. Saltpetre is still derived from the +Elburz range, and also from Azerbijan. + +The salt of Lake Urumiyeh is mentioned by Strabo, who says that it +forms naturally on the surface, which would imply a far more complete +saturation of the water than at present exists, even in the driest +seasons. The gems above mentioned are assigned to Media chiefly by +Pliny. The Median emeralds, according to him, were of the largest size; +they varied considerably, sometimes approaching to the character of the +sapphire, in which case they were apt to be veiny, and to have flaws +in them. They were far less esteemed than the emeralds of many other +countries. The Median lapis lazuli, on the other hand, was the best of +its kind. It was of three colors--light blue, dark blue, and purple. +The golden specks, however, with which it was sprinkled--really spots +of yellow pyrites--rendered it useless to the gem-engravers of Pliny’s +time. The zathene, the gassinades, and the narcissitis were gems of +inferior value. As they have not yet been identified with any known +species, it will be unnecessary to prolong the present chapter by a +consideration of them. + + + + +CHAPTER III. CHARACTER, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ARTS, ETC., OF THE PEOPLE. + + +“Pugnatrix natio et formidanda.”--Amm. Marc, xxiii. 6. + + +The ethnic character of the Median people is at the present day scarcely +a matter of doubt. The close connection which all history, sacred and +profane, establishes between them and the Persians, the evidence of +their proper names and of their language, so far as it is known to us, +together with the express statements of Herodotus and Strabo, combine to +prove that they belonged to that branch of the human family known to us +as the Arian or Iranic, a leading subdivision of the great Indo-European +race. The tie of a common language, common manners and customs, and to +a great extent a common belief, united in ancient times all the dominant +tribes of the great plateau, extending even beyond the plateau in +one direction to the Jaxartes (Syhun) and in another to the Hyphasis +(Sutlej). Persians, Medes, Sagartians, Chorasmians, Bactrians, Sogdians, +Hyrcanians, Sarangians, Gandarians, and Sanskritic Indians belonged all +to a single stock, differing from one another probably not much more +than now differ the various subdivisions of the Teutonic or the Slavonic +race. Between the tribes at the two extremities of the Arian territory +the divergence was no doubt considerable; but between any two +neighboring tribes the difference was probably in most cases exceedingly +slight. At any rate this was the case towards the west, where the Medes +and Persians, the two principal sections of the Arian body in that +quarter, are scarcely distinguishable from one another in any of the +features which constitute ethnic type. + +The general physical character of the ancient Arian race is best +gathered from the sculptures of the Achsemenian kings, which exhibit to +us a very noble variety of the human species--a form tall, graceful, and +stately; a physiognomy handsome and pleasing, often somewhat resembling +the Greek; the forehead high and straight, the nose nearly in the same +line, long and well formed, sometimes markedly aquiline, the upper lip +short, commonly shaded by a moustache, the chin rounded and generally +covered with a curly beard. The hair evidently grew in great plenty, and +the race was proud of it. On the top of the head it was worn smooth, +but it was drawn back from the forehead and twisted into a row or two of +crisp curls, while at the same time it was arranged into a large mass of +similar small close ringlets at the back of the head and over the ears. +[PLATE IV., Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: PLATE IV.] + +Of the Median women we have no representations upon the sculptures; but +we are informed by Xenophon that they were remarkable for their stature +and their beauty. The same qualities were observable in the women of +Persia, as we learn from Plutarch, Ammianus Marcellinus, and others. +The Arian races seem in old times to have treated women with a certain +chivalry, which allowed the full development of their physical powers, +and rendered them specially attractive alike to their own husbands and +to the men of other nations. + +The modern Persian is a very degenerate representative of the ancient +Arian stock. Slight and supple in person, with quick, glancing eyes, +delicate features, and a vivacious manner, he lacks the dignity and +strength, the calm repose and simple grace of the race from which he +is sprung, Fourteen centuries of subjection to despotic sway have left +their stamp upon his countenance and his frame, which, though still +retaining some traces of the original type, have been sadly weakened and +lowered by so long a term of subservience. Probably the wild Kurd or Lur +of the present day more nearly corresponds in physique to the ancient +Mede than do the softer inhabitants of the great plateau. + +Among the moral characteristics of the Medes the one most obvious +is their bravery. “_Pugnatrix natio et formidanda_,” says Ammianus +Marcellinus in the fourth century of our era, summing up in a few words +the general judgment of Antiquity. Originally equal, if not superior, to +their close kindred, the Persians, they were throughout the whole +period of Persian supremacy only second to them in courage and warlike +qualities. Mardonius, when allowed to take his choice out of the entire +host of Xerxes, selected the Median troops in immediate succession to +the Persians. Similarly, when the time for battle came he kept the Medes +near himself, giving them their place in the line close to that of +the Persian contingent. It was no doubt on account of their valor, as +Diodorus suggests, that the Medes were chosen to make the first attack +upon the Greek position at Thermopylae, where, though unsuccessful, they +evidently showed abundant courage. In the earlier times, before riches +and luxury had eaten out the strength of the race, their valor and +military prowess must have been even more conspicuous. It was then +especially that Media deserved to be called, as she is in Scripture, +“the mighty one of the heathen”--“the terrible of the nations.” + +Her valor, undoubtedly, was of the merciless kind. There was no +tenderness, no hesitancy about it. Not only did her armies “dash +to pieces” the fighting men of the nations opposed to her, allowing +apparently no quarter, but the women and the children suffered +indignities and cruelties at the hands of her savage warriors, which the +pen unwillingly records. The Median conquests were accompanied by the +worst atrocities which lust and hate combined are wont to commit when +they obtain their full swing. Neither the virtue of women nor the +innocence of children were a protection to them. The infant was slain +before the very eye of the parent. The sanctity of the hearth was +invaded, and the matron ravished beneath her own roof-tree. Spoil, it +would seem, was disregarded in comparison with insult and vengeance; +and the brutal soldiery cared little either for silver or gold, provided +they could indulge freely in that thirst for blood which man shares with +the hyena and the tiger. + +The habits of the Medes in the early part of their career were +undoubtedly simple and manly. It has been observed with justice that the +same general features have at all times distinguished the rise and fall +of Oriental kingdoms and dynasties. A brave and adventurous prince, at +the head of a population at once poor, warlike, and greedy, overruns +a vast tract, and acquires extensive dominion, while his successors, +abandoning themselves to sensuality and sloth, probably also to +oppressive and irascible dispositions, become in process of time victims +to those same qualities in another prince and people which had enabled +their own predecessor to establish their power. It was as being braver, +simpler, and so stronger than the Assyrians that the Medes were able to +dispossess them of their sovereignty over western Asia. But in this, +as in most other cases of conquest throughout the East, success was +followed almost immediately by degeneracy. As captive Greece captured +her fierce conqueror, so the subdued Assyrians began at once to corrupt +their subduers. Without condescending to a close imitation of Assyrian +manners and customs, the Medes proceeded directly after their conquest +to relax the severity of their old habits and to indulge in the delights +of soft and luxurious living. The historical romance of Xenophon +presents us probably with a true picture when it describes the strong +contrast which existed towards the close of the Median period between +the luxury and magnificence which prevailed at Ecbatana, and the +primitive simplicity of Persia Proper, where the old Arian habits, which +had once been common to the two races, were still maintained in all +their original severity. Xenophon’s authority in this work is, it must +be admitted, weak, and little trust can be placed in the historical +accuracy of his details; but his general statement is both in itself +probable, and is also borne out to a considerable extent by other +authors. Herodotus and Strabo note the luxury of the Median dress, +while the latter author goes so far as to derive the whole of the later +Persian splendor from an imitation of Median practices. We must hold +then that towards the latter part of their empire the Medes became a +comparatively luxurious people, not indeed laying aside altogether their +manly habits, nor ceasing to be both brave men and good soldiers, +but adopting an amount of pomp and magnificence to which they were +previously strangers, affecting splendor in their dress and apparel, +grandeur and rich ornament in their buildings, variety in their +banquets, and attaining on the whole a degree of civilization not very +greatly inferior to that of the Assyrians. In taste and real refinement +they seem indeed to have fallen considerably below their teachers. A +barbaric magnificence predominated in their ornamentation over artistic +effort, richness in the material being preferred to skill in the +manipulation. Literature, and even letters, were very sparingly +cultivated. But little originality was developed. A stately dress, and +a new style of architecture, are almost the only inventions to which the +Medes can lay claim. They were brave, energetic, enterprising, fond +of display, capable of appreciating to some extent the advantages of +civilized life; but they had little genius, and the world is scarcely +indebted to them for a single important addition to the general stock of +its ideas. + +Of the Median customs in war we know but little. Herodotus tells us +that in the army of Xerxes the Medes were armed exactly as the Persians, +carrying on their heads a soft felt cap, on their bodies a sleeved +tunic, and on their legs trousers. Their offensive arms, he says, were +the spear, the bow, and the dagger. They had large wicker shields, and +bore their quivers suspended at their backs. Sometimes their tunic +was made into a coat of mail by the addition to it on the outside of a +number of small iron plates arranged so as to overlap each other, like +the scales of a fish. They served both on horseback and on foot, with +the same equipment in both cases. + +There is no reason to doubt the correctness of this description of the +Median military dress under the early Persian kings. The only question +is how far the equipment was really the ancient warlike custom of the +people. It seems in some respects too elaborate to be the armature of a +simple and primitive race. We may reasonably suppose that at least the +scale armor and the unwieldy wicker shields (yeppa), which required to +be rested on the ground, were adopted at a somewhat late date from the +Assyrians. At any rate the original character of the Median armies, +as set before us in Scripture, and as indicated both by Strabo and +Xenophon, is simpler than the Herodotean description. The primitive +Modes seem to have been a nation of horse-archers. Trained from their +early boyhood to a variety of equestrian exercises, and well practised +in the use of the bow, they appear to have proceeded against their +enemies with clouds of horse, almost in Scythian fashion, and to have +gained their victories chiefly by the skill with which they shot their +arrows as they advanced, retreated, or manoeuvred about their foe. No +doubt they also used the sword and the spear. The employment of these +weapons has been almost universal throughout the East from a very remote +antiquity, and there is some mention of them in connection with the +Medes and their kindred, the Persians, in Scripture; but it is evident +that the terror which the Medes inspired arose mainly from their +dexterity as archers. + +No representation of weapons which can be distinctly recognized as +Median has come down to us. The general character of the military dress +and of the arms appears, probably in the Persepolitan sculptures; but +as these reliefs are in most cases representations, not of Medes, but of +Persians, and as they must be hereafter adduced in illustration of the +military customs of the latter people, only a very sparing use of them +can be made in the present chapter. It would seem that the bow employed +was short, and very much curved, and that, like the Assyrian it was +usually carried in a bow-case, which might either be slung at the back, +or hung from the girdle. [PLATE V., Fig. 1.] The arrows, which were +borne in a quiver slung behind the right shoulder, must have been short, +certainly not exceeding the length of three feet. The quiver appears to +have been round; it was covered at the top, and was fastened by means of +a flap and strap, which last passed over, a button. [PLATE V. Fig. 1.] +The Median spear or lance was from six to seven feet in length. Its head +was lozenge-shaped and flattish, but strengthened by a bar or line down +the middle. It is uncertain whether the head was inserted into the top +of the shaft, or whether it did not rather terminate in a ring or socket +into which the upper end of the shaft was itself inserted. The shaft +tapered gradually from bottom to top, and terminated below in a knob or +ball, which was perhaps sometimes carved into the shape of some natural +object. [PLATE IV., Fig. 2.] + +[Illustration: PLATE V. + +The sword was short, being in fact little more than a dagger. It +depended at the right thigh from a belt which encircled the waist, and +was further secured by a strap attached to the bottom of the sheath, and +passing round the soldier’s right leg a little above the knee. + +Median shields were probably either round or oval. The oval specimens +bore a resemblance to the shield of the Boeotians, having a small oval +aperture at either side, apparently for the sake of greater lightness. +They were strengthened at the centre by a circular boss or disk, +ornamented with knobs or circles. They would seem to have been made +either of metal or wood. [PLATE IV., Fig. 3.] + +The favorite dress of the Medes in peace is well known to us from the +sculptures; there can be no reasonable doubt that the long flowing robe +so remarkable for its graceful folds, which is the garb of the kings, +the chief nobles, and the officers of the court in all the Persian +bas-reliefs, and which is seen also upon the darics and the gems, is the +famous “Median garment” of Herodotus, Xenophon, and Strabo. [PLATE V., +Fig. 2.] This garment fits the chest and shoulders closely, but falls +over the arms in two large loose sleeves, open at the bottom. At the +waist it is confined by a cincture. Below it is remarkably full and +ample, drooping in two clusters of perpendicular folds at the two sides, +and between these hanging in festoons like a curtain. It extends down +to the ankles, where it is met by a high shoe or low boot, opening in +front, and secured by buttons. [PLATE IV., Fig. 4.] + +These Median robes were of many colors. Sometimes they were purple, +sometimes scarlet, occasionally a dark gray, or a deep crimson. +Procopius says that they were made of silk, and this statement is +confirmed to some extent by Justin, who speaks of their transparency. +It may be doubted, however, whether the material was always the same; +probably it varied with the season, and also with the wealth of the +wearer. + +Besides this upper robe, which is the only garment shown in the +sculptures, the Medes wore as under garments a sleeved shirt or tunic +of a purple color, and embroidered drawers or trousers. They covered the +head, not only out of doors, but in their houses, wearing either felt +caps like the Persians, or a head-dress of a more elaborate character, +which bore the name of _tiara_ or _cidaris_. This appears to have been, +not a turban, but rather a kind of high-crowned hat, either stiff or +flexible, made probably of felt or cloth, and dyed of different hues, +according to the fancy of the owner. [PLATE VI., Fig. 1.] + +The Medes took a particular delight in the ornamentation of their +persons. According to Xenophon, they were acquainted with most of the +expedients by the help of which vanity attempts to conceal the ravages +of time and to create an artificial beauty. They employed cosmetics, +which they rubbed into the skin, for the sake of improving the +complexion. They made use of an abundance of false hair. Like many other +Oriental nations, both ancient and modern, they applied dyes to enhance +the brilliancy of the eyes, and give them a greater apparent size and +softness. They were also fond of wearing golden ornaments. Chains or +collars of gold usually adorned their nocks, bracelets of the same +precious metal encircled their wrists, and earrings were inserted into +their ears. [PLATE VI., Fig. 2.] Gold was also used in the caparisons of +their horses, the bit and other parts of the harness being often of this +valuable material. + +We are told that the Medes were very luxurious at their banquets. +Besides plain meat and game of different kinds, with the ordinary +accompaniments of wine and bread, they were accustomed to place before +their guests a vast number of side-dishes, together with a great variety +of sauces. They ate with the hand, as is still the fashion in the East, +and were sufficiently refined to make use of napkins. Each guest had his +own dishes, and it was a mark of special honor to augment their number. +Wine was drunk both at the meal and afterwards, often in an undue +quantity; and the close of the feast was apt to be a scene of general +turmoil and confusion. At the Court it was customary for the king to +receive his wine at the hands of a cupbearer, who first tasted the +draught, that the king might be sure that it was not poisoned, and then +presented it to his master with much pomp and ceremony. + +The whole ceremonial of the court seems to have been imposing. Under +ordinary circumstances the monarch kept himself secluded, and no one +could obtain admission to him unless he formally requested an audience, +and was introduced into the royal presence by the proper officer. On his +admission he prostrated himself upon the ground with the same signs of +adoration which were made on entering a temple. The king, surrounded by +his attendants, eunuchs, and others, maintained a haughty reserve, and +the stranger only beheld him from a distance. Business was transacted +in a great measure by writing. The monarch rarely quitted his palace, +contenting himself with such reports of the state of his empire as were +transmitted to him from time to time by his officers. + +The chief amusement of the court, in which however the king rarely +partook, was hunting. Media always abounded in beasts of chase; and +lions, bears, leopards, wild boars, stags, gazelles, wild sheep, and +wild asses are mentioned among the animals hunted by the Median nobles. +Of these the first four were reckoned dangerous, the others harmless. It +was customary to pursue these animals on horseback, and to aim at them +with the bow or the javelin. We may gather a lively idea of some of +these hunts from the sculptures of the Parthians, who some centuries +later inhabited the same region. We see in these the rush of great +troops of boars through marshes dense with water-plants, the bands of +beaters urging them on, the sportsmen aiming at them with their bows, +and the game falling transfixed with two or three well-aimed shafts. +Again we see herds of deer driven within enclosures, and there slain by +archers who shoot from horseback, the monarch under his parasol looking +on the while, pleased with the dexterity of his servants. It is thus +exactly that Xenophon portrays Astyages as contemplating the sport +of his courtiers, complacently viewing their enjoyment, but taking no +active part in the work himself. + +Like other Oriental sovereigns, the Median monarch maintained a seraglio +of wives and concubines; and polygamy was commonly practised among the +more wealthy classes. Strabo speaks of a strange law as obtaining with +some of the Median tribes--a law which required that no man should be +content with fewer wives than five. It is very unlikely that such a +burden was really made obligatory on any: most probably five legitimate +wives, and no more, were allowed by the law referred to, just as four +wives, and no more, are lawful for Mohammedans. Polygamy, as usual, +brought in its train the cruel practice of castration; and the court +swarmed with eunuchs, chiefly foreigners purchased in their infancy. +Towards the close of the Empire this despicable class appears to have +been all-powerful with the monarch. + +Thus the tide of corruption gradually advanced; and there is reason to +believe that both court and people had in a great measure laid aside +the hardy and simple customs of their forefathers, and become enervated +through luxury, when the revolt of the Persians came to test the quality +of their courage, and their ability to maintain their empire. It would +be improper in this place to anticipate the account of this struggle, +which must be reserved for the historical chapter; but the well-known +result--the speedy and complete success of the Persians--must be adduced +among the proofs of a rapid deterioration in the Median character +between the accession of Cyaxares and the capture--less than a century +later--of Astyages. + +We have but little information with respect to the state of the arts +among the Medes. A barbaric magnificence characterized, as has been +already observed, their architecture, which differed from the Assyrian +in being dependent for its effect on groups of pillars rather than on +painting or sculpture. Still sculpture was, it is probable, practised to +some extent by the Medes, who, it is almost certain, conveyed on to the +Persians those modifications of Assyrian types which meet us everywhere +in the remains of the Achsemenian monarch? The carving of winged genii, +of massive forms of bulls and lions, of various grotesque monsters, +and of certain clumsy representations of actual life, imitated from +the bas-reliefs of the Assyrians, may be safely ascribed to the Medes; +since, had they not carried on the traditions of their predecessors, +Persian art could not have borne the resemblance that it does to +Assyrian. But these first mimetic efforts of the Arian race have almost +wholly perished, and there scarcely seems to remain more than a single +fragment which can be assigned on even plausible grounds to the Median +period. A portion of a colossal lion, greatly injured by time, is still +to be seen at Hamadan, the site of the great Median capital, which the +best judges regard as anterior to the Persian period, and as therefore +most probably Median. It consists of the head and body of the animal, +from which the four legs and the tail have been broken off, and measures +between eleven and twelve feet from the crown of the head to the point +from which the tail sprang. By the position of the head and what +remains of the shoulders and thighs, it is evident that the animal was +represented in a sitting posture, with the fore legs straight and the +hind legs gathered up under it. To judge of the feeling and general +character of the sculpture is difficult, owing to the worn and mutilated +condition of the work; but we seem to trace in it the same air of calm +and serene majesty that characterizes the colossal bulls and lions of +Assyria, together with somewhat more of expression and of softness than +are seen in the productions of that people. Its posture, which is unlike +that of any Assyrian specimen, indicates a certain amount of originality +as belonging to the Median artists, while its colossal size seems to +show that the effect on the spectator was still to be produced, not so +much by expression, finish, or truth to nature, as by mere grandeur of +dimension. [PLATE VI., Fig. 3.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. RELIGION. + + +The earliest form of the Median religion is to be found in those +sections of the Zendavesta which have been pronounced on internal +evidence to be the most ancient portions of that venerable compilation; +as, for instance, the first Fargard of the Vendidad, and the Gathas, or +“Songs,” which occur here and there in the Yacna, or Book on Sacrifice. +In the Gathas, which belong to a very remote era indeed, we seem to have +the first beginnings of the Religion. We may indeed go back by their aid +to a time anterior to themselves--a time when the Arian race was not yet +separated into two branches, and the Easterns and Westerns, the +Indians and Iranians, had not yet adopted the conflicting creeds of +Zoroastrianism and Brahminism. At that remote period we seem to see +prevailing a polytheistic nature-worship--a recognition of various +divine beings, called indifferently Asuras (Ahuras) or Devas, each +independent of the rest, and all seemingly nature-powers rather +than persons, whereof the chief are Indra, Storm or Thunder; Mithra, +Sunlight; Aramati (Armaiti), Earth; Vayu, Wind; Agni, Fire; and Soma +(Homa), Intoxication. Worship is conducted by priests, who are called +_kavi_, “seers;” _karapani_, “sacriflcers,” or _ricikhs_, “wise men.” It +consists of hymns in honor of the gods; sacrifices, bloody and unbloody, +some’ portion of which is burnt upon an altar; and a peculiar ceremony, +called that of Soma, in which an intoxicating liquor is offered to the +gods, and then consumed by the priests, who drink till they are drunken. + +Such, in outline, is the earliest phase of Arian religion, and it is +common to both branches of the stock, and anterior to the rise of the +Iranic, Median, or Persian system. That system is a revolt from this +sensuous and superficial nature-worship. It begins with a distinct +recognition of spiritual intelligences--real persons--with whom +alone, and not with powers, religion is concerned. It divides these +intelligences into good and bad, pure and impure, benignant and +malevolent. To the former it applies the term _Asuras_ (_Ahuras_), +“living” or “spiritual beings,” in a good sense; to the latter, the term +_Devas_, in a bad one. It regards the “powers” hitherto worshipped as +chiefly _Devas_; but it excepts from this unfavorable view a certain +number, and, recognizing them as _Asuras_, places them above the +_Izeds_, or “angels.” Thus far it has made two advances, each of great +importance, the substitution of real “persons” for “powers,” as objects +of the religious faculty, and the separation of the persons into good +and bad, pure and impure, righteous and wicked. But it does not stop +here. It proceeds to assert, in a certain sense, monotheism against +polytheism. It boldly declares that, at the head of the good +intelligences, is a single great Intelligence, Ahuro-Mazdao, the highest +object of adoration, the true Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the +universe. This is its great glory. It sets before the soul a single +Being as the source of all good and the proper object of the highest +worship. Ahuro-Mazdao is “the creator of life, the earthly and the +spiritual;” “he has made the celestial bodies, earth, water, and trees, +all good creatures,” and “all good, true, holy, pure, things.” He is +“the Holy God, the Holiest, the essence of truth, the father of all +truth, the best being of all, the master of purity.” He is supremely +“happy,” possessing every blessing, “health, wealth, virtue, wisdom, +immortality.” From him comes all good to man; on the pious and the +righteous he bestows not only earthly advantages, but precious spiritual +gifts, truth, devotion, “the good mind,” and everlasting happiness; and +as he rewards the good, so he punishes the bad, though this is an aspect +in which he is but seldom represented. + +It has been said that this conception of Ahura-mazda as the Supreme +Being is “_perfectly identical_ with the notion of Elohim, or Jehovah, +which we find in the books of the Old Testament.” This is, no doubt, +an over-statement. Ahura-mazda is less spiritual and less awful than +Jehovah. He is less remote from the nature of man. The very ascription +to him of health (_haurvat_) is an indication that he is conceived of +as possessing a sort of physical nature. Lucidity and brilliancy are +assigned to him, not (as it would seem) in a mere metaphorical sense. +Again, he is so predominantly the author of good things, the source of +blessing and prosperity, that he could scarcely inspire his votaries +with any feeling of fear. Still, considering the general failure of +unassisted reason to mount up to the true notion of a spiritual +God, this doctrine of the early Arians is very remarkable; and its +approximation to the truth sufficiently explains at once the favorable +light in which its professors are viewed by the Jewish prophets, and the +favorable opinion which they form of the Jewish system. Evidently, +the Jews and Arians, when they became known to one another, recognized +mutually the fact that they were worshippers of the same great Being. +Hence the favor of the Persians towards the Jews, and the fidelity of +the Jews towards the Persians. The Lord God of the Jews being recognized +as identical with Ormazd, a sympathetic feeling united the peoples. The +Jews, so impatient generally of a foreign yoke, never revolted from +the Persians; and the Persians, so intolerant, for the most part, of +religions other than their own, respected and protected Judaism. + +The sympathy was increased by the fact that the religion of Ormazd was +anti-idolatrous. In the early nature-worship idolatry had been allowed; +but the Iranic system pronounced against it from the first. No images +of Ahura-mazda, or of the Izeds, profaned the severe simplicity of +an Iranic temple. It was only after a long lapse of ages that, +in connection with a foreign worship, idolatry crept in. The old +Zoroastrianism was in this respect as pure as the religion of the Jews, +and thus a double bond of religious sympathy united the Hebrews and the +Arians. + +Under the supreme God, Ahura-mazda or Ormazd, the ancient Iranic system +placed (as has been already observed) a number of angels. Some of these, +as _Vohu-mano_, “the Good Mind;” _Mazda_, “the Wise” (?); and _Asha_, +“the True,” are scarcely distinguishable from attributes of the +Divinity. Armaiti, however, the genius of the Earth, and Sraosha or +Serosh, an angel, are very clearly and distinctly personified. Sraosha +is Ormazd’s messenger. He delivers revelations, shows men the paths of +happiness, and brings them the blessings which Ormazd has assigned to +their share. Another of his functions is to protect the true faith. +He is called, in a very special sense, “the friend of Ormazd,” and is +employed by Ormazd not only to distribute his gifts, but also to conduct +to him the souls of the faithful, when this life is over, and they enter +on the celestial scene. + +Armaiti is at once the genius of the Earth, and the goddess of Piety. +The early Ormazd worshippers were agriculturists, and viewed the +cultivation of the soil as a religious duty enjoined upon them by God. +Hence they connected the notion of piety with earth culture; and it was +but a step from this to make a single goddess preside over the two. It +is as the angel of Earth that Armaiti has most distinctly a personal +character. She is regarded as wandering from spot to spot, and laboring +to convert deserts and wildernesses into fruitful fields and gardens. +She has the agriculturist under her immediate protection, while she +endeavors to persuade the shepherd, who persists in the nomadic life, to +give up his old habits and commence the cultivation of the soil. She is +of course the giver of fertility, and rewards her votaries by bestowing +upon them abundant harvests. She alone causes all growth. In a certain +cense she pervades the whole material creation, mankind included, in +whom she is even sometimes said to “reside.” + +Armaiti, further “tells men the everlasting laws, which no one may +abolish”--laws which she has learnt from converse with Ahura-mazda +himself. She is thus naturally the second object of worship to the old +Zoroastrian; and converts to the religion were required to profess their +faith in her in direct succession to Ahura-mazda. + +From Armaiti must be carefully distinguished the _geus urva_, or “soul +of the earth”--a being who nearly resembles the “anima mundi” of the +Greek and Roman philosophers. This spirit dwells in the earth itself, +animating it as a man’s soul animates his body. In old times, when man +first began to plough the soil, _geus urva_ cried aloud, thinking that +his life was threatened, and implored the assistance of the archangels. +They however were deaf to his entreaties (since Ormazd had decreed that +there should be cultivation), and left him to bear his pains as he best +could. It is to be hoped that in course of time he became callous to +them, and made the discovery that mere scratches, though they may be +painful, are not dangerous. + +It is uncertain whether in the most ancient form of the Iranic worship +the cult of Mithra was included or no. On the one hand, the fact that +Mithra is common to both forms of the Arian creed--the Indian and +Iranic--would induce the belief that his worship was adopted from the +first by the Zoroastrians; on the other, the entire absence of all +mention of Mithra from the Gathas would lead us to the conclusion that +in the time when they were composed his cult had not yet begun. Perhaps +we may distinguish between two forms of early Iranic worship--one that +of the more intelligent and spiritual--the leaders of the secession--in +whose creed Mithra had no place; the other that of the great mass of +followers, a coarser and more material system, in which many points +of the old religion were retained, and among them the worship of the +Sun-god. This lower and more materialistic school of thought probably +conveyed on into the Iranic system other points also common to the +Zendavosta with the Vedas, as the recognition of Airyaman (Aryaman) as +a genius presiding over marriages, of Vitraha as a very high angel, and +the like. + +Vayu, “the Wind,” seems to have been regarded as a god from the first. +He appears, not only in the later portions of the Zenda vesta, like +Mithra and Aryaman, but in the Gathas themselves. His name is clearly +identical with that of the Vedic Wind-god, Vayu, and is apparently a +sister form to the ventus, or wind, of the more western Arians. The root +is probably vi, “to go,” which may be traced in vis, via, vado, venio, +etc. + +The ancient Iranians did not adopt into their system either Agni, “Fire” + (Lat. _ignis_), or Soma (Homa), “Intoxication.” Fire was indeed retained +for sacrifice; but it was regarded as a mere material agent, and not as +a mysterious Power, the proper object of prayer and worship. The Soma +worship, which formed a main element of the old religion, and which was +retained in Brahminism, was at the first altogether discarded by the +Zoroastrians; indeed, it seems to have been one of the main causes of +that disgust which split the Arian body in two, and gave rise to the new +religion. A ceremony in which it was implied that the intoxication of +their worshippers was pleasing to the gods, and not obscurely hinted +that they themselves indulged in similar excesses, was revolting to the +religious temper of those who made the Zoaroastrian reformation; and it +is plain from the Gathas that the new system was intended at first to +be entirely free from the pollution of so disgusting a practice. But +the zeal of religious reformers outgoes in most cases the strength and +patience of their people, whose spirit is too gross and earthly to keep +pace with the more lofty flights of the purer and higher intelligence. +The Iranian section of the Arians could not be weaned wholly from their +beloved Soma feasts; and the leaders of the movement were obliged to +be content ultimately with so far reforming and refining the ancient +ceremony as to render it comparatively innocuous. The portion of the +rite which implied that the gods themselves indulged in intoxication +was omitted; and for the intoxication of the priests was substituted +a moderate use of the liquor, which, instead of giving a religious +sanction to drunkenness, merely implied that the Soma juice was a good +gift of God, one of the many blessings for which men had to be thankful. + +With respect to the evil spirits or intelligences, which, in the +Zoroastrian system, stood over against the good ones, the teaching of +the early reformers seems to have been less clear. The old divinities, +except where adopted into the new creed, were in a general way called +Devas, “fiends” or “devils,” in contrast with the Ahuras, or “gods.” + These devas were represented as many in number, as artful, malicious, +deceivers and injurers of mankind, more especially of the Zoroastrians +or Ormazd-worshippers, as inventors of spells and lovers of the +intoxicating Soma draught. Their leading characteristics were +“destroying” and “lying.” They were seldom or never called by distinct +names. No account was given of their creation, nor of the origin of +their wickedness. No single superior intelligence, no great Principle of +Evil, was placed at their head. Ahriman (Angro-mainyus) does not +occur in the Gathas as a proper name. Far less is there any graduated +hierarchy of evil, surrounding a Prince of Darkness, with a sort of +court, antagonistic to the angelic host of Ormazd, as in the latter +portions of the Zendavesta and in the modern Parsee system. + +Thus Dualism proper, or a belief in two uncreated and independent +principles, one a principle of good and the other a principal of evil, +was no part of the original Zoroastrianism. At the same time we find, +even in the Gathas, the earliest portions of the Zondavesta, the germ +out of which Dualism sprung. The contrast between good and evil is +strongly and sharply marked in the Gathas; the writers continually harp +upon it, their minds are evidently struck with this sad antithesis which +colors the whole moral world to them; they see everywhere a struggle +between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, purity and impurity; +apparently they are blind to the evidence of harmony and agreement +in the universe, discerning nothing anywhere but strife, conflict, +antagonism. Nor is this all. They go a step further, and personify the +two parties to the struggle. One is a “white” or holy “Spirit” (_cpento +mainyus_), and the other a “dark spirit” (_angro mainyus_). But this +personification is merely poetical or metaphorical, not real. The “white +spirit” is not Ahura-mazda, and the “dark spirit” is not a hostile +intelligence. Both resolve themselves on examination into mere figures +of speech--phantoms of poetic imagery--abstract notions, clothed by +language with an apparent, not a real, personality. + +It was natural that, as time went on, Dualism should develop itself +out of the primitive Zoroastrianism. Language exercises a tyranny +over thought, and abstractions in the ancient world were ever becoming +persons. The Iranian mind, moreover, had been strack, when it first +turned to contemplate the world, with a certain antagonism; and, having +once entered this track, it would be compelled to go on, and seek to +discover the origin of the antagonism, the cause (or causes) to which +it was to be ascribed. Evil seemed most easily accounted for by the +supposition of an evil Person; and the continuance of an equal struggle, +without advantage to either side, which was what the Iranians thought +they beheld in the world that lay around them, appeared to them to +imply the equality of that evil Person with the Being whom they rightly +regarded as the author of all good. Thus Dualism had its birth. The +Iranians came to believe in the existence of two co-eternal and co-equal +Persons, one good and the other evil, between whom there had been from +all eternity a perpetual and never-ceasing conflict, and between whom +the same conflict would continue to rage through all coming time. + +It is impossible to say how this development took place. We have +evidence, however, that at a period considerably anterior to the +commencement of the Median Empire, Dualism, not perhaps in its ultimate +extravagant form, but certainly in a very decided and positive shape, +had already been thought out and become the recognized creed of the +Iranians. In the first Fargard, or chapter, of the Vendidad--the +historical chapter, in which are traced the only movements of the Iranic +peoples, and which from the geographical point whereat it stops must +belong to a time when the Arians had not yet reached Media Magna---the +Dualistic belief clearly shows itself. The term Angro-mainyus has +now become a proper name, and designates the great spirit of evil as +definitely and determinately as Ahura-mazda designates the good spirit. +The antagonism between Ahura-mazda and Angro-mainyus is depicted in the +strongest colors; it is direct, constant and successful. Whatever good +work Ahura-mazda in his benevolence creates, Angro-mainyus steps forward +to mar and blast it. If Ahura-mazda forms a “delicious spot” in a world +previously desert and uninhabitable to become the first home of his +favorites, the Arians, Angro-mainyus ruins it by sending into it a +poisonous serpent, and at the same time rendering the climate one of +the bitterest severity. If Ahura-mazda provides, instead of this blasted +region, another charming habitation, “the second best of regions and +countries,” Angro-mainyus sends there the curse of murrain, fatal to +all cattle. To every land which Ahura-mazda creates for his worshippers, +Angro-mainyus immediately assigns some plague or other. War, ravages, +sickness, fever, poverty, hail, earthquakes, buzzing insects, poisonous +plants, unbelief, witchcraft, and other inexpiable sins, are introduced +by him into the various happy regions created without any such drawbacks +by the good spirit; and a world, which should have been “very good,” is +by these means converted into a scene of trial and suffering. + +The Dualistic principle being thus fully adopted, and the world looked +on as the battle-ground between two independent and equal powers engaged +in perpetual strife, it was natural that the imagination should complete +the picture by ascribing to those superhuman rivals the circumstantials +that accompany a great struggle between human adversaries. The two +kings required, in the first place, to have their councils, which +were accordingly assigned them, and were respectively composed of six +councillors. The councillors of Ahura-mazda--called Amesha Spentas, +or “Immortal Saints,” afterwards corrupted into Amshashpands--wore +Vohu-mano (Bahman), Asha-va-hista (Ardibehesht), Khshathra-vairya +(Shahravar), Qpenta-Armaiti (Isfand-armat), Haurvatat (Khordad), and +Ameretat (Amerdat). Those of Angro-mainyus were Ako-mano, Indra, Qaurva, +Naonhaitya, and two others whose names are interpreted as “Darkness” and +“Poison.” + +Vohu-mano (Bahman) means “the Good Mind.” Originally a mere attribute of +Ahura-mazda, Vohu-mano came to be considered, first as one of the +high angels attendant on him, and then formally as one of-his six +councillors. He had a distinct sphere or province assigned to him in +Ahura-mazda’s kingdom, which was the maintenance of life in animals and +of goodness in man. + +Asha-vahista (Ardibehesht) means “the Highest Truth”--“Voritas optima,” + or rather perhaps “Veritas lucidissima.” He was the “Light” of the +universe, subtle, all-pervading, omnipresent. His special business +was to maintain the splendor of the various luminaries, and thereby to +preserve all those things whose existence and growth depend on light. + +Khshathra-vairya (Shahravar), whose name means simply “possessions,” + “wealth,” was regarded as presiding over metals and as the dispenser of +riches. + +Qoonta-Armaiti (Isfand-armat)--the “white or holy Ar-maiti,” represented +the Earth. She had from the first, as we have already seen, a distinct +position in the system of the Zoroastrians, where she was at once the +Earth goddess and the genius of piety. + +Haurvatat (Khordad) means “health”--“sanitas”--and was originally one +of the great and precious gifts which Ahura-mazda possessed himself and +kindly bestowed on his creatures. When personification, and the needs +of the theology, had made Haurvatat an archangel, he, together with +Ameretat (Amerdat), “Immortality,” took the presidency of the vegetable +world, which it was the business of the pair to keep in good condition. + +In the council of Angro-mainyus, Ako-mano stands in direct antithesis to +Vohu-mano, as “the bad mind,” or more literally, “the naught mind”--for +the Zoroastrians, like Plato, regarded good and evil as identical with +reality and unreality. Ako-mano’s special sphere is the mind of man, +where he suggests evil thoughts and prompts to bad words and wicked +deeds. He holds the first place in the infernal council, as Vohu-mano +does in the heavenly one. + +Indra, who holds the second place in the infernal council, is evidently +the Vedic god whom the Zoroastrians regarded as a powerful demon, and +therefore made one of Angro-mainyus’s chief councillors. He probably +retained his character as the god of the storm and of war, the destroyer +of crops and cities, the inspirer of armies and the wielder of +the thunder-bolt. The Zoroastrians, however, ascribed to him only +destructive actions; while the more logical Hindoos, observing that the +same storm which hurt the crops and struck down trees and buildings was +also the means of fertilizing the lands and purifying the air, viewed +him under a double aspect, as at once terrible in his wrath and the +bestower of numerous blessings. + +Qaurva, who stands next to Indra, is thought to be the Hindoo Shiva, who +has the epithet qarva in one of the Vedas. But the late appearance of +Shiva in the Hindoo system makes this highly uncertain. + +Naonhaitya, the fourth member of the infernal council, corresponds +apparently to the Vedic Nasatyas, a collective name given to the two +Aswins, the Dioscuri of Indian mythology. These were favorite gods of +the early Hindoos, to whose protection they very mainly ascribed their +prosperity. It was natural that the Iranians, in their aversion to +their Indian brethren, should give the Aswins a seat at Angro-mainyus’s +council-table; but it is curious that they should represent the twin +deities by only a single councillor. + +Taric and Zaric, “Darkness” and “Poison,” the occupants of the fifth and +sixth places, are evidently personifications made for the occasion, to +complete the infernal council to its full complement of six members. + +As the two Principles of Good and Evil have their respective councils, +so have they likewise their armies. The Good Spirit has created +thousands of angelic beings, who everywhere perform his will and fight +on his side against the Evil One; and the Evil One has equally on +his part called into being thousands of malignant spirits who are his +emissaries in the world, doing his work continually, and fighting +his battles. These are the Devas or Dives, so famous in Persian fairy +mythology. They are “wicked, bad, false, untrue, the originators of +mischief, most baneful, destructive, the basest of all beings.” The +whole universe is full of them. They aim primarily at destroying all +the good creations of Ahura-mazda; but if unable to destroy they content +themselves with perverting and corrupting. They dog the steps of men, +tempting them to sin; and, as soon as sin, obtaining a fearful power +over them. + +At the head of Ahura-mazda’s army is the angel Sraosha (Serosh). Serosh +is “the sincere, the beautiful, the victorious, the true, the master +of truth.” He protects the territories of the Iranians, wounds, and +sometimes even slays the demons, and is engaged in a perpetual struggle +against them, never slumbering night or day, but guarding the world with +his drawn sword, more particularly after sunset, when the demons have +the greatest power. + +Angro-mainyus appears not to possess any such general-in-chief. Besides +the six councillors above mentioned, there are indeed various demons +of importance, as Drukhs, “destruction;” Aeshemo, “rapine;” Daivis, +“deceit;” Driwis, “poverty,” etc.; but no one of these seems to occupy +a parallel place in the evil world to that which is assigned to +Serosh in the good. Perhaps we have here a recognition of the anarchic +character of evil, whose attacks are like those of a huge undisciplined +host--casual, fitful, irregular--destitute wholly of that principle of +law and order which gives to the resisting power of good a great portion +of its efficacy. + +To the belief in a spiritual world composed of all these various +intelligences--one half of whom were good, and the other half evil--the +early Zoroastrians added notions with respect to human duties and human +prospects far more enlightened than those which have usually prevailed +among heathen nations. In their system truth, purity, piety, and +industry were the virtues chiefly valued and inculcated. Evil was traced +up to its root in the heart of man; and it was distinctly taught that +no virtue deserved the name but such as was co-extensive with the whole +sphere of human activity, including the thought, as well as the word and +deed. The purity required was inward as well as outward, mental as +well as bodily. The industry was to be of a peculiar character. Man was +placed upon the earth to preserve the good creation; and this could only +be done by careful tilling of the soil, eradication of thorns and weeds, +and reclamation of the tracts over which Angro-mainyus had spread the +curse of barrenness. To cultivate the soil was thus a religious duty; +the whole community was required to be agricultural; and either as +proprietor, as farmer, or as laboring man, each Zoroastrian must +“further the works of life” by advancing tillage. Piety consisted in the +acknowledgment of the One True God, Ahura-mazda, and of his holy angels, +the Amesha Spentas or Amshashpands, in the frequent offering of prayers, +praises, and thanksgivings, in the recitation of hymns, the performance +of the reformed Soma ceremony, and the occasional sacrifice of animals. +Of the hymns we have abundant examples in the Gathas of the Zendavesta, +and in the Yagna haptanhaiti, or “Yaana of seven chapters,” which +belongs to the second period of the religion. A specimen from the latter +source is subjoined below. The Soma or Homa ceremony consisted in the +extraction of the juice of the Homa plant by the priests during the +recitation of prayers, the formal presentation of the liquid extracted +to the sacrificial fire, the consumption of a small portion of it by one +of the officiating priests, and the division of the remainder among the +worshippers. As the juice was drunk immediately after extraction and +before fermentation had set in, it was not intoxicating. The ceremony +seems to have been regarded, in part, as having a mystic force, securing +the favor of heaven; in part, as exerting a beneficial influence upon +the body of the worshipper through the curative power inherent in the +Homa plant. + +The sacrifices of the Zoroastrians were never human. The ordinary victim +was the horse; and we hear of occasions on which a single individual +sacrificed as many as ten of these animals. Mares seem to have been +regarded as the most pleasing offerings, probably on account of their +superior value; and if it was desired to draw down the special favor of +the Deity, those mares were selected which were already heavy in foal. +Oxen, sheep, and goats were probably also used as victims. A priest +always performed the sacrifice, slaying the animal, and showing the +flesh to the sacred fire by way of consecration, after which it was +eaten at a solemn feast by the priest and worshippers. + +The Zoroastrians were devout believers in the immortality of the soul +and a conscious future existence. They taught that immediately after +death the souls of men, both good and bad, proceeded together along an +appointed path to “the bridge of the gatherer” (chinvatperetu). This was +a narrow road conducting to heaven or paradise, over which the souls of +the pious alone could pass, while the wicked fell from it into the gulf +below, where they found themselves in the place of punishment. The good +soul was assisted across the bridge by the angel Serosh--“the happy, +well-formed, swift, tall Serosh”--who met the weary wayfarer and +sustained his steps as he effected the difficult passage. The prayers +of his friends in this world were of much avail to the deceased, +and greatly, helped him on his journey. As he entered, the archangel +Vohu-mano or Bahman rose from his throne and greeted him with the words, +“How happy art thou who hast come here to us from the mortality to the +immortality!” Then the pious soul went joyfully onward to Ahura-mazda, +to the immortal saints, to the golden throne, to Paradise. As for the +wicked, when they fell into the gulf, they found themselves in outer +darkness, in the kingdom of Angro-mainyus, where they were forced to +remain and to feed upon poisoned banquets. + +It is believed by some that the doctrine of the resurrection of the +body was also part of the Zoroastrian creed. Theopompus assigned this +doctrine to the Magi; and there is no reason to doubt that it was +held by the priestly caste of the Arian nations in his day. We find it +plainly stated in portions of the Zendavesta, which, if not among the +earliest, are at any rate of very considerable antiquity, as in the +eighteenth chapter of the Vendidad. It is argued that even in the +Gathas there is an expression used which shows the doctrine to have +been already held when they were composed; but the phrase adduced is so +obscure that its true meaning must be pronounced in the highest degree +uncertain. The absence of any plain allusion to the resurrection from +the earlier portions of the sacred volume is a strong argument against +its having formed any part of the original Arian creed--an argument +which is far from outweighed by the occurrence of a more possible +reference to it in a single ambiguous passage. + +Around and about this nucleus of religious belief there grew up in +course of time a number of legends, some of which possess considerable +interest. Like other thoughtful races, the Iranians speculated upon the +early condition of mankind, and conceived a golden age, and a king +then reigning over a perfectly happy people, whom they called King +Yima--Yima-khshaeta--the modern Persian Jemshid. Yima, according to the +legend, had dwelt originally in Aryanem vaejo--the primitive seat of the +Arians--and had there reigned gloriously and peacefully for awhile; but +the evils of winter having come upon his country, he had removed from it +with his subjects, and had retired to a secluded spot where he and +his people enjoyed uninterrupted happiness. In this place was “neither +overbearing nor mean-spiritedness, neither stupidity nor violence, +neither poverty nor deceit, neither puniness nor deformity, neither huge +teeth nor bodies beyond the usual meassure.” The inhabitants suffered no +defilement from the evil spirit. They dwelt amid odoriferous trees and +golden pillars; their cattle were the largest, best, and most beautiful +on the earth; they were themselves a tall and beautiful race; their food +was ambrosial, and never failed them. No wonder that time sped fast with +them, and that they, not noting its night, thought often that what was +really a year had been no more than a single day. Yima was the great +hero of the early Iranians. His titles, besides “the king” (khshaeta), +are “the brilliant,” “the happy,” “the greatly wealthy,” “the leader +of the peoples,” “the renowned in Aryanem vaejo.” He is most probably +identical with the Yama of the Vedas, who was originally the first man, +the progenitor of mankind and the ruler of the blessed in Paradise, but +who was afterwards transformed into “the god of death, the inexorable +judge of men’s doings, and the punisher of the wicked.” + +Next in importance to Yima among the heroes is Thraetona--the modern +Persian Feridun. He was born in Varena--which is perhaps Atropatene, or +Azerbijan--and was the son of a distinguished father, Athwyo. His chief +exploit was the destruction of Ajis-dahaka (Zohak), who is sometimes +represented as a cruel tyrant, the bitter enemy of the Iranian race, +sometimes as a monstrous dragon, with three mouths, three tails, six +eyes, and a thousand scaly rings, who threatened to ruin the whole of +the good creation. The traditional scene of the destruction was the +mountain of Demavend, the highest peak of the Elburz range south of the +Caspian. Thraetona, like Yima, appears to be also a Vedic hero. He may +be recognized in Traitana, who is said in the Rig-Veda to have slain a +mighty giant by severing his head from his shoulders. + +A third heroic personage known in the early times was Keresaspa, of the +noble Sama family. He was the son of Thrita--a distinct personage from +Thraetona--and brother of Urvakh-shaya the Just and was bred up in the +arid country of Veh-keret (Khorassan). The “glory” which had rested upon +Yima so many years became his in his day. He was the mightiest among +the mighty, and was guarded from all danger by the fairy (pairika) +Enathaiti, who followed him whithersoever he went. He slew Qravara, the +queen and venomous serpent, who swallowed up men and horses. He killed +Gandarewa with the golden heel, and also Cnavidhaka, who had boasted +that, when he grew up, he would make the earth his wheel and heaven +his chariot, that he would carry off Ahura-mazda from heaven and +Angro-mainyus from hell, and yoke them both as horses to his car. +Keresaspa appears as Gershasp in the modern Persian legends, where, +however, but little is said of his exploits. In the Hindoo books he +appears as Krigagva, the son of Samyama, and is called king of Vaigali, +or Bengal! + +From these specimens the general character of the early Iranic legends +appears sufficiently. Without affording any very close resemblances in +particular cases, they present certain general features which are common +to the legendary lore of all the Western Arians. They are romantic +tales, not allegories; they relate with exaggerations the deeds of men, +not the processes of nature. Combining some beauty with a good deal +that is bizarre and grotesque, they are lively and graphic, but somewhat +childish, having in no case any deep meaning, and rarely teaching a +moral lesson. In their earliest shape they appear, so far as we can +judge, to have been brief, disconnected, and fragmentary. They owe the +full and closely interconnected form which they assume in the Shahna-meh +and other modern Persian writings, partly to a gradual accretion during +the course of centuries, partly to the inventive genius of Firdausi, who +wove the various and often isolated legends into a pseudo-history, +and amplified them at his own pleasure. How much of the substance of +Firdausi’s poems belongs to really primitive myth is uncertain. We +find in the Zend texts the names of Gayo-marathan, who corresponds to +Kaiomars; of Haoshyanha, or Hosheng; of Yima-shaeta, or Jemshid; of +Ajisdahaka, or Zohak; of Athwya, or Abtin; of Thraetona, or Feridun; of +Keresaspa, or Gershasp; of Kava Uq, or Kai Kavus; of Kava Hucrava, or +Kai Khosroo; and of Kava Vistaspa, or Gushtasp. But we have no mention +of Tahomars; of Gava (or Gau) the blacksmith; of Feridua’s sons, Selm, +Tur, and Irij; of Zal, or Mino’chihr, or Eustem; of Afrasiab, or Kai +Kobad; of Sohrab, or Isfendiar. And of the heroic names which actually +occur in the Zendavesta, several, as Gayo-marathan, Haoshyariha, Kava +Uc, and Kava Hugrava, are met with only in the later portions, which +belong probably to about the fourth century before our era. The only +legends which we know to be primitive are those above related, which are +found in portions of the Zendavesta, whereto the best critics ascribe a +high antiquity. The negative argument is not, however, conclusive; and +it is quite possible that a very large proportion of Firdausi’s tale may +consist of ancient legends dressed up in a garb comparatively modern. + +Two phases of the early Iranic religion have been now briefly described; +the first a simple and highly spiritual creed, remarkable for its +distinct assertion of monotheism, its hatred of idolatry, and the +strongly marked antithesis which it maintained between good and evil; +the second, a natural corruption of the first, Dualistic, complicated +by the importance which it ascribed to angelic beings verging upon +polytheism. It remains to give an account of a third phase into which +the religion passed in consequence of an influence exercised upon it +from without by an alien system. + +When the Iranic nations, cramped for space in the countries east and +south of the Caspian, began to push themselves further to the west, and +then to the south, they were brought into contact with various Scythic +tribes inhabiting the mountain regions of Armenia, Azerbijan, Kurdistan, +and Luristan, whose religion appears to have been Magism. It was here, +in these elevated tracts, where the mountains almost seem to reach the +skies, that the most venerated and ancient of the fire-temples were +established, some of which remain, seemingly in their primitive +condition, at the present day. [PLATE VI., Fig. 4.] Here tradition +placed the original seat of the fire-worship; and from hence many taught +that Zoroaster, whom they regarded as the founder of Magism, had sprung. +Magism was, essentially, the worship of the elements, the recognition +of fire, air, earth, and water as the only proper objects of human +reverence. The Magi held no personal gods, and therefore naturally +rejected temples, shrines, and images, as tending to encourage the +notion that gods existed of a like nature with man, i.e., possessing +personality--living and intelligent beings. Theirs was a nature worship, +but a nature worship of a very peculiar kind. They did not place gods +over the different parts of nature, like the Greeks; they did not +even personify the powers of nature, like the Hindoos; they paid their +devotion to the actual material things themselves. Fire, as the most +subtle and ethereal principle, and again as the most powerful agent, +attracted their highest regards; and on their fire-altars the sacred +flame, generally said to have been kindled from heaven, was kept burning +uninterruptedly from year to year and from age to age by bands of +priests, whose special duty it was to see that the sacred spark was +never extinguished. To defile the altar by blowing the flame with one’s +breath was a capital offence; and to burn a corpse was regarded as an +act equally odious. When victims were offered to fire, nothing but a +small portion of the fat was consumed in the flame. Next to fire, water +was reverenced. Sacrifice was offered to rivers, lakes, and fountains, +the victim being brought near to them and then slain, while great care +was taken that no drop of their blood should touch the water and pollute +it. No refuse was allowed to be cast into a river, nor was it even +lawful to wash one’s hands in one. Reverence for earth was shown by +sacrifice, and by abstention from the usual mode of burying the dead. + +[Illustration: PLATE VI.] + +The Magian religion was of a highly sacerdotal type. No worshipper could +perform any religious act except by the intervention of a priest, or +Magus, who stood between him and the divinity as a Mediator. The Magus +prepared the victim and slew it, chanted the mystic strain which gave +the sacrifice all its force, poured on the ground the propitiatory +libation of oil, milk, and honey, held the bundle of thin tamarisk +twigs--the Zendic barsom (baregma)--the employment of which was +essential to every sacrificial ceremony. The Magi were a priest-caste, +apparently holding their office by hereditary succession. They claimed +to possess, not only a sacred and mediatorial character, but also +supernatural prophetic powers. They explained omens, expounded dreams, +and by means of a certain mysterious manipulation of the barsom, or +bundle of twigs, arrived at a knowledge of future events, which they +communicated to the pious inquirer. + +With such pretensions it was natural that the caste should assume a +lofty air, a stately dress, and an entourage of ceremonial magnificence. +Clad in white robes, and bearing Upon their heads tall felt caps, with +long lappets at the sides, which concealed the jaw and even the lips, +each with his barsom in his hand, they marched in procession to their +pynetheia, or fire altars, and standing around them performed for an +hour at a time their magical incantations. The credulous multitude, +impressed by sights of this kind, and imposed on by the claims to +supernatural power which the Magi advanced, paid them a willing homage; +the kings and chiefs consulted them; and when the Arian tribes, pressing +westward, came into contact with the races professing the Magian +religion, they found a sacerdotal caste all-powerful in most of the +Scythic nations. + +The original spirit of Zoroastrianism was fierce and exclusive. The +early Iranians looked with contempt and hatred on the creed of their +Indian brethren; they abhorred idolatry; and were disinclined to +tolerate any religion except that which they had themselves worked out. +But with the lapse of ages this spirit became softened. Polytheistic +creeds are far less jealous than monotheism; and the development of +Zoroastrianism had been in a polytheistic direction. By the time that +the Zoroastrians were brought into contact with Magism, the first fervor +of their religious zeal had abated, and they were in that intermediate +condition of religious faith which at once impresses and is impressed, +acts upon other systems, and allows itself to be acted upon in return. +The result which supervened upon contact with Magism seems to have been +a fusion, an absorption into Zoroastrianism of all the chief points of +the Magian belief, and all the more remarkable of the Magian religious +usages. This absorption appears to have taken place in Media. It was +there that the Arian tribes first associated with themselves, and +formally adopted into their body, the priest-caste of the Magi, which +thenceforth was recognized as one of the six Median tribes. It is there +that Magi are first found acting in the capacity of Arian priests. +According to all the accounts which have come down to us, they soon +acquired a predominating influence, which they no doubt used to impress +their own religious doctrines more and more upon the nation at large, +and to thrust into the background, so far as they dared, the peculiar +features of the old Arian belief. It is not necessary to suppose that +the Medes ever apostatized altogether from the worship of Ormazd, or +formally surrendered their Dualistic faith. But, practically, the Magian +doctrines and the Magian usages--elemental worship, divination with +the sacred rods, dream expounding, incantations at the fire-altars, +sacrifices whereat a Magus officiated--seem to have prevailed; the +new predominated over the old; backed by the power of an organized +hierarchy, Magism over-laid the primitive Arian creed, and, as time went +on, tended more and more to become the real religion of the nation. + +Among the religious customs introduced by the Magi into Media there are +one or two which seem to require especial notice. The attribution of a +sacred character to the four so-called elements--earth, air, fire and +water--renders it extremely difficult to know what is to be done with +the dead. They cannot be burnt, for that is a pollution of fire; or +buried, for that is a pollution of earth; or thrown into a river, for +that is a defilement of water. If they are deposited in sarcophagi, or +exposed, they really pollute the air; but in this case the guilt of the +pollution, it may be argued, does not rest on man, since the dead body +is merely left in the element in which nature placed it. The only mode +of disposal which completely avoids the defilement of every element +is consumption of the dead by living beings; and the worship of the +elements leads on naturally to this treatment of corpses. At present the +Guebres, or Fire-worshippers, the descendants of the ancient Persians, +expose all their dead, with the intention that they shall be devoured +by birds of prey. In ancient times, it appears certain that the Magi +adopted this practice with respect to their own dead; but, apparently, +they did not insist upon having their example followed universally by +the laity. Probably a natural instinct made the Arians averse to this +coarse and revolting custom; and their spiritual guides, compassionating +their weakness, or fearful of losing their own influence over them if +they were too stiff in enforcing compliance, winked at the employment by +the people of an entirely different practice. The dead bodies were first +covered completely with a coating of wax, and were then deposited in +the ground. It was held, probably, that the coating of wax prevented the +pollution which would have necessarily resulted had the earth come into +direct contact with the corpse. + +The custom of divining by means of a number of rods appears to have +been purely Magian. There is no trace of it in the Gathas, in the Yagna +haptanhaiti, or in the older portions of the Vendidad. It was a Scythic +practice; and probably the best extant account of it is that which +Herodotus gives of the mode wherein it was managed by the Scyths of +Europe. “Scythia,” he says, “has an abundance of soothsayers, who +foretell the future by means of a number of willow wands. A large bundle +of these rods is brought and laid on the ground. The soothsayer unties +the bundle, and places each wand by itself, at the same time uttering +his prophecy: then, while he is still speaking, he gathers the rods +together again, and makes them up once more into a bundle.” A divine +power seems to have been regarded as resting in the wands; and they were +supposed to be “consulted” on the matter in hand, both severally and +collectively. The bundle of wands thus imbued with supernatural wisdom +became naturally part of the regular priestly costume, and was carried +by the Magi on all occasions of ceremony. The wands were of different +lengths; and the number of wands in the bundle varied. Sometimes there +were three, sometimes five, sometimes as many as seven or nine; but in +every case, as it would seem, an odd number. + +Another implement which the priests commonly bore must be regarded, not +as Magian, but as Zoroastrian. This is the khrafgthraghna, or instrument +for killing bad animals, frogs, toads, snakes, mice, lizards, flies, +etc., which belonged to the bad creation, or that which derived its +origin from Angro-mainyus. These it was the general duty of all men, +and the more especial duty of the Zoroastrian priests, to put to death, +whenever they had the opportunity. The Magi, it appears, adopted this +Arian usage, added the khrafgthraghna to the barsom, and were so zealous +in their performance of the cruel work expected from them as to excite +the attention, and even draw upon themselves the rebuke, of foreigners. + +A practice is assigned to the Magi by many classical and ecclesiastical +writers, which, if it were truly charged on them, would leave a very +dark stain on the character of their ethical system. It is said that +they allowed and even practised incest of the most horrible kind--such +incest as we are accustomed to associate with the names of Lot, OEdipus, +and Herod Agrippa. The charge seems to have been first made either by +Xanthus the Lydian, or by Ctesias. It was accepted, probably without +much inquiry, by the Greeks generally, and then by the Romans, was +repeated by writer after writer as a certain fact, and became finally a +stock topic with the early Christian apologists. Whether it had any real +foundation in fact is very uncertain. Herodotus, who collects with so +much pains the strange and unusual customs of the various nations whom +he visits, is evidently quite ignorant of any such monstrous practice. +He regards the Magian religion as established in Persia, yet he holds +the incestuous marriage of Cambyses with his sister to have been +contrary to existing Persian laws. At the still worst forms of incest +of which the Magi and those under their influence are accused, Herodotus +does not even glance. No doubt, if Xanthus Lydus really made the +statement which Clemens of Alexandria assigns to him, it is an important +piece of evidence, though scarcely sufficient to prove the Magi guilty. +Xanthus was a man of little judgment, apt to relate extravagant tales; +and, as a Lydian, he may have been disinclined to cast an aspersion +on the religion of his country’s oppressors. The passage in question, +however, probably did not come from Xanthus Lydus, but from a much later +writer who assumed his name, as has been well shown by a living critic. +The true original author of the accusation against the Magi and their +co-religionists seems to have been Ctesias, whose authority is far +too weak to establish a charge intrinsically so improbable. Its only +historical foundation seems to have been the fact that incestuous +marriages were occasionally contracted by the Persian kings; not, +however, in consequence of any law, or religious usage, but because in +the plenitude of their power they could set all law at defiance, and +trample upon the most sacred principles of morality and religion. + +A minor charge preferred against the Magian morality by Xanthus, or +rather by the pseudo-Xanthus, has possibly a more solid foundation. +“The Magi,” this writer said, “hold their wives in common: at least +they often marry the wives of others with the free consent of their +husbands.” This is really to say that among the Magians divorce was +over-facile; that wives were often put away, merely with a view to their +forming a fresh marriage, by husbands who understood and approved of the +transaction. Judging by the existing practice of the Persians, we must +admit that such laxity is in accordance with Iranic notions on the +subject of marriage--notions far less strict than those which have +commonly prevailed among civilized nations. There is, however, no other +evidence, besides this, that divorce was very common where the Magian +system prevailed; and the mere assertion of the writer who personated +Xanthus Lydus will scarcely justify us in affixing even this stigma on +the religion. + +Upon the whole, Magism, though less elevated and less pure than the +old Zoroastrian creed, must be pronounced to have possessed a certain +loftiness and picturesqueness which suited it to become the religion +of a great and splendid monarchy. The mysterious fire-altars on +the mountain-tops, with their prestige of a remote antiquity--the +ever-burning flame believed to have been kindled from on high--the +worship in the open air under the blue canopy of heaven--the long troops +of Magians in their white robes, with their strange caps, and their +mystic wands--the frequent prayers--the abundant sacrifices--the long +incantations--the supposed prophetic powers of the priest-caste--all +this together constituted an imposing whole at once to the eye and to +the mind, and was calculated to give additional grandeur to the civil +system that should be allied with it. Pure Zoroastrianism was too +spiritual to coalesce readily with Oriental luxury and magnificence, +or to lend strength to a government based on the ordinary principles of +Asiatic despotism. Magism furnished a hierarchy to support the throne, +and add splendor and dignity to the court, while they overawed the +subject-class by their supposed possession of supernatural powers, +and of the right of mediating between heaven and man. It supplied a +picturesque worship which at once gratified the senses and excited +the fancy It gave scope to man’s passion for the marvellous by +its incantations, its divining-rods, its omen-reading, and its +dream-expounding. It gratified the religious scrupulosity which finds +a pleasure in making to itself difficulties, by the disallowance of +a thousand natural acts, and the imposition of numberless rules +for external purity. At the same time it gave no offence to the +anti-idolatrous spirit in which the Arians had hitherto gloried, but +rather encouraged the iconoclasm which they always upheld and practised. +It thus blended easily with the previous creed of the people, awaking no +prejudices, clashing with no interests; winning its way by an apparent +meekness and unpresumingness, while it was quite prepared, when the +fitting time came, to be as fierce and exclusive as if it had never worn +the mask of humility and moderation. + + + + +CHAPTER V. LANGUAGE AND WRITING. + + +On the language of the ancient Medes a very few observations will be +here made. It has been noticed already that the Median form of speech +was closely allied to that of the Persians. The remark of Strabo quoted +above, and another remark which he cites from Nearchus, imply at once +this fact, and also the further fact of a dialectic difference between +the two tongues. Did we possess, as some imagine that we do, materials +for tracing out this diversity, it would be proper in the present place +to enter fully on the subject, and instead of contenting ourselves with +asserting, or even proving, the substantial oneness of the languages, +it would be our duty to proceed to the far more difficult and more +complicated task of comparing together the sister dialects, and noting +their various differences. The supposition that there exist means for +such a comparison is based upon a theory that in the language of the +Zendavesta we have the true speech of the ancient people of Media, while +in the cuneiform inscriptions of the Achasmenian kings it is beyond +controversy that we possess the ancient language of Persia. It becomes +necessary, therefore, to examine this theory, in order to justify our +abstention from an inquiry on which, if the theory were sound, we should +be now called upon to enter. + +The notion that the Zend language was the idiom of ancient Media +originated with Anquetil du Perron. He looked on Zoroaster as a native +of Azerbijan, contemporary with Darius Hystaspis. His opinion was +embraced by Kleuker, Herder, and Eask; and again, with certain +modifications, by Tychsen and Heeren. These latter writers even gave a +more completely Median character to the Zendavesta, by regarding it as +composed in Media Magna, during the reign of the great Cyaxares. The +main foundation of these views was the identification of Zoroastrianism +with the Magian fire-worship, which was really ancient in Azerbijan, +and flourished in Media under the great Median monarch. But we have seen +that Magianism and Zoroastrianism were originally entirely distinct, and +that the Zendavesta in all its earlier portions belongs wholly to the +latter system. Nothing therefore is proved concerning the Zend dialect +by establishing a connection between the Medes and Magism, which was +a corrupting influence thrown in upon Zoroastrianism long after the +composition of the great bulk of the sacred writings. + +These writings themselves sufficiently indicate the place of their +composition. It was not Media, but Bactria, or at any rate the +north-eastern Iranic country, between the Bolor range and the Caspian. +This conclusion, which follows from a consideration of the various +geographical notices contained in the Zend books, had been accepted of +late years by all the more profound Zend scholars. Originated by Rhode, +it has also in its favor the names of Burnouf, Lassen, Westergaard, and +Haug. If then the Zend is to be regarded as really a local dialect, the +idiom of a particular branch of the Iranic people, there is far more +reason for considering it to be the ancient speech of Bactria than of +any other Arian country. Possibly the view is correct which recognizes +two nearly-allied dialects as existing side by side in Iran during its +flourishing period--one prevailing towards the west, the other towards +the east--one Medo-Persic, the other Sogdo-Bactrian--the former +represented to us by the cuneiform inscriptions, the latter by the Zend +texts. Or it may be closer to the truth to recognize in the Zendic and +Achsemenian forms of speech, not so much two contemporary idioms, as two +stages of one and the same language, which seems to be at present the +opinion of the best comparative philologists. In either case Media can +claim no special interest in Zend, which, if local, is Sogdo-Bactrian, +and if not local is no more closely connected with Media than with +Persia. + +It appears then that we do not at present possess any means of +distinguishing the shades of difference which separated the. Median from +the Persian speech. We have in fact no specimens of the former beyond a +certain number of words, and those chiefly proper names, whereas we know +the latter tolerably completely from the inscriptions. It is proposed +under the head of the “Fifth Monarchy” to consider at some length the +general character of the Persian language as exhibited to us in these +documents. From the discussion then to be raised may be gathered the +general character of the speech of the Medes. In the present place all +that will be attempted is to show how far the remnants left us of Median +speech bear out the statement that, substantially, one and the same +tongue was spoken by both peoples. + +Many Median names are absolutely identical with Persian; e.g., +Ariobarzanes, Artabazus, Artaeus, Artembares, Harpagus, Arbaces, +Tiridates, etc. Others which are not absolutely identical approach +to the Persian form so closely as to be plainly mere variants, like +Theodoras and Theodosius, Adelbert and Ethelbert, Miriam, Mariam, and +Mariamne. Of this kind are Intaphres, another form of Intaphernes, +Artynes, another form of Artanes, Parmises, another form of Parmys, and +the like. A third class, neither identical with any known Persian names, +nor so nearly approaching to them as to be properly considered mere +variants, are made up of known Persian roots, and may be explained +on exactly the same principles as Persian names. Such are Ophernes, +Sitraphernes, Mitraphernes, Megabernes, Aspadas, Mazares, Tachmaspates, +Xathrites, Spitaces, Spitamas, Ehambacas, and others. In Ophernes, +Sitra-phernes, Mitra-phernes, and Mega-bernes, the second element +is manifestly the pharna or frana which is found in Arta-phernes and +Inta-phernes (Vida-frana), an active participial form from pri, to +protect. The initial element in O-phernes represents the Zend hu, Sans, +su, Greek ev, as the same letter does in O-manes, O-martes, etc. The +Sitra of Sitra-phernes has been explained as probably Ichshatra, “the +crown,” which is similarly represented in the Safro-pates of Curtius, a +name standing to Sitra-phernes exactly as Arta-patas to Arta-phernes. In +Mega-bernes the first element is the well-known baga, “God,” under +the form commonly preferred by the Greeks; and the name is exactly +equivalent to Curtius’s Bagfo-phanes, which only differs from it by +taking the participle of pa, “to protect,” instead of the participle +of pri, which has the same meaning. In Aspa-das it is easy to recognize +aspa, “horse” (a common root in Persian names,) e.g., Aspa-thines, +Aspa-mitras, Prex-aspes, and the like, followed by the same element +which terminates the name of Oromaz-des, and which means either +“knowing” or “giving.” Ma-zares presents us with the root meh, “much” or +“great,” which is found in the name of the ilf-aspii, or “Big Horses,” + a Persian tribe, followed by zara, “gold,” which appears in Ctesias’s +“Arto-awes,” and perhaps also in Zoro-aster. In Tachmaspates, the +first element is takhma, “strong,” a root found in the Persian names +Ar-tochmes and Tritan-taechmes, while the second is the frequently +used pati, “lord,” which occurs as the initial element in Pak-zeithes,” + Pafa-ramphes, etc., and as the terminal in Pharna-jjates, Avio-peithes, +and the like. In Xathrites we have clearly khshatra (Zend khshathra), +“crown” or “king,” with a participial suffix -ita, corresponding to the +Sanscrit participle in -it. Spita-ces and Spita-mas contain the root +spita, equivalent to spenta, “holy,” which is found in Spitho-hates, +Spita-mens, Spita-des, etc. This, in Spita-ces, is followed by a +guttural ending, which is either a diminutive corresponding to the +modern Persian -efc, or perhaps a suffixed article. In Spit-amas, the +suffix -mas is the common form of the superlative, and may be compared +with the Latin -mus in optimus, intimus, supremus, and the like. +Ehambacas contains the root rafno, “joy, pleasure,” which we find in +Pati-ramphies, followed by the guttural suffix. + +There remains, finally, a class of Median names, containing roots not +found in any known names of Persians, but easily explicable from Zend, +Sanscrit, or other cognate tongues, and therefore not antagonistic to +the view that Median and Persian were two closely connected dialects. +Such, for instance, are the royal names mentioned by Herodotus, Deioces, +Phraortes, Astyages, and Cyaxares; and such also are the following, +which come to us from various sources; Amytis, Astibaras, Armamithres or +Harmamithres, Mandauces, Parsondas, Eama-tes, Susiscanes, Tithaous, and +Zanasanes. + +In Deioces, or (as the Latins write it) Dejoces, there can be little +doubt that we have the name given as Djohak or Zohak in the Shahnameh +and other modern Persian writings, which is itself an abbreviation of +the Ajis-dahaka of the Zendavesta. Dahaka means in Zend “biting,” or +“the biter,” and is etymo-logically connected with the Greek. + +Phraortes, which in old Persian was Fravartish, seems to be a mere +variant of the word which appears in the Zendavesta as fravashi, and +designates each man’s tutelary genius. The derivation is certainly from +fra, and probably from a root akin to the German wahren, French garder, +English “ward, watch,” etc. The meaning is “a protector.” + +Cyaxares, the Persian form of which was “Uvakhshatara,” seems to be +formed from the two elements it or hu, “well, good,” and akhsha (Zend +arsnd), “the eye,” which is the final element of the name Cyavarswa in +the Zendavesta. Cyavarsna is “dark-eyed;” Uvakhsha (= Zend Huvarsna) +would be “beautiful-eyed.” Uvakhshatara appears to be the comparative +of this adjective, and would mean “more beautiful-eyed (than others).” + +Astyages, which, according to Moses of Chorene, meant “a dragon” or +“serpent,” is almost certainly Ajis-dahaka, the full name whereof +Dojoces (or Zohak) is the abbreviation. It means “the biting snake,” + from aji or azi, “a snake” or “serpent,” and dahaka, “biting.” + +Amytis is probably ama, “active, great,” with the ordinary feminine +suffix -iti, found in Armaiti, Khnathaiti, and the like. Astibaras +is perhaps “great of bone,” from Zend agta (Sans, asthi), “bone,” and +bereza, “tall, great.” Harmamithres, if that is the true reading, +would be “mountain-lover” (monticolus), from hardam, ace. of hara, “a +mountain,” and mithra or mitra, “fond of.” If, however, the name should +be read as Armamithres, the probable derivation will be from rama, ace. +of raman, “pleasure,” which is also the root of Rama-tea. Armamithres +may then be compared with Rheomithres, Siromitras, and Sysimithres, +which are respectively “fond of splendor,” “fond of beauty,” and “fond +of light.” Mandauces is perhaps “biting spirit--esprit mordant,” from +mand, “coeur, esprit,” and dahaka, “biting.” M Parsondas can scarcely +be the original form, from the occurrence in it of the nasal before the +dental. In the original it must have been Parsodas, which would mean +“liberal, much giving,” from pourus, “much,” and da, “to give.” Ramates, +as already observed, is from rama, “pleasure.” It is an adjectival form, +like Datis, and means probably “pleasant, agreeable.” Susiscanes may be +explained as “splendidus juvenis,” from quc, “splendere,” pres. part, +cao-cat, and kainin, “adolescens, juvenis.” Tithaeus is probably for +Tathaeus, which would be readily formed from tatka, “one who makes.” + Finally, Zanasanes may be referred to the root zan or jan, “to kill,” + which is perhaps simply followed by the common appellative suffix -ana. + +From these names of persons we may pass to those of places in Media, +which equally admit of explanation from roots known to have existed +either in Zend or in old Persian. Of these, Ecbatana, Bagistana, and +Aspadana may be taken as convenient specimens. Ecbatana (or Agbatana), +according to the orthography of the older Greeks was in the native +dialect Hagmatana, as appears from the Behistun inscription. This form, +Hagmatana, is in all probability derived from the three words ham, +“with” (Sans, sam, Latin cum), gam, “to go” (Zend gd, Sans, ‘gam), and +ctana (Mod. Pers. -stan) “a place.” The initial ham has dropped the +m and become ha, and cum becomes co- in Latin; gam has become gma +by metathesis; and gtan has passed into -tan by phonetic corruption. +Ha-gma-tana would be “the place for assembly,” or for “coming together” + (Lat. comitium); the place, i.e., where the tribes met, and where, +consequently, the capital grew up. + +Bagistan, which was “a hill sacred to Jupiter” according to Diodorus, +is clearly a name corresponding to the Beth-el of the Hebrews and the +Allahabad of the Mahometans. It is simply “the house, or place, of +God”--from baga, “God,” and gtana, “place, abode,” the common modern +Persian terminal (compare Farsi-stan, Khuzi-stan, Afghani-stan, +Belochi-stan, Hindu-stan, etc.), which has here not suffered any +corruption. + +Aspadana contains certainly as its first element the root acpa, “horse.” + The suffix dan may perhaps be a corruption of ctana, analogous to that +which has produced Hama-dan from Hagma-ctan; or it may be a contracted +form of danhu, or dairihu, “a-province,” Aspadana having been originally +the name of a district where horses were bred, and having thence become +the name of its chief town. + +The Median words known to us, other than names of persons or places, are +confined to some three or four. Herodotus tells us that the Median word +for “dog” was spaka; Xenophon implies, if he does not expressly state, +that the native name for the famous Median robe was candys; Nicolas of +Damascus informs us that the Median couriers were called Angari; and +Hesychius says that the artabe was a Median measure. The last-named +writer also states that artades and devas were Magian words, which +perhaps implies that they were common to the Medes with the Persians. +Here, again, the evidence, such as it is, favors a close connection +between the languages of Media and Persia. + +That artabe and angarus were Persian words no less than Median, we have +the evidence of Herodotus. Artades, “just men” (according to Hesychhis), +is probably akin to ars, “true, just,” and may represent the ars-data, +“made just,” of the Zendavesta. Devas (Seven), which Hesychius +translates “the evil gods” is clearly the Zendic daiva, Mod. Pers. div. +(Sans, deva, Lat. divus). In candys we have most probably a formation +from qan, “to dress, to adorn.” Spaka is the Zendic cpa, with the +Scythic guttural suffix, of which the Medes were so fond, cpa itself +being akin to the Sanscrit cvan, and so to hvoov and canis. Thus we may +connect all the few words which are known as Median with forms contained +in the Zend, which was either the mother or the elder sister of the +ancient Persian. + +That the Medes were acquainted with the art of writing, and practised +it--at least from the time that they succeeded to the dominion of the +Assyrians--scarcely admits of a doubt. An illiterate nation, which +conquers one in possession of a literature, however it may despise +learning and look down upon the mere literary life, is almost sure to +adopt writing to some extent on account of its practical utility. It +is true the Medes have left us no written monuments; and we may fairly +conclude from that fact that they used writing sparingly; but besides +the antecedent probability, there is respectable evidence that letters +were known to them, and that, at any rate, their upper classes could +both read and write their native tongue. The story of the letter sent +by Harpagus the Mede to Cyrus in the belly of a hare, though probably +apocryphal, is important as showing the belief of Herodotus on the +subject. The still more doubtful story of a despatch written on +parchment by a Median king, Artseus, and sent to Nanarus, a provincial +governor, related by Nicolas of Damascus, has a value, as indicating +that writer’s conviction that the Median monarchs habitually conveyed +their commands to their subordinates in a written form. With these +statements of profane writers agree certain notices which we find in +Scripture. Darius the Mode, shortly after the destruction of the Median +empire, “signs” a decree, which his chief nobles have presented to him +in writing. He also himself “writes” another decree addressed to his +subjects generally. In later times we find that there existed at the +Persian court a “book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and +Persia,” in which was probably a work begun under the Median and +continued under the Persian sovereigns. + +If then writing was practised by the Medes, it becomes interesting to +consider whence they obtained their knowledge of it, and what was the +system which they employed. Did they bring an alphabet with them from +the far East, or did they derive their first knowledge of letters +from the nations with whom they came into contact after their great +migration? In the latter case, did they adopt, with or without +modifications, a foreign system, or did they merely borrow the idea of +written symbols from their new neighbors, and set to work to invent for +themselves an alphabet suited to the genius of their own tongue? These +are some of the questions which present themselves to the mind as +deserving of attention, when this subject is brought before it. +Unfortunately we possess but very scanty data for determining, and can +do little more than conjecture, the proper answers to be given to them. + +The early composition of certain portions of the Zendavesta, which has +been asserted in this work, may seem at first sight to imply the use +of a written character in Bactria and the adjacent countries at a very +remote era. But such a conclusion is not necessary. Nations have often +had an oral literature, existing only in the memories of men, and have +handed down such a literature from generation to generation, through +a long succession of ages. The sacred lore of Zoroaster may have been +brought by the Modes from the East-Caspian country in an unwritten +shape, and may not have been reduced to writing till many centuries +later. On the whole it is perhaps most probable that the Medes were +unacquainted with letters when they made their great migration, and that +they acquired their first knowledge of them from the races with whom +they came into collision when they settled along the Zagros chain. In +these regions they were brought into contact with at least two forms of +written speech, one that of the old Armenians, a Turanian dialect, the +other that of the Assyrians, a language of the Semitic type. These two +nations used the same alphabetic system, though their languages were +utterly unlike; and it would apparently have been the easiest plan +for the new comers to have adopted the established forms, and to have +applied them, so far as was possible, to the representation of their own +speech. But the extreme complication of a system which employed between +three and four hundred written signs, and composed signs sometimes of +fourteen or fifteen wedges, seems to have shocked the simplicity of the +Medes, who recognized the fact that the varieties of their articulations +fell far short of this excessive luxuriance. The Arian races, so far +as appears, declined to follow the example set them by the Turanians of +Armenia, who had adopted the Assyrian alphabet, and preferred to invent +a new system for themselves, which they determined to make far more +simple. It is possible that they found an example already set them. +In Achaemenian times we observe two alphabets used through Media and +Persia, both of which are simpler than the Assyrian: one is employed to +express the Turanian dialect of the people whom the Arians conquered and +dispossessed; the other, to express the tongue of the conquerors. It +is possible--though we have no direct evidence of the fact--that +the Turanians of Zagros and the neighborhood had already formed for +themselves the alphabet which is found in the second columns of the +Achaemenian tablets, when the Arian invaders conquered them. This +alphabet, which in respect of complexity holds an intermediate position +between the luxuriance of the Assyrian and the simplicity of the +Medo-Persic system, would seem in all probability to have intervened +in order of time between the two. It consists of no more than about a +hundred characters, and these are for the most part far less complicated +than those of Assyria. If the Medes found this form of writing already +existing in Zagros when they arrived, it may have assisted to give them +the idea of making for themselves an alphabet so far on the old model +that the wedge should be the sole element used in the formation, of +letters, but otherwise wholly new, and much more simple than those +previously in use. + +Discarding then the Assyrian notion of a syllabarium, with the enormous +complication which it involves, the Medes strove to reduce sounds to +their ultimate elements, and to represent these last alone by symbols. +Contenting themselves with the three main vowel sounds, a,i, and u, and +with one breathing, a simple h, they recognized twenty consonants, +which were the following, b,d,f,g,j,k,kh,m,n,n (sound doubtful), +p,r,s,sh,t,v,y,z,ch (as in much), and tr, an unnecessary compound. Had +they stopped here, their characters should have been but twenty-four, +the number which is found in Greek. To their ears, however, it would +seem, each consonant appeared to carry with it a short a, and as this, +occurring before i and u, produced the diphthongs ai and au, sounded +nearly as e and o, it seemed necessary, where a consonant was to be +directly followed by the sounds i or u, to have special forms to which +the sound of a should not attach. This system, carried out completely, +would have raised the forms of consonants to sixty, a multiplication +that was feared as inconvenient. In order to keep down the number, +it seems to have been resolved, that one form should suffice for the +aspirated letters and the sibilants (viz., h,kh; ch,ph or f,s,sh, and +z), and also for b,y, and tr; that two forms should suffice for the +tenues, k,p,t, for the liquids n and r, and for v; and consequently that +the full number of three forms should be limited to some three or +four letters, as d, m, j, and perhaps g. The result is that the known +alphabet of the Persians, which is assumed here to have been the +invention of the Medes, consists of some thirty-six or thirty-seven +forms, which are really representative of no more than twenty-three +distinct sounds. + +It appears then that, compared with the phonetic systems in vogue among +their neighbors, the alphabet of the Medes and Persians was marked by +a great simplicity. The forms of the letters were also very much +simplified. Instead of conglomerations of fifteen or sixteen wedges in +a single character, we have in the Medo-Persic letters a maximum of five +wedges. The most ordinary number is four, which is sometimes reduced +to three or even two. The direction of the wedges is uniformly either +perpendicular or horizontal, except of course in the case of the double +wedge or arrow-head, where the component elements are placed obliquely. +The arrow-head has but one position, the perpendicular, with the angle +facing towards the left hand. The only diagonal sign used is a simple +wedge, placed obliquely with the point towards the right, which is a +mere mark of separation between the words. + +The direction of the writing was, as with the Arian nations generally, +from left to right. Words were frequently divided, and part carried on +to the next line. The characters were inscribed between straight lines +drawn from end to end of the tablet on which they were written. Like the +Hebrew, they often closely resembled one another, and a slight defect in +the stone will cause one to be mistaken for another. The resemblance is +not between letters of the same class or kind; on the contrary, it +is often between those which are most remote from one another. Thus g +nearly resembles u; ch is like d; tr like p; and so on: while k and kh, +s and sh, p and ph (or J) are forms quite dissimilar. + +It is supposed that a cuneiform alphabet can never have been employed +for ordinary writing purposes, but must have been confined to documents +of some importance, which it was desirable to preserve, and which +were therefore either inscribed on stone, or impressed on moist clay +afterwards baked. A cursive character, it is therefore imagined, must +always have been in use, parallel with a cuneiform one; and as the +Babylonians and Assyrians are known to have used a character of this +kind from a very high antiquity, synchronously with their lapidary +cuneiform, so it is supposed that the Arian races must have possessed, +besides the method which has been described as a cursive system of +writing. Of this, however, there is at present no direct evidence. No +cursive writing of the Arian nations at this time, either Median or +Persian, has been found; and it is therefore uncertain what form of +character they employed on common occasions. + +The material used for ordinary purposes, according to Nicolas of +Damascus and Ctesias, was parchment. On this the kings wrote the +despatches which conveyed their orders to the officers who administered +the government of provinces; and on this were inscribed the memorials +which each monarch was careful to have composed giving an account of the +chief events of his reign. The cost of land carriage probably prevented +papyrus from superseding this material in Western Asia, as it did in +Greece at a tolerably early date. Clay, so much used for writing on both +in Babylonia and Assyria, appears never to have approved itself as a +convenient substance to the Iranians. For public documents the chisel +and the rock, for private the pen and the prepared skin, seem to have +been preferred by them; and in the earlier times, at any rate, they +employed no other materials. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. CHRONOLOGY AND HISTORY. + + +Media . . . quam ante regnum Cyri superlovis et incrementa Persidos +legimus Asiae reginam totius.--Amm. Marc, xxiii. 6. + + +The origin of the Median nation is wrapt in a profound obscurity. +Following the traces which the Zendavesta offers, taking into +consideration its minute account of the earlier Arian migrations, its +entire omission of any mention of the Medes, and the undoubted fact that +it was nevertheless by the Medes and Persians that the document itself +was preserved and transmitted to us, we should be naturally led to +suppose that the race was one which in the earlier times of Arian +development was weak and insignificant, and that it first pushed itself +into notice after the ethnological portions of the Zendavesta were +composed, which is thought to have been about B.C. 1000. Quite in +accordance with this view is the further fact that in the native +Assyrian annals, so far as they have been, recovered, the Medes do not +make their appearance till the middle of the ninth century B.C., and +when they appear are weak and unimportant, only capable of opposing a +very slight resistance to the attacks of the Ninevite kings. The natural +conclusion from these data would appear to be that until about B.C. 850 +the Median name was unknown in the world, and that previously, if Medes +existed at all, it was either as a sub-tribe of some other Arian race, +or at any rate as a tribe too petty and insignificant to obtain mention +either on the part of native or of foreign historians. Such early +insignificance and late development of what ultimately becomes the +dominant tribe of a race is no strange or unprecedented phenomenon to +the historical inquirer; on the contrary, it is among the facts with +which he is most familiar, and would admit of ample illustration, were +the point worth pursuing, alike from the history of the ancient and the +modern world. + +But, against the conclusion to which we could not fail to be led by +the Arian and Assyrian records, which agree together so remarkably, two +startling notices in works of great authority but of a widely different +character have to be set. In the Toldoth Beni Noah, or “Book of the +Generation of the Sons of Noah,” which forms the tenth chapter of +Genesis, and which, if the work of Moses, was probably composed at +least as early as B.C. 1500, we find the Madai--a word elsewhere always +signifying “the Medes”--in the genealogy of the sons of Japhet. The word +is there conjoined with several other important ethnic titles, as Gomer, +Magog, Javan, Tubal, and Meshech; and there can be no reasonable doubt +that it is intended to designate the Median people. If so, the people +must have had already a separate and independent existence in the +fifteenth century B.C., and not only so, but they must have by that time +attained so much distinction as to be thought worthy of mention by +a writer who was only bent on affiliating the more important of the +nations known to him. + +The other notice is furnished by Berosus. That remarkable historian, +in his account of the early dynasties of his native Chaldaea, declared +that, at a date anterior to B.C. 2000, the Medes had conquered Babylon +by a sudden inroad, had established a monarchy there, and had held +possession of the city and neighboring territory for a period of 224 +years. Eight kings of their race had during that interval occupied the +Babylonian throne, It has been already observed that this narrative must +represent a fact. Berosus would not have gratuitously invented a foreign +conquest of his native land; nor would the earlier Babylonians, from +whom he derived his materials, have forged a tale which was so little +flattering to their national vanity. Some foreign conquest of Babylon +must have taken place about the period named; and it is certainly a most +important fact that Berosus should call the conquerors Medes. He may no +doubt have been mistaken about an event so ancient; he may have misread +his authorities, or he may have described as Medes a people of which he +really knew nothing except that they had issued from the tract which +in his own time bore the name of Media. But, while these axe mere +possibilities, hypotheses to which the mind resorts in order to escape +a difficulty, the hard fact remains that he has used the word; and this +fact, coupled with the mention of the Medes in the book of Genesis, does +certainly raise a presumption of no inconsiderable strength against, +the view which it would be natural to take if the Zendavesta and the +Assyrian annals were our solo authorities on the subject. It lends a +substantial basis to the theories of those who regard the Medes as one +of the principal primeval races; who believe that they were well known +to the Semitic inhabitants of the Mesopotamian valley as early as the +twenty-third century before Christ--long ere Abraham left Ur for Harran; +and that they actually formed the dominant power in Western Asia +for more than two centuries, prior to the establishment of the first +Chaldaean kingdom. + +And if there are thus distinct historical grounds for the notion of an +early Median development, there are not wanting these obscurer but to +many minds more satisfactory proofs wherewith comparative philology +and ethnology are wont to illustrate and confirm the darker passages of +ancient history. Recent linguistic research has clearly traced among the +Arba Lisun, or, “Four Tongues” of ancient Chaldaea, which are so often +mentioned on the ancient monuments, an Arian formation, such as would +naturally have been left in the country, if it had been occupied for +some considerable period by a dominant Arian power. The early Chaldaean +ideographs have often several distinct values; and when this is the +case, one of the powers is almost always an Arian name of the object +represented. Words like nir, “man”, ar, “river,” (compare the names +Aras, Araxes, Endanus, Rha, Rhodanus, etc., the Slavonic rika, “river,” + etc.), san, “sun,” (compare German Sonne, Slavonic solnce, English +“sun,” Dutch zon, etc.), are seemingly Arian roots; and the very +term “Arian” (Ariya, “noble”) is perhaps contained in the name of a +primitive Chaldaean monarch, “Arioch, king of Ellasar.” There is +nothing perhaps in these scattered traces of Arian influence in in Lower +Mesopotamia at a remote era that points very particularly to the Medes; +but at any rate they harmonize with the historical account that has +reached us of early Arian power in these parts, and it is important that +they should not be ignored when we are engaged in considering the degree +of credence that is to be awarded to the account in question. + +Again, there are traces of a vast expansion, apparently at a very early +date, of the Median race, such as seems to imply that they must have +been a great nation in Western Asia long previously to the time of the +Iranic movements in Bactria and the adjoining regions. In the Matieni +of Zagros and Cappadocia, in the Sauro-matae (or Northern Medes) of the +country between the Palus Maeotis and the Caspian, in the Maetae or +Maeotae of the tract about the mouth of the Don, and in the Maedi of +Thrace, we have seemingly remnants of a great migratory host which, +starting from the mountains that overhang Mesopotamia, spread itself +into the regions of the north and the north-west at a time which +does not admit of being definitely stated, but which is clearly +anti-historic. Whether these races generally retained any tradition of +their origin, we do not know; but a tribe which in the time of Herodotus +dwelt still further to the west than even the Maedi--to wit, the +Sigynnae, who occupied the tract between the Adriatic and the +Danube--had a very distinct belief in their Median descent, a belief +confirmed by the resemblance which their national dress bore to that of +the Medes. Herodotus, who relates these facts concerning them, appends +an expression of his astonishment at the circumstance that emigrants +from Media should have proceeded to such a distance from their original +home; how it had been brought about he could not conceive. “Still,” he +sagaciously remarks, “nothing is impossible in the long lapse of ages.” + +A further argument in favor of the early development of Median power, +and the great importance of the nation in Western Asia at a period +anterior to the ninth century, is derivable from the ancient legends +of the Greeks, which seem to have designated the Medes under the two +eponyms of Medea and Andromeda. These legends indeed do not admit of +being dated with any accuracy; but as they are of a primitive type, and +probably older than Homer, we cannot well assign them to an age later +than b.c. 1000. Now they connect the Median name with the two countries +of Syria and Colchis, countries remote from each other, and neither of +them sufficiently near the true Median territory to be held from it, +unless at a time when the Medes were in possession of something like +an empire. And, even apart from any inferences to be drawn from the +localties which the Greek Myths connect with the Medes, the very fact +that the race was known to the Greeks at this early date--long before +the movements which brought them into contact with the Assyrians--would +seem to show that there was some remote period--prior to the Assyrian +domination--when the fame of the Medes was great in the part of Asia +known to the Hellenes, and that they did not first attract Hellenic +notice (as, but for the Myths, we might have imagined) by the conquests +of Cyaxarea. Thus, on the whole it would appear that we must acknowledge +two periods of Median prosperity, separated from each other by a lengthy +interval, one anterior to the rise of the Cushite empire in Lower +Babylonia, the other parallel with the decline and subsequently to the +fall of Assyria. + +Of the first period it cannot be said that we possess any distinct +historical knowledge. The Median dynasty of Berosus at Babylon appears, +by recent discoveries, to have represented those Susianian monarchs who +bore sway there from B.C. 2286 to 2052. The early Median preponderance +in Western Asia, if it is a fact, must have been anterior to this, and +is an event which has only left traces in ethnological names and in +mythological speculations. + +Our historical knowledge of the Medes as a nation commences in +the latter half of the ninth century before our era. Shalmaneser +II.--probably the “Shalman” of Hosea,--who reigned from B.C. 859 to B.C. +824--relates that in his twenty-fourth year (B.C. 885), after having +reduced to subjection the Zimri, who held the Zagros mountain range +immediately to the east of Assyria, and received tribute from the +Persians, he led an expedition into Media and Arazias, where he took and +destroyed a number of the towns, slaying the men, and carrying off the +spoil. He does not mention any pitched battle; and indeed it would seem +that he met with no serious resistance. The Medes whom he attacks +are evidently a weak and insignificant people, whom he holds in small +esteem, and regards as only deserving of a hurried mention. They seem +to occupy the tract now known as Ardelan--a varied region containing +several lofty ridges, with broad plains lying between them. + +It is remarkable that the time of this first contact of Media with +Assyria--a contact taking place when Assyria was in her prime, and Media +was only just emerging from a long period of weakness and obscurity--is +almost exactly that which Ctesias selects as a day of the great +revolution whereby the Empire of the East passed from the hands of the +Shemites into those of the Arians. The long residence of Otesias among +the Persians, gave him a bias toward that people, which even extended to +their close kin, the Medes. Bent on glorifying these two Arian races, +he determined to throw back the commencement of their empire to a period +long anterior to the true date; and, feeling specially anxious to cover +up their early humiliation, he assigned their most glorious conquests +to the very century, and almost to the very time, when they were in fact +suffering reverses at the hands of the people over whom he represented +them as triumphant. There was a boldness in the notion of thus inverting +history which almost deserved, and to a considerable extent obtained, +success. The “long chronology” of Ctesias kept its ground until +recently, not indeed meeting with universal acceptance, but on the whole +predominating over the “short chronology” of Herodotus; and it may be +doubted whether anything less than the discovery that the native records +of Assyria entirely contradicted Ctesias would have sufficed to drive +from the field his figment of early Median dominion. + +The second occasion upon which we hear of the Medes in the Assyrian +annals is in the reign of Shalmanoser’s son and successor, Shamas-Vul. +Here again, as on the former occasion, the Assyrians were the +aggressors. Shamas-Vul invaded Media and Arazias in his third year, and +committed ravages similar to those of his father, wasting the country +with fire and sword, but not (it would seem) reducing the Medes to +subjection, or even attempting to occupy their territory. Again the +attack is a mere raid, which produces no permanent impression. + +It is in the reign of the son and successor of Shamas-Vul that the Medes +appear for the first time to have made their submission and accepted +the position of Assyrian tributaries. A people which was unable to offer +effectual resistance when the Assyrian levies invaded their country, and +which had no means of retaliating upon their foe or making him suffer +the evils that he inflicted, was naturally tempted to save itself from +molestation by the payment of an annual tribute, so purchasing quiet at +the expense of honor and independence. Towards the close of the ninth +century B.C. the Medes seem to have followed the example set them very +much earlier by their kindred and neighbors, the Persians, and to +have made arrangements for an annual payment which should exempt their +territory from ravage. It is doubtful whether the arrangement was made +by the whole people. The Median tribes at this time hung so loosely +together that a policy adopted by one portion of them might be entirely +repudiated by another. Most probably the tribute was paid by those +tribes only which boarded on Zagros, and not by those further to the +east or to the north, into whose territories the Assyrian arms has not +yet penetrated. + +No further change in the condition of the Medes is known to have +occurred until about a hundred years later, when the Assyrians ceased +to be content with the semi-independent position which had been hitherto +allowed them, and determined on their more complete subjugation. The +great Sargon, the assailant of Egypt and conqueror of Babylon, towards +the middle of his reign, invaded Media with a large army, and having +rapidly overrun the country, seized several of the towns, and “annexed +them to Assyria,” while at the same time he also established in new +situations a number of fortified posts. The object was evidently to +incorporate Media into the empire; and the posts wore stations in which +a standing army was placed, to overawe the natives and prevent them from +offering an effectual resistance. With the same view deportation of the +people on a large scale seems to have been practised and the gaps +thus made in the population were filled up--wholly or in part--by the +settlement in the Median cities of Samaritan captives. On the country +thus re-organized and re-arranged a tribute of a new character was laid. +In lieu of the money payment hitherto exacted, the Medes were required +to furnish annually to the royal stud a number of horses. It is probable +that Media was already famous for the remarkable breed which is so +celebrated in later times; and that the horses now required of her by +the Assyrians were to be of the large and highly valued kind known as +“Nisaean.” + +The date of this subjugation is about B.C. 710. And here, if we compare +the Greek accounts of Median history with those far more authentic ones +which have reached us through the Assyrian contemporary records, we are +struck by a repetition of the same device which came under our notice +more than a century earlier--the device of covering up the nation’s +disgraces at a particular period by assigning to that very date certain +great and striking successes. As Ctesias’s revolt of the Medes under +Arbaces and conquest of Nineveh synchronizes nearly with the first known +ravages of Assyria within the territories of the Medes, so Herodotus’s +revolt of the same people and commencement of their monarchy under +Deioces falls almost exactly at the date when they entirely lose their +independence. As there is no reason to suspect Herodotus either of +partiality toward the Medes or of any wilful departure from the truth, +we must regard him as imposed upon by his informants, who were probably +either Medes or Persians. These mendacious patriots found little +difficulty in palming their false tale upon the simple Halicarnassian, +thereby at once extending the antiquity of their empire and concealing +its shame behind a halo of fictitious glory. + +After their subjugation by Sargon the Medes of Media Magna appear to +have remained the faithful subjects of Assyria for sixty or seventy +years. During this period we find no notices of the great mass of the +nation in the Assyrian records: only here and there indications occur +that Assyria is stretching out her arms towards the more distant and +outlying tribes, especially those of Azerbijan, and compelling them to +acknowledge her as mistress. Sennacherib boasts that early in his +reign, about B.C. 702, he received an embassy from the remoter parts of +Media--“parts of which the kings his fathers had not even heard”--which +brought him presents in sign of submission, and patiently accepted his +yoke. His son, Esar-haddon, relates that, about his tenth year (B.C. +671) he invaded Bikni or Bikan, a distant province of Media, “whereof +the kings his fathers had never heard the name;” and, attacking the +cities of the region one after another, forced them to acknowledge his +authority. The country was held by a number of independent chiefs, each +bearing sway in his own city and adjacent territory. These chiefs have +unmistakably Arian names, as Sitriparna or Sitraphernes, Eparna or +Orphernes, Zanasana or Zanasanes, and Eamatiya or Ramates. Esar-haddon +says that, having entered the country with his army, he seized two of +the chiefs and carried them off to Assyria, together with a vast spoil +and numerous other captives. Hereupon the remaining chiefs, alarmed +for their safety, made their submission, consenting to pay an annual +tribute, and admitting Assyrian officers into their territories, who +watched, if they did not even control, the government. + +We are now approaching the time when Media seems to have been first +consolidated into a monarchy by the genius of an individual. Sober +history is forced to discard the shadowy forms of kings with which Greek +writers of more fancy than judgment have peopled the darkness that rests +upon the “origines” of the Medes. Arbaces, Maudaces, Sosarmus, Artycas, +Arbianes, Artseus, Deioces--Median monarchs, according to Ctesias or +Herodotus, during the space of time comprised within the years B.C. 875 +and 655--have to be dismissed by the modern writer without a word, +since there is reason to believe that they are mere creatures of the +imagination, inventions of unscrupulous romancers, not men who once +walked the earth. The list of Median kings in Ctesias, so far as it +differs from the list in Herodotus, seems to be a pure forgery--an +extension of the period of the monarchy by the conscious use of a system +of duplication. Each king, or period, in Herodotus occurs in the list +of Ctesias twice--a transparent device, clumsily cloaked by the cheap +expedient of a liberal invention of names. Even the list of Herodotus +requires curtailment. His Deioces, whose whole history reads more like +romance than truth--the organizer of a powerful monarchy in Media just +at the time when Sargon was building his fortified posts in the +country and peopling with his Israelite captives the old “cities of the +Medes”--the prince who reigned for above half a century in perfect +peace with his neighbors, and who, although contemporary with Sargon, +Sennacherib, Esar-haddon, and As-shur-bani-pal--all kings more or less +connected with Media--is never heard of in any of their annals, must +be relegated to the historical limbo in which repose so many “shades of +mighty names;” and the Herodotean list of Median kings must at any +rate, be thus far reduced. Nothing is more evident than that during the +flourishing period of Assyria under the great Sargonidae above named +there was no grand Median kingdom upon the eastern flank of the empire. +Such a kingdom had certainly not been formed up to B.C. 671, when +Esar-haddon reduced the more distant Medes, finding them still under the +government of a number of petty chiefs. The earliest time at which we +can imagine the consolidation to have taken place consistently with what +we know of Assyria is about B.C. 760, or nearly half a century later +than the date given by Herodotus. + +The cause of the sudden growth of Media in power about this period, and +of the consolidation which followed rapidly upon that growth, is to +be sought, apparently, in fresh migratory movements from the Arian +head-quarters, the countries east and south-east of the Caspian. The +Cyaxares who about the year B.C. 632 led an invading host of Medes +against Nineveh, was so well known to the Arian tribes of the north-east +that, when in the reign of Darius Hystaspis a Sagartian raised the +standard of revolt in that region he stated the ground of his claim to +the Sagartian throne to be descent from Cyaxares. This great chief, +it is probable, either alone, or in conjunction with his father (whom +Herodotus calls Phraortes), led a fresh emigration of Arians from the +Bacterian and Sagartian country to the regions directly east of the +Zagros mountain chain; and having thus vastly increased the strength of +the Arian race in that quarter, set himself to consolidate a mountain +kingdom capable of resisting the great monarchy of the plain. Accepted, +it would seem, as chief by the former Arian inhabitants of the tract, he +proceeded to reduce the scattered Scythic tribes which had hitherto held +possession of the high mountain region. The Zimri, Minni, Hupuska, +etc., who divided among them the country lying between Media Proper and +Assyria, were attacked and subdued without any great difficulty; and the +conqueror, finding himself thus at the head of a considerable kingdom, +and no longer in any danger of subjugation at the hands of Assyria, +began to contemplate the audacious enterprise of himself attacking +the Great Power which had been for so many hundred years the terror of +Western Asia. The supineness of Asshur-bani-pal, the Assyrian king, +who must at this time have been advanced in years, encouraged his +aspirations; and about B.C. 634, when that monarch had held the throne +for thirty-four years, suddenly, without warning, the Median troops +debouched from the passes of Zagros, and spread themselves over the rich +country at its base, Alarmed by the nearness and greatness of the peril, +the Assyrian king aroused himself, and putting himself at the head of +his troops, marched out to confront the invader. A great battle +was fought, probably somewhere in Adiabene, in which the Medes were +completely defeated: their whole army was cut to pieces; and the father +of Cyaxares was among the slain. Such was the result of the first Median +expedition against Nineveh. The assailants had miscalculated their +strength. In their own mountain country, and so long as they should +be called upon to act only on the defensive, they might be right +in regarding themselves as a match for the Assyrians; but when they +descended into the plain, and allowed their enemy the opportunity +of manoeuvering and of using his war chariots, their inferiority was +marked. Cyaxares, now, if not previously, actual king, withdrew awhile +from the war, and, convinced that all the valor of his Medes would be +unavailing without discipline, set himself to organize the army on a +new system, taking a pattern from the enemy, who had long possessed some +knowledge of tactics. Hitherto, it would seem, each Median chief had +brought into the field his band of followers, some mounted, some on +foot, foot and horse alike armed variously as their means allowed them, +some with bows and arrows, some with spears, some perhaps with slings or +darts; and the army had been composed of a number of such bodies, each +chief keeping his band close about him. Cyaxares broke up these bands, +and formed the soldiers who composed them into distinct corps, according +as they were horsemen or footmen, archers, slingers, or lancers. He +then, having completed his arrangements at his ease, without disturbance +(so far as appears) from the Assyrians, felt himself strong enough to +renew the war with a good prospect of success. Collecting as large +an army as he could, both from his Arian and his Scythic subjects, he +marched into Assyria, met the troops of Asshur-bani-pal in the field, +defeated them signally, and forced them to take refuge behind the strong +works which defended their capital. He even ventured to follow up the +flying foe and commence the siege of the capital itself; but at this +point he was suddenly checked in his career of victory, and forced to +assume a defensive attitude, by a danger of a novel kind, which recalled +him from Nineveh to his own country. + +The vast tracts, chiefly consisting of grassy plains, which lie north of +the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian, and the Jaxartes Syhun river, +were inhabited in ancient times by a race or races known to the Asiatics +as Saka, “Scythians.” These people appear to have been allied ethnically +with many of the more southern races, as with the Parthians, the +Iberians, the Alarodians, the tribes of the Zagros chain, the +Susianians, and others. It is just possible that they may have taken +an interest in the warfare of their southern brethren, and that, when +Cyaxares brought the tribes of Zagros under his yoke, the Scyths of the +north may have felt resentment, or compassion, If this view seem too +improbable, considering the distance, the physical obstacles, and the +little communication that there was between nations in those early +times, we must suppose that by a mere coincidence it happened that the +subjugation of the southern Scyths by Cyaxares was followed within a few +years by a great irruption of Scyths from the trans-Caucasian region. In +that case we shall have to regard the invasion as a mere example of that +ever-recurring law by which the poor and hardy races of Upper Asia or +Europe are from time to time directed upon the effete kingdoms of the +south, to shake, ravage, or overturn them, as the case may be, and +prevent them from stagnating into corruption. + +The character of the Scythians, and the general nature of their ravages, +have been described in a former portion of this work. If they entered +Southern Asia, as seems probable, by the Daghestan route, they would +then have been able to pass on without much difficulty, through Georgia +into Azerbijan, and from Azerbijan into Media Magna, where the Medes had +now established their southern capital. Four roads lead from Azerbijan +to Hamadan or the Greater Ecbatana, one through Menjil and Kasvin, and +across the Caraghan Hills; a second through Miana, Zenjan, and the +province of Khamseh; a third by the valley of the Jaghetu, through +Chukli and Tikan-Teppeh; and a fourth through Sefer-Khaneh and Sennah. +We cannot say which of the four the invaders selected; but, as they were +passing southwards, they met the army of Cyaxares, which had quitted +Nineveh on the first news of their invasion, and had marched in hot +haste to meet and engage them. The two enemies were not ill-matched. +Both were hardy and warlike, both active and full of energy; with both +the cavalry was the chief arm, and the bow the weapon on which they +depended mainly for victory. The Medes were no doubt the better +disciplined; they had a greater variety of weapons and of soldiers; and +individually they were probably more powerful men than the Scythians; +but these last had the advantage of numbers, of reckless daring, and of +tactics that it was difficult to encounter. Moreover, the necessity of +their situation in the midst of an enemy’s country made it imperative on +them to succeed, while their adversaries might be defeated without any +very grievous consequences. The Scytho had not come into Asia to conquer +so much as to ravage; defeat at their hands involved damage rather than +destruction; and the Medes must have felt that, if they lost the battle, +they might still hope to maintain a stout defence behind the strong +walls of some of their towns. The result was such as might have been +expected under these circumstances. Madyes, the Scythian leader, +obtained the victory, Cyaxares was defeated, and compelled to make terms +with the invader. Retaining his royal name, and the actual government of +his country, he admitted the suzerainty of the Scyths, and agreed to pay +them an annual tribute. Whether Media suffered very seriously from their +ravages, we cannot say. Neither its wealth nor its fertility was such +as to tempt marauders to remain in it very long. The main complaint +made against the Scythian conquerors is that, not content with the +fixed tribute which they had agreed to receive, and which was paid them +regularly, they levied contributions at their pleasure on the various +states under their sway, which were oppressed by repeated exactions. The +injuries suffered from their marauding habits form only a subordinate +charge against them, as though it had not been practically felt to be +so great a grievance. We can well imagine that the bulk of the invaders +would prefer the warmer and richer lands of Assyria, Mesopotamia, and +Syria; and that, pouring into them, they would leave the colder and less +wealthy Media comparatively free from ravage. + +The condition of Media and the adjacent countries under the Scythians +must have nearly resembled that of almost the same regions under +the Seljukian Turks during the early times of their domination. The +conquerors made no fixed settlements, but pitched their tents in any +portion of the territory that they chose. Their horses and cattle +were free to pasture on all lands equally. They were recognized as the +dominant race, were feared and shunned, but did not greatly interfere +with the bulk of their subjects. It was impossible that they should +occupy at any given time more than a comparatively few spots in the wide +tract which they had overrun and subjugated; and, consequently, +there was not much contact between them and the peoples whom they had +conquered. Such contact as there was must no doubt have been galling and +oppressive. The right of free pasture in the lands of others is always +irksome to those who have to endure it, and, even where it is exercised +with strict fairness, naturally leads to quarrels. The barbarous +Scythians are not likely to have cared very much about fairness. They +would press heavily upon the more fertile tracts, paying over-frequent +visits to such spots, and remaining in them till the region was +exhausted. The chiefs would not be able to restrain their followers +from acts of pillage; redress would be obtained with difficulty; and +sometimes even the chiefs themselves may have been sharers in the +injuries committed. The insolence, moreover, of a dominant race so +coarse and rude as the Scyths must have been very hard to bear; and we +can well understand that the various nations which had to endure the +yoke must have looked anxiously for an opportunity of shaking it off, +and recovering their independence. + +Among these various nations, there was probably none that fretted and +winced under its subjection more than the Medes. Naturally brave and +high-spirited, with the love of independence inherent in mountaineers, +and with a well-grounded pride in their recent great successes, they +must have chafed daily and hourly at the ignominy of their position, +the postponement of their hopes, and the wrongs which they continually +suffered. At first it seemed necessary to endure. They had tried the +chances of a battle, and had been defeated in fair fight--what reason +was there to hope that, if they drew the sword again, they would be more +successful? Accordingly they remained quiet but, as time went on, and +the Scythians dispersed themselves continually over a wider and a +wider space, invading Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and again +Armenia and Cappadocia, everywhere plundering and marauding, conducting +sieges, fighting battles, losing men from the sword, from sickness, from +excesses, becoming weaker instead of stronger, as each year went by, +owing to the drain of constant wars--the Medes by degrees took heart. +Not trusting, however, entirely to the strength of their right arms, a +trust which had failed them once, they resolved to prepare the way for +an outbreak by a stratagem which they regarded as justifiable. Cyaxares +and his court invited a number of the Scythian chiefs to a grand +banquet, and, having induced them to drink till they were completely +drunk, set upon them when they were in this helpless condition, and +remorselessly slew them all. + +This deed was the signal for a general revolt of the nation. The Medes +everywhere took arms, and, turning upon their conquerors, assailed them +with a fury the more terrible because it had been for years repressed. +A war followed, the duration and circumstances of which are unknown; for +the stories with which Ctesias enlivened this portion of his history can +scarcely be accepted as having any foundation in fact. According to him, +the Parthians made common cause with the Scythians on the occasion, and +the war lasted many years; numerous battles were fought with great loss +to both sides; and peace was finally concluded without either party +having gained the upper hand. The Scyths were commanded by a queen, +Zarina or Zarinsea, woman of rare beauty, and as brave as she was +fair; who won the hearts, when she could not resist the swords, of her +adversaries. A strangely romantic love-tale is told of this beauteous +Amazon. It is not at all clear what region Ctesias supposes her to +govern. It has a capital city, called Koxanace (a name entirely unknown +to any other historian or geographer), and it contains many other towns +of which Zarina was the foundress. Its chief architectural monument was +the tomb of Zarina, a triangular pyramid, six hundred feet high, and +more than a mile round the base, crowned by a colossal figure of the +queen made of solid gold. But--to leave these fables and return to +fact--we can only say with certainty that the result of the war was the +complete defeat of the Scythians, who not only lost their position of +pre-eminence in Media and the adjacent countries, but were driven across +the Caucasus into their own proper territory. Their expulsion was +so complete that they scarcely left a trace of their power or their +presence in the geography or ethnography of the country. One Palestine +city only, as already observed, and one Armenian province retained in +their names a lingering memory of the great inroad which but for them +would have passed away without making any more permanent mark on the +region than a hurricane or a snowstorm. How long the dominion of the +Scyths endured is a matter of great uncertainty. It was no doubt +the belief of Herodotus that from their defeat of Cyaxares to his +treacherous murder of their chiefs was a period of exactly twenty-eight +years. During the whole of this space he regarded them as the undisputed +lords of Asia. It was not till the twenty-eight years were over that +the Medes were able, according to him, to renew their attacks on the +Assyrians, and once more to besiege Nineveh. But this chronology is open +to great objections. There is strong reason for believing that Nineveh +fell about B.C. 625 or 624; but according to the numbers of Herodotus +the fall would, at the earliest, have taken place in B.C. 602. There is +great unlikelihood that the Scyths, if they had maintained their rule +for a generation, should not have attracted some distinct notice from +the Jewish writers. Again, if twenty-eight out of the forty years +assigned to Cyaxares are to be regarded as years of inaction, all his +great exploits, his two sieges of Nineveh, his capture of that capital, +his conquest of the countries north and west of Media as far as the +Halys, his six years’ war in Asia Minor beyond that river, and his joint +expedition with Nebuchadnezzar into Syria, will have to be crowded most +improbably into the space of twelve years, two or three preceding and +ten or nine following the Scythian domination. These and other reasons +lead to the conclusion, which has the support of Eusebius, that +the Scythian domination was of much shorter duration than Herodotus +imagined. It may have been twenty-eight years from the original attack +on Media to the final expulsion of the last of the invaders from +Asia--and this may have been what the informants of Herodotus really +intended--but it cannot have been very long after the first attack +before the Medes began to recover themselves, to shake off the fear +which had possessed them and clear their territories of the invaders. If +the invasion really took place in the reign of Cyaxares, and not in the +lifetime of his father, where Eusebius places it, we must suppose that +within eight years of its occurrence Cyaxares found himself sufficiently +strong, and his hands sufficiently free, to resume his old projects, and +for the second time to march an army into Assyria. + +The weakness of Assyria was such as to offer strong temptations to an +invader. As the famous inroad of the Gauls into Italy in the year of +Rome 365 paved the way for the Roman conquests in the peninsula by +breaking the power of the Etruscans, the Umbrians, and various other +races, so the Scythic incursion may have, really benefited, rather than +injured, Media, by weakening the great power to whose empire she +aspired to succeed. The exhaustion of Assyria’s resources at the time is +remarkably illustrated by the poverty and meanness of the palace which +the last king, Saracus, built for himself at Calah. She lay, apparently, +at the mercy of the first bold assailant, her prestige lost, her army +dispirited or disorganized, her defences injured, her high spirit broken +and subdued. + +Cyaxaros, ere proceeding to the attack, sent, it is probable, to make +an alliance with the Susianians and Chaldaeans. Susiana was the last +country which Assyria had conquered, and could remember the pleasures of +independence. Chaldaea, though it had been now for above half a century +an Assyrian fief, and had borne the yoke with scarcely a murmur during +that period, could never wholly forget its old glories, or the long +resistance which it had made before submitting to its northern neighbor. +The overtures of the Median monarch seem to have been favorably +received; and it was agreed that an army from the south should march up +the Tigris and threaten Assyria from that quarter, while Cyaxares +led his Medes from the east, through the passes of Zagros against the +capital. Rumor soon conveyed the tidings of his enemies’ intentions to +the Assyrian monarch, who immediately made such a disposition of the +forces at his command as seemed best calculated to meet the double +danger which threatened him. Selecting from among his generals the +one in whom he placed most confidence--a man named Nabopolassar, most +probably an Assyrian--he put him at the head of a portion of his troops, +and sent him to Babylon to resist the enemy who was advancing from the +sea. The command of his main army he reserved for himself, intending to +undertake in person the defence of his territory against the Medes. This +plan of campaign was not badly conceived; but it was frustrated by an +unexpected calamity, Nabopolassar, seeing his sovereign’s danger, and +calculating astutely that he might gain more by an opportune defection +from a falling cause than he could look to receive as the reward of +fidelity, resolved to turn traitor and join the enemies of Assyria. +Accordingly he sent an embassy to Cyaxares, with proposals for a close +alliance to be cemented by a marriage. If the Median monarch would +give his daughter Amuhia (or Amyitis) to be the wife of his son +Nebuchadnezzar, the forces under his command should march against +Nineveh and assist Cyaxares to capture it. Such a proposition arriving +at such a time was not likely to meet with a refusal. Cyaxares gladly +came into the terms; the marriage took place; and Nabopolassar, who had +now practically assumed the sovereignty of Babylon, either led or sent a +Babylonian contingent to the aid of the Medes. + +The siege of Nineveh by the combined Medes and Babylonians was narrated +by Ctesias at some length. He called the Assyrian king Sardanapalus, +the Median commander Arbaces, the Babylonian Belesis. Though he thus +disguised the real names, and threw back the event to a period a century +and a half earlier than its true date, there can be no doubt that he +intended to relate the last siege of the city, that which immediately +preceded its complete destruction. He told how the combined army, +consisting of Persians and Arabs as well as of Medes and Babylonians, +and amounting to four hundred thousand men, was twice defeated with +great loss by the Assyrian monarch, and compelled to take refuge in +the Zagros chain--how after losing a third battle it retreated to +Babylonia--how it was there joined by strong reinforcements from +Bactria, surprised the Assyrian camp by night, and drove the whole host +in confusion to Nineveh--how then, after two more victories, it advanced +and invested the city, which was well provisioned for a siege and +strongly fortified. The siege, Ctesias said, had lasted two full years, +and the third year had commenced--success seemed still far off--when +an unusually rainy season so swelled the waters of the Tigris that they +burst into the city, sweeping away more than two miles of the wall. +This vast breach it was impossible to repair; and the Assyrian monarch, +seeing that further resistance was vain, brought the struggle to an end +by burning himself, with his concubines and eunuchs and all his chief +wealth, in his palace. + +Such, in outline, was the story of Ctesias. If we except the extent +of the breach which the river is declared to have made, it contains no +glaring improbabilities. On the contrary, it is a narrative that hangs +well together, and that suits both the relations of the parties and +the localities. Moreover, it is confirmed in one or two points by +authorities of the highest order. Still, as Ctesias is a writer who +delights in fiction, and as it seems very unlikely that he would find a +detailed account of the siege, such as he has given us, in the Persian +archives, from whence he professed to derive his history, no confidence +can be placed in those points of his narrative which have not any +further sanction. All that we know on the subject of the last siege +of Nineveh is that it was conducted by a combined army of Medes +and Babylonians, the former commanded by Cyaxares, the latter by +Nabopolassar or Nebuchadnezzar, and that it was terminated, when +all hope was lost, by the suicide of the Assyrian monarch. The +self-immolation of Saracus is related by Abydenus, who almost certainly +follows Berosus in this part of his history. We may therefore accept +it as a fact about which there ought to be no question. Actuated by +a feeling which has more than once caused a vanquished monarch to die +rather than fall into the power of his enemies, Saracus made a funeral +pyre of his ancestral palace, and lighted it with his own hand. + +One further point in the narrative of Ctesias we may suspect to contain +a true representation. Ctesias declared the cause of the capture to +have been the destruction of the city wall by an unexpected rise of the +river. Now, the prophet Nahum, in his announcement of the fate coming on +Nineveh, has a very remarkable expression, which seems most naturally to +point to some destruction of a portion of the fortifications by means of +water. After relating the steps that would be taken for the defence of +the place, he turns to remark on their fruitlessness, and says: “The +gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved; and Huzzab +is led away captive; she is led up, with her maidens, sighing as with +the voice of doves, smiting upon their breasts.” Now, we have already +seen that at the northwest angle of Nineveh there was a sluice or +floodgate, intended mainly to keep the water of the Khosrsu, which +ordinarily filled the city moat, from flowing off too rapidly into the +Tigris, but probably intended also to keep back the water of the Tigris, +when that stream rose above its common level. A sudden and great rise +of the Tigris would necessarily endanger this gate, and if it gave way +beneath the pressure, a vast torrent of water would rush up the moat +along and against the northern wall, which may have been undermined by +its force, and have fallen in. The stream would then pour into the city; +and it may perhaps have reached the palace platform, which being made +of sun-dried bricks, and probably not cased with stone inside the +city, would begin to be “dissolved.” Such seems the simplest and best +interpretation of this passage, which, though it is not historical, but +only prophetical, must be regarded as giving an importance that it would +not otherwise have possessed to the statement of Ctesias with regard to +the part played by the Tigris in the destruction of Nineveh. + +The fall of the city was followed by a division of the spoil between the +two principal conquerors. While Cyaxares took to his own share the land +of the conquered people, Assyria Proper, and the countries dependent on +Assyria towards the north and north-west, Nabopolassar was allowed, not +merely Babylonia, Chaldaea, and Susiana, but the valley of the Euphrates +and the countries to which that valley conducted. Thus two considerable +empires arose at the same time cut of the ashes of Assyria--the +Babylonian towards the south and the south-west, stretching from +Luristan to the borders of Egypt, the Median towards the north, reaching +from the salt desert of Iran to Amanus and the Upper Euphrates. +These empires were established by mutual consent; they were connected +together, not merely by treaties, but by the ties of affinity which +united their rulers; and, instead of cherishing, as might have been +expected, a mutual suspicion and distrust, they seem to have really +entertained the most friendly feelings towards one another, and to have +been ready on all emergencies to lend each other important assistance. +For once in the history of the world two powerful monarchies were seen +to stand side by side, not only without collision, but without jealousy +or rancor. Babylonia and Media were content to share between them the +empire of Western Asia: the world was, they thought, wide enough for +both; and so, though they could not but have had in some respects +conflicting interests, they remained close friends and allies for more +than half a century. + +To the Median monarch the conquest of Assyria did not bring a time +of repose. Wandering bands of Scythians were still, it is probable, +committing ravages in many parts of Western Asia. The subjects of +Assyria, set free by her downfall, were likely to use the occasion for +the assertion of their independence, if they were not immediately shown +that a power of at least equal strength had taken her place, and was +prepared to claim her inheritance. War begets war; and the successes of +Cyaxares up to the present point in his career did but whet his appetite +for power, and stimulate him to attempt further conquests. In brief but +pregnant words Herodotus informs us that Cyaxares “subdued to himself +all Asia above the Halys.” How much he may include in this expression, +it is impossible to determine; but, _prime facie_, it would seem at +least to imply that he engaged in a series of wars with the various +tribes and nations which intervened between Media and Assyria on the one +side and the river Halys on the other, and that he succeeded in bringing +them under his dominion. The most important countries in this direction +were Armenia and Cappadocia. Armenia, strong in its lofty mountains, +its deep gorges, and its numerous rapid rivers--the head-streams of +the Tigris, Euphrates, Kur, and Aras--had for centuries resisted with +unconquered spirit the perpetual efforts of the Assyrian kings to bring +it under their yoke, and had only at last consented under the latest +king but one to a mere nominal allegiance. Cappadocia had not even been +brought to this degree of dependence. It had lain beyond the furthest +limit whereto the Assyrian arms had ever reached, and had not as yet +come into collision with any of the great powers of Asia. Other minor +tribes in this region, neighbors of the Armenians and Cappadocians, but +more remote from Media, were the Ibenans, the Colchians, the Moschi, the +Tibareni, the Mares the Macrones, and the Mosynoeci. Herodotus appears +to have been of opinion that all these tribes, or at any rate all but +the Colchians, were at this time brought under by Cyaxares who thus +extended his dominions to the Caucasus and the Black Sea upon the north, +and upon the east to the Kizil Irmak or Halys. + +It is possible that the reduction of these countries under the Median +yoke was not so much a conquest as a voluntary submission of the +inhabitants to the power which alone seemed strong enough to save them +from the hated domination of the Scyths. According to Strabo, Armenia +and Cappadocia were the regions where the Scythic ravages had been most +severely felt. Cappadocia had been devastated from the mountains down +to the coast; and in Armenia the most fertile portion of the whole +territory had been seized and occupied by the invaders, from whom it +thenceforth took the name of Sacassene, the Armenians and Cappadocians +may have found the yoke of the Scyths so intolerable as to have gladly +exchanged it for dependence on a comparatively civilized people. In +the neighboring territory of Asia Minor a similar cause had recently +exercised a unifying influence, the necessity of combining to resist +Cimmerian immigrants having tended to establish a hegemony of Lydia over +the various tribes which divided among them the tract west of the Halys. +It is evidently not improbable that the sufferings endured at the hands +of the Scyths may have disposed the nations east of the river to adopt +the same remedy and that, so soon as Media had proved her strength, +first by shaking herself free of the Scythic invaders and then +conquering Assyria. the tribes of these parts accepted her as at once +their mistress and their deliverer. + +Another quite distinct cause may also have helped to bring about the +result above indicated. Parallel with the great Median migration from +the East under Cyaxares, or Phraortes (?), his father, an Arian influx +had taken place into the countries between the Caspian and the Halys. +In Armenia and Cappadocia during the flourishing period of Assyria, +Turanian tribes had been predominant. Between the middle and the end of +the seventh century these tribes appear to have yielded the supremacy to +Arians. In Armenia, the present language which is predominantly +Arian, ousted the former Turaman tongue which appears in the cuneiform +inscriptions of Van and the adjacent regions. In Cappadocia, the Moschi +and Tibareni had to yield their seats to a new race--the Katapatuka, who +were not only Arian but distinctly Medo-Persic, as is plain from their +proper names, and from the close connection of their royal house +with that of the kings of Persia. This spread of the Arians into the +countries lying between the Caspian and the Halys must have done much to +pave the way for Median supremacy over those regions. The weaker Arian +tribes of the north would have been proud of their southern brethren, to +whose arms the queen of Western Asia had been forced to yield, and +would have felt comparatively little repugnance in surrendering their +independence into the hands of a friendly and kindred people. + +Thus Cyaxares, in his triumphant progress to the north and the +north-west, made war, it is probable, chiefly upon the Scyths, or upon +them and the old Turanian inhabitants of the countries, while by +the Arians he was welcomed as a champion come to deliver them from +a grievous oppression. Ranging themselves under his standard, they +probably helped him to expel from Asia the barbarian hordes which had +now for many years tyrannized over them; and when the expulsion was +completed, gratitude or habit made them willing to continue in the +subject position which they had assumed in order to effect it. Cyaxares +within less than ten years from his capture of Nineveh had added to his +empire the fertile and valuable tracts of Armenia and Cappadocia--never +really subject to Assyria--and may perhaps have further mastered the +entire region between Armenia and the Caucasus and Euxine. + +The advance of their western frontier to the river Halys, which was +involved in the absorption of Cappadocia into the Empire, brought the +Medes into contact with a new power--a power which, like Media, had been +recently increasing in greatness, and which was not likely to submit to +a foreign yoke without a struggle. The Lydian kingdom was one of great +antiquity in this part of Asia. According to traditions current among +its people, it had been established more than seven hundred years at the +time when Cyaxares pushed his conquests to its borders. Three dynasties +of native kings--Atyadse, Heraclidse, and Mermnadae--had successively +held the throne during that period. The Lydians could repeat the names +of at least thirty monarchs who had borne sway in Sardis, their capital +city, since its foundation. They had never been conquered. In the old +times, indeed, Lydus, the son of Atys, had changed the name of the +people inhabiting the country from Maeonians to Lydians--a change which +to the keen sense of an historical critic implies a conquest of one race +by another. But to the people themselves this tradition conveyed no such +meaning; or, if it did to any, their self-complacency was not disturbed +thereby, since they would hug the notion that they belonged not to the +conquered race but to the conquerors. If a Ramcsos or a Sesostris had +ever penetrated to their country, he had met with a brave resistance, +and had left monuments indicating his respect for their courage. +Neither Babylon nor Assyria had ever given a king to the Lydians--on the +contrary, the Lydian tradition was, that they had themselves sent forth +Belus and Ninus from their own country to found dynasties and cities in +Mesopotamia. In a still more remote age they had seen their colonists +embark upon the western waters, and start for the distant Hesperia, +where they had arrived in safety, and had founded the great Etruscan +nation. On another occasion they had carried their arms beyond the +limits of Asia Minor, and had marched southward to the very extremity +of: Syria, where their general, Ascalus, had founded a great city and +called it after his name. + +Such were the Lydian traditions with respect to the more remote times. +Of their real history they seem to have known but little, and that +little did not extend further back than about two hundred years before +Cyaxares. Within this space it was certain that they had had a change +of dynasty, a change preceded by a long feud between their two greatest +houses, which were perhaps really two branches of the royal family. The +Heraclidae had grown jealous of the Mermnadae, and had treated them with +injustice; the Mormnadae had at first sought their safety in flight, +and afterwards, when they felt themselves strong enough, had returned, +murdered the Heraclide monarch, and placed their chief, Gyges, upon +the throne. With Gyges, who had commenced his reign about B.C. 700, the +prosperity of the Lydians had greatly increased, and they had begun to +assume an aggressive attitude towards their neighbors. Gyges’ revenue +was so great that his wealth became proverbial, and he could afford to +spread his fame by sending from his superfluity to the distant temple +of Delphi presents of such magnificence that they were the admiration +of later ages. The relations of his predecessors with the Greeks of +the Asiatic coast had been friendly, Gyges changed this policy, and, +desirous of enlarging his seaboard, made war upon the Greek maritime +towns, attacking Miletus and Smyrna without result, but succeeding in +capturing the Ionic city of Colophon. He also picked a quarrel with +the inland town of Magnesia, and after many invasions of its territory +compelled it to submission. According to some, he made himself master +of the whole territory of the Troad, and the Milesians had to obtain his +permission before they could establish their colony of Abydos upon the +Hellespont. At any rate he was a rich and puissant monarch in the +eyes of the Greeks of Asia and the islands, who were never tired of +celebrating his wealth, his wars, and his romantic history. + +The shadow of calamity had, however, fallen upon Lydia towards the close +of Gyges’ long reign. About thirty years before the Scythians from +the Steppe country crossed the Caucasus and fell upon Media, the same +barrier was passed by another groat horde of nomads. The Cimmerians, +probably a Celtic people, who had dwelt hitherto in the Tauric +Chersonese and the country adjoining upon it, pressed on by Scythic +invaders from the East, had sought a vent in this direction. Passing +the great mountain barrier either by the route of Mozdok--the Pylas +Caucasiae--or by some still more difficult track towards the Euxine, +they had entered Asia Minor by way of Cappadocia and had spread terror +and devastation in every direction. Gyges, alarmed at their advance, had +placed himself under the protection of Assyria, and had then confidently +given them battle, defeated them, and captured several of their chiefs. +It is uncertain whether the Assyrians gave him any material aid, but +evident that he ascribed his success to his alliance with them. In his +gratitude he sent an embassy to Asshur-bani-pal, king of Assyria, and +courted his favor by presents and by sending him his Cimmerian captives. +Later in his reign, however, he changed his policy, and, breaking with +Assyria, gave aid to the Egyptian rebel, Psammetichus, and helped him +to establish his independence. The result followed which was to be +expected. Assyria withdrew her protection; and Lydia was left to fight +her own battles when the great crisis came. Carrying all before them, +the fierce hordes swarmed in full force into the more western districts +of Asia Minor; Paphlagonia, Phrygia, Bithynia, Lydia, and Ionia were +overrun; Gyges, venturing on an engagement, perished; the frightened +inhabitants generally shut themselves up in their walled towns, and +hoped that the tide of invasion might sweep by them quickly and roll +elsewhere; but the Cimmerians, impatient and undisciplined as they +might be, could sometimes bring themselves to endure the weary work of a +siege, and they saw in the Lydian capital a prize well worth an effort. +The hordes besieged Sardis, and took it, except the citadel, which was +commandingly placed and defied all their attempts. A terrible scene of +carnage must have followed. How Lydia withstood the blow, and rapidly +recovered from it, is hard to understand; but it seems certain that +within a generation she was so far restored to vigor as to venture +on resuming her attacks upon the Greeks of the coast, which had been +suspended during her period of prostration. Sadyattes, the son of +Ardys, and grandson of Gyges, following the example of his father and +grandfather, made war upon Miletus; and Alyattes, his son and successor, +pursued the same policy of aggression. Besides pressing Miletus, he +besieged and took Smyrna, and ravaged the territory of Clazomenae. + +But the great work of Alyattes’ reign, and the one which seems to have +had the most important consequences for Lydia, was the war which he +undertook for the purpose of expelling the Cimmerians from Asia Minor. +The hordes had been greatly weakened by time, by their losses in war, +and, probably by their excesses; they had long ceased to be formidable; +but they were still strong enough to be an annoyance. Alyattes is said +to have “driven them out of Asia,” by which we can scarcely understand +less than that he expelled them from his own dominions and those of his +neighbors--or, in other words, from the countries which had been the +scenes of their chief ravages--Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Lydia, Phrygia, +and Cilicia. But, to do this, he must have entered into a league with +his neighbors, who must have consented to act under him for the purposes +of war, if they did not even admit the permanent hegemony of his +country. Alyattes’ success appears to have been complete, or nearly so; +he cleared Asia Minor of the Cimmerians; and having thus conferred a +benefit on all the nations of the region and exhibited before their +eyes his great military capacity, if he had not actually constructed an +empire, he had at any rate done much to pave the way for one. + +Such was the political position in the regions west and south of the +Halys, when Cyaxares completed his absorption of Cappadocia, and looking +across the river that divided the Cappadocians from the Phrygians, saw +stretched before him a region of great fertile plains, which seemed to +invite an invader. A pretext for an attack was all that he wanted, +and this was soon forthcoming. A body of the nomad Scyths--probably +belonging to the great invasion, though Herodotus thought otherwise--had +taken service under Cyaxares, and for some time served him faithfully, +being employed chiefly as hunters. A cause of quarrel, however, arose +after a while; and the Scyths, disliking their position or distrusting +the intentions of their lords towards them, quitted the Median +territory, and, marching through a great part of Asia Minor, sought and +found a refuge with Alyattes, the Lydian king. Cyaxares, upon learning +their flight, sent an embassy to the court of Sardis to demand the +surrender of the fugitives; but the Lydian monarch met the demand with a +refusal, and, fully understanding the probable consequences, immediately +prepared for war. + +Though Lydia, compared to Media, was but a small state, yet her +resources were by no means inconsiderable. In fertility she surpassed +almost every other country of Asia Minor, which is altogether one of +the richest regions in the world. At this time she was producing large +quantities of gold, which was found in great abundance in the Pactolus, +and probably in the other small streams that flowed down on all sides +from the Tmolus mountain-chain. Her people were at once warlike and +ingenious. They had invented the art of coining money, and showed +considerable taste in their devices. [PLATE VII., Fig. 1], They claimed +also to have been the inventors of a number of games, which were common +to them with the Greeks. According to Herodotus, they were the first +who made a livelihood by shop-keeping. They were skilful in the use of +musical instruments, and had their own peculiar musical mode or style, +which was in much favor among the Greeks, though condemned as effeminate +by some of the philosophers. At the same time the Lydians were not +wanting in courage or manliness. They fought chiefly on horseback, and +were excellent riders, carrying long spears, which they managed with +great skill. Nicolas of Damascus tells us that even under the Heraclido +kings, they could muster for service cavalry to the number of 30,000. In +peace they pursued with ardor the sports of the field, and found in the +chase of the wild boar a pastime which called forth and exercised every +manly quality. Thus Lydia, even by herself, was no contemptible enemy; +though it can hardly be supposed that, without help from others, she +would have proved a match for the Great Median Empire. + +[Illustration: PLATE VII.] + +But such help as she needed was not wanting to her. The rapid strides +with which Media had advanced towards the west had no doubt alarmed the +numerous princes of Asia Minor, who must have felt that they had a power +to deal with as full of schemes of conquest as Assyria, and more capable +of carrying her designs into execution. It has been already observed +that the long course of Assyrian aggressions developed gradually among +the Asiatic tribes a tendency to unite in leagues for purposes of +resistance. The circumstances of the time called now imperatively +for such a league to be formed, unless the princes of Asia Minor were +content to have their several territories absorbed one after another +into the growing Median Empire. These princes appear to have seen their +danger. Cyaxares may perhaps have, declared war specially against the +Lydians, and have crossed the Halys professedly in order to chastise +them; but he could only reach Lydia through the territories of other +nations, which he was evidently intending to conquer on his way; and +it was thus apparent that he was activated, not by anger against a +particular power, but by a general design of extending his dominions in +this direction. A league seems therefore to have been determined on. We +have not indeed any positive evidence of its existence till the close of +the war; but the probabilities are wholly in favor of its having taken +effect from the first. Prudence would have dictated such a course; and +it seems almost implied in the fact that a successful resistance was +made to the Median attack from the very commencement. We may conclude +therefore that the princes of Asia Minor, having either met in conclave +or communicated by embassies, resolved to make common cause, if the +Medes crossed the Halys; and that, having already acted under Lydia in +the expulsion of the Cimmerians from their territories, they naturally +placed her at their head when they coalesced for the second time. + +Cyaxares on his part, was not content to bring against the confederates +merely the power of Media. He requested and obtained a contingent from +the Babylonian monarch, Nabopolassar, and may not improbably have had +the assistance of other allies also. With a vast army drawn from various +parts of inner Asia, he invaded the territory of the Western Powers, +and began his attempt at subjugation. We have no detailed account of +the war; but we learn from the general expressions of Herodotus that the +Median monarch met with a most stubborn resistance; numerous engagements +were fought with varied results; sometimes the Medes succeeded in +defeating their adversaries in pitched battles; but sometimes, and +apparently as often, the Lydians and their allies gained decided +victories over the Medes. It is noted that one of the engagements took +place by night, a rare occurrence in ancient (as in modern) times. The +war had continued six years, and the Medes had evidently made no serious +impression, when a remarkable circumstance brought it suddenly to +a termination. The two armies had once more met and were engaged in +conflict, when, in the midst of the struggle, an ominous darkness fell +upon the combatants and filled them with superstitious awe. The sun +was eclipsed, either totally or at any rate considerably, so that the +attention of the two armies was attracted to it; and, discontinuing the +fight, they stood to gaze at the phenomenon. In most parts of the +East such an occurrence is even now seen with dread--the ignorant mass +believe that the orb of day is actually being devoured or destroyed, +and that the end of all things is at hand--even the chiefs, who may have +some notion that the phenomenon is a recurrent one, do not understand +its cause, and participate in the alarm of their followers. On the +present occasion it is said that, amid the general fear, a desire for +reconciliation seized both armies. Of this spontaneous movement two +chiefs, the foremost of the allies on either side, took advantage. +Syennesis, king of Cilicia, the first known monarch of his name, on +the part of Lydia, and a prince whom Herodotus calls “Labynetus of +Babylon”--probably either Nabopolassar or Nebuchadnezzar--on the part +of Media, came forward to propose an immediate armistice; and, when the +proposal was accepted on either side, proceeded to the more difficult +task of arranging terms of peace between the contending parties. Since +nothing is said of the Scythians, who had been put forward as the +ostensible grounds of quarrel, we may presume that Alyattes retained +them. It is further clear that both he and his allies preserved +undiminished both their territories and their independence. The +territorial basis of the treaty was thus what in modern diplomatic +language is called the status quo; matters, in other words, returned to +the position in which they had stood before the war broke out. The only +difference was that Cyaxares gained a friend and an ally where he had +previously had a jealous enemy; since it was agreed that the two kings +of Media and Lydia should swear a friendship, and that, to cement the +alliance, Alyattes should give his daughter Aryenis in marriage to +Astyages, the son of Cyaxares. The marriage thus arranged took place +soon afterwards, while the oath of friendship was sworn at once. +According to the barbarous usages of the time and place, the two +monarchs, having met and repeated the words of the formula, punctured +their own arms, and then sealed their contract by each sucking from the +wound a portion of the other’s blood. + +By this peace the three great monarchies of the time--the Median, the +Lydian, and the Babylonian--were placed on terms, not only of amity, +but of intimacy and (if the word may be used) of blood relationship. The +Crown Princes of the three kingdoms had become brothers. From the shores +of the Aegean to those of the Persian Gulf, Western Asia was now ruled +by interconnected dynasties, bound by treaties to respect each other’s +rights, and perhaps to lend each other aid in important conjunctures, +and animated, it would seem, by a real spirit of mutual friendliness and +attachment. After more than five centuries of almost constant war and +ravage, after fifty years of fearful strife and convulsion, during +which the old monarchy of Assyria had gone down and a new Empire--the +Median--had risen up in its place, this part of Asia entered upon a +period of repose which stands out in strong contrast with the long term +of struggle. From the date of the peace between Alyattes and Cyaxares +(probably B.C. 610), for nearly half a century, the three kingdoms +of Media, Lydia, and Babylonia remained fast friends, pursuing their +separate courses without quarrel or collision, and thus giving to the +nations within their borders a rest and a refreshment which they must +have greatly needed and desired. + +In one quarter only was this rest for a short time disturbed. During the +troublous period the neighboring country of Egypt, which had recovered +its freedom, and witnessed a revival of its ancient prosperity, under +the Psamatik family, began once more to aspire to the possession of +those provinces which, being divided off from the rest of the Asiatic +continent by the impassable Syrian desert, seems politically to belong +to Africa almost more than to Asia. Psamatik I., the Psammetichus of +Herodotus, had commenced an aggressive war in this quarter, probably +about the time that Assyria was suffering from the Median and then +from the Scythian inroads. He had besieged for several years the strong +Philistine town of Ashdod, which commands the coast-route from Egypt +to Palestine, and was at this time a most important city. Despite a +resistance which would have wearied out any less pertinacious assailant, +he had persevered in his attempt, and had finally succeeded in taking +the place. He had thus obtained a firm footing in Syria; and his +successor was, able, starting from this vantage-ground, to overrun +and conquer the whole territory. About the year B.C. 608, Neco, son of +Psamatik I., having recently ascended the throne, invaded Palestine with +a large army, met and defeated Josiah, king of Judah, near Megiddo in +the great plain of Esdraelon, and, pressing forward through Syria to the +Euphrates, attacked and took Carchemish, the strong city which guarded +the ordinary passage of the river. Idumea, Palestine, Phoenicia, and +Syria submitted to him, and for three years he remained in undisturbed +possession of his conquest. Then, however, the Babylonians, who had +received these provinces at the division of the Assyrian Empire, began +to bestir themselves. Nebuchadnezzar marched to Carchemish, defeated the +army of Neco, recovered all the territory to the border of Egypt, and +even ravaged a portion of that country. It is probable that in this +expedition he was assisted by the Medes. At any rate, seven or eight +years afterwards, when the intrigues of Egypt had again created +disturbances in this quarter, and Jehoiakim, the Jewish king, broke +into open insurrection, the Median monarch sent a contingent, which +accompanied Nebuchadnezzar into Judaea, and assisted him to establish +his power firmly in South-Western Asia. + +This is the last act that we can ascribe to the great Median king. He +can scarcely have been much less than seventy years old at this time; +and his life was prolonged at the utmost three years longer. According +to Herodotus, he died B.C. 593, after a reign of exactly forty years, +leaving his crown to his son Astyages, whose marriage with a Lydian +princess was above related. + +We have no sufficient materials from which to draw out a complete +character of Cyaxares. He appears to have possessed great ambition, +considerable military ability, and a rare tenacity of purpose, which +gained him his chief successes. At the same time he was not wanting in +good sense, and could bring himself to withdraw from an enterprise, when +he had misjudged the fitting time for it, or greatly miscalculated its +difficulties. He was faithful to his friends, but thought treachery +allowable towards his enemies. He knew how to conquer, but not how to +organize, an empire; and, if we except his establishment of Magism, +as the religion of the state, we may say that he did nothing to +give permanency to the monarchy which he founded. He was a conqueror +altogether after the Asiatic model, able to wield the sword, but not to +guide the pen, to subdue his contemporaries to his will by his +personal ascendency over them, but not to influence posterity by the +establishment of a kingdom, or of institutions, on deep and stable +foundations. The Empire, which owed to him its foundation, was the most +shortlived of all the great Oriental monarchies, having begun and +ended within the narrow space of three score and ten years--the natural +lifetime of an individual. + +Astyages, who succeeded to the Median throne about B.C. 593, had neither +his father’s enterprise nor his ability. Born to an empire, and bred +up in all the luxury of an Oriental Court, he seems to have been quite +content with the lot which fortune appeared to have assigned him, and to +have coveted no grander position. Tradition says that he was remarkably +handsome, cautious, and of an easy and generous temper. Although +the anecdotes related of his mode of life at Ecbatana by Herodotus, +Xenophon, and Nicolas of Damascus, seem to be for the most part +apocryphal, and at any rate come to us upon authority too weak to +entitle them to a place in history, we may perhaps gather from the +concurrent, descriptions of these three writers something of the general +character of the Court over which he presided. Its leading features do +not seem to have differed greatly from those of the Court of Assyria. +The monarch lived secluded, and could only be seen by those who asked +and obtained an audience. He was surrounded by guards and eunuchs, the +latter of whom held most of the offices near the royal person. The Court +was magnificent in its apparel, in its banquets, and in the number and +organization of its attendants. The courtiers wore long flowing robes +of many different colors, amongst which red and purple predominated, +and adorned their necks with chains or collars of gold, and their wrists +with bracelets of the same precious metal. Even the horses on which +they rode had sometimes golden bits to their bridles. One officer of the +Court was especially called “the King’s Eye;” another had the privilege +of introducing strangers to him; a third was his cupbearer; a fourth his +messenger. Guards torch-bearers, serving-men, ushers, and sweepers, were +among the orders into which the lower sort of attendants were divided; +while among the courtiers of the highest rank was a privileged class +known as “the King’s table-companions”. The chief pastime in which +the Court indulged was hunting. Generally this took place in a park or +“paradise” near the capital; but sometimes the King and Court went out +on a grand hunt into the open country, where lions, leopards, bears, +wild boars, wild asses, antelopes, stags, and wild sheep abounded, +and, when the beasts had been driven by beaters into a confined space, +despatched them with arrows and javelins. + +Prominent at the Court, according to Herodotus, was the priestly caste +of the Magi. Held in the highest honor by both King and people, they +were in constant attendance, ready to expound omens or dreams, and +to give their advice on all matters of state policy. The religious +ceremonial was, as a matter of course, under their charge; and it is +probable that high state offices were often conferred upon them. Of all +classes of the people they were the only one that could feel they had +a real influence over the monarch, and might claim to share in his +sovereignty. + +The long reign of Astyages seems to have been almost undisturbed, until +just before its close, by wars or rebellions. Eusebius indeed relates +that he, and not Cyaxares, carried on the great Lydian contest; and +Moses of Chorene declares that he was engaged in a long struggle with +Tigranes, an Armenian king. But little credit can be attached to these +statements, the former of which contradicts Herodotus, while the latter +is wholly unsupported by any other writer. The character which Cyaxares +bore among the Greeks was evidently that of an unwarlike king. If he had +really carried his arms into the heart of Asia Minor, and threatened the +whole of that extensive region with subjugation, we can scarcely suppose +that he would have been considered so peaceful a ruler. Neither is +it easy to imagine that in that case no classical writer--not even +Ctesias--would have taxed Herodotus with an error that must have been +so flagrant. With respect to the war with Tigranes, it is just possible +that it may have a basis of truth; there may have been a revolt of +Armenia from Astyages under a certain Tigranes, followed by an attempt +at subjugation. But the slender authority of Moses is insufficient to +establish the truth of his story, which is internally improbable and +quite incompatible with the narrative of Herodotus. + +There are some grounds for believing that in one direction Astyages +succeeded in slightly extending the limits of his empire. But he owed +his success to prudent management, and not to courage or military skill. +On the north-eastern frontier, occupying the low country now known as +Talish and Ghilan, was a powerful tribe called Cadusians, probably of +Arian origin, which had hitherto maintained its independence. This would +not be surprising, if we could accept the statement of Diodorus that +they were able to bring into the field 200,000 men. But this account, +which probably came from Ctesias, and is wholly without corroboration +from other writers, has the air of a gross exaggeration; and we may +conclude from the general tenor of ancient history that the Cadusians +were more indebted to the strength of their country, than to either +their numbers or their prowess, for the freedom and independence which +they were still enjoying. It seems that they were at this time under the +government of a certain king, or chief, named Aphernes, or Onaphernes. +This ruler was, it appears, doubtful of his position, and, thinking it +could not be long maintained, made overtures of surrender to Astyages, +which were gladly entertained by that monarch. A secret treaty was +concluded to the satisfaction of both parties; and the Cadusians, it +would seem, passed under the Medes by this arrangement, without any +hostile struggle, though armed resistance on the part of the people, who +were ignorant of the intentions of their chieftain, was for some time +apprehended. + +The domestic relations of Astyages seem to have been unhappy. His +“marriage de convenance” with the Lydian princess Aryenis, if not wholly +unfruitful, at any rate brought him no son; and, as he grew to old +age, the absence of such support to the throne must have been felt very +sensibly, and have caused great uneasiness. The want of an heir perhaps +led him to contract those other marriages of which we hear in the +Armenian History of Moses--one with a certain Anusia, of whom nothing +more is known; and another with an Armenian princess, the loveliest of +her sex, Tigrania, sister of the Armenian king, Tigranes. The blessing +of male offspring was still, however, denied him; and it is even +doubtful whether he was really the father of any daughter or daughters. +Herodotus, and Xenophon, indeed give him a daughter Mandane, whom they +make the mother of Cyrus; and Ctesias, who denied in the most positive +terms the truth of this statement, gave him a daughter, Amytis, whom he +made the wife, first of Spitaces the Mede, and afterwards of Cyrus the +Persian. But these stories, which seem intended to gratify the vanity of +the Persians by tracing the descent of their kings to the great Median +conqueror, while at the same time they flattered the Medes by showing +them that the issue of their old monarchs was still seated on the Arian +throne, are entitled to little more credit than the narrative of the +Shahnameh, which declares that Iskander (Alexander) was the son of Darab +(Darius) and of a daughter of Failakus (Philip of Macedon). When an +oriental crown passes from one dynasty to another, however foreign and +unconnected, the natives are wont to invent a relationship between the +two houses, which both parties are commonly quite ready to accept; as +it suits the rising house to be provided with a royal ancestry, and it +pleases the fallen one and its partisans to see in the occupants of the +throne a branch of the ancient stock--a continuation of the legitimate +family. Tales therefore of the above-mentioned kind are, historically +speaking, valueless; and it must remain uncertain whether the second +Median monarch had any child at all, either male or female. + +Old age was now creeping upon the sonless king. If he was sixteen +or seventeen years old at the time of his contract of marriage with +Aryenis, he must have been nearly seventy in B.C. 558, when the revolt +occurred which terminated both his reign and his kingdom. It appears +that the Persian branch of the Arian race, which had made itself a home +in the country lying south and south-east of Media, between the 32nd +parallel and the Persian gulf, had acknowledged some subjection to +the Median kings during the time of their greatness. Dwelling in their +rugged mountains and high upland plains, they had however maintained the +simplicity of their primitive manners, and had mixed but little with +the Medes, being governed by their own native princes of the Achasmenian +house, the descendants, real or supposed, of a certain Achajmenes. These +princes were connected by marriage with the Cappadocian kings; and their +house was regarded as one of the noblest in Western Asia. What the exact +terms were upon which they stood with the Median monarch is uncertain. +Herodotus regards Persia as absorbed into Media at this time, and the +Achsemenidse as merely a good Persian family. Nicolas of Damascus makes +Persia a Median satrapy, of which Atradates, the father of Cyrus, is +satrap, Xenophon, on the contrary, not only gives the Achajmenidae their +royal rank, but seems to consider Persia as completely independent of +Media; Moses of Chorene takes the same view, regarding Cyrus as a great +and powerful sovereign during the reign of Astyages. The native records +lean towards the view of Xenophon and Moses. Darius declares that eight +of his race had been kings before himself, and makes no difference +between his own royalty and theirs. Cyrus calls himself in one +inscription “the son of Cambyses, the powerful king.” It is certain +therefore that Persia continued to be ruled by her own native monarchs +during the whole of the Median period, and that Cyrus led the attack +upon Astyages as hereditary Persian king. The Persian records seem +rather to imply actual independence of Media; but as national vanity +would prompt to dissimulation in such a case, we may perhaps accord so +much weight to the statement of Herodotus, and to the general tradition +on the subject, as to believe that there was some kind of acknowledgment +of Median supremacy on the part of the Persian kings anterior to Cyrus, +though the acknowledgment may have been not much more than a formality +and have imposed no onerous obligations. The residence of Cyrus at the +Median Court, which is asserted in almost every narrative of his life +before he became king, inexplicable if Persia was independent, becomes +thoroughly intelligible on the supposition that she was a great Median +feudatory. In such cases the residence of the Crown Prince at the +capital of the suzerain is constantly desired, or even required by the +superior Power, which sees in the presence of the son and heir the best +security against disaffection or rebellion on the part of the father. + +It appears that Cyrus, while at the Median Court, observing the +unwarlike temper of the existing generation of the Medes, who had not +seen any actual service, and despising the personal character of the +monarch, who led a luxurious life, chiefly at Ecbatana, amid eunuchs, +concubines, and dancing-girls, resolved on raising the standard of +rebellion, and seeking at any rate to free his own country. It may be +suspected that the Persian prince was not actuated solely by political +motives. To earnest Zoroastrians, such as the Achgemenians are shown +to have been by their inscriptions, the yoke of a Power which had so +greatly corrupted, if it had not wholly laid aside, the worship of +Ormazd, must have been extremely distasteful; and Cyrus may have wished +by his rebellion as much to vindicate the honor of his religion--as to +obtain a loftier position for his nation. If the Magi occupied really +the position at the Median Court which Herodotus assigns to them--if +they “were held in high honor by the king, and shared in his +sovereignty”--if the priest-ridden monarch was perpetually dreaming and +perpetually referring his dreams to the Magian seers for exposition, and +then guiding his actions by the advice they tendered him, the religious +zeal of the young Zoroastrian may very naturally have been aroused, and +the contest into which he plunged may have been, in his eyes, not so +much a national struggle as a crusade against the infidels. It will be +found hereafter that religious fervor animated the Persians in most +of those wars by which they spread their dominion. We may suspect, +therefore, though it must be admitted we cannot prove, that a religious +motive was among those which led them to make their first efforts after +independence. + +According to the account of the struggle which is most circumstantial, +and on the whole most probable, the first difficulty which the would-be +rebel had to meet and vanquish was that of quitting the Court. Alleging +that his father was in weak health, and required his care, he requested +leave of absence for a short time; but his petition was refused on the +flattering ground that the Great King was too much attached to him to +lose sight of him even for a day. A second application, however, made +through a favorite eunuch after a certain interval of time, was more +successful; Cyrus received permission to absent himself from Court for +the next five months; whereupon, with a few attendants, he left Ecbatana +by night, and took the road leading to his native country. + +The next evening Astyages, enjoying himself as usual over his +wine, surrounded by a crowd of his concubines, singing-girls, and +dancing-girls, called on one of them for a song. The girl took her lyre +and sang as follows: “The lion had the wild boar in his power, but let +him depart to his own lair; in his lair he will wax in strength, and +will cause the lion a world of toil; till at length, although the +weaker, he will overcome the stronger.” The words of the song greatly +disquieted the king, who had been already made aware that a Chaldaean +prophecy designated Cyrus as future king of the Persians. Repenting of +the indulgence which he had granted him, Astyages forthwith summoned an +officer into his presence, and ordered him to take a body of horsemen, +pursue the Persian prince, and bring him back, either alive or dead. +The officer obeyed, overtook Cyrus, and announced his errand; upon which +Cyrus expressed his perfect willingness to return, but proposed, that, +as it was late, they should defer their start till the next day. The +Medes consenting, Cyrus feasted them, and succeeded in making them +all drunk; then mounting his horse, he rode off at full speed with his +attendants, and reached a Persian outpost, where he had arranged with +his father that he should find a body of Persian troops. When the Medes +had slept off their drunkenness, and found their prisoner gone, they +pursued, and again overtaking Cyrus, who was now at the head of an armed +force, engaged him. They were, however, defeated with great loss, and +forced to retreat, while Cyrus, having beaten them off, made good his +escape into Persia. + +When Astyages heard what had happened, he was greatly vexed; and, +smiting his thigh, he exclaimed, “Ah! fool, thou knewest well that it +boots not to heap favors on the vile; yet didst thou suffer thyself to +be gulled by smooth words; and so thou hast brought upon thyself this +mischief. But even now he shall not get off scot-free.” And instantly +he sent for his generals, and commanded them to collect his host, and +proceed to reduce Persia to obedience. Three thousand chariots, two +hundred thousand horse, and a million footmen (!) were soon brought +together; and with these Astyages in person invaded the revolted +province, and engaged the army which Cyrus and his father Cambyses +had collected for defence. This consisted of a hundred chariots, fifty +thousand horsemen, and three hundred thousand light-armed foot, who were +drawn up in in front of a fortified town near the frontier. The first +day’s battle was long and bloody, terminating without any decisive +advantage to either side; but on the second day Astyages, making skilful +use of his superior numbers, gained a great victory. Having detached one +hundred thousand men with orders to make a circuit and get into the +rear of the town, he renewed the attack; and when the Persians were all +intent on the battle in their front, the troops detached fell on the +city and took it, almost before its defenders were aware. Cambyses, who +commanded in the town, was mortally wounded and fell into the enemy’s +hands. The army in the field, finding itself between two fires, broke +and fled towards the interior, bent on defending Pasargadse, the +capital. Meanwhile Astyages, having given Cambyses honorable burial, +pressed on in pursuit. + +The country had now become rugged and difficult. Between Pasargadse and +the place where the two days’ battle was fought lay a barrier of lofty +hills, only penetrated by a single narrow pass. On either side were two +smooth surfaces of rock, while the mountain towered above, lofty and +precipitous. The pass was guarded by ten thousand Persians. Recognizing +the impossibility of forcing it, Astyages again detached a body of +troops, who marched along the foot of the range till they found a place +where it could be ascended, when they climbed it and seized the heights +directly over the defile. The Persians upon this had to evacuate their +strong position, and to retire to a lower range of hills very near to +Pasargadge. Here again there was a two days’ fight. On the first day +all the efforts of the Medes to ascend the range (which, though low, +was steep, and covered with thickets of wild olive) were fruitless. Their +enemy met them, not merely with the ordinary weapons, but with great +masses of stone, which they hurled down with crushing force upon their +ascending columns. On the second day, however, the resistance was weaker +or less effective Astyages had placed at the foot of the range, below +his attacking columns, a body of troops with orders to kill all who +refused to ascend, or who, having ascended, attempted to quit the +heights and return to the valley. Thus compelled to advance, his men +fought with desperation, and drove the Persians before them up the +slopes of the hill to its very summit, where the women and children +had been placed for the sake of security. There, however, the tide of +success turned. The taunts and upbraidings of their mothers and wives +restored the courage of the Persians; and, turning upon their foe, they +made a sudden furious charge. The Medes, astonished and overborne, were +driven headlong down the hill, and fell into such confusion that the +Persians slew sixty thousand of them. Still Astyages did not desist from +his attack. The authority whom we have been following here to a great +extent fails us, and we have only a few scattered notices from which to +reconstruct the closing scenes of the war. It would seem from these +that Astyages still maintained the offensive, and that there was a +fifth battle in the immediate neighborhood of Pasargadse, wherein he was +completely defeated by Cyrus, who routed the Median army, and pressing +upon them in their flight, took their camp. All the insignia of Median +royalty fell into his hands; and, amid the acclamations of his army, +he assumed them, and was saluted by his soldiers “King of Media and +Persia.” Meanwhile Astyages had sought for safety in flight; the greater +part of his army had dispersed, and he was left with only a few friends, +who still adhered to his fortunes. Could he have reached Ecbatana, he +might have greatly prolonged the struggle; but his enemy pressed him +close; and, being compelled to an engagement, he not only suffered a +complete defeat, but was made prisoner by his fortunate adversary. +By this capture the Median monarchy was brought abruptly to an end. +Astyages had no son to take his place and continue the struggle. Even +had it been otherwise, the capture of the monarch would probably have +involved his people’s submission. In the East the king is so identified +with his kingdom that the possession of the royal person is regarded as +conveying to the possessor all regal rights. Cyrus, apparently, had no +need even to besiege Ecbatana; the whole Median state, together with its +dependencies, at once submitted to him, on learning what had happened. +This ready submission was no doubt partly owing to the general +recognition of a close connection between Media and Persia, which made +the transfer of empire from the one to the other but slightly galling +to the subjected power, and a matter of complete indifference to the +dependent countries. Except in so far as religion was concerned, +the change from one Iranic race to the other would make scarcely a +perceptible difference to the subjects of either kingdom. The law of +the state would still be “the law of the Medes and Persians.” Official +employments would be open to the people of both countries. Even the fame +and glory of empire would attain, in the minds of men, almost as much +to the one nation as the other. If Media descended from her preeminent +rank, it was to occupy a station only a little below the highest, and +one which left her a very distinct superiority over all the subject +races. + +If it be asked how Media, in her hour of peril, came to receive no +assistance from the great Powers with which she had made such close +alliances--Babylonia and Lydia--the answer would seem to be that Lydia +was too remote from the scene of strife to lend her effective aid, while +circumstances had occurred in Babylonia to detach that state from her +and render it unfriendly. The great king, Nebuchadnezzar, had he been +on the throne, would undoubtedly have come to the assistance of his +brother-in-law, when the fortune of war changed, and it became evident +that his crown was in danger. But Nebuchadnezzar had died in B.V. 561, +three years before the Persian revolt broke out. His son, Evil-Merodach, +who would probably have maintained his father’s alliances, had survived +him but two years: he had been murdered in B.C. 559 by a brother-in-law, +Nergalsharezer or Neriglissar, who ascended the throne in that year and +reigned till B.C. 555. This prince was consequently on the throne at +the time of Astyages’ need. As he had supplanted the house of +Nebuchadnezzar, he would naturally be on bad terms with that monarch’s +Median connections; and we may suppose that he saw with pleasure the +fall of a power to which pretenders from the Nebuchadnezzar family would +have looked for support and countenance. + +In conclusion, a few words may be said on the general character of the +Median Empire, and the causes of its early extinction. + +The Median Empire was in extent and fertility of territory-equal if not +superior to the Assyrian. It stretched from Rhages and the Carmanian +desert on the east to the river Halys upon the west, a distance of +above twenty degrees, or about 1,300 miles. From north to south it +was comparatively narrow, being confined between the Black Sea, the +Caucasus, and the Caspian, on the one side, and the Euphrates and +Persian Gulf on the other. Its greatest width, which was towards the +east, was about nine, and its least, which was towards the west, was +about four degrees. Its area was probably not much short of 500,000 +square miles. Thus it was as large as Great Britain, France, Spain, and +Portugal put together. + +In fertility its various parts were very unequal. Portions of both +Medias, of Persia, of Armenia, Iberia, and Cappadocia, were rich and +productive; but in all these countries there was a large quantity of +barren mountain, and in Media Magna and Persia there were tracts of +desert. If we estimate the resources of Media from the data furnished by +Herodotus in his account of the Persian revenue, and compare them with +those of the Assyrian Empire, as indicated by the same document, we +shall find reason to conclude, that except during the few years when +Egypt was a province of Assyria, the resources of the Third exceeded +those of the Second Monarchy. + +The weakness of the Empire arose chiefly from its want of organization. +Nicolas of Damascus, indeed, in the long passage from which our account +of the struggle between Cyrus and Astyages has been taken, represents +the Median Empire as divided, like the Persian, into a number of +satrapies but there is no real ground for believing that any such +organization was practised in Median times, or to doubt that Darius +Hystaspis was the originator of the satrapial system. The Median Empire, +like the Assyrian, was a congeries of kingdoms, each ruled by its own +native prince, as is evident from the case of Persia, where Cambyses was +not satrap, but monarch. Such organization as was attempted appears to +have been clumsy in the extreme. The Medes (we are told) only claimed +direct suzerainty over the nations immediately upon their borders; +remoter tribes they placed under these, and looked to them to collect +and remit the tribute of the outlying countries. It is doubtful if they +called on the subject nations for any contingents of troops. We never +hear of their doing so. Probably, like the Assyrians, they made their +conquests with armies composed entirely of native soldiers, or of +those combined with such forces as were sent to their aid by princes in +alliance with them. + +The weakness arising from this lack of organization was increased by a +corruption of manners, which caused the Medes speedily to decline in +energy and warlike spirit. The conquest of a great and luxurious empire +by a hardy and simple race is followed, almost of necessity, by a +deterioration in the character of the conquerors, who lose the warlike +virtues, and too often do not replace them by the less splendid virtues +of peace. This tendency, which is fixed in the nature of things, admits +of being checked for a while, or rapidly developed, according to the +policy and character of the monarchs who happen to occupy the throne. +If the original conqueror is succeeded, by two or three ambitious and +energetic princes, who engage in important wars and labor to extend +their dominions at the expense of their neighbors, it will be some time +before the degeneracy becomes marked. If, on the other hand, a prince of +a quiet temper, self-indulgent, and studious of ease, come to the throne +within a short time of the original conquests, the deterioration will +be very rapid. In the present instance it happened that the immediate +successor of the first conqueror was of a peaceful disposition, +unambitious, and luxurious in his habits. During a reign which lasted +at least thirty-five years he abstained almost wholly from military +enterprises; and thus an entire generation of Medes grew up without +seeing actual service, which alone makes the soldier. At the same +time there was a general softening of manners. The luxury of the Court +corrupted the nobles, who from hardy mountain chieftains, simple if not +even savage in their dress and mode of life, became polite courtiers, +magnificent in their apparel, choice in their diet, and averse to all +unnecessary exertion. The example of the upper classes would tell on the +lower, though not perhaps to any very large extent. The ordinary Mede, +no doubt, lost something of his old daring and savagery; from disuse +he became inexpert in the management of arms; and he was thus no longer +greatly to be dreaded as a soldier. But he was really not very much less +brave, nor less capable of bearing hardships, than before; and it only +required a few years of training to enable him to recover himself and to +be once more as good a soldier as any in Asia. + +But in the affairs of nations, as in those of men, negligence often +proves fatal before it can be repaired. Cyrus saw his opportunity, +pressed his advantage, and established the supremacy of his nation, +before the unhappy effects of Astyages’ peace policy could be removed. +He knew that his own Persians possessed the military spirit in its +fullest vigor; he felt that he himself had all the qualities of a +successful loader; he may have had faith in his cause, which, he would +view as the cause of Ormazd against Ahriman, of pure Religion against a +corrupt and debasing nature-worship. His revolt was sudden, unexpected, +and well-timed. He waited till Astyages was advanced in years, and so +disqualified for command; till the veterans of Cyaxares were almost all +in their graves; and till the Babylonian throne was occupied by a king +who was not likely to afford Astyages any aid. Ho may not at first have +aspired to do more than establish the independence of his own country. +But when the opportunity of effecting a transfer of empire offered +itself, he seized it promptly; rapidly repeating his blows, and allowing +his enemy no time to recover and renew the struggle. The substitution +of Persia for Media as the ruling power in Western Asia was due less to +general causes than to the personal character of two men. Had Astyages +been a prince of ordinary vigor, the military training of the Medes +would have been kept up; and in that case they might easily have hold +their own against all comers. Had their training been kept up, or had +Cyrus possessed no more than ordinary ambition and ability, either +he would not have thought of revolting, or he would have revolted +unsuccessfully. The fall of the Median Empire was due immediately to +the genius of the Persian Prince; but its ruin was prepared, and its +destruction was really caused, by the shortsightedness of the Median +monarch. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Seven Great Monarchies Of The +Ancient Eastern World, Vol 3. (of 7): Media, by George Rawlinson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES *** + +***** This file should be named 16163-0.txt or 16163-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/1/6/16163/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/16163-0.zip b/16163-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3979b20 --- /dev/null +++ b/16163-0.zip diff --git a/16163-8.txt b/16163-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..442f409 --- /dev/null +++ b/16163-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5054 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient +Eastern World, Vol 3. (of 7): Media, by George Rawlinson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 3. (of 7): Media + The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, + Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian + or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations. + +Author: George Rawlinson + +Illustrator: George Rawlinson + +Release Date: July 1, 2005 [EBook #16163] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + + +THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES + +OF THE + +ANCIENT EASTERN WORLD; + + +OR, + + +THE HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AND ANTIQUITIES OF CHALDAEA, ASSYRIA + +BABYLON, MEDIA, PERSIA, PARTHIA, AND SASSANIAN, + +OR NEW PERSIAN EMPIRE. + + +BY + +GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A., + +CAMDEN PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD + + + +IN THREE VOLUMES. + + + +VOLUME II. + + + +WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS + + + + +THE THIRD MONARCHY. + + + +MEDIA. + + +[Illustration: MAP] + + + + +CHAPTER I. DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. + + +Along the eastern flank of the great Mesopotamian lowland, curving +round it on the north, and stretching beyond it to the south and the +south-east, lies a vast elevated region, or highland, no portion of +which appears to be less than 3000 feet above the sea-level. This +region may be divided, broadly, into two tracts, one consisting of lofty +mountainous ridges, which form its outskirts on the north and on the +west; the other, in the main a high flat table-land, extending from the +foot of the mountain chains, southward to the Indian Ocean, and eastward +to the country of the Afghans. The western mountain-country consists, +as has been already observed, of six or seven parallel ridges, having +a direction nearly from the north-west to the south-east, enclosing +between them, valleys of great fertility, and well watered by a large +number of plentiful and refreshing streams. This district was known to +the ancients as Zagros, while in modern geography it bears the names of +Kurdistan and Luristan. It has always been inhabited by a multitude of +warlike tribes, and has rarely formed for any long period a portion +of any settled monarchy. Full of torrents, of deep ravines, or rocky +summits, abrupt and almost inaccessible; containing but few passes, and +those narrow and easily defensible; secure, moreover, owing to the rigor +of its climate, from hostile invasion during more than half the year; +it has defied all attempts to effect its permanent subjugation, whether +made by Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Parthians, or Turks, and remains +to this day as independent of the great powers in its neighborhood as it +was when the Assyrian armies first penetrated its recesses. Nature seems +to have constructed it to be a nursery of hardy and vigorous men, a +stumbling-block to conquerors, a thorn in the side of every powerful +empire which arises in this part of the great eastern continent. + +The northern mountain country--known to modern geographers as Eiburz--is +a tract of far less importance. It is not composed, like Zagros, of +a number of parallel chains, but consists of a single lofty ridge, +furrowed by ravines and valleys, from which spurs are thrown +out, running in general at right angles to its axis. Its width is +comparatively slight; and instead of giving birth to numerous large +rivers, it forms only a small number of insignificant streams, often dry +in summer, which have short courses, being soon absorbed either by the +Caspian or the Desert. Its most striking feature is the snowy peak of +Demavend, which impends over Teheran, and appears to be the highest +summit in the part of Asia west of the Himalayas. + +The elevated plateau which stretches from the foot of those two mountain +regions to the south and east is, for the most part, a flat sandy +desert, incapable of sustaining more than a sparse and scanty +population. The northern and western portions are, however, less arid +than the east and south, being watered to some distance by the streams +that descend from Zagros and Elburz, and deriving fertility also from +the spring rains. Some of the rivers which flow from Zagros on this side +are large and strong. One, the Kizil-Uzen, reaches the Caspian. Another, +the Zenderud, fertilizes a large district near Isfahan. A third, the +Bendamir, flows by Persepolis and terminates in a sheet of water of +some size--lake Bakhtigan. A tract thus intervenes between the mountain +regions and the desert which, though it cannot be called fertile, is +fairly productive, and can support a large settled population. This +forms the chief portion of the region which the ancients called Media, +as being the country inhabited by the race on whose history we are about +to enter. + +Media, however, included, besides this, another tract of considerable +size and importance. At the north-western angle of the region above +described, in the corner whence the two great chains branch out to +the south and to the east, is a tract composed almost entirely of +mountains, which the Greeks called Atropatene, and which is now known +as Azerbijan. This district lies further to the north than the rest of +Media, being in the same parallels with the lower part of the Caspian +Sea. It comprises the entire basin of Lake Urumiyeh, together with the +country intervening between that basin and the high mountain chain which +curves round the south-western corner of the Caspian, It is a region +generally somewhat sterile, but containing a certain quantity of very, +fertile territory, more particularly in the Urumiyeh basin, and towards +the mouth of the river Araxes. + +The boundaries of Media are given somewhat differently by different +writers, and no doubt they actually varied at different periods; but the +variations were not great, and the natural limits, on three sides at any +rate, may be laid down with tolerable precision. Towards the north the +boundary was at first the mountain chain closing in on that side the +Urumiyeh basin, after which it seems to have been held that the true +limit was the Araxes, to its entrance on the low country, and then the +mountain chain west and south of the Caspian. Westward, the line of +demarcation may be best regarded as, towards the south, running along +the centre of the Zagros region; and, above this, as formed by that +continuation of the Zagros chain which separates the Urumiyeh from +the Van basin. Eastward, the boundary was marked by the spur from the +Elburz, across which lay the pass known as the Pylse Caspise, and below +this by the great salt desert, whose western limit is nearly in the +same longitude. Towards the south there was no marked line or natural +boundary; and it is difficult to say with any exactness how much of the +great plateau belonged to Media and how much to Persia. Having regard, +however, to the situation of Hamadan, which, as the capital, should have +been tolerably central, and to the general account which historians and +geographers give of the size of Media, we may place the southern limit +with much probability about the line of the thirty-second parallel, +which is nearly the present boundary between Irak and Fars. + +The shape of Media has been called a square; but it is rather a +long parallelogram, whose two principal sides face respectively the +north-east and the south-west, while the ends or shorter sides front to +the south-east and to the northwest. Its length in its greater direction +is about 600 miles, and its width about 250 miles. It must thus contain +nearly 150,000 square miles, an area considerably larger than that of +Assyria and Chaldaea put together, and quite sufficient to constitute a +state of the first class, even according to the ideas of modern Europe. +It is nearly one-fifth more than the area of the British Islands, and +half as much again as that of Prussia, or of peninsular Italy. It equals +three fourths of France, or three fifths of Germany. It has, moreover, +the great advantage of compactness, forming a single solid mass, with no +straggling or outlying portions; and it is strongly defended on almost +every side by natural barriers offering great difficulties to an +invader. + +In comparison with the countries which formed the seats of the two +monarchies already described, the general character of the Median +territory is undoubtedly one of sterility. The high table-land is +everywhere intersected by rocky ranges, spurs from Zagros, which have +a general direction from west to east, and separate the country into a +number of parallel broad valleys, or long plains, opening out into the +desert. The appearance of these ranges is almost everywhere bare, arid, +and forbidding. Above, they present to the eye huge masses of gray rock +piled one upon another; below, a slope of detritus, destitute of trees +or shrubs, and only occasionally nourishing a dry and scanty herbage. +The appearance of the plains is little superior; they are flat and +without undulations, composed in general of gravel or hard clay, and +rarely enlivened by any show of water; except for two months in +the spring, they exhibit to the eye a uniform brown expanse, almost +treeless, which impresses the traveller with a feeling of sadness and +weariness. Even in Azerbijan, which is one of the least arid portions +of the territory, vast tracks consist of open undulating downs, desolate +and sterile, bearing only a coarse withered grass and a few stunted +bushes. + +Still there are considerable exceptions to this general aspect of +desolation. In the worst parts of the region there is a time after +the spring rains when nature puts on a holiday dress, and the country +becomes gay and cheerful. The slopes at the base of the rocky ranges are +tinged with an emerald green: a richer vegetation springs up over the +plains, which are covered with a fine herbage or with a variety of +crops; the fruit trees which surround the villages burst out into the +most luxuriant blossom; the roses come into bloom, and their perfume +everywhere fills the air. For the two months of April and May the +whole face of the country is changed, and a lovely verdure replaces the +ordinary dull sterility. + +In a certain number of more favored spots beauty and fertility are +found during nearly the whole of the year. All round the shores of Lake +Urumiyeh, more especially in the rich plain of Miyandab at its southern +extremity, along the valleys of the Aras, the Kizil-uzen, and the +Jaghetu, in the great valley of Linjan, fertilized by irrigation from +the Zenderud, in the Zagros valleys, and in various other places, +there is an excellent soil which produces abundantly with very slight +cultivation. + +The general sterility of Media arises from the scantiness of the water +supply. It has but few rivers, and the streams that it possesses run for +the most part in deep and narrow valleys sunk below the general level of +the country, so that they cannot be applied at all widely to purposes of +irrigation. Moreover, some of them are, unfortunately, impregnated +with salt to such an extent that they are altogether useless for +this purpose; and indeed, instead of fertilizing, spread around +them desolation and barrenness. The only Median streams which are +of sufficient importance to require description are the Aras, the +Kizil-Uzen, the Jaghetu, the Aji-Su and the Zenderud, or river of +Isfahan. + +The Aras is only very partially a Median stream. It rises from several +sources in the mountain tract between Kars and Erzeroum, and runs with +a generally eastern direction through Armenia to the longitude of Mount +Ararat, where it crosses the fortieth parallel and begins to trend +southward, flowing along the eastern side of Ararat in a south-easterly +direction, nearly to the Julfa ferry on the high road from Erivan to +Tabriz. From this point it runs only a little south of east to long. +46 30' E. from Greenwich, when it makes almost a right angle and runs +directly north-east to its junction with the Kur at Djavat. Soon after +this it curves to the south, and enters the Caspian by several mouths in +lat. 39 10' nearly. The Aras is a considerable stream almost from its +source. At Hassan-Kaleh, less than twenty miles from Erzeroum, where +the river is forded in several branches, the water reaches to the +saddle-girths. At Keupri-Kieui, not much lower, the stream is crossed +by a bridge of seven arches. At the Julfa ferry it is fifty yards wide, +and runs with a strong current. At Megree, thirty miles further down, +its width is eighty yards. In spring and early summer the stream +receives enormous accessions from the spring rains and the melting of +the snows, which produce floods that often cause great damage to the +lands and villages along the valley. Hence the difficulty of maintaining +bridges over the Aras, which was noted as early as the time of Augustus, +and is attested by the ruins of many such structures remaining along its +course. Still, there are at the present day at least three bridges over +the stream--one, which has been already mentioned, at Keupri-Kieui, +another a little above Nakshivan, and the third at Khudoperinski, +a little below Megree. The length of the Aras, including only main +windings, is 500 miles. + +The Kizil-Uzen, or (as it is called in the lower part of its course) the +Sefid-Rud, is a stream of less size than the Aras, but more important +to Media, within which lies almost the whole of its basin. It drains a +tract of 180 miles long by 150 broad before bursting through the Elburz +mountain chain, and descending upon the low country which skirts the +Caspian. Rising in Persian Kurdistan almost from the foot of Zagros, +it runs in a meandering course with a general direction of north-east +through that province into the district of Khamseh, where it suddenly +sweeps round and flows in a bold curve at the foot of lofty and +precipitous rocks, first northwest and then north, nearly to Miana, when +it doubles back upon itself, and turning the flank of the Zenjan range +runs with a course nearly south-east to Menjil, after which it resumes +its original direction of north-east, and, rushing down the pass of +Budbar, crosses Ghilan to the Caspian. Though its source is in direct +distance no more than 320 miles from its mouth, its entire length, owing +to its numerous curves and meanders, is estimated at 490 miles. It is a +considerable stream, forded with difficulty, even in the dry season, as +high up as Karagul, and crossed by a bridge of three wide arches before +its junction with the Garongu river near Miana. In spring and early +summer it is an impetuous torrent, and can only be forded within a short +distance of its source. + +The Jaghetu and the Aji-Su are the two chief rivers of the Urumiyeh +basin. The Jaghetu rises from the foot of the Zagros chain, at a very +little distance from the source of the Kizil-Uzen. It collects the +streams from the range of hills which divides the Kizil-Uzen basin from +that of Lake Urumiyeh, and flows in a tolerably straight course first +north and then north-west to the south-eastern shore of the lake. Side +by side with it for some distance flows the smaller stream of the Tatau, +formed by torrents from Zagros; and between them, towards their mouths, +is the rich plain of Miyandab, easily irrigated from the two streams, +the level of whose beds is above that of the plain, and abundantly +productive even under the present system of cultivation. The Aji-Su +reaches the lake from the north-east. It rises from Mount Sevilan, +within sixty miles of the Caspian, and flows with a course which is at +first nearly due south, then north-west, and finally south-west, past +the city of Tabriz, to the eastern shore of the lake, which it enters in +lat. 37 50'. The waters of the Aji-Su are, unfortunately, salt, and it +is therefore valueless for purposes of irrigation. + +The Zenderud or river of Isfahan rises from the eastern flank of the +Kuh-i-Zerd (Yellow Mountain), a portion of the Bakhti-yari chain, and, +receiving a number of tributaries from the same mountain district, flows +with a course which is generally east or somewhat north of east, past +the great city of Isfahan--so long the capital of Persia--into the +desert country beyond, where it is absorbed in irrigation. Its entire +course is perhaps not more than 120 or 130 miles; but running chiefly +through a plain region, and being naturally a stream of large size, +it is among the most valuable of the Median rivers, its waters being +capable of spreading fertility, by means of a proper arrangement of +canals, over a vast extent of country, and giving to this part of Iran a +sylvan character, scarcely found elsewhere on the plateau. + +It will be observed that of these streams there is not one which reaches +the ocean. All the rivers of the great Iranic plateau terminate in lakes +or inland seas, or else lose themselves in the desert. In general the +thirsty sand absorbs, within a short distance of their source, the +various brooks and streams which flow south and east into the desert +from the northern and western mountain chains, without allowing them to +collect into rivers or to carry fertility far into the plain region. The +the river of Isfahan forms the only exception to this rule within the +limits of the ancient Media. All its other important streams, as has +been seen, flow either into the Caspian or into the great lake of +Urumiyeh. + +That lake itself now requires our attention. It is an oblong basin, +stretching in its greater direction from N.N.W. to S.S. E., a distance +of above eighty miles, with an average width of about twenty-five miles. +On its eastern side a remarkable peninsula, projecting far into its +waters, divides it into two portions of very unequal size--a northern +and a southern. + +The southern one, which is the largest of the two, is diversified +towards its centre by a group of islands, some of which are of a +considerable size. The lake, like others in this part of Asia, is +several thousand feet above the sea level. Its waters are heavily +impregnated with salt, resembling those of the Dead Sea. No fish can +live in them. When a storm sweeps over their surface it only raises the +waves a few feet; and no sooner is it passed than they rapidly subside +again into a deep, heavy, death-like sleep. The lake is shallow, nowhere +exceeding four fathoms, and averaging about two fathoms--a depth which, +however, is rarely attained within two miles of the land. The water is +pellucid. To the eye it has the deep blue color of some of the northern +Italian lakes, whence it was called by the Armenians the Kapotan Zow or +"Blue Sea." + +According to the Armenian geography, Media contained eleven districts; +Ptolemy makes the number eight; but the classical geographers in +general are contented with the twofold division already indicated, +and recognized at the constituent parts of Media only Atropatene (now +Azerbijan) and Media Magna, a tract which nearly corresponds with the +two provinces of Irak Ajemj and Ardelan. Of the minor subdivisions there +are but two or three which seem to deserve any special notice. One of +these is Ehagiana, or the tract skirting the Elburz Mountains from the +vicinity of the Kizil-Uzen (or Sefid-Eud) to the Caspian Gates, a long +and narrow slip, fairly productive, but excessively hot in summer, which +took its name from the important city of Rhages. Another is Nissea, a +name which the Medes seem to have carried with them from their early +eastern abodes, and to have applied to some high upland plains west +of the main chain of Zagros, which were peculiarly favorable to the +breeding of horses. As Alexander visited these pastures on his way from +Susa to Ecbatana, they must necessarily have lain to the south of the +latter city. Most probably they are to be identified with the modern +plains of Kbawah and Alishtar, between Behistun and Khorramabad, which +are even now considered to afford the best summer pasturage in Persia. + +It is uncertain whether any of these divisions were known in the time of +the great Median Empire. They are not constituted in any case by marked +natural lines or features. On the whole it is perhaps most probable +that the main division--that into Media Magna and Media Atropatene--was +ancient, Astro-patene being the old home of the Medes, and Media Magna a +later conquest; but the early political geography of the country is too +obscure to justify us in laying down even this as certain. The minor +political divisions are still less distinguishable in the darkness of +those ancient times. + +From the consideration of the districts which composed the Median +territory, we may pass to that of their principal cities, some of which +deservedly obtained a very great celebrity. Tho most important of all +were the two Ecbatanas--the northern and the southern--which seem to +have stood respectively in the position of metropolis to the northern +and the southern province. Next to these may be named Rhages, which was +probably from early times a very considerable place; while in the +third rank may be mentioned Bagistan--rather perhaps a palace than +a town--Concobar, Adrapan, Aspadan, Charax, Kudrus, Hyspaostes, +Urakagabarna, etc. + +The southern Ecbatana or Agbatana--which the Medes and Persians +themselves knew as Hagmatan--was situated, as we learn from Polybius and +Diodorus, on a plan at the foot of Mont Orontes, a little to the east of +the Zagros range. The notices of these authors, combined with those of +Eratosthenes, Isidore, Pliny, Arrian, and others, render it as nearly +certain as possible that the site was that of the modern town of +Hamadan, the name of which is clearly but a slight corruption of the +true ancient appellation. [PLATE I., Fig. 2.] Mount Orontes is to +be recognized in the modern Elwend or Erwend--a word etymologically +identical with _Oront-es_--which is a long and lofty mountains standing +out like a buttress from the Zagros range, with which it is connected +towards the north-west, while on every other side it stands isolated, +sweeping boldly down upon the flat country at its base. Copious streams +descend from the mountain on every side, more particularly to the +north-east, where the plain is covered with a carpet of the most +luxuriant verdure, diversified with rills, and ornamented with numerous +groves of large and handsome forest trees. It is here, on ground sloping +slightly away from the roots of the mountain, that the modern town, +which lies directly at its foot, is built. The ancient city, if we may +believe Diodorus, did not approach the mountain within a mile or a mile +and a half. At any rate, if it began where Hamadan now stands, it most +certainly extended very much further into the plain. We need not suppose +indeed that it had the circumference, or even half the circumference, +which the Sicilian romancer assigns to it, since his two hundred and +fifty stades would give a probable area of fifty square miles, more than +double that of London! Ecbatana is not likely to have been at its most +flourishing period a larger city than Nineveh; and we have already seen +that Nineveh covered a space, within the walls, of not more than 1800 +English acres. + +[Illustration: PLATE I.] + +The character of the city and of its chief edifices has, unfortunately, +to be gathered almost entirely from unsatisfactory authorities. Hitherto +it has been found possible in these volumes to check and correct the +statements of ancient writers, which are almost always exaggerated, +by an appeal to the incontrovertible evidence of modern surveys +and explorations. But the Median capital has never yet attracted a +scientific expedition. The travellers by whom it has been visited have +reported so unfavorably of its character as a field of antiquarian +research that scarcely a spadeful of soil has been dug, either in the +city or in its vicinity, with a view to recover traces of the ancient +buildings. Scarcely any remains of antiquity are apparent. As the site +has never been deserted, and the town has thus been subjected for nearly +twenty-two centuries to the destructive ravages of foreign conquerors, +and the still more injurious plunderings of native builders, anxious +to obtain materials for new edifices at the least possible cost and +trouble, the ancient structures have everywhere disappeared from sight, +and are not even indicated by mounds of a sufficient size to attract the +attention of common observers. Scientific explorers have consequently +been deterred from turning their energies in this direction; more +promising sites have offered and still offer themselves; and it is as +yet uncertain whether the plan of the old town might not be traced +and the position of its chief edifices fixed by the means of careful +researches conducted by fully competent persons. In this dearth of +modern materials we have to depend entirely upon the classical writers, +who are rarely trustworthy in their descriptions or measurements, and +who, in this instance, labor under the peculiar disadvantage of being +mere reporters of the accounts given by others. + +Ecbatana was chiefly celebrated for the magnificence of its palace, +a structure ascribed by Diodorus to Semiramis, but most probably +constructed originally by Cyaxares, and improved, enlarged, and +embellished by the Achaemenian monarchs. According to the judicious +and moderate Polybius, who prefaces his account by a protest against +exaggeration and over-coloring, the circumference of the building +was seven stades, or 1420 yards, somewhat more than four fifths of an +English mile. This size, which a little exceeds that of the palace +mound at Susa, while it is in its turn a little exceeded by the palatial +platform at Persepolis, may well be accepted as probably close to +the truth. Judging, however, from the analogy of the above-mentioned +palaces, we must conclude that the area thus assigned to the royal +residence was far from being entirely covered with buildings. One half +of the space, perhaps more, would be occupied by large open courts, +paved probably with marble, surrounding the various blocks of buildings +and separating them from one another. The buildings themselves may be +conjectured to have resembled those of the Achaemenian monarchs at Susa +and Persepolis, with the exception, apparently, that the pillars, which +formed their most striking characteristic, were for the most part of +wood rather than o stone. Polybius distinguishes the pillars into +two classes, those of the main buildings, and those which skirted the +courts, from which it would appear that at Ecbatana the courts were +surrounded by colonnades, as they were commonly in Greek and Roman +houses. These wooden pillars, all either of cedar or of cypress, +supported beams of a similar material, which crossed each other at right +angles, leaving square spaces between, which were then filled in with +woodwork. Above the whole a roof was placed, sloping at an angle, and +composed (as we are told) of silver plates in the shape of tiles. The +pillars, beams, and the rest of the woodwork were likewise coated with +thin laminse of the precious metals, even gold being used for this +purpose to a certain extent. + +Such seems to have been the character of the true ancient Median palace, +which served probably as a model to Darius and Xerxes when they designed +their great palatial edifices at the more southern capitals. In the +additions which the palace received under the Achaemenian kings, stone +pillars may have been introduced; and hence probably the broken shafts +and bases, so nearly resembling the Persepolitan, one of which Sir E. +Ker Porter saw in the immediate neighborhood of Hamadan on his visit +to that place in 1818. [PLATE I., Fig. 1.] But to judge from the +description of Polybius, an older and ruder style of architecture +prevailed in the main building, which depended for its effect not on the +beauty of architectural forms, but on the richness and costliness of the +material. A pillar architecture, so far as appears, began in this part +of Asia with the Medes, who, however, were content to use the more +readily obtained and more easily worked material of wood; while the +Persians afterwards conceived the idea of substituting for these +inartificial props the slender and elegant stone shafts which formed the +glory of their grand edifices. + +At a short distance from the palace was the "Acra," or citadel, an +artificial structure, if we may believe Polybius, and a place of very +remarkable strength. Here probably was the treasury, from which Darius +Codomanus carried off 7000 talents of silver, when he fled towards +Bactria for fear of Alexander. And here, too, may have been the Record +Office, in which were deposited the royal decrees and other public +documents under the earlier Persian kings. Some travellers are of +opinion that a portion of the ancient structure still exists; and there +is certainly a ruin on the outskirts of the modern town towards the +south, which is known to the natives as "the inner fortress," and which +may not improbably occupy some portion of the site whereon the original +citadel stood. But the remains of building which now exist are certainly +not of an earlier date than the era of Parthian supremacy, and they can +therefore throw no light on the character of the old Median stronghold. +It may be thought perhaps that the description which Herodotus gives +of the building called by him "the palace of Deioces" should be here +applied, and that by its means we might obtain an exact notion of the +original structure. But the account of this author is wholly at variance +with the natural features of the neighborhood, where there is no such +conical hill as he describes, but only a plain surrounded by mountains. +It seems, therefore, to be certain that either his description is a pure +myth, or that it applies to another city, the Ecbatana of the northern +province. It is doubtful whether the Median capital was at any time +surrounded with walls. Polybius expressly declares that it was an +unwalled place in his day and there is some reason to suspect that it +had always been in this condition. The Medes and Persians appear to have +been in general content to establish in each town a fortified citadel or +stronghold, round which the houses were clustered, without superadding +the further defence of a town wall. Ecbatana accordingly seems never to +have stood a siege. When the nation which held it was defeated in the +open field, the city (unlike Babylon and Nineveh) submitted to the +conqueror without a struggle. Thus the marvellous description in the +book of Judith, which is internally very improbable, would appear to be +entirely destitute of any, even the slightest, foundation in fact. + +The chief city of northern Media, which bore in later times the names of +Gaza, Gazaca, or Canzaca, is thought to have also been called Ecbatana, +and to have been occasionally mistaken by the Greeks for the southern or +real capital. The description of Herodotus, which is irreconcilably +at variance with the local features of the Hamadan site, accords +sufficiently with the existing remains of a considerable city in the +province of Azerbijan; and it seems certainly to have been a city in +these parts which was called by Moses of Chorene "the second Ecbatana, +the seven-walled town." The peculiarity of this place was its situation +on and about a conical hill which sloped gently down from its summit +to its base, and allowed of the interposition of seven circuits of wall +between the plain and the hill's crest. At the top of the hill, within +the innermost circle of the defences, were the Royal Palace and +the treasuries; the sides of the hill were occupied solely by the +fortifications; and at the base, outside the circuit of the outermost +wall, were the domestic and other buildings which constituted the town. +According to the information received by Herodotus, the battlements +which crowned the walls were variously colored. Those of the outer +circle were white, of the next black, of the third scarlet, of the +fourth blue, of the fifth orange, of the sixth silver, and of the +seventh gold. A pleasing or at any rate a striking effect was thus +produced--the citadel, which towered above the town, presenting to the +eye seven distinct rows of colors. + +If there was really a northern as well as a southern Ecbatana, and if +the account of Herodotus, which cannot possibly apply to the southern +capital, may be regarded as truly describing the great city of the +north, we may with much probability fix the site of the northern town +at the modern Takht-i-Suleiman, in the upper valley of the Saruk, a +tributary of the Jaghetu. [PLATE I., Fig. 3.] Here alone in northern +Media are there important ruins occupying such a position as that which +Herodotus describes. Near the head of a valley in which runs the main +branch of the Saruk, at the edge of the hills which skirt it to the +north, there stands a conical mound projecting into the vale and rising +above its surface to the height of 150 feet. The geological formation of +the mound is curious in the extreme. It seems to owe its origin entirely +to a small lake, the waters of which are so strongly impregnated with +calcareous matter that wherever they overflow they rapidly form a +deposit which is as hard and firm as natural rock. If the lake was +originally on a level with the valley, it would soon have formed +incrustations round its edge, which every casual or permanent overflow +would have tended to raise; and thus, in the course of ages, the entire +hill may have been formed by a mere accumulation of petrefactions. The +formation would progress more or less rapidly according to the tendency +of the lake to overflow its bounds; which tendency must have been strong +until the water reached its present natural level--the level, probably, +of some other sheet of water in the hills, with which it is connected +by an underground siphon. The lake, which is of an irregular shape, +is about 300 paces in circumference. Its water, notwithstanding the +quantity of mineral matter held in solution, is exquisitely clear, and +not unpleasing to the taste. Formerly it was believed by the natives to +be unfathomable; but experiments made in 1837 showed the depth to be no +more than 156 feet. + +The ruins which at present occupy this remarkable site consist of a +strong wall, guarded by numerous bastions and pierced by four gateways, +which runs round the brow of the hill in a slightly irregular ellipse, +of some interesting remains of buildings within this walled space, and +of a few insignificant traces of inferior edifices on the slope between +the plain and the summit. As it is not thought that any of these remains +are of a date anterior to the Sassanian kingdom, no description will be +given of them here. We are only concerned with the Median city, and that +has entirely disappeared. Of the seven walls, one alone is to be traced; +and even here the Median structure has perished, and been replaced by +masonry of a far later age. Excavations may hereafter bring, to light +some remnants of the original town, but at present research has done no +more than recover for us a forgotten site. + +The Median city next in importance to the two Ecbatanas was Raga or +Rhages, near the Caspian Gates, almost at the extreme eastern limits of +the territory possessed by the Medes. + +The great antiquity of this place is marked by its occurrence in the +Zendavesta among the primitive settlements of the Arians. Its celebrity +during the time of the Empire is indicated by the position which it +occupies in the romances of Tobit and Judith. It maintained its rank +under the Persians, and is mentioned by Darius Hystaspis as the scene of +the struggle which terminated the great Median revolt. The last Darius +seems to have sent thither his heavy baggage and the ladies of his +court, when he resolved to quit Ecbatana and fly eastward. It has been +already noticed that Rhages gave name to a district; and this district +maybe certainly identified with the long narrow tract of fertile +territory intervening between the Elburz mountain-range and the desert, +from about Kasvin to Khaar, or from long. 30 to 52 30'. The exact site +of the city of Rhages within this territory is somewhat doubtful. All +accounts place it near the eastern extremity; and as there are in this +direction ruins of a town called Rhei or Rhey, it has been usual to +assume that they positively fix the locality. But similarity, or even +identity, of name is an insufficient proof of a site; and, in the +present instance, there are grounds for placing Rhages very much nearer +to the Caspian Gates than the position of Rhei. Arrian, whose accuracy +is notorious, distinctly states that from the Gates to Rhages was only a +single day's march, and that Alexander accomplished the distance in that +time. Now from Rhei to the Girduni Surdurrah pass, which undoubtedly +represents the Pylae Cacpise of Arrian, is at least fifty miles, a +distance which no army could accomplish in less time than two days. +Rhages consequently must have been considerably to the east of +Rhei, about half-way between it and the celebrated pass which it was +considered to guard. Its probable position is the modern Kaleh Erij, +near Veramin, about 23 miles from the commencement of the Surdurrah +pass, where there are considerable remains of an ancient town. + +In the same neighborhood with Rhages, but closer to the Straits, perhaps +on the site now occupied by the ruins known as Uewanukif, or possibly +even nearer to the foot of the pass, was the Median city of Charax, a +place not to be confounded with the more celebrated city called Gharax +Spasini, the birthplace of Dionysius the geographer, which was on the +Persian Gulf, at the mouth of the Tigris. + +The other Median cities, whose position can be determined with an +approach to certainty, were in the western portion of the country, in +the range of Zagros, or in the fertile tract between that range and the +desert. The most important of these are Bagistan, Adrapan, Concobar, and +Aspadan. + +Bagistan is described by Isidore as a "city situated on a hill, where +there was a pillar and a statue of Semiramis." Diodorus has an account +of the arrival of Semiramis at the place, of her establishing a royal +park or paradise in the plain below the mountain, which was watered +by an abundant spring, of her smoothing the face of the rock where it +descended precipitously upon the low ground, and of her carving on the +surface thus obtained her own effigy, with an inscription in Assyrian +characters. The position assigned to Bagistan by both writers, and the +description of Diodorus, identify the place beyond a doubt with the now +famous Behistun, where the plain, the fountain, the precipitous rock, +and the scarped surface are still to be seen, through the supposed +figure of Semiramis, her pillar, and her inscription have disappeared. +[PLATE II., Fig. 1.] This remarkable spot, lying on the direct route +between Babylon and Ecbatana, and presenting the unusual combination of +a copious fountain, a rich plain, and a rock suitable for sculptures, +must have early attracted the attention of the great monarchs who +marched their armies through the Zagros range, as a place where they +might conveniently set up memorials of their exploits. The works of this +kind ascribed by the ancient writers to Semiramis were probably either +Assyrian or Babylonian, and (it is most likely) resembled the ordinary +monuments which the kings of Babylon and Nineveh delighted to erect +in countries newly conquered. The example set by the Mesopotamians was +followed by their Arian neighbors, when the supremacy passed into +their hands; and the famous mountain, invested by them with a sacred +character, was made to subserve and perpetuate their glory by receiving +sculptures and inscriptions which showed them to have become the lords +of Asia. The practice did not even stop here. When the Parthian kingdom +of the Arsacidee had established itself in these parts at the expense +of the Seleucidse, the rock was once more called upon to commemorate +the warlike triumphs of a new race. Gotarzes, the contemporary of the +Emperor Claudius, after defeating his rival Meherdates in the plain +between Behistun and Kermanshah, inscribed upon the mountain, which +already bore the impress of the great monarchs of Assyria and Persia, a +record of his recent victory. + +[Illustration: PLATE II.] + +The name of Adrapan occurs only in Isidore, who places it between +Bagistan and Ecbatana, at the distance of twelve schoeni--36 Roman or 34 +British miles from the latter. It was, he says, the site of an ancient +palace belonging to Ecbatana, which Tigranes the Armenian had destroyed. +The name and situation sufficiently identify Adrapan with the modern +village of Arteman, which lies on the southern face of Elwend near +its base, and is well adapted for a royal residence. Here, during the +severest winter, when Hamadan and the surrounding country are buried in +snow, a warm and sunny climate is to be found; whilst in the summer +a thousand rills descending from Elwend diffuse around fertility +and fragrance. Groves of trees grow up in rich luxuriance from the +well-irrigated soil, whose thick foliage affords a welcome shelter from +the heat of the noonday sun. The climate, the gardens, and the manifold +blessings of the place are proverbial throughout Persia; and naturally +caused the choice of the site for a retired palace, to which the court +of Ecbatana might adjourn when either the summer heat and dust or the +winter cold made residence in the capital irksome. + +In the neighborhood of Adrapan, on the road leading to Bagistan, stood +Concobar, which is undoubtedly the modern Kungawar, and perhaps the +Chavon of Diodorus. Here, according to the Sicilian historian, Semiramis +built a palace and laid out a paradise; and here, in the time of +Isidore, was a famous temple of Artemis. Colossal ruins crown the summit +of the acclivity on which the town of Kungawar stands, which may be the +remains of this latter building; but no trace has been found that can be +regarded as either Median or Assyrian. + +The Median town of Aspadan, which is mentioned by no writer but Ptolemy, +would scarcely deserve notice here, if it were not for its modern +celebrity. Aspadan, corrupted into Isfahan, became the capital of +Persia, under the Sen kings, who rendered it one of the most magnificent +cities of Asia. It is uncertain whether it existed at all in the time +of the great Median empire. If so, it was, at best, an outlying town of +little consequence on the extreme southern confines of the territory, +where it abutted upon Persia proper. The district wherein it lay was +inhabited by the Median tribe of the Parastaceni. + +Upon the whole it must be allowed that the towns of Media were few +and of no great account. The Medes did not love to congregate in large +cities, but preferred to scatter themselves in villages over their +broad and varied territory. The protection of walls, necessary for +the inhabitants of the low Mesopotamian regions, was not required by a +people whose country was full of natural fastnesses to which they could +readily remove on the approach of danger. Excepting the capital and +the two important cities of Gazaca and Rhages, the Median towns were +insignificant. Even those cities themselves were probably of moderate +dimensions, and had little of the architectural splendor which gives +so peculiar an interest to the towns of Mesopotamia. Their principal +buildings were in a frail and perishable material, unsuited to bear the +ravages of time; they have consequently altogether disappeared, and in +the whole of Media modern researches have failed to bring to light a +single edifice which can be assigned with any show of probability to the +period of the Empire. + +The plan adopted in former portions of this work makes it necessary, +before concluding this chapter, to glance briefly at the character of +the various countries and districts by which Media was bordered--the +Caspian district upon the north, Armenia upon the north-west, the Zagros +region and Assyria upon the west, Persia proper upon the south, and upon +the east Sagartia and Parthia. + +North and north-east of the mountain range which under different names +skirts the southern shores of the Caspian Sea and curves round +its south-western corner, lies a narrow but important strip of +territory--the modern Ghilan and Mazanderan. [PLATE II., Fig. 2.] This +is a most fertile region, well watered and richly wooded, and forms one +of the most valuable portions of the modern kingdom of Persia. At first +it is a low flat tract of deep alluvial soil, but little raised above +the level of the Caspian; gradually however it rises into swelling +hills which form the supports of the high mountains that shut in this +sheltered region, a region only to be reached by a very few passes over +or through them. The mountains are clothed on this side nearly to their +summit with dwarf oaks, or with shrubs and brushwood; while, lower +down, their flanks are covered with forests of elms, cedars, chestnuts, +beeches, and cypress trees. The gardens and orchards of the natives +are of the most superb character; the vegetation is luxuriant; lemons, +oranges, peaches, pomegranates, besides other fruits, abound; rice, +hemp, sugar-canes, mulberries are cultivated with success; vines grow +wild; and the valleys are strewn with flowers of rare fragrance, among +which may be noted the rose, the honeysuckle, and the sweetbrier. +Nature, however, with her usual justice, has balanced these +extraordinary advantages with peculiar drawbacks; the tiger, unknown +in any other part of Western Asia, here lurks in the thickets, ready to +spring at any moment on the unwary traveller; inundations are frequent, +and carry desolation far and wide; the waters, which thus escape from +the river beds, stagnate in marshes, and during the summer and autumn +heats pestilential exhalations arise, which destroy the stranger, +and bring even the acclimatized native to the brink of the grave. The +Persian monarch chooses the southern rather than the northern side of +the mountains for the site of his capital, preferring the keen winter +cold and dry summer heat of the high and almost waterless plateau to the +damp and stifling air of the low Caspian region. + +The narrow tract of which this is a description can at no time have +sheltered a very numerous or powerful people. During the Median period, +and for many ages afterwards, it seems to have been inhabited by various +petty tribes of predatory habits--Cadusians, Mardi, Tapyri, etc.,--who +passed their time in petty quarrels among themselves, and in plundering +raids upon their great southern neighbor. Of these tribes the Cadusians +alone enjoyed any considerable reputation. They were celebrated for +their skill with the javelin--a skill probably represented by the modern +Persian use of the _djereed_. According to Diodorus, they were engaged +in frequent wars with the Median kings, and were able to bring into the +field a force of 200,000 men! Under the Persians they seem to have been +considered good soldiers, and to have sometimes made a struggle for +independence. But there is no real reason to believe that they were +of such strength as to have formed at any time a danger to the Median +kingdom, to which it is more probable that they generally acknowledged a +qualified subjection. + +The great country of Armenia, which lay north-west and partly north of +Media, has been generally described in the first volume; but a few +words will be here added with respect to the more eastern portion, which +immediately bordered upon the Median territory. This consisted of +two outlying districts, separated from the rest of the country, the +triangular basin of Lake Van, and the tract between the Kur and +Aras rivers--the modern Karabagh and Erivan. The basin of Lake Van, +surrounded by high ranges, and forming the very heart of the mountain +system of this part of Asia, is an isolated region, a sort of natural +citadel, where a strong military power would be likely to establish +itself. Accordingly it is here, and here alone in all Armenia, that we +find signs of the existence, during the Assyrian and Median periods, of +a great organized monarchy. + +The Van inscriptions indicate to us a line of kings who bore sway in the +eastern Armenia--the true Ararat--and who were both in civilization +and in military strength far in advance of any of the other princes who +divided among them the Armenian territory. The Van monarchs may have +been at times formidable enemies of the Medes. They have left traces of +their dominion, not only on the tops of the mountain passes which lead +into the basin of Lake Urumiyeh, but even in the comparatively low plain +of Miyandab on the southern shore of that inland sea. It is probable +from this that they were at one time masters of a large portion of Media +Atropatene, and the very name of Urumiyeh, which still attaches to the +lake, may have been given to it from one of their tribes. In the tract +between the Kur and Aras, on the other hand, there is no sign of +the early existence of any formidable power. Here the mountains are +comparatively low, the soil is fertile, and the climate temperate. The +character of the region would lead its inhabitants to cultivate the arts +of peace rather than those of war, and would thus tend to prevent them +from being formidable or troublesome to their neighbors. + +The Zagros region, which in the more ancient times separated between +Media and Assyria, being inhabited by a number of independent tribes, +but which was ultimately absorbed into the more powerful country, +requires no notice here, having been sufficiently described among the +tracts by which Assyria was bordered. At first a serviceable shield +to the weak Arian tribes which were establishing themselves along its +eastern base upon the high plateau, it gradually passed into their +possession as they increased in strength, and ultimately became a main +nursery of their power, furnishing to their armies vast numbers both of +men and horses. The great horse pastures, from which the Medes first and +the Persians afterwards, supplied their numerous and excellent +cavalry, were in this quarter; and the troops which it furnished--hardy +mountaineers accustomed to brave the severity of a most rigorous +climate--must have been among the most effective of the Median forces. + +On the south Media was bounded by Persia proper--a tract which +corresponded nearly with the modern province of Farsistan. The complete +description of this territory, the original seat of the Persian nation, +belongs to a future volume of this work, which will contain an account +of the "Fifth Monarchy." For the present it is sufficient to observe +that the Persian territory was for the most part a highland, very +similar to Media, from which it was divided by no strongly marked line +or natural boundary. The Persian mountains are a continuation of the +Zagros chain, and Northern Persia is a portion--the southern portion--of +the same great plateau, whose western and north-western skirts formed +the great mass of the Median territory. Thus upon this side Media was +placed in the closest connection with an important country, a country +similar in character to her own, where a hardy race was likely to grow +up, with which she might expect to have difficult contests. + +Finally, towards the east lay the great salt desert, sparsely inhabited +by various nomadic races, among which the most important were the +Cossseans and the Sagartians. To the latter people Herodotus seems to +assign almost the whole of the sandy region, since he unites them with +the Sarangians and Thamanseans on the one hand, with the Utians and +Mycians upon the other. They were a wild race, probably of Arian origin, +who hunted with the lasso over the great desert mounted on horses, and +could bring into the field a force of eight or ten thousand men. Their +country, a waste of sand and gravel, in parts thickly encrusted with +salt, was impassable to an army, and formed a barrier which effectively +protected Media along the greater portion of her eastern frontier. +Towards the extreme north-east the Sagartians were replaced by the +Cossseans and the Parthians, the former probably the people of the +Siah-Koh mountain, the latter the inhabitants of the tract known now +as the Atak, or "skirt," which extends along the southern flank of the +Elburz range from the Caspian Gates nearly to Herat, and is capable +of sustaining a very considerable population. The Cossseans were +plunderers, from whose raids Media suffered constant annoyance; but they +were at no time of sufficient strength to cause any serious fear. +The Parthians, as we learn from the course of events, had in them the +materials of a mighty people; but the hour for their elevation and +expansion was not yet come, and the keenest observer of Median times +could scarcely have perceived in them the future lords of Western Asia. +From Parthia, moreover, Media was divided by the strong rocky spur which +runs out from the Elburz into the desert in long. 52 10' nearly, over +which is the narrow pass already mentioned as the Caspian Gates. Thus +Media on most sides was guarded by the strong natural barriers of seas, +mountains, and deserts lying open only on the south, where she adjoined +upon a kindred people. Her neighbors were for the most part weak in +numbers, though warlike. Armenia, however, to the north-west, Assyria to +the west, and Persia to the south, were all more or less formidable. +A prescient eye might have foreseen that the great struggles of +Media would be with these powers, and that if she attained imperial +proportions it must be by their subjugation or absorption. + + + + +CHAPTER II. CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. + + +Media, like Assyria, is a country of such extent and variety that, in +order to give a correct description of its climate, we must divide it +into regions. Azerbijan, or Atropatene, the most northern portion, has +a climate altogether cooler than the rest of Media; while in the more +southern division of the country there is a marked difference between +the climate of the east and of the west, of the tracts lying on the +high plateau and skirting the Great Salt Desert, and of those contained +within or closely abutting upon the Zagros mountain range. The +difference here is due to the difference of physical conformation, which +is as great as possible, the broad mountainous plains about Kasvin, +Koum, and Kashan, divided from each other by low rocky ridges, offering +the strongest conceivable contrast to the perpetual alternations of +mountain and valley, precipitous height and deep wooded glen, which +compose the greater part of the Zagros region. + +The climate of Azerbijan is temperate and pleasant, though perhaps +somewhat overwarm, in summer; while in winter it is bitterly severe, +colder than that of almost any other region in the same latitude. This +extreme rigor seems to be mainly owing to elevation, the very valleys +and valley plains of the tract being at a height of from 4000 to 5000 +feet above the sea level. Frost commonly sets in towards the end of +November--or at latest early in December; snow soon covers the ground +to the depth of several feet; the thermometer falls below zero; the sun +shines brightly except when from time to time fresh deposits of snow +occur; but a keen and strong wind usually prevails, which is represented +as "cutting like a sword," and being a very "assassin of life." Deaths +from cold are of daily occurrence; and it is impossible to travel +without the greatest risk. Whole companies or caravans occasionally +perish beneath the drift, when the wind is violent, especially if a +heavy fall happen to coincide with one of the frequent easterly gales. +The severe weather commonly continues till March, when travelling +becomes possible, but the snow remains on much of the ground till May, +and on the mountains still longer. The spring, which begins in April, is +temperate and delightful; a sudden burst of vegetation succeeds to the +long winter lethargy; the air is fresh and balmy, the sun pleasantly +warm, the sky generally cloudless. In the month of May the heat +increases--thunder hangs in the air--and the valleys are often close +and sultry. Frequent showers occur, and the hail-storms are sometimes so +violent as to kill the cattle in the fields. As the summer advances the +heats increase, but the thermometer rarely reaches 90 in the shade, and +except in the narrow valleys the air is never oppressive. The autumn is +generally very fine. Foggy mornings are common; but they are succeeded +by bright pleasant days, without wind or rain. On the whole the climate +is pronounced healthy, though somewhat trying to Europeans, who do not +readily adapt themselves to a country where the range of the thermometer +is as much as 90 or 100. In the part of Media situated on the great +plateau--the modern Irak Ajemi--in which are the important towns of +Teheran, Isfahan, Hamadan, Kashan, Kasvin, and Koum. the climate is +altogether warmer than in Azerbijan, the summers being hotter, and the +winters shorter and much less cold. Snow indeed covers the ground +for about three months, from early in December till March; but the +thermometer rarely shows more than ten or twelve degrees of frost, and +death from cold is uncommon. The spring sets in about the beginning of +March, and is at first somewhat cool, owing to the prevalence of the +_baude caucasan_ or north wind,a which blows from districts where the +snow still lies. But after a little time the weather becomes delicious; +the orchards are a mass of blossom; the rose gardens come into bloom; +the cultivated lands are covered with springing crops; the desert itself +wears a light livery of green. Every sense is gratified; the nightingale +bursts out with a full gush of song; the air plays softly upon the +cheek, and comes loaded with fragrance. Too soon, however, this charming +time passes away, and the summer heats begin, in some places as early as +June 18 The thermometer at midday rises to 90 or 100 degrees. Hot gusts +blow from the desert, sometimes with great violence. The atmosphere is +described as choking; and in parts of the plateau it is usual for the +inhabitants to quit their towns almost in a body, and retire for several +months into the mountains. This extreme heat is, however, exceptional; +in most parts of the plateau the summer warmth is tempered by cool +breezes from the surrounding mountains, on which there is always a good +deal of snow. At Hamadan, which, though on the plain, is close to the +mountains, the thermometer seems scarcely ever to rise above 90, and +that degree of heat is attained only for a few hours in the day. The +mornings and evenings are cool and refreshing; and altogether the +climate quite justifies the choice of the Persian monarchs, who selected +Ecbatana for their place of residence during the hottest portion of the +year. Even at Isfahan, which is on the edge of the desert, the heat is +neither extreme nor prolonged. The hot gusts which blow from the east +and from the south raise the temperature at times nearly to a hundred +degrees; but these oppressive winds alternate with cooler breezes from +the west, often accompanied by rain; and the average highest temperature +during the day in the hottest month, which is August, does not exceed +90. + +A peculiarity in the climate of the plateau which deserves to be noticed +is the extreme dryness of the atmosphere. In summer the rains which fall +are slight, and they are soon absorbed by the thirsty soil. There is a +little dew at nights, especially in the vicinity of the few streams; +but it disappears with the first hour of sunshine, and the air is left +without a particle of moisture. In winter the dryness is equally +great; frost taking the place of heat, with the same effect upon the +atmosphere. Unhealthy exhalations are thus avoided, and the salubrity of +the climate is increased; but the European will sometimes sigh for the +soft, balmy airs of his own land, which have come flying over the sea, +and seem to bring their wings still dank with the ocean spray. + +Another peculiarity of this region, produced by the unequal rarefaction +of the air over its different portions, is the occurrence, especially in +spring and summer, of sudden gusts, hot or cold, which blow with great +violence. These gusts are sometimes accompanied with, whirlwinds, which +sweep the country in different directions, carrying away with them +leaves, branches, stubble, sand, and other light substances, and causing +great annoyance to the traveller. They occur chiefly in connection with +a change of wind, and are no doubt consequent on the meeting of two +opposite currents. Their violence, however, is moderate, compared +with that of tropical tornadoes, and it is not often that they do any +considerable damage to the crops over which they sweep. + +One further characteristic of the flat region may be noticed. The +intense heat of the summer sun striking on the dry sand or the saline +efflorescence of the desert throws the air over them into such a state +of quivering undulation as produces the most wonderful and varying +effects, distorting the forms of objects, and rendering the most +familiar strange and hard to be recognized. A mud bank furrowed by the +rain will exhibit the appearance of a magnificent city, with columns, +domes, minarets, and pyramids; a few stunted bushes will be transformed +into a forest of stately trees; a distant mountain will, in the space of +a minute, assume first the appearance of a lofty peak, then swell out at +the top, and resemble a mighty mushroom, next split into several parts, +and finally settle down into a flat tableland. Occasionally, though not +very often that semblance of water is produced which Europeans are are +apt to suppose the usual effect of mirage. The images of objects are +reflected at their base in an inverted position; the desert seems +converted into a vast lake; and the thirsty traveller, advancing towards +it, finds himself the victim of an illusion, which is none the less +successful because he has been a thousand times forewarned of its +deceptive power. + +In the mountain range or Zagros and the tracts adjacent to it, the +climate, owing to the great differences of elevation, is more varied +than in the other parts of the ancient Media. Severe cold prevails in +the higher mountain regions for seven months out of the twelve, while +during the remaining five the heat is never more than moderate. In +the low valleys, on the contrary, and in other favored situations, the +winters are often milder than on the plateau; while in the summers, if +the heat is not greater, at any rate it is more oppressive. Owing to the +abundance of the streams and proximity of the melting snows, the air is +moist; and the damp heat, which stagnates in the valleys, broods fever +and ague. Between these extremes of climate and elevation, every variety +is to be found; and, except in winter, a few hours' journey will almost +always bring the traveller into a temperate region. + +In respect of natural productiveness, Media (as already observed) +differs exceedingly in different, and even in adjacent, districts. The +rocky ridges of the great plateau, destitute of all vegetable mold, are +wholly bare and arid, admitting not the slightest degree of cultivation. +Many of the mountains of Azerbijan, naked, rigid, and furrowed, may +compare even with these desert ranges for sterility. The higher parts +of Zagros and Elburz are sometimes of the same character; but more often +they are thickly clothed with forests, affording excellent timber and +other valuable commodities. In the Elburz pines are found near the +summit, while lower down there occur, first the wild almond and the +dwarf oak, and then the usual timber-trees of the country, the Oriental +plane, the willow, the poplar, and the walnut. The walnut grows to a +large size both here and in Azerbijan, but the poplar is the wood most +commonly used for building purposes. In Zagros, besides most of these +trees, the ash and the terebinth or turpentine-tree are common; the oak +bears gall-nuts of a large size; and the gum-tragacanth plant frequently +clothes the mountain-sides. The valleys of this region are full of +magnificent orchards, as are the low grounds and more sheltered nooks of +Azerbijan. The fruit-trees comprise, besides vines and mulberries, the +apple, the pear, the quince, the plum, the cherry, the almond, the nut, +the chestnut, the olive, the peach, the nectarine, and the apricot. + +On the plains of the high plateau there is a great scarcity of +vegetation. Trees of a large size grow only in the few places which are +well watered, as in the neighborhood of Hamadan, Isfahan, and in a +less degree of Kashan. The principal tree is the Oriental plane, which +flourishes together with poplars and willows along the water-courses; +cypresses also grow freely; elms and cedars are found, and the orchards +and gardens contain not only the fruit-trees mentioned above, but also +the jujube, the cornel, the filbert, the medlar, the pistachio nut, the +pomegranate, and the fig. Away from the immediate vicinity of the rivers +and the towns, not a tree, scarcely a bush, is to be seen. The common +thorn is indeed tolerably abundant in a few places; but elsewhere the +tamarisk and a few other sapless shrubs are the only natural products of +this bare and arid region. + +In remarkable contrast with the natural barrenness of this wide tract +are certain favored districts in Zagros and Azerbijan, where the herbage +is constant throughout the summer, and sometimes only too luxuriant. +Such are the rich and extensive grazing grounds of Khawah and Alishtar, +near Kermanshah, the pastures near Ojan and Marand, and the celebrated +Chowal Moghan or plain of Moghan, on the lower course of the Araxes +river, where the grass is said to grow sufficiently high to cover a +man on horseback. These, however, are rare exceptions to the general +character of the country, which is by nature unproductive, and scarcely +deserving even of the qualified encomium of Strabo. + +Still Media, though deficient in natural products, is not ill adapted +for cultivation. The Zagros valleys and hillsides produce under a very +rude system of agriculture, besides the fruits already noticed, rice, +wheat, barley, millet, sesame, Indian corn, cotton, tobacco, mulberries, +cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and the castor-oilplant. In Azerbijan the +soil is almost all cultivable, and if ploughed and sown will bring good +crops of the ordinary kinds of grain. Even on the side of the desert, +where Nature has shown herself most niggardly, and may seem perhaps to +deserve the reproach of Cicero, that she behaves as a step mother to +a man rather than as a mother, a certain amount of care and scientific +labor may render considerable tracts fairly productive. The only want +of this region is water; and if the natural deficiency of this necessary +fluid can be anyhow supplied, all parts of the plateau will bear crops, +except those which form the actual Salt Desert. In modern, and still +more in ancient times, this fact has been clearly perceived, and an +elaborate system of artifical irrigation, suitable to the peculiar +circumstances of the country, has been very widely established. The +system of _kanats_, as they are called at the present day, aims at +utilizing to the uttermost all the small streams and rills which descend +towards the desert from the surrounding mountains, and at conveying +as far as possible into the plain the spring water, which is the +indispensable condition of cultivation in a country where--except for +a few days in the spring and autumn--rain scarcely ever falls. As the +precious element would rapidly evaporate if exposed to the rays of the +summer sun, the Iranian husbandman carries his conduit underground, +laboriously tunnelling through the stiff argillaceous soil, at a depth +of many feet below the surface. The mode in which he proceeds is as +follows. At intervals along the line of his intended conduit he first +sinks shafts, which he then connects with one another by galleries, +seven or eight feet in height, giving his galleries a slight incline, +so that the water may run down them freely, and continuing them till he +reaches a point where he wishes to bring the water out upon the surface +of the plain. Here and there, at the foot of his shafts, he digs wells, +from which the fluid can readily be raised by means of a bucket and a +windlass; and he thus brings under cultivation a considerable belt of +land along the whole line of the _kanat_, as well as a large tract at +its termination. These conduits, on which the cultivation of the plateau +depends, were established at so remote a date that they were popularly +ascribed to the mythic Semiramis, the supposed wife of Ninus. It is +thought that in ancient times they were longer and more numerous than at +present, when they occur only occasionally, and seldom extend more than +a few miles from the base of the hills. + +By help of the irrigation thus contrived, the great plateau of Iran will +produce good crops of grain, rice, wheat, barley, Indian corn, doura, +millet, and sesame. It will also bear cotton, tobacco, saffron, rhubarb, +madder, poppies which give a good opium, senna, and assafoetida. +Its garden vegetables are excellent, and include potatoes, cabbages, +lentils, kidney-beans, peas, turnips, carrots, spinach, beetroot, and +cucumbers. The variety of its fruit-trees has been already noticed. +The flavor of their produce is in general good, and in some cases +surpassingly excellent. No quinces are so fine as those of Isfahan, +and no melons have a more delicate flavor. The grapes of Kasvin are +celebrated, and make a remarkably good wine. + +Among the flowers of the country must be noted, first of all, its roses, +which flourish in the most luxuriant abundance, and are of every variety +of hue. The size to which the tree will grow is extraordinary, standards +sometimes exceeding the height of fourteen or fifteen feet. Lilacs, +jasmines, and many other flowering shrubs are common in the gardens, +while among wild flowers may be noticed hollyhocks, lilies, tulips, +crocuses, anemones, lilies of the valley, fritillaries, gentians, +primroses, convolvuluses, chrysanthemums, heliotropes, pinks, +water-lilies, ranunculuses, jonquils, narcissuses, hyacinths, mallows, +stocks, violets, a fine campanula (Michauxia levigata), a mint (Nepeta +longiflora), several sages, salsolas, and fagonias. In many places the +wild flowers during the spring months cover the ground, painting it with +a thousand dazzling or delicate hues. + +The mineral products of Media are numerous and valuable. Excellent stone +of many kinds abounds in almost every part of the country, the most +important and valuable being the famous Tabriz marble. This curious +substance appears to be a petrifaction formed by natural springs, which +deposit carbonate of lime in large quantities. It is found only in one +place, on the flanks of the hills, not far from the Urumiyeh lake. The +slabs are used for tombstones, for the skirting of rooms, and for the +pavements of baths and palaces; when cut thin they often take the place +of glass in windows, being semi-transparent. The marble is commonly of +a pale yellow color, but occasionally it is streaked with red, green, or +copper-colored veins. + +In metals the country is thought to be rich, but no satisfactory +examination of it has been as yet made. Iron, copper, and native steel +are derived from mines actually at work; while Europeans have observed +indications of lead, arsenic, and antimony in Azerbijan, in Kurdistan, +and in the rocky ridges which intersect the desert. Tradition speaks +of a time when gold and silver were procured from mountains near +Takht-i-Suleman, and it is not unlikely that they may exist both there +and in the Zagros range. Quartz, the well-known matrix of the precious +metal, abounds in Kurdistan. + +Of all the mineral products, none is more abundant than salt. On the +side of the desert, and again near Tabriz at the mouth of the Aji Su, +are vast plains which glisten with the substance, and yield it readily +to all who care to gather it up. Saline springs and streams are also +numerous, from which salt can be obtained by evaporation. But, besides +these sources of supply, rock salt is found in places, and this is +largely quarried, and is preferred by the natives. + +Other important products of the earth are saltpetre, which is found +in the Elburz, and in Azerbijan; sulphur, which abounds in the same +regions, and likewise on the high plateau; alum, which is quarried near +Tabriz; naphtha and gypsum, which are found in Kurdistan; and talc, +which exists in the mountains near Koum, in the vicinity of Tabriz, and +probably in other places. + +The chief wild animals which have been observed within the limits of +the ancient Media are the lion, the tiger, the leopard, the bear, the +beaver, the jackal, the wolf, the wild ass, the ibex or wild goat, the +wild sheep, the stag, the antelope, the wild boar, the fox, the hare, +the rabbit, the ferret, the rat, the jerboa, the porcupine, the mole, +and the marmot. The lion and tiger are exceedingly rare; they seem to +be found only in Azerbijan, and we may perhaps best account for their +presence there by considering that a few of these animals occasionally +stray out of Mazanderan, which is their only proper locality in this +part of Asia. Of all the beasts, the most abundant are the stag and the +wild goat, which are numerous in the Elburz, and in parts of Azerbijan, +the wild boar, which abounds both in Azerbijan, and in the country about +Hamadan, and the jackal, which is found everywhere. Bears flourish in +Zagros, antelopes in Azerbijan, in the Elburz, and on the plains near +Sultaniyeh. The wild ass is found only in the desert parts of the high +plateau; the beaver only in Lake Zeribar, near Sulefmaniyeh. + +The Iranian wild ass differs in some respects from the Mesopotamian. His +skin is smooth, like that of a deer, and of a reddish color, the belly +and hinder parts partaking of a silvery gray; his head and ears are +large and somewhat clumsy; but his neck is fine, and his legs are +beautifully slender. His mane is short and black, and he has a black +tuft at the end of his tail, but no dark line runs along his back or +crosses his shoulders. The Persians call him the _gur-khur_, and chase +him with occasional success, regarding his flesh as a great delicacy. +He appears to be the _Asinus onager_ of naturalists, a distinct species +from the _Asinus hemippus_ of Mesopotamia, and the _Asinus hemionus_ of +Thibet and Tartary. + +It is doubtful whether some kind of wild cattle does not still inhabit +the more remote tracts of Kurdistan. The natives mention among the +animals of their country "the mountain ox;" and though it has been +suggested that the beast intended is the elk, it is perhaps as likely +to be the Aurochs, which seems certainly to have been a native of the +adjacent country of Mesopotamia in ancient times. At any rate, until +Zagros has been thoroughly explored by Europeans, it must remain +uncertain what animal is meant. Meanwhile we may be tolerably sure that, +besides the species enumerated, Mount Zagros contains within its folds +some large and rare ruminant. + +Among the birds the most remarkable are the eagle, the bustard, the +pelican, the stork, the pheasant, several kinds of partridges, the +quail, the woodpecker, the bee-eater, the hoopoe, and the nightingale. +Besides these, doves and pigeons, both wild and tame, are common; as are +swallows, goldfinches, sparrows, larks, blackbirds, thrushes, linnets, +magpies, crows, hawks, falcons, teal, snipe, wild ducks, and many other +kinds of waterfowl. The most common partridge is a red-legged species +(_Caccabis chukar_ of naturalists), which is unable to fly far, and is +hunted until it drops. Another kind, common both in Azerbijan and in +the Elburz, is the black-breasted partridge (_Perdix nigra_)--a bird not +known in many countries. Besides these, there is a small gray partridge +in the Zagros range, which the Kurds call seslca. The bee-eater (_Merops +Persicus_) is rare. It is a bird of passage, and only visits Media +in the autumn, preparatory to retreating into the warm district of +Mazandoran for the winter months. The hoopoe (_Upupa_) is probably still +rarer, since very few travellers mention it. The woodpecker is found in +Zagros, and is a beautiful bird, red and gray in color. + +Media is, on the whole, but scantily provided with fish. Lake Urumiyeh +produces none, as its waters are so salt that they even destroy all the +river-fish which enter them. Salt streams, like the Aji Su, are equally +unproductive, and the fresh-water rivers of the plateau fall so low +in summer that fish cannot become numerous in them. Thus it is only in +Zagros, in Azerbijan, and in the Elburz, that the streams furnish any +considerable quantity. The kinds most common are barbel, carp, dace, +bleak, and gudgeon. In a comparatively few streams, more especially +those of Zagros, trout are found, which are handsome and of excellent +quality. The river of Isfahan produces a kind of crayfish, which is +taken in the bushes along its banks, and is very delicate eating. + +It is remarkable that fish are caught not only in the open streams of +Media, but also in the _kanats_ or underground conduits, from which +the light of day is very nearly excluded. They appear to be of one sort +only, viz., barbel, but are abundant, and often grow to a considerable +size. Chardin supposed them to be unfit for food; but a later observer +declares that, though of no great delicacy, they are "perfectly sweet +and wholesome." + +Of reptiles, the most common are snakes, lizards, and tortoises. In the +long grass of the Moghan district, on the lower course of the Araxes, +the snakes are so numerous and venomous that many parts of the plain are +thereby rendered impassable in the summer-time. A similar abundance +of this reptile near the western entrance of the Girduni Siyaluk pass +induces the natives to abstain from using it except in winter. Lizards +of many forms and hues disport themselves about the rocks and stones, +some quite small, others two feet or more in length. They are quite +harmless, and appear to be in general very tame. Land tortoises are also +common in the sandy regions. In Kurdistan there is a remarkable frog, +with a smooth skin and of an apple-green color, which lives chiefly in +trees, roosting in them at night, and during the day employing itself in +catching flies and locusts, which it strikes with its fore paw, as a cat +strikes a bird or a mouse. + +Among insects, travellers chiefly notice the mosquito, which is in many +places a cruel torment; the centipede, which grows to an unusual size; +the locust, of which there is more than one variety; and the scorpion, +whose sting is sometimes fatal. + +The destructive locust (the _Acridium peregrinum_, probably) comes +suddenly into Kurdistan and southern Media in clouds that obscure the +air, moving with a slow and steady flight and with a sound like that +of heavy rain, and settling in myriads on the fields, the gardens, the +trees, the terraces of the houses, and even the streets, which they +sometimes cover completely. Where they fall, vegetation presently +disappears; the leaves, and even the stems of the plants, are devoured; +the labors of the husbandman through many a weary month perish in a day; +and the curse of famine is brought upon the land which but now enjoyed +the prospect of an abundant harvest. It is true that the devourers are +themselves devoured to some extent by the poorer sort of people; but the +compensation is slight and temporary; in a few days, when all verdure is +gone, either the swarms move to fresh pastures, or they perish and cover +the fields with their dead bodies, while the desolation which they have +created continues. [PLATE III., Fig. 2.] + +[Illustration: PLATE III.] + +Another kind of locust, observed by Mr. Rich in Kurdistan, is called by +the natives _shira-kulla_, a name seemingly identical with the +_chargol_ of the Jews, and perhaps the best clue which we possess to +the identification of that species. Mr. Rich describes it as "a large +insect, about four inches long, with no wings, but a kind of sword +projecting from the tail. It bites," he says, "pretty severely, but +does no harm to the cultivation." We may recognize in this description +a variety of the great green grasshopper (_Locusta viridissima_), many +species of which are destitute of wings, or have wing-covers only, and +those of a very small size. + +The scorpion of the country (_Scorpio crassicauda_) has been represented +as peculiarly venomous, more especially that which abounds in the city +and neighborhood of Kashan; but the most judicious observers deny that +there is any difference between the Kashan scorpion and that of other +parts of the plateau, while at the same time they maintain that if the +sting be properly treated, no danger need be apprehended from it. The +scorpion infests houses, hiding itself under cushions and coverlets, and +stings the moment it is pressed upon; some caution is thus requisite +in avoiding it; but it hurts no one unless molested, and many Europeans +have resided for years in the country without having ever been stung by +it. [PLATE III., Fig. 3.] + +The domestic animals existing at present within the limits of the +ancient Media are the camel, the horse, the mule, the ass, the cow, the +goat, the sheep, the dog, the cat, and the buffalo. The camel is the +ordinary beast of burden in the flat country, and can carry an enormous +weight. Three kinds are employed--the Bactrian or two-humped camel, +which is coarse and low; the taller and lighter Arabian breed; and a +cross between the two, which is called _ner_, and is valued very +highly. The ordinary burden of the Arabian camel is from seven to eight +hundredweight; while the Bactrian variety is said to be capable of +bearing a load nearly twice as heavy. + +Next to the camel, as a beast of burden, must be placed the mule the +mules of the country are small, but finely proportioned, and carry a +considerable weight. They travel thirty miles a day with ease, and are +preferred for journeys on which it is necessary to cross the mountains. +The ass is very inferior, and is only used by the poorer classes. + +Two distinct breeds of horses are now found in Media, both of which seem +to be foreign--the Turkoman and the Arabian. The Turkoman is a large, +powerful, enduring animal, with long legs, a light body, and a big +head. The Arab is much smaller, but perfectly shaped, and sometimes +not greatly inferior to the very best produce of Nejd. A third breed is +obtained by an intermixture of those two, which is called the _bid-pai_, +or "wind footed," and is the most prized of all. + +The dogs are of various breeds, but the most esteemed is a large kind of +gray hound, which some suppose to have been introduced into this part of +Asia by the Macedonians, and which is chiefly employed in the chase of +the antelope. The animal is about the height of a full sized English +grayhound, but rather stouter; he is deep-chested, has long, smooth +hair, and the tail considerably feathered. His pace is inferior to that +of our grayhounds, but in strength and sagacity he far surpasses them. + +We do not find many of the products of Media celebrated by ancient +writers. Of its animals, those which had the highest reputation were its +horses, distinguished into two breeds, an ordinary kind, of which +Media produced annually many thousands, and a kind of rare size and +excellence, known under the name of Nisaean. These last are celebrated +by Herodotus, Strabo, Arrian, Ammianus Marcellinus, Suidas, and others. +They are said to have been of a peculiar shape; and they were equally +famous for size, speed, and stoutness. Strabo remarks that they resemble +the horses known in his own time as Parthian; and this observation seems +distinctly to connect them with the Turkoman breed mentioned above, +which is derived exactly from the old Parthian country. In color they +were often, if not always, white. We have no representation on the +monuments which we can regard as certainly intended for a Nissean horse, +but perhaps the figure from Persepolis may be a Persian sketch of the +animal. [PLATE III., Fig. 4.] + +The mules and small cattle (sheep and goats) were in sufficient repute +to be required, together with horses, in the annual tribute paid to the +Persian king. + +Of vegetable products assigned to Media by ancient writers, the most +remarkable is the "Median apple," or citron. Pliny says it was the sole +tree for which Media was famous, and that it would only grow there +and in Persia. Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Virgil, and other writers, +celebrate its wonderful qualities, distinctly assigning it to the same +region. The citron, however, will not grow in the country which has been +here termed Media. It flourishes only in the warm tract between Shiraz +and the Persian Gulf, and in the low sheltered region, south of the +Caspian, the modern Ghilan and Mazanderan. No doubt it was the inclusion +of this latter region within the limits of Media by many of the +later geographers that gave to this product of the Caspian country an +appellation which is really a misnomer. + +Another product whereto Media gave name, and probably with more reason, +was a kind of clover or lucerne, which was said to have been introduced +into Greece by the Persians in the reign of Darius, and which was +afterwards cultivated largely in Italy. Strabo considers this plant to +have been the chief food of the Median horses, while Dioscorides assigns +it certain medicinal qualities. Clover is still cultivated, in the +Elburz region, but horses are now fed almost entirely on straw and +barley. + +Media was also famous for its silphium, or assafoetida, a plant which +the country still produces, though not in any large quantity. No drug +was in higher repute with the ancients for medicinal purposes; and +though the Median variety was a coarse kind, inferior in repute, not +only to the Cyrenaic, but also to the Parthian and the Syrian, it seems +to have been exported both to Greece and Borne, and to have been largely +used by druggists, however little esteemed by physicians. + +The other vegetable products which Media furnished, or was believed to +furnish, to the ancient world, were bdellium, amomum, cardamomum, gum +tragacanth, wild-vine oil, and sagaponum, or the _Ferula persica_. Of +these, gum tragacanth is still largely produced, and is an important +article of commerce. Wild vines abound in Zagros and Elburz, but no oil +is at present made from them. Bdellium, if it is benzoin, amomum, and +cardamomum were perhaps rather imported through Media than the actual +produce of the country, which is too cold in the winter to grow any good +spices. + +The mineral products of Media noted by the ancient writers are nitre, +salt, and certain gems, as emeralds, lapis lazuli, and the following +obscurer kinds, the zathene, the gassinades, and the narcissitis. The +nitre of Media is noticed by Pliny, who says it was procured in +small quantities, and was called "halmyraga." It was found in certain +dry-looking glens, where the ground was white with it, and was obtained +there purer than in other places. Saltpetre is still derived from the +Elburz range, and also from Azerbijan. + +The salt of Lake Urumiyeh is mentioned by Strabo, who says that it +forms naturally on the surface, which would imply a far more complete +saturation of the water than at present exists, even in the driest +seasons. The gems above mentioned are assigned to Media chiefly by +Pliny. The Median emeralds, according to him, were of the largest size; +they varied considerably, sometimes approaching to the character of the +sapphire, in which case they were apt to be veiny, and to have flaws +in them. They were far less esteemed than the emeralds of many other +countries. The Median lapis lazuli, on the other hand, was the best of +its kind. It was of three colors--light blue, dark blue, and purple. +The golden specks, however, with which it was sprinkled--really spots +of yellow pyrites--rendered it useless to the gem-engravers of Pliny's +time. The zathene, the gassinades, and the narcissitis were gems of +inferior value. As they have not yet been identified with any known +species, it will be unnecessary to prolong the present chapter by a +consideration of them. + + + + +CHAPTER III. CHARACTER, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ARTS, ETC., OF THE PEOPLE. + + +"Pugnatrix natio et formidanda."--Amm. Marc, xxiii. 6. + + +The ethnic character of the Median people is at the present day scarcely +a matter of doubt. The close connection which all history, sacred and +profane, establishes between them and the Persians, the evidence of +their proper names and of their language, so far as it is known to us, +together with the express statements of Herodotus and Strabo, combine to +prove that they belonged to that branch of the human family known to us +as the Arian or Iranic, a leading subdivision of the great Indo-European +race. The tie of a common language, common manners and customs, and to +a great extent a common belief, united in ancient times all the dominant +tribes of the great plateau, extending even beyond the plateau in +one direction to the Jaxartes (Syhun) and in another to the Hyphasis +(Sutlej). Persians, Medes, Sagartians, Chorasmians, Bactrians, Sogdians, +Hyrcanians, Sarangians, Gandarians, and Sanskritic Indians belonged all +to a single stock, differing from one another probably not much more +than now differ the various subdivisions of the Teutonic or the Slavonic +race. Between the tribes at the two extremities of the Arian territory +the divergence was no doubt considerable; but between any two +neighboring tribes the difference was probably in most cases exceedingly +slight. At any rate this was the case towards the west, where the Medes +and Persians, the two principal sections of the Arian body in that +quarter, are scarcely distinguishable from one another in any of the +features which constitute ethnic type. + +The general physical character of the ancient Arian race is best +gathered from the sculptures of the Achsemenian kings, which exhibit to +us a very noble variety of the human species--a form tall, graceful, and +stately; a physiognomy handsome and pleasing, often somewhat resembling +the Greek; the forehead high and straight, the nose nearly in the same +line, long and well formed, sometimes markedly aquiline, the upper lip +short, commonly shaded by a moustache, the chin rounded and generally +covered with a curly beard. The hair evidently grew in great plenty, and +the race was proud of it. On the top of the head it was worn smooth, +but it was drawn back from the forehead and twisted into a row or two of +crisp curls, while at the same time it was arranged into a large mass of +similar small close ringlets at the back of the head and over the ears. +[PLATE IV., Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: PLATE IV.] + +Of the Median women we have no representations upon the sculptures; but +we are informed by Xenophon that they were remarkable for their stature +and their beauty. The same qualities were observable in the women of +Persia, as we learn from Plutarch, Ammianus Marcellinus, and others. +The Arian races seem in old times to have treated women with a certain +chivalry, which allowed the full development of their physical powers, +and rendered them specially attractive alike to their own husbands and +to the men of other nations. + +The modern Persian is a very degenerate representative of the ancient +Arian stock. Slight and supple in person, with quick, glancing eyes, +delicate features, and a vivacious manner, he lacks the dignity and +strength, the calm repose and simple grace of the race from which he +is sprung, Fourteen centuries of subjection to despotic sway have left +their stamp upon his countenance and his frame, which, though still +retaining some traces of the original type, have been sadly weakened and +lowered by so long a term of subservience. Probably the wild Kurd or Lur +of the present day more nearly corresponds in physique to the ancient +Mede than do the softer inhabitants of the great plateau. + +Among the moral characteristics of the Medes the one most obvious +is their bravery. "_Pugnatrix natio et formidanda_," says Ammianus +Marcellinus in the fourth century of our era, summing up in a few words +the general judgment of Antiquity. Originally equal, if not superior, to +their close kindred, the Persians, they were throughout the whole +period of Persian supremacy only second to them in courage and warlike +qualities. Mardonius, when allowed to take his choice out of the entire +host of Xerxes, selected the Median troops in immediate succession to +the Persians. Similarly, when the time for battle came he kept the Medes +near himself, giving them their place in the line close to that of +the Persian contingent. It was no doubt on account of their valor, as +Diodorus suggests, that the Medes were chosen to make the first attack +upon the Greek position at Thermopylae, where, though unsuccessful, they +evidently showed abundant courage. In the earlier times, before riches +and luxury had eaten out the strength of the race, their valor and +military prowess must have been even more conspicuous. It was then +especially that Media deserved to be called, as she is in Scripture, +"the mighty one of the heathen"--"the terrible of the nations." + +Her valor, undoubtedly, was of the merciless kind. There was no +tenderness, no hesitancy about it. Not only did her armies "dash +to pieces" the fighting men of the nations opposed to her, allowing +apparently no quarter, but the women and the children suffered +indignities and cruelties at the hands of her savage warriors, which the +pen unwillingly records. The Median conquests were accompanied by the +worst atrocities which lust and hate combined are wont to commit when +they obtain their full swing. Neither the virtue of women nor the +innocence of children were a protection to them. The infant was slain +before the very eye of the parent. The sanctity of the hearth was +invaded, and the matron ravished beneath her own roof-tree. Spoil, it +would seem, was disregarded in comparison with insult and vengeance; +and the brutal soldiery cared little either for silver or gold, provided +they could indulge freely in that thirst for blood which man shares with +the hyena and the tiger. + +The habits of the Medes in the early part of their career were +undoubtedly simple and manly. It has been observed with justice that the +same general features have at all times distinguished the rise and fall +of Oriental kingdoms and dynasties. A brave and adventurous prince, at +the head of a population at once poor, warlike, and greedy, overruns +a vast tract, and acquires extensive dominion, while his successors, +abandoning themselves to sensuality and sloth, probably also to +oppressive and irascible dispositions, become in process of time victims +to those same qualities in another prince and people which had enabled +their own predecessor to establish their power. It was as being braver, +simpler, and so stronger than the Assyrians that the Medes were able to +dispossess them of their sovereignty over western Asia. But in this, +as in most other cases of conquest throughout the East, success was +followed almost immediately by degeneracy. As captive Greece captured +her fierce conqueror, so the subdued Assyrians began at once to corrupt +their subduers. Without condescending to a close imitation of Assyrian +manners and customs, the Medes proceeded directly after their conquest +to relax the severity of their old habits and to indulge in the delights +of soft and luxurious living. The historical romance of Xenophon +presents us probably with a true picture when it describes the strong +contrast which existed towards the close of the Median period between +the luxury and magnificence which prevailed at Ecbatana, and the +primitive simplicity of Persia Proper, where the old Arian habits, which +had once been common to the two races, were still maintained in all +their original severity. Xenophon's authority in this work is, it must +be admitted, weak, and little trust can be placed in the historical +accuracy of his details; but his general statement is both in itself +probable, and is also borne out to a considerable extent by other +authors. Herodotus and Strabo note the luxury of the Median dress, +while the latter author goes so far as to derive the whole of the later +Persian splendor from an imitation of Median practices. We must hold +then that towards the latter part of their empire the Medes became a +comparatively luxurious people, not indeed laying aside altogether their +manly habits, nor ceasing to be both brave men and good soldiers, +but adopting an amount of pomp and magnificence to which they were +previously strangers, affecting splendor in their dress and apparel, +grandeur and rich ornament in their buildings, variety in their +banquets, and attaining on the whole a degree of civilization not very +greatly inferior to that of the Assyrians. In taste and real refinement +they seem indeed to have fallen considerably below their teachers. A +barbaric magnificence predominated in their ornamentation over artistic +effort, richness in the material being preferred to skill in the +manipulation. Literature, and even letters, were very sparingly +cultivated. But little originality was developed. A stately dress, and +a new style of architecture, are almost the only inventions to which the +Medes can lay claim. They were brave, energetic, enterprising, fond +of display, capable of appreciating to some extent the advantages of +civilized life; but they had little genius, and the world is scarcely +indebted to them for a single important addition to the general stock of +its ideas. + +Of the Median customs in war we know but little. Herodotus tells us +that in the army of Xerxes the Medes were armed exactly as the Persians, +carrying on their heads a soft felt cap, on their bodies a sleeved +tunic, and on their legs trousers. Their offensive arms, he says, were +the spear, the bow, and the dagger. They had large wicker shields, and +bore their quivers suspended at their backs. Sometimes their tunic +was made into a coat of mail by the addition to it on the outside of a +number of small iron plates arranged so as to overlap each other, like +the scales of a fish. They served both on horseback and on foot, with +the same equipment in both cases. + +There is no reason to doubt the correctness of this description of the +Median military dress under the early Persian kings. The only question +is how far the equipment was really the ancient warlike custom of the +people. It seems in some respects too elaborate to be the armature of a +simple and primitive race. We may reasonably suppose that at least the +scale armor and the unwieldy wicker shields (yeppa), which required to +be rested on the ground, were adopted at a somewhat late date from the +Assyrians. At any rate the original character of the Median armies, +as set before us in Scripture, and as indicated both by Strabo and +Xenophon, is simpler than the Herodotean description. The primitive +Modes seem to have been a nation of horse-archers. Trained from their +early boyhood to a variety of equestrian exercises, and well practised +in the use of the bow, they appear to have proceeded against their +enemies with clouds of horse, almost in Scythian fashion, and to have +gained their victories chiefly by the skill with which they shot their +arrows as they advanced, retreated, or manoeuvred about their foe. No +doubt they also used the sword and the spear. The employment of these +weapons has been almost universal throughout the East from a very remote +antiquity, and there is some mention of them in connection with the +Medes and their kindred, the Persians, in Scripture; but it is evident +that the terror which the Medes inspired arose mainly from their +dexterity as archers. + +No representation of weapons which can be distinctly recognized as +Median has come down to us. The general character of the military dress +and of the arms appears, probably in the Persepolitan sculptures; but +as these reliefs are in most cases representations, not of Medes, but of +Persians, and as they must be hereafter adduced in illustration of the +military customs of the latter people, only a very sparing use of them +can be made in the present chapter. It would seem that the bow employed +was short, and very much curved, and that, like the Assyrian it was +usually carried in a bow-case, which might either be slung at the back, +or hung from the girdle. [PLATE V., Fig. 1.] The arrows, which were +borne in a quiver slung behind the right shoulder, must have been short, +certainly not exceeding the length of three feet. The quiver appears to +have been round; it was covered at the top, and was fastened by means of +a flap and strap, which last passed over, a button. [PLATE V. Fig. 1.] +The Median spear or lance was from six to seven feet in length. Its head +was lozenge-shaped and flattish, but strengthened by a bar or line down +the middle. It is uncertain whether the head was inserted into the top +of the shaft, or whether it did not rather terminate in a ring or socket +into which the upper end of the shaft was itself inserted. The shaft +tapered gradually from bottom to top, and terminated below in a knob or +ball, which was perhaps sometimes carved into the shape of some natural +object. [PLATE IV., Fig. 2.] + +[Illustration: PLATE V. + +The sword was short, being in fact little more than a dagger. It +depended at the right thigh from a belt which encircled the waist, and +was further secured by a strap attached to the bottom of the sheath, and +passing round the soldier's right leg a little above the knee. + +Median shields were probably either round or oval. The oval specimens +bore a resemblance to the shield of the Boeotians, having a small oval +aperture at either side, apparently for the sake of greater lightness. +They were strengthened at the centre by a circular boss or disk, +ornamented with knobs or circles. They would seem to have been made +either of metal or wood. [PLATE IV., Fig. 3.] + +The favorite dress of the Medes in peace is well known to us from the +sculptures; there can be no reasonable doubt that the long flowing robe +so remarkable for its graceful folds, which is the garb of the kings, +the chief nobles, and the officers of the court in all the Persian +bas-reliefs, and which is seen also upon the darics and the gems, is the +famous "Median garment" of Herodotus, Xenophon, and Strabo. [PLATE V., +Fig. 2.] This garment fits the chest and shoulders closely, but falls +over the arms in two large loose sleeves, open at the bottom. At the +waist it is confined by a cincture. Below it is remarkably full and +ample, drooping in two clusters of perpendicular folds at the two sides, +and between these hanging in festoons like a curtain. It extends down +to the ankles, where it is met by a high shoe or low boot, opening in +front, and secured by buttons. [PLATE IV., Fig. 4.] + +These Median robes were of many colors. Sometimes they were purple, +sometimes scarlet, occasionally a dark gray, or a deep crimson. +Procopius says that they were made of silk, and this statement is +confirmed to some extent by Justin, who speaks of their transparency. +It may be doubted, however, whether the material was always the same; +probably it varied with the season, and also with the wealth of the +wearer. + +Besides this upper robe, which is the only garment shown in the +sculptures, the Medes wore as under garments a sleeved shirt or tunic +of a purple color, and embroidered drawers or trousers. They covered the +head, not only out of doors, but in their houses, wearing either felt +caps like the Persians, or a head-dress of a more elaborate character, +which bore the name of _tiara_ or _cidaris_. This appears to have been, +not a turban, but rather a kind of high-crowned hat, either stiff or +flexible, made probably of felt or cloth, and dyed of different hues, +according to the fancy of the owner. [PLATE VI., Fig. 1.] + +The Medes took a particular delight in the ornamentation of their +persons. According to Xenophon, they were acquainted with most of the +expedients by the help of which vanity attempts to conceal the ravages +of time and to create an artificial beauty. They employed cosmetics, +which they rubbed into the skin, for the sake of improving the +complexion. They made use of an abundance of false hair. Like many other +Oriental nations, both ancient and modern, they applied dyes to enhance +the brilliancy of the eyes, and give them a greater apparent size and +softness. They were also fond of wearing golden ornaments. Chains or +collars of gold usually adorned their nocks, bracelets of the same +precious metal encircled their wrists, and earrings were inserted into +their ears. [PLATE VI., Fig. 2.] Gold was also used in the caparisons of +their horses, the bit and other parts of the harness being often of this +valuable material. + +We are told that the Medes were very luxurious at their banquets. +Besides plain meat and game of different kinds, with the ordinary +accompaniments of wine and bread, they were accustomed to place before +their guests a vast number of side-dishes, together with a great variety +of sauces. They ate with the hand, as is still the fashion in the East, +and were sufficiently refined to make use of napkins. Each guest had his +own dishes, and it was a mark of special honor to augment their number. +Wine was drunk both at the meal and afterwards, often in an undue +quantity; and the close of the feast was apt to be a scene of general +turmoil and confusion. At the Court it was customary for the king to +receive his wine at the hands of a cupbearer, who first tasted the +draught, that the king might be sure that it was not poisoned, and then +presented it to his master with much pomp and ceremony. + +The whole ceremonial of the court seems to have been imposing. Under +ordinary circumstances the monarch kept himself secluded, and no one +could obtain admission to him unless he formally requested an audience, +and was introduced into the royal presence by the proper officer. On his +admission he prostrated himself upon the ground with the same signs of +adoration which were made on entering a temple. The king, surrounded by +his attendants, eunuchs, and others, maintained a haughty reserve, and +the stranger only beheld him from a distance. Business was transacted +in a great measure by writing. The monarch rarely quitted his palace, +contenting himself with such reports of the state of his empire as were +transmitted to him from time to time by his officers. + +The chief amusement of the court, in which however the king rarely +partook, was hunting. Media always abounded in beasts of chase; and +lions, bears, leopards, wild boars, stags, gazelles, wild sheep, and +wild asses are mentioned among the animals hunted by the Median nobles. +Of these the first four were reckoned dangerous, the others harmless. It +was customary to pursue these animals on horseback, and to aim at them +with the bow or the javelin. We may gather a lively idea of some of +these hunts from the sculptures of the Parthians, who some centuries +later inhabited the same region. We see in these the rush of great +troops of boars through marshes dense with water-plants, the bands of +beaters urging them on, the sportsmen aiming at them with their bows, +and the game falling transfixed with two or three well-aimed shafts. +Again we see herds of deer driven within enclosures, and there slain by +archers who shoot from horseback, the monarch under his parasol looking +on the while, pleased with the dexterity of his servants. It is thus +exactly that Xenophon portrays Astyages as contemplating the sport +of his courtiers, complacently viewing their enjoyment, but taking no +active part in the work himself. + +Like other Oriental sovereigns, the Median monarch maintained a seraglio +of wives and concubines; and polygamy was commonly practised among the +more wealthy classes. Strabo speaks of a strange law as obtaining with +some of the Median tribes--a law which required that no man should be +content with fewer wives than five. It is very unlikely that such a +burden was really made obligatory on any: most probably five legitimate +wives, and no more, were allowed by the law referred to, just as four +wives, and no more, are lawful for Mohammedans. Polygamy, as usual, +brought in its train the cruel practice of castration; and the court +swarmed with eunuchs, chiefly foreigners purchased in their infancy. +Towards the close of the Empire this despicable class appears to have +been all-powerful with the monarch. + +Thus the tide of corruption gradually advanced; and there is reason to +believe that both court and people had in a great measure laid aside +the hardy and simple customs of their forefathers, and become enervated +through luxury, when the revolt of the Persians came to test the quality +of their courage, and their ability to maintain their empire. It would +be improper in this place to anticipate the account of this struggle, +which must be reserved for the historical chapter; but the well-known +result--the speedy and complete success of the Persians--must be adduced +among the proofs of a rapid deterioration in the Median character +between the accession of Cyaxares and the capture--less than a century +later--of Astyages. + +We have but little information with respect to the state of the arts +among the Medes. A barbaric magnificence characterized, as has been +already observed, their architecture, which differed from the Assyrian +in being dependent for its effect on groups of pillars rather than on +painting or sculpture. Still sculpture was, it is probable, practised to +some extent by the Medes, who, it is almost certain, conveyed on to the +Persians those modifications of Assyrian types which meet us everywhere +in the remains of the Achsemenian monarch? The carving of winged genii, +of massive forms of bulls and lions, of various grotesque monsters, +and of certain clumsy representations of actual life, imitated from +the bas-reliefs of the Assyrians, may be safely ascribed to the Medes; +since, had they not carried on the traditions of their predecessors, +Persian art could not have borne the resemblance that it does to +Assyrian. But these first mimetic efforts of the Arian race have almost +wholly perished, and there scarcely seems to remain more than a single +fragment which can be assigned on even plausible grounds to the Median +period. A portion of a colossal lion, greatly injured by time, is still +to be seen at Hamadan, the site of the great Median capital, which the +best judges regard as anterior to the Persian period, and as therefore +most probably Median. It consists of the head and body of the animal, +from which the four legs and the tail have been broken off, and measures +between eleven and twelve feet from the crown of the head to the point +from which the tail sprang. By the position of the head and what +remains of the shoulders and thighs, it is evident that the animal was +represented in a sitting posture, with the fore legs straight and the +hind legs gathered up under it. To judge of the feeling and general +character of the sculpture is difficult, owing to the worn and mutilated +condition of the work; but we seem to trace in it the same air of calm +and serene majesty that characterizes the colossal bulls and lions of +Assyria, together with somewhat more of expression and of softness than +are seen in the productions of that people. Its posture, which is unlike +that of any Assyrian specimen, indicates a certain amount of originality +as belonging to the Median artists, while its colossal size seems to +show that the effect on the spectator was still to be produced, not so +much by expression, finish, or truth to nature, as by mere grandeur of +dimension. [PLATE VI., Fig. 3.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. RELIGION. + + +The earliest form of the Median religion is to be found in those +sections of the Zendavesta which have been pronounced on internal +evidence to be the most ancient portions of that venerable compilation; +as, for instance, the first Fargard of the Vendidad, and the Gathas, or +"Songs," which occur here and there in the Yacna, or Book on Sacrifice. +In the Gathas, which belong to a very remote era indeed, we seem to have +the first beginnings of the Religion. We may indeed go back by their aid +to a time anterior to themselves--a time when the Arian race was not yet +separated into two branches, and the Easterns and Westerns, the +Indians and Iranians, had not yet adopted the conflicting creeds of +Zoroastrianism and Brahminism. At that remote period we seem to see +prevailing a polytheistic nature-worship--a recognition of various +divine beings, called indifferently Asuras (Ahuras) or Devas, each +independent of the rest, and all seemingly nature-powers rather +than persons, whereof the chief are Indra, Storm or Thunder; Mithra, +Sunlight; Aramati (Armaiti), Earth; Vayu, Wind; Agni, Fire; and Soma +(Homa), Intoxication. Worship is conducted by priests, who are called +_kavi_, "seers;" _karapani_, "sacriflcers," or _ricikhs_, "wise men." It +consists of hymns in honor of the gods; sacrifices, bloody and unbloody, +some' portion of which is burnt upon an altar; and a peculiar ceremony, +called that of Soma, in which an intoxicating liquor is offered to the +gods, and then consumed by the priests, who drink till they are drunken. + +Such, in outline, is the earliest phase of Arian religion, and it is +common to both branches of the stock, and anterior to the rise of the +Iranic, Median, or Persian system. That system is a revolt from this +sensuous and superficial nature-worship. It begins with a distinct +recognition of spiritual intelligences--real persons--with whom +alone, and not with powers, religion is concerned. It divides these +intelligences into good and bad, pure and impure, benignant and +malevolent. To the former it applies the term _Asuras_ (_Ahuras_), +"living" or "spiritual beings," in a good sense; to the latter, the term +_Devas_, in a bad one. It regards the "powers" hitherto worshipped as +chiefly _Devas_; but it excepts from this unfavorable view a certain +number, and, recognizing them as _Asuras_, places them above the +_Izeds_, or "angels." Thus far it has made two advances, each of great +importance, the substitution of real "persons" for "powers," as objects +of the religious faculty, and the separation of the persons into good +and bad, pure and impure, righteous and wicked. But it does not stop +here. It proceeds to assert, in a certain sense, monotheism against +polytheism. It boldly declares that, at the head of the good +intelligences, is a single great Intelligence, Ahuro-Mazdao, the highest +object of adoration, the true Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the +universe. This is its great glory. It sets before the soul a single +Being as the source of all good and the proper object of the highest +worship. Ahuro-Mazdao is "the creator of life, the earthly and the +spiritual;" "he has made the celestial bodies, earth, water, and trees, +all good creatures," and "all good, true, holy, pure, things." He is +"the Holy God, the Holiest, the essence of truth, the father of all +truth, the best being of all, the master of purity." He is supremely +"happy," possessing every blessing, "health, wealth, virtue, wisdom, +immortality." From him comes all good to man; on the pious and the +righteous he bestows not only earthly advantages, but precious spiritual +gifts, truth, devotion, "the good mind," and everlasting happiness; and +as he rewards the good, so he punishes the bad, though this is an aspect +in which he is but seldom represented. + +It has been said that this conception of Ahura-mazda as the Supreme +Being is "_perfectly identical_ with the notion of Elohim, or Jehovah, +which we find in the books of the Old Testament." This is, no doubt, +an over-statement. Ahura-mazda is less spiritual and less awful than +Jehovah. He is less remote from the nature of man. The very ascription +to him of health (_haurvat_) is an indication that he is conceived of +as possessing a sort of physical nature. Lucidity and brilliancy are +assigned to him, not (as it would seem) in a mere metaphorical sense. +Again, he is so predominantly the author of good things, the source of +blessing and prosperity, that he could scarcely inspire his votaries +with any feeling of fear. Still, considering the general failure of +unassisted reason to mount up to the true notion of a spiritual +God, this doctrine of the early Arians is very remarkable; and its +approximation to the truth sufficiently explains at once the favorable +light in which its professors are viewed by the Jewish prophets, and the +favorable opinion which they form of the Jewish system. Evidently, +the Jews and Arians, when they became known to one another, recognized +mutually the fact that they were worshippers of the same great Being. +Hence the favor of the Persians towards the Jews, and the fidelity of +the Jews towards the Persians. The Lord God of the Jews being recognized +as identical with Ormazd, a sympathetic feeling united the peoples. The +Jews, so impatient generally of a foreign yoke, never revolted from +the Persians; and the Persians, so intolerant, for the most part, of +religions other than their own, respected and protected Judaism. + +The sympathy was increased by the fact that the religion of Ormazd was +anti-idolatrous. In the early nature-worship idolatry had been allowed; +but the Iranic system pronounced against it from the first. No images +of Ahura-mazda, or of the Izeds, profaned the severe simplicity of +an Iranic temple. It was only after a long lapse of ages that, +in connection with a foreign worship, idolatry crept in. The old +Zoroastrianism was in this respect as pure as the religion of the Jews, +and thus a double bond of religious sympathy united the Hebrews and the +Arians. + +Under the supreme God, Ahura-mazda or Ormazd, the ancient Iranic system +placed (as has been already observed) a number of angels. Some of these, +as _Vohu-mano_, "the Good Mind;" _Mazda_, "the Wise" (?); and _Asha_, +"the True," are scarcely distinguishable from attributes of the +Divinity. Armaiti, however, the genius of the Earth, and Sraosha or +Serosh, an angel, are very clearly and distinctly personified. Sraosha +is Ormazd's messenger. He delivers revelations, shows men the paths of +happiness, and brings them the blessings which Ormazd has assigned to +their share. Another of his functions is to protect the true faith. +He is called, in a very special sense, "the friend of Ormazd," and is +employed by Ormazd not only to distribute his gifts, but also to conduct +to him the souls of the faithful, when this life is over, and they enter +on the celestial scene. + +Armaiti is at once the genius of the Earth, and the goddess of Piety. +The early Ormazd worshippers were agriculturists, and viewed the +cultivation of the soil as a religious duty enjoined upon them by God. +Hence they connected the notion of piety with earth culture; and it was +but a step from this to make a single goddess preside over the two. It +is as the angel of Earth that Armaiti has most distinctly a personal +character. She is regarded as wandering from spot to spot, and laboring +to convert deserts and wildernesses into fruitful fields and gardens. +She has the agriculturist under her immediate protection, while she +endeavors to persuade the shepherd, who persists in the nomadic life, to +give up his old habits and commence the cultivation of the soil. She is +of course the giver of fertility, and rewards her votaries by bestowing +upon them abundant harvests. She alone causes all growth. In a certain +cense she pervades the whole material creation, mankind included, in +whom she is even sometimes said to "reside." + +Armaiti, further "tells men the everlasting laws, which no one may +abolish"--laws which she has learnt from converse with Ahura-mazda +himself. She is thus naturally the second object of worship to the old +Zoroastrian; and converts to the religion were required to profess their +faith in her in direct succession to Ahura-mazda. + +From Armaiti must be carefully distinguished the _geus urva_, or "soul +of the earth"--a being who nearly resembles the "anima mundi" of the +Greek and Roman philosophers. This spirit dwells in the earth itself, +animating it as a man's soul animates his body. In old times, when man +first began to plough the soil, _geus urva_ cried aloud, thinking that +his life was threatened, and implored the assistance of the archangels. +They however were deaf to his entreaties (since Ormazd had decreed that +there should be cultivation), and left him to bear his pains as he best +could. It is to be hoped that in course of time he became callous to +them, and made the discovery that mere scratches, though they may be +painful, are not dangerous. + +It is uncertain whether in the most ancient form of the Iranic worship +the cult of Mithra was included or no. On the one hand, the fact that +Mithra is common to both forms of the Arian creed--the Indian and +Iranic--would induce the belief that his worship was adopted from the +first by the Zoroastrians; on the other, the entire absence of all +mention of Mithra from the Gathas would lead us to the conclusion that +in the time when they were composed his cult had not yet begun. Perhaps +we may distinguish between two forms of early Iranic worship--one that +of the more intelligent and spiritual--the leaders of the secession--in +whose creed Mithra had no place; the other that of the great mass of +followers, a coarser and more material system, in which many points +of the old religion were retained, and among them the worship of the +Sun-god. This lower and more materialistic school of thought probably +conveyed on into the Iranic system other points also common to the +Zendavosta with the Vedas, as the recognition of Airyaman (Aryaman) as +a genius presiding over marriages, of Vitraha as a very high angel, and +the like. + +Vayu, "the Wind," seems to have been regarded as a god from the first. +He appears, not only in the later portions of the Zenda vesta, like +Mithra and Aryaman, but in the Gathas themselves. His name is clearly +identical with that of the Vedic Wind-god, Vayu, and is apparently a +sister form to the ventus, or wind, of the more western Arians. The root +is probably vi, "to go," which may be traced in vis, via, vado, venio, +etc. + +The ancient Iranians did not adopt into their system either Agni, "Fire" +(Lat. _ignis_), or Soma (Homa), "Intoxication." Fire was indeed retained +for sacrifice; but it was regarded as a mere material agent, and not as +a mysterious Power, the proper object of prayer and worship. The Soma +worship, which formed a main element of the old religion, and which was +retained in Brahminism, was at the first altogether discarded by the +Zoroastrians; indeed, it seems to have been one of the main causes of +that disgust which split the Arian body in two, and gave rise to the new +religion. A ceremony in which it was implied that the intoxication of +their worshippers was pleasing to the gods, and not obscurely hinted +that they themselves indulged in similar excesses, was revolting to the +religious temper of those who made the Zoaroastrian reformation; and it +is plain from the Gathas that the new system was intended at first to +be entirely free from the pollution of so disgusting a practice. But +the zeal of religious reformers outgoes in most cases the strength and +patience of their people, whose spirit is too gross and earthly to keep +pace with the more lofty flights of the purer and higher intelligence. +The Iranian section of the Arians could not be weaned wholly from their +beloved Soma feasts; and the leaders of the movement were obliged to +be content ultimately with so far reforming and refining the ancient +ceremony as to render it comparatively innocuous. The portion of the +rite which implied that the gods themselves indulged in intoxication +was omitted; and for the intoxication of the priests was substituted +a moderate use of the liquor, which, instead of giving a religious +sanction to drunkenness, merely implied that the Soma juice was a good +gift of God, one of the many blessings for which men had to be thankful. + +With respect to the evil spirits or intelligences, which, in the +Zoroastrian system, stood over against the good ones, the teaching of +the early reformers seems to have been less clear. The old divinities, +except where adopted into the new creed, were in a general way called +Devas, "fiends" or "devils," in contrast with the Ahuras, or "gods." +These devas were represented as many in number, as artful, malicious, +deceivers and injurers of mankind, more especially of the Zoroastrians +or Ormazd-worshippers, as inventors of spells and lovers of the +intoxicating Soma draught. Their leading characteristics were +"destroying" and "lying." They were seldom or never called by distinct +names. No account was given of their creation, nor of the origin of +their wickedness. No single superior intelligence, no great Principle of +Evil, was placed at their head. Ahriman (Angro-mainyus) does not +occur in the Gathas as a proper name. Far less is there any graduated +hierarchy of evil, surrounding a Prince of Darkness, with a sort of +court, antagonistic to the angelic host of Ormazd, as in the latter +portions of the Zendavesta and in the modern Parsee system. + +Thus Dualism proper, or a belief in two uncreated and independent +principles, one a principle of good and the other a principal of evil, +was no part of the original Zoroastrianism. At the same time we find, +even in the Gathas, the earliest portions of the Zondavesta, the germ +out of which Dualism sprung. The contrast between good and evil is +strongly and sharply marked in the Gathas; the writers continually harp +upon it, their minds are evidently struck with this sad antithesis which +colors the whole moral world to them; they see everywhere a struggle +between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, purity and impurity; +apparently they are blind to the evidence of harmony and agreement +in the universe, discerning nothing anywhere but strife, conflict, +antagonism. Nor is this all. They go a step further, and personify the +two parties to the struggle. One is a "white" or holy "Spirit" (_cpento +mainyus_), and the other a "dark spirit" (_angro mainyus_). But this +personification is merely poetical or metaphorical, not real. The "white +spirit" is not Ahura-mazda, and the "dark spirit" is not a hostile +intelligence. Both resolve themselves on examination into mere figures +of speech--phantoms of poetic imagery--abstract notions, clothed by +language with an apparent, not a real, personality. + +It was natural that, as time went on, Dualism should develop itself +out of the primitive Zoroastrianism. Language exercises a tyranny +over thought, and abstractions in the ancient world were ever becoming +persons. The Iranian mind, moreover, had been strack, when it first +turned to contemplate the world, with a certain antagonism; and, having +once entered this track, it would be compelled to go on, and seek to +discover the origin of the antagonism, the cause (or causes) to which +it was to be ascribed. Evil seemed most easily accounted for by the +supposition of an evil Person; and the continuance of an equal struggle, +without advantage to either side, which was what the Iranians thought +they beheld in the world that lay around them, appeared to them to +imply the equality of that evil Person with the Being whom they rightly +regarded as the author of all good. Thus Dualism had its birth. The +Iranians came to believe in the existence of two co-eternal and co-equal +Persons, one good and the other evil, between whom there had been from +all eternity a perpetual and never-ceasing conflict, and between whom +the same conflict would continue to rage through all coming time. + +It is impossible to say how this development took place. We have +evidence, however, that at a period considerably anterior to the +commencement of the Median Empire, Dualism, not perhaps in its ultimate +extravagant form, but certainly in a very decided and positive shape, +had already been thought out and become the recognized creed of the +Iranians. In the first Fargard, or chapter, of the Vendidad--the +historical chapter, in which are traced the only movements of the Iranic +peoples, and which from the geographical point whereat it stops must +belong to a time when the Arians had not yet reached Media Magna---the +Dualistic belief clearly shows itself. The term Angro-mainyus has +now become a proper name, and designates the great spirit of evil as +definitely and determinately as Ahura-mazda designates the good spirit. +The antagonism between Ahura-mazda and Angro-mainyus is depicted in the +strongest colors; it is direct, constant and successful. Whatever good +work Ahura-mazda in his benevolence creates, Angro-mainyus steps forward +to mar and blast it. If Ahura-mazda forms a "delicious spot" in a world +previously desert and uninhabitable to become the first home of his +favorites, the Arians, Angro-mainyus ruins it by sending into it a +poisonous serpent, and at the same time rendering the climate one of +the bitterest severity. If Ahura-mazda provides, instead of this blasted +region, another charming habitation, "the second best of regions and +countries," Angro-mainyus sends there the curse of murrain, fatal to +all cattle. To every land which Ahura-mazda creates for his worshippers, +Angro-mainyus immediately assigns some plague or other. War, ravages, +sickness, fever, poverty, hail, earthquakes, buzzing insects, poisonous +plants, unbelief, witchcraft, and other inexpiable sins, are introduced +by him into the various happy regions created without any such drawbacks +by the good spirit; and a world, which should have been "very good," is +by these means converted into a scene of trial and suffering. + +The Dualistic principle being thus fully adopted, and the world looked +on as the battle-ground between two independent and equal powers engaged +in perpetual strife, it was natural that the imagination should complete +the picture by ascribing to those superhuman rivals the circumstantials +that accompany a great struggle between human adversaries. The two +kings required, in the first place, to have their councils, which +were accordingly assigned them, and were respectively composed of six +councillors. The councillors of Ahura-mazda--called Amesha Spentas, +or "Immortal Saints," afterwards corrupted into Amshashpands--wore +Vohu-mano (Bahman), Asha-va-hista (Ardibehesht), Khshathra-vairya +(Shahravar), Qpenta-Armaiti (Isfand-armat), Haurvatat (Khordad), and +Ameretat (Amerdat). Those of Angro-mainyus were Ako-mano, Indra, Qaurva, +Naonhaitya, and two others whose names are interpreted as "Darkness" and +"Poison." + +Vohu-mano (Bahman) means "the Good Mind." Originally a mere attribute of +Ahura-mazda, Vohu-mano came to be considered, first as one of the +high angels attendant on him, and then formally as one of-his six +councillors. He had a distinct sphere or province assigned to him in +Ahura-mazda's kingdom, which was the maintenance of life in animals and +of goodness in man. + +Asha-vahista (Ardibehesht) means "the Highest Truth"--"Voritas optima," +or rather perhaps "Veritas lucidissima." He was the "Light" of the +universe, subtle, all-pervading, omnipresent. His special business +was to maintain the splendor of the various luminaries, and thereby to +preserve all those things whose existence and growth depend on light. + +Khshathra-vairya (Shahravar), whose name means simply "possessions," +"wealth," was regarded as presiding over metals and as the dispenser of +riches. + +Qoonta-Armaiti (Isfand-armat)--the "white or holy Ar-maiti," represented +the Earth. She had from the first, as we have already seen, a distinct +position in the system of the Zoroastrians, where she was at once the +Earth goddess and the genius of piety. + +Haurvatat (Khordad) means "health"--"sanitas"--and was originally one +of the great and precious gifts which Ahura-mazda possessed himself and +kindly bestowed on his creatures. When personification, and the needs +of the theology, had made Haurvatat an archangel, he, together with +Ameretat (Amerdat), "Immortality," took the presidency of the vegetable +world, which it was the business of the pair to keep in good condition. + +In the council of Angro-mainyus, Ako-mano stands in direct antithesis to +Vohu-mano, as "the bad mind," or more literally, "the naught mind"--for +the Zoroastrians, like Plato, regarded good and evil as identical with +reality and unreality. Ako-mano's special sphere is the mind of man, +where he suggests evil thoughts and prompts to bad words and wicked +deeds. He holds the first place in the infernal council, as Vohu-mano +does in the heavenly one. + +Indra, who holds the second place in the infernal council, is evidently +the Vedic god whom the Zoroastrians regarded as a powerful demon, and +therefore made one of Angro-mainyus's chief councillors. He probably +retained his character as the god of the storm and of war, the destroyer +of crops and cities, the inspirer of armies and the wielder of +the thunder-bolt. The Zoroastrians, however, ascribed to him only +destructive actions; while the more logical Hindoos, observing that the +same storm which hurt the crops and struck down trees and buildings was +also the means of fertilizing the lands and purifying the air, viewed +him under a double aspect, as at once terrible in his wrath and the +bestower of numerous blessings. + +Qaurva, who stands next to Indra, is thought to be the Hindoo Shiva, who +has the epithet qarva in one of the Vedas. But the late appearance of +Shiva in the Hindoo system makes this highly uncertain. + +Naonhaitya, the fourth member of the infernal council, corresponds +apparently to the Vedic Nasatyas, a collective name given to the two +Aswins, the Dioscuri of Indian mythology. These were favorite gods of +the early Hindoos, to whose protection they very mainly ascribed their +prosperity. It was natural that the Iranians, in their aversion to +their Indian brethren, should give the Aswins a seat at Angro-mainyus's +council-table; but it is curious that they should represent the twin +deities by only a single councillor. + +Taric and Zaric, "Darkness" and "Poison," the occupants of the fifth and +sixth places, are evidently personifications made for the occasion, to +complete the infernal council to its full complement of six members. + +As the two Principles of Good and Evil have their respective councils, +so have they likewise their armies. The Good Spirit has created +thousands of angelic beings, who everywhere perform his will and fight +on his side against the Evil One; and the Evil One has equally on +his part called into being thousands of malignant spirits who are his +emissaries in the world, doing his work continually, and fighting +his battles. These are the Devas or Dives, so famous in Persian fairy +mythology. They are "wicked, bad, false, untrue, the originators of +mischief, most baneful, destructive, the basest of all beings." The +whole universe is full of them. They aim primarily at destroying all +the good creations of Ahura-mazda; but if unable to destroy they content +themselves with perverting and corrupting. They dog the steps of men, +tempting them to sin; and, as soon as sin, obtaining a fearful power +over them. + +At the head of Ahura-mazda's army is the angel Sraosha (Serosh). Serosh +is "the sincere, the beautiful, the victorious, the true, the master +of truth." He protects the territories of the Iranians, wounds, and +sometimes even slays the demons, and is engaged in a perpetual struggle +against them, never slumbering night or day, but guarding the world with +his drawn sword, more particularly after sunset, when the demons have +the greatest power. + +Angro-mainyus appears not to possess any such general-in-chief. Besides +the six councillors above mentioned, there are indeed various demons +of importance, as Drukhs, "destruction;" Aeshemo, "rapine;" Daivis, +"deceit;" Driwis, "poverty," etc.; but no one of these seems to occupy +a parallel place in the evil world to that which is assigned to +Serosh in the good. Perhaps we have here a recognition of the anarchic +character of evil, whose attacks are like those of a huge undisciplined +host--casual, fitful, irregular--destitute wholly of that principle of +law and order which gives to the resisting power of good a great portion +of its efficacy. + +To the belief in a spiritual world composed of all these various +intelligences--one half of whom were good, and the other half evil--the +early Zoroastrians added notions with respect to human duties and human +prospects far more enlightened than those which have usually prevailed +among heathen nations. In their system truth, purity, piety, and +industry were the virtues chiefly valued and inculcated. Evil was traced +up to its root in the heart of man; and it was distinctly taught that +no virtue deserved the name but such as was co-extensive with the whole +sphere of human activity, including the thought, as well as the word and +deed. The purity required was inward as well as outward, mental as +well as bodily. The industry was to be of a peculiar character. Man was +placed upon the earth to preserve the good creation; and this could only +be done by careful tilling of the soil, eradication of thorns and weeds, +and reclamation of the tracts over which Angro-mainyus had spread the +curse of barrenness. To cultivate the soil was thus a religious duty; +the whole community was required to be agricultural; and either as +proprietor, as farmer, or as laboring man, each Zoroastrian must +"further the works of life" by advancing tillage. Piety consisted in the +acknowledgment of the One True God, Ahura-mazda, and of his holy angels, +the Amesha Spentas or Amshashpands, in the frequent offering of prayers, +praises, and thanksgivings, in the recitation of hymns, the performance +of the reformed Soma ceremony, and the occasional sacrifice of animals. +Of the hymns we have abundant examples in the Gathas of the Zendavesta, +and in the Yagna haptanhaiti, or "Yaana of seven chapters," which +belongs to the second period of the religion. A specimen from the latter +source is subjoined below. The Soma or Homa ceremony consisted in the +extraction of the juice of the Homa plant by the priests during the +recitation of prayers, the formal presentation of the liquid extracted +to the sacrificial fire, the consumption of a small portion of it by one +of the officiating priests, and the division of the remainder among the +worshippers. As the juice was drunk immediately after extraction and +before fermentation had set in, it was not intoxicating. The ceremony +seems to have been regarded, in part, as having a mystic force, securing +the favor of heaven; in part, as exerting a beneficial influence upon +the body of the worshipper through the curative power inherent in the +Homa plant. + +The sacrifices of the Zoroastrians were never human. The ordinary victim +was the horse; and we hear of occasions on which a single individual +sacrificed as many as ten of these animals. Mares seem to have been +regarded as the most pleasing offerings, probably on account of their +superior value; and if it was desired to draw down the special favor of +the Deity, those mares were selected which were already heavy in foal. +Oxen, sheep, and goats were probably also used as victims. A priest +always performed the sacrifice, slaying the animal, and showing the +flesh to the sacred fire by way of consecration, after which it was +eaten at a solemn feast by the priest and worshippers. + +The Zoroastrians were devout believers in the immortality of the soul +and a conscious future existence. They taught that immediately after +death the souls of men, both good and bad, proceeded together along an +appointed path to "the bridge of the gatherer" (chinvatperetu). This was +a narrow road conducting to heaven or paradise, over which the souls of +the pious alone could pass, while the wicked fell from it into the gulf +below, where they found themselves in the place of punishment. The good +soul was assisted across the bridge by the angel Serosh--"the happy, +well-formed, swift, tall Serosh"--who met the weary wayfarer and +sustained his steps as he effected the difficult passage. The prayers +of his friends in this world were of much avail to the deceased, +and greatly, helped him on his journey. As he entered, the archangel +Vohu-mano or Bahman rose from his throne and greeted him with the words, +"How happy art thou who hast come here to us from the mortality to the +immortality!" Then the pious soul went joyfully onward to Ahura-mazda, +to the immortal saints, to the golden throne, to Paradise. As for the +wicked, when they fell into the gulf, they found themselves in outer +darkness, in the kingdom of Angro-mainyus, where they were forced to +remain and to feed upon poisoned banquets. + +It is believed by some that the doctrine of the resurrection of the +body was also part of the Zoroastrian creed. Theopompus assigned this +doctrine to the Magi; and there is no reason to doubt that it was +held by the priestly caste of the Arian nations in his day. We find it +plainly stated in portions of the Zendavesta, which, if not among the +earliest, are at any rate of very considerable antiquity, as in the +eighteenth chapter of the Vendidad. It is argued that even in the +Gathas there is an expression used which shows the doctrine to have +been already held when they were composed; but the phrase adduced is so +obscure that its true meaning must be pronounced in the highest degree +uncertain. The absence of any plain allusion to the resurrection from +the earlier portions of the sacred volume is a strong argument against +its having formed any part of the original Arian creed--an argument +which is far from outweighed by the occurrence of a more possible +reference to it in a single ambiguous passage. + +Around and about this nucleus of religious belief there grew up in +course of time a number of legends, some of which possess considerable +interest. Like other thoughtful races, the Iranians speculated upon the +early condition of mankind, and conceived a golden age, and a king +then reigning over a perfectly happy people, whom they called King +Yima--Yima-khshaeta--the modern Persian Jemshid. Yima, according to the +legend, had dwelt originally in Aryanem vaejo--the primitive seat of the +Arians--and had there reigned gloriously and peacefully for awhile; but +the evils of winter having come upon his country, he had removed from it +with his subjects, and had retired to a secluded spot where he and +his people enjoyed uninterrupted happiness. In this place was "neither +overbearing nor mean-spiritedness, neither stupidity nor violence, +neither poverty nor deceit, neither puniness nor deformity, neither huge +teeth nor bodies beyond the usual meassure." The inhabitants suffered no +defilement from the evil spirit. They dwelt amid odoriferous trees and +golden pillars; their cattle were the largest, best, and most beautiful +on the earth; they were themselves a tall and beautiful race; their food +was ambrosial, and never failed them. No wonder that time sped fast with +them, and that they, not noting its night, thought often that what was +really a year had been no more than a single day. Yima was the great +hero of the early Iranians. His titles, besides "the king" (khshaeta), +are "the brilliant," "the happy," "the greatly wealthy," "the leader +of the peoples," "the renowned in Aryanem vaejo." He is most probably +identical with the Yama of the Vedas, who was originally the first man, +the progenitor of mankind and the ruler of the blessed in Paradise, but +who was afterwards transformed into "the god of death, the inexorable +judge of men's doings, and the punisher of the wicked." + +Next in importance to Yima among the heroes is Thraetona--the modern +Persian Feridun. He was born in Varena--which is perhaps Atropatene, or +Azerbijan--and was the son of a distinguished father, Athwyo. His chief +exploit was the destruction of Ajis-dahaka (Zohak), who is sometimes +represented as a cruel tyrant, the bitter enemy of the Iranian race, +sometimes as a monstrous dragon, with three mouths, three tails, six +eyes, and a thousand scaly rings, who threatened to ruin the whole of +the good creation. The traditional scene of the destruction was the +mountain of Demavend, the highest peak of the Elburz range south of the +Caspian. Thraetona, like Yima, appears to be also a Vedic hero. He may +be recognized in Traitana, who is said in the Rig-Veda to have slain a +mighty giant by severing his head from his shoulders. + +A third heroic personage known in the early times was Keresaspa, of the +noble Sama family. He was the son of Thrita--a distinct personage from +Thraetona--and brother of Urvakh-shaya the Just and was bred up in the +arid country of Veh-keret (Khorassan). The "glory" which had rested upon +Yima so many years became his in his day. He was the mightiest among +the mighty, and was guarded from all danger by the fairy (pairika) +Enathaiti, who followed him whithersoever he went. He slew Qravara, the +queen and venomous serpent, who swallowed up men and horses. He killed +Gandarewa with the golden heel, and also Cnavidhaka, who had boasted +that, when he grew up, he would make the earth his wheel and heaven +his chariot, that he would carry off Ahura-mazda from heaven and +Angro-mainyus from hell, and yoke them both as horses to his car. +Keresaspa appears as Gershasp in the modern Persian legends, where, +however, but little is said of his exploits. In the Hindoo books he +appears as Krigagva, the son of Samyama, and is called king of Vaigali, +or Bengal! + +From these specimens the general character of the early Iranic legends +appears sufficiently. Without affording any very close resemblances in +particular cases, they present certain general features which are common +to the legendary lore of all the Western Arians. They are romantic +tales, not allegories; they relate with exaggerations the deeds of men, +not the processes of nature. Combining some beauty with a good deal +that is bizarre and grotesque, they are lively and graphic, but somewhat +childish, having in no case any deep meaning, and rarely teaching a +moral lesson. In their earliest shape they appear, so far as we can +judge, to have been brief, disconnected, and fragmentary. They owe the +full and closely interconnected form which they assume in the Shahna-meh +and other modern Persian writings, partly to a gradual accretion during +the course of centuries, partly to the inventive genius of Firdausi, who +wove the various and often isolated legends into a pseudo-history, +and amplified them at his own pleasure. How much of the substance of +Firdausi's poems belongs to really primitive myth is uncertain. We +find in the Zend texts the names of Gayo-marathan, who corresponds to +Kaiomars; of Haoshyanha, or Hosheng; of Yima-shaeta, or Jemshid; of +Ajisdahaka, or Zohak; of Athwya, or Abtin; of Thraetona, or Feridun; of +Keresaspa, or Gershasp; of Kava Uq, or Kai Kavus; of Kava Hucrava, or +Kai Khosroo; and of Kava Vistaspa, or Gushtasp. But we have no mention +of Tahomars; of Gava (or Gau) the blacksmith; of Feridua's sons, Selm, +Tur, and Irij; of Zal, or Mino'chihr, or Eustem; of Afrasiab, or Kai +Kobad; of Sohrab, or Isfendiar. And of the heroic names which actually +occur in the Zendavesta, several, as Gayo-marathan, Haoshyariha, Kava +Uc, and Kava Hugrava, are met with only in the later portions, which +belong probably to about the fourth century before our era. The only +legends which we know to be primitive are those above related, which are +found in portions of the Zendavesta, whereto the best critics ascribe a +high antiquity. The negative argument is not, however, conclusive; and +it is quite possible that a very large proportion of Firdausi's tale may +consist of ancient legends dressed up in a garb comparatively modern. + +Two phases of the early Iranic religion have been now briefly described; +the first a simple and highly spiritual creed, remarkable for its +distinct assertion of monotheism, its hatred of idolatry, and the +strongly marked antithesis which it maintained between good and evil; +the second, a natural corruption of the first, Dualistic, complicated +by the importance which it ascribed to angelic beings verging upon +polytheism. It remains to give an account of a third phase into which +the religion passed in consequence of an influence exercised upon it +from without by an alien system. + +When the Iranic nations, cramped for space in the countries east and +south of the Caspian, began to push themselves further to the west, and +then to the south, they were brought into contact with various Scythic +tribes inhabiting the mountain regions of Armenia, Azerbijan, Kurdistan, +and Luristan, whose religion appears to have been Magism. It was here, +in these elevated tracts, where the mountains almost seem to reach the +skies, that the most venerated and ancient of the fire-temples were +established, some of which remain, seemingly in their primitive +condition, at the present day. [PLATE VI., Fig. 4.] Here tradition +placed the original seat of the fire-worship; and from hence many taught +that Zoroaster, whom they regarded as the founder of Magism, had sprung. +Magism was, essentially, the worship of the elements, the recognition +of fire, air, earth, and water as the only proper objects of human +reverence. The Magi held no personal gods, and therefore naturally +rejected temples, shrines, and images, as tending to encourage the +notion that gods existed of a like nature with man, i.e., possessing +personality--living and intelligent beings. Theirs was a nature worship, +but a nature worship of a very peculiar kind. They did not place gods +over the different parts of nature, like the Greeks; they did not +even personify the powers of nature, like the Hindoos; they paid their +devotion to the actual material things themselves. Fire, as the most +subtle and ethereal principle, and again as the most powerful agent, +attracted their highest regards; and on their fire-altars the sacred +flame, generally said to have been kindled from heaven, was kept burning +uninterruptedly from year to year and from age to age by bands of +priests, whose special duty it was to see that the sacred spark was +never extinguished. To defile the altar by blowing the flame with one's +breath was a capital offence; and to burn a corpse was regarded as an +act equally odious. When victims were offered to fire, nothing but a +small portion of the fat was consumed in the flame. Next to fire, water +was reverenced. Sacrifice was offered to rivers, lakes, and fountains, +the victim being brought near to them and then slain, while great care +was taken that no drop of their blood should touch the water and pollute +it. No refuse was allowed to be cast into a river, nor was it even +lawful to wash one's hands in one. Reverence for earth was shown by +sacrifice, and by abstention from the usual mode of burying the dead. + +[Illustration: PLATE VI.] + +The Magian religion was of a highly sacerdotal type. No worshipper could +perform any religious act except by the intervention of a priest, or +Magus, who stood between him and the divinity as a Mediator. The Magus +prepared the victim and slew it, chanted the mystic strain which gave +the sacrifice all its force, poured on the ground the propitiatory +libation of oil, milk, and honey, held the bundle of thin tamarisk +twigs--the Zendic barsom (baregma)--the employment of which was +essential to every sacrificial ceremony. The Magi were a priest-caste, +apparently holding their office by hereditary succession. They claimed +to possess, not only a sacred and mediatorial character, but also +supernatural prophetic powers. They explained omens, expounded dreams, +and by means of a certain mysterious manipulation of the barsom, or +bundle of twigs, arrived at a knowledge of future events, which they +communicated to the pious inquirer. + +With such pretensions it was natural that the caste should assume a +lofty air, a stately dress, and an entourage of ceremonial magnificence. +Clad in white robes, and bearing Upon their heads tall felt caps, with +long lappets at the sides, which concealed the jaw and even the lips, +each with his barsom in his hand, they marched in procession to their +pynetheia, or fire altars, and standing around them performed for an +hour at a time their magical incantations. The credulous multitude, +impressed by sights of this kind, and imposed on by the claims to +supernatural power which the Magi advanced, paid them a willing homage; +the kings and chiefs consulted them; and when the Arian tribes, pressing +westward, came into contact with the races professing the Magian +religion, they found a sacerdotal caste all-powerful in most of the +Scythic nations. + +The original spirit of Zoroastrianism was fierce and exclusive. The +early Iranians looked with contempt and hatred on the creed of their +Indian brethren; they abhorred idolatry; and were disinclined to +tolerate any religion except that which they had themselves worked out. +But with the lapse of ages this spirit became softened. Polytheistic +creeds are far less jealous than monotheism; and the development of +Zoroastrianism had been in a polytheistic direction. By the time that +the Zoroastrians were brought into contact with Magism, the first fervor +of their religious zeal had abated, and they were in that intermediate +condition of religious faith which at once impresses and is impressed, +acts upon other systems, and allows itself to be acted upon in return. +The result which supervened upon contact with Magism seems to have been +a fusion, an absorption into Zoroastrianism of all the chief points of +the Magian belief, and all the more remarkable of the Magian religious +usages. This absorption appears to have taken place in Media. It was +there that the Arian tribes first associated with themselves, and +formally adopted into their body, the priest-caste of the Magi, which +thenceforth was recognized as one of the six Median tribes. It is there +that Magi are first found acting in the capacity of Arian priests. +According to all the accounts which have come down to us, they soon +acquired a predominating influence, which they no doubt used to impress +their own religious doctrines more and more upon the nation at large, +and to thrust into the background, so far as they dared, the peculiar +features of the old Arian belief. It is not necessary to suppose that +the Medes ever apostatized altogether from the worship of Ormazd, or +formally surrendered their Dualistic faith. But, practically, the Magian +doctrines and the Magian usages--elemental worship, divination with +the sacred rods, dream expounding, incantations at the fire-altars, +sacrifices whereat a Magus officiated--seem to have prevailed; the +new predominated over the old; backed by the power of an organized +hierarchy, Magism over-laid the primitive Arian creed, and, as time went +on, tended more and more to become the real religion of the nation. + +Among the religious customs introduced by the Magi into Media there are +one or two which seem to require especial notice. The attribution of a +sacred character to the four so-called elements--earth, air, fire and +water--renders it extremely difficult to know what is to be done with +the dead. They cannot be burnt, for that is a pollution of fire; or +buried, for that is a pollution of earth; or thrown into a river, for +that is a defilement of water. If they are deposited in sarcophagi, or +exposed, they really pollute the air; but in this case the guilt of the +pollution, it may be argued, does not rest on man, since the dead body +is merely left in the element in which nature placed it. The only mode +of disposal which completely avoids the defilement of every element +is consumption of the dead by living beings; and the worship of the +elements leads on naturally to this treatment of corpses. At present the +Guebres, or Fire-worshippers, the descendants of the ancient Persians, +expose all their dead, with the intention that they shall be devoured +by birds of prey. In ancient times, it appears certain that the Magi +adopted this practice with respect to their own dead; but, apparently, +they did not insist upon having their example followed universally by +the laity. Probably a natural instinct made the Arians averse to this +coarse and revolting custom; and their spiritual guides, compassionating +their weakness, or fearful of losing their own influence over them if +they were too stiff in enforcing compliance, winked at the employment by +the people of an entirely different practice. The dead bodies were first +covered completely with a coating of wax, and were then deposited in +the ground. It was held, probably, that the coating of wax prevented the +pollution which would have necessarily resulted had the earth come into +direct contact with the corpse. + +The custom of divining by means of a number of rods appears to have +been purely Magian. There is no trace of it in the Gathas, in the Yagna +haptanhaiti, or in the older portions of the Vendidad. It was a Scythic +practice; and probably the best extant account of it is that which +Herodotus gives of the mode wherein it was managed by the Scyths of +Europe. "Scythia," he says, "has an abundance of soothsayers, who +foretell the future by means of a number of willow wands. A large bundle +of these rods is brought and laid on the ground. The soothsayer unties +the bundle, and places each wand by itself, at the same time uttering +his prophecy: then, while he is still speaking, he gathers the rods +together again, and makes them up once more into a bundle." A divine +power seems to have been regarded as resting in the wands; and they were +supposed to be "consulted" on the matter in hand, both severally and +collectively. The bundle of wands thus imbued with supernatural wisdom +became naturally part of the regular priestly costume, and was carried +by the Magi on all occasions of ceremony. The wands were of different +lengths; and the number of wands in the bundle varied. Sometimes there +were three, sometimes five, sometimes as many as seven or nine; but in +every case, as it would seem, an odd number. + +Another implement which the priests commonly bore must be regarded, not +as Magian, but as Zoroastrian. This is the khrafgthraghna, or instrument +for killing bad animals, frogs, toads, snakes, mice, lizards, flies, +etc., which belonged to the bad creation, or that which derived its +origin from Angro-mainyus. These it was the general duty of all men, +and the more especial duty of the Zoroastrian priests, to put to death, +whenever they had the opportunity. The Magi, it appears, adopted this +Arian usage, added the khrafgthraghna to the barsom, and were so zealous +in their performance of the cruel work expected from them as to excite +the attention, and even draw upon themselves the rebuke, of foreigners. + +A practice is assigned to the Magi by many classical and ecclesiastical +writers, which, if it were truly charged on them, would leave a very +dark stain on the character of their ethical system. It is said that +they allowed and even practised incest of the most horrible kind--such +incest as we are accustomed to associate with the names of Lot, OEdipus, +and Herod Agrippa. The charge seems to have been first made either by +Xanthus the Lydian, or by Ctesias. It was accepted, probably without +much inquiry, by the Greeks generally, and then by the Romans, was +repeated by writer after writer as a certain fact, and became finally a +stock topic with the early Christian apologists. Whether it had any real +foundation in fact is very uncertain. Herodotus, who collects with so +much pains the strange and unusual customs of the various nations whom +he visits, is evidently quite ignorant of any such monstrous practice. +He regards the Magian religion as established in Persia, yet he holds +the incestuous marriage of Cambyses with his sister to have been +contrary to existing Persian laws. At the still worst forms of incest +of which the Magi and those under their influence are accused, Herodotus +does not even glance. No doubt, if Xanthus Lydus really made the +statement which Clemens of Alexandria assigns to him, it is an important +piece of evidence, though scarcely sufficient to prove the Magi guilty. +Xanthus was a man of little judgment, apt to relate extravagant tales; +and, as a Lydian, he may have been disinclined to cast an aspersion +on the religion of his country's oppressors. The passage in question, +however, probably did not come from Xanthus Lydus, but from a much later +writer who assumed his name, as has been well shown by a living critic. +The true original author of the accusation against the Magi and their +co-religionists seems to have been Ctesias, whose authority is far +too weak to establish a charge intrinsically so improbable. Its only +historical foundation seems to have been the fact that incestuous +marriages were occasionally contracted by the Persian kings; not, +however, in consequence of any law, or religious usage, but because in +the plenitude of their power they could set all law at defiance, and +trample upon the most sacred principles of morality and religion. + +A minor charge preferred against the Magian morality by Xanthus, or +rather by the pseudo-Xanthus, has possibly a more solid foundation. +"The Magi," this writer said, "hold their wives in common: at least +they often marry the wives of others with the free consent of their +husbands." This is really to say that among the Magians divorce was +over-facile; that wives were often put away, merely with a view to their +forming a fresh marriage, by husbands who understood and approved of the +transaction. Judging by the existing practice of the Persians, we must +admit that such laxity is in accordance with Iranic notions on the +subject of marriage--notions far less strict than those which have +commonly prevailed among civilized nations. There is, however, no other +evidence, besides this, that divorce was very common where the Magian +system prevailed; and the mere assertion of the writer who personated +Xanthus Lydus will scarcely justify us in affixing even this stigma on +the religion. + +Upon the whole, Magism, though less elevated and less pure than the +old Zoroastrian creed, must be pronounced to have possessed a certain +loftiness and picturesqueness which suited it to become the religion +of a great and splendid monarchy. The mysterious fire-altars on +the mountain-tops, with their prestige of a remote antiquity--the +ever-burning flame believed to have been kindled from on high--the +worship in the open air under the blue canopy of heaven--the long troops +of Magians in their white robes, with their strange caps, and their +mystic wands--the frequent prayers--the abundant sacrifices--the long +incantations--the supposed prophetic powers of the priest-caste--all +this together constituted an imposing whole at once to the eye and to +the mind, and was calculated to give additional grandeur to the civil +system that should be allied with it. Pure Zoroastrianism was too +spiritual to coalesce readily with Oriental luxury and magnificence, +or to lend strength to a government based on the ordinary principles of +Asiatic despotism. Magism furnished a hierarchy to support the throne, +and add splendor and dignity to the court, while they overawed the +subject-class by their supposed possession of supernatural powers, +and of the right of mediating between heaven and man. It supplied a +picturesque worship which at once gratified the senses and excited +the fancy It gave scope to man's passion for the marvellous by +its incantations, its divining-rods, its omen-reading, and its +dream-expounding. It gratified the religious scrupulosity which finds +a pleasure in making to itself difficulties, by the disallowance of +a thousand natural acts, and the imposition of numberless rules +for external purity. At the same time it gave no offence to the +anti-idolatrous spirit in which the Arians had hitherto gloried, but +rather encouraged the iconoclasm which they always upheld and practised. +It thus blended easily with the previous creed of the people, awaking no +prejudices, clashing with no interests; winning its way by an apparent +meekness and unpresumingness, while it was quite prepared, when the +fitting time came, to be as fierce and exclusive as if it had never worn +the mask of humility and moderation. + + + + +CHAPTER V. LANGUAGE AND WRITING. + + +On the language of the ancient Medes a very few observations will be +here made. It has been noticed already that the Median form of speech +was closely allied to that of the Persians. The remark of Strabo quoted +above, and another remark which he cites from Nearchus, imply at once +this fact, and also the further fact of a dialectic difference between +the two tongues. Did we possess, as some imagine that we do, materials +for tracing out this diversity, it would be proper in the present place +to enter fully on the subject, and instead of contenting ourselves with +asserting, or even proving, the substantial oneness of the languages, +it would be our duty to proceed to the far more difficult and more +complicated task of comparing together the sister dialects, and noting +their various differences. The supposition that there exist means for +such a comparison is based upon a theory that in the language of the +Zendavesta we have the true speech of the ancient people of Media, while +in the cuneiform inscriptions of the Achasmenian kings it is beyond +controversy that we possess the ancient language of Persia. It becomes +necessary, therefore, to examine this theory, in order to justify our +abstention from an inquiry on which, if the theory were sound, we should +be now called upon to enter. + +The notion that the Zend language was the idiom of ancient Media +originated with Anquetil du Perron. He looked on Zoroaster as a native +of Azerbijan, contemporary with Darius Hystaspis. His opinion was +embraced by Kleuker, Herder, and Eask; and again, with certain +modifications, by Tychsen and Heeren. These latter writers even gave a +more completely Median character to the Zendavesta, by regarding it as +composed in Media Magna, during the reign of the great Cyaxares. The +main foundation of these views was the identification of Zoroastrianism +with the Magian fire-worship, which was really ancient in Azerbijan, +and flourished in Media under the great Median monarch. But we have seen +that Magianism and Zoroastrianism were originally entirely distinct, and +that the Zendavesta in all its earlier portions belongs wholly to the +latter system. Nothing therefore is proved concerning the Zend dialect +by establishing a connection between the Medes and Magism, which was +a corrupting influence thrown in upon Zoroastrianism long after the +composition of the great bulk of the sacred writings. + +These writings themselves sufficiently indicate the place of their +composition. It was not Media, but Bactria, or at any rate the +north-eastern Iranic country, between the Bolor range and the Caspian. +This conclusion, which follows from a consideration of the various +geographical notices contained in the Zend books, had been accepted of +late years by all the more profound Zend scholars. Originated by Rhode, +it has also in its favor the names of Burnouf, Lassen, Westergaard, and +Haug. If then the Zend is to be regarded as really a local dialect, the +idiom of a particular branch of the Iranic people, there is far more +reason for considering it to be the ancient speech of Bactria than of +any other Arian country. Possibly the view is correct which recognizes +two nearly-allied dialects as existing side by side in Iran during its +flourishing period--one prevailing towards the west, the other towards +the east--one Medo-Persic, the other Sogdo-Bactrian--the former +represented to us by the cuneiform inscriptions, the latter by the Zend +texts. Or it may be closer to the truth to recognize in the Zendic and +Achsemenian forms of speech, not so much two contemporary idioms, as two +stages of one and the same language, which seems to be at present the +opinion of the best comparative philologists. In either case Media can +claim no special interest in Zend, which, if local, is Sogdo-Bactrian, +and if not local is no more closely connected with Media than with +Persia. + +It appears then that we do not at present possess any means of +distinguishing the shades of difference which separated the. Median from +the Persian speech. We have in fact no specimens of the former beyond a +certain number of words, and those chiefly proper names, whereas we know +the latter tolerably completely from the inscriptions. It is proposed +under the head of the "Fifth Monarchy" to consider at some length the +general character of the Persian language as exhibited to us in these +documents. From the discussion then to be raised may be gathered the +general character of the speech of the Medes. In the present place all +that will be attempted is to show how far the remnants left us of Median +speech bear out the statement that, substantially, one and the same +tongue was spoken by both peoples. + +Many Median names are absolutely identical with Persian; e.g., +Ariobarzanes, Artabazus, Artaeus, Artembares, Harpagus, Arbaces, +Tiridates, etc. Others which are not absolutely identical approach +to the Persian form so closely as to be plainly mere variants, like +Theodoras and Theodosius, Adelbert and Ethelbert, Miriam, Mariam, and +Mariamne. Of this kind are Intaphres, another form of Intaphernes, +Artynes, another form of Artanes, Parmises, another form of Parmys, and +the like. A third class, neither identical with any known Persian names, +nor so nearly approaching to them as to be properly considered mere +variants, are made up of known Persian roots, and may be explained +on exactly the same principles as Persian names. Such are Ophernes, +Sitraphernes, Mitraphernes, Megabernes, Aspadas, Mazares, Tachmaspates, +Xathrites, Spitaces, Spitamas, Ehambacas, and others. In Ophernes, +Sitra-phernes, Mitra-phernes, and Mega-bernes, the second element +is manifestly the pharna or frana which is found in Arta-phernes and +Inta-phernes (Vida-frana), an active participial form from pri, to +protect. The initial element in O-phernes represents the Zend hu, Sans, +su, Greek ev, as the same letter does in O-manes, O-martes, etc. The +Sitra of Sitra-phernes has been explained as probably Ichshatra, "the +crown," which is similarly represented in the Safro-pates of Curtius, a +name standing to Sitra-phernes exactly as Arta-patas to Arta-phernes. In +Mega-bernes the first element is the well-known baga, "God," under +the form commonly preferred by the Greeks; and the name is exactly +equivalent to Curtius's Bagfo-phanes, which only differs from it by +taking the participle of pa, "to protect," instead of the participle +of pri, which has the same meaning. In Aspa-das it is easy to recognize +aspa, "horse" (a common root in Persian names,) e.g., Aspa-thines, +Aspa-mitras, Prex-aspes, and the like, followed by the same element +which terminates the name of Oromaz-des, and which means either +"knowing" or "giving." Ma-zares presents us with the root meh, "much" or +"great," which is found in the name of the ilf-aspii, or "Big Horses," +a Persian tribe, followed by zara, "gold," which appears in Ctesias's +"Arto-awes," and perhaps also in Zoro-aster. In Tachmaspates, the +first element is takhma, "strong," a root found in the Persian names +Ar-tochmes and Tritan-taechmes, while the second is the frequently +used pati, "lord," which occurs as the initial element in Pak-zeithes," +Pafa-ramphes, etc., and as the terminal in Pharna-jjates, Avio-peithes, +and the like. In Xathrites we have clearly khshatra (Zend khshathra), +"crown" or "king," with a participial suffix -ita, corresponding to the +Sanscrit participle in -it. Spita-ces and Spita-mas contain the root +spita, equivalent to spenta, "holy," which is found in Spitho-hates, +Spita-mens, Spita-des, etc. This, in Spita-ces, is followed by a +guttural ending, which is either a diminutive corresponding to the +modern Persian -efc, or perhaps a suffixed article. In Spit-amas, the +suffix -mas is the common form of the superlative, and may be compared +with the Latin -mus in optimus, intimus, supremus, and the like. +Ehambacas contains the root rafno, "joy, pleasure," which we find in +Pati-ramphies, followed by the guttural suffix. + +There remains, finally, a class of Median names, containing roots not +found in any known names of Persians, but easily explicable from Zend, +Sanscrit, or other cognate tongues, and therefore not antagonistic to +the view that Median and Persian were two closely connected dialects. +Such, for instance, are the royal names mentioned by Herodotus, Deioces, +Phraortes, Astyages, and Cyaxares; and such also are the following, +which come to us from various sources; Amytis, Astibaras, Armamithres or +Harmamithres, Mandauces, Parsondas, Eama-tes, Susiscanes, Tithaous, and +Zanasanes. + +In Deioces, or (as the Latins write it) Dejoces, there can be little +doubt that we have the name given as Djohak or Zohak in the Shahnameh +and other modern Persian writings, which is itself an abbreviation of +the Ajis-dahaka of the Zendavesta. Dahaka means in Zend "biting," or +"the biter," and is etymo-logically connected with the Greek. + +Phraortes, which in old Persian was Fravartish, seems to be a mere +variant of the word which appears in the Zendavesta as fravashi, and +designates each man's tutelary genius. The derivation is certainly from +fra, and probably from a root akin to the German wahren, French garder, +English "ward, watch," etc. The meaning is "a protector." + +Cyaxares, the Persian form of which was "Uvakhshatara," seems to be +formed from the two elements it or hu, "well, good," and akhsha (Zend +arsnd), "the eye," which is the final element of the name Cyavarswa in +the Zendavesta. Cyavarsna is "dark-eyed;" Uvakhsha (= Zend Huvarsna) +would be "beautiful-eyed." Uvakhshatara appears to be the comparative +of this adjective, and would mean "more beautiful-eyed (than others)." + +Astyages, which, according to Moses of Chorene, meant "a dragon" or +"serpent," is almost certainly Ajis-dahaka, the full name whereof +Dojoces (or Zohak) is the abbreviation. It means "the biting snake," +from aji or azi, "a snake" or "serpent," and dahaka, "biting." + +Amytis is probably ama, "active, great," with the ordinary feminine +suffix -iti, found in Armaiti, Khnathaiti, and the like. Astibaras +is perhaps "great of bone," from Zend agta (Sans, asthi), "bone," and +bereza, "tall, great." Harmamithres, if that is the true reading, +would be "mountain-lover" (monticolus), from hardam, ace. of hara, "a +mountain," and mithra or mitra, "fond of." If, however, the name should +be read as Armamithres, the probable derivation will be from rama, ace. +of raman, "pleasure," which is also the root of Rama-tea. Armamithres +may then be compared with Rheomithres, Siromitras, and Sysimithres, +which are respectively "fond of splendor," "fond of beauty," and "fond +of light." Mandauces is perhaps "biting spirit--esprit mordant," from +mand, "coeur, esprit," and dahaka, "biting." M Parsondas can scarcely +be the original form, from the occurrence in it of the nasal before the +dental. In the original it must have been Parsodas, which would mean +"liberal, much giving," from pourus, "much," and da, "to give." Ramates, +as already observed, is from rama, "pleasure." It is an adjectival form, +like Datis, and means probably "pleasant, agreeable." Susiscanes may be +explained as "splendidus juvenis," from quc, "splendere," pres. part, +cao-cat, and kainin, "adolescens, juvenis." Tithaeus is probably for +Tathaeus, which would be readily formed from tatka, "one who makes." +Finally, Zanasanes may be referred to the root zan or jan, "to kill," +which is perhaps simply followed by the common appellative suffix -ana. + +From these names of persons we may pass to those of places in Media, +which equally admit of explanation from roots known to have existed +either in Zend or in old Persian. Of these, Ecbatana, Bagistana, and +Aspadana may be taken as convenient specimens. Ecbatana (or Agbatana), +according to the orthography of the older Greeks was in the native +dialect Hagmatana, as appears from the Behistun inscription. This form, +Hagmatana, is in all probability derived from the three words ham, +"with" (Sans, sam, Latin cum), gam, "to go" (Zend gd, Sans, 'gam), and +ctana (Mod. Pers. -stan) "a place." The initial ham has dropped the +m and become ha, and cum becomes co- in Latin; gam has become gma +by metathesis; and gtan has passed into -tan by phonetic corruption. +Ha-gma-tana would be "the place for assembly," or for "coming together" +(Lat. comitium); the place, i.e., where the tribes met, and where, +consequently, the capital grew up. + +Bagistan, which was "a hill sacred to Jupiter" according to Diodorus, +is clearly a name corresponding to the Beth-el of the Hebrews and the +Allahabad of the Mahometans. It is simply "the house, or place, of +God"--from baga, "God," and gtana, "place, abode," the common modern +Persian terminal (compare Farsi-stan, Khuzi-stan, Afghani-stan, +Belochi-stan, Hindu-stan, etc.), which has here not suffered any +corruption. + +Aspadana contains certainly as its first element the root acpa, "horse." +The suffix dan may perhaps be a corruption of ctana, analogous to that +which has produced Hama-dan from Hagma-ctan; or it may be a contracted +form of danhu, or dairihu, "a-province," Aspadana having been originally +the name of a district where horses were bred, and having thence become +the name of its chief town. + +The Median words known to us, other than names of persons or places, are +confined to some three or four. Herodotus tells us that the Median word +for "dog" was spaka; Xenophon implies, if he does not expressly state, +that the native name for the famous Median robe was candys; Nicolas of +Damascus informs us that the Median couriers were called Angari; and +Hesychius says that the artabe was a Median measure. The last-named +writer also states that artades and devas were Magian words, which +perhaps implies that they were common to the Medes with the Persians. +Here, again, the evidence, such as it is, favors a close connection +between the languages of Media and Persia. + +That artabe and angarus were Persian words no less than Median, we have +the evidence of Herodotus. Artades, "just men" (according to Hesychhis), +is probably akin to ars, "true, just," and may represent the ars-data, +"made just," of the Zendavesta. Devas (Seven), which Hesychius +translates "the evil gods" is clearly the Zendic daiva, Mod. Pers. div. +(Sans, deva, Lat. divus). In candys we have most probably a formation +from qan, "to dress, to adorn." Spaka is the Zendic cpa, with the +Scythic guttural suffix, of which the Medes were so fond, cpa itself +being akin to the Sanscrit cvan, and so to hvoov and canis. Thus we may +connect all the few words which are known as Median with forms contained +in the Zend, which was either the mother or the elder sister of the +ancient Persian. + +That the Medes were acquainted with the art of writing, and practised +it--at least from the time that they succeeded to the dominion of the +Assyrians--scarcely admits of a doubt. An illiterate nation, which +conquers one in possession of a literature, however it may despise +learning and look down upon the mere literary life, is almost sure to +adopt writing to some extent on account of its practical utility. It +is true the Medes have left us no written monuments; and we may fairly +conclude from that fact that they used writing sparingly; but besides +the antecedent probability, there is respectable evidence that letters +were known to them, and that, at any rate, their upper classes could +both read and write their native tongue. The story of the letter sent +by Harpagus the Mede to Cyrus in the belly of a hare, though probably +apocryphal, is important as showing the belief of Herodotus on the +subject. The still more doubtful story of a despatch written on +parchment by a Median king, Artseus, and sent to Nanarus, a provincial +governor, related by Nicolas of Damascus, has a value, as indicating +that writer's conviction that the Median monarchs habitually conveyed +their commands to their subordinates in a written form. With these +statements of profane writers agree certain notices which we find in +Scripture. Darius the Mode, shortly after the destruction of the Median +empire, "signs" a decree, which his chief nobles have presented to him +in writing. He also himself "writes" another decree addressed to his +subjects generally. In later times we find that there existed at the +Persian court a "book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and +Persia," in which was probably a work begun under the Median and +continued under the Persian sovereigns. + +If then writing was practised by the Medes, it becomes interesting to +consider whence they obtained their knowledge of it, and what was the +system which they employed. Did they bring an alphabet with them from +the far East, or did they derive their first knowledge of letters +from the nations with whom they came into contact after their great +migration? In the latter case, did they adopt, with or without +modifications, a foreign system, or did they merely borrow the idea of +written symbols from their new neighbors, and set to work to invent for +themselves an alphabet suited to the genius of their own tongue? These +are some of the questions which present themselves to the mind as +deserving of attention, when this subject is brought before it. +Unfortunately we possess but very scanty data for determining, and can +do little more than conjecture, the proper answers to be given to them. + +The early composition of certain portions of the Zendavesta, which has +been asserted in this work, may seem at first sight to imply the use +of a written character in Bactria and the adjacent countries at a very +remote era. But such a conclusion is not necessary. Nations have often +had an oral literature, existing only in the memories of men, and have +handed down such a literature from generation to generation, through +a long succession of ages. The sacred lore of Zoroaster may have been +brought by the Modes from the East-Caspian country in an unwritten +shape, and may not have been reduced to writing till many centuries +later. On the whole it is perhaps most probable that the Medes were +unacquainted with letters when they made their great migration, and that +they acquired their first knowledge of them from the races with whom +they came into collision when they settled along the Zagros chain. In +these regions they were brought into contact with at least two forms of +written speech, one that of the old Armenians, a Turanian dialect, the +other that of the Assyrians, a language of the Semitic type. These two +nations used the same alphabetic system, though their languages were +utterly unlike; and it would apparently have been the easiest plan +for the new comers to have adopted the established forms, and to have +applied them, so far as was possible, to the representation of their own +speech. But the extreme complication of a system which employed between +three and four hundred written signs, and composed signs sometimes of +fourteen or fifteen wedges, seems to have shocked the simplicity of the +Medes, who recognized the fact that the varieties of their articulations +fell far short of this excessive luxuriance. The Arian races, so far +as appears, declined to follow the example set them by the Turanians of +Armenia, who had adopted the Assyrian alphabet, and preferred to invent +a new system for themselves, which they determined to make far more +simple. It is possible that they found an example already set them. +In Achaemenian times we observe two alphabets used through Media and +Persia, both of which are simpler than the Assyrian: one is employed to +express the Turanian dialect of the people whom the Arians conquered and +dispossessed; the other, to express the tongue of the conquerors. It +is possible--though we have no direct evidence of the fact--that +the Turanians of Zagros and the neighborhood had already formed for +themselves the alphabet which is found in the second columns of the +Achaemenian tablets, when the Arian invaders conquered them. This +alphabet, which in respect of complexity holds an intermediate position +between the luxuriance of the Assyrian and the simplicity of the +Medo-Persic system, would seem in all probability to have intervened +in order of time between the two. It consists of no more than about a +hundred characters, and these are for the most part far less complicated +than those of Assyria. If the Medes found this form of writing already +existing in Zagros when they arrived, it may have assisted to give them +the idea of making for themselves an alphabet so far on the old model +that the wedge should be the sole element used in the formation, of +letters, but otherwise wholly new, and much more simple than those +previously in use. + +Discarding then the Assyrian notion of a syllabarium, with the enormous +complication which it involves, the Medes strove to reduce sounds to +their ultimate elements, and to represent these last alone by symbols. +Contenting themselves with the three main vowel sounds, a,i, and u, and +with one breathing, a simple h, they recognized twenty consonants, +which were the following, b,d,f,g,j,k,kh,m,n,n (sound doubtful), +p,r,s,sh,t,v,y,z,ch (as in much), and tr, an unnecessary compound. Had +they stopped here, their characters should have been but twenty-four, +the number which is found in Greek. To their ears, however, it would +seem, each consonant appeared to carry with it a short a, and as this, +occurring before i and u, produced the diphthongs ai and au, sounded +nearly as e and o, it seemed necessary, where a consonant was to be +directly followed by the sounds i or u, to have special forms to which +the sound of a should not attach. This system, carried out completely, +would have raised the forms of consonants to sixty, a multiplication +that was feared as inconvenient. In order to keep down the number, +it seems to have been resolved, that one form should suffice for the +aspirated letters and the sibilants (viz., h,kh; ch,ph or f,s,sh, and +z), and also for b,y, and tr; that two forms should suffice for the +tenues, k,p,t, for the liquids n and r, and for v; and consequently that +the full number of three forms should be limited to some three or +four letters, as d, m, j, and perhaps g. The result is that the known +alphabet of the Persians, which is assumed here to have been the +invention of the Medes, consists of some thirty-six or thirty-seven +forms, which are really representative of no more than twenty-three +distinct sounds. + +It appears then that, compared with the phonetic systems in vogue among +their neighbors, the alphabet of the Medes and Persians was marked by +a great simplicity. The forms of the letters were also very much +simplified. Instead of conglomerations of fifteen or sixteen wedges in +a single character, we have in the Medo-Persic letters a maximum of five +wedges. The most ordinary number is four, which is sometimes reduced +to three or even two. The direction of the wedges is uniformly either +perpendicular or horizontal, except of course in the case of the double +wedge or arrow-head, where the component elements are placed obliquely. +The arrow-head has but one position, the perpendicular, with the angle +facing towards the left hand. The only diagonal sign used is a simple +wedge, placed obliquely with the point towards the right, which is a +mere mark of separation between the words. + +The direction of the writing was, as with the Arian nations generally, +from left to right. Words were frequently divided, and part carried on +to the next line. The characters were inscribed between straight lines +drawn from end to end of the tablet on which they were written. Like the +Hebrew, they often closely resembled one another, and a slight defect in +the stone will cause one to be mistaken for another. The resemblance is +not between letters of the same class or kind; on the contrary, it +is often between those which are most remote from one another. Thus g +nearly resembles u; ch is like d; tr like p; and so on: while k and kh, +s and sh, p and ph (or J) are forms quite dissimilar. + +It is supposed that a cuneiform alphabet can never have been employed +for ordinary writing purposes, but must have been confined to documents +of some importance, which it was desirable to preserve, and which +were therefore either inscribed on stone, or impressed on moist clay +afterwards baked. A cursive character, it is therefore imagined, must +always have been in use, parallel with a cuneiform one; and as the +Babylonians and Assyrians are known to have used a character of this +kind from a very high antiquity, synchronously with their lapidary +cuneiform, so it is supposed that the Arian races must have possessed, +besides the method which has been described as a cursive system of +writing. Of this, however, there is at present no direct evidence. No +cursive writing of the Arian nations at this time, either Median or +Persian, has been found; and it is therefore uncertain what form of +character they employed on common occasions. + +The material used for ordinary purposes, according to Nicolas of +Damascus and Ctesias, was parchment. On this the kings wrote the +despatches which conveyed their orders to the officers who administered +the government of provinces; and on this were inscribed the memorials +which each monarch was careful to have composed giving an account of the +chief events of his reign. The cost of land carriage probably prevented +papyrus from superseding this material in Western Asia, as it did in +Greece at a tolerably early date. Clay, so much used for writing on both +in Babylonia and Assyria, appears never to have approved itself as a +convenient substance to the Iranians. For public documents the chisel +and the rock, for private the pen and the prepared skin, seem to have +been preferred by them; and in the earlier times, at any rate, they +employed no other materials. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. CHRONOLOGY AND HISTORY. + + +Media . . . quam ante regnum Cyri superlovis et incrementa Persidos +legimus Asiae reginam totius.--Amm. Marc, xxiii. 6. + + +The origin of the Median nation is wrapt in a profound obscurity. +Following the traces which the Zendavesta offers, taking into +consideration its minute account of the earlier Arian migrations, its +entire omission of any mention of the Medes, and the undoubted fact that +it was nevertheless by the Medes and Persians that the document itself +was preserved and transmitted to us, we should be naturally led to +suppose that the race was one which in the earlier times of Arian +development was weak and insignificant, and that it first pushed itself +into notice after the ethnological portions of the Zendavesta were +composed, which is thought to have been about B.C. 1000. Quite in +accordance with this view is the further fact that in the native +Assyrian annals, so far as they have been, recovered, the Medes do not +make their appearance till the middle of the ninth century B.C., and +when they appear are weak and unimportant, only capable of opposing a +very slight resistance to the attacks of the Ninevite kings. The natural +conclusion from these data would appear to be that until about B.C. 850 +the Median name was unknown in the world, and that previously, if Medes +existed at all, it was either as a sub-tribe of some other Arian race, +or at any rate as a tribe too petty and insignificant to obtain mention +either on the part of native or of foreign historians. Such early +insignificance and late development of what ultimately becomes the +dominant tribe of a race is no strange or unprecedented phenomenon to +the historical inquirer; on the contrary, it is among the facts with +which he is most familiar, and would admit of ample illustration, were +the point worth pursuing, alike from the history of the ancient and the +modern world. + +But, against the conclusion to which we could not fail to be led by +the Arian and Assyrian records, which agree together so remarkably, two +startling notices in works of great authority but of a widely different +character have to be set. In the Toldoth Beni Noah, or "Book of the +Generation of the Sons of Noah," which forms the tenth chapter of +Genesis, and which, if the work of Moses, was probably composed at +least as early as B.C. 1500, we find the Madai--a word elsewhere always +signifying "the Medes"--in the genealogy of the sons of Japhet. The word +is there conjoined with several other important ethnic titles, as Gomer, +Magog, Javan, Tubal, and Meshech; and there can be no reasonable doubt +that it is intended to designate the Median people. If so, the people +must have had already a separate and independent existence in the +fifteenth century B.C., and not only so, but they must have by that time +attained so much distinction as to be thought worthy of mention by +a writer who was only bent on affiliating the more important of the +nations known to him. + +The other notice is furnished by Berosus. That remarkable historian, +in his account of the early dynasties of his native Chaldaea, declared +that, at a date anterior to B.C. 2000, the Medes had conquered Babylon +by a sudden inroad, had established a monarchy there, and had held +possession of the city and neighboring territory for a period of 224 +years. Eight kings of their race had during that interval occupied the +Babylonian throne, It has been already observed that this narrative must +represent a fact. Berosus would not have gratuitously invented a foreign +conquest of his native land; nor would the earlier Babylonians, from +whom he derived his materials, have forged a tale which was so little +flattering to their national vanity. Some foreign conquest of Babylon +must have taken place about the period named; and it is certainly a most +important fact that Berosus should call the conquerors Medes. He may no +doubt have been mistaken about an event so ancient; he may have misread +his authorities, or he may have described as Medes a people of which he +really knew nothing except that they had issued from the tract which +in his own time bore the name of Media. But, while these axe mere +possibilities, hypotheses to which the mind resorts in order to escape +a difficulty, the hard fact remains that he has used the word; and this +fact, coupled with the mention of the Medes in the book of Genesis, does +certainly raise a presumption of no inconsiderable strength against, +the view which it would be natural to take if the Zendavesta and the +Assyrian annals were our solo authorities on the subject. It lends a +substantial basis to the theories of those who regard the Medes as one +of the principal primeval races; who believe that they were well known +to the Semitic inhabitants of the Mesopotamian valley as early as the +twenty-third century before Christ--long ere Abraham left Ur for Harran; +and that they actually formed the dominant power in Western Asia +for more than two centuries, prior to the establishment of the first +Chaldaean kingdom. + +And if there are thus distinct historical grounds for the notion of an +early Median development, there are not wanting these obscurer but to +many minds more satisfactory proofs wherewith comparative philology +and ethnology are wont to illustrate and confirm the darker passages of +ancient history. Recent linguistic research has clearly traced among the +Arba Lisun, or, "Four Tongues" of ancient Chaldaea, which are so often +mentioned on the ancient monuments, an Arian formation, such as would +naturally have been left in the country, if it had been occupied for +some considerable period by a dominant Arian power. The early Chaldaean +ideographs have often several distinct values; and when this is the +case, one of the powers is almost always an Arian name of the object +represented. Words like nir, "man", ar, "river," (compare the names +Aras, Araxes, Endanus, Rha, Rhodanus, etc., the Slavonic rika, "river," +etc.), san, "sun," (compare German Sonne, Slavonic solnce, English +"sun," Dutch zon, etc.), are seemingly Arian roots; and the very +term "Arian" (Ariya, "noble") is perhaps contained in the name of a +primitive Chaldaean monarch, "Arioch, king of Ellasar." There is +nothing perhaps in these scattered traces of Arian influence in in Lower +Mesopotamia at a remote era that points very particularly to the Medes; +but at any rate they harmonize with the historical account that has +reached us of early Arian power in these parts, and it is important that +they should not be ignored when we are engaged in considering the degree +of credence that is to be awarded to the account in question. + +Again, there are traces of a vast expansion, apparently at a very early +date, of the Median race, such as seems to imply that they must have +been a great nation in Western Asia long previously to the time of the +Iranic movements in Bactria and the adjoining regions. In the Matieni +of Zagros and Cappadocia, in the Sauro-matae (or Northern Medes) of the +country between the Palus Maeotis and the Caspian, in the Maetae or +Maeotae of the tract about the mouth of the Don, and in the Maedi of +Thrace, we have seemingly remnants of a great migratory host which, +starting from the mountains that overhang Mesopotamia, spread itself +into the regions of the north and the north-west at a time which +does not admit of being definitely stated, but which is clearly +anti-historic. Whether these races generally retained any tradition of +their origin, we do not know; but a tribe which in the time of Herodotus +dwelt still further to the west than even the Maedi--to wit, the +Sigynnae, who occupied the tract between the Adriatic and the +Danube--had a very distinct belief in their Median descent, a belief +confirmed by the resemblance which their national dress bore to that of +the Medes. Herodotus, who relates these facts concerning them, appends +an expression of his astonishment at the circumstance that emigrants +from Media should have proceeded to such a distance from their original +home; how it had been brought about he could not conceive. "Still," he +sagaciously remarks, "nothing is impossible in the long lapse of ages." + +A further argument in favor of the early development of Median power, +and the great importance of the nation in Western Asia at a period +anterior to the ninth century, is derivable from the ancient legends +of the Greeks, which seem to have designated the Medes under the two +eponyms of Medea and Andromeda. These legends indeed do not admit of +being dated with any accuracy; but as they are of a primitive type, and +probably older than Homer, we cannot well assign them to an age later +than b.c. 1000. Now they connect the Median name with the two countries +of Syria and Colchis, countries remote from each other, and neither of +them sufficiently near the true Median territory to be held from it, +unless at a time when the Medes were in possession of something like +an empire. And, even apart from any inferences to be drawn from the +localties which the Greek Myths connect with the Medes, the very fact +that the race was known to the Greeks at this early date--long before +the movements which brought them into contact with the Assyrians--would +seem to show that there was some remote period--prior to the Assyrian +domination--when the fame of the Medes was great in the part of Asia +known to the Hellenes, and that they did not first attract Hellenic +notice (as, but for the Myths, we might have imagined) by the conquests +of Cyaxarea. Thus, on the whole it would appear that we must acknowledge +two periods of Median prosperity, separated from each other by a lengthy +interval, one anterior to the rise of the Cushite empire in Lower +Babylonia, the other parallel with the decline and subsequently to the +fall of Assyria. + +Of the first period it cannot be said that we possess any distinct +historical knowledge. The Median dynasty of Berosus at Babylon appears, +by recent discoveries, to have represented those Susianian monarchs who +bore sway there from B.C. 2286 to 2052. The early Median preponderance +in Western Asia, if it is a fact, must have been anterior to this, and +is an event which has only left traces in ethnological names and in +mythological speculations. + +Our historical knowledge of the Medes as a nation commences in +the latter half of the ninth century before our era. Shalmaneser +II.--probably the "Shalman" of Hosea,--who reigned from B.C. 859 to B.C. +824--relates that in his twenty-fourth year (B.C. 885), after having +reduced to subjection the Zimri, who held the Zagros mountain range +immediately to the east of Assyria, and received tribute from the +Persians, he led an expedition into Media and Arazias, where he took and +destroyed a number of the towns, slaying the men, and carrying off the +spoil. He does not mention any pitched battle; and indeed it would seem +that he met with no serious resistance. The Medes whom he attacks +are evidently a weak and insignificant people, whom he holds in small +esteem, and regards as only deserving of a hurried mention. They seem +to occupy the tract now known as Ardelan--a varied region containing +several lofty ridges, with broad plains lying between them. + +It is remarkable that the time of this first contact of Media with +Assyria--a contact taking place when Assyria was in her prime, and Media +was only just emerging from a long period of weakness and obscurity--is +almost exactly that which Ctesias selects as a day of the great +revolution whereby the Empire of the East passed from the hands of the +Shemites into those of the Arians. The long residence of Otesias among +the Persians, gave him a bias toward that people, which even extended to +their close kin, the Medes. Bent on glorifying these two Arian races, +he determined to throw back the commencement of their empire to a period +long anterior to the true date; and, feeling specially anxious to cover +up their early humiliation, he assigned their most glorious conquests +to the very century, and almost to the very time, when they were in fact +suffering reverses at the hands of the people over whom he represented +them as triumphant. There was a boldness in the notion of thus inverting +history which almost deserved, and to a considerable extent obtained, +success. The "long chronology" of Ctesias kept its ground until +recently, not indeed meeting with universal acceptance, but on the whole +predominating over the "short chronology" of Herodotus; and it may be +doubted whether anything less than the discovery that the native records +of Assyria entirely contradicted Ctesias would have sufficed to drive +from the field his figment of early Median dominion. + +The second occasion upon which we hear of the Medes in the Assyrian +annals is in the reign of Shalmanoser's son and successor, Shamas-Vul. +Here again, as on the former occasion, the Assyrians were the +aggressors. Shamas-Vul invaded Media and Arazias in his third year, and +committed ravages similar to those of his father, wasting the country +with fire and sword, but not (it would seem) reducing the Medes to +subjection, or even attempting to occupy their territory. Again the +attack is a mere raid, which produces no permanent impression. + +It is in the reign of the son and successor of Shamas-Vul that the Medes +appear for the first time to have made their submission and accepted +the position of Assyrian tributaries. A people which was unable to offer +effectual resistance when the Assyrian levies invaded their country, and +which had no means of retaliating upon their foe or making him suffer +the evils that he inflicted, was naturally tempted to save itself from +molestation by the payment of an annual tribute, so purchasing quiet at +the expense of honor and independence. Towards the close of the ninth +century B.C. the Medes seem to have followed the example set them very +much earlier by their kindred and neighbors, the Persians, and to +have made arrangements for an annual payment which should exempt their +territory from ravage. It is doubtful whether the arrangement was made +by the whole people. The Median tribes at this time hung so loosely +together that a policy adopted by one portion of them might be entirely +repudiated by another. Most probably the tribute was paid by those +tribes only which boarded on Zagros, and not by those further to the +east or to the north, into whose territories the Assyrian arms has not +yet penetrated. + +No further change in the condition of the Medes is known to have +occurred until about a hundred years later, when the Assyrians ceased +to be content with the semi-independent position which had been hitherto +allowed them, and determined on their more complete subjugation. The +great Sargon, the assailant of Egypt and conqueror of Babylon, towards +the middle of his reign, invaded Media with a large army, and having +rapidly overrun the country, seized several of the towns, and "annexed +them to Assyria," while at the same time he also established in new +situations a number of fortified posts. The object was evidently to +incorporate Media into the empire; and the posts wore stations in which +a standing army was placed, to overawe the natives and prevent them from +offering an effectual resistance. With the same view deportation of the +people on a large scale seems to have been practised and the gaps +thus made in the population were filled up--wholly or in part--by the +settlement in the Median cities of Samaritan captives. On the country +thus re-organized and re-arranged a tribute of a new character was laid. +In lieu of the money payment hitherto exacted, the Medes were required +to furnish annually to the royal stud a number of horses. It is probable +that Media was already famous for the remarkable breed which is so +celebrated in later times; and that the horses now required of her by +the Assyrians were to be of the large and highly valued kind known as +"Nisaean." + +The date of this subjugation is about B.C. 710. And here, if we compare +the Greek accounts of Median history with those far more authentic ones +which have reached us through the Assyrian contemporary records, we are +struck by a repetition of the same device which came under our notice +more than a century earlier--the device of covering up the nation's +disgraces at a particular period by assigning to that very date certain +great and striking successes. As Ctesias's revolt of the Medes under +Arbaces and conquest of Nineveh synchronizes nearly with the first known +ravages of Assyria within the territories of the Medes, so Herodotus's +revolt of the same people and commencement of their monarchy under +Deioces falls almost exactly at the date when they entirely lose their +independence. As there is no reason to suspect Herodotus either of +partiality toward the Medes or of any wilful departure from the truth, +we must regard him as imposed upon by his informants, who were probably +either Medes or Persians. These mendacious patriots found little +difficulty in palming their false tale upon the simple Halicarnassian, +thereby at once extending the antiquity of their empire and concealing +its shame behind a halo of fictitious glory. + +After their subjugation by Sargon the Medes of Media Magna appear to +have remained the faithful subjects of Assyria for sixty or seventy +years. During this period we find no notices of the great mass of the +nation in the Assyrian records: only here and there indications occur +that Assyria is stretching out her arms towards the more distant and +outlying tribes, especially those of Azerbijan, and compelling them to +acknowledge her as mistress. Sennacherib boasts that early in his +reign, about B.C. 702, he received an embassy from the remoter parts of +Media--"parts of which the kings his fathers had not even heard"--which +brought him presents in sign of submission, and patiently accepted his +yoke. His son, Esar-haddon, relates that, about his tenth year (B.C. +671) he invaded Bikni or Bikan, a distant province of Media, "whereof +the kings his fathers had never heard the name;" and, attacking the +cities of the region one after another, forced them to acknowledge his +authority. The country was held by a number of independent chiefs, each +bearing sway in his own city and adjacent territory. These chiefs have +unmistakably Arian names, as Sitriparna or Sitraphernes, Eparna or +Orphernes, Zanasana or Zanasanes, and Eamatiya or Ramates. Esar-haddon +says that, having entered the country with his army, he seized two of +the chiefs and carried them off to Assyria, together with a vast spoil +and numerous other captives. Hereupon the remaining chiefs, alarmed +for their safety, made their submission, consenting to pay an annual +tribute, and admitting Assyrian officers into their territories, who +watched, if they did not even control, the government. + +We are now approaching the time when Media seems to have been first +consolidated into a monarchy by the genius of an individual. Sober +history is forced to discard the shadowy forms of kings with which Greek +writers of more fancy than judgment have peopled the darkness that rests +upon the "origines" of the Medes. Arbaces, Maudaces, Sosarmus, Artycas, +Arbianes, Artseus, Deioces--Median monarchs, according to Ctesias or +Herodotus, during the space of time comprised within the years B.C. 875 +and 655--have to be dismissed by the modern writer without a word, +since there is reason to believe that they are mere creatures of the +imagination, inventions of unscrupulous romancers, not men who once +walked the earth. The list of Median kings in Ctesias, so far as it +differs from the list in Herodotus, seems to be a pure forgery--an +extension of the period of the monarchy by the conscious use of a system +of duplication. Each king, or period, in Herodotus occurs in the list +of Ctesias twice--a transparent device, clumsily cloaked by the cheap +expedient of a liberal invention of names. Even the list of Herodotus +requires curtailment. His Deioces, whose whole history reads more like +romance than truth--the organizer of a powerful monarchy in Media just +at the time when Sargon was building his fortified posts in the +country and peopling with his Israelite captives the old "cities of the +Medes"--the prince who reigned for above half a century in perfect +peace with his neighbors, and who, although contemporary with Sargon, +Sennacherib, Esar-haddon, and As-shur-bani-pal--all kings more or less +connected with Media--is never heard of in any of their annals, must +be relegated to the historical limbo in which repose so many "shades of +mighty names;" and the Herodotean list of Median kings must at any +rate, be thus far reduced. Nothing is more evident than that during the +flourishing period of Assyria under the great Sargonidae above named +there was no grand Median kingdom upon the eastern flank of the empire. +Such a kingdom had certainly not been formed up to B.C. 671, when +Esar-haddon reduced the more distant Medes, finding them still under the +government of a number of petty chiefs. The earliest time at which we +can imagine the consolidation to have taken place consistently with what +we know of Assyria is about B.C. 760, or nearly half a century later +than the date given by Herodotus. + +The cause of the sudden growth of Media in power about this period, and +of the consolidation which followed rapidly upon that growth, is to +be sought, apparently, in fresh migratory movements from the Arian +head-quarters, the countries east and south-east of the Caspian. The +Cyaxares who about the year B.C. 632 led an invading host of Medes +against Nineveh, was so well known to the Arian tribes of the north-east +that, when in the reign of Darius Hystaspis a Sagartian raised the +standard of revolt in that region he stated the ground of his claim to +the Sagartian throne to be descent from Cyaxares. This great chief, +it is probable, either alone, or in conjunction with his father (whom +Herodotus calls Phraortes), led a fresh emigration of Arians from the +Bacterian and Sagartian country to the regions directly east of the +Zagros mountain chain; and having thus vastly increased the strength of +the Arian race in that quarter, set himself to consolidate a mountain +kingdom capable of resisting the great monarchy of the plain. Accepted, +it would seem, as chief by the former Arian inhabitants of the tract, he +proceeded to reduce the scattered Scythic tribes which had hitherto held +possession of the high mountain region. The Zimri, Minni, Hupuska, +etc., who divided among them the country lying between Media Proper and +Assyria, were attacked and subdued without any great difficulty; and the +conqueror, finding himself thus at the head of a considerable kingdom, +and no longer in any danger of subjugation at the hands of Assyria, +began to contemplate the audacious enterprise of himself attacking +the Great Power which had been for so many hundred years the terror of +Western Asia. The supineness of Asshur-bani-pal, the Assyrian king, +who must at this time have been advanced in years, encouraged his +aspirations; and about B.C. 634, when that monarch had held the throne +for thirty-four years, suddenly, without warning, the Median troops +debouched from the passes of Zagros, and spread themselves over the rich +country at its base, Alarmed by the nearness and greatness of the peril, +the Assyrian king aroused himself, and putting himself at the head of +his troops, marched out to confront the invader. A great battle +was fought, probably somewhere in Adiabene, in which the Medes were +completely defeated: their whole army was cut to pieces; and the father +of Cyaxares was among the slain. Such was the result of the first Median +expedition against Nineveh. The assailants had miscalculated their +strength. In their own mountain country, and so long as they should +be called upon to act only on the defensive, they might be right +in regarding themselves as a match for the Assyrians; but when they +descended into the plain, and allowed their enemy the opportunity +of manoeuvering and of using his war chariots, their inferiority was +marked. Cyaxares, now, if not previously, actual king, withdrew awhile +from the war, and, convinced that all the valor of his Medes would be +unavailing without discipline, set himself to organize the army on a +new system, taking a pattern from the enemy, who had long possessed some +knowledge of tactics. Hitherto, it would seem, each Median chief had +brought into the field his band of followers, some mounted, some on +foot, foot and horse alike armed variously as their means allowed them, +some with bows and arrows, some with spears, some perhaps with slings or +darts; and the army had been composed of a number of such bodies, each +chief keeping his band close about him. Cyaxares broke up these bands, +and formed the soldiers who composed them into distinct corps, according +as they were horsemen or footmen, archers, slingers, or lancers. He +then, having completed his arrangements at his ease, without disturbance +(so far as appears) from the Assyrians, felt himself strong enough to +renew the war with a good prospect of success. Collecting as large +an army as he could, both from his Arian and his Scythic subjects, he +marched into Assyria, met the troops of Asshur-bani-pal in the field, +defeated them signally, and forced them to take refuge behind the strong +works which defended their capital. He even ventured to follow up the +flying foe and commence the siege of the capital itself; but at this +point he was suddenly checked in his career of victory, and forced to +assume a defensive attitude, by a danger of a novel kind, which recalled +him from Nineveh to his own country. + +The vast tracts, chiefly consisting of grassy plains, which lie north of +the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian, and the Jaxartes Syhun river, +were inhabited in ancient times by a race or races known to the Asiatics +as Saka, "Scythians." These people appear to have been allied ethnically +with many of the more southern races, as with the Parthians, the +Iberians, the Alarodians, the tribes of the Zagros chain, the +Susianians, and others. It is just possible that they may have taken +an interest in the warfare of their southern brethren, and that, when +Cyaxares brought the tribes of Zagros under his yoke, the Scyths of the +north may have felt resentment, or compassion, If this view seem too +improbable, considering the distance, the physical obstacles, and the +little communication that there was between nations in those early +times, we must suppose that by a mere coincidence it happened that the +subjugation of the southern Scyths by Cyaxares was followed within a few +years by a great irruption of Scyths from the trans-Caucasian region. In +that case we shall have to regard the invasion as a mere example of that +ever-recurring law by which the poor and hardy races of Upper Asia or +Europe are from time to time directed upon the effete kingdoms of the +south, to shake, ravage, or overturn them, as the case may be, and +prevent them from stagnating into corruption. + +The character of the Scythians, and the general nature of their ravages, +have been described in a former portion of this work. If they entered +Southern Asia, as seems probable, by the Daghestan route, they would +then have been able to pass on without much difficulty, through Georgia +into Azerbijan, and from Azerbijan into Media Magna, where the Medes had +now established their southern capital. Four roads lead from Azerbijan +to Hamadan or the Greater Ecbatana, one through Menjil and Kasvin, and +across the Caraghan Hills; a second through Miana, Zenjan, and the +province of Khamseh; a third by the valley of the Jaghetu, through +Chukli and Tikan-Teppeh; and a fourth through Sefer-Khaneh and Sennah. +We cannot say which of the four the invaders selected; but, as they were +passing southwards, they met the army of Cyaxares, which had quitted +Nineveh on the first news of their invasion, and had marched in hot +haste to meet and engage them. The two enemies were not ill-matched. +Both were hardy and warlike, both active and full of energy; with both +the cavalry was the chief arm, and the bow the weapon on which they +depended mainly for victory. The Medes were no doubt the better +disciplined; they had a greater variety of weapons and of soldiers; and +individually they were probably more powerful men than the Scythians; +but these last had the advantage of numbers, of reckless daring, and of +tactics that it was difficult to encounter. Moreover, the necessity of +their situation in the midst of an enemy's country made it imperative on +them to succeed, while their adversaries might be defeated without any +very grievous consequences. The Scytho had not come into Asia to conquer +so much as to ravage; defeat at their hands involved damage rather than +destruction; and the Medes must have felt that, if they lost the battle, +they might still hope to maintain a stout defence behind the strong +walls of some of their towns. The result was such as might have been +expected under these circumstances. Madyes, the Scythian leader, +obtained the victory, Cyaxares was defeated, and compelled to make terms +with the invader. Retaining his royal name, and the actual government of +his country, he admitted the suzerainty of the Scyths, and agreed to pay +them an annual tribute. Whether Media suffered very seriously from their +ravages, we cannot say. Neither its wealth nor its fertility was such +as to tempt marauders to remain in it very long. The main complaint +made against the Scythian conquerors is that, not content with the +fixed tribute which they had agreed to receive, and which was paid them +regularly, they levied contributions at their pleasure on the various +states under their sway, which were oppressed by repeated exactions. The +injuries suffered from their marauding habits form only a subordinate +charge against them, as though it had not been practically felt to be +so great a grievance. We can well imagine that the bulk of the invaders +would prefer the warmer and richer lands of Assyria, Mesopotamia, and +Syria; and that, pouring into them, they would leave the colder and less +wealthy Media comparatively free from ravage. + +The condition of Media and the adjacent countries under the Scythians +must have nearly resembled that of almost the same regions under +the Seljukian Turks during the early times of their domination. The +conquerors made no fixed settlements, but pitched their tents in any +portion of the territory that they chose. Their horses and cattle +were free to pasture on all lands equally. They were recognized as the +dominant race, were feared and shunned, but did not greatly interfere +with the bulk of their subjects. It was impossible that they should +occupy at any given time more than a comparatively few spots in the wide +tract which they had overrun and subjugated; and, consequently, +there was not much contact between them and the peoples whom they had +conquered. Such contact as there was must no doubt have been galling and +oppressive. The right of free pasture in the lands of others is always +irksome to those who have to endure it, and, even where it is exercised +with strict fairness, naturally leads to quarrels. The barbarous +Scythians are not likely to have cared very much about fairness. They +would press heavily upon the more fertile tracts, paying over-frequent +visits to such spots, and remaining in them till the region was +exhausted. The chiefs would not be able to restrain their followers +from acts of pillage; redress would be obtained with difficulty; and +sometimes even the chiefs themselves may have been sharers in the +injuries committed. The insolence, moreover, of a dominant race so +coarse and rude as the Scyths must have been very hard to bear; and we +can well understand that the various nations which had to endure the +yoke must have looked anxiously for an opportunity of shaking it off, +and recovering their independence. + +Among these various nations, there was probably none that fretted and +winced under its subjection more than the Medes. Naturally brave and +high-spirited, with the love of independence inherent in mountaineers, +and with a well-grounded pride in their recent great successes, they +must have chafed daily and hourly at the ignominy of their position, +the postponement of their hopes, and the wrongs which they continually +suffered. At first it seemed necessary to endure. They had tried the +chances of a battle, and had been defeated in fair fight--what reason +was there to hope that, if they drew the sword again, they would be more +successful? Accordingly they remained quiet but, as time went on, and +the Scythians dispersed themselves continually over a wider and a +wider space, invading Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and again +Armenia and Cappadocia, everywhere plundering and marauding, conducting +sieges, fighting battles, losing men from the sword, from sickness, from +excesses, becoming weaker instead of stronger, as each year went by, +owing to the drain of constant wars--the Medes by degrees took heart. +Not trusting, however, entirely to the strength of their right arms, a +trust which had failed them once, they resolved to prepare the way for +an outbreak by a stratagem which they regarded as justifiable. Cyaxares +and his court invited a number of the Scythian chiefs to a grand +banquet, and, having induced them to drink till they were completely +drunk, set upon them when they were in this helpless condition, and +remorselessly slew them all. + +This deed was the signal for a general revolt of the nation. The Medes +everywhere took arms, and, turning upon their conquerors, assailed them +with a fury the more terrible because it had been for years repressed. +A war followed, the duration and circumstances of which are unknown; for +the stories with which Ctesias enlivened this portion of his history can +scarcely be accepted as having any foundation in fact. According to him, +the Parthians made common cause with the Scythians on the occasion, and +the war lasted many years; numerous battles were fought with great loss +to both sides; and peace was finally concluded without either party +having gained the upper hand. The Scyths were commanded by a queen, +Zarina or Zarinsea, woman of rare beauty, and as brave as she was +fair; who won the hearts, when she could not resist the swords, of her +adversaries. A strangely romantic love-tale is told of this beauteous +Amazon. It is not at all clear what region Ctesias supposes her to +govern. It has a capital city, called Koxanace (a name entirely unknown +to any other historian or geographer), and it contains many other towns +of which Zarina was the foundress. Its chief architectural monument was +the tomb of Zarina, a triangular pyramid, six hundred feet high, and +more than a mile round the base, crowned by a colossal figure of the +queen made of solid gold. But--to leave these fables and return to +fact--we can only say with certainty that the result of the war was the +complete defeat of the Scythians, who not only lost their position of +pre-eminence in Media and the adjacent countries, but were driven across +the Caucasus into their own proper territory. Their expulsion was +so complete that they scarcely left a trace of their power or their +presence in the geography or ethnography of the country. One Palestine +city only, as already observed, and one Armenian province retained in +their names a lingering memory of the great inroad which but for them +would have passed away without making any more permanent mark on the +region than a hurricane or a snowstorm. How long the dominion of the +Scyths endured is a matter of great uncertainty. It was no doubt +the belief of Herodotus that from their defeat of Cyaxares to his +treacherous murder of their chiefs was a period of exactly twenty-eight +years. During the whole of this space he regarded them as the undisputed +lords of Asia. It was not till the twenty-eight years were over that +the Medes were able, according to him, to renew their attacks on the +Assyrians, and once more to besiege Nineveh. But this chronology is open +to great objections. There is strong reason for believing that Nineveh +fell about B.C. 625 or 624; but according to the numbers of Herodotus +the fall would, at the earliest, have taken place in B.C. 602. There is +great unlikelihood that the Scyths, if they had maintained their rule +for a generation, should not have attracted some distinct notice from +the Jewish writers. Again, if twenty-eight out of the forty years +assigned to Cyaxares are to be regarded as years of inaction, all his +great exploits, his two sieges of Nineveh, his capture of that capital, +his conquest of the countries north and west of Media as far as the +Halys, his six years' war in Asia Minor beyond that river, and his joint +expedition with Nebuchadnezzar into Syria, will have to be crowded most +improbably into the space of twelve years, two or three preceding and +ten or nine following the Scythian domination. These and other reasons +lead to the conclusion, which has the support of Eusebius, that +the Scythian domination was of much shorter duration than Herodotus +imagined. It may have been twenty-eight years from the original attack +on Media to the final expulsion of the last of the invaders from +Asia--and this may have been what the informants of Herodotus really +intended--but it cannot have been very long after the first attack +before the Medes began to recover themselves, to shake off the fear +which had possessed them and clear their territories of the invaders. If +the invasion really took place in the reign of Cyaxares, and not in the +lifetime of his father, where Eusebius places it, we must suppose that +within eight years of its occurrence Cyaxares found himself sufficiently +strong, and his hands sufficiently free, to resume his old projects, and +for the second time to march an army into Assyria. + +The weakness of Assyria was such as to offer strong temptations to an +invader. As the famous inroad of the Gauls into Italy in the year of +Rome 365 paved the way for the Roman conquests in the peninsula by +breaking the power of the Etruscans, the Umbrians, and various other +races, so the Scythic incursion may have, really benefited, rather than +injured, Media, by weakening the great power to whose empire she +aspired to succeed. The exhaustion of Assyria's resources at the time is +remarkably illustrated by the poverty and meanness of the palace which +the last king, Saracus, built for himself at Calah. She lay, apparently, +at the mercy of the first bold assailant, her prestige lost, her army +dispirited or disorganized, her defences injured, her high spirit broken +and subdued. + +Cyaxaros, ere proceeding to the attack, sent, it is probable, to make +an alliance with the Susianians and Chaldaeans. Susiana was the last +country which Assyria had conquered, and could remember the pleasures of +independence. Chaldaea, though it had been now for above half a century +an Assyrian fief, and had borne the yoke with scarcely a murmur during +that period, could never wholly forget its old glories, or the long +resistance which it had made before submitting to its northern neighbor. +The overtures of the Median monarch seem to have been favorably +received; and it was agreed that an army from the south should march up +the Tigris and threaten Assyria from that quarter, while Cyaxares +led his Medes from the east, through the passes of Zagros against the +capital. Rumor soon conveyed the tidings of his enemies' intentions to +the Assyrian monarch, who immediately made such a disposition of the +forces at his command as seemed best calculated to meet the double +danger which threatened him. Selecting from among his generals the +one in whom he placed most confidence--a man named Nabopolassar, most +probably an Assyrian--he put him at the head of a portion of his troops, +and sent him to Babylon to resist the enemy who was advancing from the +sea. The command of his main army he reserved for himself, intending to +undertake in person the defence of his territory against the Medes. This +plan of campaign was not badly conceived; but it was frustrated by an +unexpected calamity, Nabopolassar, seeing his sovereign's danger, and +calculating astutely that he might gain more by an opportune defection +from a falling cause than he could look to receive as the reward of +fidelity, resolved to turn traitor and join the enemies of Assyria. +Accordingly he sent an embassy to Cyaxares, with proposals for a close +alliance to be cemented by a marriage. If the Median monarch would +give his daughter Amuhia (or Amyitis) to be the wife of his son +Nebuchadnezzar, the forces under his command should march against +Nineveh and assist Cyaxares to capture it. Such a proposition arriving +at such a time was not likely to meet with a refusal. Cyaxares gladly +came into the terms; the marriage took place; and Nabopolassar, who had +now practically assumed the sovereignty of Babylon, either led or sent a +Babylonian contingent to the aid of the Medes. + +The siege of Nineveh by the combined Medes and Babylonians was narrated +by Ctesias at some length. He called the Assyrian king Sardanapalus, +the Median commander Arbaces, the Babylonian Belesis. Though he thus +disguised the real names, and threw back the event to a period a century +and a half earlier than its true date, there can be no doubt that he +intended to relate the last siege of the city, that which immediately +preceded its complete destruction. He told how the combined army, +consisting of Persians and Arabs as well as of Medes and Babylonians, +and amounting to four hundred thousand men, was twice defeated with +great loss by the Assyrian monarch, and compelled to take refuge in +the Zagros chain--how after losing a third battle it retreated to +Babylonia--how it was there joined by strong reinforcements from +Bactria, surprised the Assyrian camp by night, and drove the whole host +in confusion to Nineveh--how then, after two more victories, it advanced +and invested the city, which was well provisioned for a siege and +strongly fortified. The siege, Ctesias said, had lasted two full years, +and the third year had commenced--success seemed still far off--when +an unusually rainy season so swelled the waters of the Tigris that they +burst into the city, sweeping away more than two miles of the wall. +This vast breach it was impossible to repair; and the Assyrian monarch, +seeing that further resistance was vain, brought the struggle to an end +by burning himself, with his concubines and eunuchs and all his chief +wealth, in his palace. + +Such, in outline, was the story of Ctesias. If we except the extent +of the breach which the river is declared to have made, it contains no +glaring improbabilities. On the contrary, it is a narrative that hangs +well together, and that suits both the relations of the parties and +the localities. Moreover, it is confirmed in one or two points by +authorities of the highest order. Still, as Ctesias is a writer who +delights in fiction, and as it seems very unlikely that he would find a +detailed account of the siege, such as he has given us, in the Persian +archives, from whence he professed to derive his history, no confidence +can be placed in those points of his narrative which have not any +further sanction. All that we know on the subject of the last siege +of Nineveh is that it was conducted by a combined army of Medes +and Babylonians, the former commanded by Cyaxares, the latter by +Nabopolassar or Nebuchadnezzar, and that it was terminated, when +all hope was lost, by the suicide of the Assyrian monarch. The +self-immolation of Saracus is related by Abydenus, who almost certainly +follows Berosus in this part of his history. We may therefore accept +it as a fact about which there ought to be no question. Actuated by +a feeling which has more than once caused a vanquished monarch to die +rather than fall into the power of his enemies, Saracus made a funeral +pyre of his ancestral palace, and lighted it with his own hand. + +One further point in the narrative of Ctesias we may suspect to contain +a true representation. Ctesias declared the cause of the capture to +have been the destruction of the city wall by an unexpected rise of the +river. Now, the prophet Nahum, in his announcement of the fate coming on +Nineveh, has a very remarkable expression, which seems most naturally to +point to some destruction of a portion of the fortifications by means of +water. After relating the steps that would be taken for the defence of +the place, he turns to remark on their fruitlessness, and says: "The +gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved; and Huzzab +is led away captive; she is led up, with her maidens, sighing as with +the voice of doves, smiting upon their breasts." Now, we have already +seen that at the northwest angle of Nineveh there was a sluice or +floodgate, intended mainly to keep the water of the Khosrsu, which +ordinarily filled the city moat, from flowing off too rapidly into the +Tigris, but probably intended also to keep back the water of the Tigris, +when that stream rose above its common level. A sudden and great rise +of the Tigris would necessarily endanger this gate, and if it gave way +beneath the pressure, a vast torrent of water would rush up the moat +along and against the northern wall, which may have been undermined by +its force, and have fallen in. The stream would then pour into the city; +and it may perhaps have reached the palace platform, which being made +of sun-dried bricks, and probably not cased with stone inside the +city, would begin to be "dissolved." Such seems the simplest and best +interpretation of this passage, which, though it is not historical, but +only prophetical, must be regarded as giving an importance that it would +not otherwise have possessed to the statement of Ctesias with regard to +the part played by the Tigris in the destruction of Nineveh. + +The fall of the city was followed by a division of the spoil between the +two principal conquerors. While Cyaxares took to his own share the land +of the conquered people, Assyria Proper, and the countries dependent on +Assyria towards the north and north-west, Nabopolassar was allowed, not +merely Babylonia, Chaldaea, and Susiana, but the valley of the Euphrates +and the countries to which that valley conducted. Thus two considerable +empires arose at the same time cut of the ashes of Assyria--the +Babylonian towards the south and the south-west, stretching from +Luristan to the borders of Egypt, the Median towards the north, reaching +from the salt desert of Iran to Amanus and the Upper Euphrates. +These empires were established by mutual consent; they were connected +together, not merely by treaties, but by the ties of affinity which +united their rulers; and, instead of cherishing, as might have been +expected, a mutual suspicion and distrust, they seem to have really +entertained the most friendly feelings towards one another, and to have +been ready on all emergencies to lend each other important assistance. +For once in the history of the world two powerful monarchies were seen +to stand side by side, not only without collision, but without jealousy +or rancor. Babylonia and Media were content to share between them the +empire of Western Asia: the world was, they thought, wide enough for +both; and so, though they could not but have had in some respects +conflicting interests, they remained close friends and allies for more +than half a century. + +To the Median monarch the conquest of Assyria did not bring a time +of repose. Wandering bands of Scythians were still, it is probable, +committing ravages in many parts of Western Asia. The subjects of +Assyria, set free by her downfall, were likely to use the occasion for +the assertion of their independence, if they were not immediately shown +that a power of at least equal strength had taken her place, and was +prepared to claim her inheritance. War begets war; and the successes of +Cyaxares up to the present point in his career did but whet his appetite +for power, and stimulate him to attempt further conquests. In brief but +pregnant words Herodotus informs us that Cyaxares "subdued to himself +all Asia above the Halys." How much he may include in this expression, +it is impossible to determine; but, _prime facie_, it would seem at +least to imply that he engaged in a series of wars with the various +tribes and nations which intervened between Media and Assyria on the one +side and the river Halys on the other, and that he succeeded in bringing +them under his dominion. The most important countries in this direction +were Armenia and Cappadocia. Armenia, strong in its lofty mountains, +its deep gorges, and its numerous rapid rivers--the head-streams of +the Tigris, Euphrates, Kur, and Aras--had for centuries resisted with +unconquered spirit the perpetual efforts of the Assyrian kings to bring +it under their yoke, and had only at last consented under the latest +king but one to a mere nominal allegiance. Cappadocia had not even been +brought to this degree of dependence. It had lain beyond the furthest +limit whereto the Assyrian arms had ever reached, and had not as yet +come into collision with any of the great powers of Asia. Other minor +tribes in this region, neighbors of the Armenians and Cappadocians, but +more remote from Media, were the Ibenans, the Colchians, the Moschi, the +Tibareni, the Mares the Macrones, and the Mosynoeci. Herodotus appears +to have been of opinion that all these tribes, or at any rate all but +the Colchians, were at this time brought under by Cyaxares who thus +extended his dominions to the Caucasus and the Black Sea upon the north, +and upon the east to the Kizil Irmak or Halys. + +It is possible that the reduction of these countries under the Median +yoke was not so much a conquest as a voluntary submission of the +inhabitants to the power which alone seemed strong enough to save them +from the hated domination of the Scyths. According to Strabo, Armenia +and Cappadocia were the regions where the Scythic ravages had been most +severely felt. Cappadocia had been devastated from the mountains down +to the coast; and in Armenia the most fertile portion of the whole +territory had been seized and occupied by the invaders, from whom it +thenceforth took the name of Sacassene, the Armenians and Cappadocians +may have found the yoke of the Scyths so intolerable as to have gladly +exchanged it for dependence on a comparatively civilized people. In +the neighboring territory of Asia Minor a similar cause had recently +exercised a unifying influence, the necessity of combining to resist +Cimmerian immigrants having tended to establish a hegemony of Lydia over +the various tribes which divided among them the tract west of the Halys. +It is evidently not improbable that the sufferings endured at the hands +of the Scyths may have disposed the nations east of the river to adopt +the same remedy and that, so soon as Media had proved her strength, +first by shaking herself free of the Scythic invaders and then +conquering Assyria. the tribes of these parts accepted her as at once +their mistress and their deliverer. + +Another quite distinct cause may also have helped to bring about the +result above indicated. Parallel with the great Median migration from +the East under Cyaxares, or Phraortes (?), his father, an Arian influx +had taken place into the countries between the Caspian and the Halys. +In Armenia and Cappadocia during the flourishing period of Assyria, +Turanian tribes had been predominant. Between the middle and the end of +the seventh century these tribes appear to have yielded the supremacy to +Arians. In Armenia, the present language which is predominantly +Arian, ousted the former Turaman tongue which appears in the cuneiform +inscriptions of Van and the adjacent regions. In Cappadocia, the Moschi +and Tibareni had to yield their seats to a new race--the Katapatuka, who +were not only Arian but distinctly Medo-Persic, as is plain from their +proper names, and from the close connection of their royal house +with that of the kings of Persia. This spread of the Arians into the +countries lying between the Caspian and the Halys must have done much to +pave the way for Median supremacy over those regions. The weaker Arian +tribes of the north would have been proud of their southern brethren, to +whose arms the queen of Western Asia had been forced to yield, and +would have felt comparatively little repugnance in surrendering their +independence into the hands of a friendly and kindred people. + +Thus Cyaxares, in his triumphant progress to the north and the +north-west, made war, it is probable, chiefly upon the Scyths, or upon +them and the old Turanian inhabitants of the countries, while by +the Arians he was welcomed as a champion come to deliver them from +a grievous oppression. Ranging themselves under his standard, they +probably helped him to expel from Asia the barbarian hordes which had +now for many years tyrannized over them; and when the expulsion was +completed, gratitude or habit made them willing to continue in the +subject position which they had assumed in order to effect it. Cyaxares +within less than ten years from his capture of Nineveh had added to his +empire the fertile and valuable tracts of Armenia and Cappadocia--never +really subject to Assyria--and may perhaps have further mastered the +entire region between Armenia and the Caucasus and Euxine. + +The advance of their western frontier to the river Halys, which was +involved in the absorption of Cappadocia into the Empire, brought the +Medes into contact with a new power--a power which, like Media, had been +recently increasing in greatness, and which was not likely to submit to +a foreign yoke without a struggle. The Lydian kingdom was one of great +antiquity in this part of Asia. According to traditions current among +its people, it had been established more than seven hundred years at the +time when Cyaxares pushed his conquests to its borders. Three dynasties +of native kings--Atyadse, Heraclidse, and Mermnadae--had successively +held the throne during that period. The Lydians could repeat the names +of at least thirty monarchs who had borne sway in Sardis, their capital +city, since its foundation. They had never been conquered. In the old +times, indeed, Lydus, the son of Atys, had changed the name of the +people inhabiting the country from Maeonians to Lydians--a change which +to the keen sense of an historical critic implies a conquest of one race +by another. But to the people themselves this tradition conveyed no such +meaning; or, if it did to any, their self-complacency was not disturbed +thereby, since they would hug the notion that they belonged not to the +conquered race but to the conquerors. If a Ramcsos or a Sesostris had +ever penetrated to their country, he had met with a brave resistance, +and had left monuments indicating his respect for their courage. +Neither Babylon nor Assyria had ever given a king to the Lydians--on the +contrary, the Lydian tradition was, that they had themselves sent forth +Belus and Ninus from their own country to found dynasties and cities in +Mesopotamia. In a still more remote age they had seen their colonists +embark upon the western waters, and start for the distant Hesperia, +where they had arrived in safety, and had founded the great Etruscan +nation. On another occasion they had carried their arms beyond the +limits of Asia Minor, and had marched southward to the very extremity +of: Syria, where their general, Ascalus, had founded a great city and +called it after his name. + +Such were the Lydian traditions with respect to the more remote times. +Of their real history they seem to have known but little, and that +little did not extend further back than about two hundred years before +Cyaxares. Within this space it was certain that they had had a change +of dynasty, a change preceded by a long feud between their two greatest +houses, which were perhaps really two branches of the royal family. The +Heraclidae had grown jealous of the Mermnadae, and had treated them with +injustice; the Mormnadae had at first sought their safety in flight, +and afterwards, when they felt themselves strong enough, had returned, +murdered the Heraclide monarch, and placed their chief, Gyges, upon +the throne. With Gyges, who had commenced his reign about B.C. 700, the +prosperity of the Lydians had greatly increased, and they had begun to +assume an aggressive attitude towards their neighbors. Gyges' revenue +was so great that his wealth became proverbial, and he could afford to +spread his fame by sending from his superfluity to the distant temple +of Delphi presents of such magnificence that they were the admiration +of later ages. The relations of his predecessors with the Greeks of +the Asiatic coast had been friendly, Gyges changed this policy, and, +desirous of enlarging his seaboard, made war upon the Greek maritime +towns, attacking Miletus and Smyrna without result, but succeeding in +capturing the Ionic city of Colophon. He also picked a quarrel with +the inland town of Magnesia, and after many invasions of its territory +compelled it to submission. According to some, he made himself master +of the whole territory of the Troad, and the Milesians had to obtain his +permission before they could establish their colony of Abydos upon the +Hellespont. At any rate he was a rich and puissant monarch in the +eyes of the Greeks of Asia and the islands, who were never tired of +celebrating his wealth, his wars, and his romantic history. + +The shadow of calamity had, however, fallen upon Lydia towards the close +of Gyges' long reign. About thirty years before the Scythians from +the Steppe country crossed the Caucasus and fell upon Media, the same +barrier was passed by another groat horde of nomads. The Cimmerians, +probably a Celtic people, who had dwelt hitherto in the Tauric +Chersonese and the country adjoining upon it, pressed on by Scythic +invaders from the East, had sought a vent in this direction. Passing +the great mountain barrier either by the route of Mozdok--the Pylas +Caucasiae--or by some still more difficult track towards the Euxine, +they had entered Asia Minor by way of Cappadocia and had spread terror +and devastation in every direction. Gyges, alarmed at their advance, had +placed himself under the protection of Assyria, and had then confidently +given them battle, defeated them, and captured several of their chiefs. +It is uncertain whether the Assyrians gave him any material aid, but +evident that he ascribed his success to his alliance with them. In his +gratitude he sent an embassy to Asshur-bani-pal, king of Assyria, and +courted his favor by presents and by sending him his Cimmerian captives. +Later in his reign, however, he changed his policy, and, breaking with +Assyria, gave aid to the Egyptian rebel, Psammetichus, and helped him +to establish his independence. The result followed which was to be +expected. Assyria withdrew her protection; and Lydia was left to fight +her own battles when the great crisis came. Carrying all before them, +the fierce hordes swarmed in full force into the more western districts +of Asia Minor; Paphlagonia, Phrygia, Bithynia, Lydia, and Ionia were +overrun; Gyges, venturing on an engagement, perished; the frightened +inhabitants generally shut themselves up in their walled towns, and +hoped that the tide of invasion might sweep by them quickly and roll +elsewhere; but the Cimmerians, impatient and undisciplined as they +might be, could sometimes bring themselves to endure the weary work of a +siege, and they saw in the Lydian capital a prize well worth an effort. +The hordes besieged Sardis, and took it, except the citadel, which was +commandingly placed and defied all their attempts. A terrible scene of +carnage must have followed. How Lydia withstood the blow, and rapidly +recovered from it, is hard to understand; but it seems certain that +within a generation she was so far restored to vigor as to venture +on resuming her attacks upon the Greeks of the coast, which had been +suspended during her period of prostration. Sadyattes, the son of +Ardys, and grandson of Gyges, following the example of his father and +grandfather, made war upon Miletus; and Alyattes, his son and successor, +pursued the same policy of aggression. Besides pressing Miletus, he +besieged and took Smyrna, and ravaged the territory of Clazomenae. + +But the great work of Alyattes' reign, and the one which seems to have +had the most important consequences for Lydia, was the war which he +undertook for the purpose of expelling the Cimmerians from Asia Minor. +The hordes had been greatly weakened by time, by their losses in war, +and, probably by their excesses; they had long ceased to be formidable; +but they were still strong enough to be an annoyance. Alyattes is said +to have "driven them out of Asia," by which we can scarcely understand +less than that he expelled them from his own dominions and those of his +neighbors--or, in other words, from the countries which had been the +scenes of their chief ravages--Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Lydia, Phrygia, +and Cilicia. But, to do this, he must have entered into a league with +his neighbors, who must have consented to act under him for the purposes +of war, if they did not even admit the permanent hegemony of his +country. Alyattes' success appears to have been complete, or nearly so; +he cleared Asia Minor of the Cimmerians; and having thus conferred a +benefit on all the nations of the region and exhibited before their +eyes his great military capacity, if he had not actually constructed an +empire, he had at any rate done much to pave the way for one. + +Such was the political position in the regions west and south of the +Halys, when Cyaxares completed his absorption of Cappadocia, and looking +across the river that divided the Cappadocians from the Phrygians, saw +stretched before him a region of great fertile plains, which seemed to +invite an invader. A pretext for an attack was all that he wanted, +and this was soon forthcoming. A body of the nomad Scyths--probably +belonging to the great invasion, though Herodotus thought otherwise--had +taken service under Cyaxares, and for some time served him faithfully, +being employed chiefly as hunters. A cause of quarrel, however, arose +after a while; and the Scyths, disliking their position or distrusting +the intentions of their lords towards them, quitted the Median +territory, and, marching through a great part of Asia Minor, sought and +found a refuge with Alyattes, the Lydian king. Cyaxares, upon learning +their flight, sent an embassy to the court of Sardis to demand the +surrender of the fugitives; but the Lydian monarch met the demand with a +refusal, and, fully understanding the probable consequences, immediately +prepared for war. + +Though Lydia, compared to Media, was but a small state, yet her +resources were by no means inconsiderable. In fertility she surpassed +almost every other country of Asia Minor, which is altogether one of +the richest regions in the world. At this time she was producing large +quantities of gold, which was found in great abundance in the Pactolus, +and probably in the other small streams that flowed down on all sides +from the Tmolus mountain-chain. Her people were at once warlike and +ingenious. They had invented the art of coining money, and showed +considerable taste in their devices. [PLATE VII., Fig. 1], They claimed +also to have been the inventors of a number of games, which were common +to them with the Greeks. According to Herodotus, they were the first +who made a livelihood by shop-keeping. They were skilful in the use of +musical instruments, and had their own peculiar musical mode or style, +which was in much favor among the Greeks, though condemned as effeminate +by some of the philosophers. At the same time the Lydians were not +wanting in courage or manliness. They fought chiefly on horseback, and +were excellent riders, carrying long spears, which they managed with +great skill. Nicolas of Damascus tells us that even under the Heraclido +kings, they could muster for service cavalry to the number of 30,000. In +peace they pursued with ardor the sports of the field, and found in the +chase of the wild boar a pastime which called forth and exercised every +manly quality. Thus Lydia, even by herself, was no contemptible enemy; +though it can hardly be supposed that, without help from others, she +would have proved a match for the Great Median Empire. + +[Illustration: PLATE VII.] + +But such help as she needed was not wanting to her. The rapid strides +with which Media had advanced towards the west had no doubt alarmed the +numerous princes of Asia Minor, who must have felt that they had a power +to deal with as full of schemes of conquest as Assyria, and more capable +of carrying her designs into execution. It has been already observed +that the long course of Assyrian aggressions developed gradually among +the Asiatic tribes a tendency to unite in leagues for purposes of +resistance. The circumstances of the time called now imperatively +for such a league to be formed, unless the princes of Asia Minor were +content to have their several territories absorbed one after another +into the growing Median Empire. These princes appear to have seen their +danger. Cyaxares may perhaps have, declared war specially against the +Lydians, and have crossed the Halys professedly in order to chastise +them; but he could only reach Lydia through the territories of other +nations, which he was evidently intending to conquer on his way; and +it was thus apparent that he was activated, not by anger against a +particular power, but by a general design of extending his dominions in +this direction. A league seems therefore to have been determined on. We +have not indeed any positive evidence of its existence till the close of +the war; but the probabilities are wholly in favor of its having taken +effect from the first. Prudence would have dictated such a course; and +it seems almost implied in the fact that a successful resistance was +made to the Median attack from the very commencement. We may conclude +therefore that the princes of Asia Minor, having either met in conclave +or communicated by embassies, resolved to make common cause, if the +Medes crossed the Halys; and that, having already acted under Lydia in +the expulsion of the Cimmerians from their territories, they naturally +placed her at their head when they coalesced for the second time. + +Cyaxares on his part, was not content to bring against the confederates +merely the power of Media. He requested and obtained a contingent from +the Babylonian monarch, Nabopolassar, and may not improbably have had +the assistance of other allies also. With a vast army drawn from various +parts of inner Asia, he invaded the territory of the Western Powers, +and began his attempt at subjugation. We have no detailed account of +the war; but we learn from the general expressions of Herodotus that the +Median monarch met with a most stubborn resistance; numerous engagements +were fought with varied results; sometimes the Medes succeeded in +defeating their adversaries in pitched battles; but sometimes, and +apparently as often, the Lydians and their allies gained decided +victories over the Medes. It is noted that one of the engagements took +place by night, a rare occurrence in ancient (as in modern) times. The +war had continued six years, and the Medes had evidently made no serious +impression, when a remarkable circumstance brought it suddenly to +a termination. The two armies had once more met and were engaged in +conflict, when, in the midst of the struggle, an ominous darkness fell +upon the combatants and filled them with superstitious awe. The sun +was eclipsed, either totally or at any rate considerably, so that the +attention of the two armies was attracted to it; and, discontinuing the +fight, they stood to gaze at the phenomenon. In most parts of the +East such an occurrence is even now seen with dread--the ignorant mass +believe that the orb of day is actually being devoured or destroyed, +and that the end of all things is at hand--even the chiefs, who may have +some notion that the phenomenon is a recurrent one, do not understand +its cause, and participate in the alarm of their followers. On the +present occasion it is said that, amid the general fear, a desire for +reconciliation seized both armies. Of this spontaneous movement two +chiefs, the foremost of the allies on either side, took advantage. +Syennesis, king of Cilicia, the first known monarch of his name, on +the part of Lydia, and a prince whom Herodotus calls "Labynetus of +Babylon"--probably either Nabopolassar or Nebuchadnezzar--on the part +of Media, came forward to propose an immediate armistice; and, when the +proposal was accepted on either side, proceeded to the more difficult +task of arranging terms of peace between the contending parties. Since +nothing is said of the Scythians, who had been put forward as the +ostensible grounds of quarrel, we may presume that Alyattes retained +them. It is further clear that both he and his allies preserved +undiminished both their territories and their independence. The +territorial basis of the treaty was thus what in modern diplomatic +language is called the status quo; matters, in other words, returned to +the position in which they had stood before the war broke out. The only +difference was that Cyaxares gained a friend and an ally where he had +previously had a jealous enemy; since it was agreed that the two kings +of Media and Lydia should swear a friendship, and that, to cement the +alliance, Alyattes should give his daughter Aryenis in marriage to +Astyages, the son of Cyaxares. The marriage thus arranged took place +soon afterwards, while the oath of friendship was sworn at once. +According to the barbarous usages of the time and place, the two +monarchs, having met and repeated the words of the formula, punctured +their own arms, and then sealed their contract by each sucking from the +wound a portion of the other's blood. + +By this peace the three great monarchies of the time--the Median, the +Lydian, and the Babylonian--were placed on terms, not only of amity, +but of intimacy and (if the word may be used) of blood relationship. The +Crown Princes of the three kingdoms had become brothers. From the shores +of the Aegean to those of the Persian Gulf, Western Asia was now ruled +by interconnected dynasties, bound by treaties to respect each other's +rights, and perhaps to lend each other aid in important conjunctures, +and animated, it would seem, by a real spirit of mutual friendliness and +attachment. After more than five centuries of almost constant war and +ravage, after fifty years of fearful strife and convulsion, during +which the old monarchy of Assyria had gone down and a new Empire--the +Median--had risen up in its place, this part of Asia entered upon a +period of repose which stands out in strong contrast with the long term +of struggle. From the date of the peace between Alyattes and Cyaxares +(probably B.C. 610), for nearly half a century, the three kingdoms +of Media, Lydia, and Babylonia remained fast friends, pursuing their +separate courses without quarrel or collision, and thus giving to the +nations within their borders a rest and a refreshment which they must +have greatly needed and desired. + +In one quarter only was this rest for a short time disturbed. During the +troublous period the neighboring country of Egypt, which had recovered +its freedom, and witnessed a revival of its ancient prosperity, under +the Psamatik family, began once more to aspire to the possession of +those provinces which, being divided off from the rest of the Asiatic +continent by the impassable Syrian desert, seems politically to belong +to Africa almost more than to Asia. Psamatik I., the Psammetichus of +Herodotus, had commenced an aggressive war in this quarter, probably +about the time that Assyria was suffering from the Median and then +from the Scythian inroads. He had besieged for several years the strong +Philistine town of Ashdod, which commands the coast-route from Egypt +to Palestine, and was at this time a most important city. Despite a +resistance which would have wearied out any less pertinacious assailant, +he had persevered in his attempt, and had finally succeeded in taking +the place. He had thus obtained a firm footing in Syria; and his +successor was, able, starting from this vantage-ground, to overrun +and conquer the whole territory. About the year B.C. 608, Neco, son of +Psamatik I., having recently ascended the throne, invaded Palestine with +a large army, met and defeated Josiah, king of Judah, near Megiddo in +the great plain of Esdraelon, and, pressing forward through Syria to the +Euphrates, attacked and took Carchemish, the strong city which guarded +the ordinary passage of the river. Idumea, Palestine, Phoenicia, and +Syria submitted to him, and for three years he remained in undisturbed +possession of his conquest. Then, however, the Babylonians, who had +received these provinces at the division of the Assyrian Empire, began +to bestir themselves. Nebuchadnezzar marched to Carchemish, defeated the +army of Neco, recovered all the territory to the border of Egypt, and +even ravaged a portion of that country. It is probable that in this +expedition he was assisted by the Medes. At any rate, seven or eight +years afterwards, when the intrigues of Egypt had again created +disturbances in this quarter, and Jehoiakim, the Jewish king, broke +into open insurrection, the Median monarch sent a contingent, which +accompanied Nebuchadnezzar into Judaea, and assisted him to establish +his power firmly in South-Western Asia. + +This is the last act that we can ascribe to the great Median king. He +can scarcely have been much less than seventy years old at this time; +and his life was prolonged at the utmost three years longer. According +to Herodotus, he died B.C. 593, after a reign of exactly forty years, +leaving his crown to his son Astyages, whose marriage with a Lydian +princess was above related. + +We have no sufficient materials from which to draw out a complete +character of Cyaxares. He appears to have possessed great ambition, +considerable military ability, and a rare tenacity of purpose, which +gained him his chief successes. At the same time he was not wanting in +good sense, and could bring himself to withdraw from an enterprise, when +he had misjudged the fitting time for it, or greatly miscalculated its +difficulties. He was faithful to his friends, but thought treachery +allowable towards his enemies. He knew how to conquer, but not how to +organize, an empire; and, if we except his establishment of Magism, +as the religion of the state, we may say that he did nothing to +give permanency to the monarchy which he founded. He was a conqueror +altogether after the Asiatic model, able to wield the sword, but not to +guide the pen, to subdue his contemporaries to his will by his +personal ascendency over them, but not to influence posterity by the +establishment of a kingdom, or of institutions, on deep and stable +foundations. The Empire, which owed to him its foundation, was the most +shortlived of all the great Oriental monarchies, having begun and +ended within the narrow space of three score and ten years--the natural +lifetime of an individual. + +Astyages, who succeeded to the Median throne about B.C. 593, had neither +his father's enterprise nor his ability. Born to an empire, and bred +up in all the luxury of an Oriental Court, he seems to have been quite +content with the lot which fortune appeared to have assigned him, and to +have coveted no grander position. Tradition says that he was remarkably +handsome, cautious, and of an easy and generous temper. Although +the anecdotes related of his mode of life at Ecbatana by Herodotus, +Xenophon, and Nicolas of Damascus, seem to be for the most part +apocryphal, and at any rate come to us upon authority too weak to +entitle them to a place in history, we may perhaps gather from the +concurrent, descriptions of these three writers something of the general +character of the Court over which he presided. Its leading features do +not seem to have differed greatly from those of the Court of Assyria. +The monarch lived secluded, and could only be seen by those who asked +and obtained an audience. He was surrounded by guards and eunuchs, the +latter of whom held most of the offices near the royal person. The Court +was magnificent in its apparel, in its banquets, and in the number and +organization of its attendants. The courtiers wore long flowing robes +of many different colors, amongst which red and purple predominated, +and adorned their necks with chains or collars of gold, and their wrists +with bracelets of the same precious metal. Even the horses on which +they rode had sometimes golden bits to their bridles. One officer of the +Court was especially called "the King's Eye;" another had the privilege +of introducing strangers to him; a third was his cupbearer; a fourth his +messenger. Guards torch-bearers, serving-men, ushers, and sweepers, were +among the orders into which the lower sort of attendants were divided; +while among the courtiers of the highest rank was a privileged class +known as "the King's table-companions". The chief pastime in which +the Court indulged was hunting. Generally this took place in a park or +"paradise" near the capital; but sometimes the King and Court went out +on a grand hunt into the open country, where lions, leopards, bears, +wild boars, wild asses, antelopes, stags, and wild sheep abounded, +and, when the beasts had been driven by beaters into a confined space, +despatched them with arrows and javelins. + +Prominent at the Court, according to Herodotus, was the priestly caste +of the Magi. Held in the highest honor by both King and people, they +were in constant attendance, ready to expound omens or dreams, and +to give their advice on all matters of state policy. The religious +ceremonial was, as a matter of course, under their charge; and it is +probable that high state offices were often conferred upon them. Of all +classes of the people they were the only one that could feel they had +a real influence over the monarch, and might claim to share in his +sovereignty. + +The long reign of Astyages seems to have been almost undisturbed, until +just before its close, by wars or rebellions. Eusebius indeed relates +that he, and not Cyaxares, carried on the great Lydian contest; and +Moses of Chorene declares that he was engaged in a long struggle with +Tigranes, an Armenian king. But little credit can be attached to these +statements, the former of which contradicts Herodotus, while the latter +is wholly unsupported by any other writer. The character which Cyaxares +bore among the Greeks was evidently that of an unwarlike king. If he had +really carried his arms into the heart of Asia Minor, and threatened the +whole of that extensive region with subjugation, we can scarcely suppose +that he would have been considered so peaceful a ruler. Neither is +it easy to imagine that in that case no classical writer--not even +Ctesias--would have taxed Herodotus with an error that must have been +so flagrant. With respect to the war with Tigranes, it is just possible +that it may have a basis of truth; there may have been a revolt of +Armenia from Astyages under a certain Tigranes, followed by an attempt +at subjugation. But the slender authority of Moses is insufficient to +establish the truth of his story, which is internally improbable and +quite incompatible with the narrative of Herodotus. + +There are some grounds for believing that in one direction Astyages +succeeded in slightly extending the limits of his empire. But he owed +his success to prudent management, and not to courage or military skill. +On the north-eastern frontier, occupying the low country now known as +Talish and Ghilan, was a powerful tribe called Cadusians, probably of +Arian origin, which had hitherto maintained its independence. This would +not be surprising, if we could accept the statement of Diodorus that +they were able to bring into the field 200,000 men. But this account, +which probably came from Ctesias, and is wholly without corroboration +from other writers, has the air of a gross exaggeration; and we may +conclude from the general tenor of ancient history that the Cadusians +were more indebted to the strength of their country, than to either +their numbers or their prowess, for the freedom and independence which +they were still enjoying. It seems that they were at this time under the +government of a certain king, or chief, named Aphernes, or Onaphernes. +This ruler was, it appears, doubtful of his position, and, thinking it +could not be long maintained, made overtures of surrender to Astyages, +which were gladly entertained by that monarch. A secret treaty was +concluded to the satisfaction of both parties; and the Cadusians, it +would seem, passed under the Medes by this arrangement, without any +hostile struggle, though armed resistance on the part of the people, who +were ignorant of the intentions of their chieftain, was for some time +apprehended. + +The domestic relations of Astyages seem to have been unhappy. His +"marriage de convenance" with the Lydian princess Aryenis, if not wholly +unfruitful, at any rate brought him no son; and, as he grew to old +age, the absence of such support to the throne must have been felt very +sensibly, and have caused great uneasiness. The want of an heir perhaps +led him to contract those other marriages of which we hear in the +Armenian History of Moses--one with a certain Anusia, of whom nothing +more is known; and another with an Armenian princess, the loveliest of +her sex, Tigrania, sister of the Armenian king, Tigranes. The blessing +of male offspring was still, however, denied him; and it is even +doubtful whether he was really the father of any daughter or daughters. +Herodotus, and Xenophon, indeed give him a daughter Mandane, whom they +make the mother of Cyrus; and Ctesias, who denied in the most positive +terms the truth of this statement, gave him a daughter, Amytis, whom he +made the wife, first of Spitaces the Mede, and afterwards of Cyrus the +Persian. But these stories, which seem intended to gratify the vanity of +the Persians by tracing the descent of their kings to the great Median +conqueror, while at the same time they flattered the Medes by showing +them that the issue of their old monarchs was still seated on the Arian +throne, are entitled to little more credit than the narrative of the +Shahnameh, which declares that Iskander (Alexander) was the son of Darab +(Darius) and of a daughter of Failakus (Philip of Macedon). When an +oriental crown passes from one dynasty to another, however foreign and +unconnected, the natives are wont to invent a relationship between the +two houses, which both parties are commonly quite ready to accept; as +it suits the rising house to be provided with a royal ancestry, and it +pleases the fallen one and its partisans to see in the occupants of the +throne a branch of the ancient stock--a continuation of the legitimate +family. Tales therefore of the above-mentioned kind are, historically +speaking, valueless; and it must remain uncertain whether the second +Median monarch had any child at all, either male or female. + +Old age was now creeping upon the sonless king. If he was sixteen +or seventeen years old at the time of his contract of marriage with +Aryenis, he must have been nearly seventy in B.C. 558, when the revolt +occurred which terminated both his reign and his kingdom. It appears +that the Persian branch of the Arian race, which had made itself a home +in the country lying south and south-east of Media, between the 32nd +parallel and the Persian gulf, had acknowledged some subjection to +the Median kings during the time of their greatness. Dwelling in their +rugged mountains and high upland plains, they had however maintained the +simplicity of their primitive manners, and had mixed but little with +the Medes, being governed by their own native princes of the Achasmenian +house, the descendants, real or supposed, of a certain Achajmenes. These +princes were connected by marriage with the Cappadocian kings; and their +house was regarded as one of the noblest in Western Asia. What the exact +terms were upon which they stood with the Median monarch is uncertain. +Herodotus regards Persia as absorbed into Media at this time, and the +Achsemenidse as merely a good Persian family. Nicolas of Damascus makes +Persia a Median satrapy, of which Atradates, the father of Cyrus, is +satrap, Xenophon, on the contrary, not only gives the Achajmenidae their +royal rank, but seems to consider Persia as completely independent of +Media; Moses of Chorene takes the same view, regarding Cyrus as a great +and powerful sovereign during the reign of Astyages. The native records +lean towards the view of Xenophon and Moses. Darius declares that eight +of his race had been kings before himself, and makes no difference +between his own royalty and theirs. Cyrus calls himself in one +inscription "the son of Cambyses, the powerful king." It is certain +therefore that Persia continued to be ruled by her own native monarchs +during the whole of the Median period, and that Cyrus led the attack +upon Astyages as hereditary Persian king. The Persian records seem +rather to imply actual independence of Media; but as national vanity +would prompt to dissimulation in such a case, we may perhaps accord so +much weight to the statement of Herodotus, and to the general tradition +on the subject, as to believe that there was some kind of acknowledgment +of Median supremacy on the part of the Persian kings anterior to Cyrus, +though the acknowledgment may have been not much more than a formality +and have imposed no onerous obligations. The residence of Cyrus at the +Median Court, which is asserted in almost every narrative of his life +before he became king, inexplicable if Persia was independent, becomes +thoroughly intelligible on the supposition that she was a great Median +feudatory. In such cases the residence of the Crown Prince at the +capital of the suzerain is constantly desired, or even required by the +superior Power, which sees in the presence of the son and heir the best +security against disaffection or rebellion on the part of the father. + +It appears that Cyrus, while at the Median Court, observing the +unwarlike temper of the existing generation of the Medes, who had not +seen any actual service, and despising the personal character of the +monarch, who led a luxurious life, chiefly at Ecbatana, amid eunuchs, +concubines, and dancing-girls, resolved on raising the standard of +rebellion, and seeking at any rate to free his own country. It may be +suspected that the Persian prince was not actuated solely by political +motives. To earnest Zoroastrians, such as the Achgemenians are shown +to have been by their inscriptions, the yoke of a Power which had so +greatly corrupted, if it had not wholly laid aside, the worship of +Ormazd, must have been extremely distasteful; and Cyrus may have wished +by his rebellion as much to vindicate the honor of his religion--as to +obtain a loftier position for his nation. If the Magi occupied really +the position at the Median Court which Herodotus assigns to them--if +they "were held in high honor by the king, and shared in his +sovereignty"--if the priest-ridden monarch was perpetually dreaming and +perpetually referring his dreams to the Magian seers for exposition, and +then guiding his actions by the advice they tendered him, the religious +zeal of the young Zoroastrian may very naturally have been aroused, and +the contest into which he plunged may have been, in his eyes, not so +much a national struggle as a crusade against the infidels. It will be +found hereafter that religious fervor animated the Persians in most +of those wars by which they spread their dominion. We may suspect, +therefore, though it must be admitted we cannot prove, that a religious +motive was among those which led them to make their first efforts after +independence. + +According to the account of the struggle which is most circumstantial, +and on the whole most probable, the first difficulty which the would-be +rebel had to meet and vanquish was that of quitting the Court. Alleging +that his father was in weak health, and required his care, he requested +leave of absence for a short time; but his petition was refused on the +flattering ground that the Great King was too much attached to him to +lose sight of him even for a day. A second application, however, made +through a favorite eunuch after a certain interval of time, was more +successful; Cyrus received permission to absent himself from Court for +the next five months; whereupon, with a few attendants, he left Ecbatana +by night, and took the road leading to his native country. + +The next evening Astyages, enjoying himself as usual over his +wine, surrounded by a crowd of his concubines, singing-girls, and +dancing-girls, called on one of them for a song. The girl took her lyre +and sang as follows: "The lion had the wild boar in his power, but let +him depart to his own lair; in his lair he will wax in strength, and +will cause the lion a world of toil; till at length, although the +weaker, he will overcome the stronger." The words of the song greatly +disquieted the king, who had been already made aware that a Chaldaean +prophecy designated Cyrus as future king of the Persians. Repenting of +the indulgence which he had granted him, Astyages forthwith summoned an +officer into his presence, and ordered him to take a body of horsemen, +pursue the Persian prince, and bring him back, either alive or dead. +The officer obeyed, overtook Cyrus, and announced his errand; upon which +Cyrus expressed his perfect willingness to return, but proposed, that, +as it was late, they should defer their start till the next day. The +Medes consenting, Cyrus feasted them, and succeeded in making them +all drunk; then mounting his horse, he rode off at full speed with his +attendants, and reached a Persian outpost, where he had arranged with +his father that he should find a body of Persian troops. When the Medes +had slept off their drunkenness, and found their prisoner gone, they +pursued, and again overtaking Cyrus, who was now at the head of an armed +force, engaged him. They were, however, defeated with great loss, and +forced to retreat, while Cyrus, having beaten them off, made good his +escape into Persia. + +When Astyages heard what had happened, he was greatly vexed; and, +smiting his thigh, he exclaimed, "Ah! fool, thou knewest well that it +boots not to heap favors on the vile; yet didst thou suffer thyself to +be gulled by smooth words; and so thou hast brought upon thyself this +mischief. But even now he shall not get off scot-free." And instantly +he sent for his generals, and commanded them to collect his host, and +proceed to reduce Persia to obedience. Three thousand chariots, two +hundred thousand horse, and a million footmen (!) were soon brought +together; and with these Astyages in person invaded the revolted +province, and engaged the army which Cyrus and his father Cambyses +had collected for defence. This consisted of a hundred chariots, fifty +thousand horsemen, and three hundred thousand light-armed foot, who were +drawn up in in front of a fortified town near the frontier. The first +day's battle was long and bloody, terminating without any decisive +advantage to either side; but on the second day Astyages, making skilful +use of his superior numbers, gained a great victory. Having detached one +hundred thousand men with orders to make a circuit and get into the +rear of the town, he renewed the attack; and when the Persians were all +intent on the battle in their front, the troops detached fell on the +city and took it, almost before its defenders were aware. Cambyses, who +commanded in the town, was mortally wounded and fell into the enemy's +hands. The army in the field, finding itself between two fires, broke +and fled towards the interior, bent on defending Pasargadse, the +capital. Meanwhile Astyages, having given Cambyses honorable burial, +pressed on in pursuit. + +The country had now become rugged and difficult. Between Pasargadse and +the place where the two days' battle was fought lay a barrier of lofty +hills, only penetrated by a single narrow pass. On either side were two +smooth surfaces of rock, while the mountain towered above, lofty and +precipitous. The pass was guarded by ten thousand Persians. Recognizing +the impossibility of forcing it, Astyages again detached a body of +troops, who marched along the foot of the range till they found a place +where it could be ascended, when they climbed it and seized the heights +directly over the defile. The Persians upon this had to evacuate their +strong position, and to retire to a lower range of hills very near to +Pasargadge. Here again there was a two days' fight. On the first day +all the efforts of the Medes to ascend the range (which, though low, +was steep, and covered with thickets of wild olive) were fruitless. Their +enemy met them, not merely with the ordinary weapons, but with great +masses of stone, which they hurled down with crushing force upon their +ascending columns. On the second day, however, the resistance was weaker +or less effective Astyages had placed at the foot of the range, below +his attacking columns, a body of troops with orders to kill all who +refused to ascend, or who, having ascended, attempted to quit the +heights and return to the valley. Thus compelled to advance, his men +fought with desperation, and drove the Persians before them up the +slopes of the hill to its very summit, where the women and children +had been placed for the sake of security. There, however, the tide of +success turned. The taunts and upbraidings of their mothers and wives +restored the courage of the Persians; and, turning upon their foe, they +made a sudden furious charge. The Medes, astonished and overborne, were +driven headlong down the hill, and fell into such confusion that the +Persians slew sixty thousand of them. Still Astyages did not desist from +his attack. The authority whom we have been following here to a great +extent fails us, and we have only a few scattered notices from which to +reconstruct the closing scenes of the war. It would seem from these +that Astyages still maintained the offensive, and that there was a +fifth battle in the immediate neighborhood of Pasargadse, wherein he was +completely defeated by Cyrus, who routed the Median army, and pressing +upon them in their flight, took their camp. All the insignia of Median +royalty fell into his hands; and, amid the acclamations of his army, +he assumed them, and was saluted by his soldiers "King of Media and +Persia." Meanwhile Astyages had sought for safety in flight; the greater +part of his army had dispersed, and he was left with only a few friends, +who still adhered to his fortunes. Could he have reached Ecbatana, he +might have greatly prolonged the struggle; but his enemy pressed him +close; and, being compelled to an engagement, he not only suffered a +complete defeat, but was made prisoner by his fortunate adversary. +By this capture the Median monarchy was brought abruptly to an end. +Astyages had no son to take his place and continue the struggle. Even +had it been otherwise, the capture of the monarch would probably have +involved his people's submission. In the East the king is so identified +with his kingdom that the possession of the royal person is regarded as +conveying to the possessor all regal rights. Cyrus, apparently, had no +need even to besiege Ecbatana; the whole Median state, together with its +dependencies, at once submitted to him, on learning what had happened. +This ready submission was no doubt partly owing to the general +recognition of a close connection between Media and Persia, which made +the transfer of empire from the one to the other but slightly galling +to the subjected power, and a matter of complete indifference to the +dependent countries. Except in so far as religion was concerned, +the change from one Iranic race to the other would make scarcely a +perceptible difference to the subjects of either kingdom. The law of +the state would still be "the law of the Medes and Persians." Official +employments would be open to the people of both countries. Even the fame +and glory of empire would attain, in the minds of men, almost as much +to the one nation as the other. If Media descended from her preeminent +rank, it was to occupy a station only a little below the highest, and +one which left her a very distinct superiority over all the subject +races. + +If it be asked how Media, in her hour of peril, came to receive no +assistance from the great Powers with which she had made such close +alliances--Babylonia and Lydia--the answer would seem to be that Lydia +was too remote from the scene of strife to lend her effective aid, while +circumstances had occurred in Babylonia to detach that state from her +and render it unfriendly. The great king, Nebuchadnezzar, had he been +on the throne, would undoubtedly have come to the assistance of his +brother-in-law, when the fortune of war changed, and it became evident +that his crown was in danger. But Nebuchadnezzar had died in B.V. 561, +three years before the Persian revolt broke out. His son, Evil-Merodach, +who would probably have maintained his father's alliances, had survived +him but two years: he had been murdered in B.C. 559 by a brother-in-law, +Nergalsharezer or Neriglissar, who ascended the throne in that year and +reigned till B.C. 555. This prince was consequently on the throne at +the time of Astyages' need. As he had supplanted the house of +Nebuchadnezzar, he would naturally be on bad terms with that monarch's +Median connections; and we may suppose that he saw with pleasure the +fall of a power to which pretenders from the Nebuchadnezzar family would +have looked for support and countenance. + +In conclusion, a few words may be said on the general character of the +Median Empire, and the causes of its early extinction. + +The Median Empire was in extent and fertility of territory-equal if not +superior to the Assyrian. It stretched from Rhages and the Carmanian +desert on the east to the river Halys upon the west, a distance of +above twenty degrees, or about 1,300 miles. From north to south it +was comparatively narrow, being confined between the Black Sea, the +Caucasus, and the Caspian, on the one side, and the Euphrates and +Persian Gulf on the other. Its greatest width, which was towards the +east, was about nine, and its least, which was towards the west, was +about four degrees. Its area was probably not much short of 500,000 +square miles. Thus it was as large as Great Britain, France, Spain, and +Portugal put together. + +In fertility its various parts were very unequal. Portions of both +Medias, of Persia, of Armenia, Iberia, and Cappadocia, were rich and +productive; but in all these countries there was a large quantity of +barren mountain, and in Media Magna and Persia there were tracts of +desert. If we estimate the resources of Media from the data furnished by +Herodotus in his account of the Persian revenue, and compare them with +those of the Assyrian Empire, as indicated by the same document, we +shall find reason to conclude, that except during the few years when +Egypt was a province of Assyria, the resources of the Third exceeded +those of the Second Monarchy. + +The weakness of the Empire arose chiefly from its want of organization. +Nicolas of Damascus, indeed, in the long passage from which our account +of the struggle between Cyrus and Astyages has been taken, represents +the Median Empire as divided, like the Persian, into a number of +satrapies but there is no real ground for believing that any such +organization was practised in Median times, or to doubt that Darius +Hystaspis was the originator of the satrapial system. The Median Empire, +like the Assyrian, was a congeries of kingdoms, each ruled by its own +native prince, as is evident from the case of Persia, where Cambyses was +not satrap, but monarch. Such organization as was attempted appears to +have been clumsy in the extreme. The Medes (we are told) only claimed +direct suzerainty over the nations immediately upon their borders; +remoter tribes they placed under these, and looked to them to collect +and remit the tribute of the outlying countries. It is doubtful if they +called on the subject nations for any contingents of troops. We never +hear of their doing so. Probably, like the Assyrians, they made their +conquests with armies composed entirely of native soldiers, or of +those combined with such forces as were sent to their aid by princes in +alliance with them. + +The weakness arising from this lack of organization was increased by a +corruption of manners, which caused the Medes speedily to decline in +energy and warlike spirit. The conquest of a great and luxurious empire +by a hardy and simple race is followed, almost of necessity, by a +deterioration in the character of the conquerors, who lose the warlike +virtues, and too often do not replace them by the less splendid virtues +of peace. This tendency, which is fixed in the nature of things, admits +of being checked for a while, or rapidly developed, according to the +policy and character of the monarchs who happen to occupy the throne. +If the original conqueror is succeeded, by two or three ambitious and +energetic princes, who engage in important wars and labor to extend +their dominions at the expense of their neighbors, it will be some time +before the degeneracy becomes marked. If, on the other hand, a prince of +a quiet temper, self-indulgent, and studious of ease, come to the throne +within a short time of the original conquests, the deterioration will +be very rapid. In the present instance it happened that the immediate +successor of the first conqueror was of a peaceful disposition, +unambitious, and luxurious in his habits. During a reign which lasted +at least thirty-five years he abstained almost wholly from military +enterprises; and thus an entire generation of Medes grew up without +seeing actual service, which alone makes the soldier. At the same +time there was a general softening of manners. The luxury of the Court +corrupted the nobles, who from hardy mountain chieftains, simple if not +even savage in their dress and mode of life, became polite courtiers, +magnificent in their apparel, choice in their diet, and averse to all +unnecessary exertion. The example of the upper classes would tell on the +lower, though not perhaps to any very large extent. The ordinary Mede, +no doubt, lost something of his old daring and savagery; from disuse +he became inexpert in the management of arms; and he was thus no longer +greatly to be dreaded as a soldier. But he was really not very much less +brave, nor less capable of bearing hardships, than before; and it only +required a few years of training to enable him to recover himself and to +be once more as good a soldier as any in Asia. + +But in the affairs of nations, as in those of men, negligence often +proves fatal before it can be repaired. Cyrus saw his opportunity, +pressed his advantage, and established the supremacy of his nation, +before the unhappy effects of Astyages' peace policy could be removed. +He knew that his own Persians possessed the military spirit in its +fullest vigor; he felt that he himself had all the qualities of a +successful loader; he may have had faith in his cause, which, he would +view as the cause of Ormazd against Ahriman, of pure Religion against a +corrupt and debasing nature-worship. His revolt was sudden, unexpected, +and well-timed. He waited till Astyages was advanced in years, and so +disqualified for command; till the veterans of Cyaxares were almost all +in their graves; and till the Babylonian throne was occupied by a king +who was not likely to afford Astyages any aid. Ho may not at first have +aspired to do more than establish the independence of his own country. +But when the opportunity of effecting a transfer of empire offered +itself, he seized it promptly; rapidly repeating his blows, and allowing +his enemy no time to recover and renew the struggle. The substitution +of Persia for Media as the ruling power in Western Asia was due less to +general causes than to the personal character of two men. Had Astyages +been a prince of ordinary vigor, the military training of the Medes +would have been kept up; and in that case they might easily have hold +their own against all comers. Had their training been kept up, or had +Cyrus possessed no more than ordinary ambition and ability, either +he would not have thought of revolting, or he would have revolted +unsuccessfully. The fall of the Median Empire was due immediately to +the genius of the Persian Prince; but its ruin was prepared, and its +destruction was really caused, by the shortsightedness of the Median +monarch. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Seven Great Monarchies Of The +Ancient Eastern World, Vol 3. (of 7): Media, by George Rawlinson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES *** + +***** This file should be named 16163-8.txt or 16163-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/1/6/16163/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/16163-8.zip b/16163-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..63913f6 --- /dev/null +++ b/16163-8.zip diff --git a/16163-h.zip b/16163-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d760952 --- /dev/null +++ b/16163-h.zip diff --git a/16163-h/16163-h.htm b/16163-h/16163-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..24ae00b --- /dev/null +++ b/16163-h/16163-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5326 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> + <title> + The Seven Great Monarchies, by George Rawlinson, The Third Monarchy + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 20%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 25%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + pre { font-family: Times; font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient +Eastern World, Vol 3. (of 7): Media, by George Rawlinson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 3. (of 7): Media + The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, + Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian + or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations. + +Author: George Rawlinson + +Illustrator: George Rawlinson + +Release Date: July 1, 2005 [EBook #16163] +Last Updated: September 6, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES + </h1> + <p> + OF THE ANCIENT EASTERN WORLD; OR, THE HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AND ANTIQUITIES + OF CHALDAEA, ASSYRIA BABYLON, MEDIA, PERSIA, PARTHIA, AND SASSANIAN, OR + NEW PERSIAN EMPIRE. <b> BY </b> <b> GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A., </b> CAMDEN + PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD IN THREE VOLUMES. + VOLUME II. WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <h2> + CONTENTS + </h2> + <p><a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I.</a> DESCRIPTION OF THE + COUNTRY.</p> + + <p><a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II.</a> CLIMATE + AND PRODUCTIONS.</p> + + <p><a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III.</a> + CHARACTER, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.</p> + + <p><a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV.</a> RELIGION.</p> + + <p><a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V.</a> LANGUAGE AND WRITING.</p> + + <p><a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI.</a> CHRONOLOGY AND HISTORY.</p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + List of Illustrations + </h2> + <p> + <a href="#linkimage-0001"> Map </a><br /> <a href="#linkimage-0002"> + Plate I. </a><br /> <a href="#linkimage-0003"> Plate II. </a><br /> <a + href="#linkimage-0004"> Plate III. </a><br /> <a href="#linkimage-0005"> + Plate IV. </a><br /> <a href="#linkimage-0006"> Plate V. </a><br /> <a + href="#linkimage-0007"> Plate VI. </a><br /> <a href="#linkimage-0008"> + Plate VII. </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE THIRD MONARCHY. + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + MEDIA. + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="linkimage-0001" id="linkimage-0001"> + <!-- IMG --></a> <a href="images/map_vol2a.jpg">ENLARGE TO FULL SIZE</a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img alt="map_vol2b (129K)" src="images/map_vol2b.jpg" width="100%" /> + </div> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. + </h2> + <p> + Along the eastern flank of the great Mesopotamian lowland, curving round + it on the north, and stretching beyond it to the south and the south-east, + lies a vast elevated region, or highland, no portion of which appears to + be less than 3000 feet above the sea-level. This region may be divided, + broadly, into two tracts, one consisting of lofty mountainous ridges, + which form its outskirts on the north and on the west; the other, in the + main a high flat table-land, extending from the foot of the mountain + chains, southward to the Indian Ocean, and eastward to the country of the + Afghans. The western mountain-country consists, as has been already + observed, of six or seven parallel ridges, having a direction nearly from + the north-west to the south-east, enclosing between them, valleys of great + fertility, and well watered by a large number of plentiful and refreshing + streams. This district was known to the ancients as Zagros, while in + modern geography it bears the names of Kurdistan and Luristan. It has + always been inhabited by a multitude of warlike tribes, and has rarely + formed for any long period a portion of any settled monarchy. Full of + torrents, of deep ravines, or rocky summits, abrupt and almost + inaccessible; containing but few passes, and those narrow and easily + defensible; secure, moreover, owing to the rigor of its climate, from + hostile invasion during more than half the year; it has defied all + attempts to effect its permanent subjugation, whether made by Assyrians, + Persians, Greeks, Parthians, or Turks, and remains to this day as + independent of the great powers in its neighborhood as it was when the + Assyrian armies first penetrated its recesses. Nature seems to have + constructed it to be a nursery of hardy and vigorous men, a + stumbling-block to conquerors, a thorn in the side of every powerful + empire which arises in this part of the great eastern continent. + </p> + <p> + The northern mountain country—known to modern geographers as Eiburz—is + a tract of far less importance. It is not composed, like Zagros, of a + number of parallel chains, but consists of a single lofty ridge, furrowed + by ravines and valleys, from which spurs are thrown out, running in + general at right angles to its axis. Its width is comparatively slight; + and instead of giving birth to numerous large rivers, it forms only a + small number of insignificant streams, often dry in summer, which have + short courses, being soon absorbed either by the Caspian or the Desert. + Its most striking feature is the snowy peak of Demavend, which impends + over Teheran, and appears to be the highest summit in the part of Asia + west of the Himalayas. + </p> + <p> + The elevated plateau which stretches from the foot of those two mountain + regions to the south and east is, for the most part, a flat sandy desert, + incapable of sustaining more than a sparse and scanty population. The + northern and western portions are, however, less arid than the east and + south, being watered to some distance by the streams that descend from + Zagros and Elburz, and deriving fertility also from the spring rains. Some + of the rivers which flow from Zagros on this side are large and strong. + One, the Kizil-Uzen, reaches the Caspian. Another, the Zenderud, + fertilizes a large district near Isfahan. A third, the Bendamir, flows by + Persepolis and terminates in a sheet of water of some size—lake + Bakhtigan. A tract thus intervenes between the mountain regions and the + desert which, though it cannot be called fertile, is fairly productive, + and can support a large settled population. This forms the chief portion + of the region which the ancients called Media, as being the country + inhabited by the race on whose history we are about to enter. + </p> + <p> + Media, however, included, besides this, another tract of considerable size + and importance. At the north-western angle of the region above described, + in the corner whence the two great chains branch out to the south and to + the east, is a tract composed almost entirely of mountains, which the + Greeks called Atropatene, and which is now known as Azerbijan. This + district lies further to the north than the rest of Media, being in the + same parallels with the lower part of the Caspian Sea. It comprises the + entire basin of Lake Urumiyeh, together with the country intervening + between that basin and the high mountain chain which curves round the + south-western corner of the Caspian, It is a region generally somewhat + sterile, but containing a certain quantity of very, fertile territory, + more particularly in the Urumiyeh basin, and towards the mouth of the + river Araxes. + </p> + <p> + The boundaries of Media are given somewhat differently by different + writers, and no doubt they actually varied at different periods; but the + variations were not great, and the natural limits, on three sides at any + rate, may be laid down with tolerable precision. Towards the north the + boundary was at first the mountain chain closing in on that side the + Urumiyeh basin, after which it seems to have been held that the true limit + was the Araxes, to its entrance on the low country, and then the mountain + chain west and south of the Caspian. Westward, the line of demarcation may + be best regarded as, towards the south, running along the centre of the + Zagros region; and, above this, as formed by that continuation of the + Zagros chain which separates the Urumiyeh from the Van basin. Eastward, + the boundary was marked by the spur from the Elburz, across which lay the + pass known as the Pylse Caspise, and below this by the great salt desert, + whose western limit is nearly in the same longitude. Towards the south + there was no marked line or natural boundary; and it is difficult to say + with any exactness how much of the great plateau belonged to Media and how + much to Persia. Having regard, however, to the situation of Hamadan, + which, as the capital, should have been tolerably central, and to the + general account which historians and geographers give of the size of + Media, we may place the southern limit with much probability about the + line of the thirty-second parallel, which is nearly the present boundary + between Irak and Fars. + </p> + <p> + The shape of Media has been called a square; but it is rather a long + parallelogram, whose two principal sides face respectively the north-east + and the south-west, while the ends or shorter sides front to the + south-east and to the northwest. Its length in its greater direction is + about 600 miles, and its width about 250 miles. It must thus contain + nearly 150,000 square miles, an area considerably larger than that of + Assyria and Chaldaea put together, and quite sufficient to constitute a + state of the first class, even according to the ideas of modern Europe. It + is nearly one-fifth more than the area of the British Islands, and half as + much again as that of Prussia, or of peninsular Italy. It equals three + fourths of France, or three fifths of Germany. It has, moreover, the great + advantage of compactness, forming a single solid mass, with no straggling + or outlying portions; and it is strongly defended on almost every side by + natural barriers offering great difficulties to an invader. + </p> + <p> + In comparison with the countries which formed the seats of the two + monarchies already described, the general character of the Median + territory is undoubtedly one of sterility. The high table-land is + everywhere intersected by rocky ranges, spurs from Zagros, which have a + general direction from west to east, and separate the country into a + number of parallel broad valleys, or long plains, opening out into the + desert. The appearance of these ranges is almost everywhere bare, arid, + and forbidding. Above, they present to the eye huge masses of gray rock + piled one upon another; below, a slope of detritus, destitute of trees or + shrubs, and only occasionally nourishing a dry and scanty herbage. The + appearance of the plains is little superior; they are flat and without + undulations, composed in general of gravel or hard clay, and rarely + enlivened by any show of water; except for two months in the spring, they + exhibit to the eye a uniform brown expanse, almost treeless, which + impresses the traveller with a feeling of sadness and weariness. Even in + Azerbijan, which is one of the least arid portions of the territory, vast + tracks consist of open undulating downs, desolate and sterile, bearing + only a coarse withered grass and a few stunted bushes. + </p> + <p> + Still there are considerable exceptions to this general aspect of + desolation. In the worst parts of the region there is a time after the + spring rains when nature puts on a holiday dress, and the country becomes + gay and cheerful. The slopes at the base of the rocky ranges are tinged + with an emerald green: a richer vegetation springs up over the plains, + which are covered with a fine herbage or with a variety of crops; the + fruit trees which surround the villages burst out into the most luxuriant + blossom; the roses come into bloom, and their perfume everywhere fills the + air. For the two months of April and May the whole face of the country is + changed, and a lovely verdure replaces the ordinary dull sterility. + </p> + <p> + In a certain number of more favored spots beauty and fertility are found + during nearly the whole of the year. All round the shores of Lake + Urumiyeh, more especially in the rich plain of Miyandab at its southern + extremity, along the valleys of the Aras, the Kizil-uzen, and the Jaghetu, + in the great valley of Linjan, fertilized by irrigation from the Zenderud, + in the Zagros valleys, and in various other places, there is an excellent + soil which produces abundantly with very slight cultivation. + </p> + <p> + The general sterility of Media arises from the scantiness of the water + supply. It has but few rivers, and the streams that it possesses run for + the most part in deep and narrow valleys sunk below the general level of + the country, so that they cannot be applied at all widely to purposes of + irrigation. Moreover, some of them are, unfortunately, impregnated with + salt to such an extent that they are altogether useless for this purpose; + and indeed, instead of fertilizing, spread around them desolation and + barrenness. The only Median streams which are of sufficient importance to + require description are the Aras, the Kizil-Uzen, the Jaghetu, the Aji-Su + and the Zenderud, or river of Isfahan. + </p> + <p> + The Aras is only very partially a Median stream. It rises from several + sources in the mountain tract between Kars and Erzeroum, and runs with a + generally eastern direction through Armenia to the longitude of Mount + Ararat, where it crosses the fortieth parallel and begins to trend + southward, flowing along the eastern side of Ararat in a south-easterly + direction, nearly to the Julfa ferry on the high road from Erivan to + Tabriz. From this point it runs only a little south of east to long. 46° + 30’ E. from Greenwich, when it makes almost a right angle and runs + directly north-east to its junction with the Kur at Djavat. Soon after + this it curves to the south, and enters the Caspian by several mouths in + lat. 39° 10’ nearly. The Aras is a considerable stream almost from its + source. At Hassan-Kaleh, less than twenty miles from Erzeroum, where the + river is forded in several branches, the water reaches to the + saddle-girths. At Keupri-Kieui, not much lower, the stream is crossed by a + bridge of seven arches. At the Julfa ferry it is fifty yards wide, and + runs with a strong current. At Megree, thirty miles further down, its + width is eighty yards. In spring and early summer the stream receives + enormous accessions from the spring rains and the melting of the snows, + which produce floods that often cause great damage to the lands and + villages along the valley. Hence the difficulty of maintaining bridges + over the Aras, which was noted as early as the time of Augustus, and is + attested by the ruins of many such structures remaining along its course. + Still, there are at the present day at least three bridges over the stream—one, + which has been already mentioned, at Keupri-Kieui, another a little above + Nakshivan, and the third at Khudoperinski, a little below Megree. The + length of the Aras, including only main windings, is 500 miles. + </p> + <p> + The Kizil-Uzen, or (as it is called in the lower part of its course) the + Sefid-Rud, is a stream of less size than the Aras, but more important to + Media, within which lies almost the whole of its basin. It drains a tract + of 180 miles long by 150 broad before bursting through the Elburz mountain + chain, and descending upon the low country which skirts the Caspian. + Rising in Persian Kurdistan almost from the foot of Zagros, it runs in a + meandering course with a general direction of north-east through that + province into the district of Khamseh, where it suddenly sweeps round and + flows in a bold curve at the foot of lofty and precipitous rocks, first + northwest and then north, nearly to Miana, when it doubles back upon + itself, and turning the flank of the Zenjan range runs with a course + nearly south-east to Menjil, after which it resumes its original direction + of north-east, and, rushing down the pass of Budbar, crosses Ghilan to the + Caspian. Though its source is in direct distance no more than 320 miles + from its mouth, its entire length, owing to its numerous curves and + meanders, is estimated at 490 miles. It is a considerable stream, forded + with difficulty, even in the dry season, as high up as Karagul, and + crossed by a bridge of three wide arches before its junction with the + Garongu river near Miana. In spring and early summer it is an impetuous + torrent, and can only be forded within a short distance of its source. + </p> + <p> + The Jaghetu and the Aji-Su are the two chief rivers of the Urumiyeh basin. + The Jaghetu rises from the foot of the Zagros chain, at a very little + distance from the source of the Kizil-Uzen. It collects the streams from + the range of hills which divides the Kizil-Uzen basin from that of Lake + Urumiyeh, and flows in a tolerably straight course first north and then + north-west to the south-eastern shore of the lake. Side by side with it + for some distance flows the smaller stream of the Tatau, formed by + torrents from Zagros; and between them, towards their mouths, is the rich + plain of Miyandab, easily irrigated from the two streams, the level of + whose beds is above that of the plain, and abundantly productive even + under the present system of cultivation. The Aji-Su reaches the lake from + the north-east. It rises from Mount Sevilan, within sixty miles of the + Caspian, and flows with a course which is at first nearly due south, then + north-west, and finally south-west, past the city of Tabriz, to the + eastern shore of the lake, which it enters in lat. 37° 50’. The waters of + the Aji-Su are, unfortunately, salt, and it is therefore valueless for + purposes of irrigation. + </p> + <p> + The Zenderud or river of Isfahan rises from the eastern flank of the + Kuh-i-Zerd (Yellow Mountain), a portion of the Bakhti-yari chain, and, + receiving a number of tributaries from the same mountain district, flows + with a course which is generally east or somewhat north of east, past the + great city of Isfahan—so long the capital of Persia—into the + desert country beyond, where it is absorbed in irrigation. Its entire + course is perhaps not more than 120 or 130 miles; but running chiefly + through a plain region, and being naturally a stream of large size, it is + among the most valuable of the Median rivers, its waters being capable of + spreading fertility, by means of a proper arrangement of canals, over a + vast extent of country, and giving to this part of Iran a sylvan + character, scarcely found elsewhere on the plateau. + </p> + <p> + It will be observed that of these streams there is not one which reaches + the ocean. All the rivers of the great Iranic plateau terminate in lakes + or inland seas, or else lose themselves in the desert. In general the + thirsty sand absorbs, within a short distance of their source, the various + brooks and streams which flow south and east into the desert from the + northern and western mountain chains, without allowing them to collect + into rivers or to carry fertility far into the plain region. The the river + of Isfahan forms the only exception to this rule within the limits of the + ancient Media. All its other important streams, as has been seen, flow + either into the Caspian or into the great lake of Urumiyeh. + </p> + <p> + That lake itself now requires our attention. It is an oblong basin, + stretching in its greater direction from N.N.W. to S.S. E., a distance of + above eighty miles, with an average width of about twenty-five miles. On + its eastern side a remarkable peninsula, projecting far into its waters, + divides it into two portions of very unequal size—a northern and a + southern. + </p> + <p> + The southern one, which is the largest of the two, is diversified towards + its centre by a group of islands, some of which are of a considerable + size. The lake, like others in this part of Asia, is several thousand feet + above the sea level. Its waters are heavily impregnated with salt, + resembling those of the Dead Sea. No fish can live in them. When a storm + sweeps over their surface it only raises the waves a few feet; and no + sooner is it passed than they rapidly subside again into a deep, heavy, + death-like sleep. The lake is shallow, nowhere exceeding four fathoms, and + averaging about two fathoms—a depth which, however, is rarely + attained within two miles of the land. The water is pellucid. To the eye + it has the deep blue color of some of the northern Italian lakes, whence + it was called by the Armenians the Kapotan Zow or “Blue Sea.” + </p> + <p> + According to the Armenian geography, Media contained eleven districts; + Ptolemy makes the number eight; but the classical geographers in general + are contented with the twofold division already indicated, and recognized + at the constituent parts of Media only Atropatene (now Azerbijan) and + Media Magna, a tract which nearly corresponds with the two provinces of + Irak Ajemj and Ardelan. Of the minor subdivisions there are but two or + three which seem to deserve any special notice. One of these is Ehagiana, + or the tract skirting the Elburz Mountains from the vicinity of the + Kizil-Uzen (or Sefid-Eud) to the Caspian Gates, a long and narrow slip, + fairly productive, but excessively hot in summer, which took its name from + the important city of Rhages. Another is Nissea, a name which the Medes + seem to have carried with them from their early eastern abodes, and to + have applied to some high upland plains west of the main chain of Zagros, + which were peculiarly favorable to the breeding of horses. As Alexander + visited these pastures on his way from Susa to Ecbatana, they must + necessarily have lain to the south of the latter city. Most probably they + are to be identified with the modern plains of Kbawah and Alishtar, + between Behistun and Khorramabad, which are even now considered to afford + the best summer pasturage in Persia. + </p> + <p> + It is uncertain whether any of these divisions were known in the time of + the great Median Empire. They are not constituted in any case by marked + natural lines or features. On the whole it is perhaps most probable that + the main division—that into Media Magna and Media Atropatene—was + ancient, Astro-patene being the old home of the Medes, and Media Magna a + later conquest; but the early political geography of the country is too + obscure to justify us in laying down even this as certain. The minor + political divisions are still less distinguishable in the darkness of + those ancient times. + </p> + <p> + From the consideration of the districts which composed the Median + territory, we may pass to that of their principal cities, some of which + deservedly obtained a very great celebrity. Tho most important of all were + the two Ecbatanas—the northern and the southern—which seem to + have stood respectively in the position of metropolis to the northern and + the southern province. Next to these may be named Rhages, which was + probably from early times a very considerable place; while in the third + rank may be mentioned Bagistan—rather perhaps a palace than a town—Concobar, + Adrapan, Aspadan, Charax, Kudrus, Hyspaostes, Urakagabarna, etc. + </p> + <p> + The southern Ecbatana or Agbatana—which the Medes and Persians + themselves knew as Hagmatan—was situated, as we learn from Polybius + and Diodorus, on a plan at the foot of Mont Orontes, a little to the east + of the Zagros range. The notices of these authors, combined with those of + Eratosthenes, Isidore, Pliny, Arrian, and others, render it as nearly + certain as possible that the site was that of the modern town of Hamadan, + the name of which is clearly but a slight corruption of the true ancient + appellation. <a href="#linkimage-0002">[PLATE I., Fig. 2.]</a> Mount + Orontes is to be recognized in the modern Elwend or Erwend—a word + etymologically identical with <i>Oront-es</i>—which is a long and + lofty mountains standing out like a buttress from the Zagros range, with + which it is connected towards the north-west, while on every other side it + stands isolated, sweeping boldly down upon the flat country at its base. + Copious streams descend from the mountain on every side, more particularly + to the north-east, where the plain is covered with a carpet of the most + luxuriant verdure, diversified with rills, and ornamented with numerous + groves of large and handsome forest trees. It is here, on ground sloping + slightly away from the roots of the mountain, that the modern town, which + lies directly at its foot, is built. The ancient city, if we may believe + Diodorus, did not approach the mountain within a mile or a mile and a + half. At any rate, if it began where Hamadan now stands, it most certainly + extended very much further into the plain. We need not suppose indeed that + it had the circumference, or even half the circumference, which the + Sicilian romancer assigns to it, since his two hundred and fifty stades + would give a probable area of fifty square miles, more than double that of + London! Ecbatana is not likely to have been at its most flourishing period + a larger city than Nineveh; and we have already seen that Nineveh covered + a space, within the walls, of not more than 1800 English acres. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0002" id="linkimage-0002"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img src="images/plate001.jpg" width="100%" alt="Plate I. " /> + </div> + <p> + The character of the city and of its chief edifices has, unfortunately, to + be gathered almost entirely from unsatisfactory authorities. Hitherto it + has been found possible in these volumes to check and correct the + statements of ancient writers, which are almost always exaggerated, by an + appeal to the incontrovertible evidence of modern surveys and + explorations. But the Median capital has never yet attracted a scientific + expedition. The travellers by whom it has been visited have reported so + unfavorably of its character as a field of antiquarian research that + scarcely a spadeful of soil has been dug, either in the city or in its + vicinity, with a view to recover traces of the ancient buildings. Scarcely + any remains of antiquity are apparent. As the site has never been + deserted, and the town has thus been subjected for nearly twenty-two + centuries to the destructive ravages of foreign conquerors, and the still + more injurious plunderings of native builders, anxious to obtain materials + for new edifices at the least possible cost and trouble, the ancient + structures have everywhere disappeared from sight, and are not even + indicated by mounds of a sufficient size to attract the attention of + common observers. Scientific explorers have consequently been deterred + from turning their energies in this direction; more promising sites have + offered and still offer themselves; and it is as yet uncertain whether the + plan of the old town might not be traced and the position of its chief + edifices fixed by the means of careful researches conducted by fully + competent persons. In this dearth of modern materials we have to depend + entirely upon the classical writers, who are rarely trustworthy in their + descriptions or measurements, and who, in this instance, labor under the + peculiar disadvantage of being mere reporters of the accounts given by + others. + </p> + <p> + Ecbatana was chiefly celebrated for the magnificence of its palace, a + structure ascribed by Diodorus to Semiramis, but most probably constructed + originally by Cyaxares, and improved, enlarged, and embellished by the + Achaemenian monarchs. According to the judicious and moderate Polybius, + who prefaces his account by a protest against exaggeration and + over-coloring, the circumference of the building was seven stades, or 1420 + yards, somewhat more than four fifths of an English mile. This size, which + a little exceeds that of the palace mound at Susa, while it is in its turn + a little exceeded by the palatial platform at Persepolis, may well be + accepted as probably close to the truth. Judging, however, from the + analogy of the above-mentioned palaces, we must conclude that the area + thus assigned to the royal residence was far from being entirely covered + with buildings. One half of the space, perhaps more, would be occupied by + large open courts, paved probably with marble, surrounding the various + blocks of buildings and separating them from one another. The buildings + themselves may be conjectured to have resembled those of the Achaemenian + monarchs at Susa and Persepolis, with the exception, apparently, that the + pillars, which formed their most striking characteristic, were for the + most part of wood rather than o£ stone. Polybius distinguishes the pillars + into two classes, those of the main buildings, and those which skirted the + courts, from which it would appear that at Ecbatana the courts were + surrounded by colonnades, as they were commonly in Greek and Roman houses. + These wooden pillars, all either of cedar or of cypress, supported beams + of a similar material, which crossed each other at right angles, leaving + square spaces between, which were then filled in with woodwork. Above the + whole a roof was placed, sloping at an angle, and composed (as we are + told) of silver plates in the shape of tiles. The pillars, beams, and the + rest of the woodwork were likewise coated with thin laminse of the + precious metals, even gold being used for this purpose to a certain + extent. + </p> + <p> + Such seems to have been the character of the true ancient Median palace, + which served probably as a model to Darius and Xerxes when they designed + their great palatial edifices at the more southern capitals. In the + additions which the palace received under the Achaemenian kings, stone + pillars may have been introduced; and hence probably the broken shafts and + bases, so nearly resembling the Persepolitan, one of which Sir E. Ker + Porter saw in the immediate neighborhood of Hamadan on his visit to that + place in 1818. <a href="#linkimage-0002">[PLATE I., Fig. 1.]</a> But to + judge from the description of Polybius, an older and ruder style of + architecture prevailed in the main building, which depended for its effect + not on the beauty of architectural forms, but on the richness and + costliness of the material. A pillar architecture, so far as appears, + began in this part of Asia with the Medes, who, however, were content to + use the more readily obtained and more easily worked material of wood; + while the Persians afterwards conceived the idea of substituting for these + inartificial props the slender and elegant stone shafts which formed the + glory of their grand edifices. + </p> + <p> + At a short distance from the palace was the “Acra,” or citadel, an + artificial structure, if we may believe Polybius, and a place of very + remarkable strength. Here probably was the treasury, from which Darius + Codomanus carried off 7000 talents of silver, when he fled towards Bactria + for fear of Alexander. And here, too, may have been the Record Office, in + which were deposited the royal decrees and other public documents under + the earlier Persian kings. Some travellers are of opinion that a portion + of the ancient structure still exists; and there is certainly a ruin on + the outskirts of the modern town towards the south, which is known to the + natives as “the inner fortress,” and which may not improbably occupy some + portion of the site whereon the original citadel stood. But the remains of + building which now exist are certainly not of an earlier date than the era + of Parthian supremacy, and they can therefore throw no light on the + character of the old Median stronghold. It may be thought perhaps that the + description which Herodotus gives of the building called by him “the + palace of Deioces” should be here applied, and that by its means we might + obtain an exact notion of the original structure. But the account of this + author is wholly at variance with the natural features of the + neighborhood, where there is no such conical hill as he describes, but + only a plain surrounded by mountains. It seems, therefore, to be certain + that either his description is a pure myth, or that it applies to another + city, the Ecbatana of the northern province. It is doubtful whether the + Median capital was at any time surrounded with walls. Polybius expressly + declares that it was an unwalled place in his day and there is some reason + to suspect that it had always been in this condition. The Medes and + Persians appear to have been in general content to establish in each town + a fortified citadel or stronghold, round which the houses were clustered, + without superadding the further defence of a town wall. Ecbatana + accordingly seems never to have stood a siege. When the nation which held + it was defeated in the open field, the city (unlike Babylon and Nineveh) + submitted to the conqueror without a struggle. Thus the marvellous + description in the book of Judith, which is internally very improbable, + would appear to be entirely destitute of any, even the slightest, + foundation in fact. + </p> + <p> + The chief city of northern Media, which bore in later times the names of + Gaza, Gazaca, or Canzaca, is thought to have also been called Ecbatana, + and to have been occasionally mistaken by the Greeks for the southern or + real capital. The description of Herodotus, which is irreconcilably at + variance with the local features of the Hamadan site, accords sufficiently + with the existing remains of a considerable city in the province of + Azerbijan; and it seems certainly to have been a city in these parts which + was called by Moses of Chorene “the second Ecbatana, the seven-walled + town.” The peculiarity of this place was its situation on and about a + conical hill which sloped gently down from its summit to its base, and + allowed of the interposition of seven circuits of wall between the plain + and the hill’s crest. At the top of the hill, within the innermost circle + of the defences, were the Royal Palace and the treasuries; the sides of + the hill were occupied solely by the fortifications; and at the base, + outside the circuit of the outermost wall, were the domestic and other + buildings which constituted the town. According to the information + received by Herodotus, the battlements which crowned the walls were + variously colored. Those of the outer circle were white, of the next + black, of the third scarlet, of the fourth blue, of the fifth orange, of + the sixth silver, and of the seventh gold. A pleasing or at any rate a + striking effect was thus produced—the citadel, which towered above + the town, presenting to the eye seven distinct rows of colors. + </p> + <p> + If there was really a northern as well as a southern Ecbatana, and if the + account of Herodotus, which cannot possibly apply to the southern capital, + may be regarded as truly describing the great city of the north, we may + with much probability fix the site of the northern town at the modern + Takht-i-Suleiman, in the upper valley of the Saruk, a tributary of the + Jaghetu. <a href="#linkimage-0002">[PLATE I., Fig. 3.]</a> Here alone in + northern Media are there important ruins occupying such a position as that + which Herodotus describes. Near the head of a valley in which runs the + main branch of the Saruk, at the edge of the hills which skirt it to the + north, there stands a conical mound projecting into the vale and rising + above its surface to the height of 150 feet. The geological formation of + the mound is curious in the extreme. It seems to owe its origin entirely + to a small lake, the waters of which are so strongly impregnated with + calcareous matter that wherever they overflow they rapidly form a deposit + which is as hard and firm as natural rock. If the lake was originally on a + level with the valley, it would soon have formed incrustations round its + edge, which every casual or permanent overflow would have tended to raise; + and thus, in the course of ages, the entire hill may have been formed by a + mere accumulation of petrefactions. The formation would progress more or + less rapidly according to the tendency of the lake to overflow its bounds; + which tendency must have been strong until the water reached its present + natural level—the level, probably, of some other sheet of water in + the hills, with which it is connected by an underground siphon. The lake, + which is of an irregular shape, is about 300 paces in circumference. Its + water, notwithstanding the quantity of mineral matter held in solution, is + exquisitely clear, and not unpleasing to the taste. Formerly it was + believed by the natives to be unfathomable; but experiments made in 1837 + showed the depth to be no more than 156 feet. + </p> + <p> + The ruins which at present occupy this remarkable site consist of a strong + wall, guarded by numerous bastions and pierced by four gateways, which + runs round the brow of the hill in a slightly irregular ellipse, of some + interesting remains of buildings within this walled space, and of a few + insignificant traces of inferior edifices on the slope between the plain + and the summit. As it is not thought that any of these remains are of a + date anterior to the Sassanian kingdom, no description will be given of + them here. We are only concerned with the Median city, and that has + entirely disappeared. Of the seven walls, one alone is to be traced; and + even here the Median structure has perished, and been replaced by masonry + of a far later age. Excavations may hereafter bring, to light some + remnants of the original town, but at present research has done no more + than recover for us a forgotten site. + </p> + <p> + The Median city next in importance to the two Ecbatanas was Raga or + Rhages, near the Caspian Gates, almost at the extreme eastern limits of + the territory possessed by the Medes. + </p> + <p> + The great antiquity of this place is marked by its occurrence in the + Zendavesta among the primitive settlements of the Arians. Its celebrity + during the time of the Empire is indicated by the position which it + occupies in the romances of Tobit and Judith. It maintained its rank under + the Persians, and is mentioned by Darius Hystaspis as the scene of the + struggle which terminated the great Median revolt. The last Darius seems + to have sent thither his heavy baggage and the ladies of his court, when + he resolved to quit Ecbatana and fly eastward. It has been already noticed + that Rhages gave name to a district; and this district maybe certainly + identified with the long narrow tract of fertile territory intervening + between the Elburz mountain-range and the desert, from about Kasvin to + Khaar, or from long. 30° to 52° 30’. The exact site of the city of Rhages + within this territory is somewhat doubtful. All accounts place it near the + eastern extremity; and as there are in this direction ruins of a town + called Rhei or Rhey, it has been usual to assume that they positively fix + the locality. But similarity, or even identity, of name is an insufficient + proof of a site; and, in the present instance, there are grounds for + placing Rhages very much nearer to the Caspian Gates than the position of + Rhei. Arrian, whose accuracy is notorious, distinctly states that from the + Gates to Rhages was only a single day’s march, and that Alexander + accomplished the distance in that time. Now from Rhei to the Girduni + Surdurrah pass, which undoubtedly represents the Pylae Cacpise of Arrian, + is at least fifty miles, a distance which no army could accomplish in less + time than two days. Rhages consequently must have been considerably to the + east of Rhei, about half-way between it and the celebrated pass which it + was considered to guard. Its probable position is the modern Kaleh Erij, + near Veramin, about 23 miles from the commencement of the Surdurrah pass, + where there are considerable remains of an ancient town. + </p> + <p> + In the same neighborhood with Rhages, but closer to the Straits, perhaps + on the site now occupied by the ruins known as Uewanukif, or possibly even + nearer to the foot of the pass, was the Median city of Charax, a place not + to be confounded with the more celebrated city called Gharax Spasini, the + birthplace of Dionysius the geographer, which was on the Persian Gulf, at + the mouth of the Tigris. + </p> + <p> + The other Median cities, whose position can be determined with an approach + to certainty, were in the western portion of the country, in the range of + Zagros, or in the fertile tract between that range and the desert. The + most important of these are Bagistan, Adrapan, Concobar, and Aspadan. + </p> + <p> + Bagistan is described by Isidore as a “city situated on a hill, where + there was a pillar and a statue of Semiramis.” Diodorus has an account of + the arrival of Semiramis at the place, of her establishing a royal park or + paradise in the plain below the mountain, which was watered by an abundant + spring, of her smoothing the face of the rock where it descended + precipitously upon the low ground, and of her carving on the surface thus + obtained her own effigy, with an inscription in Assyrian characters. The + position assigned to Bagistan by both writers, and the description of + Diodorus, identify the place beyond a doubt with the now famous Behistun, + where the plain, the fountain, the precipitous rock, and the scarped + surface are still to be seen, through the supposed figure of Semiramis, + her pillar, and her inscription have disappeared. <a href="#linkimage-0003">[PLATE + II., Fig. 1.]</a> This remarkable spot, lying on the direct route between + Babylon and Ecbatana, and presenting the unusual combination of a copious + fountain, a rich plain, and a rock suitable for sculptures, must have + early attracted the attention of the great monarchs who marched their + armies through the Zagros range, as a place where they might conveniently + set up memorials of their exploits. The works of this kind ascribed by the + ancient writers to Semiramis were probably either Assyrian or Babylonian, + and (it is most likely) resembled the ordinary monuments which the kings + of Babylon and Nineveh delighted to erect in countries newly conquered. + The example set by the Mesopotamians was followed by their Arian + neighbors, when the supremacy passed into their hands; and the famous + mountain, invested by them with a sacred character, was made to subserve + and perpetuate their glory by receiving sculptures and inscriptions which + showed them to have become the lords of Asia. The practice did not even + stop here. When the Parthian kingdom of the Arsacidee had established + itself in these parts at the expense of the Seleucidse, the rock was once + more called upon to commemorate the warlike triumphs of a new race. + Gotarzes, the contemporary of the Emperor Claudius, after defeating his + rival Meherdates in the plain between Behistun and Kermanshah, inscribed + upon the mountain, which already bore the impress of the great monarchs of + Assyria and Persia, a record of his recent victory. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0003" id="linkimage-0003"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img src="images/plate002.jpg" width="100%" alt="Plate II. " /> + </div> + <p> + The name of Adrapan occurs only in Isidore, who places it between Bagistan + and Ecbatana, at the distance of twelve schoeni—36 Roman or 34 + British miles from the latter. It was, he says, the site of an ancient + palace belonging to Ecbatana, which Tigranes the Armenian had destroyed. + The name and situation sufficiently identify Adrapan with the modern + village of Arteman, which lies on the southern face of Elwend near its + base, and is well adapted for a royal residence. Here, during the severest + winter, when Hamadan and the surrounding country are buried in snow, a + warm and sunny climate is to be found; whilst in the summer a thousand + rills descending from Elwend diffuse around fertility and fragrance. + Groves of trees grow up in rich luxuriance from the well-irrigated soil, + whose thick foliage affords a welcome shelter from the heat of the noonday + sun. The climate, the gardens, and the manifold blessings of the place are + proverbial throughout Persia; and naturally caused the choice of the site + for a retired palace, to which the court of Ecbatana might adjourn when + either the summer heat and dust or the winter cold made residence in the + capital irksome. + </p> + <p> + In the neighborhood of Adrapan, on the road leading to Bagistan, stood + Concobar, which is undoubtedly the modern Kungawar, and perhaps the Chavon + of Diodorus. Here, according to the Sicilian historian, Semiramis built a + palace and laid out a paradise; and here, in the time of Isidore, was a + famous temple of Artemis. Colossal ruins crown the summit of the acclivity + on which the town of Kungawar stands, which may be the remains of this + latter building; but no trace has been found that can be regarded as + either Median or Assyrian. + </p> + <p> + The Median town of Aspadan, which is mentioned by no writer but Ptolemy, + would scarcely deserve notice here, if it were not for its modern + celebrity. Aspadan, corrupted into Isfahan, became the capital of Persia, + under the Sen kings, who rendered it one of the most magnificent cities of + Asia. It is uncertain whether it existed at all in the time of the great + Median empire. If so, it was, at best, an outlying town of little + consequence on the extreme southern confines of the territory, where it + abutted upon Persia proper. The district wherein it lay was inhabited by + the Median tribe of the Parastaceni. + </p> + <p> + Upon the whole it must be allowed that the towns of Media were few and of + no great account. The Medes did not love to congregate in large cities, + but preferred to scatter themselves in villages over their broad and + varied territory. The protection of walls, necessary for the inhabitants + of the low Mesopotamian regions, was not required by a people whose + country was full of natural fastnesses to which they could readily remove + on the approach of danger. Excepting the capital and the two important + cities of Gazaca and Rhages, the Median towns were insignificant. Even + those cities themselves were probably of moderate dimensions, and had + little of the architectural splendor which gives so peculiar an interest + to the towns of Mesopotamia. Their principal buildings were in a frail and + perishable material, unsuited to bear the ravages of time; they have + consequently altogether disappeared, and in the whole of Media modern + researches have failed to bring to light a single edifice which can be + assigned with any show of probability to the period of the Empire. + </p> + <p> + The plan adopted in former portions of this work makes it necessary, + before concluding this chapter, to glance briefly at the character of the + various countries and districts by which Media was bordered—the + Caspian district upon the north, Armenia upon the north-west, the Zagros + region and Assyria upon the west, Persia proper upon the south, and upon + the east Sagartia and Parthia. + </p> + <p> + North and north-east of the mountain range which under different names + skirts the southern shores of the Caspian Sea and curves round its + south-western corner, lies a narrow but important strip of territory—the + modern Ghilan and Mazanderan. <a href="#linkimage-0003">[PLATE II., Fig. + 2.]</a> This is a most fertile region, well watered and richly wooded, and + forms one of the most valuable portions of the modern kingdom of Persia. + At first it is a low flat tract of deep alluvial soil, but little raised + above the level of the Caspian; gradually however it rises into swelling + hills which form the supports of the high mountains that shut in this + sheltered region, a region only to be reached by a very few passes over or + through them. The mountains are clothed on this side nearly to their + summit with dwarf oaks, or with shrubs and brushwood; while, lower down, + their flanks are covered with forests of elms, cedars, chestnuts, beeches, + and cypress trees. The gardens and orchards of the natives are of the most + superb character; the vegetation is luxuriant; lemons, oranges, peaches, + pomegranates, besides other fruits, abound; rice, hemp, sugar-canes, + mulberries are cultivated with success; vines grow wild; and the valleys + are strewn with flowers of rare fragrance, among which may be noted the + rose, the honeysuckle, and the sweetbrier. Nature, however, with her usual + justice, has balanced these extraordinary advantages with peculiar + drawbacks; the tiger, unknown in any other part of Western Asia, here + lurks in the thickets, ready to spring at any moment on the unwary + traveller; inundations are frequent, and carry desolation far and wide; + the waters, which thus escape from the river beds, stagnate in marshes, + and during the summer and autumn heats pestilential exhalations arise, + which destroy the stranger, and bring even the acclimatized native to the + brink of the grave. The Persian monarch chooses the southern rather than + the northern side of the mountains for the site of his capital, preferring + the keen winter cold and dry summer heat of the high and almost waterless + plateau to the damp and stifling air of the low Caspian region. + </p> + <p> + The narrow tract of which this is a description can at no time have + sheltered a very numerous or powerful people. During the Median period, + and for many ages afterwards, it seems to have been inhabited by various + petty tribes of predatory habits—Cadusians, Mardi, Tapyri, etc.,—who + passed their time in petty quarrels among themselves, and in plundering + raids upon their great southern neighbor. Of these tribes the Cadusians + alone enjoyed any considerable reputation. They were celebrated for their + skill with the javelin—a skill probably represented by the modern + Persian use of the <i>djereed</i>. According to Diodorus, they were + engaged in frequent wars with the Median kings, and were able to bring + into the field a force of 200,000 men! Under the Persians they seem to + have been considered good soldiers, and to have sometimes made a struggle + for independence. But there is no real reason to believe that they were of + such strength as to have formed at any time a danger to the Median + kingdom, to which it is more probable that they generally acknowledged a + qualified subjection. + </p> + <p> + The great country of Armenia, which lay north-west and partly north of + Media, has been generally described in the first volume; but a few words + will be here added with respect to the more eastern portion, which + immediately bordered upon the Median territory. This consisted of two + outlying districts, separated from the rest of the country, the triangular + basin of Lake Van, and the tract between the Kur and Aras rivers—the + modern Karabagh and Erivan. The basin of Lake Van, surrounded by high + ranges, and forming the very heart of the mountain system of this part of + Asia, is an isolated region, a sort of natural citadel, where a strong + military power would be likely to establish itself. Accordingly it is + here, and here alone in all Armenia, that we find signs of the existence, + during the Assyrian and Median periods, of a great organized monarchy. + </p> + <p> + The Van inscriptions indicate to us a line of kings who bore sway in the + eastern Armenia—the true Ararat—and who were both in + civilization and in military strength far in advance of any of the other + princes who divided among them the Armenian territory. The Van monarchs + may have been at times formidable enemies of the Medes. They have left + traces of their dominion, not only on the tops of the mountain passes + which lead into the basin of Lake Urumiyeh, but even in the comparatively + low plain of Miyandab on the southern shore of that inland sea. It is + probable from this that they were at one time masters of a large portion + of Media Atropatene, and the very name of Urumiyeh, which still attaches + to the lake, may have been given to it from one of their tribes. In the + tract between the Kur and Aras, on the other hand, there is no sign of the + early existence of any formidable power. Here the mountains are + comparatively low, the soil is fertile, and the climate temperate. The + character of the region would lead its inhabitants to cultivate the arts + of peace rather than those of war, and would thus tend to prevent them + from being formidable or troublesome to their neighbors. + </p> + <p> + The Zagros region, which in the more ancient times separated between Media + and Assyria, being inhabited by a number of independent tribes, but which + was ultimately absorbed into the more powerful country, requires no notice + here, having been sufficiently described among the tracts by which Assyria + was bordered. At first a serviceable shield to the weak Arian tribes which + were establishing themselves along its eastern base upon the high plateau, + it gradually passed into their possession as they increased in strength, + and ultimately became a main nursery of their power, furnishing to their + armies vast numbers both of men and horses. The great horse pastures, from + which the Medes first and the Persians afterwards, supplied their numerous + and excellent cavalry, were in this quarter; and the troops which it + furnished—hardy mountaineers accustomed to brave the severity of a + most rigorous climate—must have been among the most effective of the + Median forces. + </p> + <p> + On the south Media was bounded by Persia proper—a tract which + corresponded nearly with the modern province of Farsistan. The complete + description of this territory, the original seat of the Persian nation, + belongs to a future volume of this work, which will contain an account of + the “Fifth Monarchy.” For the present it is sufficient to observe that the + Persian territory was for the most part a highland, very similar to Media, + from which it was divided by no strongly marked line or natural boundary. + The Persian mountains are a continuation of the Zagros chain, and Northern + Persia is a portion—the southern portion—of the same great + plateau, whose western and north-western skirts formed the great mass of + the Median territory. Thus upon this side Media was placed in the closest + connection with an important country, a country similar in character to + her own, where a hardy race was likely to grow up, with which she might + expect to have difficult contests. + </p> + <p> + Finally, towards the east lay the great salt desert, sparsely inhabited by + various nomadic races, among which the most important were the Cossseans + and the Sagartians. To the latter people Herodotus seems to assign almost + the whole of the sandy region, since he unites them with the Sarangians + and Thamanseans on the one hand, with the Utians and Mycians upon the + other. They were a wild race, probably of Arian origin, who hunted with + the lasso over the great desert mounted on horses, and could bring into + the field a force of eight or ten thousand men. Their country, a waste of + sand and gravel, in parts thickly encrusted with salt, was impassable to + an army, and formed a barrier which effectively protected Media along the + greater portion of her eastern frontier. Towards the extreme north-east + the Sagartians were replaced by the Cossseans and the Parthians, the + former probably the people of the Siah-Koh mountain, the latter the + inhabitants of the tract known now as the Atak, or “skirt,” which extends + along the southern flank of the Elburz range from the Caspian Gates nearly + to Herat, and is capable of sustaining a very considerable population. The + Cossseans were plunderers, from whose raids Media suffered constant + annoyance; but they were at no time of sufficient strength to cause any + serious fear. The Parthians, as we learn from the course of events, had in + them the materials of a mighty people; but the hour for their elevation + and expansion was not yet come, and the keenest observer of Median times + could scarcely have perceived in them the future lords of Western Asia. + From Parthia, moreover, Media was divided by the strong rocky spur which + runs out from the Elburz into the desert in long. 52° 10’ nearly, over + which is the narrow pass already mentioned as the Caspian Gates. Thus + Media on most sides was guarded by the strong natural barriers of seas, + mountains, and deserts lying open only on the south, where she adjoined + upon a kindred people. Her neighbors were for the most part weak in + numbers, though warlike. Armenia, however, to the north-west, Assyria to + the west, and Persia to the south, were all more or less formidable. A + prescient eye might have foreseen that the great struggles of Media would + be with these powers, and that if she attained imperial proportions it + must be by their subjugation or absorption. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. + </h2> + <p> + Media, like Assyria, is a country of such extent and variety that, in + order to give a correct description of its climate, we must divide it into + regions. Azerbijan, or Atropatene, the most northern portion, has a + climate altogether cooler than the rest of Media; while in the more + southern division of the country there is a marked difference between the + climate of the east and of the west, of the tracts lying on the high + plateau and skirting the Great Salt Desert, and of those contained within + or closely abutting upon the Zagros mountain range. The difference here is + due to the difference of physical conformation, which is as great as + possible, the broad mountainous plains about Kasvin, Koum, and Kashan, + divided from each other by low rocky ridges, offering the strongest + conceivable contrast to the perpetual alternations of mountain and valley, + precipitous height and deep wooded glen, which compose the greater part of + the Zagros region. + </p> + <p> + The climate of Azerbijan is temperate and pleasant, though perhaps + somewhat overwarm, in summer; while in winter it is bitterly severe, + colder than that of almost any other region in the same latitude. This + extreme rigor seems to be mainly owing to elevation, the very valleys and + valley plains of the tract being at a height of from 4000 to 5000 feet + above the sea level. Frost commonly sets in towards the end of November—or + at latest early in December; snow soon covers the ground to the depth of + several feet; the thermometer falls below zero; the sun shines brightly + except when from time to time fresh deposits of snow occur; but a keen and + strong wind usually prevails, which is represented as “cutting like a + sword,” and being a very “assassin of life.” Deaths from cold are of daily + occurrence; and it is impossible to travel without the greatest risk. + Whole companies or caravans occasionally perish beneath the drift, when + the wind is violent, especially if a heavy fall happen to coincide with + one of the frequent easterly gales. The severe weather commonly continues + till March, when travelling becomes possible, but the snow remains on much + of the ground till May, and on the mountains still longer. The spring, + which begins in April, is temperate and delightful; a sudden burst of + vegetation succeeds to the long winter lethargy; the air is fresh and + balmy, the sun pleasantly warm, the sky generally cloudless. In the month + of May the heat increases—thunder hangs in the air—and the + valleys are often close and sultry. Frequent showers occur, and the + hail-storms are sometimes so violent as to kill the cattle in the fields. + As the summer advances the heats increase, but the thermometer rarely + reaches 90° in the shade, and except in the narrow valleys the air is + never oppressive. The autumn is generally very fine. Foggy mornings are + common; but they are succeeded by bright pleasant days, without wind or + rain. On the whole the climate is pronounced healthy, though somewhat + trying to Europeans, who do not readily adapt themselves to a country + where the range of the thermometer is as much as 90° or 100°. In the part + of Media situated on the great plateau—the modern Irak Ajemi—in + which are the important towns of Teheran, Isfahan, Hamadan, Kashan, + Kasvin, and Koum. the climate is altogether warmer than in Azerbijan, the + summers being hotter, and the winters shorter and much less cold. Snow + indeed covers the ground for about three months, from early in December + till March; but the thermometer rarely shows more than ten or twelve + degrees of frost, and death from cold is uncommon. The spring sets in + about the beginning of March, and is at first somewhat cool, owing to the + prevalence of the <i>baude caucasan</i> or north wind,a which blows from + districts where the snow still lies. But after a little time the weather + becomes delicious; the orchards are a mass of blossom; the rose gardens + come into bloom; the cultivated lands are covered with springing crops; + the desert itself wears a light livery of green. Every sense is gratified; + the nightingale bursts out with a full gush of song; the air plays softly + upon the cheek, and comes loaded with fragrance. Too soon, however, this + charming time passes away, and the summer heats begin, in some places as + early as June 18 The thermometer at midday rises to 90 or 100 degrees. Hot + gusts blow from the desert, sometimes with great violence. The atmosphere + is described as choking; and in parts of the plateau it is usual for the + inhabitants to quit their towns almost in a body, and retire for several + months into the mountains. This extreme heat is, however, exceptional; in + most parts of the plateau the summer warmth is tempered by cool breezes + from the surrounding mountains, on which there is always a good deal of + snow. At Hamadan, which, though on the plain, is close to the mountains, + the thermometer seems scarcely ever to rise above 90°, and that degree of + heat is attained only for a few hours in the day. The mornings and + evenings are cool and refreshing; and altogether the climate quite + justifies the choice of the Persian monarchs, who selected Ecbatana for + their place of residence during the hottest portion of the year. Even at + Isfahan, which is on the edge of the desert, the heat is neither extreme + nor prolonged. The hot gusts which blow from the east and from the south + raise the temperature at times nearly to a hundred degrees; but these + oppressive winds alternate with cooler breezes from the west, often + accompanied by rain; and the average highest temperature during the day in + the hottest month, which is August, does not exceed 90°. + </p> + <p> + A peculiarity in the climate of the plateau which deserves to be noticed + is the extreme dryness of the atmosphere. In summer the rains which fall + are slight, and they are soon absorbed by the thirsty soil. There is a + little dew at nights, especially in the vicinity of the few streams; but + it disappears with the first hour of sunshine, and the air is left without + a particle of moisture. In winter the dryness is equally great; frost + taking the place of heat, with the same effect upon the atmosphere. + Unhealthy exhalations are thus avoided, and the salubrity of the climate + is increased; but the European will sometimes sigh for the soft, balmy + airs of his own land, which have come flying over the sea, and seem to + bring their wings still dank with the ocean spray. + </p> + <p> + Another peculiarity of this region, produced by the unequal rarefaction of + the air over its different portions, is the occurrence, especially in + spring and summer, of sudden gusts, hot or cold, which blow with great + violence. These gusts are sometimes accompanied with, whirlwinds, which + sweep the country in different directions, carrying away with them leaves, + branches, stubble, sand, and other light substances, and causing great + annoyance to the traveller. They occur chiefly in connection with a change + of wind, and are no doubt consequent on the meeting of two opposite + currents. Their violence, however, is moderate, compared with that of + tropical tornadoes, and it is not often that they do any considerable + damage to the crops over which they sweep. + </p> + <p> + One further characteristic of the flat region may be noticed. The intense + heat of the summer sun striking on the dry sand or the saline + efflorescence of the desert throws the air over them into such a state of + quivering undulation as produces the most wonderful and varying effects, + distorting the forms of objects, and rendering the most familiar strange + and hard to be recognized. A mud bank furrowed by the rain will exhibit + the appearance of a magnificent city, with columns, domes, minarets, and + pyramids; a few stunted bushes will be transformed into a forest of + stately trees; a distant mountain will, in the space of a minute, assume + first the appearance of a lofty peak, then swell out at the top, and + resemble a mighty mushroom, next split into several parts, and finally + settle down into a flat tableland. Occasionally, though not very often + that semblance of water is produced which Europeans are are apt to suppose + the usual effect of mirage. The images of objects are reflected at their + base in an inverted position; the desert seems converted into a vast lake; + and the thirsty traveller, advancing towards it, finds himself the victim + of an illusion, which is none the less successful because he has been a + thousand times forewarned of its deceptive power. + </p> + <p> + In the mountain range or Zagros and the tracts adjacent to it, the + climate, owing to the great differences of elevation, is more varied than + in the other parts of the ancient Media. Severe cold prevails in the + higher mountain regions for seven months out of the twelve, while during + the remaining five the heat is never more than moderate. In the low + valleys, on the contrary, and in other favored situations, the winters are + often milder than on the plateau; while in the summers, if the heat is not + greater, at any rate it is more oppressive. Owing to the abundance of the + streams and proximity of the melting snows, the air is moist; and the damp + heat, which stagnates in the valleys, broods fever and ague. Between these + extremes of climate and elevation, every variety is to be found; and, + except in winter, a few hours’ journey will almost always bring the + traveller into a temperate region. + </p> + <p> + In respect of natural productiveness, Media (as already observed) differs + exceedingly in different, and even in adjacent, districts. The rocky + ridges of the great plateau, destitute of all vegetable mold, are wholly + bare and arid, admitting not the slightest degree of cultivation. Many of + the mountains of Azerbijan, naked, rigid, and furrowed, may compare even + with these desert ranges for sterility. The higher parts of Zagros and + Elburz are sometimes of the same character; but more often they are + thickly clothed with forests, affording excellent timber and other + valuable commodities. In the Elburz pines are found near the summit, while + lower down there occur, first the wild almond and the dwarf oak, and then + the usual timber-trees of the country, the Oriental plane, the willow, the + poplar, and the walnut. The walnut grows to a large size both here and in + Azerbijan, but the poplar is the wood most commonly used for building + purposes. In Zagros, besides most of these trees, the ash and the + terebinth or turpentine-tree are common; the oak bears gall-nuts of a + large size; and the gum-tragacanth plant frequently clothes the + mountain-sides. The valleys of this region are full of magnificent + orchards, as are the low grounds and more sheltered nooks of Azerbijan. + The fruit-trees comprise, besides vines and mulberries, the apple, the + pear, the quince, the plum, the cherry, the almond, the nut, the chestnut, + the olive, the peach, the nectarine, and the apricot. + </p> + <p> + On the plains of the high plateau there is a great scarcity of vegetation. + Trees of a large size grow only in the few places which are well watered, + as in the neighborhood of Hamadan, Isfahan, and in a less degree of + Kashan. The principal tree is the Oriental plane, which flourishes + together with poplars and willows along the water-courses; cypresses also + grow freely; elms and cedars are found, and the orchards and gardens + contain not only the fruit-trees mentioned above, but also the jujube, the + cornel, the filbert, the medlar, the pistachio nut, the pomegranate, and + the fig. Away from the immediate vicinity of the rivers and the towns, not + a tree, scarcely a bush, is to be seen. The common thorn is indeed + tolerably abundant in a few places; but elsewhere the tamarisk and a few + other sapless shrubs are the only natural products of this bare and arid + region. + </p> + <p> + In remarkable contrast with the natural barrenness of this wide tract are + certain favored districts in Zagros and Azerbijan, where the herbage is + constant throughout the summer, and sometimes only too luxuriant. Such are + the rich and extensive grazing grounds of Khawah and Alishtar, near + Kermanshah, the pastures near Ojan and Marand, and the celebrated Chowal + Moghan or plain of Moghan, on the lower course of the Araxes river, where + the grass is said to grow sufficiently high to cover a man on horseback. + These, however, are rare exceptions to the general character of the + country, which is by nature unproductive, and scarcely deserving even of + the qualified encomium of Strabo. + </p> + <p> + Still Media, though deficient in natural products, is not ill adapted for + cultivation. The Zagros valleys and hillsides produce under a very rude + system of agriculture, besides the fruits already noticed, rice, wheat, + barley, millet, sesame, Indian corn, cotton, tobacco, mulberries, + cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and the castor-oilplant. In Azerbijan the + soil is almost all cultivable, and if ploughed and sown will bring good + crops of the ordinary kinds of grain. Even on the side of the desert, + where Nature has shown herself most niggardly, and may seem perhaps to + deserve the reproach of Cicero, that she behaves as a step mother to a man + rather than as a mother, a certain amount of care and scientific labor may + render considerable tracts fairly productive. The only want of this region + is water; and if the natural deficiency of this necessary fluid can be + anyhow supplied, all parts of the plateau will bear crops, except those + which form the actual Salt Desert. In modern, and still more in ancient + times, this fact has been clearly perceived, and an elaborate system of + artifical irrigation, suitable to the peculiar circumstances of the + country, has been very widely established. The system of <i>kanats</i>, as + they are called at the present day, aims at utilizing to the uttermost all + the small streams and rills which descend towards the desert from the + surrounding mountains, and at conveying as far as possible into the plain + the spring water, which is the indispensable condition of cultivation in a + country where—except for a few days in the spring and autumn—rain + scarcely ever falls. As the precious element would rapidly evaporate if + exposed to the rays of the summer sun, the Iranian husbandman carries his + conduit underground, laboriously tunnelling through the stiff argillaceous + soil, at a depth of many feet below the surface. The mode in which he + proceeds is as follows. At intervals along the line of his intended + conduit he first sinks shafts, which he then connects with one another by + galleries, seven or eight feet in height, giving his galleries a slight + incline, so that the water may run down them freely, and continuing them + till he reaches a point where he wishes to bring the water out upon the + surface of the plain. Here and there, at the foot of his shafts, he digs + wells, from which the fluid can readily be raised by means of a bucket and + a windlass; and he thus brings under cultivation a considerable belt of + land along the whole line of the <i>kanat</i>, as well as a large tract at + its termination. These conduits, on which the cultivation of the plateau + depends, were established at so remote a date that they were popularly + ascribed to the mythic Semiramis, the supposed wife of Ninus. It is + thought that in ancient times they were longer and more numerous than at + present, when they occur only occasionally, and seldom extend more than a + few miles from the base of the hills. + </p> + <p> + By help of the irrigation thus contrived, the great plateau of Iran will + produce good crops of grain, rice, wheat, barley, Indian corn, doura, + millet, and sesame. It will also bear cotton, tobacco, saffron, rhubarb, + madder, poppies which give a good opium, senna, and assafoetida. Its + garden vegetables are excellent, and include potatoes, cabbages, lentils, + kidney-beans, peas, turnips, carrots, spinach, beetroot, and cucumbers. + The variety of its fruit-trees has been already noticed. The flavor of + their produce is in general good, and in some cases surpassingly + excellent. No quinces are so fine as those of Isfahan, and no melons have + a more delicate flavor. The grapes of Kasvin are celebrated, and make a + remarkably good wine. + </p> + <p> + Among the flowers of the country must be noted, first of all, its roses, + which flourish in the most luxuriant abundance, and are of every variety + of hue. The size to which the tree will grow is extraordinary, standards + sometimes exceeding the height of fourteen or fifteen feet. Lilacs, + jasmines, and many other flowering shrubs are common in the gardens, while + among wild flowers may be noticed hollyhocks, lilies, tulips, crocuses, + anemones, lilies of the valley, fritillaries, gentians, primroses, + convolvuluses, chrysanthemums, heliotropes, pinks, water-lilies, + ranunculuses, jonquils, narcissuses, hyacinths, mallows, stocks, violets, + a fine campanula (Michauxia levigata), a mint (Nepeta longiflora), several + sages, salsolas, and fagonias. In many places the wild flowers during the + spring months cover the ground, painting it with a thousand dazzling or + delicate hues. + </p> + <p> + The mineral products of Media are numerous and valuable. Excellent stone + of many kinds abounds in almost every part of the country, the most + important and valuable being the famous Tabriz marble. This curious + substance appears to be a petrifaction formed by natural springs, which + deposit carbonate of lime in large quantities. It is found only in one + place, on the flanks of the hills, not far from the Urumiyeh lake. The + slabs are used for tombstones, for the skirting of rooms, and for the + pavements of baths and palaces; when cut thin they often take the place of + glass in windows, being semi-transparent. The marble is commonly of a pale + yellow color, but occasionally it is streaked with red, green, or + copper-colored veins. + </p> + <p> + In metals the country is thought to be rich, but no satisfactory + examination of it has been as yet made. Iron, copper, and native steel are + derived from mines actually at work; while Europeans have observed + indications of lead, arsenic, and antimony in Azerbijan, in Kurdistan, and + in the rocky ridges which intersect the desert. Tradition speaks of a time + when gold and silver were procured from mountains near Takht-i-Suleman, + and it is not unlikely that they may exist both there and in the Zagros + range. Quartz, the well-known matrix of the precious metal, abounds in + Kurdistan. + </p> + <p> + Of all the mineral products, none is more abundant than salt. On the side + of the desert, and again near Tabriz at the mouth of the Aji Su, are vast + plains which glisten with the substance, and yield it readily to all who + care to gather it up. Saline springs and streams are also numerous, from + which salt can be obtained by evaporation. But, besides these sources of + supply, rock salt is found in places, and this is largely quarried, and is + preferred by the natives. + </p> + <p> + Other important products of the earth are saltpetre, which is found in the + Elburz, and in Azerbijan; sulphur, which abounds in the same regions, and + likewise on the high plateau; alum, which is quarried near Tabriz; naphtha + and gypsum, which are found in Kurdistan; and talc, which exists in the + mountains near Koum, in the vicinity of Tabriz, and probably in other + places. + </p> + <p> + The chief wild animals which have been observed within the limits of the + ancient Media are the lion, the tiger, the leopard, the bear, the beaver, + the jackal, the wolf, the wild ass, the ibex or wild goat, the wild sheep, + the stag, the antelope, the wild boar, the fox, the hare, the rabbit, the + ferret, the rat, the jerboa, the porcupine, the mole, and the marmot. The + lion and tiger are exceedingly rare; they seem to be found only in + Azerbijan, and we may perhaps best account for their presence there by + considering that a few of these animals occasionally stray out of + Mazanderan, which is their only proper locality in this part of Asia. Of + all the beasts, the most abundant are the stag and the wild goat, which + are numerous in the Elburz, and in parts of Azerbijan, the wild boar, + which abounds both in Azerbijan, and in the country about Hamadan, and the + jackal, which is found everywhere. Bears flourish in Zagros, antelopes in + Azerbijan, in the Elburz, and on the plains near Sultaniyeh. The wild ass + is found only in the desert parts of the high plateau; the beaver only in + Lake Zeribar, near Sulefmaniyeh. + </p> + <p> + The Iranian wild ass differs in some respects from the Mesopotamian. His + skin is smooth, like that of a deer, and of a reddish color, the belly and + hinder parts partaking of a silvery gray; his head and ears are large and + somewhat clumsy; but his neck is fine, and his legs are beautifully + slender. His mane is short and black, and he has a black tuft at the end + of his tail, but no dark line runs along his back or crosses his + shoulders. The Persians call him the <i>gur-khur</i>, and chase him with + occasional success, regarding his flesh as a great delicacy. He appears to + be the <i>Asinus onager</i> of naturalists, a distinct species from the <i>Asinus + hemippus</i> of Mesopotamia, and the <i>Asinus hemionus</i> of Thibet and + Tartary. + </p> + <p> + It is doubtful whether some kind of wild cattle does not still inhabit the + more remote tracts of Kurdistan. The natives mention among the animals of + their country “the mountain ox;” and though it has been suggested that the + beast intended is the elk, it is perhaps as likely to be the Aurochs, + which seems certainly to have been a native of the adjacent country of + Mesopotamia in ancient times. At any rate, until Zagros has been + thoroughly explored by Europeans, it must remain uncertain what animal is + meant. Meanwhile we may be tolerably sure that, besides the species + enumerated, Mount Zagros contains within its folds some large and rare + ruminant. + </p> + <p> + Among the birds the most remarkable are the eagle, the bustard, the + pelican, the stork, the pheasant, several kinds of partridges, the quail, + the woodpecker, the bee-eater, the hoopoe, and the nightingale. Besides + these, doves and pigeons, both wild and tame, are common; as are swallows, + goldfinches, sparrows, larks, blackbirds, thrushes, linnets, magpies, + crows, hawks, falcons, teal, snipe, wild ducks, and many other kinds of + waterfowl. The most common partridge is a red-legged species (<i>Caccabis + chukar</i> of naturalists), which is unable to fly far, and is hunted + until it drops. Another kind, common both in Azerbijan and in the Elburz, + is the black-breasted partridge (<i>Perdix nigra</i>)—a bird not + known in many countries. Besides these, there is a small gray partridge in + the Zagros range, which the Kurds call seslca. The bee-eater (<i>Merops + Persicus</i>) is rare. It is a bird of passage, and only visits Media in + the autumn, preparatory to retreating into the warm district of Mazandoran + for the winter months. The hoopoe (<i>Upupa</i>) is probably still rarer, + since very few travellers mention it. The woodpecker is found in Zagros, + and is a beautiful bird, red and gray in color. + </p> + <p> + Media is, on the whole, but scantily provided with fish. Lake Urumiyeh + produces none, as its waters are so salt that they even destroy all the + river-fish which enter them. Salt streams, like the Aji Su, are equally + unproductive, and the fresh-water rivers of the plateau fall so low in + summer that fish cannot become numerous in them. Thus it is only in + Zagros, in Azerbijan, and in the Elburz, that the streams furnish any + considerable quantity. The kinds most common are barbel, carp, dace, + bleak, and gudgeon. In a comparatively few streams, more especially those + of Zagros, trout are found, which are handsome and of excellent quality. + The river of Isfahan produces a kind of crayfish, which is taken in the + bushes along its banks, and is very delicate eating. + </p> + <p> + It is remarkable that fish are caught not only in the open streams of + Media, but also in the <i>kanats</i> or underground conduits, from which + the light of day is very nearly excluded. They appear to be of one sort + only, viz., barbel, but are abundant, and often grow to a considerable + size. Chardin supposed them to be unfit for food; but a later observer + declares that, though of no great delicacy, they are “perfectly sweet and + wholesome.” + </p> + <p> + Of reptiles, the most common are snakes, lizards, and tortoises. In the + long grass of the Moghan district, on the lower course of the Araxes, the + snakes are so numerous and venomous that many parts of the plain are + thereby rendered impassable in the summer-time. A similar abundance of + this reptile near the western entrance of the Girduni Siyaluk pass induces + the natives to abstain from using it except in winter. Lizards of many + forms and hues disport themselves about the rocks and stones, some quite + small, others two feet or more in length. They are quite harmless, and + appear to be in general very tame. Land tortoises are also common in the + sandy regions. In Kurdistan there is a remarkable frog, with a smooth skin + and of an apple-green color, which lives chiefly in trees, roosting in + them at night, and during the day employing itself in catching flies and + locusts, which it strikes with its fore paw, as a cat strikes a bird or a + mouse. + </p> + <p> + Among insects, travellers chiefly notice the mosquito, which is in many + places a cruel torment; the centipede, which grows to an unusual size; the + locust, of which there is more than one variety; and the scorpion, whose + sting is sometimes fatal. + </p> + <p> + The destructive locust (the <i>Acridium peregrinum</i>, probably) comes + suddenly into Kurdistan and southern Media in clouds that obscure the air, + moving with a slow and steady flight and with a sound like that of heavy + rain, and settling in myriads on the fields, the gardens, the trees, the + terraces of the houses, and even the streets, which they sometimes cover + completely. Where they fall, vegetation presently disappears; the leaves, + and even the stems of the plants, are devoured; the labors of the + husbandman through many a weary month perish in a day; and the curse of + famine is brought upon the land which but now enjoyed the prospect of an + abundant harvest. It is true that the devourers are themselves devoured to + some extent by the poorer sort of people; but the compensation is slight + and temporary; in a few days, when all verdure is gone, either the swarms + move to fresh pastures, or they perish and cover the fields with their + dead bodies, while the desolation which they have created continues. <a + href="#linkimage-0004">[PLATE III., Fig. 2.]</a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0004" id="linkimage-0004"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img src="images/plate003.jpg" width="100%" alt="Plate III. " /> + </div> + <p> + Another kind of locust, observed by Mr. Rich in Kurdistan, is called by + the natives <i>shira-kulla</i>, a name seemingly identical with the <i>chargol</i> + of the Jews, and perhaps the best clue which we possess to the + identification of that species. Mr. Rich describes it as “a large insect, + about four inches long, with no wings, but a kind of sword projecting from + the tail. It bites,” he says, “pretty severely, but does no harm to the + cultivation.” We may recognize in this description a variety of the great + green grasshopper (<i>Locusta viridissima</i>), many species of which are + destitute of wings, or have wing-covers only, and those of a very small + size. + </p> + <p> + The scorpion of the country (<i>Scorpio crassicauda</i>) has been + represented as peculiarly venomous, more especially that which abounds in + the city and neighborhood of Kashan; but the most judicious observers deny + that there is any difference between the Kashan scorpion and that of other + parts of the plateau, while at the same time they maintain that if the + sting be properly treated, no danger need be apprehended from it. The + scorpion infests houses, hiding itself under cushions and coverlets, and + stings the moment it is pressed upon; some caution is thus requisite in + avoiding it; but it hurts no one unless molested, and many Europeans have + resided for years in the country without having ever been stung by it. <a + href="#linkimage-0004">[PLATE III., Fig. 3.]</a> + </p> + <p> + The domestic animals existing at present within the limits of the ancient + Media are the camel, the horse, the mule, the ass, the cow, the goat, the + sheep, the dog, the cat, and the buffalo. The camel is the ordinary beast + of burden in the flat country, and can carry an enormous weight. Three + kinds are employed—the Bactrian or two-humped camel, which is coarse + and low; the taller and lighter Arabian breed; and a cross between the + two, which is called <i>ner</i>, and is valued very highly. The ordinary + burden of the Arabian camel is from seven to eight hundredweight; while + the Bactrian variety is said to be capable of bearing a load nearly twice + as heavy. + </p> + <p> + Next to the camel, as a beast of burden, must be placed the mule the mules + of the country are small, but finely proportioned, and carry a + considerable weight. They travel thirty miles a day with ease, and are + preferred for journeys on which it is necessary to cross the mountains. + The ass is very inferior, and is only used by the poorer classes. + </p> + <p> + Two distinct breeds of horses are now found in Media, both of which seem + to be foreign—the Turkoman and the Arabian. The Turkoman is a large, + powerful, enduring animal, with long legs, a light body, and a big head. + The Arab is much smaller, but perfectly shaped, and sometimes not greatly + inferior to the very best produce of Nejd. A third breed is obtained by an + intermixture of those two, which is called the <i>bid-pai</i>, or “wind + footed,” and is the most prized of all. + </p> + <p> + The dogs are of various breeds, but the most esteemed is a large kind of + gray hound, which some suppose to have been introduced into this part of + Asia by the Macedonians, and which is chiefly employed in the chase of the + antelope. The animal is about the height of a full sized English + grayhound, but rather stouter; he is deep-chested, has long, smooth hair, + and the tail considerably feathered. His pace is inferior to that of our + grayhounds, but in strength and sagacity he far surpasses them. + </p> + <p> + We do not find many of the products of Media celebrated by ancient + writers. Of its animals, those which had the highest reputation were its + horses, distinguished into two breeds, an ordinary kind, of which Media + produced annually many thousands, and a kind of rare size and excellence, + known under the name of Nisaean. These last are celebrated by Herodotus, + Strabo, Arrian, Ammianus Marcellinus, Suidas, and others. They are said to + have been of a peculiar shape; and they were equally famous for size, + speed, and stoutness. Strabo remarks that they resemble the horses known + in his own time as Parthian; and this observation seems distinctly to + connect them with the Turkoman breed mentioned above, which is derived + exactly from the old Parthian country. In color they were often, if not + always, white. We have no representation on the monuments which we can + regard as certainly intended for a Nissean horse, but perhaps the figure + from Persepolis may be a Persian sketch of the animal. <a + href="#linkimage-0004">[PLATE III., Fig. 4.]</a> + </p> + <p> + The mules and small cattle (sheep and goats) were in sufficient repute to + be required, together with horses, in the annual tribute paid to the + Persian king. + </p> + <p> + Of vegetable products assigned to Media by ancient writers, the most + remarkable is the “Median apple,” or citron. Pliny says it was the sole + tree for which Media was famous, and that it would only grow there and in + Persia. Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Virgil, and other writers, celebrate + its wonderful qualities, distinctly assigning it to the same region. The + citron, however, will not grow in the country which has been here termed + Media. It flourishes only in the warm tract between Shiraz and the Persian + Gulf, and in the low sheltered region, south of the Caspian, the modern + Ghilan and Mazanderan. No doubt it was the inclusion of this latter region + within the limits of Media by many of the later geographers that gave to + this product of the Caspian country an appellation which is really a + misnomer. + </p> + <p> + Another product whereto Media gave name, and probably with more reason, + was a kind of clover or lucerne, which was said to have been introduced + into Greece by the Persians in the reign of Darius, and which was + afterwards cultivated largely in Italy. Strabo considers this plant to + have been the chief food of the Median horses, while Dioscorides assigns + it certain medicinal qualities. Clover is still cultivated, in the Elburz + region, but horses are now fed almost entirely on straw and barley. + </p> + <p> + Media was also famous for its silphium, or assafoetida, a plant which the + country still produces, though not in any large quantity. No drug was in + higher repute with the ancients for medicinal purposes; and though the + Median variety was a coarse kind, inferior in repute, not only to the + Cyrenaic, but also to the Parthian and the Syrian, it seems to have been + exported both to Greece and Borne, and to have been largely used by + druggists, however little esteemed by physicians. + </p> + <p> + The other vegetable products which Media furnished, or was believed to + furnish, to the ancient world, were bdellium, amomum, cardamomum, gum + tragacanth, wild-vine oil, and sagaponum, or the <i>Ferula persica</i>. Of + these, gum tragacanth is still largely produced, and is an important + article of commerce. Wild vines abound in Zagros and Elburz, but no oil is + at present made from them. Bdellium, if it is benzoin, amomum, and + cardamomum were perhaps rather imported through Media than the actual + produce of the country, which is too cold in the winter to grow any good + spices. + </p> + <p> + The mineral products of Media noted by the ancient writers are nitre, + salt, and certain gems, as emeralds, lapis lazuli, and the following + obscurer kinds, the zathene, the gassinades, and the narcissitis. The + nitre of Media is noticed by Pliny, who says it was procured in small + quantities, and was called “halmyraga.” It was found in certain + dry-looking glens, where the ground was white with it, and was obtained + there purer than in other places. Saltpetre is still derived from the + Elburz range, and also from Azerbijan. + </p> + <p> + The salt of Lake Urumiyeh is mentioned by Strabo, who says that it forms + naturally on the surface, which would imply a far more complete saturation + of the water than at present exists, even in the driest seasons. The gems + above mentioned are assigned to Media chiefly by Pliny. The Median + emeralds, according to him, were of the largest size; they varied + considerably, sometimes approaching to the character of the sapphire, in + which case they were apt to be veiny, and to have flaws in them. They were + far less esteemed than the emeralds of many other countries. The Median + lapis lazuli, on the other hand, was the best of its kind. It was of three + colors—light blue, dark blue, and purple. The golden specks, + however, with which it was sprinkled—really spots of yellow pyrites—rendered + it useless to the gem-engravers of Pliny’s time. The zathene, the + gassinades, and the narcissitis were gems of inferior value. As they have + not yet been identified with any known species, it will be unnecessary to + prolong the present chapter by a consideration of them. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. CHARACTER, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ARTS, ETC., OF THE PEOPLE. + </h2> + <p> + “Pugnatrix natio et formidanda.”—Amm. Marc, xxiii. 6. + </p> + <p> + The ethnic character of the Median people is at the present day scarcely a + matter of doubt. The close connection which all history, sacred and + profane, establishes between them and the Persians, the evidence of their + proper names and of their language, so far as it is known to us, together + with the express statements of Herodotus and Strabo, combine to prove that + they belonged to that branch of the human family known to us as the Arian + or Iranic, a leading subdivision of the great Indo-European race. The tie + of a common language, common manners and customs, and to a great extent a + common belief, united in ancient times all the dominant tribes of the + great plateau, extending even beyond the plateau in one direction to the + Jaxartes (Syhun) and in another to the Hyphasis (Sutlej). Persians, Medes, + Sagartians, Chorasmians, Bactrians, Sogdians, Hyrcanians, Sarangians, + Gandarians, and Sanskritic Indians belonged all to a single stock, + differing from one another probably not much more than now differ the + various subdivisions of the Teutonic or the Slavonic race. Between the + tribes at the two extremities of the Arian territory the divergence was no + doubt considerable; but between any two neighboring tribes the difference + was probably in most cases exceedingly slight. At any rate this was the + case towards the west, where the Medes and Persians, the two principal + sections of the Arian body in that quarter, are scarcely distinguishable + from one another in any of the features which constitute ethnic type. + </p> + <p> + The general physical character of the ancient Arian race is best gathered + from the sculptures of the Achsemenian kings, which exhibit to us a very + noble variety of the human species—a form tall, graceful, and + stately; a physiognomy handsome and pleasing, often somewhat resembling + the Greek; the forehead high and straight, the nose nearly in the same + line, long and well formed, sometimes markedly aquiline, the upper lip + short, commonly shaded by a moustache, the chin rounded and generally + covered with a curly beard. The hair evidently grew in great plenty, and + the race was proud of it. On the top of the head it was worn smooth, but + it was drawn back from the forehead and twisted into a row or two of crisp + curls, while at the same time it was arranged into a large mass of similar + small close ringlets at the back of the head and over the ears. <a + href="#linkimage-0005">[PLATE IV., Fig. 1.]</a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0005" id="linkimage-0005"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img src="images/plate004.jpg" width="100%" alt="Plate IV. " /> + </div> + <p> + Of the Median women we have no representations upon the sculptures; but we + are informed by Xenophon that they were remarkable for their stature and + their beauty. The same qualities were observable in the women of Persia, + as we learn from Plutarch, Ammianus Marcellinus, and others. The Arian + races seem in old times to have treated women with a certain chivalry, + which allowed the full development of their physical powers, and rendered + them specially attractive alike to their own husbands and to the men of + other nations. + </p> + <p> + The modern Persian is a very degenerate representative of the ancient + Arian stock. Slight and supple in person, with quick, glancing eyes, + delicate features, and a vivacious manner, he lacks the dignity and + strength, the calm repose and simple grace of the race from which he is + sprung, Fourteen centuries of subjection to despotic sway have left their + stamp upon his countenance and his frame, which, though still retaining + some traces of the original type, have been sadly weakened and lowered by + so long a term of subservience. Probably the wild Kurd or Lur of the + present day more nearly corresponds in physique to the ancient Mede than + do the softer inhabitants of the great plateau. + </p> + <p> + Among the moral characteristics of the Medes the one most obvious is their + bravery. “<i>Pugnatrix natio et formidanda</i>,” says Ammianus Marcellinus + in the fourth century of our era, summing up in a few words the general + judgment of Antiquity. Originally equal, if not superior, to their close + kindred, the Persians, they were throughout the whole period of Persian + supremacy only second to them in courage and warlike qualities. Mardonius, + when allowed to take his choice out of the entire host of Xerxes, selected + the Median troops in immediate succession to the Persians. Similarly, when + the time for battle came he kept the Medes near himself, giving them their + place in the line close to that of the Persian contingent. It was no doubt + on account of their valor, as Diodorus suggests, that the Medes were + chosen to make the first attack upon the Greek position at Thermopylae, + where, though unsuccessful, they evidently showed abundant courage. In the + earlier times, before riches and luxury had eaten out the strength of the + race, their valor and military prowess must have been even more + conspicuous. It was then especially that Media deserved to be called, as + she is in Scripture, “the mighty one of the heathen”—“the terrible + of the nations.” + </p> + <p> + Her valor, undoubtedly, was of the merciless kind. There was no + tenderness, no hesitancy about it. Not only did her armies “dash to + pieces” the fighting men of the nations opposed to her, allowing + apparently no quarter, but the women and the children suffered indignities + and cruelties at the hands of her savage warriors, which the pen + unwillingly records. The Median conquests were accompanied by the worst + atrocities which lust and hate combined are wont to commit when they + obtain their full swing. Neither the virtue of women nor the innocence of + children were a protection to them. The infant was slain before the very + eye of the parent. The sanctity of the hearth was invaded, and the matron + ravished beneath her own roof-tree. Spoil, it would seem, was disregarded + in comparison with insult and vengeance; and the brutal soldiery cared + little either for silver or gold, provided they could indulge freely in + that thirst for blood which man shares with the hyena and the tiger. + </p> + <p> + The habits of the Medes in the early part of their career were undoubtedly + simple and manly. It has been observed with justice that the same general + features have at all times distinguished the rise and fall of Oriental + kingdoms and dynasties. A brave and adventurous prince, at the head of a + population at once poor, warlike, and greedy, overruns a vast tract, and + acquires extensive dominion, while his successors, abandoning themselves + to sensuality and sloth, probably also to oppressive and irascible + dispositions, become in process of time victims to those same qualities in + another prince and people which had enabled their own predecessor to + establish their power. It was as being braver, simpler, and so stronger + than the Assyrians that the Medes were able to dispossess them of their + sovereignty over western Asia. But in this, as in most other cases of + conquest throughout the East, success was followed almost immediately by + degeneracy. As captive Greece captured her fierce conqueror, so the + subdued Assyrians began at once to corrupt their subduers. Without + condescending to a close imitation of Assyrian manners and customs, the + Medes proceeded directly after their conquest to relax the severity of + their old habits and to indulge in the delights of soft and luxurious + living. The historical romance of Xenophon presents us probably with a + true picture when it describes the strong contrast which existed towards + the close of the Median period between the luxury and magnificence which + prevailed at Ecbatana, and the primitive simplicity of Persia Proper, + where the old Arian habits, which had once been common to the two races, + were still maintained in all their original severity. Xenophon’s authority + in this work is, it must be admitted, weak, and little trust can be placed + in the historical accuracy of his details; but his general statement is + both in itself probable, and is also borne out to a considerable extent by + other authors. Herodotus and Strabo note the luxury of the Median dress, + while the latter author goes so far as to derive the whole of the later + Persian splendor from an imitation of Median practices. We must hold then + that towards the latter part of their empire the Medes became a + comparatively luxurious people, not indeed laying aside altogether their + manly habits, nor ceasing to be both brave men and good soldiers, but + adopting an amount of pomp and magnificence to which they were previously + strangers, affecting splendor in their dress and apparel, grandeur and + rich ornament in their buildings, variety in their banquets, and attaining + on the whole a degree of civilization not very greatly inferior to that of + the Assyrians. In taste and real refinement they seem indeed to have + fallen considerably below their teachers. A barbaric magnificence + predominated in their ornamentation over artistic effort, richness in the + material being preferred to skill in the manipulation. Literature, and + even letters, were very sparingly cultivated. But little originality was + developed. A stately dress, and a new style of architecture, are almost + the only inventions to which the Medes can lay claim. They were brave, + energetic, enterprising, fond of display, capable of appreciating to some + extent the advantages of civilized life; but they had little genius, and + the world is scarcely indebted to them for a single important addition to + the general stock of its ideas. + </p> + <p> + Of the Median customs in war we know but little. Herodotus tells us that + in the army of Xerxes the Medes were armed exactly as the Persians, + carrying on their heads a soft felt cap, on their bodies a sleeved tunic, + and on their legs trousers. Their offensive arms, he says, were the spear, + the bow, and the dagger. They had large wicker shields, and bore their + quivers suspended at their backs. Sometimes their tunic was made into a + coat of mail by the addition to it on the outside of a number of small + iron plates arranged so as to overlap each other, like the scales of a + fish. They served both on horseback and on foot, with the same equipment + in both cases. + </p> + <p> + There is no reason to doubt the correctness of this description of the + Median military dress under the early Persian kings. The only question is + how far the equipment was really the ancient warlike custom of the people. + It seems in some respects too elaborate to be the armature of a simple and + primitive race. We may reasonably suppose that at least the scale armor + and the unwieldy wicker shields (yeppa), which required to be rested on + the ground, were adopted at a somewhat late date from the Assyrians. At + any rate the original character of the Median armies, as set before us in + Scripture, and as indicated both by Strabo and Xenophon, is simpler than + the Herodotean description. The primitive Modes seem to have been a nation + of horse-archers. Trained from their early boyhood to a variety of + equestrian exercises, and well practised in the use of the bow, they + appear to have proceeded against their enemies with clouds of horse, + almost in Scythian fashion, and to have gained their victories chiefly by + the skill with which they shot their arrows as they advanced, retreated, + or manoeuvred about their foe. No doubt they also used the sword and the + spear. The employment of these weapons has been almost universal + throughout the East from a very remote antiquity, and there is some + mention of them in connection with the Medes and their kindred, the + Persians, in Scripture; but it is evident that the terror which the Medes + inspired arose mainly from their dexterity as archers. + </p> + <p> + No representation of weapons which can be distinctly recognized as Median + has come down to us. The general character of the military dress and of + the arms appears, probably in the Persepolitan sculptures; but as these + reliefs are in most cases representations, not of Medes, but of Persians, + and as they must be hereafter adduced in illustration of the military + customs of the latter people, only a very sparing use of them can be made + in the present chapter. It would seem that the bow employed was short, and + very much curved, and that, like the Assyrian it was usually carried in a + bow-case, which might either be slung at the back, or hung from the + girdle. <a href="#linkimage-0006">[PLATE V., Fig. 1.]</a> The arrows, + which were borne in a quiver slung behind the right shoulder, must have + been short, certainly not exceeding the length of three feet. The quiver + appears to have been round; it was covered at the top, and was fastened by + means of a flap and strap, which last passed over, a button. <a + href="#linkimage-0006">[PLATE V. Fig. 1.]</a> The Median spear or lance + was from six to seven feet in length. Its head was lozenge-shaped and + flattish, but strengthened by a bar or line down the middle. It is + uncertain whether the head was inserted into the top of the shaft, or + whether it did not rather terminate in a ring or socket into which the + upper end of the shaft was itself inserted. The shaft tapered gradually + from bottom to top, and terminated below in a knob or ball, which was + perhaps sometimes carved into the shape of some natural object. <a + href="#linkimage-0005">[PLATE IV., Fig. 2.]</a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0006" id="linkimage-0006"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img src="images/plate005.jpg" width="100%" alt="Plate V. " /> + </div> + <p> + The sword was short, being in fact little more than a dagger. It depended + at the right thigh from a belt which encircled the waist, and was further + secured by a strap attached to the bottom of the sheath, and passing round + the soldier’s right leg a little above the knee. + </p> + <p> + Median shields were probably either round or oval. The oval specimens bore + a resemblance to the shield of the Boeotians, having a small oval aperture + at either side, apparently for the sake of greater lightness. They were + strengthened at the centre by a circular boss or disk, ornamented with + knobs or circles. They would seem to have been made either of metal or + wood. <a href="#linkimage-0005">[PLATE IV., Fig. 3.]</a> + </p> + <p> + The favorite dress of the Medes in peace is well known to us from the + sculptures; there can be no reasonable doubt that the long flowing robe so + remarkable for its graceful folds, which is the garb of the kings, the + chief nobles, and the officers of the court in all the Persian + bas-reliefs, and which is seen also upon the darics and the gems, is the + famous “Median garment” of Herodotus, Xenophon, and Strabo. <a + href="#linkimage-0006">[PLATE V., Fig. 2.]</a> This garment fits the chest + and shoulders closely, but falls over the arms in two large loose sleeves, + open at the bottom. At the waist it is confined by a cincture. Below it is + remarkably full and ample, drooping in two clusters of perpendicular folds + at the two sides, and between these hanging in festoons like a curtain. It + extends down to the ankles, where it is met by a high shoe or low boot, + opening in front, and secured by buttons. <a href="#linkimage-0005">[PLATE + IV., Fig. 4.]</a> + </p> + <p> + These Median robes were of many colors. Sometimes they were purple, + sometimes scarlet, occasionally a dark gray, or a deep crimson. Procopius + says that they were made of silk, and this statement is confirmed to some + extent by Justin, who speaks of their transparency. It may be doubted, + however, whether the material was always the same; probably it varied with + the season, and also with the wealth of the wearer. + </p> + <p> + Besides this upper robe, which is the only garment shown in the + sculptures, the Medes wore as under garments a sleeved shirt or tunic of a + purple color, and embroidered drawers or trousers. They covered the head, + not only out of doors, but in their houses, wearing either felt caps like + the Persians, or a head-dress of a more elaborate character, which bore + the name of <i>tiara</i> or <i>cidaris</i>. This appears to have been, not + a turban, but rather a kind of high-crowned hat, either stiff or flexible, + made probably of felt or cloth, and dyed of different hues, according to + the fancy of the owner. <a href="#linkimage-0007">[PLATE VI., Fig. 1.]</a> + </p> + <p> + The Medes took a particular delight in the ornamentation of their persons. + According to Xenophon, they were acquainted with most of the expedients by + the help of which vanity attempts to conceal the ravages of time and to + create an artificial beauty. They employed cosmetics, which they rubbed + into the skin, for the sake of improving the complexion. They made use of + an abundance of false hair. Like many other Oriental nations, both ancient + and modern, they applied dyes to enhance the brilliancy of the eyes, and + give them a greater apparent size and softness. They were also fond of + wearing golden ornaments. Chains or collars of gold usually adorned their + nocks, bracelets of the same precious metal encircled their wrists, and + earrings were inserted into their ears. <a href="#linkimage-0007">[PLATE + VI., Fig. 2.]</a> Gold was also used in the caparisons of their horses, + the bit and other parts of the harness being often of this valuable + material. + </p> + <p> + We are told that the Medes were very luxurious at their banquets. Besides + plain meat and game of different kinds, with the ordinary accompaniments + of wine and bread, they were accustomed to place before their guests a + vast number of side-dishes, together with a great variety of sauces. They + ate with the hand, as is still the fashion in the East, and were + sufficiently refined to make use of napkins. Each guest had his own + dishes, and it was a mark of special honor to augment their number. Wine + was drunk both at the meal and afterwards, often in an undue quantity; and + the close of the feast was apt to be a scene of general turmoil and + confusion. At the Court it was customary for the king to receive his wine + at the hands of a cupbearer, who first tasted the draught, that the king + might be sure that it was not poisoned, and then presented it to his + master with much pomp and ceremony. + </p> + <p> + The whole ceremonial of the court seems to have been imposing. Under + ordinary circumstances the monarch kept himself secluded, and no one could + obtain admission to him unless he formally requested an audience, and was + introduced into the royal presence by the proper officer. On his admission + he prostrated himself upon the ground with the same signs of adoration + which were made on entering a temple. The king, surrounded by his + attendants, eunuchs, and others, maintained a haughty reserve, and the + stranger only beheld him from a distance. Business was transacted in a + great measure by writing. The monarch rarely quitted his palace, + contenting himself with such reports of the state of his empire as were + transmitted to him from time to time by his officers. + </p> + <p> + The chief amusement of the court, in which however the king rarely + partook, was hunting. Media always abounded in beasts of chase; and lions, + bears, leopards, wild boars, stags, gazelles, wild sheep, and wild asses + are mentioned among the animals hunted by the Median nobles. Of these the + first four were reckoned dangerous, the others harmless. It was customary + to pursue these animals on horseback, and to aim at them with the bow or + the javelin. We may gather a lively idea of some of these hunts from the + sculptures of the Parthians, who some centuries later inhabited the same + region. We see in these the rush of great troops of boars through marshes + dense with water-plants, the bands of beaters urging them on, the + sportsmen aiming at them with their bows, and the game falling transfixed + with two or three well-aimed shafts. Again we see herds of deer driven + within enclosures, and there slain by archers who shoot from horseback, + the monarch under his parasol looking on the while, pleased with the + dexterity of his servants. It is thus exactly that Xenophon portrays + Astyages as contemplating the sport of his courtiers, complacently viewing + their enjoyment, but taking no active part in the work himself. + </p> + <p> + Like other Oriental sovereigns, the Median monarch maintained a seraglio + of wives and concubines; and polygamy was commonly practised among the + more wealthy classes. Strabo speaks of a strange law as obtaining with + some of the Median tribes—a law which required that no man should be + content with fewer wives than five. It is very unlikely that such a burden + was really made obligatory on any: most probably five legitimate wives, + and no more, were allowed by the law referred to, just as four wives, and + no more, are lawful for Mohammedans. Polygamy, as usual, brought in its + train the cruel practice of castration; and the court swarmed with + eunuchs, chiefly foreigners purchased in their infancy. Towards the close + of the Empire this despicable class appears to have been all-powerful with + the monarch. + </p> + <p> + Thus the tide of corruption gradually advanced; and there is reason to + believe that both court and people had in a great measure laid aside the + hardy and simple customs of their forefathers, and become enervated + through luxury, when the revolt of the Persians came to test the quality + of their courage, and their ability to maintain their empire. It would be + improper in this place to anticipate the account of this struggle, which + must be reserved for the historical chapter; but the well-known result—the + speedy and complete success of the Persians—must be adduced among + the proofs of a rapid deterioration in the Median character between the + accession of Cyaxares and the capture—less than a century later—of + Astyages. + </p> + <p> + We have but little information with respect to the state of the arts among + the Medes. A barbaric magnificence characterized, as has been already + observed, their architecture, which differed from the Assyrian in being + dependent for its effect on groups of pillars rather than on painting or + sculpture. Still sculpture was, it is probable, practised to some extent + by the Medes, who, it is almost certain, conveyed on to the Persians those + modifications of Assyrian types which meet us everywhere in the remains of + the Achsemenian monarch? The carving of winged genii, of massive forms of + bulls and lions, of various grotesque monsters, and of certain clumsy + representations of actual life, imitated from the bas-reliefs of the + Assyrians, may be safely ascribed to the Medes; since, had they not + carried on the traditions of their predecessors, Persian art could not + have borne the resemblance that it does to Assyrian. But these first + mimetic efforts of the Arian race have almost wholly perished, and there + scarcely seems to remain more than a single fragment which can be assigned + on even plausible grounds to the Median period. A portion of a colossal + lion, greatly injured by time, is still to be seen at Hamadan, the site of + the great Median capital, which the best judges regard as anterior to the + Persian period, and as therefore most probably Median. It consists of the + head and body of the animal, from which the four legs and the tail have + been broken off, and measures between eleven and twelve feet from the + crown of the head to the point from which the tail sprang. By the position + of the head and what remains of the shoulders and thighs, it is evident + that the animal was represented in a sitting posture, with the fore legs + straight and the hind legs gathered up under it. To judge of the feeling + and general character of the sculpture is difficult, owing to the worn and + mutilated condition of the work; but we seem to trace in it the same air + of calm and serene majesty that characterizes the colossal bulls and lions + of Assyria, together with somewhat more of expression and of softness than + are seen in the productions of that people. Its posture, which is unlike + that of any Assyrian specimen, indicates a certain amount of originality + as belonging to the Median artists, while its colossal size seems to show + that the effect on the spectator was still to be produced, not so much by + expression, finish, or truth to nature, as by mere grandeur of dimension. + <a href="#linkimage-0007">[PLATE VI., Fig. 3.]</a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. RELIGION. + </h2> + <p> + The earliest form of the Median religion is to be found in those sections + of the Zendavesta which have been pronounced on internal evidence to be + the most ancient portions of that venerable compilation; as, for instance, + the first Fargard of the Vendidad, and the Gathas, or “Songs,” which occur + here and there in the Yacna, or Book on Sacrifice. In the Gathas, which + belong to a very remote era indeed, we seem to have the first beginnings + of the Religion. We may indeed go back by their aid to a time anterior to + themselves—a time when the Arian race was not yet separated into two + branches, and the Easterns and Westerns, the Indians and Iranians, had not + yet adopted the conflicting creeds of Zoroastrianism and Brahminism. At + that remote period we seem to see prevailing a polytheistic nature-worship—a + recognition of various divine beings, called indifferently Asuras (Ahuras) + or Devas, each independent of the rest, and all seemingly nature-powers + rather than persons, whereof the chief are Indra, Storm or Thunder; + Mithra, Sunlight; Aramati (Armaiti), Earth; Vayu, Wind; Agni, Fire; and + Soma (Homa), Intoxication. Worship is conducted by priests, who are called + <i>kavi</i>, “seers;” <i>karapani</i>, “sacriflcers,” or <i>ricikhs</i>, + “wise men.” It consists of hymns in honor of the gods; sacrifices, bloody + and unbloody, some’ portion of which is burnt upon an altar; and a + peculiar ceremony, called that of Soma, in which an intoxicating liquor is + offered to the gods, and then consumed by the priests, who drink till they + are drunken. + </p> + <p> + Such, in outline, is the earliest phase of Arian religion, and it is + common to both branches of the stock, and anterior to the rise of the + Iranic, Median, or Persian system. That system is a revolt from this + sensuous and superficial nature-worship. It begins with a distinct + recognition of spiritual intelligences—real persons—with whom + alone, and not with powers, religion is concerned. It divides these + intelligences into good and bad, pure and impure, benignant and + malevolent. To the former it applies the term <i>Asuras</i> (<i>Ahuras</i>), + “living” or “spiritual beings,” in a good sense; to the latter, the term + <i>Devas</i>, in a bad one. It regards the “powers” hitherto worshipped as + chiefly <i>Devas</i>; but it excepts from this unfavorable view a certain + number, and, recognizing them as <i>Asuras</i>, places them above the <i>Izeds</i>, + or “angels.” Thus far it has made two advances, each of great importance, + the substitution of real “persons” for “powers,” as objects of the + religious faculty, and the separation of the persons into good and bad, + pure and impure, righteous and wicked. But it does not stop here. It + proceeds to assert, in a certain sense, monotheism against polytheism. It + boldly declares that, at the head of the good intelligences, is a single + great Intelligence, Ahuro-Mazdao, the highest object of adoration, the + true Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the universe. This is its great + glory. It sets before the soul a single Being as the source of all good + and the proper object of the highest worship. Ahuro-Mazdao is “the creator + of life, the earthly and the spiritual;” “he has made the celestial + bodies, earth, water, and trees, all good creatures,” and “all good, true, + holy, pure, things.” He is “the Holy God, the Holiest, the essence of + truth, the father of all truth, the best being of all, the master of + purity.” He is supremely “happy,” possessing every blessing, “health, + wealth, virtue, wisdom, immortality.” From him comes all good to man; on + the pious and the righteous he bestows not only earthly advantages, but + precious spiritual gifts, truth, devotion, “the good mind,” and + everlasting happiness; and as he rewards the good, so he punishes the bad, + though this is an aspect in which he is but seldom represented. + </p> + <p> + It has been said that this conception of Ahura-mazda as the Supreme Being + is “<i>perfectly identical</i> with the notion of Elohim, or Jehovah, + which we find in the books of the Old Testament.” This is, no doubt, an + over-statement. Ahura-mazda is less spiritual and less awful than Jehovah. + He is less remote from the nature of man. The very ascription to him of + health (<i>haurvat</i>) is an indication that he is conceived of as + possessing a sort of physical nature. Lucidity and brilliancy are assigned + to him, not (as it would seem) in a mere metaphorical sense. Again, he is + so predominantly the author of good things, the source of blessing and + prosperity, that he could scarcely inspire his votaries with any feeling + of fear. Still, considering the general failure of unassisted reason to + mount up to the true notion of a spiritual God, this doctrine of the early + Arians is very remarkable; and its approximation to the truth sufficiently + explains at once the favorable light in which its professors are viewed by + the Jewish prophets, and the favorable opinion which they form of the + Jewish system. Evidently, the Jews and Arians, when they became known to + one another, recognized mutually the fact that they were worshippers of + the same great Being. Hence the favor of the Persians towards the Jews, + and the fidelity of the Jews towards the Persians. The Lord God of the + Jews being recognized as identical with Ormazd, a sympathetic feeling + united the peoples. The Jews, so impatient generally of a foreign yoke, + never revolted from the Persians; and the Persians, so intolerant, for the + most part, of religions other than their own, respected and protected + Judaism. + </p> + <p> + The sympathy was increased by the fact that the religion of Ormazd was + anti-idolatrous. In the early nature-worship idolatry had been allowed; + but the Iranic system pronounced against it from the first. No images of + Ahura-mazda, or of the Izeds, profaned the severe simplicity of an Iranic + temple. It was only after a long lapse of ages that, in connection with a + foreign worship, idolatry crept in. The old Zoroastrianism was in this + respect as pure as the religion of the Jews, and thus a double bond of + religious sympathy united the Hebrews and the Arians. + </p> + <p> + Under the supreme God, Ahura-mazda or Ormazd, the ancient Iranic system + placed (as has been already observed) a number of angels. Some of these, + as <i>Vohu-mano</i>, “the Good Mind;” <i>Mazda</i>, “the Wise” (?); and <i>Asha</i>, + “the True,” are scarcely distinguishable from attributes of the Divinity. + Armaiti, however, the genius of the Earth, and Sraosha or Serosh, an + angel, are very clearly and distinctly personified. Sraosha is Ormazd’s + messenger. He delivers revelations, shows men the paths of happiness, and + brings them the blessings which Ormazd has assigned to their share. + Another of his functions is to protect the true faith. He is called, in a + very special sense, “the friend of Ormazd,” and is employed by Ormazd not + only to distribute his gifts, but also to conduct to him the souls of the + faithful, when this life is over, and they enter on the celestial scene. + </p> + <p> + Armaiti is at once the genius of the Earth, and the goddess of Piety. The + early Ormazd worshippers were agriculturists, and viewed the cultivation + of the soil as a religious duty enjoined upon them by God. Hence they + connected the notion of piety with earth culture; and it was but a step + from this to make a single goddess preside over the two. It is as the + angel of Earth that Armaiti has most distinctly a personal character. She + is regarded as wandering from spot to spot, and laboring to convert + deserts and wildernesses into fruitful fields and gardens. She has the + agriculturist under her immediate protection, while she endeavors to + persuade the shepherd, who persists in the nomadic life, to give up his + old habits and commence the cultivation of the soil. She is of course the + giver of fertility, and rewards her votaries by bestowing upon them + abundant harvests. She alone causes all growth. In a certain cense she + pervades the whole material creation, mankind included, in whom she is + even sometimes said to “reside.” + </p> + <p> + Armaiti, further “tells men the everlasting laws, which no one may + abolish”—laws which she has learnt from converse with Ahura-mazda + himself. She is thus naturally the second object of worship to the old + Zoroastrian; and converts to the religion were required to profess their + faith in her in direct succession to Ahura-mazda. + </p> + <p> + From Armaiti must be carefully distinguished the <i>geus urva</i>, or + “soul of the earth”—a being who nearly resembles the “anima mundi” + of the Greek and Roman philosophers. This spirit dwells in the earth + itself, animating it as a man’s soul animates his body. In old times, when + man first began to plough the soil, <i>geus urva</i> cried aloud, thinking + that his life was threatened, and implored the assistance of the + archangels. They however were deaf to his entreaties (since Ormazd had + decreed that there should be cultivation), and left him to bear his pains + as he best could. It is to be hoped that in course of time he became + callous to them, and made the discovery that mere scratches, though they + may be painful, are not dangerous. + </p> + <p> + It is uncertain whether in the most ancient form of the Iranic worship the + cult of Mithra was included or no. On the one hand, the fact that Mithra + is common to both forms of the Arian creed—the Indian and Iranic—would + induce the belief that his worship was adopted from the first by the + Zoroastrians; on the other, the entire absence of all mention of Mithra + from the Gathas would lead us to the conclusion that in the time when they + were composed his cult had not yet begun. Perhaps we may distinguish + between two forms of early Iranic worship—one that of the more + intelligent and spiritual—the leaders of the secession—in + whose creed Mithra had no place; the other that of the great mass of + followers, a coarser and more material system, in which many points of the + old religion were retained, and among them the worship of the Sun-god. + This lower and more materialistic school of thought probably conveyed on + into the Iranic system other points also common to the Zendavosta with the + Vedas, as the recognition of Airyaman (Aryaman) as a genius presiding over + marriages, of Vitraha as a very high angel, and the like. + </p> + <p> + Vayu, “the Wind,” seems to have been regarded as a god from the first. He + appears, not only in the later portions of the Zenda vesta, like Mithra + and Aryaman, but in the Gathas themselves. His name is clearly identical + with that of the Vedic Wind-god, Vayu, and is apparently a sister form to + the ventus, or wind, of the more western Arians. The root is probably vi, + “to go,” which may be traced in vis, via, vado, venio, etc. + </p> + <p> + The ancient Iranians did not adopt into their system either Agni, “Fire” + (Lat. <i>ignis</i>), or Soma (Homa), “Intoxication.” Fire was indeed + retained for sacrifice; but it was regarded as a mere material agent, and + not as a mysterious Power, the proper object of prayer and worship. The + Soma worship, which formed a main element of the old religion, and which + was retained in Brahminism, was at the first altogether discarded by the + Zoroastrians; indeed, it seems to have been one of the main causes of that + disgust which split the Arian body in two, and gave rise to the new + religion. A ceremony in which it was implied that the intoxication of + their worshippers was pleasing to the gods, and not obscurely hinted that + they themselves indulged in similar excesses, was revolting to the + religious temper of those who made the Zoaroastrian reformation; and it is + plain from the Gathas that the new system was intended at first to be + entirely free from the pollution of so disgusting a practice. But the zeal + of religious reformers outgoes in most cases the strength and patience of + their people, whose spirit is too gross and earthly to keep pace with the + more lofty flights of the purer and higher intelligence. The Iranian + section of the Arians could not be weaned wholly from their beloved Soma + feasts; and the leaders of the movement were obliged to be content + ultimately with so far reforming and refining the ancient ceremony as to + render it comparatively innocuous. The portion of the rite which implied + that the gods themselves indulged in intoxication was omitted; and for the + intoxication of the priests was substituted a moderate use of the liquor, + which, instead of giving a religious sanction to drunkenness, merely + implied that the Soma juice was a good gift of God, one of the many + blessings for which men had to be thankful. + </p> + <p> + With respect to the evil spirits or intelligences, which, in the + Zoroastrian system, stood over against the good ones, the teaching of the + early reformers seems to have been less clear. The old divinities, except + where adopted into the new creed, were in a general way called Devas, + “fiends” or “devils,” in contrast with the Ahuras, or “gods.” These devas + were represented as many in number, as artful, malicious, deceivers and + injurers of mankind, more especially of the Zoroastrians or + Ormazd-worshippers, as inventors of spells and lovers of the intoxicating + Soma draught. Their leading characteristics were “destroying” and “lying.” + They were seldom or never called by distinct names. No account was given + of their creation, nor of the origin of their wickedness. No single + superior intelligence, no great Principle of Evil, was placed at their + head. Ahriman (Angro-mainyus) does not occur in the Gathas as a proper + name. Far less is there any graduated hierarchy of evil, surrounding a + Prince of Darkness, with a sort of court, antagonistic to the angelic host + of Ormazd, as in the latter portions of the Zendavesta and in the modern + Parsee system. + </p> + <p> + Thus Dualism proper, or a belief in two uncreated and independent + principles, one a principle of good and the other a principal of evil, was + no part of the original Zoroastrianism. At the same time we find, even in + the Gathas, the earliest portions of the Zondavesta, the germ out of which + Dualism sprung. The contrast between good and evil is strongly and sharply + marked in the Gathas; the writers continually harp upon it, their minds + are evidently struck with this sad antithesis which colors the whole moral + world to them; they see everywhere a struggle between right and wrong, + truth and falsehood, purity and impurity; apparently they are blind to the + evidence of harmony and agreement in the universe, discerning nothing + anywhere but strife, conflict, antagonism. Nor is this all. They go a step + further, and personify the two parties to the struggle. One is a “white” + or holy “Spirit” (<i>cpento mainyus</i>), and the other a “dark spirit” (<i>angro + mainyus</i>). But this personification is merely poetical or metaphorical, + not real. The “white spirit” is not Ahura-mazda, and the “dark spirit” is + not a hostile intelligence. Both resolve themselves on examination into + mere figures of speech—phantoms of poetic imagery—abstract + notions, clothed by language with an apparent, not a real, personality. + </p> + <p> + It was natural that, as time went on, Dualism should develop itself out of + the primitive Zoroastrianism. Language exercises a tyranny over thought, + and abstractions in the ancient world were ever becoming persons. The + Iranian mind, moreover, had been strack, when it first turned to + contemplate the world, with a certain antagonism; and, having once entered + this track, it would be compelled to go on, and seek to discover the + origin of the antagonism, the cause (or causes) to which it was to be + ascribed. Evil seemed most easily accounted for by the supposition of an + evil Person; and the continuance of an equal struggle, without advantage + to either side, which was what the Iranians thought they beheld in the + world that lay around them, appeared to them to imply the equality of that + evil Person with the Being whom they rightly regarded as the author of all + good. Thus Dualism had its birth. The Iranians came to believe in the + existence of two co-eternal and co-equal Persons, one good and the other + evil, between whom there had been from all eternity a perpetual and + never-ceasing conflict, and between whom the same conflict would continue + to rage through all coming time. + </p> + <p> + It is impossible to say how this development took place. We have evidence, + however, that at a period considerably anterior to the commencement of the + Median Empire, Dualism, not perhaps in its ultimate extravagant form, but + certainly in a very decided and positive shape, had already been thought + out and become the recognized creed of the Iranians. In the first Fargard, + or chapter, of the Vendidad—the historical chapter, in which are + traced the only movements of the Iranic peoples, and which from the + geographical point whereat it stops must belong to a time when the Arians + had not yet reached Media Magna—-the Dualistic belief clearly shows + itself. The term Angro-mainyus has now become a proper name, and + designates the great spirit of evil as definitely and determinately as + Ahura-mazda designates the good spirit. The antagonism between Ahura-mazda + and Angro-mainyus is depicted in the strongest colors; it is direct, + constant and successful. Whatever good work Ahura-mazda in his benevolence + creates, Angro-mainyus steps forward to mar and blast it. If Ahura-mazda + forms a “delicious spot” in a world previously desert and uninhabitable to + become the first home of his favorites, the Arians, Angro-mainyus ruins it + by sending into it a poisonous serpent, and at the same time rendering the + climate one of the bitterest severity. If Ahura-mazda provides, instead of + this blasted region, another charming habitation, “the second best of + regions and countries,” Angro-mainyus sends there the curse of murrain, + fatal to all cattle. To every land which Ahura-mazda creates for his + worshippers, Angro-mainyus immediately assigns some plague or other. War, + ravages, sickness, fever, poverty, hail, earthquakes, buzzing insects, + poisonous plants, unbelief, witchcraft, and other inexpiable sins, are + introduced by him into the various happy regions created without any such + drawbacks by the good spirit; and a world, which should have been “very + good,” is by these means converted into a scene of trial and suffering. + </p> + <p> + The Dualistic principle being thus fully adopted, and the world looked on + as the battle-ground between two independent and equal powers engaged in + perpetual strife, it was natural that the imagination should complete the + picture by ascribing to those superhuman rivals the circumstantials that + accompany a great struggle between human adversaries. The two kings + required, in the first place, to have their councils, which were + accordingly assigned them, and were respectively composed of six + councillors. The councillors of Ahura-mazda—called Amesha Spentas, + or “Immortal Saints,” afterwards corrupted into Amshashpands—wore + Vohu-mano (Bahman), Asha-va-hista (Ardibehesht), Khshathra-vairya + (Shahravar), Qpenta-Armaiti (Isfand-armat), Haurvatat (Khordad), and + Ameretat (Amerdat). Those of Angro-mainyus were Ako-mano, Indra, Qaurva, + Naonhaitya, and two others whose names are interpreted as “Darkness” and + “Poison.” + </p> + <p> + Vohu-mano (Bahman) means “the Good Mind.” Originally a mere attribute of + Ahura-mazda, Vohu-mano came to be considered, first as one of the high + angels attendant on him, and then formally as one of-his six councillors. + He had a distinct sphere or province assigned to him in Ahura-mazda’s + kingdom, which was the maintenance of life in animals and of goodness in + man. + </p> + <p> + Asha-vahista (Ardibehesht) means “the Highest Truth”—“Voritas + optima,” or rather perhaps “Veritas lucidissima.” He was the “Light” of + the universe, subtle, all-pervading, omnipresent. His special business was + to maintain the splendor of the various luminaries, and thereby to + preserve all those things whose existence and growth depend on light. + </p> + <p> + Khshathra-vairya (Shahravar), whose name means simply “possessions,” + “wealth,” was regarded as presiding over metals and as the dispenser of + riches. + </p> + <p> + Qoonta-Armaiti (Isfand-armat)—the “white or holy Ar-maiti,” + represented the Earth. She had from the first, as we have already seen, a + distinct position in the system of the Zoroastrians, where she was at once + the Earth goddess and the genius of piety. + </p> + <p> + Haurvatat (Khordad) means “health”—“sanitas”—and was + originally one of the great and precious gifts which Ahura-mazda possessed + himself and kindly bestowed on his creatures. When personification, and + the needs of the theology, had made Haurvatat an archangel, he, together + with Ameretat (Amerdat), “Immortality,” took the presidency of the + vegetable world, which it was the business of the pair to keep in good + condition. + </p> + <p> + In the council of Angro-mainyus, Ako-mano stands in direct antithesis to + Vohu-mano, as “the bad mind,” or more literally, “the naught mind”—for + the Zoroastrians, like Plato, regarded good and evil as identical with + reality and unreality. Ako-mano’s special sphere is the mind of man, where + he suggests evil thoughts and prompts to bad words and wicked deeds. He + holds the first place in the infernal council, as Vohu-mano does in the + heavenly one. + </p> + <p> + Indra, who holds the second place in the infernal council, is evidently + the Vedic god whom the Zoroastrians regarded as a powerful demon, and + therefore made one of Angro-mainyus’s chief councillors. He probably + retained his character as the god of the storm and of war, the destroyer + of crops and cities, the inspirer of armies and the wielder of the + thunder-bolt. The Zoroastrians, however, ascribed to him only destructive + actions; while the more logical Hindoos, observing that the same storm + which hurt the crops and struck down trees and buildings was also the + means of fertilizing the lands and purifying the air, viewed him under a + double aspect, as at once terrible in his wrath and the bestower of + numerous blessings. + </p> + <p> + Qaurva, who stands next to Indra, is thought to be the Hindoo Shiva, who + has the epithet qarva in one of the Vedas. But the late appearance of + Shiva in the Hindoo system makes this highly uncertain. + </p> + <p> + Naonhaitya, the fourth member of the infernal council, corresponds + apparently to the Vedic Nasatyas, a collective name given to the two + Aswins, the Dioscuri of Indian mythology. These were favorite gods of the + early Hindoos, to whose protection they very mainly ascribed their + prosperity. It was natural that the Iranians, in their aversion to their + Indian brethren, should give the Aswins a seat at Angro-mainyus’s + council-table; but it is curious that they should represent the twin + deities by only a single councillor. + </p> + <p> + Taric and Zaric, “Darkness” and “Poison,” the occupants of the fifth and + sixth places, are evidently personifications made for the occasion, to + complete the infernal council to its full complement of six members. + </p> + <p> + As the two Principles of Good and Evil have their respective councils, so + have they likewise their armies. The Good Spirit has created thousands of + angelic beings, who everywhere perform his will and fight on his side + against the Evil One; and the Evil One has equally on his part called into + being thousands of malignant spirits who are his emissaries in the world, + doing his work continually, and fighting his battles. These are the Devas + or Dives, so famous in Persian fairy mythology. They are “wicked, bad, + false, untrue, the originators of mischief, most baneful, destructive, the + basest of all beings.” The whole universe is full of them. They aim + primarily at destroying all the good creations of Ahura-mazda; but if + unable to destroy they content themselves with perverting and corrupting. + They dog the steps of men, tempting them to sin; and, as soon as sin, + obtaining a fearful power over them. + </p> + <p> + At the head of Ahura-mazda’s army is the angel Sraosha (Serosh). Serosh is + “the sincere, the beautiful, the victorious, the true, the master of + truth.” He protects the territories of the Iranians, wounds, and sometimes + even slays the demons, and is engaged in a perpetual struggle against + them, never slumbering night or day, but guarding the world with his drawn + sword, more particularly after sunset, when the demons have the greatest + power. + </p> + <p> + Angro-mainyus appears not to possess any such general-in-chief. Besides + the six councillors above mentioned, there are indeed various demons of + importance, as Drukhs, “destruction;” Aeshemo, “rapine;” Daivis, “deceit;” + Driwis, “poverty,” etc.; but no one of these seems to occupy a parallel + place in the evil world to that which is assigned to Serosh in the good. + Perhaps we have here a recognition of the anarchic character of evil, + whose attacks are like those of a huge undisciplined host—casual, + fitful, irregular—destitute wholly of that principle of law and + order which gives to the resisting power of good a great portion of its + efficacy. + </p> + <p> + To the belief in a spiritual world composed of all these various + intelligences—one half of whom were good, and the other half evil—the + early Zoroastrians added notions with respect to human duties and human + prospects far more enlightened than those which have usually prevailed + among heathen nations. In their system truth, purity, piety, and industry + were the virtues chiefly valued and inculcated. Evil was traced up to its + root in the heart of man; and it was distinctly taught that no virtue + deserved the name but such as was co-extensive with the whole sphere of + human activity, including the thought, as well as the word and deed. The + purity required was inward as well as outward, mental as well as bodily. + The industry was to be of a peculiar character. Man was placed upon the + earth to preserve the good creation; and this could only be done by + careful tilling of the soil, eradication of thorns and weeds, and + reclamation of the tracts over which Angro-mainyus had spread the curse of + barrenness. To cultivate the soil was thus a religious duty; the whole + community was required to be agricultural; and either as proprietor, as + farmer, or as laboring man, each Zoroastrian must “further the works of + life” by advancing tillage. Piety consisted in the acknowledgment of the + One True God, Ahura-mazda, and of his holy angels, the Amesha Spentas or + Amshashpands, in the frequent offering of prayers, praises, and + thanksgivings, in the recitation of hymns, the performance of the reformed + Soma ceremony, and the occasional sacrifice of animals. Of the hymns we + have abundant examples in the Gathas of the Zendavesta, and in the Yagna + haptanhaiti, or “Yaana of seven chapters,” which belongs to the second + period of the religion. A specimen from the latter source is subjoined + below. The Soma or Homa ceremony consisted in the extraction of the juice + of the Homa plant by the priests during the recitation of prayers, the + formal presentation of the liquid extracted to the sacrificial fire, the + consumption of a small portion of it by one of the officiating priests, + and the division of the remainder among the worshippers. As the juice was + drunk immediately after extraction and before fermentation had set in, it + was not intoxicating. The ceremony seems to have been regarded, in part, + as having a mystic force, securing the favor of heaven; in part, as + exerting a beneficial influence upon the body of the worshipper through + the curative power inherent in the Homa plant. + </p> + <p> + The sacrifices of the Zoroastrians were never human. The ordinary victim + was the horse; and we hear of occasions on which a single individual + sacrificed as many as ten of these animals. Mares seem to have been + regarded as the most pleasing offerings, probably on account of their + superior value; and if it was desired to draw down the special favor of + the Deity, those mares were selected which were already heavy in foal. + Oxen, sheep, and goats were probably also used as victims. A priest always + performed the sacrifice, slaying the animal, and showing the flesh to the + sacred fire by way of consecration, after which it was eaten at a solemn + feast by the priest and worshippers. + </p> + <p> + The Zoroastrians were devout believers in the immortality of the soul and + a conscious future existence. They taught that immediately after death the + souls of men, both good and bad, proceeded together along an appointed + path to “the bridge of the gatherer” (chinvatperetu). This was a narrow + road conducting to heaven or paradise, over which the souls of the pious + alone could pass, while the wicked fell from it into the gulf below, where + they found themselves in the place of punishment. The good soul was + assisted across the bridge by the angel Serosh—“the happy, + well-formed, swift, tall Serosh”—who met the weary wayfarer and + sustained his steps as he effected the difficult passage. The prayers of + his friends in this world were of much avail to the deceased, and greatly, + helped him on his journey. As he entered, the archangel Vohu-mano or + Bahman rose from his throne and greeted him with the words, “How happy art + thou who hast come here to us from the mortality to the immortality!” Then + the pious soul went joyfully onward to Ahura-mazda, to the immortal + saints, to the golden throne, to Paradise. As for the wicked, when they + fell into the gulf, they found themselves in outer darkness, in the + kingdom of Angro-mainyus, where they were forced to remain and to feed + upon poisoned banquets. + </p> + <p> + It is believed by some that the doctrine of the resurrection of the body + was also part of the Zoroastrian creed. Theopompus assigned this doctrine + to the Magi; and there is no reason to doubt that it was held by the + priestly caste of the Arian nations in his day. We find it plainly stated + in portions of the Zendavesta, which, if not among the earliest, are at + any rate of very considerable antiquity, as in the eighteenth chapter of + the Vendidad. It is argued that even in the Gathas there is an expression + used which shows the doctrine to have been already held when they were + composed; but the phrase adduced is so obscure that its true meaning must + be pronounced in the highest degree uncertain. The absence of any plain + allusion to the resurrection from the earlier portions of the sacred + volume is a strong argument against its having formed any part of the + original Arian creed—an argument which is far from outweighed by the + occurrence of a more possible reference to it in a single ambiguous + passage. + </p> + <p> + Around and about this nucleus of religious belief there grew up in course + of time a number of legends, some of which possess considerable interest. + Like other thoughtful races, the Iranians speculated upon the early + condition of mankind, and conceived a golden age, and a king then reigning + over a perfectly happy people, whom they called King Yima—Yima-khshaeta—the + modern Persian Jemshid. Yima, according to the legend, had dwelt + originally in Aryanem vaejo—the primitive seat of the Arians—and + had there reigned gloriously and peacefully for awhile; but the evils of + winter having come upon his country, he had removed from it with his + subjects, and had retired to a secluded spot where he and his people + enjoyed uninterrupted happiness. In this place was “neither overbearing + nor mean-spiritedness, neither stupidity nor violence, neither poverty nor + deceit, neither puniness nor deformity, neither huge teeth nor bodies + beyond the usual meassure.” The inhabitants suffered no defilement from + the evil spirit. They dwelt amid odoriferous trees and golden pillars; + their cattle were the largest, best, and most beautiful on the earth; they + were themselves a tall and beautiful race; their food was ambrosial, and + never failed them. No wonder that time sped fast with them, and that they, + not noting its night, thought often that what was really a year had been + no more than a single day. Yima was the great hero of the early Iranians. + His titles, besides “the king” (khshaeta), are “the brilliant,” “the + happy,” “the greatly wealthy,” “the leader of the peoples,” “the renowned + in Aryanem vaejo.” He is most probably identical with the Yama of the + Vedas, who was originally the first man, the progenitor of mankind and the + ruler of the blessed in Paradise, but who was afterwards transformed into + “the god of death, the inexorable judge of men’s doings, and the punisher + of the wicked.” + </p> + <p> + Next in importance to Yima among the heroes is Thraetona—the modern + Persian Feridun. He was born in Varena—which is perhaps Atropatene, + or Azerbijan—and was the son of a distinguished father, Athwyo. His + chief exploit was the destruction of Ajis-dahaka (Zohak), who is sometimes + represented as a cruel tyrant, the bitter enemy of the Iranian race, + sometimes as a monstrous dragon, with three mouths, three tails, six eyes, + and a thousand scaly rings, who threatened to ruin the whole of the good + creation. The traditional scene of the destruction was the mountain of + Demavend, the highest peak of the Elburz range south of the Caspian. + Thraetona, like Yima, appears to be also a Vedic hero. He may be + recognized in Traitana, who is said in the Rig-Veda to have slain a mighty + giant by severing his head from his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + A third heroic personage known in the early times was Keresaspa, of the + noble Sama family. He was the son of Thrita—a distinct personage + from Thraetona—and brother of Urvakh-shaya the Just and was bred up + in the arid country of Veh-keret (Khorassan). The “glory” which had rested + upon Yima so many years became his in his day. He was the mightiest among + the mighty, and was guarded from all danger by the fairy (pairika) + Enathaiti, who followed him whithersoever he went. He slew Qravara, the + queen and venomous serpent, who swallowed up men and horses. He killed + Gandarewa with the golden heel, and also Cnavidhaka, who had boasted that, + when he grew up, he would make the earth his wheel and heaven his chariot, + that he would carry off Ahura-mazda from heaven and Angro-mainyus from + hell, and yoke them both as horses to his car. Keresaspa appears as + Gershasp in the modern Persian legends, where, however, but little is said + of his exploits. In the Hindoo books he appears as Krigagva, the son of + Samyama, and is called king of Vaigali, or Bengal! + </p> + <p> + From these specimens the general character of the early Iranic legends + appears sufficiently. Without affording any very close resemblances in + particular cases, they present certain general features which are common + to the legendary lore of all the Western Arians. They are romantic tales, + not allegories; they relate with exaggerations the deeds of men, not the + processes of nature. Combining some beauty with a good deal that is + bizarre and grotesque, they are lively and graphic, but somewhat childish, + having in no case any deep meaning, and rarely teaching a moral lesson. In + their earliest shape they appear, so far as we can judge, to have been + brief, disconnected, and fragmentary. They owe the full and closely + interconnected form which they assume in the Shahna-meh and other modern + Persian writings, partly to a gradual accretion during the course of + centuries, partly to the inventive genius of Firdausi, who wove the + various and often isolated legends into a pseudo-history, and amplified + them at his own pleasure. How much of the substance of Firdausi’s poems + belongs to really primitive myth is uncertain. We find in the Zend texts + the names of Gayo-marathan, who corresponds to Kaiomars; of Haoshyanha, or + Hosheng; of Yima-shaeta, or Jemshid; of Ajisdahaka, or Zohak; of Athwya, + or Abtin; of Thraetona, or Feridun; of Keresaspa, or Gershasp; of Kava Uq, + or Kai Kavus; of Kava Hucrava, or Kai Khosroo; and of Kava Vistaspa, or + Gushtasp. But we have no mention of Tahomars; of Gava (or Gau) the + blacksmith; of Feridua’s sons, Selm, Tur, and Irij; of Zal, or Mino’chihr, + or Eustem; of Afrasiab, or Kai Kobad; of Sohrab, or Isfendiar. And of the + heroic names which actually occur in the Zendavesta, several, as + Gayo-marathan, Haoshyariha, Kava Uc, and Kava Hugrava, are met with only + in the later portions, which belong probably to about the fourth century + before our era. The only legends which we know to be primitive are those + above related, which are found in portions of the Zendavesta, whereto the + best critics ascribe a high antiquity. The negative argument is not, + however, conclusive; and it is quite possible that a very large proportion + of Firdausi’s tale may consist of ancient legends dressed up in a garb + comparatively modern. + </p> + <p> + Two phases of the early Iranic religion have been now briefly described; + the first a simple and highly spiritual creed, remarkable for its distinct + assertion of monotheism, its hatred of idolatry, and the strongly marked + antithesis which it maintained between good and evil; the second, a + natural corruption of the first, Dualistic, complicated by the importance + which it ascribed to angelic beings verging upon polytheism. It remains to + give an account of a third phase into which the religion passed in + consequence of an influence exercised upon it from without by an alien + system. + </p> + <p> + When the Iranic nations, cramped for space in the countries east and south + of the Caspian, began to push themselves further to the west, and then to + the south, they were brought into contact with various Scythic tribes + inhabiting the mountain regions of Armenia, Azerbijan, Kurdistan, and + Luristan, whose religion appears to have been Magism. It was here, in + these elevated tracts, where the mountains almost seem to reach the skies, + that the most venerated and ancient of the fire-temples were established, + some of which remain, seemingly in their primitive condition, at the + present day. <a href="#linkimage-0007">[PLATE VI., Fig. 4.]</a> Here + tradition placed the original seat of the fire-worship; and from hence + many taught that Zoroaster, whom they regarded as the founder of Magism, + had sprung. Magism was, essentially, the worship of the elements, the + recognition of fire, air, earth, and water as the only proper objects of + human reverence. The Magi held no personal gods, and therefore naturally + rejected temples, shrines, and images, as tending to encourage the notion + that gods existed of a like nature with man, i.e., possessing personality—living + and intelligent beings. Theirs was a nature worship, but a nature worship + of a very peculiar kind. They did not place gods over the different parts + of nature, like the Greeks; they did not even personify the powers of + nature, like the Hindoos; they paid their devotion to the actual material + things themselves. Fire, as the most subtle and ethereal principle, and + again as the most powerful agent, attracted their highest regards; and on + their fire-altars the sacred flame, generally said to have been kindled + from heaven, was kept burning uninterruptedly from year to year and from + age to age by bands of priests, whose special duty it was to see that the + sacred spark was never extinguished. To defile the altar by blowing the + flame with one’s breath was a capital offence; and to burn a corpse was + regarded as an act equally odious. When victims were offered to fire, + nothing but a small portion of the fat was consumed in the flame. Next to + fire, water was reverenced. Sacrifice was offered to rivers, lakes, and + fountains, the victim being brought near to them and then slain, while + great care was taken that no drop of their blood should touch the water + and pollute it. No refuse was allowed to be cast into a river, nor was it + even lawful to wash one’s hands in one. Reverence for earth was shown by + sacrifice, and by abstention from the usual mode of burying the dead. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0007" id="linkimage-0007"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img src="images/plate006.jpg" width="100%" alt="Plate VI. " /> + </div> + <p> + The Magian religion was of a highly sacerdotal type. No worshipper could + perform any religious act except by the intervention of a priest, or + Magus, who stood between him and the divinity as a Mediator. The Magus + prepared the victim and slew it, chanted the mystic strain which gave the + sacrifice all its force, poured on the ground the propitiatory libation of + oil, milk, and honey, held the bundle of thin tamarisk twigs—the + Zendic barsom (baregma)—the employment of which was essential to + every sacrificial ceremony. The Magi were a priest-caste, apparently + holding their office by hereditary succession. They claimed to possess, + not only a sacred and mediatorial character, but also supernatural + prophetic powers. They explained omens, expounded dreams, and by means of + a certain mysterious manipulation of the barsom, or bundle of twigs, + arrived at a knowledge of future events, which they communicated to the + pious inquirer. + </p> + <p> + With such pretensions it was natural that the caste should assume a lofty + air, a stately dress, and an entourage of ceremonial magnificence. Clad in + white robes, and bearing Upon their heads tall felt caps, with long + lappets at the sides, which concealed the jaw and even the lips, each with + his barsom in his hand, they marched in procession to their pynetheia, or + fire altars, and standing around them performed for an hour at a time + their magical incantations. The credulous multitude, impressed by sights + of this kind, and imposed on by the claims to supernatural power which the + Magi advanced, paid them a willing homage; the kings and chiefs consulted + them; and when the Arian tribes, pressing westward, came into contact with + the races professing the Magian religion, they found a sacerdotal caste + all-powerful in most of the Scythic nations. + </p> + <p> + The original spirit of Zoroastrianism was fierce and exclusive. The early + Iranians looked with contempt and hatred on the creed of their Indian + brethren; they abhorred idolatry; and were disinclined to tolerate any + religion except that which they had themselves worked out. But with the + lapse of ages this spirit became softened. Polytheistic creeds are far + less jealous than monotheism; and the development of Zoroastrianism had + been in a polytheistic direction. By the time that the Zoroastrians were + brought into contact with Magism, the first fervor of their religious zeal + had abated, and they were in that intermediate condition of religious + faith which at once impresses and is impressed, acts upon other systems, + and allows itself to be acted upon in return. The result which supervened + upon contact with Magism seems to have been a fusion, an absorption into + Zoroastrianism of all the chief points of the Magian belief, and all the + more remarkable of the Magian religious usages. This absorption appears to + have taken place in Media. It was there that the Arian tribes first + associated with themselves, and formally adopted into their body, the + priest-caste of the Magi, which thenceforth was recognized as one of the + six Median tribes. It is there that Magi are first found acting in the + capacity of Arian priests. According to all the accounts which have come + down to us, they soon acquired a predominating influence, which they no + doubt used to impress their own religious doctrines more and more upon the + nation at large, and to thrust into the background, so far as they dared, + the peculiar features of the old Arian belief. It is not necessary to + suppose that the Medes ever apostatized altogether from the worship of + Ormazd, or formally surrendered their Dualistic faith. But, practically, + the Magian doctrines and the Magian usages—elemental worship, + divination with the sacred rods, dream expounding, incantations at the + fire-altars, sacrifices whereat a Magus officiated—seem to have + prevailed; the new predominated over the old; backed by the power of an + organized hierarchy, Magism over-laid the primitive Arian creed, and, as + time went on, tended more and more to become the real religion of the + nation. + </p> + <p> + Among the religious customs introduced by the Magi into Media there are + one or two which seem to require especial notice. The attribution of a + sacred character to the four so-called elements—earth, air, fire and + water—renders it extremely difficult to know what is to be done with + the dead. They cannot be burnt, for that is a pollution of fire; or + buried, for that is a pollution of earth; or thrown into a river, for that + is a defilement of water. If they are deposited in sarcophagi, or exposed, + they really pollute the air; but in this case the guilt of the pollution, + it may be argued, does not rest on man, since the dead body is merely left + in the element in which nature placed it. The only mode of disposal which + completely avoids the defilement of every element is consumption of the + dead by living beings; and the worship of the elements leads on naturally + to this treatment of corpses. At present the Guebres, or Fire-worshippers, + the descendants of the ancient Persians, expose all their dead, with the + intention that they shall be devoured by birds of prey. In ancient times, + it appears certain that the Magi adopted this practice with respect to + their own dead; but, apparently, they did not insist upon having their + example followed universally by the laity. Probably a natural instinct + made the Arians averse to this coarse and revolting custom; and their + spiritual guides, compassionating their weakness, or fearful of losing + their own influence over them if they were too stiff in enforcing + compliance, winked at the employment by the people of an entirely + different practice. The dead bodies were first covered completely with a + coating of wax, and were then deposited in the ground. It was held, + probably, that the coating of wax prevented the pollution which would have + necessarily resulted had the earth come into direct contact with the + corpse. + </p> + <p> + The custom of divining by means of a number of rods appears to have been + purely Magian. There is no trace of it in the Gathas, in the Yagna + haptanhaiti, or in the older portions of the Vendidad. It was a Scythic + practice; and probably the best extant account of it is that which + Herodotus gives of the mode wherein it was managed by the Scyths of + Europe. “Scythia,” he says, “has an abundance of soothsayers, who foretell + the future by means of a number of willow wands. A large bundle of these + rods is brought and laid on the ground. The soothsayer unties the bundle, + and places each wand by itself, at the same time uttering his prophecy: + then, while he is still speaking, he gathers the rods together again, and + makes them up once more into a bundle.” A divine power seems to have been + regarded as resting in the wands; and they were supposed to be “consulted” + on the matter in hand, both severally and collectively. The bundle of + wands thus imbued with supernatural wisdom became naturally part of the + regular priestly costume, and was carried by the Magi on all occasions of + ceremony. The wands were of different lengths; and the number of wands in + the bundle varied. Sometimes there were three, sometimes five, sometimes + as many as seven or nine; but in every case, as it would seem, an odd + number. + </p> + <p> + Another implement which the priests commonly bore must be regarded, not as + Magian, but as Zoroastrian. This is the khrafgthraghna, or instrument for + killing bad animals, frogs, toads, snakes, mice, lizards, flies, etc., + which belonged to the bad creation, or that which derived its origin from + Angro-mainyus. These it was the general duty of all men, and the more + especial duty of the Zoroastrian priests, to put to death, whenever they + had the opportunity. The Magi, it appears, adopted this Arian usage, added + the khrafgthraghna to the barsom, and were so zealous in their performance + of the cruel work expected from them as to excite the attention, and even + draw upon themselves the rebuke, of foreigners. + </p> + <p> + A practice is assigned to the Magi by many classical and ecclesiastical + writers, which, if it were truly charged on them, would leave a very dark + stain on the character of their ethical system. It is said that they + allowed and even practised incest of the most horrible kind—such + incest as we are accustomed to associate with the names of Lot, OEdipus, + and Herod Agrippa. The charge seems to have been first made either by + Xanthus the Lydian, or by Ctesias. It was accepted, probably without much + inquiry, by the Greeks generally, and then by the Romans, was repeated by + writer after writer as a certain fact, and became finally a stock topic + with the early Christian apologists. Whether it had any real foundation in + fact is very uncertain. Herodotus, who collects with so much pains the + strange and unusual customs of the various nations whom he visits, is + evidently quite ignorant of any such monstrous practice. He regards the + Magian religion as established in Persia, yet he holds the incestuous + marriage of Cambyses with his sister to have been contrary to existing + Persian laws. At the still worst forms of incest of which the Magi and + those under their influence are accused, Herodotus does not even glance. + No doubt, if Xanthus Lydus really made the statement which Clemens of + Alexandria assigns to him, it is an important piece of evidence, though + scarcely sufficient to prove the Magi guilty. Xanthus was a man of little + judgment, apt to relate extravagant tales; and, as a Lydian, he may have + been disinclined to cast an aspersion on the religion of his country’s + oppressors. The passage in question, however, probably did not come from + Xanthus Lydus, but from a much later writer who assumed his name, as has + been well shown by a living critic. The true original author of the + accusation against the Magi and their co-religionists seems to have been + Ctesias, whose authority is far too weak to establish a charge + intrinsically so improbable. Its only historical foundation seems to have + been the fact that incestuous marriages were occasionally contracted by + the Persian kings; not, however, in consequence of any law, or religious + usage, but because in the plenitude of their power they could set all law + at defiance, and trample upon the most sacred principles of morality and + religion. + </p> + <p> + A minor charge preferred against the Magian morality by Xanthus, or rather + by the pseudo-Xanthus, has possibly a more solid foundation. “The Magi,” + this writer said, “hold their wives in common: at least they often marry + the wives of others with the free consent of their husbands.” This is + really to say that among the Magians divorce was over-facile; that wives + were often put away, merely with a view to their forming a fresh marriage, + by husbands who understood and approved of the transaction. Judging by the + existing practice of the Persians, we must admit that such laxity is in + accordance with Iranic notions on the subject of marriage—notions + far less strict than those which have commonly prevailed among civilized + nations. There is, however, no other evidence, besides this, that divorce + was very common where the Magian system prevailed; and the mere assertion + of the writer who personated Xanthus Lydus will scarcely justify us in + affixing even this stigma on the religion. + </p> + <p> + Upon the whole, Magism, though less elevated and less pure than the old + Zoroastrian creed, must be pronounced to have possessed a certain + loftiness and picturesqueness which suited it to become the religion of a + great and splendid monarchy. The mysterious fire-altars on the + mountain-tops, with their prestige of a remote antiquity—the + ever-burning flame believed to have been kindled from on high—the + worship in the open air under the blue canopy of heaven—the long + troops of Magians in their white robes, with their strange caps, and their + mystic wands—the frequent prayers—the abundant sacrifices—the + long incantations—the supposed prophetic powers of the priest-caste—all + this together constituted an imposing whole at once to the eye and to the + mind, and was calculated to give additional grandeur to the civil system + that should be allied with it. Pure Zoroastrianism was too spiritual to + coalesce readily with Oriental luxury and magnificence, or to lend + strength to a government based on the ordinary principles of Asiatic + despotism. Magism furnished a hierarchy to support the throne, and add + splendor and dignity to the court, while they overawed the subject-class + by their supposed possession of supernatural powers, and of the right of + mediating between heaven and man. It supplied a picturesque worship which + at once gratified the senses and excited the fancy It gave scope to man’s + passion for the marvellous by its incantations, its divining-rods, its + omen-reading, and its dream-expounding. It gratified the religious + scrupulosity which finds a pleasure in making to itself difficulties, by + the disallowance of a thousand natural acts, and the imposition of + numberless rules for external purity. At the same time it gave no offence + to the anti-idolatrous spirit in which the Arians had hitherto gloried, + but rather encouraged the iconoclasm which they always upheld and + practised. It thus blended easily with the previous creed of the people, + awaking no prejudices, clashing with no interests; winning its way by an + apparent meekness and unpresumingness, while it was quite prepared, when + the fitting time came, to be as fierce and exclusive as if it had never + worn the mask of humility and moderation. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. LANGUAGE AND WRITING. + </h2> + <p> + On the language of the ancient Medes a very few observations will be here + made. It has been noticed already that the Median form of speech was + closely allied to that of the Persians. The remark of Strabo quoted above, + and another remark which he cites from Nearchus, imply at once this fact, + and also the further fact of a dialectic difference between the two + tongues. Did we possess, as some imagine that we do, materials for tracing + out this diversity, it would be proper in the present place to enter fully + on the subject, and instead of contenting ourselves with asserting, or + even proving, the substantial oneness of the languages, it would be our + duty to proceed to the far more difficult and more complicated task of + comparing together the sister dialects, and noting their various + differences. The supposition that there exist means for such a comparison + is based upon a theory that in the language of the Zendavesta we have the + true speech of the ancient people of Media, while in the cuneiform + inscriptions of the Achasmenian kings it is beyond controversy that we + possess the ancient language of Persia. It becomes necessary, therefore, + to examine this theory, in order to justify our abstention from an inquiry + on which, if the theory were sound, we should be now called upon to enter. + </p> + <p> + The notion that the Zend language was the idiom of ancient Media + originated with Anquetil du Perron. He looked on Zoroaster as a native of + Azerbijan, contemporary with Darius Hystaspis. His opinion was embraced by + Kleuker, Herder, and Eask; and again, with certain modifications, by + Tychsen and Heeren. These latter writers even gave a more completely + Median character to the Zendavesta, by regarding it as composed in Media + Magna, during the reign of the great Cyaxares. The main foundation of + these views was the identification of Zoroastrianism with the Magian + fire-worship, which was really ancient in Azerbijan, and flourished in + Media under the great Median monarch. But we have seen that Magianism and + Zoroastrianism were originally entirely distinct, and that the Zendavesta + in all its earlier portions belongs wholly to the latter system. Nothing + therefore is proved concerning the Zend dialect by establishing a + connection between the Medes and Magism, which was a corrupting influence + thrown in upon Zoroastrianism long after the composition of the great bulk + of the sacred writings. + </p> + <p> + These writings themselves sufficiently indicate the place of their + composition. It was not Media, but Bactria, or at any rate the + north-eastern Iranic country, between the Bolor range and the Caspian. + This conclusion, which follows from a consideration of the various + geographical notices contained in the Zend books, had been accepted of + late years by all the more profound Zend scholars. Originated by Rhode, it + has also in its favor the names of Burnouf, Lassen, Westergaard, and Haug. + If then the Zend is to be regarded as really a local dialect, the idiom of + a particular branch of the Iranic people, there is far more reason for + considering it to be the ancient speech of Bactria than of any other Arian + country. Possibly the view is correct which recognizes two nearly-allied + dialects as existing side by side in Iran during its flourishing period—one + prevailing towards the west, the other towards the east—one + Medo-Persic, the other Sogdo-Bactrian—the former represented to us + by the cuneiform inscriptions, the latter by the Zend texts. Or it may be + closer to the truth to recognize in the Zendic and Achsemenian forms of + speech, not so much two contemporary idioms, as two stages of one and the + same language, which seems to be at present the opinion of the best + comparative philologists. In either case Media can claim no special + interest in Zend, which, if local, is Sogdo-Bactrian, and if not local is + no more closely connected with Media than with Persia. + </p> + <p> + It appears then that we do not at present possess any means of + distinguishing the shades of difference which separated the. Median from + the Persian speech. We have in fact no specimens of the former beyond a + certain number of words, and those chiefly proper names, whereas we know + the latter tolerably completely from the inscriptions. It is proposed + under the head of the “Fifth Monarchy” to consider at some length the + general character of the Persian language as exhibited to us in these + documents. From the discussion then to be raised may be gathered the + general character of the speech of the Medes. In the present place all + that will be attempted is to show how far the remnants left us of Median + speech bear out the statement that, substantially, one and the same tongue + was spoken by both peoples. + </p> + <p> + Many Median names are absolutely identical with Persian; e.g., + Ariobarzanes, Artabazus, Artaeus, Artembares, Harpagus, Arbaces, + Tiridates, etc. Others which are not absolutely identical approach to the + Persian form so closely as to be plainly mere variants, like Theodoras and + Theodosius, Adelbert and Ethelbert, Miriam, Mariam, and Mariamne. Of this + kind are Intaphres, another form of Intaphernes, Artynes, another form of + Artanes, Parmises, another form of Parmys, and the like. A third class, + neither identical with any known Persian names, nor so nearly approaching + to them as to be properly considered mere variants, are made up of known + Persian roots, and may be explained on exactly the same principles as + Persian names. Such are Ophernes, Sitraphernes, Mitraphernes, Megabernes, + Aspadas, Mazares, Tachmaspates, Xathrites, Spitaces, Spitamas, Ehambacas, + and others. In Ophernes, Sitra-phernes, Mitra-phernes, and Mega-bernes, + the second element is manifestly the pharna or frana which is found in + Arta-phernes and Inta-phernes (Vida-frana), an active participial form + from pri, to protect. The initial element in O-phernes represents the Zend + hu, Sans, su, Greek ev, as the same letter does in O-manes, O-martes, etc. + The Sitra of Sitra-phernes has been explained as probably Ichshatra, “the + crown,” which is similarly represented in the Safro-pates of Curtius, a + name standing to Sitra-phernes exactly as Arta-patas to Arta-phernes. In + Mega-bernes the first element is the well-known baga, “God,” under the + form commonly preferred by the Greeks; and the name is exactly equivalent + to Curtius’s Bagfo-phanes, which only differs from it by taking the + participle of pa, “to protect,” instead of the participle of pri, which + has the same meaning. In Aspa-das it is easy to recognize aspa, “horse” (a + common root in Persian names,) e.g., Aspa-thines, Aspa-mitras, Prex-aspes, + and the like, followed by the same element which terminates the name of + Oromaz-des, and which means either “knowing” or “giving.” Ma-zares + presents us with the root meh, “much” or “great,” which is found in the + name of the ilf-aspii, or “Big Horses,” a Persian tribe, followed by zara, + “gold,” which appears in Ctesias’s “Arto-awes,” and perhaps also in + Zoro-aster. In Tachmaspates, the first element is takhma, “strong,” a root + found in the Persian names Ar-tochmes and Tritan-taechmes, while the + second is the frequently used pati, “lord,” which occurs as the initial + element in Pak-zeithes,” Pafa-ramphes, etc., and as the terminal in + Pharna-jjates, Avio-peithes, and the like. In Xathrites we have clearly + khshatra (Zend khshathra), “crown” or “king,” with a participial suffix + -ita, corresponding to the Sanscrit participle in -it. Spita-ces and + Spita-mas contain the root spita, equivalent to spenta, “holy,” which is + found in Spitho-hates, Spita-mens, Spita-des, etc. This, in Spita-ces, is + followed by a guttural ending, which is either a diminutive corresponding + to the modern Persian -efc, or perhaps a suffixed article. In Spit-amas, + the suffix -mas is the common form of the superlative, and may be compared + with the Latin -mus in optimus, intimus, supremus, and the like. Ehambacas + contains the root rafno, “joy, pleasure,” which we find in Pati-ramphies, + followed by the guttural suffix. + </p> + <p> + There remains, finally, a class of Median names, containing roots not + found in any known names of Persians, but easily explicable from Zend, + Sanscrit, or other cognate tongues, and therefore not antagonistic to the + view that Median and Persian were two closely connected dialects. Such, + for instance, are the royal names mentioned by Herodotus, Deioces, + Phraortes, Astyages, and Cyaxares; and such also are the following, which + come to us from various sources; Amytis, Astibaras, Armamithres or + Harmamithres, Mandauces, Parsondas, Eama-tes, Susiscanes, Tithaous, and + Zanasanes. + </p> + <p> + In Deioces, or (as the Latins write it) Dejoces, there can be little doubt + that we have the name given as Djohak or Zohak in the Shahnameh and other + modern Persian writings, which is itself an abbreviation of the + Ajis-dahaka of the Zendavesta. Dahaka means in Zend “biting,” or “the + biter,” and is etymo-logically connected with the Greek. + </p> + <p> + Phraortes, which in old Persian was Fravartish, seems to be a mere variant + of the word which appears in the Zendavesta as fravashi, and designates + each man’s tutelary genius. The derivation is certainly from fra, and + probably from a root akin to the German wahren, French garder, English + “ward, watch,” etc. The meaning is “a protector.” + </p> + <p> + Cyaxares, the Persian form of which was “Uvakhshatara,” seems to be formed + from the two elements it or hu, “well, good,” and akhsha (Zend arsnd), + “the eye,” which is the final element of the name Cyavarswa in the + Zendavesta. Cyavarsna is “dark-eyed;” Uvakhsha (= Zend Huvarsna) would be + “beautiful-eyed.” Uvakhshatara appears to be the comparative of this + adjective, and would mean “more beautiful-eyed (than others).” + </p> + <p> + Astyages, which, according to Moses of Chorene, meant “a dragon” or + “serpent,” is almost certainly Ajis-dahaka, the full name whereof Dojoces + (or Zohak) is the abbreviation. It means “the biting snake,” from aji or + azi, “a snake” or “serpent,” and dahaka, “biting.” + </p> + <p> + Amytis is probably ama, “active, great,” with the ordinary feminine suffix + -iti, found in Armaiti, Khnathaiti, and the like. Astibaras is perhaps + “great of bone,” from Zend agta (Sans, asthi), “bone,” and bereza, “tall, + great.” Harmamithres, if that is the true reading, would be + “mountain-lover” (monticolus), from hardam, ace. of hara, “a mountain,” + and mithra or mitra, “fond of.” If, however, the name should be read as + Armamithres, the probable derivation will be from rama, ace. of raman, + “pleasure,” which is also the root of Rama-tea. Armamithres may then be + compared with Rheomithres, Siromitras, and Sysimithres, which are + respectively “fond of splendor,” “fond of beauty,” and “fond of light.” + Mandauces is perhaps “biting spirit—esprit mordant,” from mand, + “coeur, esprit,” and dahaka, “biting.” M Parsondas can scarcely be the + original form, from the occurrence in it of the nasal before the dental. + In the original it must have been Parsodas, which would mean “liberal, + much giving,” from pourus, “much,” and da, “to give.” Ramates, as already + observed, is from rama, “pleasure.” It is an adjectival form, like Datis, + and means probably “pleasant, agreeable.” Susiscanes may be explained as + “splendidus juvenis,” from quc, “splendere,” pres. part, cao-cat, and + kainin, “adolescens, juvenis.” Tithaeus is probably for Tathaeus, which + would be readily formed from tatka, “one who makes.” Finally, Zanasanes + may be referred to the root zan or jan, “to kill,” which is perhaps simply + followed by the common appellative suffix -ana. + </p> + <p> + From these names of persons we may pass to those of places in Media, which + equally admit of explanation from roots known to have existed either in + Zend or in old Persian. Of these, Ecbatana, Bagistana, and Aspadana may be + taken as convenient specimens. Ecbatana (or Agbatana), according to the + orthography of the older Greeks was in the native dialect Hagmatana, as + appears from the Behistun inscription. This form, Hagmatana, is in all + probability derived from the three words ham, “with” (Sans, sam, Latin + cum), gam, “to go” (Zend gd, Sans, ‘gam), and ctana (Mod. Pers. -stan) “a + place.” The initial ham has dropped the m and become ha, and cum becomes + co- in Latin; gam has become gma by metathesis; and gtan has passed into + -tan by phonetic corruption. Ha-gma-tana would be “the place for + assembly,” or for “coming together” (Lat. comitium); the place, i.e., + where the tribes met, and where, consequently, the capital grew up. + </p> + <p> + Bagistan, which was “a hill sacred to Jupiter” according to Diodorus, is + clearly a name corresponding to the Beth-el of the Hebrews and the + Allahabad of the Mahometans. It is simply “the house, or place, of God”—from + baga, “God,” and gtana, “place, abode,” the common modern Persian terminal + (compare Farsi-stan, Khuzi-stan, Afghani-stan, Belochi-stan, Hindu-stan, + etc.), which has here not suffered any corruption. + </p> + <p> + Aspadana contains certainly as its first element the root acpa, “horse.” + The suffix dan may perhaps be a corruption of ctana, analogous to that + which has produced Hama-dan from Hagma-ctan; or it may be a contracted + form of danhu, or dairihu, “a-province,” Aspadana having been originally + the name of a district where horses were bred, and having thence become + the name of its chief town. + </p> + <p> + The Median words known to us, other than names of persons or places, are + confined to some three or four. Herodotus tells us that the Median word + for “dog” was spaka; Xenophon implies, if he does not expressly state, + that the native name for the famous Median robe was candys; Nicolas of + Damascus informs us that the Median couriers were called Angari; and + Hesychius says that the artabe was a Median measure. The last-named writer + also states that artades and devas were Magian words, which perhaps + implies that they were common to the Medes with the Persians. Here, again, + the evidence, such as it is, favors a close connection between the + languages of Media and Persia. + </p> + <p> + That artabe and angarus were Persian words no less than Median, we have + the evidence of Herodotus. Artades, “just men” (according to Hesychhis), + is probably akin to ars, “true, just,” and may represent the ars-data, + “made just,” of the Zendavesta. Devas (Seven), which Hesychius translates + “the evil gods” is clearly the Zendic daiva, Mod. Pers. div. (Sans, deva, + Lat. divus). In candys we have most probably a formation from qan, “to + dress, to adorn.” Spaka is the Zendic cpa, with the Scythic guttural + suffix, of which the Medes were so fond, cpa itself being akin to the + Sanscrit cvan, and so to hvoov and canis. Thus we may connect all the few + words which are known as Median with forms contained in the Zend, which + was either the mother or the elder sister of the ancient Persian. + </p> + <p> + That the Medes were acquainted with the art of writing, and practised it—at + least from the time that they succeeded to the dominion of the Assyrians—scarcely + admits of a doubt. An illiterate nation, which conquers one in possession + of a literature, however it may despise learning and look down upon the + mere literary life, is almost sure to adopt writing to some extent on + account of its practical utility. It is true the Medes have left us no + written monuments; and we may fairly conclude from that fact that they + used writing sparingly; but besides the antecedent probability, there is + respectable evidence that letters were known to them, and that, at any + rate, their upper classes could both read and write their native tongue. + The story of the letter sent by Harpagus the Mede to Cyrus in the belly of + a hare, though probably apocryphal, is important as showing the belief of + Herodotus on the subject. The still more doubtful story of a despatch + written on parchment by a Median king, Artseus, and sent to Nanarus, a + provincial governor, related by Nicolas of Damascus, has a value, as + indicating that writer’s conviction that the Median monarchs habitually + conveyed their commands to their subordinates in a written form. With + these statements of profane writers agree certain notices which we find in + Scripture. Darius the Mode, shortly after the destruction of the Median + empire, “signs” a decree, which his chief nobles have presented to him in + writing. He also himself “writes” another decree addressed to his subjects + generally. In later times we find that there existed at the Persian court + a “book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia,” in which was + probably a work begun under the Median and continued under the Persian + sovereigns. + </p> + <p> + If then writing was practised by the Medes, it becomes interesting to + consider whence they obtained their knowledge of it, and what was the + system which they employed. Did they bring an alphabet with them from the + far East, or did they derive their first knowledge of letters from the + nations with whom they came into contact after their great migration? In + the latter case, did they adopt, with or without modifications, a foreign + system, or did they merely borrow the idea of written symbols from their + new neighbors, and set to work to invent for themselves an alphabet suited + to the genius of their own tongue? These are some of the questions which + present themselves to the mind as deserving of attention, when this + subject is brought before it. Unfortunately we possess but very scanty + data for determining, and can do little more than conjecture, the proper + answers to be given to them. + </p> + <p> + The early composition of certain portions of the Zendavesta, which has + been asserted in this work, may seem at first sight to imply the use of a + written character in Bactria and the adjacent countries at a very remote + era. But such a conclusion is not necessary. Nations have often had an + oral literature, existing only in the memories of men, and have handed + down such a literature from generation to generation, through a long + succession of ages. The sacred lore of Zoroaster may have been brought by + the Modes from the East-Caspian country in an unwritten shape, and may not + have been reduced to writing till many centuries later. On the whole it is + perhaps most probable that the Medes were unacquainted with letters when + they made their great migration, and that they acquired their first + knowledge of them from the races with whom they came into collision when + they settled along the Zagros chain. In these regions they were brought + into contact with at least two forms of written speech, one that of the + old Armenians, a Turanian dialect, the other that of the Assyrians, a + language of the Semitic type. These two nations used the same alphabetic + system, though their languages were utterly unlike; and it would + apparently have been the easiest plan for the new comers to have adopted + the established forms, and to have applied them, so far as was possible, + to the representation of their own speech. But the extreme complication of + a system which employed between three and four hundred written signs, and + composed signs sometimes of fourteen or fifteen wedges, seems to have + shocked the simplicity of the Medes, who recognized the fact that the + varieties of their articulations fell far short of this excessive + luxuriance. The Arian races, so far as appears, declined to follow the + example set them by the Turanians of Armenia, who had adopted the Assyrian + alphabet, and preferred to invent a new system for themselves, which they + determined to make far more simple. It is possible that they found an + example already set them. In Achaemenian times we observe two alphabets + used through Media and Persia, both of which are simpler than the + Assyrian: one is employed to express the Turanian dialect of the people + whom the Arians conquered and dispossessed; the other, to express the + tongue of the conquerors. It is possible—though we have no direct + evidence of the fact—that the Turanians of Zagros and the + neighborhood had already formed for themselves the alphabet which is found + in the second columns of the Achaemenian tablets, when the Arian invaders + conquered them. This alphabet, which in respect of complexity holds an + intermediate position between the luxuriance of the Assyrian and the + simplicity of the Medo-Persic system, would seem in all probability to + have intervened in order of time between the two. It consists of no more + than about a hundred characters, and these are for the most part far less + complicated than those of Assyria. If the Medes found this form of writing + already existing in Zagros when they arrived, it may have assisted to give + them the idea of making for themselves an alphabet so far on the old model + that the wedge should be the sole element used in the formation, of + letters, but otherwise wholly new, and much more simple than those + previously in use. + </p> + <p> + Discarding then the Assyrian notion of a syllabarium, with the enormous + complication which it involves, the Medes strove to reduce sounds to their + ultimate elements, and to represent these last alone by symbols. + Contenting themselves with the three main vowel sounds, a,i, and u, and + with one breathing, a simple h, they recognized twenty consonants, which + were the following, b,d,f,g,j,k,kh,m,n,n (sound doubtful), + p,r,s,sh,t,v,y,z,ch (as in much), and tr, an unnecessary compound. Had + they stopped here, their characters should have been but twenty-four, the + number which is found in Greek. To their ears, however, it would seem, + each consonant appeared to carry with it a short a, and as this, occurring + before i and u, produced the diphthongs ai and au, sounded nearly as e and + o, it seemed necessary, where a consonant was to be directly followed by + the sounds i or u, to have special forms to which the sound of a should + not attach. This system, carried out completely, would have raised the + forms of consonants to sixty, a multiplication that was feared as + inconvenient. In order to keep down the number, it seems to have been + resolved, that one form should suffice for the aspirated letters and the + sibilants (viz., h,kh; ch,ph or f,s,sh, and z), and also for b,y, and tr; + that two forms should suffice for the tenues, k,p,t, for the liquids n and + r, and for v; and consequently that the full number of three forms should + be limited to some three or four letters, as d, m, j, and perhaps g. The + result is that the known alphabet of the Persians, which is assumed here + to have been the invention of the Medes, consists of some thirty-six or + thirty-seven forms, which are really representative of no more than + twenty-three distinct sounds. + </p> + <p> + It appears then that, compared with the phonetic systems in vogue among + their neighbors, the alphabet of the Medes and Persians was marked by a + great simplicity. The forms of the letters were also very much simplified. + Instead of conglomerations of fifteen or sixteen wedges in a single + character, we have in the Medo-Persic letters a maximum of five wedges. + The most ordinary number is four, which is sometimes reduced to three or + even two. The direction of the wedges is uniformly either perpendicular or + horizontal, except of course in the case of the double wedge or + arrow-head, where the component elements are placed obliquely. The + arrow-head has but one position, the perpendicular, with the angle facing + towards the left hand. The only diagonal sign used is a simple wedge, + placed obliquely with the point towards the right, which is a mere mark of + separation between the words. + </p> + <p> + The direction of the writing was, as with the Arian nations generally, + from left to right. Words were frequently divided, and part carried on to + the next line. The characters were inscribed between straight lines drawn + from end to end of the tablet on which they were written. Like the Hebrew, + they often closely resembled one another, and a slight defect in the stone + will cause one to be mistaken for another. The resemblance is not between + letters of the same class or kind; on the contrary, it is often between + those which are most remote from one another. Thus g nearly resembles u; + ch is like d; tr like p; and so on: while k and kh, s and sh, p and ph (or + J) are forms quite dissimilar. + </p> + <p> + It is supposed that a cuneiform alphabet can never have been employed for + ordinary writing purposes, but must have been confined to documents of + some importance, which it was desirable to preserve, and which were + therefore either inscribed on stone, or impressed on moist clay afterwards + baked. A cursive character, it is therefore imagined, must always have + been in use, parallel with a cuneiform one; and as the Babylonians and + Assyrians are known to have used a character of this kind from a very high + antiquity, synchronously with their lapidary cuneiform, so it is supposed + that the Arian races must have possessed, besides the method which has + been described as a cursive system of writing. Of this, however, there is + at present no direct evidence. No cursive writing of the Arian nations at + this time, either Median or Persian, has been found; and it is therefore + uncertain what form of character they employed on common occasions. + </p> + <p> + The material used for ordinary purposes, according to Nicolas of Damascus + and Ctesias, was parchment. On this the kings wrote the despatches which + conveyed their orders to the officers who administered the government of + provinces; and on this were inscribed the memorials which each monarch was + careful to have composed giving an account of the chief events of his + reign. The cost of land carriage probably prevented papyrus from + superseding this material in Western Asia, as it did in Greece at a + tolerably early date. Clay, so much used for writing on both in Babylonia + and Assyria, appears never to have approved itself as a convenient + substance to the Iranians. For public documents the chisel and the rock, + for private the pen and the prepared skin, seem to have been preferred by + them; and in the earlier times, at any rate, they employed no other + materials. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. CHRONOLOGY AND HISTORY. + </h2> + <p> + Media . . . quam ante regnum Cyri superlovis et incrementa Persidos + legimus Asiae reginam totius.—Amm. Marc, xxiii. 6. + </p> + <p> + The origin of the Median nation is wrapt in a profound obscurity. + Following the traces which the Zendavesta offers, taking into + consideration its minute account of the earlier Arian migrations, its + entire omission of any mention of the Medes, and the undoubted fact that + it was nevertheless by the Medes and Persians that the document itself was + preserved and transmitted to us, we should be naturally led to suppose + that the race was one which in the earlier times of Arian development was + weak and insignificant, and that it first pushed itself into notice after + the ethnological portions of the Zendavesta were composed, which is + thought to have been about B.C. 1000. Quite in accordance with this view + is the further fact that in the native Assyrian annals, so far as they + have been, recovered, the Medes do not make their appearance till the + middle of the ninth century B.C., and when they appear are weak and + unimportant, only capable of opposing a very slight resistance to the + attacks of the Ninevite kings. The natural conclusion from these data + would appear to be that until about B.C. 850 the Median name was unknown + in the world, and that previously, if Medes existed at all, it was either + as a sub-tribe of some other Arian race, or at any rate as a tribe too + petty and insignificant to obtain mention either on the part of native or + of foreign historians. Such early insignificance and late development of + what ultimately becomes the dominant tribe of a race is no strange or + unprecedented phenomenon to the historical inquirer; on the contrary, it + is among the facts with which he is most familiar, and would admit of + ample illustration, were the point worth pursuing, alike from the history + of the ancient and the modern world. + </p> + <p> + But, against the conclusion to which we could not fail to be led by the + Arian and Assyrian records, which agree together so remarkably, two + startling notices in works of great authority but of a widely different + character have to be set. In the Toldoth Beni Noah, or “Book of the + Generation of the Sons of Noah,” which forms the tenth chapter of Genesis, + and which, if the work of Moses, was probably composed at least as early + as B.C. 1500, we find the Madai—a word elsewhere always signifying + “the Medes”—in the genealogy of the sons of Japhet. The word is + there conjoined with several other important ethnic titles, as Gomer, + Magog, Javan, Tubal, and Meshech; and there can be no reasonable doubt + that it is intended to designate the Median people. If so, the people must + have had already a separate and independent existence in the fifteenth + century B.C., and not only so, but they must have by that time attained so + much distinction as to be thought worthy of mention by a writer who was + only bent on affiliating the more important of the nations known to him. + </p> + <p> + The other notice is furnished by Berosus. That remarkable historian, in + his account of the early dynasties of his native Chaldaea, declared that, + at a date anterior to B.C. 2000, the Medes had conquered Babylon by a + sudden inroad, had established a monarchy there, and had held possession + of the city and neighboring territory for a period of 224 years. Eight + kings of their race had during that interval occupied the Babylonian + throne, It has been already observed that this narrative must represent a + fact. Berosus would not have gratuitously invented a foreign conquest of + his native land; nor would the earlier Babylonians, from whom he derived + his materials, have forged a tale which was so little flattering to their + national vanity. Some foreign conquest of Babylon must have taken place + about the period named; and it is certainly a most important fact that + Berosus should call the conquerors Medes. He may no doubt have been + mistaken about an event so ancient; he may have misread his authorities, + or he may have described as Medes a people of which he really knew nothing + except that they had issued from the tract which in his own time bore the + name of Media. But, while these axe mere possibilities, hypotheses to + which the mind resorts in order to escape a difficulty, the hard fact + remains that he has used the word; and this fact, coupled with the mention + of the Medes in the book of Genesis, does certainly raise a presumption of + no inconsiderable strength against, the view which it would be natural to + take if the Zendavesta and the Assyrian annals were our solo authorities + on the subject. It lends a substantial basis to the theories of those who + regard the Medes as one of the principal primeval races; who believe that + they were well known to the Semitic inhabitants of the Mesopotamian valley + as early as the twenty-third century before Christ—long ere Abraham + left Ur for Harran; and that they actually formed the dominant power in + Western Asia for more than two centuries, prior to the establishment of + the first Chaldaean kingdom. + </p> + <p> + And if there are thus distinct historical grounds for the notion of an + early Median development, there are not wanting these obscurer but to many + minds more satisfactory proofs wherewith comparative philology and + ethnology are wont to illustrate and confirm the darker passages of + ancient history. Recent linguistic research has clearly traced among the + Arba Lisun, or, “Four Tongues” of ancient Chaldaea, which are so often + mentioned on the ancient monuments, an Arian formation, such as would + naturally have been left in the country, if it had been occupied for some + considerable period by a dominant Arian power. The early Chaldaean + ideographs have often several distinct values; and when this is the case, + one of the powers is almost always an Arian name of the object + represented. Words like nir, “man”, ar, “river,” (compare the names Aras, + Araxes, Endanus, Rha, Rhodanus, etc., the Slavonic rika, “river,” etc.), + san, “sun,” (compare German Sonne, Slavonic solnce, English “sun,” Dutch + zon, etc.), are seemingly Arian roots; and the very term “Arian” (Ariya, + “noble”) is perhaps contained in the name of a primitive Chaldaean + monarch, “Arioch, king of Ellasar.” There is nothing perhaps in these + scattered traces of Arian influence in in Lower Mesopotamia at a remote + era that points very particularly to the Medes; but at any rate they + harmonize with the historical account that has reached us of early Arian + power in these parts, and it is important that they should not be ignored + when we are engaged in considering the degree of credence that is to be + awarded to the account in question. + </p> + <p> + Again, there are traces of a vast expansion, apparently at a very early + date, of the Median race, such as seems to imply that they must have been + a great nation in Western Asia long previously to the time of the Iranic + movements in Bactria and the adjoining regions. In the Matieni of Zagros + and Cappadocia, in the Sauro-matae (or Northern Medes) of the country + between the Palus Maeotis and the Caspian, in the Maetae or Maeotae of the + tract about the mouth of the Don, and in the Maedi of Thrace, we have + seemingly remnants of a great migratory host which, starting from the + mountains that overhang Mesopotamia, spread itself into the regions of the + north and the north-west at a time which does not admit of being + definitely stated, but which is clearly anti-historic. Whether these races + generally retained any tradition of their origin, we do not know; but a + tribe which in the time of Herodotus dwelt still further to the west than + even the Maedi—to wit, the Sigynnae, who occupied the tract between + the Adriatic and the Danube—had a very distinct belief in their + Median descent, a belief confirmed by the resemblance which their national + dress bore to that of the Medes. Herodotus, who relates these facts + concerning them, appends an expression of his astonishment at the + circumstance that emigrants from Media should have proceeded to such a + distance from their original home; how it had been brought about he could + not conceive. “Still,” he sagaciously remarks, “nothing is impossible in + the long lapse of ages.” + </p> + <p> + A further argument in favor of the early development of Median power, and + the great importance of the nation in Western Asia at a period anterior to + the ninth century, is derivable from the ancient legends of the Greeks, + which seem to have designated the Medes under the two eponyms of Medea and + Andromeda. These legends indeed do not admit of being dated with any + accuracy; but as they are of a primitive type, and probably older than + Homer, we cannot well assign them to an age later than b.c. 1000. Now they + connect the Median name with the two countries of Syria and Colchis, + countries remote from each other, and neither of them sufficiently near + the true Median territory to be held from it, unless at a time when the + Medes were in possession of something like an empire. And, even apart from + any inferences to be drawn from the localties which the Greek Myths + connect with the Medes, the very fact that the race was known to the + Greeks at this early date—long before the movements which brought + them into contact with the Assyrians—would seem to show that there + was some remote period—prior to the Assyrian domination—when + the fame of the Medes was great in the part of Asia known to the Hellenes, + and that they did not first attract Hellenic notice (as, but for the + Myths, we might have imagined) by the conquests of Cyaxarea. Thus, on the + whole it would appear that we must acknowledge two periods of Median + prosperity, separated from each other by a lengthy interval, one anterior + to the rise of the Cushite empire in Lower Babylonia, the other parallel + with the decline and subsequently to the fall of Assyria. + </p> + <p> + Of the first period it cannot be said that we possess any distinct + historical knowledge. The Median dynasty of Berosus at Babylon appears, by + recent discoveries, to have represented those Susianian monarchs who bore + sway there from B.C. 2286 to 2052. The early Median preponderance in + Western Asia, if it is a fact, must have been anterior to this, and is an + event which has only left traces in ethnological names and in mythological + speculations. + </p> + <p> + Our historical knowledge of the Medes as a nation commences in the latter + half of the ninth century before our era. Shalmaneser II.—probably + the “Shalman” of Hosea,—who reigned from B.C. 859 to B.C. 824—relates + that in his twenty-fourth year (B.C. 885), after having reduced to + subjection the Zimri, who held the Zagros mountain range immediately to + the east of Assyria, and received tribute from the Persians, he led an + expedition into Media and Arazias, where he took and destroyed a number of + the towns, slaying the men, and carrying off the spoil. He does not + mention any pitched battle; and indeed it would seem that he met with no + serious resistance. The Medes whom he attacks are evidently a weak and + insignificant people, whom he holds in small esteem, and regards as only + deserving of a hurried mention. They seem to occupy the tract now known as + Ardelan—a varied region containing several lofty ridges, with broad + plains lying between them. + </p> + <p> + It is remarkable that the time of this first contact of Media with Assyria—a + contact taking place when Assyria was in her prime, and Media was only + just emerging from a long period of weakness and obscurity—is almost + exactly that which Ctesias selects as a day of the great revolution + whereby the Empire of the East passed from the hands of the Shemites into + those of the Arians. The long residence of Otesias among the Persians, + gave him a bias toward that people, which even extended to their close + kin, the Medes. Bent on glorifying these two Arian races, he determined to + throw back the commencement of their empire to a period long anterior to + the true date; and, feeling specially anxious to cover up their early + humiliation, he assigned their most glorious conquests to the very + century, and almost to the very time, when they were in fact suffering + reverses at the hands of the people over whom he represented them as + triumphant. There was a boldness in the notion of thus inverting history + which almost deserved, and to a considerable extent obtained, success. The + “long chronology” of Ctesias kept its ground until recently, not indeed + meeting with universal acceptance, but on the whole predominating over the + “short chronology” of Herodotus; and it may be doubted whether anything + less than the discovery that the native records of Assyria entirely + contradicted Ctesias would have sufficed to drive from the field his + figment of early Median dominion. + </p> + <p> + The second occasion upon which we hear of the Medes in the Assyrian annals + is in the reign of Shalmanoser’s son and successor, Shamas-Vul. Here + again, as on the former occasion, the Assyrians were the aggressors. + Shamas-Vul invaded Media and Arazias in his third year, and committed + ravages similar to those of his father, wasting the country with fire and + sword, but not (it would seem) reducing the Medes to subjection, or even + attempting to occupy their territory. Again the attack is a mere raid, + which produces no permanent impression. + </p> + <p> + It is in the reign of the son and successor of Shamas-Vul that the Medes + appear for the first time to have made their submission and accepted the + position of Assyrian tributaries. A people which was unable to offer + effectual resistance when the Assyrian levies invaded their country, and + which had no means of retaliating upon their foe or making him suffer the + evils that he inflicted, was naturally tempted to save itself from + molestation by the payment of an annual tribute, so purchasing quiet at + the expense of honor and independence. Towards the close of the ninth + century B.C. the Medes seem to have followed the example set them very + much earlier by their kindred and neighbors, the Persians, and to have + made arrangements for an annual payment which should exempt their + territory from ravage. It is doubtful whether the arrangement was made by + the whole people. The Median tribes at this time hung so loosely together + that a policy adopted by one portion of them might be entirely repudiated + by another. Most probably the tribute was paid by those tribes only which + boarded on Zagros, and not by those further to the east or to the north, + into whose territories the Assyrian arms has not yet penetrated. + </p> + <p> + No further change in the condition of the Medes is known to have occurred + until about a hundred years later, when the Assyrians ceased to be content + with the semi-independent position which had been hitherto allowed them, + and determined on their more complete subjugation. The great Sargon, the + assailant of Egypt and conqueror of Babylon, towards the middle of his + reign, invaded Media with a large army, and having rapidly overrun the + country, seized several of the towns, and “annexed them to Assyria,” while + at the same time he also established in new situations a number of + fortified posts. The object was evidently to incorporate Media into the + empire; and the posts wore stations in which a standing army was placed, + to overawe the natives and prevent them from offering an effectual + resistance. With the same view deportation of the people on a large scale + seems to have been practised and the gaps thus made in the population were + filled up—wholly or in part—by the settlement in the Median + cities of Samaritan captives. On the country thus re-organized and + re-arranged a tribute of a new character was laid. In lieu of the money + payment hitherto exacted, the Medes were required to furnish annually to + the royal stud a number of horses. It is probable that Media was already + famous for the remarkable breed which is so celebrated in later times; and + that the horses now required of her by the Assyrians were to be of the + large and highly valued kind known as “Nisaean.” + </p> + <p> + The date of this subjugation is about B.C. 710. And here, if we compare + the Greek accounts of Median history with those far more authentic ones + which have reached us through the Assyrian contemporary records, we are + struck by a repetition of the same device which came under our notice more + than a century earlier—the device of covering up the nation’s + disgraces at a particular period by assigning to that very date certain + great and striking successes. As Ctesias’s revolt of the Medes under + Arbaces and conquest of Nineveh synchronizes nearly with the first known + ravages of Assyria within the territories of the Medes, so Herodotus’s + revolt of the same people and commencement of their monarchy under Deioces + falls almost exactly at the date when they entirely lose their + independence. As there is no reason to suspect Herodotus either of + partiality toward the Medes or of any wilful departure from the truth, we + must regard him as imposed upon by his informants, who were probably + either Medes or Persians. These mendacious patriots found little + difficulty in palming their false tale upon the simple Halicarnassian, + thereby at once extending the antiquity of their empire and concealing its + shame behind a halo of fictitious glory. + </p> + <p> + After their subjugation by Sargon the Medes of Media Magna appear to have + remained the faithful subjects of Assyria for sixty or seventy years. + During this period we find no notices of the great mass of the nation in + the Assyrian records: only here and there indications occur that Assyria + is stretching out her arms towards the more distant and outlying tribes, + especially those of Azerbijan, and compelling them to acknowledge her as + mistress. Sennacherib boasts that early in his reign, about B.C. 702, he + received an embassy from the remoter parts of Media—“parts of which + the kings his fathers had not even heard”—which brought him presents + in sign of submission, and patiently accepted his yoke. His son, + Esar-haddon, relates that, about his tenth year (B.C. 671) he invaded + Bikni or Bikan, a distant province of Media, “whereof the kings his + fathers had never heard the name;” and, attacking the cities of the region + one after another, forced them to acknowledge his authority. The country + was held by a number of independent chiefs, each bearing sway in his own + city and adjacent territory. These chiefs have unmistakably Arian names, + as Sitriparna or Sitraphernes, Eparna or Orphernes, Zanasana or Zanasanes, + and Eamatiya or Ramates. Esar-haddon says that, having entered the country + with his army, he seized two of the chiefs and carried them off to + Assyria, together with a vast spoil and numerous other captives. Hereupon + the remaining chiefs, alarmed for their safety, made their submission, + consenting to pay an annual tribute, and admitting Assyrian officers into + their territories, who watched, if they did not even control, the + government. + </p> + <p> + We are now approaching the time when Media seems to have been first + consolidated into a monarchy by the genius of an individual. Sober history + is forced to discard the shadowy forms of kings with which Greek writers + of more fancy than judgment have peopled the darkness that rests upon the + “origines” of the Medes. Arbaces, Maudaces, Sosarmus, Artycas, Arbianes, + Artseus, Deioces—Median monarchs, according to Ctesias or Herodotus, + during the space of time comprised within the years B.C. 875 and 655—have + to be dismissed by the modern writer without a word, since there is reason + to believe that they are mere creatures of the imagination, inventions of + unscrupulous romancers, not men who once walked the earth. The list of + Median kings in Ctesias, so far as it differs from the list in Herodotus, + seems to be a pure forgery—an extension of the period of the + monarchy by the conscious use of a system of duplication. Each king, or + period, in Herodotus occurs in the list of Ctesias twice—a + transparent device, clumsily cloaked by the cheap expedient of a liberal + invention of names. Even the list of Herodotus requires curtailment. His + Deioces, whose whole history reads more like romance than truth—the + organizer of a powerful monarchy in Media just at the time when Sargon was + building his fortified posts in the country and peopling with his + Israelite captives the old “cities of the Medes”—the prince who + reigned for above half a century in perfect peace with his neighbors, and + who, although contemporary with Sargon, Sennacherib, Esar-haddon, and + As-shur-bani-pal—all kings more or less connected with Media—is + never heard of in any of their annals, must be relegated to the historical + limbo in which repose so many “shades of mighty names;” and the Herodotean + list of Median kings must at any rate, be thus far reduced. Nothing is + more evident than that during the flourishing period of Assyria under the + great Sargonidae above named there was no grand Median kingdom upon the + eastern flank of the empire. Such a kingdom had certainly not been formed + up to B.C. 671, when Esar-haddon reduced the more distant Medes, finding + them still under the government of a number of petty chiefs. The earliest + time at which we can imagine the consolidation to have taken place + consistently with what we know of Assyria is about B.C. 760, or nearly + half a century later than the date given by Herodotus. + </p> + <p> + The cause of the sudden growth of Media in power about this period, and of + the consolidation which followed rapidly upon that growth, is to be + sought, apparently, in fresh migratory movements from the Arian + head-quarters, the countries east and south-east of the Caspian. The + Cyaxares who about the year B.C. 632 led an invading host of Medes against + Nineveh, was so well known to the Arian tribes of the north-east that, + when in the reign of Darius Hystaspis a Sagartian raised the standard of + revolt in that region he stated the ground of his claim to the Sagartian + throne to be descent from Cyaxares. This great chief, it is probable, + either alone, or in conjunction with his father (whom Herodotus calls + Phraortes), led a fresh emigration of Arians from the Bacterian and + Sagartian country to the regions directly east of the Zagros mountain + chain; and having thus vastly increased the strength of the Arian race in + that quarter, set himself to consolidate a mountain kingdom capable of + resisting the great monarchy of the plain. Accepted, it would seem, as + chief by the former Arian inhabitants of the tract, he proceeded to reduce + the scattered Scythic tribes which had hitherto held possession of the + high mountain region. The Zimri, Minni, Hupuska, etc., who divided among + them the country lying between Media Proper and Assyria, were attacked and + subdued without any great difficulty; and the conqueror, finding himself + thus at the head of a considerable kingdom, and no longer in any danger of + subjugation at the hands of Assyria, began to contemplate the audacious + enterprise of himself attacking the Great Power which had been for so many + hundred years the terror of Western Asia. The supineness of + Asshur-bani-pal, the Assyrian king, who must at this time have been + advanced in years, encouraged his aspirations; and about B.C. 634, when + that monarch had held the throne for thirty-four years, suddenly, without + warning, the Median troops debouched from the passes of Zagros, and spread + themselves over the rich country at its base, Alarmed by the nearness and + greatness of the peril, the Assyrian king aroused himself, and putting + himself at the head of his troops, marched out to confront the invader. A + great battle was fought, probably somewhere in Adiabene, in which the + Medes were completely defeated: their whole army was cut to pieces; and + the father of Cyaxares was among the slain. Such was the result of the + first Median expedition against Nineveh. The assailants had miscalculated + their strength. In their own mountain country, and so long as they should + be called upon to act only on the defensive, they might be right in + regarding themselves as a match for the Assyrians; but when they descended + into the plain, and allowed their enemy the opportunity of manoeuvering + and of using his war chariots, their inferiority was marked. Cyaxares, + now, if not previously, actual king, withdrew awhile from the war, and, + convinced that all the valor of his Medes would be unavailing without + discipline, set himself to organize the army on a new system, taking a + pattern from the enemy, who had long possessed some knowledge of tactics. + Hitherto, it would seem, each Median chief had brought into the field his + band of followers, some mounted, some on foot, foot and horse alike armed + variously as their means allowed them, some with bows and arrows, some + with spears, some perhaps with slings or darts; and the army had been + composed of a number of such bodies, each chief keeping his band close + about him. Cyaxares broke up these bands, and formed the soldiers who + composed them into distinct corps, according as they were horsemen or + footmen, archers, slingers, or lancers. He then, having completed his + arrangements at his ease, without disturbance (so far as appears) from the + Assyrians, felt himself strong enough to renew the war with a good + prospect of success. Collecting as large an army as he could, both from + his Arian and his Scythic subjects, he marched into Assyria, met the + troops of Asshur-bani-pal in the field, defeated them signally, and forced + them to take refuge behind the strong works which defended their capital. + He even ventured to follow up the flying foe and commence the siege of the + capital itself; but at this point he was suddenly checked in his career of + victory, and forced to assume a defensive attitude, by a danger of a novel + kind, which recalled him from Nineveh to his own country. + </p> + <p> + The vast tracts, chiefly consisting of grassy plains, which lie north of + the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian, and the Jaxartes Syhun river, + were inhabited in ancient times by a race or races known to the Asiatics + as Saka, “Scythians.” These people appear to have been allied ethnically + with many of the more southern races, as with the Parthians, the Iberians, + the Alarodians, the tribes of the Zagros chain, the Susianians, and + others. It is just possible that they may have taken an interest in the + warfare of their southern brethren, and that, when Cyaxares brought the + tribes of Zagros under his yoke, the Scyths of the north may have felt + resentment, or compassion, If this view seem too improbable, considering + the distance, the physical obstacles, and the little communication that + there was between nations in those early times, we must suppose that by a + mere coincidence it happened that the subjugation of the southern Scyths + by Cyaxares was followed within a few years by a great irruption of Scyths + from the trans-Caucasian region. In that case we shall have to regard the + invasion as a mere example of that ever-recurring law by which the poor + and hardy races of Upper Asia or Europe are from time to time directed + upon the effete kingdoms of the south, to shake, ravage, or overturn them, + as the case may be, and prevent them from stagnating into corruption. + </p> + <p> + The character of the Scythians, and the general nature of their ravages, + have been described in a former portion of this work. If they entered + Southern Asia, as seems probable, by the Daghestan route, they would then + have been able to pass on without much difficulty, through Georgia into + Azerbijan, and from Azerbijan into Media Magna, where the Medes had now + established their southern capital. Four roads lead from Azerbijan to + Hamadan or the Greater Ecbatana, one through Menjil and Kasvin, and across + the Caraghan Hills; a second through Miana, Zenjan, and the province of + Khamseh; a third by the valley of the Jaghetu, through Chukli and + Tikan-Teppeh; and a fourth through Sefer-Khaneh and Sennah. We cannot say + which of the four the invaders selected; but, as they were passing + southwards, they met the army of Cyaxares, which had quitted Nineveh on + the first news of their invasion, and had marched in hot haste to meet and + engage them. The two enemies were not ill-matched. Both were hardy and warlike, + both active and full of energy; with both the cavalry was the chief arm, + and the bow the weapon on which they depended mainly for victory. The + Medes were no doubt the better disciplined; they had a greater variety of + weapons and of soldiers; and individually they were probably more powerful + men than the Scythians; but these last had the advantage of numbers, of + reckless daring, and of tactics that it was difficult to encounter. + Moreover, the necessity of their situation in the midst of an enemy’s + country made it imperative on them to succeed, while their adversaries + might be defeated without any very grievous consequences. The Scytho had + not come into Asia to conquer so much as to ravage; defeat at their hands + involved damage rather than destruction; and the Medes must have felt + that, if they lost the battle, they might still hope to maintain a stout + defence behind the strong walls of some of their towns. The result was + such as might have been expected under these circumstances. Madyes, the + Scythian leader, obtained the victory, Cyaxares was defeated, and + compelled to make terms with the invader. Retaining his royal name, and + the actual government of his country, he admitted the suzerainty of the + Scyths, and agreed to pay them an annual tribute. Whether Media suffered + very seriously from their ravages, we cannot say. Neither its wealth nor + its fertility was such as to tempt marauders to remain in it very long. + The main complaint made against the Scythian conquerors is that, not + content with the fixed tribute which they had agreed to receive, and which + was paid them regularly, they levied contributions at their pleasure on + the various states under their sway, which were oppressed by repeated + exactions. The injuries suffered from their marauding habits form only a + subordinate charge against them, as though it had not been practically + felt to be so great a grievance. We can well imagine that the bulk of the + invaders would prefer the warmer and richer lands of Assyria, Mesopotamia, + and Syria; and that, pouring into them, they would leave the colder and + less wealthy Media comparatively free from ravage. + </p> + <p> + The condition of Media and the adjacent countries under the Scythians must + have nearly resembled that of almost the same regions under the Seljukian + Turks during the early times of their domination. The conquerors made no + fixed settlements, but pitched their tents in any portion of the territory + that they chose. Their horses and cattle were free to pasture on all lands + equally. They were recognized as the dominant race, were feared and + shunned, but did not greatly interfere with the bulk of their subjects. It + was impossible that they should occupy at any given time more than a + comparatively few spots in the wide tract which they had overrun and + subjugated; and, consequently, there was not much contact between them and + the peoples whom they had conquered. Such contact as there was must no + doubt have been galling and oppressive. The right of free pasture in the + lands of others is always irksome to those who have to endure it, and, + even where it is exercised with strict fairness, naturally leads to + quarrels. The barbarous Scythians are not likely to have cared very much + about fairness. They would press heavily upon the more fertile tracts, + paying over-frequent visits to such spots, and remaining in them till the + region was exhausted. The chiefs would not be able to restrain their + followers from acts of pillage; redress would be obtained with difficulty; + and sometimes even the chiefs themselves may have been sharers in the + injuries committed. The insolence, moreover, of a dominant race so coarse + and rude as the Scyths must have been very hard to bear; and we can well + understand that the various nations which had to endure the yoke must have + looked anxiously for an opportunity of shaking it off, and recovering + their independence. + </p> + <p> + Among these various nations, there was probably none that fretted and + winced under its subjection more than the Medes. Naturally brave and + high-spirited, with the love of independence inherent in mountaineers, and + with a well-grounded pride in their recent great successes, they must have + chafed daily and hourly at the ignominy of their position, the + postponement of their hopes, and the wrongs which they continually + suffered. At first it seemed necessary to endure. They had tried the + chances of a battle, and had been defeated in fair fight—what reason + was there to hope that, if they drew the sword again, they would be more + successful? Accordingly they remained quiet but, as time went on, and the + Scythians dispersed themselves continually over a wider and a wider space, + invading Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and again Armenia and + Cappadocia, everywhere plundering and marauding, conducting sieges, + fighting battles, losing men from the sword, from sickness, from excesses, + becoming weaker instead of stronger, as each year went by, owing to the + drain of constant wars—the Medes by degrees took heart. Not + trusting, however, entirely to the strength of their right arms, a trust + which had failed them once, they resolved to prepare the way for an + outbreak by a stratagem which they regarded as justifiable. Cyaxares and + his court invited a number of the Scythian chiefs to a grand banquet, and, + having induced them to drink till they were completely drunk, set upon + them when they were in this helpless condition, and remorselessly slew + them all. + </p> + <p> + This deed was the signal for a general revolt of the nation. The Medes + everywhere took arms, and, turning upon their conquerors, assailed them + with a fury the more terrible because it had been for years repressed. A + war followed, the duration and circumstances of which are unknown; for the + stories with which Ctesias enlivened this portion of his history can + scarcely be accepted as having any foundation in fact. According to him, + the Parthians made common cause with the Scythians on the occasion, and + the war lasted many years; numerous battles were fought with great loss to + both sides; and peace was finally concluded without either party having + gained the upper hand. The Scyths were commanded by a queen, Zarina or + Zarinsea, woman of rare beauty, and as brave as she was fair; who won the + hearts, when she could not resist the swords, of her adversaries. A + strangely romantic love-tale is told of this beauteous Amazon. It is not + at all clear what region Ctesias supposes her to govern. It has a capital + city, called Koxanace (a name entirely unknown to any other historian or + geographer), and it contains many other towns of which Zarina was the + foundress. Its chief architectural monument was the tomb of Zarina, a + triangular pyramid, six hundred feet high, and more than a mile round the + base, crowned by a colossal figure of the queen made of solid gold. But—to + leave these fables and return to fact—we can only say with certainty + that the result of the war was the complete defeat of the Scythians, who + not only lost their position of pre-eminence in Media and the adjacent + countries, but were driven across the Caucasus into their own proper + territory. Their expulsion was so complete that they scarcely left a trace + of their power or their presence in the geography or ethnography of the + country. One Palestine city only, as already observed, and one Armenian + province retained in their names a lingering memory of the great inroad + which but for them would have passed away without making any more + permanent mark on the region than a hurricane or a snowstorm. How long the + dominion of the Scyths endured is a matter of great uncertainty. It was no + doubt the belief of Herodotus that from their defeat of Cyaxares to his + treacherous murder of their chiefs was a period of exactly twenty-eight + years. During the whole of this space he regarded them as the undisputed + lords of Asia. It was not till the twenty-eight years were over that the + Medes were able, according to him, to renew their attacks on the + Assyrians, and once more to besiege Nineveh. But this chronology is open + to great objections. There is strong reason for believing that Nineveh + fell about B.C. 625 or 624; but according to the numbers of Herodotus the + fall would, at the earliest, have taken place in B.C. 602. There is great + unlikelihood that the Scyths, if they had maintained their rule for a + generation, should not have attracted some distinct notice from the Jewish + writers. Again, if twenty-eight out of the forty years assigned to + Cyaxares are to be regarded as years of inaction, all his great exploits, + his two sieges of Nineveh, his capture of that capital, his conquest of + the countries north and west of Media as far as the Halys, his six years’ + war in Asia Minor beyond that river, and his joint expedition with + Nebuchadnezzar into Syria, will have to be crowded most improbably into + the space of twelve years, two or three preceding and ten or nine + following the Scythian domination. These and other reasons lead to the + conclusion, which has the support of Eusebius, that the Scythian + domination was of much shorter duration than Herodotus imagined. It may + have been twenty-eight years from the original attack on Media to the + final expulsion of the last of the invaders from Asia—and this may + have been what the informants of Herodotus really intended—but it + cannot have been very long after the first attack before the Medes began + to recover themselves, to shake off the fear which had possessed them and + clear their territories of the invaders. If the invasion really took place + in the reign of Cyaxares, and not in the lifetime of his father, where + Eusebius places it, we must suppose that within eight years of its + occurrence Cyaxares found himself sufficiently strong, and his hands + sufficiently free, to resume his old projects, and for the second time to + march an army into Assyria. + </p> + <p> + The weakness of Assyria was such as to offer strong temptations to an + invader. As the famous inroad of the Gauls into Italy in the year of Rome + 365 paved the way for the Roman conquests in the peninsula by breaking the + power of the Etruscans, the Umbrians, and various other races, so the + Scythic incursion may have, really benefited, rather than injured, Media, + by weakening the great power to whose empire she aspired to succeed. The + exhaustion of Assyria’s resources at the time is remarkably illustrated by + the poverty and meanness of the palace which the last king, Saracus, built + for himself at Calah. She lay, apparently, at the mercy of the first bold + assailant, her prestige lost, her army dispirited or disorganized, her + defences injured, her high spirit broken and subdued. + </p> + <p> + Cyaxaros, ere proceeding to the attack, sent, it is probable, to make an + alliance with the Susianians and Chaldaeans. Susiana was the last country + which Assyria had conquered, and could remember the pleasures of + independence. Chaldaea, though it had been now for above half a century an + Assyrian fief, and had borne the yoke with scarcely a murmur during that + period, could never wholly forget its old glories, or the long resistance + which it had made before submitting to its northern neighbor. The + overtures of the Median monarch seem to have been favorably received; and + it was agreed that an army from the south should march up the Tigris and + threaten Assyria from that quarter, while Cyaxares led his Medes from the + east, through the passes of Zagros against the capital. Rumor soon + conveyed the tidings of his enemies’ intentions to the Assyrian monarch, + who immediately made such a disposition of the forces at his command as + seemed best calculated to meet the double danger which threatened him. + Selecting from among his generals the one in whom he placed most + confidence—a man named Nabopolassar, most probably an Assyrian—he + put him at the head of a portion of his troops, and sent him to Babylon to + resist the enemy who was advancing from the sea. The command of his main + army he reserved for himself, intending to undertake in person the defence + of his territory against the Medes. This plan of campaign was not badly + conceived; but it was frustrated by an unexpected calamity, Nabopolassar, + seeing his sovereign’s danger, and calculating astutely that he might gain + more by an opportune defection from a falling cause than he could look to + receive as the reward of fidelity, resolved to turn traitor and join the + enemies of Assyria. Accordingly he sent an embassy to Cyaxares, with + proposals for a close alliance to be cemented by a marriage. If the Median + monarch would give his daughter Amuhia (or Amyitis) to be the wife of his + son Nebuchadnezzar, the forces under his command should march against + Nineveh and assist Cyaxares to capture it. Such a proposition arriving at + such a time was not likely to meet with a refusal. Cyaxares gladly came + into the terms; the marriage took place; and Nabopolassar, who had now + practically assumed the sovereignty of Babylon, either led or sent a + Babylonian contingent to the aid of the Medes. + </p> + <p> + The siege of Nineveh by the combined Medes and Babylonians was narrated by + Ctesias at some length. He called the Assyrian king Sardanapalus, the + Median commander Arbaces, the Babylonian Belesis. Though he thus disguised + the real names, and threw back the event to a period a century and a half + earlier than its true date, there can be no doubt that he intended to + relate the last siege of the city, that which immediately preceded its + complete destruction. He told how the combined army, consisting of + Persians and Arabs as well as of Medes and Babylonians, and amounting to + four hundred thousand men, was twice defeated with great loss by the + Assyrian monarch, and compelled to take refuge in the Zagros chain—how + after losing a third battle it retreated to Babylonia—how it was + there joined by strong reinforcements from Bactria, surprised the Assyrian + camp by night, and drove the whole host in confusion to Nineveh—how + then, after two more victories, it advanced and invested the city, which + was well provisioned for a siege and strongly fortified. The siege, + Ctesias said, had lasted two full years, and the third year had commenced—success + seemed still far off—when an unusually rainy season so swelled the + waters of the Tigris that they burst into the city, sweeping away more + than two miles of the wall. This vast breach it was impossible to repair; + and the Assyrian monarch, seeing that further resistance was vain, brought + the struggle to an end by burning himself, with his concubines and eunuchs + and all his chief wealth, in his palace. + </p> + <p> + Such, in outline, was the story of Ctesias. If we except the extent of the + breach which the river is declared to have made, it contains no glaring + improbabilities. On the contrary, it is a narrative that hangs well + together, and that suits both the relations of the parties and the + localities. Moreover, it is confirmed in one or two points by authorities + of the highest order. Still, as Ctesias is a writer who delights in + fiction, and as it seems very unlikely that he would find a detailed + account of the siege, such as he has given us, in the Persian archives, + from whence he professed to derive his history, no confidence can be + placed in those points of his narrative which have not any further + sanction. All that we know on the subject of the last siege of Nineveh is + that it was conducted by a combined army of Medes and Babylonians, the + former commanded by Cyaxares, the latter by Nabopolassar or + Nebuchadnezzar, and that it was terminated, when all hope was lost, by the + suicide of the Assyrian monarch. The self-immolation of Saracus is related + by Abydenus, who almost certainly follows Berosus in this part of his + history. We may therefore accept it as a fact about which there ought to + be no question. Actuated by a feeling which has more than once caused a + vanquished monarch to die rather than fall into the power of his enemies, + Saracus made a funeral pyre of his ancestral palace, and lighted it with + his own hand. + </p> + <p> + One further point in the narrative of Ctesias we may suspect to contain a + true representation. Ctesias declared the cause of the capture to have + been the destruction of the city wall by an unexpected rise of the river. + Now, the prophet Nahum, in his announcement of the fate coming on Nineveh, + has a very remarkable expression, which seems most naturally to point to + some destruction of a portion of the fortifications by means of water. + After relating the steps that would be taken for the defence of the place, + he turns to remark on their fruitlessness, and says: “The gates of the + rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved; and Huzzab is led away + captive; she is led up, with her maidens, sighing as with the voice of + doves, smiting upon their breasts.” Now, we have already seen that at the + northwest angle of Nineveh there was a sluice or floodgate, intended + mainly to keep the water of the Khosrsu, which ordinarily filled the city + moat, from flowing off too rapidly into the Tigris, but probably intended + also to keep back the water of the Tigris, when that stream rose above its + common level. A sudden and great rise of the Tigris would necessarily + endanger this gate, and if it gave way beneath the pressure, a vast + torrent of water would rush up the moat along and against the northern + wall, which may have been undermined by its force, and have fallen in. The + stream would then pour into the city; and it may perhaps have reached the + palace platform, which being made of sun-dried bricks, and probably not + cased with stone inside the city, would begin to be “dissolved.” Such + seems the simplest and best interpretation of this passage, which, though + it is not historical, but only prophetical, must be regarded as giving an + importance that it would not otherwise have possessed to the statement of + Ctesias with regard to the part played by the Tigris in the destruction of + Nineveh. + </p> + <p> + The fall of the city was followed by a division of the spoil between the + two principal conquerors. While Cyaxares took to his own share the land of + the conquered people, Assyria Proper, and the countries dependent on + Assyria towards the north and north-west, Nabopolassar was allowed, not + merely Babylonia, Chaldaea, and Susiana, but the valley of the Euphrates + and the countries to which that valley conducted. Thus two considerable + empires arose at the same time cut of the ashes of Assyria—the + Babylonian towards the south and the south-west, stretching from Luristan + to the borders of Egypt, the Median towards the north, reaching from the + salt desert of Iran to Amanus and the Upper Euphrates. These empires were + established by mutual consent; they were connected together, not merely by + treaties, but by the ties of affinity which united their rulers; and, + instead of cherishing, as might have been expected, a mutual suspicion and + distrust, they seem to have really entertained the most friendly feelings + towards one another, and to have been ready on all emergencies to lend + each other important assistance. For once in the history of the world two + powerful monarchies were seen to stand side by side, not only without + collision, but without jealousy or rancor. Babylonia and Media were + content to share between them the empire of Western Asia: the world was, + they thought, wide enough for both; and so, though they could not but have + had in some respects conflicting interests, they remained close friends + and allies for more than half a century. + </p> + <p> + To the Median monarch the conquest of Assyria did not bring a time of + repose. Wandering bands of Scythians were still, it is probable, + committing ravages in many parts of Western Asia. The subjects of Assyria, + set free by her downfall, were likely to use the occasion for the + assertion of their independence, if they were not immediately shown that a + power of at least equal strength had taken her place, and was prepared to + claim her inheritance. War begets war; and the successes of Cyaxares up to + the present point in his career did but whet his appetite for power, and + stimulate him to attempt further conquests. In brief but pregnant words + Herodotus informs us that Cyaxares “subdued to himself all Asia above the + Halys.” How much he may include in this expression, it is impossible to + determine; but, <i>prime facie</i>, it would seem at least to imply that + he engaged in a series of wars with the various tribes and nations which + intervened between Media and Assyria on the one side and the river Halys + on the other, and that he succeeded in bringing them under his dominion. + The most important countries in this direction were Armenia and + Cappadocia. Armenia, strong in its lofty mountains, its deep gorges, and + its numerous rapid rivers—the head-streams of the Tigris, Euphrates, + Kur, and Aras—had for centuries resisted with unconquered spirit the + perpetual efforts of the Assyrian kings to bring it under their yoke, and + had only at last consented under the latest king but one to a mere nominal + allegiance. Cappadocia had not even been brought to this degree of + dependence. It had lain beyond the furthest limit whereto the Assyrian + arms had ever reached, and had not as yet come into collision with any of + the great powers of Asia. Other minor tribes in this region, neighbors of + the Armenians and Cappadocians, but more remote from Media, were the + Ibenans, the Colchians, the Moschi, the Tibareni, the Mares the Macrones, + and the Mosynoeci. Herodotus appears to have been of opinion that all + these tribes, or at any rate all but the Colchians, were at this time + brought under by Cyaxares who thus extended his dominions to the Caucasus + and the Black Sea upon the north, and upon the east to the Kizil Irmak or + Halys. + </p> + <p> + It is possible that the reduction of these countries under the Median yoke + was not so much a conquest as a voluntary submission of the inhabitants to + the power which alone seemed strong enough to save them from the hated + domination of the Scyths. According to Strabo, Armenia and Cappadocia were + the regions where the Scythic ravages had been most severely felt. + Cappadocia had been devastated from the mountains down to the coast; and + in Armenia the most fertile portion of the whole territory had been seized + and occupied by the invaders, from whom it thenceforth took the name of + Sacassene, the Armenians and Cappadocians may have found the yoke of the + Scyths so intolerable as to have gladly exchanged it for dependence on a + comparatively civilized people. In the neighboring territory of Asia Minor + a similar cause had recently exercised a unifying influence, the necessity + of combining to resist Cimmerian immigrants having tended to establish a + hegemony of Lydia over the various tribes which divided among them the + tract west of the Halys. It is evidently not improbable that the + sufferings endured at the hands of the Scyths may have disposed the + nations east of the river to adopt the same remedy and that, so soon as + Media had proved her strength, first by shaking herself free of the + Scythic invaders and then conquering Assyria. the tribes of these parts + accepted her as at once their mistress and their deliverer. + </p> + <p> + Another quite distinct cause may also have helped to bring about the + result above indicated. Parallel with the great Median migration from the + East under Cyaxares, or Phraortes (?), his father, an Arian influx had + taken place into the countries between the Caspian and the Halys. In + Armenia and Cappadocia during the flourishing period of Assyria, Turanian + tribes had been predominant. Between the middle and the end of the seventh + century these tribes appear to have yielded the supremacy to Arians. In + Armenia, the present language which is predominantly Arian, ousted the + former Turaman tongue which appears in the cuneiform inscriptions of Van + and the adjacent regions. In Cappadocia, the Moschi and Tibareni had to + yield their seats to a new race—the Katapatuka, who were not only + Arian but distinctly Medo-Persic, as is plain from their proper names, and + from the close connection of their royal house with that of the kings of + Persia. This spread of the Arians into the countries lying between the + Caspian and the Halys must have done much to pave the way for Median + supremacy over those regions. The weaker Arian tribes of the north would + have been proud of their southern brethren, to whose arms the queen of + Western Asia had been forced to yield, and would have felt comparatively + little repugnance in surrendering their independence into the hands of a + friendly and kindred people. + </p> + <p> + Thus Cyaxares, in his triumphant progress to the north and the north-west, + made war, it is probable, chiefly upon the Scyths, or upon them and the + old Turanian inhabitants of the countries, while by the Arians he was + welcomed as a champion come to deliver them from a grievous oppression. + Ranging themselves under his standard, they probably helped him to expel + from Asia the barbarian hordes which had now for many years tyrannized + over them; and when the expulsion was completed, gratitude or habit made + them willing to continue in the subject position which they had assumed in + order to effect it. Cyaxares within less than ten years from his capture + of Nineveh had added to his empire the fertile and valuable tracts of + Armenia and Cappadocia—never really subject to Assyria—and may + perhaps have further mastered the entire region between Armenia and the + Caucasus and Euxine. + </p> + <p> + The advance of their western frontier to the river Halys, which was + involved in the absorption of Cappadocia into the Empire, brought the + Medes into contact with a new power—a power which, like Media, had + been recently increasing in greatness, and which was not likely to submit + to a foreign yoke without a struggle. The Lydian kingdom was one of great + antiquity in this part of Asia. According to traditions current among its + people, it had been established more than seven hundred years at the time + when Cyaxares pushed his conquests to its borders. Three dynasties of + native kings—Atyadse, Heraclidse, and Mermnadae—had + successively held the throne during that period. The Lydians could repeat + the names of at least thirty monarchs who had borne sway in Sardis, their + capital city, since its foundation. They had never been conquered. In the + old times, indeed, Lydus, the son of Atys, had changed the name of the + people inhabiting the country from Maeonians to Lydians—a change + which to the keen sense of an historical critic implies a conquest of one + race by another. But to the people themselves this tradition conveyed no + such meaning; or, if it did to any, their self-complacency was not + disturbed thereby, since they would hug the notion that they belonged not + to the conquered race but to the conquerors. If a Ramcsos or a Sesostris + had ever penetrated to their country, he had met with a brave resistance, + and had left monuments indicating his respect for their courage. Neither + Babylon nor Assyria had ever given a king to the Lydians—on the + contrary, the Lydian tradition was, that they had themselves sent forth + Belus and Ninus from their own country to found dynasties and cities in + Mesopotamia. In a still more remote age they had seen their colonists + embark upon the western waters, and start for the distant Hesperia, where + they had arrived in safety, and had founded the great Etruscan nation. On + another occasion they had carried their arms beyond the limits of Asia + Minor, and had marched southward to the very extremity of: Syria, where + their general, Ascalus, had founded a great city and called it after his + name. + </p> + <p> + Such were the Lydian traditions with respect to the more remote times. Of + their real history they seem to have known but little, and that little did + not extend further back than about two hundred years before Cyaxares. + Within this space it was certain that they had had a change of dynasty, a + change preceded by a long feud between their two greatest houses, which + were perhaps really two branches of the royal family. The Heraclidae had + grown jealous of the Mermnadae, and had treated them with injustice; the + Mormnadae had at first sought their safety in flight, and afterwards, when + they felt themselves strong enough, had returned, murdered the Heraclide + monarch, and placed their chief, Gyges, upon the throne. With Gyges, who + had commenced his reign about B.C. 700, the prosperity of the Lydians had + greatly increased, and they had begun to assume an aggressive attitude + towards their neighbors. Gyges’ revenue was so great that his wealth + became proverbial, and he could afford to spread his fame by sending from + his superfluity to the distant temple of Delphi presents of such + magnificence that they were the admiration of later ages. The relations of + his predecessors with the Greeks of the Asiatic coast had been friendly, + Gyges changed this policy, and, desirous of enlarging his seaboard, made + war upon the Greek maritime towns, attacking Miletus and Smyrna without + result, but succeeding in capturing the Ionic city of Colophon. He also + picked a quarrel with the inland town of Magnesia, and after many + invasions of its territory compelled it to submission. According to some, + he made himself master of the whole territory of the Troad, and the + Milesians had to obtain his permission before they could establish their + colony of Abydos upon the Hellespont. At any rate he was a rich and + puissant monarch in the eyes of the Greeks of Asia and the islands, who + were never tired of celebrating his wealth, his wars, and his romantic + history. + </p> + <p> + The shadow of calamity had, however, fallen upon Lydia towards the close + of Gyges’ long reign. About thirty years before the Scythians from the + Steppe country crossed the Caucasus and fell upon Media, the same barrier + was passed by another groat horde of nomads. The Cimmerians, probably a + Celtic people, who had dwelt hitherto in the Tauric Chersonese and the + country adjoining upon it, pressed on by Scythic invaders from the East, + had sought a vent in this direction. Passing the great mountain barrier + either by the route of Mozdok—the Pylas Caucasiae—or by some + still more difficult track towards the Euxine, they had entered Asia Minor + by way of Cappadocia and had spread terror and devastation in every + direction. Gyges, alarmed at their advance, had placed himself under the + protection of Assyria, and had then confidently given them battle, + defeated them, and captured several of their chiefs. It is uncertain + whether the Assyrians gave him any material aid, but evident that he + ascribed his success to his alliance with them. In his gratitude he sent + an embassy to Asshur-bani-pal, king of Assyria, and courted his favor by + presents and by sending him his Cimmerian captives. Later in his reign, + however, he changed his policy, and, breaking with Assyria, gave aid to + the Egyptian rebel, Psammetichus, and helped him to establish his + independence. The result followed which was to be expected. Assyria + withdrew her protection; and Lydia was left to fight her own battles when + the great crisis came. Carrying all before them, the fierce hordes swarmed + in full force into the more western districts of Asia Minor; Paphlagonia, + Phrygia, Bithynia, Lydia, and Ionia were overrun; Gyges, venturing on an + engagement, perished; the frightened inhabitants generally shut themselves + up in their walled towns, and hoped that the tide of invasion might sweep + by them quickly and roll elsewhere; but the Cimmerians, impatient and + undisciplined as they might be, could sometimes bring themselves to endure + the weary work of a siege, and they saw in the Lydian capital a prize well + worth an effort. The hordes besieged Sardis, and took it, except the + citadel, which was commandingly placed and defied all their attempts. A + terrible scene of carnage must have followed. How Lydia withstood the + blow, and rapidly recovered from it, is hard to understand; but it seems + certain that within a generation she was so far restored to vigor as to + venture on resuming her attacks upon the Greeks of the coast, which had + been suspended during her period of prostration. Sadyattes, the son of + Ardys, and grandson of Gyges, following the example of his father and + grandfather, made war upon Miletus; and Alyattes, his son and successor, + pursued the same policy of aggression. Besides pressing Miletus, he + besieged and took Smyrna, and ravaged the territory of Clazomenae. + </p> + <p> + But the great work of Alyattes’ reign, and the one which seems to have had + the most important consequences for Lydia, was the war which he undertook + for the purpose of expelling the Cimmerians from Asia Minor. The hordes + had been greatly weakened by time, by their losses in war, and, probably + by their excesses; they had long ceased to be formidable; but they were + still strong enough to be an annoyance. Alyattes is said to have “driven + them out of Asia,” by which we can scarcely understand less than that he + expelled them from his own dominions and those of his neighbors—or, + in other words, from the countries which had been the scenes of their + chief ravages—Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Lydia, Phrygia, and Cilicia. + But, to do this, he must have entered into a league with his neighbors, + who must have consented to act under him for the purposes of war, if they + did not even admit the permanent hegemony of his country. Alyattes’ + success appears to have been complete, or nearly so; he cleared Asia Minor + of the Cimmerians; and having thus conferred a benefit on all the nations + of the region and exhibited before their eyes his great military capacity, + if he had not actually constructed an empire, he had at any rate done much + to pave the way for one. + </p> + <p> + Such was the political position in the regions west and south of the + Halys, when Cyaxares completed his absorption of Cappadocia, and looking + across the river that divided the Cappadocians from the Phrygians, saw + stretched before him a region of great fertile plains, which seemed to + invite an invader. A pretext for an attack was all that he wanted, and + this was soon forthcoming. A body of the nomad Scyths—probably + belonging to the great invasion, though Herodotus thought otherwise—had + taken service under Cyaxares, and for some time served him faithfully, + being employed chiefly as hunters. A cause of quarrel, however, arose + after a while; and the Scyths, disliking their position or distrusting the + intentions of their lords towards them, quitted the Median territory, and, + marching through a great part of Asia Minor, sought and found a refuge + with Alyattes, the Lydian king. Cyaxares, upon learning their flight, sent + an embassy to the court of Sardis to demand the surrender of the + fugitives; but the Lydian monarch met the demand with a refusal, and, + fully understanding the probable consequences, immediately prepared for + war. + </p> + <p> + Though Lydia, compared to Media, was but a small state, yet her resources + were by no means inconsiderable. In fertility she surpassed almost every + other country of Asia Minor, which is altogether one of the richest + regions in the world. At this time she was producing large quantities of + gold, which was found in great abundance in the Pactolus, and probably in + the other small streams that flowed down on all sides from the Tmolus + mountain-chain. Her people were at once warlike and ingenious. They had + invented the art of coining money, and showed considerable taste in their + devices. <a href="#linkimage-0008">[PLATE VII., Fig. 1]</a>, They claimed + also to have been the inventors of a number of games, which were common to + them with the Greeks. According to Herodotus, they were the first who made + a livelihood by shop-keeping. They were skilful in the use of musical + instruments, and had their own peculiar musical mode or style, which was + in much favor among the Greeks, though condemned as effeminate by some of + the philosophers. At the same time the Lydians were not wanting in courage + or manliness. They fought chiefly on horseback, and were excellent riders, + carrying long spears, which they managed with great skill. Nicolas of + Damascus tells us that even under the Heraclido kings, they could muster + for service cavalry to the number of 30,000. In peace they pursued with + ardor the sports of the field, and found in the chase of the wild boar a + pastime which called forth and exercised every manly quality. Thus Lydia, + even by herself, was no contemptible enemy; though it can hardly be + supposed that, without help from others, she would have proved a match for + the Great Median Empire. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0008" id="linkimage-0008"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img src="images/plate007.jpg" width="100%" alt="Plate VII. " /> + </div> + <p> + But such help as she needed was not wanting to her. The rapid strides with + which Media had advanced towards the west had no doubt alarmed the + numerous princes of Asia Minor, who must have felt that they had a power + to deal with as full of schemes of conquest as Assyria, and more capable + of carrying her designs into execution. It has been already observed that + the long course of Assyrian aggressions developed gradually among the + Asiatic tribes a tendency to unite in leagues for purposes of resistance. + The circumstances of the time called now imperatively for such a league to + be formed, unless the princes of Asia Minor were content to have their + several territories absorbed one after another into the growing Median + Empire. These princes appear to have seen their danger. Cyaxares may + perhaps have, declared war specially against the Lydians, and have crossed + the Halys professedly in order to chastise them; but he could only reach + Lydia through the territories of other nations, which he was evidently + intending to conquer on his way; and it was thus apparent that he was + activated, not by anger against a particular power, but by a general + design of extending his dominions in this direction. A league seems + therefore to have been determined on. We have not indeed any positive + evidence of its existence till the close of the war; but the probabilities + are wholly in favor of its having taken effect from the first. Prudence + would have dictated such a course; and it seems almost implied in the fact + that a successful resistance was made to the Median attack from the very + commencement. We may conclude therefore that the princes of Asia Minor, + having either met in conclave or communicated by embassies, resolved to + make common cause, if the Medes crossed the Halys; and that, having + already acted under Lydia in the expulsion of the Cimmerians from their + territories, they naturally placed her at their head when they coalesced + for the second time. + </p> + <p> + Cyaxares on his part, was not content to bring against the confederates + merely the power of Media. He requested and obtained a contingent from the + Babylonian monarch, Nabopolassar, and may not improbably have had the + assistance of other allies also. With a vast army drawn from various parts + of inner Asia, he invaded the territory of the Western Powers, and began + his attempt at subjugation. We have no detailed account of the war; but we + learn from the general expressions of Herodotus that the Median monarch + met with a most stubborn resistance; numerous engagements were fought with + varied results; sometimes the Medes succeeded in defeating their + adversaries in pitched battles; but sometimes, and apparently as often, + the Lydians and their allies gained decided victories over the Medes. It + is noted that one of the engagements took place by night, a rare + occurrence in ancient (as in modern) times. The war had continued six + years, and the Medes had evidently made no serious impression, when a + remarkable circumstance brought it suddenly to a termination. The two + armies had once more met and were engaged in conflict, when, in the midst + of the struggle, an ominous darkness fell upon the combatants and filled + them with superstitious awe. The sun was eclipsed, either totally or at + any rate considerably, so that the attention of the two armies was + attracted to it; and, discontinuing the fight, they stood to gaze at the + phenomenon. In most parts of the East such an occurrence is even now seen + with dread—the ignorant mass believe that the orb of day is actually + being devoured or destroyed, and that the end of all things is at hand—even + the chiefs, who may have some notion that the phenomenon is a recurrent + one, do not understand its cause, and participate in the alarm of their + followers. On the present occasion it is said that, amid the general fear, + a desire for reconciliation seized both armies. Of this spontaneous + movement two chiefs, the foremost of the allies on either side, took + advantage. Syennesis, king of Cilicia, the first known monarch of his + name, on the part of Lydia, and a prince whom Herodotus calls “Labynetus + of Babylon”—probably either Nabopolassar or Nebuchadnezzar—on + the part of Media, came forward to propose an immediate armistice; and, + when the proposal was accepted on either side, proceeded to the more + difficult task of arranging terms of peace between the contending parties. + Since nothing is said of the Scythians, who had been put forward as the + ostensible grounds of quarrel, we may presume that Alyattes retained them. + It is further clear that both he and his allies preserved undiminished + both their territories and their independence. The territorial basis of + the treaty was thus what in modern diplomatic language is called the + status quo; matters, in other words, returned to the position in which + they had stood before the war broke out. The only difference was that + Cyaxares gained a friend and an ally where he had previously had a jealous + enemy; since it was agreed that the two kings of Media and Lydia should + swear a friendship, and that, to cement the alliance, Alyattes should give + his daughter Aryenis in marriage to Astyages, the son of Cyaxares. The + marriage thus arranged took place soon afterwards, while the oath of + friendship was sworn at once. According to the barbarous usages of the + time and place, the two monarchs, having met and repeated the words of the + formula, punctured their own arms, and then sealed their contract by each + sucking from the wound a portion of the other’s blood. + </p> + <p> + By this peace the three great monarchies of the time—the Median, the + Lydian, and the Babylonian—were placed on terms, not only of amity, + but of intimacy and (if the word may be used) of blood relationship. The + Crown Princes of the three kingdoms had become brothers. From the shores + of the Aegean to those of the Persian Gulf, Western Asia was now ruled by + interconnected dynasties, bound by treaties to respect each other’s + rights, and perhaps to lend each other aid in important conjunctures, and + animated, it would seem, by a real spirit of mutual friendliness and + attachment. After more than five centuries of almost constant war and + ravage, after fifty years of fearful strife and convulsion, during which + the old monarchy of Assyria had gone down and a new Empire—the + Median—had risen up in its place, this part of Asia entered upon a + period of repose which stands out in strong contrast with the long term of + struggle. From the date of the peace between Alyattes and Cyaxares + (probably B.C. 610), for nearly half a century, the three kingdoms of + Media, Lydia, and Babylonia remained fast friends, pursuing their separate + courses without quarrel or collision, and thus giving to the nations + within their borders a rest and a refreshment which they must have greatly + needed and desired. + </p> + <p> + In one quarter only was this rest for a short time disturbed. During the + troublous period the neighboring country of Egypt, which had recovered its + freedom, and witnessed a revival of its ancient prosperity, under the + Psamatik family, began once more to aspire to the possession of those + provinces which, being divided off from the rest of the Asiatic continent + by the impassable Syrian desert, seems politically to belong to Africa + almost more than to Asia. Psamatik I., the Psammetichus of Herodotus, had + commenced an aggressive war in this quarter, probably about the time that + Assyria was suffering from the Median and then from the Scythian inroads. + He had besieged for several years the strong Philistine town of Ashdod, + which commands the coast-route from Egypt to Palestine, and was at this + time a most important city. Despite a resistance which would have wearied + out any less pertinacious assailant, he had persevered in his attempt, and + had finally succeeded in taking the place. He had thus obtained a firm + footing in Syria; and his successor was, able, starting from this + vantage-ground, to overrun and conquer the whole territory. About the year + B.C. 608, Neco, son of Psamatik I., having recently ascended the throne, + invaded Palestine with a large army, met and defeated Josiah, king of + Judah, near Megiddo in the great plain of Esdraelon, and, pressing forward + through Syria to the Euphrates, attacked and took Carchemish, the strong + city which guarded the ordinary passage of the river. Idumea, Palestine, + Phoenicia, and Syria submitted to him, and for three years he remained in + undisturbed possession of his conquest. Then, however, the Babylonians, + who had received these provinces at the division of the Assyrian Empire, + began to bestir themselves. Nebuchadnezzar marched to Carchemish, defeated + the army of Neco, recovered all the territory to the border of Egypt, and + even ravaged a portion of that country. It is probable that in this + expedition he was assisted by the Medes. At any rate, seven or eight years + afterwards, when the intrigues of Egypt had again created disturbances in + this quarter, and Jehoiakim, the Jewish king, broke into open + insurrection, the Median monarch sent a contingent, which accompanied + Nebuchadnezzar into Judaea, and assisted him to establish his power firmly + in South-Western Asia. + </p> + <p> + This is the last act that we can ascribe to the great Median king. He can + scarcely have been much less than seventy years old at this time; and his + life was prolonged at the utmost three years longer. According to + Herodotus, he died B.C. 593, after a reign of exactly forty years, leaving + his crown to his son Astyages, whose marriage with a Lydian princess was + above related. + </p> + <p> + We have no sufficient materials from which to draw out a complete + character of Cyaxares. He appears to have possessed great ambition, + considerable military ability, and a rare tenacity of purpose, which + gained him his chief successes. At the same time he was not wanting in + good sense, and could bring himself to withdraw from an enterprise, when + he had misjudged the fitting time for it, or greatly miscalculated its + difficulties. He was faithful to his friends, but thought treachery + allowable towards his enemies. He knew how to conquer, but not how to + organize, an empire; and, if we except his establishment of Magism, as the + religion of the state, we may say that he did nothing to give permanency + to the monarchy which he founded. He was a conqueror altogether after the + Asiatic model, able to wield the sword, but not to guide the pen, to + subdue his contemporaries to his will by his personal ascendency over + them, but not to influence posterity by the establishment of a kingdom, or + of institutions, on deep and stable foundations. The Empire, which owed to + him its foundation, was the most shortlived of all the great Oriental + monarchies, having begun and ended within the narrow space of three score + and ten years—the natural lifetime of an individual. + </p> + <p> + Astyages, who succeeded to the Median throne about B.C. 593, had neither + his father’s enterprise nor his ability. Born to an empire, and bred up in + all the luxury of an Oriental Court, he seems to have been quite content + with the lot which fortune appeared to have assigned him, and to have + coveted no grander position. Tradition says that he was remarkably + handsome, cautious, and of an easy and generous temper. Although the + anecdotes related of his mode of life at Ecbatana by Herodotus, Xenophon, + and Nicolas of Damascus, seem to be for the most part apocryphal, and at + any rate come to us upon authority too weak to entitle them to a place in + history, we may perhaps gather from the concurrent, descriptions of these + three writers something of the general character of the Court over which + he presided. Its leading features do not seem to have differed greatly + from those of the Court of Assyria. The monarch lived secluded, and could + only be seen by those who asked and obtained an audience. He was + surrounded by guards and eunuchs, the latter of whom held most of the + offices near the royal person. The Court was magnificent in its apparel, + in its banquets, and in the number and organization of its attendants. The + courtiers wore long flowing robes of many different colors, amongst which + red and purple predominated, and adorned their necks with chains or + collars of gold, and their wrists with bracelets of the same precious + metal. Even the horses on which they rode had sometimes golden bits to + their bridles. One officer of the Court was especially called “the King’s + Eye;” another had the privilege of introducing strangers to him; a third + was his cupbearer; a fourth his messenger. Guards torch-bearers, + serving-men, ushers, and sweepers, were among the orders into which the + lower sort of attendants were divided; while among the courtiers of the + highest rank was a privileged class known as “the King’s + table-companions”. The chief pastime in which the Court indulged was + hunting. Generally this took place in a park or “paradise” near the + capital; but sometimes the King and Court went out on a grand hunt into + the open country, where lions, leopards, bears, wild boars, wild asses, + antelopes, stags, and wild sheep abounded, and, when the beasts had been + driven by beaters into a confined space, despatched them with arrows and + javelins. + </p> + <p> + Prominent at the Court, according to Herodotus, was the priestly caste of + the Magi. Held in the highest honor by both King and people, they were in + constant attendance, ready to expound omens or dreams, and to give their + advice on all matters of state policy. The religious ceremonial was, as a + matter of course, under their charge; and it is probable that high state + offices were often conferred upon them. Of all classes of the people they + were the only one that could feel they had a real influence over the + monarch, and might claim to share in his sovereignty. + </p> + <p> + The long reign of Astyages seems to have been almost undisturbed, until + just before its close, by wars or rebellions. Eusebius indeed relates that + he, and not Cyaxares, carried on the great Lydian contest; and Moses of + Chorene declares that he was engaged in a long struggle with Tigranes, an + Armenian king. But little credit can be attached to these statements, the + former of which contradicts Herodotus, while the latter is wholly + unsupported by any other writer. The character which Cyaxares bore among + the Greeks was evidently that of an unwarlike king. If he had really + carried his arms into the heart of Asia Minor, and threatened the whole of + that extensive region with subjugation, we can scarcely suppose that he + would have been considered so peaceful a ruler. Neither is it easy to + imagine that in that case no classical writer—not even Ctesias—would + have taxed Herodotus with an error that must have been so flagrant. With + respect to the war with Tigranes, it is just possible that it may have a + basis of truth; there may have been a revolt of Armenia from Astyages + under a certain Tigranes, followed by an attempt at subjugation. But the + slender authority of Moses is insufficient to establish the truth of his + story, which is internally improbable and quite incompatible with the + narrative of Herodotus. + </p> + <p> + There are some grounds for believing that in one direction Astyages + succeeded in slightly extending the limits of his empire. But he owed his + success to prudent management, and not to courage or military skill. On + the north-eastern frontier, occupying the low country now known as Talish + and Ghilan, was a powerful tribe called Cadusians, probably of Arian + origin, which had hitherto maintained its independence. This would not be + surprising, if we could accept the statement of Diodorus that they were + able to bring into the field 200,000 men. But this account, which probably + came from Ctesias, and is wholly without corroboration from other writers, + has the air of a gross exaggeration; and we may conclude from the general + tenor of ancient history that the Cadusians were more indebted to the + strength of their country, than to either their numbers or their prowess, + for the freedom and independence which they were still enjoying. It seems + that they were at this time under the government of a certain king, or + chief, named Aphernes, or Onaphernes. This ruler was, it appears, doubtful + of his position, and, thinking it could not be long maintained, made + overtures of surrender to Astyages, which were gladly entertained by that + monarch. A secret treaty was concluded to the satisfaction of both + parties; and the Cadusians, it would seem, passed under the Medes by this + arrangement, without any hostile struggle, though armed resistance on the + part of the people, who were ignorant of the intentions of their + chieftain, was for some time apprehended. + </p> + <p> + The domestic relations of Astyages seem to have been unhappy. His + “marriage de convenance” with the Lydian princess Aryenis, if not wholly + unfruitful, at any rate brought him no son; and, as he grew to old age, + the absence of such support to the throne must have been felt very + sensibly, and have caused great uneasiness. The want of an heir perhaps + led him to contract those other marriages of which we hear in the Armenian + History of Moses—one with a certain Anusia, of whom nothing more is + known; and another with an Armenian princess, the loveliest of her sex, + Tigrania, sister of the Armenian king, Tigranes. The blessing of male + offspring was still, however, denied him; and it is even doubtful whether + he was really the father of any daughter or daughters. Herodotus, and + Xenophon, indeed give him a daughter Mandane, whom they make the mother of + Cyrus; and Ctesias, who denied in the most positive terms the truth of + this statement, gave him a daughter, Amytis, whom he made the wife, first + of Spitaces the Mede, and afterwards of Cyrus the Persian. But these + stories, which seem intended to gratify the vanity of the Persians by + tracing the descent of their kings to the great Median conqueror, while at + the same time they flattered the Medes by showing them that the issue of + their old monarchs was still seated on the Arian throne, are entitled to + little more credit than the narrative of the Shahnameh, which declares + that Iskander (Alexander) was the son of Darab (Darius) and of a daughter + of Failakus (Philip of Macedon). When an oriental crown passes from one + dynasty to another, however foreign and unconnected, the natives are wont + to invent a relationship between the two houses, which both parties are + commonly quite ready to accept; as it suits the rising house to be + provided with a royal ancestry, and it pleases the fallen one and its + partisans to see in the occupants of the throne a branch of the ancient + stock—a continuation of the legitimate family. Tales therefore of + the above-mentioned kind are, historically speaking, valueless; and it + must remain uncertain whether the second Median monarch had any child at + all, either male or female. + </p> + <p> + Old age was now creeping upon the sonless king. If he was sixteen or + seventeen years old at the time of his contract of marriage with Aryenis, + he must have been nearly seventy in B.C. 558, when the revolt occurred + which terminated both his reign and his kingdom. It appears that the + Persian branch of the Arian race, which had made itself a home in the + country lying south and south-east of Media, between the 32nd parallel and + the Persian gulf, had acknowledged some subjection to the Median kings + during the time of their greatness. Dwelling in their rugged mountains and + high upland plains, they had however maintained the simplicity of their + primitive manners, and had mixed but little with the Medes, being governed + by their own native princes of the Achasmenian house, the descendants, + real or supposed, of a certain Achajmenes. These princes were connected by + marriage with the Cappadocian kings; and their house was regarded as one + of the noblest in Western Asia. What the exact terms were upon which they + stood with the Median monarch is uncertain. Herodotus regards Persia as + absorbed into Media at this time, and the Achsemenidse as merely a good + Persian family. Nicolas of Damascus makes Persia a Median satrapy, of + which Atradates, the father of Cyrus, is satrap, Xenophon, on the + contrary, not only gives the Achajmenidae their royal rank, but seems to + consider Persia as completely independent of Media; Moses of Chorene takes + the same view, regarding Cyrus as a great and powerful sovereign during + the reign of Astyages. The native records lean towards the view of + Xenophon and Moses. Darius declares that eight of his race had been kings + before himself, and makes no difference between his own royalty and + theirs. Cyrus calls himself in one inscription “the son of Cambyses, the + powerful king.” It is certain therefore that Persia continued to be ruled + by her own native monarchs during the whole of the Median period, and that + Cyrus led the attack upon Astyages as hereditary Persian king. The Persian + records seem rather to imply actual independence of Media; but as national + vanity would prompt to dissimulation in such a case, we may perhaps accord + so much weight to the statement of Herodotus, and to the general tradition + on the subject, as to believe that there was some kind of acknowledgment + of Median supremacy on the part of the Persian kings anterior to Cyrus, + though the acknowledgment may have been not much more than a formality and + have imposed no onerous obligations. The residence of Cyrus at the Median + Court, which is asserted in almost every narrative of his life before he + became king, inexplicable if Persia was independent, becomes thoroughly + intelligible on the supposition that she was a great Median feudatory. In + such cases the residence of the Crown Prince at the capital of the + suzerain is constantly desired, or even required by the superior Power, + which sees in the presence of the son and heir the best security against + disaffection or rebellion on the part of the father. + </p> + <p> + It appears that Cyrus, while at the Median Court, observing the unwarlike + temper of the existing generation of the Medes, who had not seen any + actual service, and despising the personal character of the monarch, who + led a luxurious life, chiefly at Ecbatana, amid eunuchs, concubines, and + dancing-girls, resolved on raising the standard of rebellion, and seeking + at any rate to free his own country. It may be suspected that the Persian + prince was not actuated solely by political motives. To earnest + Zoroastrians, such as the Achgemenians are shown to have been by their + inscriptions, the yoke of a Power which had so greatly corrupted, if it + had not wholly laid aside, the worship of Ormazd, must have been extremely + distasteful; and Cyrus may have wished by his rebellion as much to + vindicate the honor of his religion—as to obtain a loftier position + for his nation. If the Magi occupied really the position at the Median + Court which Herodotus assigns to them—if they “were held in high + honor by the king, and shared in his sovereignty”—if the + priest-ridden monarch was perpetually dreaming and perpetually referring + his dreams to the Magian seers for exposition, and then guiding his + actions by the advice they tendered him, the religious zeal of the young + Zoroastrian may very naturally have been aroused, and the contest into + which he plunged may have been, in his eyes, not so much a national + struggle as a crusade against the infidels. It will be found hereafter + that religious fervor animated the Persians in most of those wars by which + they spread their dominion. We may suspect, therefore, though it must be + admitted we cannot prove, that a religious motive was among those which + led them to make their first efforts after independence. + </p> + <p> + According to the account of the struggle which is most circumstantial, and + on the whole most probable, the first difficulty which the would-be rebel + had to meet and vanquish was that of quitting the Court. Alleging that his + father was in weak health, and required his care, he requested leave of + absence for a short time; but his petition was refused on the flattering + ground that the Great King was too much attached to him to lose sight of + him even for a day. A second application, however, made through a favorite + eunuch after a certain interval of time, was more successful; Cyrus + received permission to absent himself from Court for the next five months; + whereupon, with a few attendants, he left Ecbatana by night, and took the + road leading to his native country. + </p> + <p> + The next evening Astyages, enjoying himself as usual over his wine, + surrounded by a crowd of his concubines, singing-girls, and dancing-girls, + called on one of them for a song. The girl took her lyre and sang as + follows: “The lion had the wild boar in his power, but let him depart to + his own lair; in his lair he will wax in strength, and will cause the lion + a world of toil; till at length, although the weaker, he will overcome the + stronger.” The words of the song greatly disquieted the king, who had been + already made aware that a Chaldaean prophecy designated Cyrus as future + king of the Persians. Repenting of the indulgence which he had granted + him, Astyages forthwith summoned an officer into his presence, and ordered + him to take a body of horsemen, pursue the Persian prince, and bring him + back, either alive or dead. The officer obeyed, overtook Cyrus, and + announced his errand; upon which Cyrus expressed his perfect willingness + to return, but proposed, that, as it was late, they should defer their + start till the next day. The Medes consenting, Cyrus feasted them, and + succeeded in making them all drunk; then mounting his horse, he rode off + at full speed with his attendants, and reached a Persian outpost, where he + had arranged with his father that he should find a body of Persian troops. + When the Medes had slept off their drunkenness, and found their prisoner + gone, they pursued, and again overtaking Cyrus, who was now at the head of + an armed force, engaged him. They were, however, defeated with great loss, + and forced to retreat, while Cyrus, having beaten them off, made good his + escape into Persia. + </p> + <p> + When Astyages heard what had happened, he was greatly vexed; and, smiting + his thigh, he exclaimed, “Ah! fool, thou knewest well that it boots not to + heap favors on the vile; yet didst thou suffer thyself to be gulled by + smooth words; and so thou hast brought upon thyself this mischief. But + even now he shall not get off scot-free.” And instantly he sent for his + generals, and commanded them to collect his host, and proceed to reduce + Persia to obedience. Three thousand chariots, two hundred thousand horse, + and a million footmen (!) were soon brought together; and with these + Astyages in person invaded the revolted province, and engaged the army + which Cyrus and his father Cambyses had collected for defence. This + consisted of a hundred chariots, fifty thousand horsemen, and three + hundred thousand light-armed foot, who were drawn up in in front of a + fortified town near the frontier. The first day’s battle was long and + bloody, terminating without any decisive advantage to either side; but on + the second day Astyages, making skilful use of his superior numbers, + gained a great victory. Having detached one hundred thousand men with + orders to make a circuit and get into the rear of the town, he renewed the + attack; and when the Persians were all intent on the battle in their + front, the troops detached fell on the city and took it, almost before its + defenders were aware. Cambyses, who commanded in the town, was mortally + wounded and fell into the enemy’s hands. The army in the field, finding + itself between two fires, broke and fled towards the interior, bent on + defending Pasargadse, the capital. Meanwhile Astyages, having given + Cambyses honorable burial, pressed on in pursuit. + </p> + <p> + The country had now become rugged and difficult. Between Pasargadse and + the place where the two days’ battle was fought lay a barrier of lofty + hills, only penetrated by a single narrow pass. On either side were two + smooth surfaces of rock, while the mountain towered above, lofty and + precipitous. The pass was guarded by ten thousand Persians. Recognizing + the impossibility of forcing it, Astyages again detached a body of troops, + who marched along the foot of the range till they found a place where it + could be ascended, when they climbed it and seized the heights directly + over the defile. The Persians upon this had to evacuate their strong + position, and to retire to a lower range of hills very near to Pasargadge. + Here again there was a two days’ fight. On the first day all the efforts + of the Medes to ascend the range (which, though low, was steep, and + covered with thickets of wild olive) were fruitless. Their enemy met them, + not merely with the ordinary weapons, but with great masses of stone, + which they hurled down with crushing force upon their ascending columns. + On the second day, however, the resistance was weaker or less effective + Astyages had placed at the foot of the range, below his attacking columns, + a body of troops with orders to kill all who refused to ascend, or who, + having ascended, attempted to quit the heights and return to the valley. + Thus compelled to advance, his men fought with desperation, and drove the + Persians before them up the slopes of the hill to its very summit, where + the women and children had been placed for the sake of security. There, + however, the tide of success turned. The taunts and upbraidings of their + mothers and wives restored the courage of the Persians; and, turning upon + their foe, they made a sudden furious charge. The Medes, astonished and + overborne, were driven headlong down the hill, and fell into such + confusion that the Persians slew sixty thousand of them. Still Astyages + did not desist from his attack. The authority whom we have been following + here to a great extent fails us, and we have only a few scattered notices + from which to reconstruct the closing scenes of the war. It would seem + from these that Astyages still maintained the offensive, and that there + was a fifth battle in the immediate neighborhood of Pasargadse, wherein he + was completely defeated by Cyrus, who routed the Median army, and pressing + upon them in their flight, took their camp. All the insignia of Median + royalty fell into his hands; and, amid the acclamations of his army, he + assumed them, and was saluted by his soldiers “King of Media and Persia.” + Meanwhile Astyages had sought for safety in flight; the greater part of + his army had dispersed, and he was left with only a few friends, who still + adhered to his fortunes. Could he have reached Ecbatana, he might have + greatly prolonged the struggle; but his enemy pressed him close; and, + being compelled to an engagement, he not only suffered a complete defeat, + but was made prisoner by his fortunate adversary. By this capture the + Median monarchy was brought abruptly to an end. Astyages had no son to + take his place and continue the struggle. Even had it been otherwise, the + capture of the monarch would probably have involved his people’s + submission. In the East the king is so identified with his kingdom that + the possession of the royal person is regarded as conveying to the + possessor all regal rights. Cyrus, apparently, had no need even to besiege + Ecbatana; the whole Median state, together with its dependencies, at once + submitted to him, on learning what had happened. This ready submission was + no doubt partly owing to the general recognition of a close connection + between Media and Persia, which made the transfer of empire from the one + to the other but slightly galling to the subjected power, and a matter of + complete indifference to the dependent countries. Except in so far as + religion was concerned, the change from one Iranic race to the other would + make scarcely a perceptible difference to the subjects of either kingdom. + The law of the state would still be “the law of the Medes and Persians.” + Official employments would be open to the people of both countries. Even + the fame and glory of empire would attain, in the minds of men, almost as + much to the one nation as the other. If Media descended from her + preeminent rank, it was to occupy a station only a little below the + highest, and one which left her a very distinct superiority over all the + subject races. + </p> + <p> + If it be asked how Media, in her hour of peril, came to receive no + assistance from the great Powers with which she had made such close + alliances—Babylonia and Lydia—the answer would seem to be that + Lydia was too remote from the scene of strife to lend her effective aid, + while circumstances had occurred in Babylonia to detach that state from + her and render it unfriendly. The great king, Nebuchadnezzar, had he been + on the throne, would undoubtedly have come to the assistance of his + brother-in-law, when the fortune of war changed, and it became evident + that his crown was in danger. But Nebuchadnezzar had died in B.V. 561, + three years before the Persian revolt broke out. His son, Evil-Merodach, + who would probably have maintained his father’s alliances, had survived + him but two years: he had been murdered in B.C. 559 by a brother-in-law, + Nergalsharezer or Neriglissar, who ascended the throne in that year and + reigned till B.C. 555. This prince was consequently on the throne at the + time of Astyages’ need. As he had supplanted the house of Nebuchadnezzar, + he would naturally be on bad terms with that monarch’s Median connections; + and we may suppose that he saw with pleasure the fall of a power to which + pretenders from the Nebuchadnezzar family would have looked for support + and countenance. + </p> + <p> + In conclusion, a few words may be said on the general character of the + Median Empire, and the causes of its early extinction. + </p> + <p> + The Median Empire was in extent and fertility of territory-equal if not + superior to the Assyrian. It stretched from Rhages and the Carmanian + desert on the east to the river Halys upon the west, a distance of above + twenty degrees, or about 1,300 miles. From north to south it was + comparatively narrow, being confined between the Black Sea, the Caucasus, + and the Caspian, on the one side, and the Euphrates and Persian Gulf on + the other. Its greatest width, which was towards the east, was about nine, + and its least, which was towards the west, was about four degrees. Its + area was probably not much short of 500,000 square miles. Thus it was as + large as Great Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal put together. + </p> + <p> + In fertility its various parts were very unequal. Portions of both Medias, + of Persia, of Armenia, Iberia, and Cappadocia, were rich and productive; + but in all these countries there was a large quantity of barren mountain, + and in Media Magna and Persia there were tracts of desert. If we estimate + the resources of Media from the data furnished by Herodotus in his account + of the Persian revenue, and compare them with those of the Assyrian + Empire, as indicated by the same document, we shall find reason to + conclude, that except during the few years when Egypt was a province of + Assyria, the resources of the Third exceeded those of the Second Monarchy. + </p> + <p> + The weakness of the Empire arose chiefly from its want of organization. + Nicolas of Damascus, indeed, in the long passage from which our account of + the struggle between Cyrus and Astyages has been taken, represents the + Median Empire as divided, like the Persian, into a number of satrapies but + there is no real ground for believing that any such organization was + practised in Median times, or to doubt that Darius Hystaspis was the + originator of the satrapial system. The Median Empire, like the Assyrian, + was a congeries of kingdoms, each ruled by its own native prince, as is + evident from the case of Persia, where Cambyses was not satrap, but + monarch. Such organization as was attempted appears to have been clumsy in + the extreme. The Medes (we are told) only claimed direct suzerainty over + the nations immediately upon their borders; remoter tribes they placed + under these, and looked to them to collect and remit the tribute of the + outlying countries. It is doubtful if they called on the subject nations + for any contingents of troops. We never hear of their doing so. Probably, + like the Assyrians, they made their conquests with armies composed + entirely of native soldiers, or of those combined with such forces as were + sent to their aid by princes in alliance with them. + </p> + <p> + The weakness arising from this lack of organization was increased by a + corruption of manners, which caused the Medes speedily to decline in + energy and warlike spirit. The conquest of a great and luxurious empire by + a hardy and simple race is followed, almost of necessity, by a + deterioration in the character of the conquerors, who lose the warlike + virtues, and too often do not replace them by the less splendid virtues of + peace. This tendency, which is fixed in the nature of things, admits of + being checked for a while, or rapidly developed, according to the policy + and character of the monarchs who happen to occupy the throne. If the + original conqueror is succeeded, by two or three ambitious and energetic + princes, who engage in important wars and labor to extend their dominions + at the expense of their neighbors, it will be some time before the + degeneracy becomes marked. If, on the other hand, a prince of a quiet + temper, self-indulgent, and studious of ease, come to the throne within a + short time of the original conquests, the deterioration will be very + rapid. In the present instance it happened that the immediate successor of + the first conqueror was of a peaceful disposition, unambitious, and + luxurious in his habits. During a reign which lasted at least thirty-five + years he abstained almost wholly from military enterprises; and thus an + entire generation of Medes grew up without seeing actual service, which + alone makes the soldier. At the same time there was a general softening of + manners. The luxury of the Court corrupted the nobles, who from hardy + mountain chieftains, simple if not even savage in their dress and mode of + life, became polite courtiers, magnificent in their apparel, choice in + their diet, and averse to all unnecessary exertion. The example of the + upper classes would tell on the lower, though not perhaps to any very + large extent. The ordinary Mede, no doubt, lost something of his old + daring and savagery; from disuse he became inexpert in the management of + arms; and he was thus no longer greatly to be dreaded as a soldier. But he + was really not very much less brave, nor less capable of bearing + hardships, than before; and it only required a few years of training to + enable him to recover himself and to be once more as good a soldier as any + in Asia. + </p> + <p> + But in the affairs of nations, as in those of men, negligence often proves + fatal before it can be repaired. Cyrus saw his opportunity, pressed his + advantage, and established the supremacy of his nation, before the unhappy + effects of Astyages’ peace policy could be removed. He knew that his own + Persians possessed the military spirit in its fullest vigor; he felt that + he himself had all the qualities of a successful loader; he may have had + faith in his cause, which, he would view as the cause of Ormazd against + Ahriman, of pure Religion against a corrupt and debasing nature-worship. + His revolt was sudden, unexpected, and well-timed. He waited till Astyages + was advanced in years, and so disqualified for command; till the veterans + of Cyaxares were almost all in their graves; and till the Babylonian + throne was occupied by a king who was not likely to afford Astyages any + aid. Ho may not at first have aspired to do more than establish the + independence of his own country. But when the opportunity of effecting a + transfer of empire offered itself, he seized it promptly; rapidly + repeating his blows, and allowing his enemy no time to recover and renew + the struggle. The substitution of Persia for Media as the ruling power in + Western Asia was due less to general causes than to the personal character + of two men. Had Astyages been a prince of ordinary vigor, the military + training of the Medes would have been kept up; and in that case they might + easily have hold their own against all comers. Had their training been + kept up, or had Cyrus possessed no more than ordinary ambition and + ability, either he would not have thought of revolting, or he would have + revolted unsuccessfully. The fall of the Median Empire was due immediately + to the genius of the Persian Prince; but its ruin was prepared, and its + destruction was really caused, by the shortsightedness of the Median + monarch. + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Seven Great Monarchies Of The +Ancient Eastern World, Vol 3. 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(of 7): Media, by George Rawlinson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 3. (of 7): Media + The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, + Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian + or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations. + +Author: George Rawlinson + +Illustrator: George Rawlinson + +Release Date: July 1, 2005 [EBook #16163] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + + +THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES + +OF THE + +ANCIENT EASTERN WORLD; + + +OR, + + +THE HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AND ANTIQUITIES OF CHALDAEA, ASSYRIA + +BABYLON, MEDIA, PERSIA, PARTHIA, AND SASSANIAN, + +OR NEW PERSIAN EMPIRE. + + +BY + +GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A., + +CAMDEN PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD + + + +IN THREE VOLUMES. + + + +VOLUME II. + + + +WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS + + + + +THE THIRD MONARCHY. + + + +MEDIA. + + +[Illustration: MAP] + + + + +CHAPTER I. DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. + + +Along the eastern flank of the great Mesopotamian lowland, curving +round it on the north, and stretching beyond it to the south and the +south-east, lies a vast elevated region, or highland, no portion of +which appears to be less than 3000 feet above the sea-level. This +region may be divided, broadly, into two tracts, one consisting of lofty +mountainous ridges, which form its outskirts on the north and on the +west; the other, in the main a high flat table-land, extending from the +foot of the mountain chains, southward to the Indian Ocean, and eastward +to the country of the Afghans. The western mountain-country consists, +as has been already observed, of six or seven parallel ridges, having +a direction nearly from the north-west to the south-east, enclosing +between them, valleys of great fertility, and well watered by a large +number of plentiful and refreshing streams. This district was known to +the ancients as Zagros, while in modern geography it bears the names of +Kurdistan and Luristan. It has always been inhabited by a multitude of +warlike tribes, and has rarely formed for any long period a portion +of any settled monarchy. Full of torrents, of deep ravines, or rocky +summits, abrupt and almost inaccessible; containing but few passes, and +those narrow and easily defensible; secure, moreover, owing to the rigor +of its climate, from hostile invasion during more than half the year; +it has defied all attempts to effect its permanent subjugation, whether +made by Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Parthians, or Turks, and remains +to this day as independent of the great powers in its neighborhood as it +was when the Assyrian armies first penetrated its recesses. Nature seems +to have constructed it to be a nursery of hardy and vigorous men, a +stumbling-block to conquerors, a thorn in the side of every powerful +empire which arises in this part of the great eastern continent. + +The northern mountain country--known to modern geographers as Eiburz--is +a tract of far less importance. It is not composed, like Zagros, of +a number of parallel chains, but consists of a single lofty ridge, +furrowed by ravines and valleys, from which spurs are thrown +out, running in general at right angles to its axis. Its width is +comparatively slight; and instead of giving birth to numerous large +rivers, it forms only a small number of insignificant streams, often dry +in summer, which have short courses, being soon absorbed either by the +Caspian or the Desert. Its most striking feature is the snowy peak of +Demavend, which impends over Teheran, and appears to be the highest +summit in the part of Asia west of the Himalayas. + +The elevated plateau which stretches from the foot of those two mountain +regions to the south and east is, for the most part, a flat sandy +desert, incapable of sustaining more than a sparse and scanty +population. The northern and western portions are, however, less arid +than the east and south, being watered to some distance by the streams +that descend from Zagros and Elburz, and deriving fertility also from +the spring rains. Some of the rivers which flow from Zagros on this side +are large and strong. One, the Kizil-Uzen, reaches the Caspian. Another, +the Zenderud, fertilizes a large district near Isfahan. A third, the +Bendamir, flows by Persepolis and terminates in a sheet of water of +some size--lake Bakhtigan. A tract thus intervenes between the mountain +regions and the desert which, though it cannot be called fertile, is +fairly productive, and can support a large settled population. This +forms the chief portion of the region which the ancients called Media, +as being the country inhabited by the race on whose history we are about +to enter. + +Media, however, included, besides this, another tract of considerable +size and importance. At the north-western angle of the region above +described, in the corner whence the two great chains branch out to +the south and to the east, is a tract composed almost entirely of +mountains, which the Greeks called Atropatene, and which is now known +as Azerbijan. This district lies further to the north than the rest of +Media, being in the same parallels with the lower part of the Caspian +Sea. It comprises the entire basin of Lake Urumiyeh, together with the +country intervening between that basin and the high mountain chain which +curves round the south-western corner of the Caspian, It is a region +generally somewhat sterile, but containing a certain quantity of very, +fertile territory, more particularly in the Urumiyeh basin, and towards +the mouth of the river Araxes. + +The boundaries of Media are given somewhat differently by different +writers, and no doubt they actually varied at different periods; but the +variations were not great, and the natural limits, on three sides at any +rate, may be laid down with tolerable precision. Towards the north the +boundary was at first the mountain chain closing in on that side the +Urumiyeh basin, after which it seems to have been held that the true +limit was the Araxes, to its entrance on the low country, and then the +mountain chain west and south of the Caspian. Westward, the line of +demarcation may be best regarded as, towards the south, running along +the centre of the Zagros region; and, above this, as formed by that +continuation of the Zagros chain which separates the Urumiyeh from +the Van basin. Eastward, the boundary was marked by the spur from the +Elburz, across which lay the pass known as the Pylse Caspise, and below +this by the great salt desert, whose western limit is nearly in the +same longitude. Towards the south there was no marked line or natural +boundary; and it is difficult to say with any exactness how much of the +great plateau belonged to Media and how much to Persia. Having regard, +however, to the situation of Hamadan, which, as the capital, should have +been tolerably central, and to the general account which historians and +geographers give of the size of Media, we may place the southern limit +with much probability about the line of the thirty-second parallel, +which is nearly the present boundary between Irak and Fars. + +The shape of Media has been called a square; but it is rather a +long parallelogram, whose two principal sides face respectively the +north-east and the south-west, while the ends or shorter sides front to +the south-east and to the northwest. Its length in its greater direction +is about 600 miles, and its width about 250 miles. It must thus contain +nearly 150,000 square miles, an area considerably larger than that of +Assyria and Chaldaea put together, and quite sufficient to constitute a +state of the first class, even according to the ideas of modern Europe. +It is nearly one-fifth more than the area of the British Islands, and +half as much again as that of Prussia, or of peninsular Italy. It equals +three fourths of France, or three fifths of Germany. It has, moreover, +the great advantage of compactness, forming a single solid mass, with no +straggling or outlying portions; and it is strongly defended on almost +every side by natural barriers offering great difficulties to an +invader. + +In comparison with the countries which formed the seats of the two +monarchies already described, the general character of the Median +territory is undoubtedly one of sterility. The high table-land is +everywhere intersected by rocky ranges, spurs from Zagros, which have +a general direction from west to east, and separate the country into a +number of parallel broad valleys, or long plains, opening out into the +desert. The appearance of these ranges is almost everywhere bare, arid, +and forbidding. Above, they present to the eye huge masses of gray rock +piled one upon another; below, a slope of detritus, destitute of trees +or shrubs, and only occasionally nourishing a dry and scanty herbage. +The appearance of the plains is little superior; they are flat and +without undulations, composed in general of gravel or hard clay, and +rarely enlivened by any show of water; except for two months in +the spring, they exhibit to the eye a uniform brown expanse, almost +treeless, which impresses the traveller with a feeling of sadness and +weariness. Even in Azerbijan, which is one of the least arid portions +of the territory, vast tracks consist of open undulating downs, desolate +and sterile, bearing only a coarse withered grass and a few stunted +bushes. + +Still there are considerable exceptions to this general aspect of +desolation. In the worst parts of the region there is a time after +the spring rains when nature puts on a holiday dress, and the country +becomes gay and cheerful. The slopes at the base of the rocky ranges are +tinged with an emerald green: a richer vegetation springs up over the +plains, which are covered with a fine herbage or with a variety of +crops; the fruit trees which surround the villages burst out into the +most luxuriant blossom; the roses come into bloom, and their perfume +everywhere fills the air. For the two months of April and May the +whole face of the country is changed, and a lovely verdure replaces the +ordinary dull sterility. + +In a certain number of more favored spots beauty and fertility are +found during nearly the whole of the year. All round the shores of Lake +Urumiyeh, more especially in the rich plain of Miyandab at its southern +extremity, along the valleys of the Aras, the Kizil-uzen, and the +Jaghetu, in the great valley of Linjan, fertilized by irrigation from +the Zenderud, in the Zagros valleys, and in various other places, +there is an excellent soil which produces abundantly with very slight +cultivation. + +The general sterility of Media arises from the scantiness of the water +supply. It has but few rivers, and the streams that it possesses run for +the most part in deep and narrow valleys sunk below the general level of +the country, so that they cannot be applied at all widely to purposes of +irrigation. Moreover, some of them are, unfortunately, impregnated +with salt to such an extent that they are altogether useless for +this purpose; and indeed, instead of fertilizing, spread around +them desolation and barrenness. The only Median streams which are +of sufficient importance to require description are the Aras, the +Kizil-Uzen, the Jaghetu, the Aji-Su and the Zenderud, or river of +Isfahan. + +The Aras is only very partially a Median stream. It rises from several +sources in the mountain tract between Kars and Erzeroum, and runs with +a generally eastern direction through Armenia to the longitude of Mount +Ararat, where it crosses the fortieth parallel and begins to trend +southward, flowing along the eastern side of Ararat in a south-easterly +direction, nearly to the Julfa ferry on the high road from Erivan to +Tabriz. From this point it runs only a little south of east to long. +46 deg. 30' E. from Greenwich, when it makes almost a right angle and runs +directly north-east to its junction with the Kur at Djavat. Soon after +this it curves to the south, and enters the Caspian by several mouths in +lat. 39 deg. 10' nearly. The Aras is a considerable stream almost from its +source. At Hassan-Kaleh, less than twenty miles from Erzeroum, where +the river is forded in several branches, the water reaches to the +saddle-girths. At Keupri-Kieui, not much lower, the stream is crossed +by a bridge of seven arches. At the Julfa ferry it is fifty yards wide, +and runs with a strong current. At Megree, thirty miles further down, +its width is eighty yards. In spring and early summer the stream +receives enormous accessions from the spring rains and the melting of +the snows, which produce floods that often cause great damage to the +lands and villages along the valley. Hence the difficulty of maintaining +bridges over the Aras, which was noted as early as the time of Augustus, +and is attested by the ruins of many such structures remaining along its +course. Still, there are at the present day at least three bridges over +the stream--one, which has been already mentioned, at Keupri-Kieui, +another a little above Nakshivan, and the third at Khudoperinski, +a little below Megree. The length of the Aras, including only main +windings, is 500 miles. + +The Kizil-Uzen, or (as it is called in the lower part of its course) the +Sefid-Rud, is a stream of less size than the Aras, but more important +to Media, within which lies almost the whole of its basin. It drains a +tract of 180 miles long by 150 broad before bursting through the Elburz +mountain chain, and descending upon the low country which skirts the +Caspian. Rising in Persian Kurdistan almost from the foot of Zagros, +it runs in a meandering course with a general direction of north-east +through that province into the district of Khamseh, where it suddenly +sweeps round and flows in a bold curve at the foot of lofty and +precipitous rocks, first northwest and then north, nearly to Miana, when +it doubles back upon itself, and turning the flank of the Zenjan range +runs with a course nearly south-east to Menjil, after which it resumes +its original direction of north-east, and, rushing down the pass of +Budbar, crosses Ghilan to the Caspian. Though its source is in direct +distance no more than 320 miles from its mouth, its entire length, owing +to its numerous curves and meanders, is estimated at 490 miles. It is a +considerable stream, forded with difficulty, even in the dry season, as +high up as Karagul, and crossed by a bridge of three wide arches before +its junction with the Garongu river near Miana. In spring and early +summer it is an impetuous torrent, and can only be forded within a short +distance of its source. + +The Jaghetu and the Aji-Su are the two chief rivers of the Urumiyeh +basin. The Jaghetu rises from the foot of the Zagros chain, at a very +little distance from the source of the Kizil-Uzen. It collects the +streams from the range of hills which divides the Kizil-Uzen basin from +that of Lake Urumiyeh, and flows in a tolerably straight course first +north and then north-west to the south-eastern shore of the lake. Side +by side with it for some distance flows the smaller stream of the Tatau, +formed by torrents from Zagros; and between them, towards their mouths, +is the rich plain of Miyandab, easily irrigated from the two streams, +the level of whose beds is above that of the plain, and abundantly +productive even under the present system of cultivation. The Aji-Su +reaches the lake from the north-east. It rises from Mount Sevilan, +within sixty miles of the Caspian, and flows with a course which is at +first nearly due south, then north-west, and finally south-west, past +the city of Tabriz, to the eastern shore of the lake, which it enters in +lat. 37 deg. 50'. The waters of the Aji-Su are, unfortunately, salt, and it +is therefore valueless for purposes of irrigation. + +The Zenderud or river of Isfahan rises from the eastern flank of the +Kuh-i-Zerd (Yellow Mountain), a portion of the Bakhti-yari chain, and, +receiving a number of tributaries from the same mountain district, flows +with a course which is generally east or somewhat north of east, past +the great city of Isfahan--so long the capital of Persia--into the +desert country beyond, where it is absorbed in irrigation. Its entire +course is perhaps not more than 120 or 130 miles; but running chiefly +through a plain region, and being naturally a stream of large size, +it is among the most valuable of the Median rivers, its waters being +capable of spreading fertility, by means of a proper arrangement of +canals, over a vast extent of country, and giving to this part of Iran a +sylvan character, scarcely found elsewhere on the plateau. + +It will be observed that of these streams there is not one which reaches +the ocean. All the rivers of the great Iranic plateau terminate in lakes +or inland seas, or else lose themselves in the desert. In general the +thirsty sand absorbs, within a short distance of their source, the +various brooks and streams which flow south and east into the desert +from the northern and western mountain chains, without allowing them to +collect into rivers or to carry fertility far into the plain region. The +the river of Isfahan forms the only exception to this rule within the +limits of the ancient Media. All its other important streams, as has +been seen, flow either into the Caspian or into the great lake of +Urumiyeh. + +That lake itself now requires our attention. It is an oblong basin, +stretching in its greater direction from N.N.W. to S.S. E., a distance +of above eighty miles, with an average width of about twenty-five miles. +On its eastern side a remarkable peninsula, projecting far into its +waters, divides it into two portions of very unequal size--a northern +and a southern. + +The southern one, which is the largest of the two, is diversified +towards its centre by a group of islands, some of which are of a +considerable size. The lake, like others in this part of Asia, is +several thousand feet above the sea level. Its waters are heavily +impregnated with salt, resembling those of the Dead Sea. No fish can +live in them. When a storm sweeps over their surface it only raises the +waves a few feet; and no sooner is it passed than they rapidly subside +again into a deep, heavy, death-like sleep. The lake is shallow, nowhere +exceeding four fathoms, and averaging about two fathoms--a depth which, +however, is rarely attained within two miles of the land. The water is +pellucid. To the eye it has the deep blue color of some of the northern +Italian lakes, whence it was called by the Armenians the Kapotan Zow or +"Blue Sea." + +According to the Armenian geography, Media contained eleven districts; +Ptolemy makes the number eight; but the classical geographers in +general are contented with the twofold division already indicated, +and recognized at the constituent parts of Media only Atropatene (now +Azerbijan) and Media Magna, a tract which nearly corresponds with the +two provinces of Irak Ajemj and Ardelan. Of the minor subdivisions there +are but two or three which seem to deserve any special notice. One of +these is Ehagiana, or the tract skirting the Elburz Mountains from the +vicinity of the Kizil-Uzen (or Sefid-Eud) to the Caspian Gates, a long +and narrow slip, fairly productive, but excessively hot in summer, which +took its name from the important city of Rhages. Another is Nissea, a +name which the Medes seem to have carried with them from their early +eastern abodes, and to have applied to some high upland plains west +of the main chain of Zagros, which were peculiarly favorable to the +breeding of horses. As Alexander visited these pastures on his way from +Susa to Ecbatana, they must necessarily have lain to the south of the +latter city. Most probably they are to be identified with the modern +plains of Kbawah and Alishtar, between Behistun and Khorramabad, which +are even now considered to afford the best summer pasturage in Persia. + +It is uncertain whether any of these divisions were known in the time of +the great Median Empire. They are not constituted in any case by marked +natural lines or features. On the whole it is perhaps most probable +that the main division--that into Media Magna and Media Atropatene--was +ancient, Astro-patene being the old home of the Medes, and Media Magna a +later conquest; but the early political geography of the country is too +obscure to justify us in laying down even this as certain. The minor +political divisions are still less distinguishable in the darkness of +those ancient times. + +From the consideration of the districts which composed the Median +territory, we may pass to that of their principal cities, some of which +deservedly obtained a very great celebrity. Tho most important of all +were the two Ecbatanas--the northern and the southern--which seem to +have stood respectively in the position of metropolis to the northern +and the southern province. Next to these may be named Rhages, which was +probably from early times a very considerable place; while in the +third rank may be mentioned Bagistan--rather perhaps a palace than +a town--Concobar, Adrapan, Aspadan, Charax, Kudrus, Hyspaostes, +Urakagabarna, etc. + +The southern Ecbatana or Agbatana--which the Medes and Persians +themselves knew as Hagmatan--was situated, as we learn from Polybius and +Diodorus, on a plan at the foot of Mont Orontes, a little to the east of +the Zagros range. The notices of these authors, combined with those of +Eratosthenes, Isidore, Pliny, Arrian, and others, render it as nearly +certain as possible that the site was that of the modern town of +Hamadan, the name of which is clearly but a slight corruption of the +true ancient appellation. [PLATE I., Fig. 2.] Mount Orontes is to +be recognized in the modern Elwend or Erwend--a word etymologically +identical with _Oront-es_--which is a long and lofty mountains standing +out like a buttress from the Zagros range, with which it is connected +towards the north-west, while on every other side it stands isolated, +sweeping boldly down upon the flat country at its base. Copious streams +descend from the mountain on every side, more particularly to the +north-east, where the plain is covered with a carpet of the most +luxuriant verdure, diversified with rills, and ornamented with numerous +groves of large and handsome forest trees. It is here, on ground sloping +slightly away from the roots of the mountain, that the modern town, +which lies directly at its foot, is built. The ancient city, if we may +believe Diodorus, did not approach the mountain within a mile or a mile +and a half. At any rate, if it began where Hamadan now stands, it most +certainly extended very much further into the plain. We need not suppose +indeed that it had the circumference, or even half the circumference, +which the Sicilian romancer assigns to it, since his two hundred and +fifty stades would give a probable area of fifty square miles, more than +double that of London! Ecbatana is not likely to have been at its most +flourishing period a larger city than Nineveh; and we have already seen +that Nineveh covered a space, within the walls, of not more than 1800 +English acres. + +[Illustration: PLATE I.] + +The character of the city and of its chief edifices has, unfortunately, +to be gathered almost entirely from unsatisfactory authorities. Hitherto +it has been found possible in these volumes to check and correct the +statements of ancient writers, which are almost always exaggerated, +by an appeal to the incontrovertible evidence of modern surveys +and explorations. But the Median capital has never yet attracted a +scientific expedition. The travellers by whom it has been visited have +reported so unfavorably of its character as a field of antiquarian +research that scarcely a spadeful of soil has been dug, either in the +city or in its vicinity, with a view to recover traces of the ancient +buildings. Scarcely any remains of antiquity are apparent. As the site +has never been deserted, and the town has thus been subjected for nearly +twenty-two centuries to the destructive ravages of foreign conquerors, +and the still more injurious plunderings of native builders, anxious +to obtain materials for new edifices at the least possible cost and +trouble, the ancient structures have everywhere disappeared from sight, +and are not even indicated by mounds of a sufficient size to attract the +attention of common observers. Scientific explorers have consequently +been deterred from turning their energies in this direction; more +promising sites have offered and still offer themselves; and it is as +yet uncertain whether the plan of the old town might not be traced +and the position of its chief edifices fixed by the means of careful +researches conducted by fully competent persons. In this dearth of +modern materials we have to depend entirely upon the classical writers, +who are rarely trustworthy in their descriptions or measurements, and +who, in this instance, labor under the peculiar disadvantage of being +mere reporters of the accounts given by others. + +Ecbatana was chiefly celebrated for the magnificence of its palace, +a structure ascribed by Diodorus to Semiramis, but most probably +constructed originally by Cyaxares, and improved, enlarged, and +embellished by the Achaemenian monarchs. According to the judicious +and moderate Polybius, who prefaces his account by a protest against +exaggeration and over-coloring, the circumference of the building +was seven stades, or 1420 yards, somewhat more than four fifths of an +English mile. This size, which a little exceeds that of the palace +mound at Susa, while it is in its turn a little exceeded by the palatial +platform at Persepolis, may well be accepted as probably close to +the truth. Judging, however, from the analogy of the above-mentioned +palaces, we must conclude that the area thus assigned to the royal +residence was far from being entirely covered with buildings. One half +of the space, perhaps more, would be occupied by large open courts, +paved probably with marble, surrounding the various blocks of buildings +and separating them from one another. The buildings themselves may be +conjectured to have resembled those of the Achaemenian monarchs at Susa +and Persepolis, with the exception, apparently, that the pillars, which +formed their most striking characteristic, were for the most part of +wood rather than oL stone. Polybius distinguishes the pillars into +two classes, those of the main buildings, and those which skirted the +courts, from which it would appear that at Ecbatana the courts were +surrounded by colonnades, as they were commonly in Greek and Roman +houses. These wooden pillars, all either of cedar or of cypress, +supported beams of a similar material, which crossed each other at right +angles, leaving square spaces between, which were then filled in with +woodwork. Above the whole a roof was placed, sloping at an angle, and +composed (as we are told) of silver plates in the shape of tiles. The +pillars, beams, and the rest of the woodwork were likewise coated with +thin laminse of the precious metals, even gold being used for this +purpose to a certain extent. + +Such seems to have been the character of the true ancient Median palace, +which served probably as a model to Darius and Xerxes when they designed +their great palatial edifices at the more southern capitals. In the +additions which the palace received under the Achaemenian kings, stone +pillars may have been introduced; and hence probably the broken shafts +and bases, so nearly resembling the Persepolitan, one of which Sir E. +Ker Porter saw in the immediate neighborhood of Hamadan on his visit +to that place in 1818. [PLATE I., Fig. 1.] But to judge from the +description of Polybius, an older and ruder style of architecture +prevailed in the main building, which depended for its effect not on the +beauty of architectural forms, but on the richness and costliness of the +material. A pillar architecture, so far as appears, began in this part +of Asia with the Medes, who, however, were content to use the more +readily obtained and more easily worked material of wood; while the +Persians afterwards conceived the idea of substituting for these +inartificial props the slender and elegant stone shafts which formed the +glory of their grand edifices. + +At a short distance from the palace was the "Acra," or citadel, an +artificial structure, if we may believe Polybius, and a place of very +remarkable strength. Here probably was the treasury, from which Darius +Codomanus carried off 7000 talents of silver, when he fled towards +Bactria for fear of Alexander. And here, too, may have been the Record +Office, in which were deposited the royal decrees and other public +documents under the earlier Persian kings. Some travellers are of +opinion that a portion of the ancient structure still exists; and there +is certainly a ruin on the outskirts of the modern town towards the +south, which is known to the natives as "the inner fortress," and which +may not improbably occupy some portion of the site whereon the original +citadel stood. But the remains of building which now exist are certainly +not of an earlier date than the era of Parthian supremacy, and they can +therefore throw no light on the character of the old Median stronghold. +It may be thought perhaps that the description which Herodotus gives +of the building called by him "the palace of Deioces" should be here +applied, and that by its means we might obtain an exact notion of the +original structure. But the account of this author is wholly at variance +with the natural features of the neighborhood, where there is no such +conical hill as he describes, but only a plain surrounded by mountains. +It seems, therefore, to be certain that either his description is a pure +myth, or that it applies to another city, the Ecbatana of the northern +province. It is doubtful whether the Median capital was at any time +surrounded with walls. Polybius expressly declares that it was an +unwalled place in his day and there is some reason to suspect that it +had always been in this condition. The Medes and Persians appear to have +been in general content to establish in each town a fortified citadel or +stronghold, round which the houses were clustered, without superadding +the further defence of a town wall. Ecbatana accordingly seems never to +have stood a siege. When the nation which held it was defeated in the +open field, the city (unlike Babylon and Nineveh) submitted to the +conqueror without a struggle. Thus the marvellous description in the +book of Judith, which is internally very improbable, would appear to be +entirely destitute of any, even the slightest, foundation in fact. + +The chief city of northern Media, which bore in later times the names of +Gaza, Gazaca, or Canzaca, is thought to have also been called Ecbatana, +and to have been occasionally mistaken by the Greeks for the southern or +real capital. The description of Herodotus, which is irreconcilably +at variance with the local features of the Hamadan site, accords +sufficiently with the existing remains of a considerable city in the +province of Azerbijan; and it seems certainly to have been a city in +these parts which was called by Moses of Chorene "the second Ecbatana, +the seven-walled town." The peculiarity of this place was its situation +on and about a conical hill which sloped gently down from its summit +to its base, and allowed of the interposition of seven circuits of wall +between the plain and the hill's crest. At the top of the hill, within +the innermost circle of the defences, were the Royal Palace and +the treasuries; the sides of the hill were occupied solely by the +fortifications; and at the base, outside the circuit of the outermost +wall, were the domestic and other buildings which constituted the town. +According to the information received by Herodotus, the battlements +which crowned the walls were variously colored. Those of the outer +circle were white, of the next black, of the third scarlet, of the +fourth blue, of the fifth orange, of the sixth silver, and of the +seventh gold. A pleasing or at any rate a striking effect was thus +produced--the citadel, which towered above the town, presenting to the +eye seven distinct rows of colors. + +If there was really a northern as well as a southern Ecbatana, and if +the account of Herodotus, which cannot possibly apply to the southern +capital, may be regarded as truly describing the great city of the +north, we may with much probability fix the site of the northern town +at the modern Takht-i-Suleiman, in the upper valley of the Saruk, a +tributary of the Jaghetu. [PLATE I., Fig. 3.] Here alone in northern +Media are there important ruins occupying such a position as that which +Herodotus describes. Near the head of a valley in which runs the main +branch of the Saruk, at the edge of the hills which skirt it to the +north, there stands a conical mound projecting into the vale and rising +above its surface to the height of 150 feet. The geological formation of +the mound is curious in the extreme. It seems to owe its origin entirely +to a small lake, the waters of which are so strongly impregnated with +calcareous matter that wherever they overflow they rapidly form a +deposit which is as hard and firm as natural rock. If the lake was +originally on a level with the valley, it would soon have formed +incrustations round its edge, which every casual or permanent overflow +would have tended to raise; and thus, in the course of ages, the entire +hill may have been formed by a mere accumulation of petrefactions. The +formation would progress more or less rapidly according to the tendency +of the lake to overflow its bounds; which tendency must have been strong +until the water reached its present natural level--the level, probably, +of some other sheet of water in the hills, with which it is connected +by an underground siphon. The lake, which is of an irregular shape, +is about 300 paces in circumference. Its water, notwithstanding the +quantity of mineral matter held in solution, is exquisitely clear, and +not unpleasing to the taste. Formerly it was believed by the natives to +be unfathomable; but experiments made in 1837 showed the depth to be no +more than 156 feet. + +The ruins which at present occupy this remarkable site consist of a +strong wall, guarded by numerous bastions and pierced by four gateways, +which runs round the brow of the hill in a slightly irregular ellipse, +of some interesting remains of buildings within this walled space, and +of a few insignificant traces of inferior edifices on the slope between +the plain and the summit. As it is not thought that any of these remains +are of a date anterior to the Sassanian kingdom, no description will be +given of them here. We are only concerned with the Median city, and that +has entirely disappeared. Of the seven walls, one alone is to be traced; +and even here the Median structure has perished, and been replaced by +masonry of a far later age. Excavations may hereafter bring, to light +some remnants of the original town, but at present research has done no +more than recover for us a forgotten site. + +The Median city next in importance to the two Ecbatanas was Raga or +Rhages, near the Caspian Gates, almost at the extreme eastern limits of +the territory possessed by the Medes. + +The great antiquity of this place is marked by its occurrence in the +Zendavesta among the primitive settlements of the Arians. Its celebrity +during the time of the Empire is indicated by the position which it +occupies in the romances of Tobit and Judith. It maintained its rank +under the Persians, and is mentioned by Darius Hystaspis as the scene of +the struggle which terminated the great Median revolt. The last Darius +seems to have sent thither his heavy baggage and the ladies of his +court, when he resolved to quit Ecbatana and fly eastward. It has been +already noticed that Rhages gave name to a district; and this district +maybe certainly identified with the long narrow tract of fertile +territory intervening between the Elburz mountain-range and the desert, +from about Kasvin to Khaar, or from long. 30 deg. to 52 deg. 30'. The exact site +of the city of Rhages within this territory is somewhat doubtful. All +accounts place it near the eastern extremity; and as there are in this +direction ruins of a town called Rhei or Rhey, it has been usual to +assume that they positively fix the locality. But similarity, or even +identity, of name is an insufficient proof of a site; and, in the +present instance, there are grounds for placing Rhages very much nearer +to the Caspian Gates than the position of Rhei. Arrian, whose accuracy +is notorious, distinctly states that from the Gates to Rhages was only a +single day's march, and that Alexander accomplished the distance in that +time. Now from Rhei to the Girduni Surdurrah pass, which undoubtedly +represents the Pylae Cacpise of Arrian, is at least fifty miles, a +distance which no army could accomplish in less time than two days. +Rhages consequently must have been considerably to the east of +Rhei, about half-way between it and the celebrated pass which it was +considered to guard. Its probable position is the modern Kaleh Erij, +near Veramin, about 23 miles from the commencement of the Surdurrah +pass, where there are considerable remains of an ancient town. + +In the same neighborhood with Rhages, but closer to the Straits, perhaps +on the site now occupied by the ruins known as Uewanukif, or possibly +even nearer to the foot of the pass, was the Median city of Charax, a +place not to be confounded with the more celebrated city called Gharax +Spasini, the birthplace of Dionysius the geographer, which was on the +Persian Gulf, at the mouth of the Tigris. + +The other Median cities, whose position can be determined with an +approach to certainty, were in the western portion of the country, in +the range of Zagros, or in the fertile tract between that range and the +desert. The most important of these are Bagistan, Adrapan, Concobar, and +Aspadan. + +Bagistan is described by Isidore as a "city situated on a hill, where +there was a pillar and a statue of Semiramis." Diodorus has an account +of the arrival of Semiramis at the place, of her establishing a royal +park or paradise in the plain below the mountain, which was watered +by an abundant spring, of her smoothing the face of the rock where it +descended precipitously upon the low ground, and of her carving on the +surface thus obtained her own effigy, with an inscription in Assyrian +characters. The position assigned to Bagistan by both writers, and the +description of Diodorus, identify the place beyond a doubt with the now +famous Behistun, where the plain, the fountain, the precipitous rock, +and the scarped surface are still to be seen, through the supposed +figure of Semiramis, her pillar, and her inscription have disappeared. +[PLATE II., Fig. 1.] This remarkable spot, lying on the direct route +between Babylon and Ecbatana, and presenting the unusual combination of +a copious fountain, a rich plain, and a rock suitable for sculptures, +must have early attracted the attention of the great monarchs who +marched their armies through the Zagros range, as a place where they +might conveniently set up memorials of their exploits. The works of this +kind ascribed by the ancient writers to Semiramis were probably either +Assyrian or Babylonian, and (it is most likely) resembled the ordinary +monuments which the kings of Babylon and Nineveh delighted to erect +in countries newly conquered. The example set by the Mesopotamians was +followed by their Arian neighbors, when the supremacy passed into +their hands; and the famous mountain, invested by them with a sacred +character, was made to subserve and perpetuate their glory by receiving +sculptures and inscriptions which showed them to have become the lords +of Asia. The practice did not even stop here. When the Parthian kingdom +of the Arsacidee had established itself in these parts at the expense +of the Seleucidse, the rock was once more called upon to commemorate +the warlike triumphs of a new race. Gotarzes, the contemporary of the +Emperor Claudius, after defeating his rival Meherdates in the plain +between Behistun and Kermanshah, inscribed upon the mountain, which +already bore the impress of the great monarchs of Assyria and Persia, a +record of his recent victory. + +[Illustration: PLATE II.] + +The name of Adrapan occurs only in Isidore, who places it between +Bagistan and Ecbatana, at the distance of twelve schoeni--36 Roman or 34 +British miles from the latter. It was, he says, the site of an ancient +palace belonging to Ecbatana, which Tigranes the Armenian had destroyed. +The name and situation sufficiently identify Adrapan with the modern +village of Arteman, which lies on the southern face of Elwend near +its base, and is well adapted for a royal residence. Here, during the +severest winter, when Hamadan and the surrounding country are buried in +snow, a warm and sunny climate is to be found; whilst in the summer +a thousand rills descending from Elwend diffuse around fertility +and fragrance. Groves of trees grow up in rich luxuriance from the +well-irrigated soil, whose thick foliage affords a welcome shelter from +the heat of the noonday sun. The climate, the gardens, and the manifold +blessings of the place are proverbial throughout Persia; and naturally +caused the choice of the site for a retired palace, to which the court +of Ecbatana might adjourn when either the summer heat and dust or the +winter cold made residence in the capital irksome. + +In the neighborhood of Adrapan, on the road leading to Bagistan, stood +Concobar, which is undoubtedly the modern Kungawar, and perhaps the +Chavon of Diodorus. Here, according to the Sicilian historian, Semiramis +built a palace and laid out a paradise; and here, in the time of +Isidore, was a famous temple of Artemis. Colossal ruins crown the summit +of the acclivity on which the town of Kungawar stands, which may be the +remains of this latter building; but no trace has been found that can be +regarded as either Median or Assyrian. + +The Median town of Aspadan, which is mentioned by no writer but Ptolemy, +would scarcely deserve notice here, if it were not for its modern +celebrity. Aspadan, corrupted into Isfahan, became the capital of +Persia, under the Sen kings, who rendered it one of the most magnificent +cities of Asia. It is uncertain whether it existed at all in the time +of the great Median empire. If so, it was, at best, an outlying town of +little consequence on the extreme southern confines of the territory, +where it abutted upon Persia proper. The district wherein it lay was +inhabited by the Median tribe of the Parastaceni. + +Upon the whole it must be allowed that the towns of Media were few +and of no great account. The Medes did not love to congregate in large +cities, but preferred to scatter themselves in villages over their +broad and varied territory. The protection of walls, necessary for +the inhabitants of the low Mesopotamian regions, was not required by a +people whose country was full of natural fastnesses to which they could +readily remove on the approach of danger. Excepting the capital and +the two important cities of Gazaca and Rhages, the Median towns were +insignificant. Even those cities themselves were probably of moderate +dimensions, and had little of the architectural splendor which gives +so peculiar an interest to the towns of Mesopotamia. Their principal +buildings were in a frail and perishable material, unsuited to bear the +ravages of time; they have consequently altogether disappeared, and in +the whole of Media modern researches have failed to bring to light a +single edifice which can be assigned with any show of probability to the +period of the Empire. + +The plan adopted in former portions of this work makes it necessary, +before concluding this chapter, to glance briefly at the character of +the various countries and districts by which Media was bordered--the +Caspian district upon the north, Armenia upon the north-west, the Zagros +region and Assyria upon the west, Persia proper upon the south, and upon +the east Sagartia and Parthia. + +North and north-east of the mountain range which under different names +skirts the southern shores of the Caspian Sea and curves round +its south-western corner, lies a narrow but important strip of +territory--the modern Ghilan and Mazanderan. [PLATE II., Fig. 2.] This +is a most fertile region, well watered and richly wooded, and forms one +of the most valuable portions of the modern kingdom of Persia. At first +it is a low flat tract of deep alluvial soil, but little raised above +the level of the Caspian; gradually however it rises into swelling +hills which form the supports of the high mountains that shut in this +sheltered region, a region only to be reached by a very few passes over +or through them. The mountains are clothed on this side nearly to their +summit with dwarf oaks, or with shrubs and brushwood; while, lower +down, their flanks are covered with forests of elms, cedars, chestnuts, +beeches, and cypress trees. The gardens and orchards of the natives +are of the most superb character; the vegetation is luxuriant; lemons, +oranges, peaches, pomegranates, besides other fruits, abound; rice, +hemp, sugar-canes, mulberries are cultivated with success; vines grow +wild; and the valleys are strewn with flowers of rare fragrance, among +which may be noted the rose, the honeysuckle, and the sweetbrier. +Nature, however, with her usual justice, has balanced these +extraordinary advantages with peculiar drawbacks; the tiger, unknown +in any other part of Western Asia, here lurks in the thickets, ready to +spring at any moment on the unwary traveller; inundations are frequent, +and carry desolation far and wide; the waters, which thus escape from +the river beds, stagnate in marshes, and during the summer and autumn +heats pestilential exhalations arise, which destroy the stranger, +and bring even the acclimatized native to the brink of the grave. The +Persian monarch chooses the southern rather than the northern side of +the mountains for the site of his capital, preferring the keen winter +cold and dry summer heat of the high and almost waterless plateau to the +damp and stifling air of the low Caspian region. + +The narrow tract of which this is a description can at no time have +sheltered a very numerous or powerful people. During the Median period, +and for many ages afterwards, it seems to have been inhabited by various +petty tribes of predatory habits--Cadusians, Mardi, Tapyri, etc.,--who +passed their time in petty quarrels among themselves, and in plundering +raids upon their great southern neighbor. Of these tribes the Cadusians +alone enjoyed any considerable reputation. They were celebrated for +their skill with the javelin--a skill probably represented by the modern +Persian use of the _djereed_. According to Diodorus, they were engaged +in frequent wars with the Median kings, and were able to bring into the +field a force of 200,000 men! Under the Persians they seem to have been +considered good soldiers, and to have sometimes made a struggle for +independence. But there is no real reason to believe that they were +of such strength as to have formed at any time a danger to the Median +kingdom, to which it is more probable that they generally acknowledged a +qualified subjection. + +The great country of Armenia, which lay north-west and partly north of +Media, has been generally described in the first volume; but a few +words will be here added with respect to the more eastern portion, which +immediately bordered upon the Median territory. This consisted of +two outlying districts, separated from the rest of the country, the +triangular basin of Lake Van, and the tract between the Kur and +Aras rivers--the modern Karabagh and Erivan. The basin of Lake Van, +surrounded by high ranges, and forming the very heart of the mountain +system of this part of Asia, is an isolated region, a sort of natural +citadel, where a strong military power would be likely to establish +itself. Accordingly it is here, and here alone in all Armenia, that we +find signs of the existence, during the Assyrian and Median periods, of +a great organized monarchy. + +The Van inscriptions indicate to us a line of kings who bore sway in the +eastern Armenia--the true Ararat--and who were both in civilization +and in military strength far in advance of any of the other princes who +divided among them the Armenian territory. The Van monarchs may have +been at times formidable enemies of the Medes. They have left traces of +their dominion, not only on the tops of the mountain passes which lead +into the basin of Lake Urumiyeh, but even in the comparatively low plain +of Miyandab on the southern shore of that inland sea. It is probable +from this that they were at one time masters of a large portion of Media +Atropatene, and the very name of Urumiyeh, which still attaches to the +lake, may have been given to it from one of their tribes. In the tract +between the Kur and Aras, on the other hand, there is no sign of +the early existence of any formidable power. Here the mountains are +comparatively low, the soil is fertile, and the climate temperate. The +character of the region would lead its inhabitants to cultivate the arts +of peace rather than those of war, and would thus tend to prevent them +from being formidable or troublesome to their neighbors. + +The Zagros region, which in the more ancient times separated between +Media and Assyria, being inhabited by a number of independent tribes, +but which was ultimately absorbed into the more powerful country, +requires no notice here, having been sufficiently described among the +tracts by which Assyria was bordered. At first a serviceable shield +to the weak Arian tribes which were establishing themselves along its +eastern base upon the high plateau, it gradually passed into their +possession as they increased in strength, and ultimately became a main +nursery of their power, furnishing to their armies vast numbers both of +men and horses. The great horse pastures, from which the Medes first and +the Persians afterwards, supplied their numerous and excellent +cavalry, were in this quarter; and the troops which it furnished--hardy +mountaineers accustomed to brave the severity of a most rigorous +climate--must have been among the most effective of the Median forces. + +On the south Media was bounded by Persia proper--a tract which +corresponded nearly with the modern province of Farsistan. The complete +description of this territory, the original seat of the Persian nation, +belongs to a future volume of this work, which will contain an account +of the "Fifth Monarchy." For the present it is sufficient to observe +that the Persian territory was for the most part a highland, very +similar to Media, from which it was divided by no strongly marked line +or natural boundary. The Persian mountains are a continuation of the +Zagros chain, and Northern Persia is a portion--the southern portion--of +the same great plateau, whose western and north-western skirts formed +the great mass of the Median territory. Thus upon this side Media was +placed in the closest connection with an important country, a country +similar in character to her own, where a hardy race was likely to grow +up, with which she might expect to have difficult contests. + +Finally, towards the east lay the great salt desert, sparsely inhabited +by various nomadic races, among which the most important were the +Cossseans and the Sagartians. To the latter people Herodotus seems to +assign almost the whole of the sandy region, since he unites them with +the Sarangians and Thamanseans on the one hand, with the Utians and +Mycians upon the other. They were a wild race, probably of Arian origin, +who hunted with the lasso over the great desert mounted on horses, and +could bring into the field a force of eight or ten thousand men. Their +country, a waste of sand and gravel, in parts thickly encrusted with +salt, was impassable to an army, and formed a barrier which effectively +protected Media along the greater portion of her eastern frontier. +Towards the extreme north-east the Sagartians were replaced by the +Cossseans and the Parthians, the former probably the people of the +Siah-Koh mountain, the latter the inhabitants of the tract known now +as the Atak, or "skirt," which extends along the southern flank of the +Elburz range from the Caspian Gates nearly to Herat, and is capable +of sustaining a very considerable population. The Cossseans were +plunderers, from whose raids Media suffered constant annoyance; but they +were at no time of sufficient strength to cause any serious fear. +The Parthians, as we learn from the course of events, had in them the +materials of a mighty people; but the hour for their elevation and +expansion was not yet come, and the keenest observer of Median times +could scarcely have perceived in them the future lords of Western Asia. +From Parthia, moreover, Media was divided by the strong rocky spur which +runs out from the Elburz into the desert in long. 52 deg. 10' nearly, over +which is the narrow pass already mentioned as the Caspian Gates. Thus +Media on most sides was guarded by the strong natural barriers of seas, +mountains, and deserts lying open only on the south, where she adjoined +upon a kindred people. Her neighbors were for the most part weak in +numbers, though warlike. Armenia, however, to the north-west, Assyria to +the west, and Persia to the south, were all more or less formidable. +A prescient eye might have foreseen that the great struggles of +Media would be with these powers, and that if she attained imperial +proportions it must be by their subjugation or absorption. + + + + +CHAPTER II. CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. + + +Media, like Assyria, is a country of such extent and variety that, in +order to give a correct description of its climate, we must divide it +into regions. Azerbijan, or Atropatene, the most northern portion, has +a climate altogether cooler than the rest of Media; while in the more +southern division of the country there is a marked difference between +the climate of the east and of the west, of the tracts lying on the +high plateau and skirting the Great Salt Desert, and of those contained +within or closely abutting upon the Zagros mountain range. The +difference here is due to the difference of physical conformation, which +is as great as possible, the broad mountainous plains about Kasvin, +Koum, and Kashan, divided from each other by low rocky ridges, offering +the strongest conceivable contrast to the perpetual alternations of +mountain and valley, precipitous height and deep wooded glen, which +compose the greater part of the Zagros region. + +The climate of Azerbijan is temperate and pleasant, though perhaps +somewhat overwarm, in summer; while in winter it is bitterly severe, +colder than that of almost any other region in the same latitude. This +extreme rigor seems to be mainly owing to elevation, the very valleys +and valley plains of the tract being at a height of from 4000 to 5000 +feet above the sea level. Frost commonly sets in towards the end of +November--or at latest early in December; snow soon covers the ground +to the depth of several feet; the thermometer falls below zero; the sun +shines brightly except when from time to time fresh deposits of snow +occur; but a keen and strong wind usually prevails, which is represented +as "cutting like a sword," and being a very "assassin of life." Deaths +from cold are of daily occurrence; and it is impossible to travel +without the greatest risk. Whole companies or caravans occasionally +perish beneath the drift, when the wind is violent, especially if a +heavy fall happen to coincide with one of the frequent easterly gales. +The severe weather commonly continues till March, when travelling +becomes possible, but the snow remains on much of the ground till May, +and on the mountains still longer. The spring, which begins in April, is +temperate and delightful; a sudden burst of vegetation succeeds to the +long winter lethargy; the air is fresh and balmy, the sun pleasantly +warm, the sky generally cloudless. In the month of May the heat +increases--thunder hangs in the air--and the valleys are often close +and sultry. Frequent showers occur, and the hail-storms are sometimes so +violent as to kill the cattle in the fields. As the summer advances the +heats increase, but the thermometer rarely reaches 90 deg. in the shade, and +except in the narrow valleys the air is never oppressive. The autumn is +generally very fine. Foggy mornings are common; but they are succeeded +by bright pleasant days, without wind or rain. On the whole the climate +is pronounced healthy, though somewhat trying to Europeans, who do not +readily adapt themselves to a country where the range of the thermometer +is as much as 90 deg. or 100 deg.. In the part of Media situated on the great +plateau--the modern Irak Ajemi--in which are the important towns of +Teheran, Isfahan, Hamadan, Kashan, Kasvin, and Koum. the climate is +altogether warmer than in Azerbijan, the summers being hotter, and the +winters shorter and much less cold. Snow indeed covers the ground +for about three months, from early in December till March; but the +thermometer rarely shows more than ten or twelve degrees of frost, and +death from cold is uncommon. The spring sets in about the beginning of +March, and is at first somewhat cool, owing to the prevalence of the +_baude caucasan_ or north wind,a which blows from districts where the +snow still lies. But after a little time the weather becomes delicious; +the orchards are a mass of blossom; the rose gardens come into bloom; +the cultivated lands are covered with springing crops; the desert itself +wears a light livery of green. Every sense is gratified; the nightingale +bursts out with a full gush of song; the air plays softly upon the +cheek, and comes loaded with fragrance. Too soon, however, this charming +time passes away, and the summer heats begin, in some places as early as +June 18 The thermometer at midday rises to 90 or 100 degrees. Hot gusts +blow from the desert, sometimes with great violence. The atmosphere is +described as choking; and in parts of the plateau it is usual for the +inhabitants to quit their towns almost in a body, and retire for several +months into the mountains. This extreme heat is, however, exceptional; +in most parts of the plateau the summer warmth is tempered by cool +breezes from the surrounding mountains, on which there is always a good +deal of snow. At Hamadan, which, though on the plain, is close to the +mountains, the thermometer seems scarcely ever to rise above 90 deg., and +that degree of heat is attained only for a few hours in the day. The +mornings and evenings are cool and refreshing; and altogether the +climate quite justifies the choice of the Persian monarchs, who selected +Ecbatana for their place of residence during the hottest portion of the +year. Even at Isfahan, which is on the edge of the desert, the heat is +neither extreme nor prolonged. The hot gusts which blow from the east +and from the south raise the temperature at times nearly to a hundred +degrees; but these oppressive winds alternate with cooler breezes from +the west, often accompanied by rain; and the average highest temperature +during the day in the hottest month, which is August, does not exceed +90 deg.. + +A peculiarity in the climate of the plateau which deserves to be noticed +is the extreme dryness of the atmosphere. In summer the rains which fall +are slight, and they are soon absorbed by the thirsty soil. There is a +little dew at nights, especially in the vicinity of the few streams; +but it disappears with the first hour of sunshine, and the air is left +without a particle of moisture. In winter the dryness is equally +great; frost taking the place of heat, with the same effect upon the +atmosphere. Unhealthy exhalations are thus avoided, and the salubrity of +the climate is increased; but the European will sometimes sigh for the +soft, balmy airs of his own land, which have come flying over the sea, +and seem to bring their wings still dank with the ocean spray. + +Another peculiarity of this region, produced by the unequal rarefaction +of the air over its different portions, is the occurrence, especially in +spring and summer, of sudden gusts, hot or cold, which blow with great +violence. These gusts are sometimes accompanied with, whirlwinds, which +sweep the country in different directions, carrying away with them +leaves, branches, stubble, sand, and other light substances, and causing +great annoyance to the traveller. They occur chiefly in connection with +a change of wind, and are no doubt consequent on the meeting of two +opposite currents. Their violence, however, is moderate, compared +with that of tropical tornadoes, and it is not often that they do any +considerable damage to the crops over which they sweep. + +One further characteristic of the flat region may be noticed. The +intense heat of the summer sun striking on the dry sand or the saline +efflorescence of the desert throws the air over them into such a state +of quivering undulation as produces the most wonderful and varying +effects, distorting the forms of objects, and rendering the most +familiar strange and hard to be recognized. A mud bank furrowed by the +rain will exhibit the appearance of a magnificent city, with columns, +domes, minarets, and pyramids; a few stunted bushes will be transformed +into a forest of stately trees; a distant mountain will, in the space of +a minute, assume first the appearance of a lofty peak, then swell out at +the top, and resemble a mighty mushroom, next split into several parts, +and finally settle down into a flat tableland. Occasionally, though not +very often that semblance of water is produced which Europeans are are +apt to suppose the usual effect of mirage. The images of objects are +reflected at their base in an inverted position; the desert seems +converted into a vast lake; and the thirsty traveller, advancing towards +it, finds himself the victim of an illusion, which is none the less +successful because he has been a thousand times forewarned of its +deceptive power. + +In the mountain range or Zagros and the tracts adjacent to it, the +climate, owing to the great differences of elevation, is more varied +than in the other parts of the ancient Media. Severe cold prevails in +the higher mountain regions for seven months out of the twelve, while +during the remaining five the heat is never more than moderate. In +the low valleys, on the contrary, and in other favored situations, the +winters are often milder than on the plateau; while in the summers, if +the heat is not greater, at any rate it is more oppressive. Owing to the +abundance of the streams and proximity of the melting snows, the air is +moist; and the damp heat, which stagnates in the valleys, broods fever +and ague. Between these extremes of climate and elevation, every variety +is to be found; and, except in winter, a few hours' journey will almost +always bring the traveller into a temperate region. + +In respect of natural productiveness, Media (as already observed) +differs exceedingly in different, and even in adjacent, districts. The +rocky ridges of the great plateau, destitute of all vegetable mold, are +wholly bare and arid, admitting not the slightest degree of cultivation. +Many of the mountains of Azerbijan, naked, rigid, and furrowed, may +compare even with these desert ranges for sterility. The higher parts +of Zagros and Elburz are sometimes of the same character; but more often +they are thickly clothed with forests, affording excellent timber and +other valuable commodities. In the Elburz pines are found near the +summit, while lower down there occur, first the wild almond and the +dwarf oak, and then the usual timber-trees of the country, the Oriental +plane, the willow, the poplar, and the walnut. The walnut grows to a +large size both here and in Azerbijan, but the poplar is the wood most +commonly used for building purposes. In Zagros, besides most of these +trees, the ash and the terebinth or turpentine-tree are common; the oak +bears gall-nuts of a large size; and the gum-tragacanth plant frequently +clothes the mountain-sides. The valleys of this region are full of +magnificent orchards, as are the low grounds and more sheltered nooks of +Azerbijan. The fruit-trees comprise, besides vines and mulberries, the +apple, the pear, the quince, the plum, the cherry, the almond, the nut, +the chestnut, the olive, the peach, the nectarine, and the apricot. + +On the plains of the high plateau there is a great scarcity of +vegetation. Trees of a large size grow only in the few places which are +well watered, as in the neighborhood of Hamadan, Isfahan, and in a +less degree of Kashan. The principal tree is the Oriental plane, which +flourishes together with poplars and willows along the water-courses; +cypresses also grow freely; elms and cedars are found, and the orchards +and gardens contain not only the fruit-trees mentioned above, but also +the jujube, the cornel, the filbert, the medlar, the pistachio nut, the +pomegranate, and the fig. Away from the immediate vicinity of the rivers +and the towns, not a tree, scarcely a bush, is to be seen. The common +thorn is indeed tolerably abundant in a few places; but elsewhere the +tamarisk and a few other sapless shrubs are the only natural products of +this bare and arid region. + +In remarkable contrast with the natural barrenness of this wide tract +are certain favored districts in Zagros and Azerbijan, where the herbage +is constant throughout the summer, and sometimes only too luxuriant. +Such are the rich and extensive grazing grounds of Khawah and Alishtar, +near Kermanshah, the pastures near Ojan and Marand, and the celebrated +Chowal Moghan or plain of Moghan, on the lower course of the Araxes +river, where the grass is said to grow sufficiently high to cover a +man on horseback. These, however, are rare exceptions to the general +character of the country, which is by nature unproductive, and scarcely +deserving even of the qualified encomium of Strabo. + +Still Media, though deficient in natural products, is not ill adapted +for cultivation. The Zagros valleys and hillsides produce under a very +rude system of agriculture, besides the fruits already noticed, rice, +wheat, barley, millet, sesame, Indian corn, cotton, tobacco, mulberries, +cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and the castor-oilplant. In Azerbijan the +soil is almost all cultivable, and if ploughed and sown will bring good +crops of the ordinary kinds of grain. Even on the side of the desert, +where Nature has shown herself most niggardly, and may seem perhaps to +deserve the reproach of Cicero, that she behaves as a step mother to +a man rather than as a mother, a certain amount of care and scientific +labor may render considerable tracts fairly productive. The only want +of this region is water; and if the natural deficiency of this necessary +fluid can be anyhow supplied, all parts of the plateau will bear crops, +except those which form the actual Salt Desert. In modern, and still +more in ancient times, this fact has been clearly perceived, and an +elaborate system of artifical irrigation, suitable to the peculiar +circumstances of the country, has been very widely established. The +system of _kanats_, as they are called at the present day, aims at +utilizing to the uttermost all the small streams and rills which descend +towards the desert from the surrounding mountains, and at conveying +as far as possible into the plain the spring water, which is the +indispensable condition of cultivation in a country where--except for +a few days in the spring and autumn--rain scarcely ever falls. As the +precious element would rapidly evaporate if exposed to the rays of the +summer sun, the Iranian husbandman carries his conduit underground, +laboriously tunnelling through the stiff argillaceous soil, at a depth +of many feet below the surface. The mode in which he proceeds is as +follows. At intervals along the line of his intended conduit he first +sinks shafts, which he then connects with one another by galleries, +seven or eight feet in height, giving his galleries a slight incline, +so that the water may run down them freely, and continuing them till he +reaches a point where he wishes to bring the water out upon the surface +of the plain. Here and there, at the foot of his shafts, he digs wells, +from which the fluid can readily be raised by means of a bucket and a +windlass; and he thus brings under cultivation a considerable belt of +land along the whole line of the _kanat_, as well as a large tract at +its termination. These conduits, on which the cultivation of the plateau +depends, were established at so remote a date that they were popularly +ascribed to the mythic Semiramis, the supposed wife of Ninus. It is +thought that in ancient times they were longer and more numerous than at +present, when they occur only occasionally, and seldom extend more than +a few miles from the base of the hills. + +By help of the irrigation thus contrived, the great plateau of Iran will +produce good crops of grain, rice, wheat, barley, Indian corn, doura, +millet, and sesame. It will also bear cotton, tobacco, saffron, rhubarb, +madder, poppies which give a good opium, senna, and assafoetida. +Its garden vegetables are excellent, and include potatoes, cabbages, +lentils, kidney-beans, peas, turnips, carrots, spinach, beetroot, and +cucumbers. The variety of its fruit-trees has been already noticed. +The flavor of their produce is in general good, and in some cases +surpassingly excellent. No quinces are so fine as those of Isfahan, +and no melons have a more delicate flavor. The grapes of Kasvin are +celebrated, and make a remarkably good wine. + +Among the flowers of the country must be noted, first of all, its roses, +which flourish in the most luxuriant abundance, and are of every variety +of hue. The size to which the tree will grow is extraordinary, standards +sometimes exceeding the height of fourteen or fifteen feet. Lilacs, +jasmines, and many other flowering shrubs are common in the gardens, +while among wild flowers may be noticed hollyhocks, lilies, tulips, +crocuses, anemones, lilies of the valley, fritillaries, gentians, +primroses, convolvuluses, chrysanthemums, heliotropes, pinks, +water-lilies, ranunculuses, jonquils, narcissuses, hyacinths, mallows, +stocks, violets, a fine campanula (Michauxia levigata), a mint (Nepeta +longiflora), several sages, salsolas, and fagonias. In many places the +wild flowers during the spring months cover the ground, painting it with +a thousand dazzling or delicate hues. + +The mineral products of Media are numerous and valuable. Excellent stone +of many kinds abounds in almost every part of the country, the most +important and valuable being the famous Tabriz marble. This curious +substance appears to be a petrifaction formed by natural springs, which +deposit carbonate of lime in large quantities. It is found only in one +place, on the flanks of the hills, not far from the Urumiyeh lake. The +slabs are used for tombstones, for the skirting of rooms, and for the +pavements of baths and palaces; when cut thin they often take the place +of glass in windows, being semi-transparent. The marble is commonly of +a pale yellow color, but occasionally it is streaked with red, green, or +copper-colored veins. + +In metals the country is thought to be rich, but no satisfactory +examination of it has been as yet made. Iron, copper, and native steel +are derived from mines actually at work; while Europeans have observed +indications of lead, arsenic, and antimony in Azerbijan, in Kurdistan, +and in the rocky ridges which intersect the desert. Tradition speaks +of a time when gold and silver were procured from mountains near +Takht-i-Suleman, and it is not unlikely that they may exist both there +and in the Zagros range. Quartz, the well-known matrix of the precious +metal, abounds in Kurdistan. + +Of all the mineral products, none is more abundant than salt. On the +side of the desert, and again near Tabriz at the mouth of the Aji Su, +are vast plains which glisten with the substance, and yield it readily +to all who care to gather it up. Saline springs and streams are also +numerous, from which salt can be obtained by evaporation. But, besides +these sources of supply, rock salt is found in places, and this is +largely quarried, and is preferred by the natives. + +Other important products of the earth are saltpetre, which is found +in the Elburz, and in Azerbijan; sulphur, which abounds in the same +regions, and likewise on the high plateau; alum, which is quarried near +Tabriz; naphtha and gypsum, which are found in Kurdistan; and talc, +which exists in the mountains near Koum, in the vicinity of Tabriz, and +probably in other places. + +The chief wild animals which have been observed within the limits of +the ancient Media are the lion, the tiger, the leopard, the bear, the +beaver, the jackal, the wolf, the wild ass, the ibex or wild goat, the +wild sheep, the stag, the antelope, the wild boar, the fox, the hare, +the rabbit, the ferret, the rat, the jerboa, the porcupine, the mole, +and the marmot. The lion and tiger are exceedingly rare; they seem to +be found only in Azerbijan, and we may perhaps best account for their +presence there by considering that a few of these animals occasionally +stray out of Mazanderan, which is their only proper locality in this +part of Asia. Of all the beasts, the most abundant are the stag and the +wild goat, which are numerous in the Elburz, and in parts of Azerbijan, +the wild boar, which abounds both in Azerbijan, and in the country about +Hamadan, and the jackal, which is found everywhere. Bears flourish in +Zagros, antelopes in Azerbijan, in the Elburz, and on the plains near +Sultaniyeh. The wild ass is found only in the desert parts of the high +plateau; the beaver only in Lake Zeribar, near Sulefmaniyeh. + +The Iranian wild ass differs in some respects from the Mesopotamian. His +skin is smooth, like that of a deer, and of a reddish color, the belly +and hinder parts partaking of a silvery gray; his head and ears are +large and somewhat clumsy; but his neck is fine, and his legs are +beautifully slender. His mane is short and black, and he has a black +tuft at the end of his tail, but no dark line runs along his back or +crosses his shoulders. The Persians call him the _gur-khur_, and chase +him with occasional success, regarding his flesh as a great delicacy. +He appears to be the _Asinus onager_ of naturalists, a distinct species +from the _Asinus hemippus_ of Mesopotamia, and the _Asinus hemionus_ of +Thibet and Tartary. + +It is doubtful whether some kind of wild cattle does not still inhabit +the more remote tracts of Kurdistan. The natives mention among the +animals of their country "the mountain ox;" and though it has been +suggested that the beast intended is the elk, it is perhaps as likely +to be the Aurochs, which seems certainly to have been a native of the +adjacent country of Mesopotamia in ancient times. At any rate, until +Zagros has been thoroughly explored by Europeans, it must remain +uncertain what animal is meant. Meanwhile we may be tolerably sure that, +besides the species enumerated, Mount Zagros contains within its folds +some large and rare ruminant. + +Among the birds the most remarkable are the eagle, the bustard, the +pelican, the stork, the pheasant, several kinds of partridges, the +quail, the woodpecker, the bee-eater, the hoopoe, and the nightingale. +Besides these, doves and pigeons, both wild and tame, are common; as are +swallows, goldfinches, sparrows, larks, blackbirds, thrushes, linnets, +magpies, crows, hawks, falcons, teal, snipe, wild ducks, and many other +kinds of waterfowl. The most common partridge is a red-legged species +(_Caccabis chukar_ of naturalists), which is unable to fly far, and is +hunted until it drops. Another kind, common both in Azerbijan and in +the Elburz, is the black-breasted partridge (_Perdix nigra_)--a bird not +known in many countries. Besides these, there is a small gray partridge +in the Zagros range, which the Kurds call seslca. The bee-eater (_Merops +Persicus_) is rare. It is a bird of passage, and only visits Media +in the autumn, preparatory to retreating into the warm district of +Mazandoran for the winter months. The hoopoe (_Upupa_) is probably still +rarer, since very few travellers mention it. The woodpecker is found in +Zagros, and is a beautiful bird, red and gray in color. + +Media is, on the whole, but scantily provided with fish. Lake Urumiyeh +produces none, as its waters are so salt that they even destroy all the +river-fish which enter them. Salt streams, like the Aji Su, are equally +unproductive, and the fresh-water rivers of the plateau fall so low +in summer that fish cannot become numerous in them. Thus it is only in +Zagros, in Azerbijan, and in the Elburz, that the streams furnish any +considerable quantity. The kinds most common are barbel, carp, dace, +bleak, and gudgeon. In a comparatively few streams, more especially +those of Zagros, trout are found, which are handsome and of excellent +quality. The river of Isfahan produces a kind of crayfish, which is +taken in the bushes along its banks, and is very delicate eating. + +It is remarkable that fish are caught not only in the open streams of +Media, but also in the _kanats_ or underground conduits, from which +the light of day is very nearly excluded. They appear to be of one sort +only, viz., barbel, but are abundant, and often grow to a considerable +size. Chardin supposed them to be unfit for food; but a later observer +declares that, though of no great delicacy, they are "perfectly sweet +and wholesome." + +Of reptiles, the most common are snakes, lizards, and tortoises. In the +long grass of the Moghan district, on the lower course of the Araxes, +the snakes are so numerous and venomous that many parts of the plain are +thereby rendered impassable in the summer-time. A similar abundance +of this reptile near the western entrance of the Girduni Siyaluk pass +induces the natives to abstain from using it except in winter. Lizards +of many forms and hues disport themselves about the rocks and stones, +some quite small, others two feet or more in length. They are quite +harmless, and appear to be in general very tame. Land tortoises are also +common in the sandy regions. In Kurdistan there is a remarkable frog, +with a smooth skin and of an apple-green color, which lives chiefly in +trees, roosting in them at night, and during the day employing itself in +catching flies and locusts, which it strikes with its fore paw, as a cat +strikes a bird or a mouse. + +Among insects, travellers chiefly notice the mosquito, which is in many +places a cruel torment; the centipede, which grows to an unusual size; +the locust, of which there is more than one variety; and the scorpion, +whose sting is sometimes fatal. + +The destructive locust (the _Acridium peregrinum_, probably) comes +suddenly into Kurdistan and southern Media in clouds that obscure the +air, moving with a slow and steady flight and with a sound like that +of heavy rain, and settling in myriads on the fields, the gardens, the +trees, the terraces of the houses, and even the streets, which they +sometimes cover completely. Where they fall, vegetation presently +disappears; the leaves, and even the stems of the plants, are devoured; +the labors of the husbandman through many a weary month perish in a day; +and the curse of famine is brought upon the land which but now enjoyed +the prospect of an abundant harvest. It is true that the devourers are +themselves devoured to some extent by the poorer sort of people; but the +compensation is slight and temporary; in a few days, when all verdure is +gone, either the swarms move to fresh pastures, or they perish and cover +the fields with their dead bodies, while the desolation which they have +created continues. [PLATE III., Fig. 2.] + +[Illustration: PLATE III.] + +Another kind of locust, observed by Mr. Rich in Kurdistan, is called by +the natives _shira-kulla_, a name seemingly identical with the +_chargol_ of the Jews, and perhaps the best clue which we possess to +the identification of that species. Mr. Rich describes it as "a large +insect, about four inches long, with no wings, but a kind of sword +projecting from the tail. It bites," he says, "pretty severely, but +does no harm to the cultivation." We may recognize in this description +a variety of the great green grasshopper (_Locusta viridissima_), many +species of which are destitute of wings, or have wing-covers only, and +those of a very small size. + +The scorpion of the country (_Scorpio crassicauda_) has been represented +as peculiarly venomous, more especially that which abounds in the city +and neighborhood of Kashan; but the most judicious observers deny that +there is any difference between the Kashan scorpion and that of other +parts of the plateau, while at the same time they maintain that if the +sting be properly treated, no danger need be apprehended from it. The +scorpion infests houses, hiding itself under cushions and coverlets, and +stings the moment it is pressed upon; some caution is thus requisite +in avoiding it; but it hurts no one unless molested, and many Europeans +have resided for years in the country without having ever been stung by +it. [PLATE III., Fig. 3.] + +The domestic animals existing at present within the limits of the +ancient Media are the camel, the horse, the mule, the ass, the cow, the +goat, the sheep, the dog, the cat, and the buffalo. The camel is the +ordinary beast of burden in the flat country, and can carry an enormous +weight. Three kinds are employed--the Bactrian or two-humped camel, +which is coarse and low; the taller and lighter Arabian breed; and a +cross between the two, which is called _ner_, and is valued very +highly. The ordinary burden of the Arabian camel is from seven to eight +hundredweight; while the Bactrian variety is said to be capable of +bearing a load nearly twice as heavy. + +Next to the camel, as a beast of burden, must be placed the mule the +mules of the country are small, but finely proportioned, and carry a +considerable weight. They travel thirty miles a day with ease, and are +preferred for journeys on which it is necessary to cross the mountains. +The ass is very inferior, and is only used by the poorer classes. + +Two distinct breeds of horses are now found in Media, both of which seem +to be foreign--the Turkoman and the Arabian. The Turkoman is a large, +powerful, enduring animal, with long legs, a light body, and a big +head. The Arab is much smaller, but perfectly shaped, and sometimes +not greatly inferior to the very best produce of Nejd. A third breed is +obtained by an intermixture of those two, which is called the _bid-pai_, +or "wind footed," and is the most prized of all. + +The dogs are of various breeds, but the most esteemed is a large kind of +gray hound, which some suppose to have been introduced into this part of +Asia by the Macedonians, and which is chiefly employed in the chase of +the antelope. The animal is about the height of a full sized English +grayhound, but rather stouter; he is deep-chested, has long, smooth +hair, and the tail considerably feathered. His pace is inferior to that +of our grayhounds, but in strength and sagacity he far surpasses them. + +We do not find many of the products of Media celebrated by ancient +writers. Of its animals, those which had the highest reputation were its +horses, distinguished into two breeds, an ordinary kind, of which +Media produced annually many thousands, and a kind of rare size and +excellence, known under the name of Nisaean. These last are celebrated +by Herodotus, Strabo, Arrian, Ammianus Marcellinus, Suidas, and others. +They are said to have been of a peculiar shape; and they were equally +famous for size, speed, and stoutness. Strabo remarks that they resemble +the horses known in his own time as Parthian; and this observation seems +distinctly to connect them with the Turkoman breed mentioned above, +which is derived exactly from the old Parthian country. In color they +were often, if not always, white. We have no representation on the +monuments which we can regard as certainly intended for a Nissean horse, +but perhaps the figure from Persepolis may be a Persian sketch of the +animal. [PLATE III., Fig. 4.] + +The mules and small cattle (sheep and goats) were in sufficient repute +to be required, together with horses, in the annual tribute paid to the +Persian king. + +Of vegetable products assigned to Media by ancient writers, the most +remarkable is the "Median apple," or citron. Pliny says it was the sole +tree for which Media was famous, and that it would only grow there +and in Persia. Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Virgil, and other writers, +celebrate its wonderful qualities, distinctly assigning it to the same +region. The citron, however, will not grow in the country which has been +here termed Media. It flourishes only in the warm tract between Shiraz +and the Persian Gulf, and in the low sheltered region, south of the +Caspian, the modern Ghilan and Mazanderan. No doubt it was the inclusion +of this latter region within the limits of Media by many of the +later geographers that gave to this product of the Caspian country an +appellation which is really a misnomer. + +Another product whereto Media gave name, and probably with more reason, +was a kind of clover or lucerne, which was said to have been introduced +into Greece by the Persians in the reign of Darius, and which was +afterwards cultivated largely in Italy. Strabo considers this plant to +have been the chief food of the Median horses, while Dioscorides assigns +it certain medicinal qualities. Clover is still cultivated, in the +Elburz region, but horses are now fed almost entirely on straw and +barley. + +Media was also famous for its silphium, or assafoetida, a plant which +the country still produces, though not in any large quantity. No drug +was in higher repute with the ancients for medicinal purposes; and +though the Median variety was a coarse kind, inferior in repute, not +only to the Cyrenaic, but also to the Parthian and the Syrian, it seems +to have been exported both to Greece and Borne, and to have been largely +used by druggists, however little esteemed by physicians. + +The other vegetable products which Media furnished, or was believed to +furnish, to the ancient world, were bdellium, amomum, cardamomum, gum +tragacanth, wild-vine oil, and sagaponum, or the _Ferula persica_. Of +these, gum tragacanth is still largely produced, and is an important +article of commerce. Wild vines abound in Zagros and Elburz, but no oil +is at present made from them. Bdellium, if it is benzoin, amomum, and +cardamomum were perhaps rather imported through Media than the actual +produce of the country, which is too cold in the winter to grow any good +spices. + +The mineral products of Media noted by the ancient writers are nitre, +salt, and certain gems, as emeralds, lapis lazuli, and the following +obscurer kinds, the zathene, the gassinades, and the narcissitis. The +nitre of Media is noticed by Pliny, who says it was procured in +small quantities, and was called "halmyraga." It was found in certain +dry-looking glens, where the ground was white with it, and was obtained +there purer than in other places. Saltpetre is still derived from the +Elburz range, and also from Azerbijan. + +The salt of Lake Urumiyeh is mentioned by Strabo, who says that it +forms naturally on the surface, which would imply a far more complete +saturation of the water than at present exists, even in the driest +seasons. The gems above mentioned are assigned to Media chiefly by +Pliny. The Median emeralds, according to him, were of the largest size; +they varied considerably, sometimes approaching to the character of the +sapphire, in which case they were apt to be veiny, and to have flaws +in them. They were far less esteemed than the emeralds of many other +countries. The Median lapis lazuli, on the other hand, was the best of +its kind. It was of three colors--light blue, dark blue, and purple. +The golden specks, however, with which it was sprinkled--really spots +of yellow pyrites--rendered it useless to the gem-engravers of Pliny's +time. The zathene, the gassinades, and the narcissitis were gems of +inferior value. As they have not yet been identified with any known +species, it will be unnecessary to prolong the present chapter by a +consideration of them. + + + + +CHAPTER III. CHARACTER, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ARTS, ETC., OF THE PEOPLE. + + +"Pugnatrix natio et formidanda."--Amm. Marc, xxiii. 6. + + +The ethnic character of the Median people is at the present day scarcely +a matter of doubt. The close connection which all history, sacred and +profane, establishes between them and the Persians, the evidence of +their proper names and of their language, so far as it is known to us, +together with the express statements of Herodotus and Strabo, combine to +prove that they belonged to that branch of the human family known to us +as the Arian or Iranic, a leading subdivision of the great Indo-European +race. The tie of a common language, common manners and customs, and to +a great extent a common belief, united in ancient times all the dominant +tribes of the great plateau, extending even beyond the plateau in +one direction to the Jaxartes (Syhun) and in another to the Hyphasis +(Sutlej). Persians, Medes, Sagartians, Chorasmians, Bactrians, Sogdians, +Hyrcanians, Sarangians, Gandarians, and Sanskritic Indians belonged all +to a single stock, differing from one another probably not much more +than now differ the various subdivisions of the Teutonic or the Slavonic +race. Between the tribes at the two extremities of the Arian territory +the divergence was no doubt considerable; but between any two +neighboring tribes the difference was probably in most cases exceedingly +slight. At any rate this was the case towards the west, where the Medes +and Persians, the two principal sections of the Arian body in that +quarter, are scarcely distinguishable from one another in any of the +features which constitute ethnic type. + +The general physical character of the ancient Arian race is best +gathered from the sculptures of the Achsemenian kings, which exhibit to +us a very noble variety of the human species--a form tall, graceful, and +stately; a physiognomy handsome and pleasing, often somewhat resembling +the Greek; the forehead high and straight, the nose nearly in the same +line, long and well formed, sometimes markedly aquiline, the upper lip +short, commonly shaded by a moustache, the chin rounded and generally +covered with a curly beard. The hair evidently grew in great plenty, and +the race was proud of it. On the top of the head it was worn smooth, +but it was drawn back from the forehead and twisted into a row or two of +crisp curls, while at the same time it was arranged into a large mass of +similar small close ringlets at the back of the head and over the ears. +[PLATE IV., Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: PLATE IV.] + +Of the Median women we have no representations upon the sculptures; but +we are informed by Xenophon that they were remarkable for their stature +and their beauty. The same qualities were observable in the women of +Persia, as we learn from Plutarch, Ammianus Marcellinus, and others. +The Arian races seem in old times to have treated women with a certain +chivalry, which allowed the full development of their physical powers, +and rendered them specially attractive alike to their own husbands and +to the men of other nations. + +The modern Persian is a very degenerate representative of the ancient +Arian stock. Slight and supple in person, with quick, glancing eyes, +delicate features, and a vivacious manner, he lacks the dignity and +strength, the calm repose and simple grace of the race from which he +is sprung, Fourteen centuries of subjection to despotic sway have left +their stamp upon his countenance and his frame, which, though still +retaining some traces of the original type, have been sadly weakened and +lowered by so long a term of subservience. Probably the wild Kurd or Lur +of the present day more nearly corresponds in physique to the ancient +Mede than do the softer inhabitants of the great plateau. + +Among the moral characteristics of the Medes the one most obvious +is their bravery. "_Pugnatrix natio et formidanda_," says Ammianus +Marcellinus in the fourth century of our era, summing up in a few words +the general judgment of Antiquity. Originally equal, if not superior, to +their close kindred, the Persians, they were throughout the whole +period of Persian supremacy only second to them in courage and warlike +qualities. Mardonius, when allowed to take his choice out of the entire +host of Xerxes, selected the Median troops in immediate succession to +the Persians. Similarly, when the time for battle came he kept the Medes +near himself, giving them their place in the line close to that of +the Persian contingent. It was no doubt on account of their valor, as +Diodorus suggests, that the Medes were chosen to make the first attack +upon the Greek position at Thermopylae, where, though unsuccessful, they +evidently showed abundant courage. In the earlier times, before riches +and luxury had eaten out the strength of the race, their valor and +military prowess must have been even more conspicuous. It was then +especially that Media deserved to be called, as she is in Scripture, +"the mighty one of the heathen"--"the terrible of the nations." + +Her valor, undoubtedly, was of the merciless kind. There was no +tenderness, no hesitancy about it. Not only did her armies "dash +to pieces" the fighting men of the nations opposed to her, allowing +apparently no quarter, but the women and the children suffered +indignities and cruelties at the hands of her savage warriors, which the +pen unwillingly records. The Median conquests were accompanied by the +worst atrocities which lust and hate combined are wont to commit when +they obtain their full swing. Neither the virtue of women nor the +innocence of children were a protection to them. The infant was slain +before the very eye of the parent. The sanctity of the hearth was +invaded, and the matron ravished beneath her own roof-tree. Spoil, it +would seem, was disregarded in comparison with insult and vengeance; +and the brutal soldiery cared little either for silver or gold, provided +they could indulge freely in that thirst for blood which man shares with +the hyena and the tiger. + +The habits of the Medes in the early part of their career were +undoubtedly simple and manly. It has been observed with justice that the +same general features have at all times distinguished the rise and fall +of Oriental kingdoms and dynasties. A brave and adventurous prince, at +the head of a population at once poor, warlike, and greedy, overruns +a vast tract, and acquires extensive dominion, while his successors, +abandoning themselves to sensuality and sloth, probably also to +oppressive and irascible dispositions, become in process of time victims +to those same qualities in another prince and people which had enabled +their own predecessor to establish their power. It was as being braver, +simpler, and so stronger than the Assyrians that the Medes were able to +dispossess them of their sovereignty over western Asia. But in this, +as in most other cases of conquest throughout the East, success was +followed almost immediately by degeneracy. As captive Greece captured +her fierce conqueror, so the subdued Assyrians began at once to corrupt +their subduers. Without condescending to a close imitation of Assyrian +manners and customs, the Medes proceeded directly after their conquest +to relax the severity of their old habits and to indulge in the delights +of soft and luxurious living. The historical romance of Xenophon +presents us probably with a true picture when it describes the strong +contrast which existed towards the close of the Median period between +the luxury and magnificence which prevailed at Ecbatana, and the +primitive simplicity of Persia Proper, where the old Arian habits, which +had once been common to the two races, were still maintained in all +their original severity. Xenophon's authority in this work is, it must +be admitted, weak, and little trust can be placed in the historical +accuracy of his details; but his general statement is both in itself +probable, and is also borne out to a considerable extent by other +authors. Herodotus and Strabo note the luxury of the Median dress, +while the latter author goes so far as to derive the whole of the later +Persian splendor from an imitation of Median practices. We must hold +then that towards the latter part of their empire the Medes became a +comparatively luxurious people, not indeed laying aside altogether their +manly habits, nor ceasing to be both brave men and good soldiers, +but adopting an amount of pomp and magnificence to which they were +previously strangers, affecting splendor in their dress and apparel, +grandeur and rich ornament in their buildings, variety in their +banquets, and attaining on the whole a degree of civilization not very +greatly inferior to that of the Assyrians. In taste and real refinement +they seem indeed to have fallen considerably below their teachers. A +barbaric magnificence predominated in their ornamentation over artistic +effort, richness in the material being preferred to skill in the +manipulation. Literature, and even letters, were very sparingly +cultivated. But little originality was developed. A stately dress, and +a new style of architecture, are almost the only inventions to which the +Medes can lay claim. They were brave, energetic, enterprising, fond +of display, capable of appreciating to some extent the advantages of +civilized life; but they had little genius, and the world is scarcely +indebted to them for a single important addition to the general stock of +its ideas. + +Of the Median customs in war we know but little. Herodotus tells us +that in the army of Xerxes the Medes were armed exactly as the Persians, +carrying on their heads a soft felt cap, on their bodies a sleeved +tunic, and on their legs trousers. Their offensive arms, he says, were +the spear, the bow, and the dagger. They had large wicker shields, and +bore their quivers suspended at their backs. Sometimes their tunic +was made into a coat of mail by the addition to it on the outside of a +number of small iron plates arranged so as to overlap each other, like +the scales of a fish. They served both on horseback and on foot, with +the same equipment in both cases. + +There is no reason to doubt the correctness of this description of the +Median military dress under the early Persian kings. The only question +is how far the equipment was really the ancient warlike custom of the +people. It seems in some respects too elaborate to be the armature of a +simple and primitive race. We may reasonably suppose that at least the +scale armor and the unwieldy wicker shields (yeppa), which required to +be rested on the ground, were adopted at a somewhat late date from the +Assyrians. At any rate the original character of the Median armies, +as set before us in Scripture, and as indicated both by Strabo and +Xenophon, is simpler than the Herodotean description. The primitive +Modes seem to have been a nation of horse-archers. Trained from their +early boyhood to a variety of equestrian exercises, and well practised +in the use of the bow, they appear to have proceeded against their +enemies with clouds of horse, almost in Scythian fashion, and to have +gained their victories chiefly by the skill with which they shot their +arrows as they advanced, retreated, or manoeuvred about their foe. No +doubt they also used the sword and the spear. The employment of these +weapons has been almost universal throughout the East from a very remote +antiquity, and there is some mention of them in connection with the +Medes and their kindred, the Persians, in Scripture; but it is evident +that the terror which the Medes inspired arose mainly from their +dexterity as archers. + +No representation of weapons which can be distinctly recognized as +Median has come down to us. The general character of the military dress +and of the arms appears, probably in the Persepolitan sculptures; but +as these reliefs are in most cases representations, not of Medes, but of +Persians, and as they must be hereafter adduced in illustration of the +military customs of the latter people, only a very sparing use of them +can be made in the present chapter. It would seem that the bow employed +was short, and very much curved, and that, like the Assyrian it was +usually carried in a bow-case, which might either be slung at the back, +or hung from the girdle. [PLATE V., Fig. 1.] The arrows, which were +borne in a quiver slung behind the right shoulder, must have been short, +certainly not exceeding the length of three feet. The quiver appears to +have been round; it was covered at the top, and was fastened by means of +a flap and strap, which last passed over, a button. [PLATE V. Fig. 1.] +The Median spear or lance was from six to seven feet in length. Its head +was lozenge-shaped and flattish, but strengthened by a bar or line down +the middle. It is uncertain whether the head was inserted into the top +of the shaft, or whether it did not rather terminate in a ring or socket +into which the upper end of the shaft was itself inserted. The shaft +tapered gradually from bottom to top, and terminated below in a knob or +ball, which was perhaps sometimes carved into the shape of some natural +object. [PLATE IV., Fig. 2.] + +[Illustration: PLATE V. + +The sword was short, being in fact little more than a dagger. It +depended at the right thigh from a belt which encircled the waist, and +was further secured by a strap attached to the bottom of the sheath, and +passing round the soldier's right leg a little above the knee. + +Median shields were probably either round or oval. The oval specimens +bore a resemblance to the shield of the Boeotians, having a small oval +aperture at either side, apparently for the sake of greater lightness. +They were strengthened at the centre by a circular boss or disk, +ornamented with knobs or circles. They would seem to have been made +either of metal or wood. [PLATE IV., Fig. 3.] + +The favorite dress of the Medes in peace is well known to us from the +sculptures; there can be no reasonable doubt that the long flowing robe +so remarkable for its graceful folds, which is the garb of the kings, +the chief nobles, and the officers of the court in all the Persian +bas-reliefs, and which is seen also upon the darics and the gems, is the +famous "Median garment" of Herodotus, Xenophon, and Strabo. [PLATE V., +Fig. 2.] This garment fits the chest and shoulders closely, but falls +over the arms in two large loose sleeves, open at the bottom. At the +waist it is confined by a cincture. Below it is remarkably full and +ample, drooping in two clusters of perpendicular folds at the two sides, +and between these hanging in festoons like a curtain. It extends down +to the ankles, where it is met by a high shoe or low boot, opening in +front, and secured by buttons. [PLATE IV., Fig. 4.] + +These Median robes were of many colors. Sometimes they were purple, +sometimes scarlet, occasionally a dark gray, or a deep crimson. +Procopius says that they were made of silk, and this statement is +confirmed to some extent by Justin, who speaks of their transparency. +It may be doubted, however, whether the material was always the same; +probably it varied with the season, and also with the wealth of the +wearer. + +Besides this upper robe, which is the only garment shown in the +sculptures, the Medes wore as under garments a sleeved shirt or tunic +of a purple color, and embroidered drawers or trousers. They covered the +head, not only out of doors, but in their houses, wearing either felt +caps like the Persians, or a head-dress of a more elaborate character, +which bore the name of _tiara_ or _cidaris_. This appears to have been, +not a turban, but rather a kind of high-crowned hat, either stiff or +flexible, made probably of felt or cloth, and dyed of different hues, +according to the fancy of the owner. [PLATE VI., Fig. 1.] + +The Medes took a particular delight in the ornamentation of their +persons. According to Xenophon, they were acquainted with most of the +expedients by the help of which vanity attempts to conceal the ravages +of time and to create an artificial beauty. They employed cosmetics, +which they rubbed into the skin, for the sake of improving the +complexion. They made use of an abundance of false hair. Like many other +Oriental nations, both ancient and modern, they applied dyes to enhance +the brilliancy of the eyes, and give them a greater apparent size and +softness. They were also fond of wearing golden ornaments. Chains or +collars of gold usually adorned their nocks, bracelets of the same +precious metal encircled their wrists, and earrings were inserted into +their ears. [PLATE VI., Fig. 2.] Gold was also used in the caparisons of +their horses, the bit and other parts of the harness being often of this +valuable material. + +We are told that the Medes were very luxurious at their banquets. +Besides plain meat and game of different kinds, with the ordinary +accompaniments of wine and bread, they were accustomed to place before +their guests a vast number of side-dishes, together with a great variety +of sauces. They ate with the hand, as is still the fashion in the East, +and were sufficiently refined to make use of napkins. Each guest had his +own dishes, and it was a mark of special honor to augment their number. +Wine was drunk both at the meal and afterwards, often in an undue +quantity; and the close of the feast was apt to be a scene of general +turmoil and confusion. At the Court it was customary for the king to +receive his wine at the hands of a cupbearer, who first tasted the +draught, that the king might be sure that it was not poisoned, and then +presented it to his master with much pomp and ceremony. + +The whole ceremonial of the court seems to have been imposing. Under +ordinary circumstances the monarch kept himself secluded, and no one +could obtain admission to him unless he formally requested an audience, +and was introduced into the royal presence by the proper officer. On his +admission he prostrated himself upon the ground with the same signs of +adoration which were made on entering a temple. The king, surrounded by +his attendants, eunuchs, and others, maintained a haughty reserve, and +the stranger only beheld him from a distance. Business was transacted +in a great measure by writing. The monarch rarely quitted his palace, +contenting himself with such reports of the state of his empire as were +transmitted to him from time to time by his officers. + +The chief amusement of the court, in which however the king rarely +partook, was hunting. Media always abounded in beasts of chase; and +lions, bears, leopards, wild boars, stags, gazelles, wild sheep, and +wild asses are mentioned among the animals hunted by the Median nobles. +Of these the first four were reckoned dangerous, the others harmless. It +was customary to pursue these animals on horseback, and to aim at them +with the bow or the javelin. We may gather a lively idea of some of +these hunts from the sculptures of the Parthians, who some centuries +later inhabited the same region. We see in these the rush of great +troops of boars through marshes dense with water-plants, the bands of +beaters urging them on, the sportsmen aiming at them with their bows, +and the game falling transfixed with two or three well-aimed shafts. +Again we see herds of deer driven within enclosures, and there slain by +archers who shoot from horseback, the monarch under his parasol looking +on the while, pleased with the dexterity of his servants. It is thus +exactly that Xenophon portrays Astyages as contemplating the sport +of his courtiers, complacently viewing their enjoyment, but taking no +active part in the work himself. + +Like other Oriental sovereigns, the Median monarch maintained a seraglio +of wives and concubines; and polygamy was commonly practised among the +more wealthy classes. Strabo speaks of a strange law as obtaining with +some of the Median tribes--a law which required that no man should be +content with fewer wives than five. It is very unlikely that such a +burden was really made obligatory on any: most probably five legitimate +wives, and no more, were allowed by the law referred to, just as four +wives, and no more, are lawful for Mohammedans. Polygamy, as usual, +brought in its train the cruel practice of castration; and the court +swarmed with eunuchs, chiefly foreigners purchased in their infancy. +Towards the close of the Empire this despicable class appears to have +been all-powerful with the monarch. + +Thus the tide of corruption gradually advanced; and there is reason to +believe that both court and people had in a great measure laid aside +the hardy and simple customs of their forefathers, and become enervated +through luxury, when the revolt of the Persians came to test the quality +of their courage, and their ability to maintain their empire. It would +be improper in this place to anticipate the account of this struggle, +which must be reserved for the historical chapter; but the well-known +result--the speedy and complete success of the Persians--must be adduced +among the proofs of a rapid deterioration in the Median character +between the accession of Cyaxares and the capture--less than a century +later--of Astyages. + +We have but little information with respect to the state of the arts +among the Medes. A barbaric magnificence characterized, as has been +already observed, their architecture, which differed from the Assyrian +in being dependent for its effect on groups of pillars rather than on +painting or sculpture. Still sculpture was, it is probable, practised to +some extent by the Medes, who, it is almost certain, conveyed on to the +Persians those modifications of Assyrian types which meet us everywhere +in the remains of the Achsemenian monarch? The carving of winged genii, +of massive forms of bulls and lions, of various grotesque monsters, +and of certain clumsy representations of actual life, imitated from +the bas-reliefs of the Assyrians, may be safely ascribed to the Medes; +since, had they not carried on the traditions of their predecessors, +Persian art could not have borne the resemblance that it does to +Assyrian. But these first mimetic efforts of the Arian race have almost +wholly perished, and there scarcely seems to remain more than a single +fragment which can be assigned on even plausible grounds to the Median +period. A portion of a colossal lion, greatly injured by time, is still +to be seen at Hamadan, the site of the great Median capital, which the +best judges regard as anterior to the Persian period, and as therefore +most probably Median. It consists of the head and body of the animal, +from which the four legs and the tail have been broken off, and measures +between eleven and twelve feet from the crown of the head to the point +from which the tail sprang. By the position of the head and what +remains of the shoulders and thighs, it is evident that the animal was +represented in a sitting posture, with the fore legs straight and the +hind legs gathered up under it. To judge of the feeling and general +character of the sculpture is difficult, owing to the worn and mutilated +condition of the work; but we seem to trace in it the same air of calm +and serene majesty that characterizes the colossal bulls and lions of +Assyria, together with somewhat more of expression and of softness than +are seen in the productions of that people. Its posture, which is unlike +that of any Assyrian specimen, indicates a certain amount of originality +as belonging to the Median artists, while its colossal size seems to +show that the effect on the spectator was still to be produced, not so +much by expression, finish, or truth to nature, as by mere grandeur of +dimension. [PLATE VI., Fig. 3.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. RELIGION. + + +The earliest form of the Median religion is to be found in those +sections of the Zendavesta which have been pronounced on internal +evidence to be the most ancient portions of that venerable compilation; +as, for instance, the first Fargard of the Vendidad, and the Gathas, or +"Songs," which occur here and there in the Yacna, or Book on Sacrifice. +In the Gathas, which belong to a very remote era indeed, we seem to have +the first beginnings of the Religion. We may indeed go back by their aid +to a time anterior to themselves--a time when the Arian race was not yet +separated into two branches, and the Easterns and Westerns, the +Indians and Iranians, had not yet adopted the conflicting creeds of +Zoroastrianism and Brahminism. At that remote period we seem to see +prevailing a polytheistic nature-worship--a recognition of various +divine beings, called indifferently Asuras (Ahuras) or Devas, each +independent of the rest, and all seemingly nature-powers rather +than persons, whereof the chief are Indra, Storm or Thunder; Mithra, +Sunlight; Aramati (Armaiti), Earth; Vayu, Wind; Agni, Fire; and Soma +(Homa), Intoxication. Worship is conducted by priests, who are called +_kavi_, "seers;" _karapani_, "sacriflcers," or _ricikhs_, "wise men." It +consists of hymns in honor of the gods; sacrifices, bloody and unbloody, +some' portion of which is burnt upon an altar; and a peculiar ceremony, +called that of Soma, in which an intoxicating liquor is offered to the +gods, and then consumed by the priests, who drink till they are drunken. + +Such, in outline, is the earliest phase of Arian religion, and it is +common to both branches of the stock, and anterior to the rise of the +Iranic, Median, or Persian system. That system is a revolt from this +sensuous and superficial nature-worship. It begins with a distinct +recognition of spiritual intelligences--real persons--with whom +alone, and not with powers, religion is concerned. It divides these +intelligences into good and bad, pure and impure, benignant and +malevolent. To the former it applies the term _Asuras_ (_Ahuras_), +"living" or "spiritual beings," in a good sense; to the latter, the term +_Devas_, in a bad one. It regards the "powers" hitherto worshipped as +chiefly _Devas_; but it excepts from this unfavorable view a certain +number, and, recognizing them as _Asuras_, places them above the +_Izeds_, or "angels." Thus far it has made two advances, each of great +importance, the substitution of real "persons" for "powers," as objects +of the religious faculty, and the separation of the persons into good +and bad, pure and impure, righteous and wicked. But it does not stop +here. It proceeds to assert, in a certain sense, monotheism against +polytheism. It boldly declares that, at the head of the good +intelligences, is a single great Intelligence, Ahuro-Mazdao, the highest +object of adoration, the true Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the +universe. This is its great glory. It sets before the soul a single +Being as the source of all good and the proper object of the highest +worship. Ahuro-Mazdao is "the creator of life, the earthly and the +spiritual;" "he has made the celestial bodies, earth, water, and trees, +all good creatures," and "all good, true, holy, pure, things." He is +"the Holy God, the Holiest, the essence of truth, the father of all +truth, the best being of all, the master of purity." He is supremely +"happy," possessing every blessing, "health, wealth, virtue, wisdom, +immortality." From him comes all good to man; on the pious and the +righteous he bestows not only earthly advantages, but precious spiritual +gifts, truth, devotion, "the good mind," and everlasting happiness; and +as he rewards the good, so he punishes the bad, though this is an aspect +in which he is but seldom represented. + +It has been said that this conception of Ahura-mazda as the Supreme +Being is "_perfectly identical_ with the notion of Elohim, or Jehovah, +which we find in the books of the Old Testament." This is, no doubt, +an over-statement. Ahura-mazda is less spiritual and less awful than +Jehovah. He is less remote from the nature of man. The very ascription +to him of health (_haurvat_) is an indication that he is conceived of +as possessing a sort of physical nature. Lucidity and brilliancy are +assigned to him, not (as it would seem) in a mere metaphorical sense. +Again, he is so predominantly the author of good things, the source of +blessing and prosperity, that he could scarcely inspire his votaries +with any feeling of fear. Still, considering the general failure of +unassisted reason to mount up to the true notion of a spiritual +God, this doctrine of the early Arians is very remarkable; and its +approximation to the truth sufficiently explains at once the favorable +light in which its professors are viewed by the Jewish prophets, and the +favorable opinion which they form of the Jewish system. Evidently, +the Jews and Arians, when they became known to one another, recognized +mutually the fact that they were worshippers of the same great Being. +Hence the favor of the Persians towards the Jews, and the fidelity of +the Jews towards the Persians. The Lord God of the Jews being recognized +as identical with Ormazd, a sympathetic feeling united the peoples. The +Jews, so impatient generally of a foreign yoke, never revolted from +the Persians; and the Persians, so intolerant, for the most part, of +religions other than their own, respected and protected Judaism. + +The sympathy was increased by the fact that the religion of Ormazd was +anti-idolatrous. In the early nature-worship idolatry had been allowed; +but the Iranic system pronounced against it from the first. No images +of Ahura-mazda, or of the Izeds, profaned the severe simplicity of +an Iranic temple. It was only after a long lapse of ages that, +in connection with a foreign worship, idolatry crept in. The old +Zoroastrianism was in this respect as pure as the religion of the Jews, +and thus a double bond of religious sympathy united the Hebrews and the +Arians. + +Under the supreme God, Ahura-mazda or Ormazd, the ancient Iranic system +placed (as has been already observed) a number of angels. Some of these, +as _Vohu-mano_, "the Good Mind;" _Mazda_, "the Wise" (?); and _Asha_, +"the True," are scarcely distinguishable from attributes of the +Divinity. Armaiti, however, the genius of the Earth, and Sraosha or +Serosh, an angel, are very clearly and distinctly personified. Sraosha +is Ormazd's messenger. He delivers revelations, shows men the paths of +happiness, and brings them the blessings which Ormazd has assigned to +their share. Another of his functions is to protect the true faith. +He is called, in a very special sense, "the friend of Ormazd," and is +employed by Ormazd not only to distribute his gifts, but also to conduct +to him the souls of the faithful, when this life is over, and they enter +on the celestial scene. + +Armaiti is at once the genius of the Earth, and the goddess of Piety. +The early Ormazd worshippers were agriculturists, and viewed the +cultivation of the soil as a religious duty enjoined upon them by God. +Hence they connected the notion of piety with earth culture; and it was +but a step from this to make a single goddess preside over the two. It +is as the angel of Earth that Armaiti has most distinctly a personal +character. She is regarded as wandering from spot to spot, and laboring +to convert deserts and wildernesses into fruitful fields and gardens. +She has the agriculturist under her immediate protection, while she +endeavors to persuade the shepherd, who persists in the nomadic life, to +give up his old habits and commence the cultivation of the soil. She is +of course the giver of fertility, and rewards her votaries by bestowing +upon them abundant harvests. She alone causes all growth. In a certain +cense she pervades the whole material creation, mankind included, in +whom she is even sometimes said to "reside." + +Armaiti, further "tells men the everlasting laws, which no one may +abolish"--laws which she has learnt from converse with Ahura-mazda +himself. She is thus naturally the second object of worship to the old +Zoroastrian; and converts to the religion were required to profess their +faith in her in direct succession to Ahura-mazda. + +From Armaiti must be carefully distinguished the _geus urva_, or "soul +of the earth"--a being who nearly resembles the "anima mundi" of the +Greek and Roman philosophers. This spirit dwells in the earth itself, +animating it as a man's soul animates his body. In old times, when man +first began to plough the soil, _geus urva_ cried aloud, thinking that +his life was threatened, and implored the assistance of the archangels. +They however were deaf to his entreaties (since Ormazd had decreed that +there should be cultivation), and left him to bear his pains as he best +could. It is to be hoped that in course of time he became callous to +them, and made the discovery that mere scratches, though they may be +painful, are not dangerous. + +It is uncertain whether in the most ancient form of the Iranic worship +the cult of Mithra was included or no. On the one hand, the fact that +Mithra is common to both forms of the Arian creed--the Indian and +Iranic--would induce the belief that his worship was adopted from the +first by the Zoroastrians; on the other, the entire absence of all +mention of Mithra from the Gathas would lead us to the conclusion that +in the time when they were composed his cult had not yet begun. Perhaps +we may distinguish between two forms of early Iranic worship--one that +of the more intelligent and spiritual--the leaders of the secession--in +whose creed Mithra had no place; the other that of the great mass of +followers, a coarser and more material system, in which many points +of the old religion were retained, and among them the worship of the +Sun-god. This lower and more materialistic school of thought probably +conveyed on into the Iranic system other points also common to the +Zendavosta with the Vedas, as the recognition of Airyaman (Aryaman) as +a genius presiding over marriages, of Vitraha as a very high angel, and +the like. + +Vayu, "the Wind," seems to have been regarded as a god from the first. +He appears, not only in the later portions of the Zenda vesta, like +Mithra and Aryaman, but in the Gathas themselves. His name is clearly +identical with that of the Vedic Wind-god, Vayu, and is apparently a +sister form to the ventus, or wind, of the more western Arians. The root +is probably vi, "to go," which may be traced in vis, via, vado, venio, +etc. + +The ancient Iranians did not adopt into their system either Agni, "Fire" +(Lat. _ignis_), or Soma (Homa), "Intoxication." Fire was indeed retained +for sacrifice; but it was regarded as a mere material agent, and not as +a mysterious Power, the proper object of prayer and worship. The Soma +worship, which formed a main element of the old religion, and which was +retained in Brahminism, was at the first altogether discarded by the +Zoroastrians; indeed, it seems to have been one of the main causes of +that disgust which split the Arian body in two, and gave rise to the new +religion. A ceremony in which it was implied that the intoxication of +their worshippers was pleasing to the gods, and not obscurely hinted +that they themselves indulged in similar excesses, was revolting to the +religious temper of those who made the Zoaroastrian reformation; and it +is plain from the Gathas that the new system was intended at first to +be entirely free from the pollution of so disgusting a practice. But +the zeal of religious reformers outgoes in most cases the strength and +patience of their people, whose spirit is too gross and earthly to keep +pace with the more lofty flights of the purer and higher intelligence. +The Iranian section of the Arians could not be weaned wholly from their +beloved Soma feasts; and the leaders of the movement were obliged to +be content ultimately with so far reforming and refining the ancient +ceremony as to render it comparatively innocuous. The portion of the +rite which implied that the gods themselves indulged in intoxication +was omitted; and for the intoxication of the priests was substituted +a moderate use of the liquor, which, instead of giving a religious +sanction to drunkenness, merely implied that the Soma juice was a good +gift of God, one of the many blessings for which men had to be thankful. + +With respect to the evil spirits or intelligences, which, in the +Zoroastrian system, stood over against the good ones, the teaching of +the early reformers seems to have been less clear. The old divinities, +except where adopted into the new creed, were in a general way called +Devas, "fiends" or "devils," in contrast with the Ahuras, or "gods." +These devas were represented as many in number, as artful, malicious, +deceivers and injurers of mankind, more especially of the Zoroastrians +or Ormazd-worshippers, as inventors of spells and lovers of the +intoxicating Soma draught. Their leading characteristics were +"destroying" and "lying." They were seldom or never called by distinct +names. No account was given of their creation, nor of the origin of +their wickedness. No single superior intelligence, no great Principle of +Evil, was placed at their head. Ahriman (Angro-mainyus) does not +occur in the Gathas as a proper name. Far less is there any graduated +hierarchy of evil, surrounding a Prince of Darkness, with a sort of +court, antagonistic to the angelic host of Ormazd, as in the latter +portions of the Zendavesta and in the modern Parsee system. + +Thus Dualism proper, or a belief in two uncreated and independent +principles, one a principle of good and the other a principal of evil, +was no part of the original Zoroastrianism. At the same time we find, +even in the Gathas, the earliest portions of the Zondavesta, the germ +out of which Dualism sprung. The contrast between good and evil is +strongly and sharply marked in the Gathas; the writers continually harp +upon it, their minds are evidently struck with this sad antithesis which +colors the whole moral world to them; they see everywhere a struggle +between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, purity and impurity; +apparently they are blind to the evidence of harmony and agreement +in the universe, discerning nothing anywhere but strife, conflict, +antagonism. Nor is this all. They go a step further, and personify the +two parties to the struggle. One is a "white" or holy "Spirit" (_cpento +mainyus_), and the other a "dark spirit" (_angro mainyus_). But this +personification is merely poetical or metaphorical, not real. The "white +spirit" is not Ahura-mazda, and the "dark spirit" is not a hostile +intelligence. Both resolve themselves on examination into mere figures +of speech--phantoms of poetic imagery--abstract notions, clothed by +language with an apparent, not a real, personality. + +It was natural that, as time went on, Dualism should develop itself +out of the primitive Zoroastrianism. Language exercises a tyranny +over thought, and abstractions in the ancient world were ever becoming +persons. The Iranian mind, moreover, had been strack, when it first +turned to contemplate the world, with a certain antagonism; and, having +once entered this track, it would be compelled to go on, and seek to +discover the origin of the antagonism, the cause (or causes) to which +it was to be ascribed. Evil seemed most easily accounted for by the +supposition of an evil Person; and the continuance of an equal struggle, +without advantage to either side, which was what the Iranians thought +they beheld in the world that lay around them, appeared to them to +imply the equality of that evil Person with the Being whom they rightly +regarded as the author of all good. Thus Dualism had its birth. The +Iranians came to believe in the existence of two co-eternal and co-equal +Persons, one good and the other evil, between whom there had been from +all eternity a perpetual and never-ceasing conflict, and between whom +the same conflict would continue to rage through all coming time. + +It is impossible to say how this development took place. We have +evidence, however, that at a period considerably anterior to the +commencement of the Median Empire, Dualism, not perhaps in its ultimate +extravagant form, but certainly in a very decided and positive shape, +had already been thought out and become the recognized creed of the +Iranians. In the first Fargard, or chapter, of the Vendidad--the +historical chapter, in which are traced the only movements of the Iranic +peoples, and which from the geographical point whereat it stops must +belong to a time when the Arians had not yet reached Media Magna---the +Dualistic belief clearly shows itself. The term Angro-mainyus has +now become a proper name, and designates the great spirit of evil as +definitely and determinately as Ahura-mazda designates the good spirit. +The antagonism between Ahura-mazda and Angro-mainyus is depicted in the +strongest colors; it is direct, constant and successful. Whatever good +work Ahura-mazda in his benevolence creates, Angro-mainyus steps forward +to mar and blast it. If Ahura-mazda forms a "delicious spot" in a world +previously desert and uninhabitable to become the first home of his +favorites, the Arians, Angro-mainyus ruins it by sending into it a +poisonous serpent, and at the same time rendering the climate one of +the bitterest severity. If Ahura-mazda provides, instead of this blasted +region, another charming habitation, "the second best of regions and +countries," Angro-mainyus sends there the curse of murrain, fatal to +all cattle. To every land which Ahura-mazda creates for his worshippers, +Angro-mainyus immediately assigns some plague or other. War, ravages, +sickness, fever, poverty, hail, earthquakes, buzzing insects, poisonous +plants, unbelief, witchcraft, and other inexpiable sins, are introduced +by him into the various happy regions created without any such drawbacks +by the good spirit; and a world, which should have been "very good," is +by these means converted into a scene of trial and suffering. + +The Dualistic principle being thus fully adopted, and the world looked +on as the battle-ground between two independent and equal powers engaged +in perpetual strife, it was natural that the imagination should complete +the picture by ascribing to those superhuman rivals the circumstantials +that accompany a great struggle between human adversaries. The two +kings required, in the first place, to have their councils, which +were accordingly assigned them, and were respectively composed of six +councillors. The councillors of Ahura-mazda--called Amesha Spentas, +or "Immortal Saints," afterwards corrupted into Amshashpands--wore +Vohu-mano (Bahman), Asha-va-hista (Ardibehesht), Khshathra-vairya +(Shahravar), Qpenta-Armaiti (Isfand-armat), Haurvatat (Khordad), and +Ameretat (Amerdat). Those of Angro-mainyus were Ako-mano, Indra, Qaurva, +Naonhaitya, and two others whose names are interpreted as "Darkness" and +"Poison." + +Vohu-mano (Bahman) means "the Good Mind." Originally a mere attribute of +Ahura-mazda, Vohu-mano came to be considered, first as one of the +high angels attendant on him, and then formally as one of-his six +councillors. He had a distinct sphere or province assigned to him in +Ahura-mazda's kingdom, which was the maintenance of life in animals and +of goodness in man. + +Asha-vahista (Ardibehesht) means "the Highest Truth"--"Voritas optima," +or rather perhaps "Veritas lucidissima." He was the "Light" of the +universe, subtle, all-pervading, omnipresent. His special business +was to maintain the splendor of the various luminaries, and thereby to +preserve all those things whose existence and growth depend on light. + +Khshathra-vairya (Shahravar), whose name means simply "possessions," +"wealth," was regarded as presiding over metals and as the dispenser of +riches. + +Qoonta-Armaiti (Isfand-armat)--the "white or holy Ar-maiti," represented +the Earth. She had from the first, as we have already seen, a distinct +position in the system of the Zoroastrians, where she was at once the +Earth goddess and the genius of piety. + +Haurvatat (Khordad) means "health"--"sanitas"--and was originally one +of the great and precious gifts which Ahura-mazda possessed himself and +kindly bestowed on his creatures. When personification, and the needs +of the theology, had made Haurvatat an archangel, he, together with +Ameretat (Amerdat), "Immortality," took the presidency of the vegetable +world, which it was the business of the pair to keep in good condition. + +In the council of Angro-mainyus, Ako-mano stands in direct antithesis to +Vohu-mano, as "the bad mind," or more literally, "the naught mind"--for +the Zoroastrians, like Plato, regarded good and evil as identical with +reality and unreality. Ako-mano's special sphere is the mind of man, +where he suggests evil thoughts and prompts to bad words and wicked +deeds. He holds the first place in the infernal council, as Vohu-mano +does in the heavenly one. + +Indra, who holds the second place in the infernal council, is evidently +the Vedic god whom the Zoroastrians regarded as a powerful demon, and +therefore made one of Angro-mainyus's chief councillors. He probably +retained his character as the god of the storm and of war, the destroyer +of crops and cities, the inspirer of armies and the wielder of +the thunder-bolt. The Zoroastrians, however, ascribed to him only +destructive actions; while the more logical Hindoos, observing that the +same storm which hurt the crops and struck down trees and buildings was +also the means of fertilizing the lands and purifying the air, viewed +him under a double aspect, as at once terrible in his wrath and the +bestower of numerous blessings. + +Qaurva, who stands next to Indra, is thought to be the Hindoo Shiva, who +has the epithet qarva in one of the Vedas. But the late appearance of +Shiva in the Hindoo system makes this highly uncertain. + +Naonhaitya, the fourth member of the infernal council, corresponds +apparently to the Vedic Nasatyas, a collective name given to the two +Aswins, the Dioscuri of Indian mythology. These were favorite gods of +the early Hindoos, to whose protection they very mainly ascribed their +prosperity. It was natural that the Iranians, in their aversion to +their Indian brethren, should give the Aswins a seat at Angro-mainyus's +council-table; but it is curious that they should represent the twin +deities by only a single councillor. + +Taric and Zaric, "Darkness" and "Poison," the occupants of the fifth and +sixth places, are evidently personifications made for the occasion, to +complete the infernal council to its full complement of six members. + +As the two Principles of Good and Evil have their respective councils, +so have they likewise their armies. The Good Spirit has created +thousands of angelic beings, who everywhere perform his will and fight +on his side against the Evil One; and the Evil One has equally on +his part called into being thousands of malignant spirits who are his +emissaries in the world, doing his work continually, and fighting +his battles. These are the Devas or Dives, so famous in Persian fairy +mythology. They are "wicked, bad, false, untrue, the originators of +mischief, most baneful, destructive, the basest of all beings." The +whole universe is full of them. They aim primarily at destroying all +the good creations of Ahura-mazda; but if unable to destroy they content +themselves with perverting and corrupting. They dog the steps of men, +tempting them to sin; and, as soon as sin, obtaining a fearful power +over them. + +At the head of Ahura-mazda's army is the angel Sraosha (Serosh). Serosh +is "the sincere, the beautiful, the victorious, the true, the master +of truth." He protects the territories of the Iranians, wounds, and +sometimes even slays the demons, and is engaged in a perpetual struggle +against them, never slumbering night or day, but guarding the world with +his drawn sword, more particularly after sunset, when the demons have +the greatest power. + +Angro-mainyus appears not to possess any such general-in-chief. Besides +the six councillors above mentioned, there are indeed various demons +of importance, as Drukhs, "destruction;" Aeshemo, "rapine;" Daivis, +"deceit;" Driwis, "poverty," etc.; but no one of these seems to occupy +a parallel place in the evil world to that which is assigned to +Serosh in the good. Perhaps we have here a recognition of the anarchic +character of evil, whose attacks are like those of a huge undisciplined +host--casual, fitful, irregular--destitute wholly of that principle of +law and order which gives to the resisting power of good a great portion +of its efficacy. + +To the belief in a spiritual world composed of all these various +intelligences--one half of whom were good, and the other half evil--the +early Zoroastrians added notions with respect to human duties and human +prospects far more enlightened than those which have usually prevailed +among heathen nations. In their system truth, purity, piety, and +industry were the virtues chiefly valued and inculcated. Evil was traced +up to its root in the heart of man; and it was distinctly taught that +no virtue deserved the name but such as was co-extensive with the whole +sphere of human activity, including the thought, as well as the word and +deed. The purity required was inward as well as outward, mental as +well as bodily. The industry was to be of a peculiar character. Man was +placed upon the earth to preserve the good creation; and this could only +be done by careful tilling of the soil, eradication of thorns and weeds, +and reclamation of the tracts over which Angro-mainyus had spread the +curse of barrenness. To cultivate the soil was thus a religious duty; +the whole community was required to be agricultural; and either as +proprietor, as farmer, or as laboring man, each Zoroastrian must +"further the works of life" by advancing tillage. Piety consisted in the +acknowledgment of the One True God, Ahura-mazda, and of his holy angels, +the Amesha Spentas or Amshashpands, in the frequent offering of prayers, +praises, and thanksgivings, in the recitation of hymns, the performance +of the reformed Soma ceremony, and the occasional sacrifice of animals. +Of the hymns we have abundant examples in the Gathas of the Zendavesta, +and in the Yagna haptanhaiti, or "Yaana of seven chapters," which +belongs to the second period of the religion. A specimen from the latter +source is subjoined below. The Soma or Homa ceremony consisted in the +extraction of the juice of the Homa plant by the priests during the +recitation of prayers, the formal presentation of the liquid extracted +to the sacrificial fire, the consumption of a small portion of it by one +of the officiating priests, and the division of the remainder among the +worshippers. As the juice was drunk immediately after extraction and +before fermentation had set in, it was not intoxicating. The ceremony +seems to have been regarded, in part, as having a mystic force, securing +the favor of heaven; in part, as exerting a beneficial influence upon +the body of the worshipper through the curative power inherent in the +Homa plant. + +The sacrifices of the Zoroastrians were never human. The ordinary victim +was the horse; and we hear of occasions on which a single individual +sacrificed as many as ten of these animals. Mares seem to have been +regarded as the most pleasing offerings, probably on account of their +superior value; and if it was desired to draw down the special favor of +the Deity, those mares were selected which were already heavy in foal. +Oxen, sheep, and goats were probably also used as victims. A priest +always performed the sacrifice, slaying the animal, and showing the +flesh to the sacred fire by way of consecration, after which it was +eaten at a solemn feast by the priest and worshippers. + +The Zoroastrians were devout believers in the immortality of the soul +and a conscious future existence. They taught that immediately after +death the souls of men, both good and bad, proceeded together along an +appointed path to "the bridge of the gatherer" (chinvatperetu). This was +a narrow road conducting to heaven or paradise, over which the souls of +the pious alone could pass, while the wicked fell from it into the gulf +below, where they found themselves in the place of punishment. The good +soul was assisted across the bridge by the angel Serosh--"the happy, +well-formed, swift, tall Serosh"--who met the weary wayfarer and +sustained his steps as he effected the difficult passage. The prayers +of his friends in this world were of much avail to the deceased, +and greatly, helped him on his journey. As he entered, the archangel +Vohu-mano or Bahman rose from his throne and greeted him with the words, +"How happy art thou who hast come here to us from the mortality to the +immortality!" Then the pious soul went joyfully onward to Ahura-mazda, +to the immortal saints, to the golden throne, to Paradise. As for the +wicked, when they fell into the gulf, they found themselves in outer +darkness, in the kingdom of Angro-mainyus, where they were forced to +remain and to feed upon poisoned banquets. + +It is believed by some that the doctrine of the resurrection of the +body was also part of the Zoroastrian creed. Theopompus assigned this +doctrine to the Magi; and there is no reason to doubt that it was +held by the priestly caste of the Arian nations in his day. We find it +plainly stated in portions of the Zendavesta, which, if not among the +earliest, are at any rate of very considerable antiquity, as in the +eighteenth chapter of the Vendidad. It is argued that even in the +Gathas there is an expression used which shows the doctrine to have +been already held when they were composed; but the phrase adduced is so +obscure that its true meaning must be pronounced in the highest degree +uncertain. The absence of any plain allusion to the resurrection from +the earlier portions of the sacred volume is a strong argument against +its having formed any part of the original Arian creed--an argument +which is far from outweighed by the occurrence of a more possible +reference to it in a single ambiguous passage. + +Around and about this nucleus of religious belief there grew up in +course of time a number of legends, some of which possess considerable +interest. Like other thoughtful races, the Iranians speculated upon the +early condition of mankind, and conceived a golden age, and a king +then reigning over a perfectly happy people, whom they called King +Yima--Yima-khshaeta--the modern Persian Jemshid. Yima, according to the +legend, had dwelt originally in Aryanem vaejo--the primitive seat of the +Arians--and had there reigned gloriously and peacefully for awhile; but +the evils of winter having come upon his country, he had removed from it +with his subjects, and had retired to a secluded spot where he and +his people enjoyed uninterrupted happiness. In this place was "neither +overbearing nor mean-spiritedness, neither stupidity nor violence, +neither poverty nor deceit, neither puniness nor deformity, neither huge +teeth nor bodies beyond the usual meassure." The inhabitants suffered no +defilement from the evil spirit. They dwelt amid odoriferous trees and +golden pillars; their cattle were the largest, best, and most beautiful +on the earth; they were themselves a tall and beautiful race; their food +was ambrosial, and never failed them. No wonder that time sped fast with +them, and that they, not noting its night, thought often that what was +really a year had been no more than a single day. Yima was the great +hero of the early Iranians. His titles, besides "the king" (khshaeta), +are "the brilliant," "the happy," "the greatly wealthy," "the leader +of the peoples," "the renowned in Aryanem vaejo." He is most probably +identical with the Yama of the Vedas, who was originally the first man, +the progenitor of mankind and the ruler of the blessed in Paradise, but +who was afterwards transformed into "the god of death, the inexorable +judge of men's doings, and the punisher of the wicked." + +Next in importance to Yima among the heroes is Thraetona--the modern +Persian Feridun. He was born in Varena--which is perhaps Atropatene, or +Azerbijan--and was the son of a distinguished father, Athwyo. His chief +exploit was the destruction of Ajis-dahaka (Zohak), who is sometimes +represented as a cruel tyrant, the bitter enemy of the Iranian race, +sometimes as a monstrous dragon, with three mouths, three tails, six +eyes, and a thousand scaly rings, who threatened to ruin the whole of +the good creation. The traditional scene of the destruction was the +mountain of Demavend, the highest peak of the Elburz range south of the +Caspian. Thraetona, like Yima, appears to be also a Vedic hero. He may +be recognized in Traitana, who is said in the Rig-Veda to have slain a +mighty giant by severing his head from his shoulders. + +A third heroic personage known in the early times was Keresaspa, of the +noble Sama family. He was the son of Thrita--a distinct personage from +Thraetona--and brother of Urvakh-shaya the Just and was bred up in the +arid country of Veh-keret (Khorassan). The "glory" which had rested upon +Yima so many years became his in his day. He was the mightiest among +the mighty, and was guarded from all danger by the fairy (pairika) +Enathaiti, who followed him whithersoever he went. He slew Qravara, the +queen and venomous serpent, who swallowed up men and horses. He killed +Gandarewa with the golden heel, and also Cnavidhaka, who had boasted +that, when he grew up, he would make the earth his wheel and heaven +his chariot, that he would carry off Ahura-mazda from heaven and +Angro-mainyus from hell, and yoke them both as horses to his car. +Keresaspa appears as Gershasp in the modern Persian legends, where, +however, but little is said of his exploits. In the Hindoo books he +appears as Krigagva, the son of Samyama, and is called king of Vaigali, +or Bengal! + +From these specimens the general character of the early Iranic legends +appears sufficiently. Without affording any very close resemblances in +particular cases, they present certain general features which are common +to the legendary lore of all the Western Arians. They are romantic +tales, not allegories; they relate with exaggerations the deeds of men, +not the processes of nature. Combining some beauty with a good deal +that is bizarre and grotesque, they are lively and graphic, but somewhat +childish, having in no case any deep meaning, and rarely teaching a +moral lesson. In their earliest shape they appear, so far as we can +judge, to have been brief, disconnected, and fragmentary. They owe the +full and closely interconnected form which they assume in the Shahna-meh +and other modern Persian writings, partly to a gradual accretion during +the course of centuries, partly to the inventive genius of Firdausi, who +wove the various and often isolated legends into a pseudo-history, +and amplified them at his own pleasure. How much of the substance of +Firdausi's poems belongs to really primitive myth is uncertain. We +find in the Zend texts the names of Gayo-marathan, who corresponds to +Kaiomars; of Haoshyanha, or Hosheng; of Yima-shaeta, or Jemshid; of +Ajisdahaka, or Zohak; of Athwya, or Abtin; of Thraetona, or Feridun; of +Keresaspa, or Gershasp; of Kava Uq, or Kai Kavus; of Kava Hucrava, or +Kai Khosroo; and of Kava Vistaspa, or Gushtasp. But we have no mention +of Tahomars; of Gava (or Gau) the blacksmith; of Feridua's sons, Selm, +Tur, and Irij; of Zal, or Mino'chihr, or Eustem; of Afrasiab, or Kai +Kobad; of Sohrab, or Isfendiar. And of the heroic names which actually +occur in the Zendavesta, several, as Gayo-marathan, Haoshyariha, Kava +Uc, and Kava Hugrava, are met with only in the later portions, which +belong probably to about the fourth century before our era. The only +legends which we know to be primitive are those above related, which are +found in portions of the Zendavesta, whereto the best critics ascribe a +high antiquity. The negative argument is not, however, conclusive; and +it is quite possible that a very large proportion of Firdausi's tale may +consist of ancient legends dressed up in a garb comparatively modern. + +Two phases of the early Iranic religion have been now briefly described; +the first a simple and highly spiritual creed, remarkable for its +distinct assertion of monotheism, its hatred of idolatry, and the +strongly marked antithesis which it maintained between good and evil; +the second, a natural corruption of the first, Dualistic, complicated +by the importance which it ascribed to angelic beings verging upon +polytheism. It remains to give an account of a third phase into which +the religion passed in consequence of an influence exercised upon it +from without by an alien system. + +When the Iranic nations, cramped for space in the countries east and +south of the Caspian, began to push themselves further to the west, and +then to the south, they were brought into contact with various Scythic +tribes inhabiting the mountain regions of Armenia, Azerbijan, Kurdistan, +and Luristan, whose religion appears to have been Magism. It was here, +in these elevated tracts, where the mountains almost seem to reach the +skies, that the most venerated and ancient of the fire-temples were +established, some of which remain, seemingly in their primitive +condition, at the present day. [PLATE VI., Fig. 4.] Here tradition +placed the original seat of the fire-worship; and from hence many taught +that Zoroaster, whom they regarded as the founder of Magism, had sprung. +Magism was, essentially, the worship of the elements, the recognition +of fire, air, earth, and water as the only proper objects of human +reverence. The Magi held no personal gods, and therefore naturally +rejected temples, shrines, and images, as tending to encourage the +notion that gods existed of a like nature with man, i.e., possessing +personality--living and intelligent beings. Theirs was a nature worship, +but a nature worship of a very peculiar kind. They did not place gods +over the different parts of nature, like the Greeks; they did not +even personify the powers of nature, like the Hindoos; they paid their +devotion to the actual material things themselves. Fire, as the most +subtle and ethereal principle, and again as the most powerful agent, +attracted their highest regards; and on their fire-altars the sacred +flame, generally said to have been kindled from heaven, was kept burning +uninterruptedly from year to year and from age to age by bands of +priests, whose special duty it was to see that the sacred spark was +never extinguished. To defile the altar by blowing the flame with one's +breath was a capital offence; and to burn a corpse was regarded as an +act equally odious. When victims were offered to fire, nothing but a +small portion of the fat was consumed in the flame. Next to fire, water +was reverenced. Sacrifice was offered to rivers, lakes, and fountains, +the victim being brought near to them and then slain, while great care +was taken that no drop of their blood should touch the water and pollute +it. No refuse was allowed to be cast into a river, nor was it even +lawful to wash one's hands in one. Reverence for earth was shown by +sacrifice, and by abstention from the usual mode of burying the dead. + +[Illustration: PLATE VI.] + +The Magian religion was of a highly sacerdotal type. No worshipper could +perform any religious act except by the intervention of a priest, or +Magus, who stood between him and the divinity as a Mediator. The Magus +prepared the victim and slew it, chanted the mystic strain which gave +the sacrifice all its force, poured on the ground the propitiatory +libation of oil, milk, and honey, held the bundle of thin tamarisk +twigs--the Zendic barsom (baregma)--the employment of which was +essential to every sacrificial ceremony. The Magi were a priest-caste, +apparently holding their office by hereditary succession. They claimed +to possess, not only a sacred and mediatorial character, but also +supernatural prophetic powers. They explained omens, expounded dreams, +and by means of a certain mysterious manipulation of the barsom, or +bundle of twigs, arrived at a knowledge of future events, which they +communicated to the pious inquirer. + +With such pretensions it was natural that the caste should assume a +lofty air, a stately dress, and an entourage of ceremonial magnificence. +Clad in white robes, and bearing Upon their heads tall felt caps, with +long lappets at the sides, which concealed the jaw and even the lips, +each with his barsom in his hand, they marched in procession to their +pynetheia, or fire altars, and standing around them performed for an +hour at a time their magical incantations. The credulous multitude, +impressed by sights of this kind, and imposed on by the claims to +supernatural power which the Magi advanced, paid them a willing homage; +the kings and chiefs consulted them; and when the Arian tribes, pressing +westward, came into contact with the races professing the Magian +religion, they found a sacerdotal caste all-powerful in most of the +Scythic nations. + +The original spirit of Zoroastrianism was fierce and exclusive. The +early Iranians looked with contempt and hatred on the creed of their +Indian brethren; they abhorred idolatry; and were disinclined to +tolerate any religion except that which they had themselves worked out. +But with the lapse of ages this spirit became softened. Polytheistic +creeds are far less jealous than monotheism; and the development of +Zoroastrianism had been in a polytheistic direction. By the time that +the Zoroastrians were brought into contact with Magism, the first fervor +of their religious zeal had abated, and they were in that intermediate +condition of religious faith which at once impresses and is impressed, +acts upon other systems, and allows itself to be acted upon in return. +The result which supervened upon contact with Magism seems to have been +a fusion, an absorption into Zoroastrianism of all the chief points of +the Magian belief, and all the more remarkable of the Magian religious +usages. This absorption appears to have taken place in Media. It was +there that the Arian tribes first associated with themselves, and +formally adopted into their body, the priest-caste of the Magi, which +thenceforth was recognized as one of the six Median tribes. It is there +that Magi are first found acting in the capacity of Arian priests. +According to all the accounts which have come down to us, they soon +acquired a predominating influence, which they no doubt used to impress +their own religious doctrines more and more upon the nation at large, +and to thrust into the background, so far as they dared, the peculiar +features of the old Arian belief. It is not necessary to suppose that +the Medes ever apostatized altogether from the worship of Ormazd, or +formally surrendered their Dualistic faith. But, practically, the Magian +doctrines and the Magian usages--elemental worship, divination with +the sacred rods, dream expounding, incantations at the fire-altars, +sacrifices whereat a Magus officiated--seem to have prevailed; the +new predominated over the old; backed by the power of an organized +hierarchy, Magism over-laid the primitive Arian creed, and, as time went +on, tended more and more to become the real religion of the nation. + +Among the religious customs introduced by the Magi into Media there are +one or two which seem to require especial notice. The attribution of a +sacred character to the four so-called elements--earth, air, fire and +water--renders it extremely difficult to know what is to be done with +the dead. They cannot be burnt, for that is a pollution of fire; or +buried, for that is a pollution of earth; or thrown into a river, for +that is a defilement of water. If they are deposited in sarcophagi, or +exposed, they really pollute the air; but in this case the guilt of the +pollution, it may be argued, does not rest on man, since the dead body +is merely left in the element in which nature placed it. The only mode +of disposal which completely avoids the defilement of every element +is consumption of the dead by living beings; and the worship of the +elements leads on naturally to this treatment of corpses. At present the +Guebres, or Fire-worshippers, the descendants of the ancient Persians, +expose all their dead, with the intention that they shall be devoured +by birds of prey. In ancient times, it appears certain that the Magi +adopted this practice with respect to their own dead; but, apparently, +they did not insist upon having their example followed universally by +the laity. Probably a natural instinct made the Arians averse to this +coarse and revolting custom; and their spiritual guides, compassionating +their weakness, or fearful of losing their own influence over them if +they were too stiff in enforcing compliance, winked at the employment by +the people of an entirely different practice. The dead bodies were first +covered completely with a coating of wax, and were then deposited in +the ground. It was held, probably, that the coating of wax prevented the +pollution which would have necessarily resulted had the earth come into +direct contact with the corpse. + +The custom of divining by means of a number of rods appears to have +been purely Magian. There is no trace of it in the Gathas, in the Yagna +haptanhaiti, or in the older portions of the Vendidad. It was a Scythic +practice; and probably the best extant account of it is that which +Herodotus gives of the mode wherein it was managed by the Scyths of +Europe. "Scythia," he says, "has an abundance of soothsayers, who +foretell the future by means of a number of willow wands. A large bundle +of these rods is brought and laid on the ground. The soothsayer unties +the bundle, and places each wand by itself, at the same time uttering +his prophecy: then, while he is still speaking, he gathers the rods +together again, and makes them up once more into a bundle." A divine +power seems to have been regarded as resting in the wands; and they were +supposed to be "consulted" on the matter in hand, both severally and +collectively. The bundle of wands thus imbued with supernatural wisdom +became naturally part of the regular priestly costume, and was carried +by the Magi on all occasions of ceremony. The wands were of different +lengths; and the number of wands in the bundle varied. Sometimes there +were three, sometimes five, sometimes as many as seven or nine; but in +every case, as it would seem, an odd number. + +Another implement which the priests commonly bore must be regarded, not +as Magian, but as Zoroastrian. This is the khrafgthraghna, or instrument +for killing bad animals, frogs, toads, snakes, mice, lizards, flies, +etc., which belonged to the bad creation, or that which derived its +origin from Angro-mainyus. These it was the general duty of all men, +and the more especial duty of the Zoroastrian priests, to put to death, +whenever they had the opportunity. The Magi, it appears, adopted this +Arian usage, added the khrafgthraghna to the barsom, and were so zealous +in their performance of the cruel work expected from them as to excite +the attention, and even draw upon themselves the rebuke, of foreigners. + +A practice is assigned to the Magi by many classical and ecclesiastical +writers, which, if it were truly charged on them, would leave a very +dark stain on the character of their ethical system. It is said that +they allowed and even practised incest of the most horrible kind--such +incest as we are accustomed to associate with the names of Lot, OEdipus, +and Herod Agrippa. The charge seems to have been first made either by +Xanthus the Lydian, or by Ctesias. It was accepted, probably without +much inquiry, by the Greeks generally, and then by the Romans, was +repeated by writer after writer as a certain fact, and became finally a +stock topic with the early Christian apologists. Whether it had any real +foundation in fact is very uncertain. Herodotus, who collects with so +much pains the strange and unusual customs of the various nations whom +he visits, is evidently quite ignorant of any such monstrous practice. +He regards the Magian religion as established in Persia, yet he holds +the incestuous marriage of Cambyses with his sister to have been +contrary to existing Persian laws. At the still worst forms of incest +of which the Magi and those under their influence are accused, Herodotus +does not even glance. No doubt, if Xanthus Lydus really made the +statement which Clemens of Alexandria assigns to him, it is an important +piece of evidence, though scarcely sufficient to prove the Magi guilty. +Xanthus was a man of little judgment, apt to relate extravagant tales; +and, as a Lydian, he may have been disinclined to cast an aspersion +on the religion of his country's oppressors. The passage in question, +however, probably did not come from Xanthus Lydus, but from a much later +writer who assumed his name, as has been well shown by a living critic. +The true original author of the accusation against the Magi and their +co-religionists seems to have been Ctesias, whose authority is far +too weak to establish a charge intrinsically so improbable. Its only +historical foundation seems to have been the fact that incestuous +marriages were occasionally contracted by the Persian kings; not, +however, in consequence of any law, or religious usage, but because in +the plenitude of their power they could set all law at defiance, and +trample upon the most sacred principles of morality and religion. + +A minor charge preferred against the Magian morality by Xanthus, or +rather by the pseudo-Xanthus, has possibly a more solid foundation. +"The Magi," this writer said, "hold their wives in common: at least +they often marry the wives of others with the free consent of their +husbands." This is really to say that among the Magians divorce was +over-facile; that wives were often put away, merely with a view to their +forming a fresh marriage, by husbands who understood and approved of the +transaction. Judging by the existing practice of the Persians, we must +admit that such laxity is in accordance with Iranic notions on the +subject of marriage--notions far less strict than those which have +commonly prevailed among civilized nations. There is, however, no other +evidence, besides this, that divorce was very common where the Magian +system prevailed; and the mere assertion of the writer who personated +Xanthus Lydus will scarcely justify us in affixing even this stigma on +the religion. + +Upon the whole, Magism, though less elevated and less pure than the +old Zoroastrian creed, must be pronounced to have possessed a certain +loftiness and picturesqueness which suited it to become the religion +of a great and splendid monarchy. The mysterious fire-altars on +the mountain-tops, with their prestige of a remote antiquity--the +ever-burning flame believed to have been kindled from on high--the +worship in the open air under the blue canopy of heaven--the long troops +of Magians in their white robes, with their strange caps, and their +mystic wands--the frequent prayers--the abundant sacrifices--the long +incantations--the supposed prophetic powers of the priest-caste--all +this together constituted an imposing whole at once to the eye and to +the mind, and was calculated to give additional grandeur to the civil +system that should be allied with it. Pure Zoroastrianism was too +spiritual to coalesce readily with Oriental luxury and magnificence, +or to lend strength to a government based on the ordinary principles of +Asiatic despotism. Magism furnished a hierarchy to support the throne, +and add splendor and dignity to the court, while they overawed the +subject-class by their supposed possession of supernatural powers, +and of the right of mediating between heaven and man. It supplied a +picturesque worship which at once gratified the senses and excited +the fancy It gave scope to man's passion for the marvellous by +its incantations, its divining-rods, its omen-reading, and its +dream-expounding. It gratified the religious scrupulosity which finds +a pleasure in making to itself difficulties, by the disallowance of +a thousand natural acts, and the imposition of numberless rules +for external purity. At the same time it gave no offence to the +anti-idolatrous spirit in which the Arians had hitherto gloried, but +rather encouraged the iconoclasm which they always upheld and practised. +It thus blended easily with the previous creed of the people, awaking no +prejudices, clashing with no interests; winning its way by an apparent +meekness and unpresumingness, while it was quite prepared, when the +fitting time came, to be as fierce and exclusive as if it had never worn +the mask of humility and moderation. + + + + +CHAPTER V. LANGUAGE AND WRITING. + + +On the language of the ancient Medes a very few observations will be +here made. It has been noticed already that the Median form of speech +was closely allied to that of the Persians. The remark of Strabo quoted +above, and another remark which he cites from Nearchus, imply at once +this fact, and also the further fact of a dialectic difference between +the two tongues. Did we possess, as some imagine that we do, materials +for tracing out this diversity, it would be proper in the present place +to enter fully on the subject, and instead of contenting ourselves with +asserting, or even proving, the substantial oneness of the languages, +it would be our duty to proceed to the far more difficult and more +complicated task of comparing together the sister dialects, and noting +their various differences. The supposition that there exist means for +such a comparison is based upon a theory that in the language of the +Zendavesta we have the true speech of the ancient people of Media, while +in the cuneiform inscriptions of the Achasmenian kings it is beyond +controversy that we possess the ancient language of Persia. It becomes +necessary, therefore, to examine this theory, in order to justify our +abstention from an inquiry on which, if the theory were sound, we should +be now called upon to enter. + +The notion that the Zend language was the idiom of ancient Media +originated with Anquetil du Perron. He looked on Zoroaster as a native +of Azerbijan, contemporary with Darius Hystaspis. His opinion was +embraced by Kleuker, Herder, and Eask; and again, with certain +modifications, by Tychsen and Heeren. These latter writers even gave a +more completely Median character to the Zendavesta, by regarding it as +composed in Media Magna, during the reign of the great Cyaxares. The +main foundation of these views was the identification of Zoroastrianism +with the Magian fire-worship, which was really ancient in Azerbijan, +and flourished in Media under the great Median monarch. But we have seen +that Magianism and Zoroastrianism were originally entirely distinct, and +that the Zendavesta in all its earlier portions belongs wholly to the +latter system. Nothing therefore is proved concerning the Zend dialect +by establishing a connection between the Medes and Magism, which was +a corrupting influence thrown in upon Zoroastrianism long after the +composition of the great bulk of the sacred writings. + +These writings themselves sufficiently indicate the place of their +composition. It was not Media, but Bactria, or at any rate the +north-eastern Iranic country, between the Bolor range and the Caspian. +This conclusion, which follows from a consideration of the various +geographical notices contained in the Zend books, had been accepted of +late years by all the more profound Zend scholars. Originated by Rhode, +it has also in its favor the names of Burnouf, Lassen, Westergaard, and +Haug. If then the Zend is to be regarded as really a local dialect, the +idiom of a particular branch of the Iranic people, there is far more +reason for considering it to be the ancient speech of Bactria than of +any other Arian country. Possibly the view is correct which recognizes +two nearly-allied dialects as existing side by side in Iran during its +flourishing period--one prevailing towards the west, the other towards +the east--one Medo-Persic, the other Sogdo-Bactrian--the former +represented to us by the cuneiform inscriptions, the latter by the Zend +texts. Or it may be closer to the truth to recognize in the Zendic and +Achsemenian forms of speech, not so much two contemporary idioms, as two +stages of one and the same language, which seems to be at present the +opinion of the best comparative philologists. In either case Media can +claim no special interest in Zend, which, if local, is Sogdo-Bactrian, +and if not local is no more closely connected with Media than with +Persia. + +It appears then that we do not at present possess any means of +distinguishing the shades of difference which separated the. Median from +the Persian speech. We have in fact no specimens of the former beyond a +certain number of words, and those chiefly proper names, whereas we know +the latter tolerably completely from the inscriptions. It is proposed +under the head of the "Fifth Monarchy" to consider at some length the +general character of the Persian language as exhibited to us in these +documents. From the discussion then to be raised may be gathered the +general character of the speech of the Medes. In the present place all +that will be attempted is to show how far the remnants left us of Median +speech bear out the statement that, substantially, one and the same +tongue was spoken by both peoples. + +Many Median names are absolutely identical with Persian; e.g., +Ariobarzanes, Artabazus, Artaeus, Artembares, Harpagus, Arbaces, +Tiridates, etc. Others which are not absolutely identical approach +to the Persian form so closely as to be plainly mere variants, like +Theodoras and Theodosius, Adelbert and Ethelbert, Miriam, Mariam, and +Mariamne. Of this kind are Intaphres, another form of Intaphernes, +Artynes, another form of Artanes, Parmises, another form of Parmys, and +the like. A third class, neither identical with any known Persian names, +nor so nearly approaching to them as to be properly considered mere +variants, are made up of known Persian roots, and may be explained +on exactly the same principles as Persian names. Such are Ophernes, +Sitraphernes, Mitraphernes, Megabernes, Aspadas, Mazares, Tachmaspates, +Xathrites, Spitaces, Spitamas, Ehambacas, and others. In Ophernes, +Sitra-phernes, Mitra-phernes, and Mega-bernes, the second element +is manifestly the pharna or frana which is found in Arta-phernes and +Inta-phernes (Vida-frana), an active participial form from pri, to +protect. The initial element in O-phernes represents the Zend hu, Sans, +su, Greek ev, as the same letter does in O-manes, O-martes, etc. The +Sitra of Sitra-phernes has been explained as probably Ichshatra, "the +crown," which is similarly represented in the Safro-pates of Curtius, a +name standing to Sitra-phernes exactly as Arta-patas to Arta-phernes. In +Mega-bernes the first element is the well-known baga, "God," under +the form commonly preferred by the Greeks; and the name is exactly +equivalent to Curtius's Bagfo-phanes, which only differs from it by +taking the participle of pa, "to protect," instead of the participle +of pri, which has the same meaning. In Aspa-das it is easy to recognize +aspa, "horse" (a common root in Persian names,) e.g., Aspa-thines, +Aspa-mitras, Prex-aspes, and the like, followed by the same element +which terminates the name of Oromaz-des, and which means either +"knowing" or "giving." Ma-zares presents us with the root meh, "much" or +"great," which is found in the name of the ilf-aspii, or "Big Horses," +a Persian tribe, followed by zara, "gold," which appears in Ctesias's +"Arto-awes," and perhaps also in Zoro-aster. In Tachmaspates, the +first element is takhma, "strong," a root found in the Persian names +Ar-tochmes and Tritan-taechmes, while the second is the frequently +used pati, "lord," which occurs as the initial element in Pak-zeithes," +Pafa-ramphes, etc., and as the terminal in Pharna-jjates, Avio-peithes, +and the like. In Xathrites we have clearly khshatra (Zend khshathra), +"crown" or "king," with a participial suffix -ita, corresponding to the +Sanscrit participle in -it. Spita-ces and Spita-mas contain the root +spita, equivalent to spenta, "holy," which is found in Spitho-hates, +Spita-mens, Spita-des, etc. This, in Spita-ces, is followed by a +guttural ending, which is either a diminutive corresponding to the +modern Persian -efc, or perhaps a suffixed article. In Spit-amas, the +suffix -mas is the common form of the superlative, and may be compared +with the Latin -mus in optimus, intimus, supremus, and the like. +Ehambacas contains the root rafno, "joy, pleasure," which we find in +Pati-ramphies, followed by the guttural suffix. + +There remains, finally, a class of Median names, containing roots not +found in any known names of Persians, but easily explicable from Zend, +Sanscrit, or other cognate tongues, and therefore not antagonistic to +the view that Median and Persian were two closely connected dialects. +Such, for instance, are the royal names mentioned by Herodotus, Deioces, +Phraortes, Astyages, and Cyaxares; and such also are the following, +which come to us from various sources; Amytis, Astibaras, Armamithres or +Harmamithres, Mandauces, Parsondas, Eama-tes, Susiscanes, Tithaous, and +Zanasanes. + +In Deioces, or (as the Latins write it) Dejoces, there can be little +doubt that we have the name given as Djohak or Zohak in the Shahnameh +and other modern Persian writings, which is itself an abbreviation of +the Ajis-dahaka of the Zendavesta. Dahaka means in Zend "biting," or +"the biter," and is etymo-logically connected with the Greek. + +Phraortes, which in old Persian was Fravartish, seems to be a mere +variant of the word which appears in the Zendavesta as fravashi, and +designates each man's tutelary genius. The derivation is certainly from +fra, and probably from a root akin to the German wahren, French garder, +English "ward, watch," etc. The meaning is "a protector." + +Cyaxares, the Persian form of which was "Uvakhshatara," seems to be +formed from the two elements it or hu, "well, good," and akhsha (Zend +arsnd), "the eye," which is the final element of the name Cyavarswa in +the Zendavesta. Cyavarsna is "dark-eyed;" Uvakhsha (= Zend Huvarsna) +would be "beautiful-eyed." Uvakhshatara appears to be the comparative +of this adjective, and would mean "more beautiful-eyed (than others)." + +Astyages, which, according to Moses of Chorene, meant "a dragon" or +"serpent," is almost certainly Ajis-dahaka, the full name whereof +Dojoces (or Zohak) is the abbreviation. It means "the biting snake," +from aji or azi, "a snake" or "serpent," and dahaka, "biting." + +Amytis is probably ama, "active, great," with the ordinary feminine +suffix -iti, found in Armaiti, Khnathaiti, and the like. Astibaras +is perhaps "great of bone," from Zend agta (Sans, asthi), "bone," and +bereza, "tall, great." Harmamithres, if that is the true reading, +would be "mountain-lover" (monticolus), from hardam, ace. of hara, "a +mountain," and mithra or mitra, "fond of." If, however, the name should +be read as Armamithres, the probable derivation will be from rama, ace. +of raman, "pleasure," which is also the root of Rama-tea. Armamithres +may then be compared with Rheomithres, Siromitras, and Sysimithres, +which are respectively "fond of splendor," "fond of beauty," and "fond +of light." Mandauces is perhaps "biting spirit--esprit mordant," from +mand, "coeur, esprit," and dahaka, "biting." M Parsondas can scarcely +be the original form, from the occurrence in it of the nasal before the +dental. In the original it must have been Parsodas, which would mean +"liberal, much giving," from pourus, "much," and da, "to give." Ramates, +as already observed, is from rama, "pleasure." It is an adjectival form, +like Datis, and means probably "pleasant, agreeable." Susiscanes may be +explained as "splendidus juvenis," from quc, "splendere," pres. part, +cao-cat, and kainin, "adolescens, juvenis." Tithaeus is probably for +Tathaeus, which would be readily formed from tatka, "one who makes." +Finally, Zanasanes may be referred to the root zan or jan, "to kill," +which is perhaps simply followed by the common appellative suffix -ana. + +From these names of persons we may pass to those of places in Media, +which equally admit of explanation from roots known to have existed +either in Zend or in old Persian. Of these, Ecbatana, Bagistana, and +Aspadana may be taken as convenient specimens. Ecbatana (or Agbatana), +according to the orthography of the older Greeks was in the native +dialect Hagmatana, as appears from the Behistun inscription. This form, +Hagmatana, is in all probability derived from the three words ham, +"with" (Sans, sam, Latin cum), gam, "to go" (Zend gd, Sans, 'gam), and +ctana (Mod. Pers. -stan) "a place." The initial ham has dropped the +m and become ha, and cum becomes co- in Latin; gam has become gma +by metathesis; and gtan has passed into -tan by phonetic corruption. +Ha-gma-tana would be "the place for assembly," or for "coming together" +(Lat. comitium); the place, i.e., where the tribes met, and where, +consequently, the capital grew up. + +Bagistan, which was "a hill sacred to Jupiter" according to Diodorus, +is clearly a name corresponding to the Beth-el of the Hebrews and the +Allahabad of the Mahometans. It is simply "the house, or place, of +God"--from baga, "God," and gtana, "place, abode," the common modern +Persian terminal (compare Farsi-stan, Khuzi-stan, Afghani-stan, +Belochi-stan, Hindu-stan, etc.), which has here not suffered any +corruption. + +Aspadana contains certainly as its first element the root acpa, "horse." +The suffix dan may perhaps be a corruption of ctana, analogous to that +which has produced Hama-dan from Hagma-ctan; or it may be a contracted +form of danhu, or dairihu, "a-province," Aspadana having been originally +the name of a district where horses were bred, and having thence become +the name of its chief town. + +The Median words known to us, other than names of persons or places, are +confined to some three or four. Herodotus tells us that the Median word +for "dog" was spaka; Xenophon implies, if he does not expressly state, +that the native name for the famous Median robe was candys; Nicolas of +Damascus informs us that the Median couriers were called Angari; and +Hesychius says that the artabe was a Median measure. The last-named +writer also states that artades and devas were Magian words, which +perhaps implies that they were common to the Medes with the Persians. +Here, again, the evidence, such as it is, favors a close connection +between the languages of Media and Persia. + +That artabe and angarus were Persian words no less than Median, we have +the evidence of Herodotus. Artades, "just men" (according to Hesychhis), +is probably akin to ars, "true, just," and may represent the ars-data, +"made just," of the Zendavesta. Devas (Seven), which Hesychius +translates "the evil gods" is clearly the Zendic daiva, Mod. Pers. div. +(Sans, deva, Lat. divus). In candys we have most probably a formation +from qan, "to dress, to adorn." Spaka is the Zendic cpa, with the +Scythic guttural suffix, of which the Medes were so fond, cpa itself +being akin to the Sanscrit cvan, and so to hvoov and canis. Thus we may +connect all the few words which are known as Median with forms contained +in the Zend, which was either the mother or the elder sister of the +ancient Persian. + +That the Medes were acquainted with the art of writing, and practised +it--at least from the time that they succeeded to the dominion of the +Assyrians--scarcely admits of a doubt. An illiterate nation, which +conquers one in possession of a literature, however it may despise +learning and look down upon the mere literary life, is almost sure to +adopt writing to some extent on account of its practical utility. It +is true the Medes have left us no written monuments; and we may fairly +conclude from that fact that they used writing sparingly; but besides +the antecedent probability, there is respectable evidence that letters +were known to them, and that, at any rate, their upper classes could +both read and write their native tongue. The story of the letter sent +by Harpagus the Mede to Cyrus in the belly of a hare, though probably +apocryphal, is important as showing the belief of Herodotus on the +subject. The still more doubtful story of a despatch written on +parchment by a Median king, Artseus, and sent to Nanarus, a provincial +governor, related by Nicolas of Damascus, has a value, as indicating +that writer's conviction that the Median monarchs habitually conveyed +their commands to their subordinates in a written form. With these +statements of profane writers agree certain notices which we find in +Scripture. Darius the Mode, shortly after the destruction of the Median +empire, "signs" a decree, which his chief nobles have presented to him +in writing. He also himself "writes" another decree addressed to his +subjects generally. In later times we find that there existed at the +Persian court a "book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and +Persia," in which was probably a work begun under the Median and +continued under the Persian sovereigns. + +If then writing was practised by the Medes, it becomes interesting to +consider whence they obtained their knowledge of it, and what was the +system which they employed. Did they bring an alphabet with them from +the far East, or did they derive their first knowledge of letters +from the nations with whom they came into contact after their great +migration? In the latter case, did they adopt, with or without +modifications, a foreign system, or did they merely borrow the idea of +written symbols from their new neighbors, and set to work to invent for +themselves an alphabet suited to the genius of their own tongue? These +are some of the questions which present themselves to the mind as +deserving of attention, when this subject is brought before it. +Unfortunately we possess but very scanty data for determining, and can +do little more than conjecture, the proper answers to be given to them. + +The early composition of certain portions of the Zendavesta, which has +been asserted in this work, may seem at first sight to imply the use +of a written character in Bactria and the adjacent countries at a very +remote era. But such a conclusion is not necessary. Nations have often +had an oral literature, existing only in the memories of men, and have +handed down such a literature from generation to generation, through +a long succession of ages. The sacred lore of Zoroaster may have been +brought by the Modes from the East-Caspian country in an unwritten +shape, and may not have been reduced to writing till many centuries +later. On the whole it is perhaps most probable that the Medes were +unacquainted with letters when they made their great migration, and that +they acquired their first knowledge of them from the races with whom +they came into collision when they settled along the Zagros chain. In +these regions they were brought into contact with at least two forms of +written speech, one that of the old Armenians, a Turanian dialect, the +other that of the Assyrians, a language of the Semitic type. These two +nations used the same alphabetic system, though their languages were +utterly unlike; and it would apparently have been the easiest plan +for the new comers to have adopted the established forms, and to have +applied them, so far as was possible, to the representation of their own +speech. But the extreme complication of a system which employed between +three and four hundred written signs, and composed signs sometimes of +fourteen or fifteen wedges, seems to have shocked the simplicity of the +Medes, who recognized the fact that the varieties of their articulations +fell far short of this excessive luxuriance. The Arian races, so far +as appears, declined to follow the example set them by the Turanians of +Armenia, who had adopted the Assyrian alphabet, and preferred to invent +a new system for themselves, which they determined to make far more +simple. It is possible that they found an example already set them. +In Achaemenian times we observe two alphabets used through Media and +Persia, both of which are simpler than the Assyrian: one is employed to +express the Turanian dialect of the people whom the Arians conquered and +dispossessed; the other, to express the tongue of the conquerors. It +is possible--though we have no direct evidence of the fact--that +the Turanians of Zagros and the neighborhood had already formed for +themselves the alphabet which is found in the second columns of the +Achaemenian tablets, when the Arian invaders conquered them. This +alphabet, which in respect of complexity holds an intermediate position +between the luxuriance of the Assyrian and the simplicity of the +Medo-Persic system, would seem in all probability to have intervened +in order of time between the two. It consists of no more than about a +hundred characters, and these are for the most part far less complicated +than those of Assyria. If the Medes found this form of writing already +existing in Zagros when they arrived, it may have assisted to give them +the idea of making for themselves an alphabet so far on the old model +that the wedge should be the sole element used in the formation, of +letters, but otherwise wholly new, and much more simple than those +previously in use. + +Discarding then the Assyrian notion of a syllabarium, with the enormous +complication which it involves, the Medes strove to reduce sounds to +their ultimate elements, and to represent these last alone by symbols. +Contenting themselves with the three main vowel sounds, a,i, and u, and +with one breathing, a simple h, they recognized twenty consonants, +which were the following, b,d,f,g,j,k,kh,m,n,n (sound doubtful), +p,r,s,sh,t,v,y,z,ch (as in much), and tr, an unnecessary compound. Had +they stopped here, their characters should have been but twenty-four, +the number which is found in Greek. To their ears, however, it would +seem, each consonant appeared to carry with it a short a, and as this, +occurring before i and u, produced the diphthongs ai and au, sounded +nearly as e and o, it seemed necessary, where a consonant was to be +directly followed by the sounds i or u, to have special forms to which +the sound of a should not attach. This system, carried out completely, +would have raised the forms of consonants to sixty, a multiplication +that was feared as inconvenient. In order to keep down the number, +it seems to have been resolved, that one form should suffice for the +aspirated letters and the sibilants (viz., h,kh; ch,ph or f,s,sh, and +z), and also for b,y, and tr; that two forms should suffice for the +tenues, k,p,t, for the liquids n and r, and for v; and consequently that +the full number of three forms should be limited to some three or +four letters, as d, m, j, and perhaps g. The result is that the known +alphabet of the Persians, which is assumed here to have been the +invention of the Medes, consists of some thirty-six or thirty-seven +forms, which are really representative of no more than twenty-three +distinct sounds. + +It appears then that, compared with the phonetic systems in vogue among +their neighbors, the alphabet of the Medes and Persians was marked by +a great simplicity. The forms of the letters were also very much +simplified. Instead of conglomerations of fifteen or sixteen wedges in +a single character, we have in the Medo-Persic letters a maximum of five +wedges. The most ordinary number is four, which is sometimes reduced +to three or even two. The direction of the wedges is uniformly either +perpendicular or horizontal, except of course in the case of the double +wedge or arrow-head, where the component elements are placed obliquely. +The arrow-head has but one position, the perpendicular, with the angle +facing towards the left hand. The only diagonal sign used is a simple +wedge, placed obliquely with the point towards the right, which is a +mere mark of separation between the words. + +The direction of the writing was, as with the Arian nations generally, +from left to right. Words were frequently divided, and part carried on +to the next line. The characters were inscribed between straight lines +drawn from end to end of the tablet on which they were written. Like the +Hebrew, they often closely resembled one another, and a slight defect in +the stone will cause one to be mistaken for another. The resemblance is +not between letters of the same class or kind; on the contrary, it +is often between those which are most remote from one another. Thus g +nearly resembles u; ch is like d; tr like p; and so on: while k and kh, +s and sh, p and ph (or J) are forms quite dissimilar. + +It is supposed that a cuneiform alphabet can never have been employed +for ordinary writing purposes, but must have been confined to documents +of some importance, which it was desirable to preserve, and which +were therefore either inscribed on stone, or impressed on moist clay +afterwards baked. A cursive character, it is therefore imagined, must +always have been in use, parallel with a cuneiform one; and as the +Babylonians and Assyrians are known to have used a character of this +kind from a very high antiquity, synchronously with their lapidary +cuneiform, so it is supposed that the Arian races must have possessed, +besides the method which has been described as a cursive system of +writing. Of this, however, there is at present no direct evidence. No +cursive writing of the Arian nations at this time, either Median or +Persian, has been found; and it is therefore uncertain what form of +character they employed on common occasions. + +The material used for ordinary purposes, according to Nicolas of +Damascus and Ctesias, was parchment. On this the kings wrote the +despatches which conveyed their orders to the officers who administered +the government of provinces; and on this were inscribed the memorials +which each monarch was careful to have composed giving an account of the +chief events of his reign. The cost of land carriage probably prevented +papyrus from superseding this material in Western Asia, as it did in +Greece at a tolerably early date. Clay, so much used for writing on both +in Babylonia and Assyria, appears never to have approved itself as a +convenient substance to the Iranians. For public documents the chisel +and the rock, for private the pen and the prepared skin, seem to have +been preferred by them; and in the earlier times, at any rate, they +employed no other materials. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. CHRONOLOGY AND HISTORY. + + +Media . . . quam ante regnum Cyri superlovis et incrementa Persidos +legimus Asiae reginam totius.--Amm. Marc, xxiii. 6. + + +The origin of the Median nation is wrapt in a profound obscurity. +Following the traces which the Zendavesta offers, taking into +consideration its minute account of the earlier Arian migrations, its +entire omission of any mention of the Medes, and the undoubted fact that +it was nevertheless by the Medes and Persians that the document itself +was preserved and transmitted to us, we should be naturally led to +suppose that the race was one which in the earlier times of Arian +development was weak and insignificant, and that it first pushed itself +into notice after the ethnological portions of the Zendavesta were +composed, which is thought to have been about B.C. 1000. Quite in +accordance with this view is the further fact that in the native +Assyrian annals, so far as they have been, recovered, the Medes do not +make their appearance till the middle of the ninth century B.C., and +when they appear are weak and unimportant, only capable of opposing a +very slight resistance to the attacks of the Ninevite kings. The natural +conclusion from these data would appear to be that until about B.C. 850 +the Median name was unknown in the world, and that previously, if Medes +existed at all, it was either as a sub-tribe of some other Arian race, +or at any rate as a tribe too petty and insignificant to obtain mention +either on the part of native or of foreign historians. Such early +insignificance and late development of what ultimately becomes the +dominant tribe of a race is no strange or unprecedented phenomenon to +the historical inquirer; on the contrary, it is among the facts with +which he is most familiar, and would admit of ample illustration, were +the point worth pursuing, alike from the history of the ancient and the +modern world. + +But, against the conclusion to which we could not fail to be led by +the Arian and Assyrian records, which agree together so remarkably, two +startling notices in works of great authority but of a widely different +character have to be set. In the Toldoth Beni Noah, or "Book of the +Generation of the Sons of Noah," which forms the tenth chapter of +Genesis, and which, if the work of Moses, was probably composed at +least as early as B.C. 1500, we find the Madai--a word elsewhere always +signifying "the Medes"--in the genealogy of the sons of Japhet. The word +is there conjoined with several other important ethnic titles, as Gomer, +Magog, Javan, Tubal, and Meshech; and there can be no reasonable doubt +that it is intended to designate the Median people. If so, the people +must have had already a separate and independent existence in the +fifteenth century B.C., and not only so, but they must have by that time +attained so much distinction as to be thought worthy of mention by +a writer who was only bent on affiliating the more important of the +nations known to him. + +The other notice is furnished by Berosus. That remarkable historian, +in his account of the early dynasties of his native Chaldaea, declared +that, at a date anterior to B.C. 2000, the Medes had conquered Babylon +by a sudden inroad, had established a monarchy there, and had held +possession of the city and neighboring territory for a period of 224 +years. Eight kings of their race had during that interval occupied the +Babylonian throne, It has been already observed that this narrative must +represent a fact. Berosus would not have gratuitously invented a foreign +conquest of his native land; nor would the earlier Babylonians, from +whom he derived his materials, have forged a tale which was so little +flattering to their national vanity. Some foreign conquest of Babylon +must have taken place about the period named; and it is certainly a most +important fact that Berosus should call the conquerors Medes. He may no +doubt have been mistaken about an event so ancient; he may have misread +his authorities, or he may have described as Medes a people of which he +really knew nothing except that they had issued from the tract which +in his own time bore the name of Media. But, while these axe mere +possibilities, hypotheses to which the mind resorts in order to escape +a difficulty, the hard fact remains that he has used the word; and this +fact, coupled with the mention of the Medes in the book of Genesis, does +certainly raise a presumption of no inconsiderable strength against, +the view which it would be natural to take if the Zendavesta and the +Assyrian annals were our solo authorities on the subject. It lends a +substantial basis to the theories of those who regard the Medes as one +of the principal primeval races; who believe that they were well known +to the Semitic inhabitants of the Mesopotamian valley as early as the +twenty-third century before Christ--long ere Abraham left Ur for Harran; +and that they actually formed the dominant power in Western Asia +for more than two centuries, prior to the establishment of the first +Chaldaean kingdom. + +And if there are thus distinct historical grounds for the notion of an +early Median development, there are not wanting these obscurer but to +many minds more satisfactory proofs wherewith comparative philology +and ethnology are wont to illustrate and confirm the darker passages of +ancient history. Recent linguistic research has clearly traced among the +Arba Lisun, or, "Four Tongues" of ancient Chaldaea, which are so often +mentioned on the ancient monuments, an Arian formation, such as would +naturally have been left in the country, if it had been occupied for +some considerable period by a dominant Arian power. The early Chaldaean +ideographs have often several distinct values; and when this is the +case, one of the powers is almost always an Arian name of the object +represented. Words like nir, "man", ar, "river," (compare the names +Aras, Araxes, Endanus, Rha, Rhodanus, etc., the Slavonic rika, "river," +etc.), san, "sun," (compare German Sonne, Slavonic solnce, English +"sun," Dutch zon, etc.), are seemingly Arian roots; and the very +term "Arian" (Ariya, "noble") is perhaps contained in the name of a +primitive Chaldaean monarch, "Arioch, king of Ellasar." There is +nothing perhaps in these scattered traces of Arian influence in in Lower +Mesopotamia at a remote era that points very particularly to the Medes; +but at any rate they harmonize with the historical account that has +reached us of early Arian power in these parts, and it is important that +they should not be ignored when we are engaged in considering the degree +of credence that is to be awarded to the account in question. + +Again, there are traces of a vast expansion, apparently at a very early +date, of the Median race, such as seems to imply that they must have +been a great nation in Western Asia long previously to the time of the +Iranic movements in Bactria and the adjoining regions. In the Matieni +of Zagros and Cappadocia, in the Sauro-matae (or Northern Medes) of the +country between the Palus Maeotis and the Caspian, in the Maetae or +Maeotae of the tract about the mouth of the Don, and in the Maedi of +Thrace, we have seemingly remnants of a great migratory host which, +starting from the mountains that overhang Mesopotamia, spread itself +into the regions of the north and the north-west at a time which +does not admit of being definitely stated, but which is clearly +anti-historic. Whether these races generally retained any tradition of +their origin, we do not know; but a tribe which in the time of Herodotus +dwelt still further to the west than even the Maedi--to wit, the +Sigynnae, who occupied the tract between the Adriatic and the +Danube--had a very distinct belief in their Median descent, a belief +confirmed by the resemblance which their national dress bore to that of +the Medes. Herodotus, who relates these facts concerning them, appends +an expression of his astonishment at the circumstance that emigrants +from Media should have proceeded to such a distance from their original +home; how it had been brought about he could not conceive. "Still," he +sagaciously remarks, "nothing is impossible in the long lapse of ages." + +A further argument in favor of the early development of Median power, +and the great importance of the nation in Western Asia at a period +anterior to the ninth century, is derivable from the ancient legends +of the Greeks, which seem to have designated the Medes under the two +eponyms of Medea and Andromeda. These legends indeed do not admit of +being dated with any accuracy; but as they are of a primitive type, and +probably older than Homer, we cannot well assign them to an age later +than b.c. 1000. Now they connect the Median name with the two countries +of Syria and Colchis, countries remote from each other, and neither of +them sufficiently near the true Median territory to be held from it, +unless at a time when the Medes were in possession of something like +an empire. And, even apart from any inferences to be drawn from the +localties which the Greek Myths connect with the Medes, the very fact +that the race was known to the Greeks at this early date--long before +the movements which brought them into contact with the Assyrians--would +seem to show that there was some remote period--prior to the Assyrian +domination--when the fame of the Medes was great in the part of Asia +known to the Hellenes, and that they did not first attract Hellenic +notice (as, but for the Myths, we might have imagined) by the conquests +of Cyaxarea. Thus, on the whole it would appear that we must acknowledge +two periods of Median prosperity, separated from each other by a lengthy +interval, one anterior to the rise of the Cushite empire in Lower +Babylonia, the other parallel with the decline and subsequently to the +fall of Assyria. + +Of the first period it cannot be said that we possess any distinct +historical knowledge. The Median dynasty of Berosus at Babylon appears, +by recent discoveries, to have represented those Susianian monarchs who +bore sway there from B.C. 2286 to 2052. The early Median preponderance +in Western Asia, if it is a fact, must have been anterior to this, and +is an event which has only left traces in ethnological names and in +mythological speculations. + +Our historical knowledge of the Medes as a nation commences in +the latter half of the ninth century before our era. Shalmaneser +II.--probably the "Shalman" of Hosea,--who reigned from B.C. 859 to B.C. +824--relates that in his twenty-fourth year (B.C. 885), after having +reduced to subjection the Zimri, who held the Zagros mountain range +immediately to the east of Assyria, and received tribute from the +Persians, he led an expedition into Media and Arazias, where he took and +destroyed a number of the towns, slaying the men, and carrying off the +spoil. He does not mention any pitched battle; and indeed it would seem +that he met with no serious resistance. The Medes whom he attacks +are evidently a weak and insignificant people, whom he holds in small +esteem, and regards as only deserving of a hurried mention. They seem +to occupy the tract now known as Ardelan--a varied region containing +several lofty ridges, with broad plains lying between them. + +It is remarkable that the time of this first contact of Media with +Assyria--a contact taking place when Assyria was in her prime, and Media +was only just emerging from a long period of weakness and obscurity--is +almost exactly that which Ctesias selects as a day of the great +revolution whereby the Empire of the East passed from the hands of the +Shemites into those of the Arians. The long residence of Otesias among +the Persians, gave him a bias toward that people, which even extended to +their close kin, the Medes. Bent on glorifying these two Arian races, +he determined to throw back the commencement of their empire to a period +long anterior to the true date; and, feeling specially anxious to cover +up their early humiliation, he assigned their most glorious conquests +to the very century, and almost to the very time, when they were in fact +suffering reverses at the hands of the people over whom he represented +them as triumphant. There was a boldness in the notion of thus inverting +history which almost deserved, and to a considerable extent obtained, +success. The "long chronology" of Ctesias kept its ground until +recently, not indeed meeting with universal acceptance, but on the whole +predominating over the "short chronology" of Herodotus; and it may be +doubted whether anything less than the discovery that the native records +of Assyria entirely contradicted Ctesias would have sufficed to drive +from the field his figment of early Median dominion. + +The second occasion upon which we hear of the Medes in the Assyrian +annals is in the reign of Shalmanoser's son and successor, Shamas-Vul. +Here again, as on the former occasion, the Assyrians were the +aggressors. Shamas-Vul invaded Media and Arazias in his third year, and +committed ravages similar to those of his father, wasting the country +with fire and sword, but not (it would seem) reducing the Medes to +subjection, or even attempting to occupy their territory. Again the +attack is a mere raid, which produces no permanent impression. + +It is in the reign of the son and successor of Shamas-Vul that the Medes +appear for the first time to have made their submission and accepted +the position of Assyrian tributaries. A people which was unable to offer +effectual resistance when the Assyrian levies invaded their country, and +which had no means of retaliating upon their foe or making him suffer +the evils that he inflicted, was naturally tempted to save itself from +molestation by the payment of an annual tribute, so purchasing quiet at +the expense of honor and independence. Towards the close of the ninth +century B.C. the Medes seem to have followed the example set them very +much earlier by their kindred and neighbors, the Persians, and to +have made arrangements for an annual payment which should exempt their +territory from ravage. It is doubtful whether the arrangement was made +by the whole people. The Median tribes at this time hung so loosely +together that a policy adopted by one portion of them might be entirely +repudiated by another. Most probably the tribute was paid by those +tribes only which boarded on Zagros, and not by those further to the +east or to the north, into whose territories the Assyrian arms has not +yet penetrated. + +No further change in the condition of the Medes is known to have +occurred until about a hundred years later, when the Assyrians ceased +to be content with the semi-independent position which had been hitherto +allowed them, and determined on their more complete subjugation. The +great Sargon, the assailant of Egypt and conqueror of Babylon, towards +the middle of his reign, invaded Media with a large army, and having +rapidly overrun the country, seized several of the towns, and "annexed +them to Assyria," while at the same time he also established in new +situations a number of fortified posts. The object was evidently to +incorporate Media into the empire; and the posts wore stations in which +a standing army was placed, to overawe the natives and prevent them from +offering an effectual resistance. With the same view deportation of the +people on a large scale seems to have been practised and the gaps +thus made in the population were filled up--wholly or in part--by the +settlement in the Median cities of Samaritan captives. On the country +thus re-organized and re-arranged a tribute of a new character was laid. +In lieu of the money payment hitherto exacted, the Medes were required +to furnish annually to the royal stud a number of horses. It is probable +that Media was already famous for the remarkable breed which is so +celebrated in later times; and that the horses now required of her by +the Assyrians were to be of the large and highly valued kind known as +"Nisaean." + +The date of this subjugation is about B.C. 710. And here, if we compare +the Greek accounts of Median history with those far more authentic ones +which have reached us through the Assyrian contemporary records, we are +struck by a repetition of the same device which came under our notice +more than a century earlier--the device of covering up the nation's +disgraces at a particular period by assigning to that very date certain +great and striking successes. As Ctesias's revolt of the Medes under +Arbaces and conquest of Nineveh synchronizes nearly with the first known +ravages of Assyria within the territories of the Medes, so Herodotus's +revolt of the same people and commencement of their monarchy under +Deioces falls almost exactly at the date when they entirely lose their +independence. As there is no reason to suspect Herodotus either of +partiality toward the Medes or of any wilful departure from the truth, +we must regard him as imposed upon by his informants, who were probably +either Medes or Persians. These mendacious patriots found little +difficulty in palming their false tale upon the simple Halicarnassian, +thereby at once extending the antiquity of their empire and concealing +its shame behind a halo of fictitious glory. + +After their subjugation by Sargon the Medes of Media Magna appear to +have remained the faithful subjects of Assyria for sixty or seventy +years. During this period we find no notices of the great mass of the +nation in the Assyrian records: only here and there indications occur +that Assyria is stretching out her arms towards the more distant and +outlying tribes, especially those of Azerbijan, and compelling them to +acknowledge her as mistress. Sennacherib boasts that early in his +reign, about B.C. 702, he received an embassy from the remoter parts of +Media--"parts of which the kings his fathers had not even heard"--which +brought him presents in sign of submission, and patiently accepted his +yoke. His son, Esar-haddon, relates that, about his tenth year (B.C. +671) he invaded Bikni or Bikan, a distant province of Media, "whereof +the kings his fathers had never heard the name;" and, attacking the +cities of the region one after another, forced them to acknowledge his +authority. The country was held by a number of independent chiefs, each +bearing sway in his own city and adjacent territory. These chiefs have +unmistakably Arian names, as Sitriparna or Sitraphernes, Eparna or +Orphernes, Zanasana or Zanasanes, and Eamatiya or Ramates. Esar-haddon +says that, having entered the country with his army, he seized two of +the chiefs and carried them off to Assyria, together with a vast spoil +and numerous other captives. Hereupon the remaining chiefs, alarmed +for their safety, made their submission, consenting to pay an annual +tribute, and admitting Assyrian officers into their territories, who +watched, if they did not even control, the government. + +We are now approaching the time when Media seems to have been first +consolidated into a monarchy by the genius of an individual. Sober +history is forced to discard the shadowy forms of kings with which Greek +writers of more fancy than judgment have peopled the darkness that rests +upon the "origines" of the Medes. Arbaces, Maudaces, Sosarmus, Artycas, +Arbianes, Artseus, Deioces--Median monarchs, according to Ctesias or +Herodotus, during the space of time comprised within the years B.C. 875 +and 655--have to be dismissed by the modern writer without a word, +since there is reason to believe that they are mere creatures of the +imagination, inventions of unscrupulous romancers, not men who once +walked the earth. The list of Median kings in Ctesias, so far as it +differs from the list in Herodotus, seems to be a pure forgery--an +extension of the period of the monarchy by the conscious use of a system +of duplication. Each king, or period, in Herodotus occurs in the list +of Ctesias twice--a transparent device, clumsily cloaked by the cheap +expedient of a liberal invention of names. Even the list of Herodotus +requires curtailment. His Deioces, whose whole history reads more like +romance than truth--the organizer of a powerful monarchy in Media just +at the time when Sargon was building his fortified posts in the +country and peopling with his Israelite captives the old "cities of the +Medes"--the prince who reigned for above half a century in perfect +peace with his neighbors, and who, although contemporary with Sargon, +Sennacherib, Esar-haddon, and As-shur-bani-pal--all kings more or less +connected with Media--is never heard of in any of their annals, must +be relegated to the historical limbo in which repose so many "shades of +mighty names;" and the Herodotean list of Median kings must at any +rate, be thus far reduced. Nothing is more evident than that during the +flourishing period of Assyria under the great Sargonidae above named +there was no grand Median kingdom upon the eastern flank of the empire. +Such a kingdom had certainly not been formed up to B.C. 671, when +Esar-haddon reduced the more distant Medes, finding them still under the +government of a number of petty chiefs. The earliest time at which we +can imagine the consolidation to have taken place consistently with what +we know of Assyria is about B.C. 760, or nearly half a century later +than the date given by Herodotus. + +The cause of the sudden growth of Media in power about this period, and +of the consolidation which followed rapidly upon that growth, is to +be sought, apparently, in fresh migratory movements from the Arian +head-quarters, the countries east and south-east of the Caspian. The +Cyaxares who about the year B.C. 632 led an invading host of Medes +against Nineveh, was so well known to the Arian tribes of the north-east +that, when in the reign of Darius Hystaspis a Sagartian raised the +standard of revolt in that region he stated the ground of his claim to +the Sagartian throne to be descent from Cyaxares. This great chief, +it is probable, either alone, or in conjunction with his father (whom +Herodotus calls Phraortes), led a fresh emigration of Arians from the +Bacterian and Sagartian country to the regions directly east of the +Zagros mountain chain; and having thus vastly increased the strength of +the Arian race in that quarter, set himself to consolidate a mountain +kingdom capable of resisting the great monarchy of the plain. Accepted, +it would seem, as chief by the former Arian inhabitants of the tract, he +proceeded to reduce the scattered Scythic tribes which had hitherto held +possession of the high mountain region. The Zimri, Minni, Hupuska, +etc., who divided among them the country lying between Media Proper and +Assyria, were attacked and subdued without any great difficulty; and the +conqueror, finding himself thus at the head of a considerable kingdom, +and no longer in any danger of subjugation at the hands of Assyria, +began to contemplate the audacious enterprise of himself attacking +the Great Power which had been for so many hundred years the terror of +Western Asia. The supineness of Asshur-bani-pal, the Assyrian king, +who must at this time have been advanced in years, encouraged his +aspirations; and about B.C. 634, when that monarch had held the throne +for thirty-four years, suddenly, without warning, the Median troops +debouched from the passes of Zagros, and spread themselves over the rich +country at its base, Alarmed by the nearness and greatness of the peril, +the Assyrian king aroused himself, and putting himself at the head of +his troops, marched out to confront the invader. A great battle +was fought, probably somewhere in Adiabene, in which the Medes were +completely defeated: their whole army was cut to pieces; and the father +of Cyaxares was among the slain. Such was the result of the first Median +expedition against Nineveh. The assailants had miscalculated their +strength. In their own mountain country, and so long as they should +be called upon to act only on the defensive, they might be right +in regarding themselves as a match for the Assyrians; but when they +descended into the plain, and allowed their enemy the opportunity +of manoeuvering and of using his war chariots, their inferiority was +marked. Cyaxares, now, if not previously, actual king, withdrew awhile +from the war, and, convinced that all the valor of his Medes would be +unavailing without discipline, set himself to organize the army on a +new system, taking a pattern from the enemy, who had long possessed some +knowledge of tactics. Hitherto, it would seem, each Median chief had +brought into the field his band of followers, some mounted, some on +foot, foot and horse alike armed variously as their means allowed them, +some with bows and arrows, some with spears, some perhaps with slings or +darts; and the army had been composed of a number of such bodies, each +chief keeping his band close about him. Cyaxares broke up these bands, +and formed the soldiers who composed them into distinct corps, according +as they were horsemen or footmen, archers, slingers, or lancers. He +then, having completed his arrangements at his ease, without disturbance +(so far as appears) from the Assyrians, felt himself strong enough to +renew the war with a good prospect of success. Collecting as large +an army as he could, both from his Arian and his Scythic subjects, he +marched into Assyria, met the troops of Asshur-bani-pal in the field, +defeated them signally, and forced them to take refuge behind the strong +works which defended their capital. He even ventured to follow up the +flying foe and commence the siege of the capital itself; but at this +point he was suddenly checked in his career of victory, and forced to +assume a defensive attitude, by a danger of a novel kind, which recalled +him from Nineveh to his own country. + +The vast tracts, chiefly consisting of grassy plains, which lie north of +the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian, and the Jaxartes Syhun river, +were inhabited in ancient times by a race or races known to the Asiatics +as Saka, "Scythians." These people appear to have been allied ethnically +with many of the more southern races, as with the Parthians, the +Iberians, the Alarodians, the tribes of the Zagros chain, the +Susianians, and others. It is just possible that they may have taken +an interest in the warfare of their southern brethren, and that, when +Cyaxares brought the tribes of Zagros under his yoke, the Scyths of the +north may have felt resentment, or compassion, If this view seem too +improbable, considering the distance, the physical obstacles, and the +little communication that there was between nations in those early +times, we must suppose that by a mere coincidence it happened that the +subjugation of the southern Scyths by Cyaxares was followed within a few +years by a great irruption of Scyths from the trans-Caucasian region. In +that case we shall have to regard the invasion as a mere example of that +ever-recurring law by which the poor and hardy races of Upper Asia or +Europe are from time to time directed upon the effete kingdoms of the +south, to shake, ravage, or overturn them, as the case may be, and +prevent them from stagnating into corruption. + +The character of the Scythians, and the general nature of their ravages, +have been described in a former portion of this work. If they entered +Southern Asia, as seems probable, by the Daghestan route, they would +then have been able to pass on without much difficulty, through Georgia +into Azerbijan, and from Azerbijan into Media Magna, where the Medes had +now established their southern capital. Four roads lead from Azerbijan +to Hamadan or the Greater Ecbatana, one through Menjil and Kasvin, and +across the Caraghan Hills; a second through Miana, Zenjan, and the +province of Khamseh; a third by the valley of the Jaghetu, through +Chukli and Tikan-Teppeh; and a fourth through Sefer-Khaneh and Sennah. +We cannot say which of the four the invaders selected; but, as they were +passing southwards, they met the army of Cyaxares, which had quitted +Nineveh on the first news of their invasion, and had marched in hot +haste to meet and engage them. The two enemies were not ill-matched. +Both were hardy and warlike, both active and full of energy; with both +the cavalry was the chief arm, and the bow the weapon on which they +depended mainly for victory. The Medes were no doubt the better +disciplined; they had a greater variety of weapons and of soldiers; and +individually they were probably more powerful men than the Scythians; +but these last had the advantage of numbers, of reckless daring, and of +tactics that it was difficult to encounter. Moreover, the necessity of +their situation in the midst of an enemy's country made it imperative on +them to succeed, while their adversaries might be defeated without any +very grievous consequences. The Scytho had not come into Asia to conquer +so much as to ravage; defeat at their hands involved damage rather than +destruction; and the Medes must have felt that, if they lost the battle, +they might still hope to maintain a stout defence behind the strong +walls of some of their towns. The result was such as might have been +expected under these circumstances. Madyes, the Scythian leader, +obtained the victory, Cyaxares was defeated, and compelled to make terms +with the invader. Retaining his royal name, and the actual government of +his country, he admitted the suzerainty of the Scyths, and agreed to pay +them an annual tribute. Whether Media suffered very seriously from their +ravages, we cannot say. Neither its wealth nor its fertility was such +as to tempt marauders to remain in it very long. The main complaint +made against the Scythian conquerors is that, not content with the +fixed tribute which they had agreed to receive, and which was paid them +regularly, they levied contributions at their pleasure on the various +states under their sway, which were oppressed by repeated exactions. The +injuries suffered from their marauding habits form only a subordinate +charge against them, as though it had not been practically felt to be +so great a grievance. We can well imagine that the bulk of the invaders +would prefer the warmer and richer lands of Assyria, Mesopotamia, and +Syria; and that, pouring into them, they would leave the colder and less +wealthy Media comparatively free from ravage. + +The condition of Media and the adjacent countries under the Scythians +must have nearly resembled that of almost the same regions under +the Seljukian Turks during the early times of their domination. The +conquerors made no fixed settlements, but pitched their tents in any +portion of the territory that they chose. Their horses and cattle +were free to pasture on all lands equally. They were recognized as the +dominant race, were feared and shunned, but did not greatly interfere +with the bulk of their subjects. It was impossible that they should +occupy at any given time more than a comparatively few spots in the wide +tract which they had overrun and subjugated; and, consequently, +there was not much contact between them and the peoples whom they had +conquered. Such contact as there was must no doubt have been galling and +oppressive. The right of free pasture in the lands of others is always +irksome to those who have to endure it, and, even where it is exercised +with strict fairness, naturally leads to quarrels. The barbarous +Scythians are not likely to have cared very much about fairness. They +would press heavily upon the more fertile tracts, paying over-frequent +visits to such spots, and remaining in them till the region was +exhausted. The chiefs would not be able to restrain their followers +from acts of pillage; redress would be obtained with difficulty; and +sometimes even the chiefs themselves may have been sharers in the +injuries committed. The insolence, moreover, of a dominant race so +coarse and rude as the Scyths must have been very hard to bear; and we +can well understand that the various nations which had to endure the +yoke must have looked anxiously for an opportunity of shaking it off, +and recovering their independence. + +Among these various nations, there was probably none that fretted and +winced under its subjection more than the Medes. Naturally brave and +high-spirited, with the love of independence inherent in mountaineers, +and with a well-grounded pride in their recent great successes, they +must have chafed daily and hourly at the ignominy of their position, +the postponement of their hopes, and the wrongs which they continually +suffered. At first it seemed necessary to endure. They had tried the +chances of a battle, and had been defeated in fair fight--what reason +was there to hope that, if they drew the sword again, they would be more +successful? Accordingly they remained quiet but, as time went on, and +the Scythians dispersed themselves continually over a wider and a +wider space, invading Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and again +Armenia and Cappadocia, everywhere plundering and marauding, conducting +sieges, fighting battles, losing men from the sword, from sickness, from +excesses, becoming weaker instead of stronger, as each year went by, +owing to the drain of constant wars--the Medes by degrees took heart. +Not trusting, however, entirely to the strength of their right arms, a +trust which had failed them once, they resolved to prepare the way for +an outbreak by a stratagem which they regarded as justifiable. Cyaxares +and his court invited a number of the Scythian chiefs to a grand +banquet, and, having induced them to drink till they were completely +drunk, set upon them when they were in this helpless condition, and +remorselessly slew them all. + +This deed was the signal for a general revolt of the nation. The Medes +everywhere took arms, and, turning upon their conquerors, assailed them +with a fury the more terrible because it had been for years repressed. +A war followed, the duration and circumstances of which are unknown; for +the stories with which Ctesias enlivened this portion of his history can +scarcely be accepted as having any foundation in fact. According to him, +the Parthians made common cause with the Scythians on the occasion, and +the war lasted many years; numerous battles were fought with great loss +to both sides; and peace was finally concluded without either party +having gained the upper hand. The Scyths were commanded by a queen, +Zarina or Zarinsea, woman of rare beauty, and as brave as she was +fair; who won the hearts, when she could not resist the swords, of her +adversaries. A strangely romantic love-tale is told of this beauteous +Amazon. It is not at all clear what region Ctesias supposes her to +govern. It has a capital city, called Koxanace (a name entirely unknown +to any other historian or geographer), and it contains many other towns +of which Zarina was the foundress. Its chief architectural monument was +the tomb of Zarina, a triangular pyramid, six hundred feet high, and +more than a mile round the base, crowned by a colossal figure of the +queen made of solid gold. But--to leave these fables and return to +fact--we can only say with certainty that the result of the war was the +complete defeat of the Scythians, who not only lost their position of +pre-eminence in Media and the adjacent countries, but were driven across +the Caucasus into their own proper territory. Their expulsion was +so complete that they scarcely left a trace of their power or their +presence in the geography or ethnography of the country. One Palestine +city only, as already observed, and one Armenian province retained in +their names a lingering memory of the great inroad which but for them +would have passed away without making any more permanent mark on the +region than a hurricane or a snowstorm. How long the dominion of the +Scyths endured is a matter of great uncertainty. It was no doubt +the belief of Herodotus that from their defeat of Cyaxares to his +treacherous murder of their chiefs was a period of exactly twenty-eight +years. During the whole of this space he regarded them as the undisputed +lords of Asia. It was not till the twenty-eight years were over that +the Medes were able, according to him, to renew their attacks on the +Assyrians, and once more to besiege Nineveh. But this chronology is open +to great objections. There is strong reason for believing that Nineveh +fell about B.C. 625 or 624; but according to the numbers of Herodotus +the fall would, at the earliest, have taken place in B.C. 602. There is +great unlikelihood that the Scyths, if they had maintained their rule +for a generation, should not have attracted some distinct notice from +the Jewish writers. Again, if twenty-eight out of the forty years +assigned to Cyaxares are to be regarded as years of inaction, all his +great exploits, his two sieges of Nineveh, his capture of that capital, +his conquest of the countries north and west of Media as far as the +Halys, his six years' war in Asia Minor beyond that river, and his joint +expedition with Nebuchadnezzar into Syria, will have to be crowded most +improbably into the space of twelve years, two or three preceding and +ten or nine following the Scythian domination. These and other reasons +lead to the conclusion, which has the support of Eusebius, that +the Scythian domination was of much shorter duration than Herodotus +imagined. It may have been twenty-eight years from the original attack +on Media to the final expulsion of the last of the invaders from +Asia--and this may have been what the informants of Herodotus really +intended--but it cannot have been very long after the first attack +before the Medes began to recover themselves, to shake off the fear +which had possessed them and clear their territories of the invaders. If +the invasion really took place in the reign of Cyaxares, and not in the +lifetime of his father, where Eusebius places it, we must suppose that +within eight years of its occurrence Cyaxares found himself sufficiently +strong, and his hands sufficiently free, to resume his old projects, and +for the second time to march an army into Assyria. + +The weakness of Assyria was such as to offer strong temptations to an +invader. As the famous inroad of the Gauls into Italy in the year of +Rome 365 paved the way for the Roman conquests in the peninsula by +breaking the power of the Etruscans, the Umbrians, and various other +races, so the Scythic incursion may have, really benefited, rather than +injured, Media, by weakening the great power to whose empire she +aspired to succeed. The exhaustion of Assyria's resources at the time is +remarkably illustrated by the poverty and meanness of the palace which +the last king, Saracus, built for himself at Calah. She lay, apparently, +at the mercy of the first bold assailant, her prestige lost, her army +dispirited or disorganized, her defences injured, her high spirit broken +and subdued. + +Cyaxaros, ere proceeding to the attack, sent, it is probable, to make +an alliance with the Susianians and Chaldaeans. Susiana was the last +country which Assyria had conquered, and could remember the pleasures of +independence. Chaldaea, though it had been now for above half a century +an Assyrian fief, and had borne the yoke with scarcely a murmur during +that period, could never wholly forget its old glories, or the long +resistance which it had made before submitting to its northern neighbor. +The overtures of the Median monarch seem to have been favorably +received; and it was agreed that an army from the south should march up +the Tigris and threaten Assyria from that quarter, while Cyaxares +led his Medes from the east, through the passes of Zagros against the +capital. Rumor soon conveyed the tidings of his enemies' intentions to +the Assyrian monarch, who immediately made such a disposition of the +forces at his command as seemed best calculated to meet the double +danger which threatened him. Selecting from among his generals the +one in whom he placed most confidence--a man named Nabopolassar, most +probably an Assyrian--he put him at the head of a portion of his troops, +and sent him to Babylon to resist the enemy who was advancing from the +sea. The command of his main army he reserved for himself, intending to +undertake in person the defence of his territory against the Medes. This +plan of campaign was not badly conceived; but it was frustrated by an +unexpected calamity, Nabopolassar, seeing his sovereign's danger, and +calculating astutely that he might gain more by an opportune defection +from a falling cause than he could look to receive as the reward of +fidelity, resolved to turn traitor and join the enemies of Assyria. +Accordingly he sent an embassy to Cyaxares, with proposals for a close +alliance to be cemented by a marriage. If the Median monarch would +give his daughter Amuhia (or Amyitis) to be the wife of his son +Nebuchadnezzar, the forces under his command should march against +Nineveh and assist Cyaxares to capture it. Such a proposition arriving +at such a time was not likely to meet with a refusal. Cyaxares gladly +came into the terms; the marriage took place; and Nabopolassar, who had +now practically assumed the sovereignty of Babylon, either led or sent a +Babylonian contingent to the aid of the Medes. + +The siege of Nineveh by the combined Medes and Babylonians was narrated +by Ctesias at some length. He called the Assyrian king Sardanapalus, +the Median commander Arbaces, the Babylonian Belesis. Though he thus +disguised the real names, and threw back the event to a period a century +and a half earlier than its true date, there can be no doubt that he +intended to relate the last siege of the city, that which immediately +preceded its complete destruction. He told how the combined army, +consisting of Persians and Arabs as well as of Medes and Babylonians, +and amounting to four hundred thousand men, was twice defeated with +great loss by the Assyrian monarch, and compelled to take refuge in +the Zagros chain--how after losing a third battle it retreated to +Babylonia--how it was there joined by strong reinforcements from +Bactria, surprised the Assyrian camp by night, and drove the whole host +in confusion to Nineveh--how then, after two more victories, it advanced +and invested the city, which was well provisioned for a siege and +strongly fortified. The siege, Ctesias said, had lasted two full years, +and the third year had commenced--success seemed still far off--when +an unusually rainy season so swelled the waters of the Tigris that they +burst into the city, sweeping away more than two miles of the wall. +This vast breach it was impossible to repair; and the Assyrian monarch, +seeing that further resistance was vain, brought the struggle to an end +by burning himself, with his concubines and eunuchs and all his chief +wealth, in his palace. + +Such, in outline, was the story of Ctesias. If we except the extent +of the breach which the river is declared to have made, it contains no +glaring improbabilities. On the contrary, it is a narrative that hangs +well together, and that suits both the relations of the parties and +the localities. Moreover, it is confirmed in one or two points by +authorities of the highest order. Still, as Ctesias is a writer who +delights in fiction, and as it seems very unlikely that he would find a +detailed account of the siege, such as he has given us, in the Persian +archives, from whence he professed to derive his history, no confidence +can be placed in those points of his narrative which have not any +further sanction. All that we know on the subject of the last siege +of Nineveh is that it was conducted by a combined army of Medes +and Babylonians, the former commanded by Cyaxares, the latter by +Nabopolassar or Nebuchadnezzar, and that it was terminated, when +all hope was lost, by the suicide of the Assyrian monarch. The +self-immolation of Saracus is related by Abydenus, who almost certainly +follows Berosus in this part of his history. We may therefore accept +it as a fact about which there ought to be no question. Actuated by +a feeling which has more than once caused a vanquished monarch to die +rather than fall into the power of his enemies, Saracus made a funeral +pyre of his ancestral palace, and lighted it with his own hand. + +One further point in the narrative of Ctesias we may suspect to contain +a true representation. Ctesias declared the cause of the capture to +have been the destruction of the city wall by an unexpected rise of the +river. Now, the prophet Nahum, in his announcement of the fate coming on +Nineveh, has a very remarkable expression, which seems most naturally to +point to some destruction of a portion of the fortifications by means of +water. After relating the steps that would be taken for the defence of +the place, he turns to remark on their fruitlessness, and says: "The +gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved; and Huzzab +is led away captive; she is led up, with her maidens, sighing as with +the voice of doves, smiting upon their breasts." Now, we have already +seen that at the northwest angle of Nineveh there was a sluice or +floodgate, intended mainly to keep the water of the Khosrsu, which +ordinarily filled the city moat, from flowing off too rapidly into the +Tigris, but probably intended also to keep back the water of the Tigris, +when that stream rose above its common level. A sudden and great rise +of the Tigris would necessarily endanger this gate, and if it gave way +beneath the pressure, a vast torrent of water would rush up the moat +along and against the northern wall, which may have been undermined by +its force, and have fallen in. The stream would then pour into the city; +and it may perhaps have reached the palace platform, which being made +of sun-dried bricks, and probably not cased with stone inside the +city, would begin to be "dissolved." Such seems the simplest and best +interpretation of this passage, which, though it is not historical, but +only prophetical, must be regarded as giving an importance that it would +not otherwise have possessed to the statement of Ctesias with regard to +the part played by the Tigris in the destruction of Nineveh. + +The fall of the city was followed by a division of the spoil between the +two principal conquerors. While Cyaxares took to his own share the land +of the conquered people, Assyria Proper, and the countries dependent on +Assyria towards the north and north-west, Nabopolassar was allowed, not +merely Babylonia, Chaldaea, and Susiana, but the valley of the Euphrates +and the countries to which that valley conducted. Thus two considerable +empires arose at the same time cut of the ashes of Assyria--the +Babylonian towards the south and the south-west, stretching from +Luristan to the borders of Egypt, the Median towards the north, reaching +from the salt desert of Iran to Amanus and the Upper Euphrates. +These empires were established by mutual consent; they were connected +together, not merely by treaties, but by the ties of affinity which +united their rulers; and, instead of cherishing, as might have been +expected, a mutual suspicion and distrust, they seem to have really +entertained the most friendly feelings towards one another, and to have +been ready on all emergencies to lend each other important assistance. +For once in the history of the world two powerful monarchies were seen +to stand side by side, not only without collision, but without jealousy +or rancor. Babylonia and Media were content to share between them the +empire of Western Asia: the world was, they thought, wide enough for +both; and so, though they could not but have had in some respects +conflicting interests, they remained close friends and allies for more +than half a century. + +To the Median monarch the conquest of Assyria did not bring a time +of repose. Wandering bands of Scythians were still, it is probable, +committing ravages in many parts of Western Asia. The subjects of +Assyria, set free by her downfall, were likely to use the occasion for +the assertion of their independence, if they were not immediately shown +that a power of at least equal strength had taken her place, and was +prepared to claim her inheritance. War begets war; and the successes of +Cyaxares up to the present point in his career did but whet his appetite +for power, and stimulate him to attempt further conquests. In brief but +pregnant words Herodotus informs us that Cyaxares "subdued to himself +all Asia above the Halys." How much he may include in this expression, +it is impossible to determine; but, _prime facie_, it would seem at +least to imply that he engaged in a series of wars with the various +tribes and nations which intervened between Media and Assyria on the one +side and the river Halys on the other, and that he succeeded in bringing +them under his dominion. The most important countries in this direction +were Armenia and Cappadocia. Armenia, strong in its lofty mountains, +its deep gorges, and its numerous rapid rivers--the head-streams of +the Tigris, Euphrates, Kur, and Aras--had for centuries resisted with +unconquered spirit the perpetual efforts of the Assyrian kings to bring +it under their yoke, and had only at last consented under the latest +king but one to a mere nominal allegiance. Cappadocia had not even been +brought to this degree of dependence. It had lain beyond the furthest +limit whereto the Assyrian arms had ever reached, and had not as yet +come into collision with any of the great powers of Asia. Other minor +tribes in this region, neighbors of the Armenians and Cappadocians, but +more remote from Media, were the Ibenans, the Colchians, the Moschi, the +Tibareni, the Mares the Macrones, and the Mosynoeci. Herodotus appears +to have been of opinion that all these tribes, or at any rate all but +the Colchians, were at this time brought under by Cyaxares who thus +extended his dominions to the Caucasus and the Black Sea upon the north, +and upon the east to the Kizil Irmak or Halys. + +It is possible that the reduction of these countries under the Median +yoke was not so much a conquest as a voluntary submission of the +inhabitants to the power which alone seemed strong enough to save them +from the hated domination of the Scyths. According to Strabo, Armenia +and Cappadocia were the regions where the Scythic ravages had been most +severely felt. Cappadocia had been devastated from the mountains down +to the coast; and in Armenia the most fertile portion of the whole +territory had been seized and occupied by the invaders, from whom it +thenceforth took the name of Sacassene, the Armenians and Cappadocians +may have found the yoke of the Scyths so intolerable as to have gladly +exchanged it for dependence on a comparatively civilized people. In +the neighboring territory of Asia Minor a similar cause had recently +exercised a unifying influence, the necessity of combining to resist +Cimmerian immigrants having tended to establish a hegemony of Lydia over +the various tribes which divided among them the tract west of the Halys. +It is evidently not improbable that the sufferings endured at the hands +of the Scyths may have disposed the nations east of the river to adopt +the same remedy and that, so soon as Media had proved her strength, +first by shaking herself free of the Scythic invaders and then +conquering Assyria. the tribes of these parts accepted her as at once +their mistress and their deliverer. + +Another quite distinct cause may also have helped to bring about the +result above indicated. Parallel with the great Median migration from +the East under Cyaxares, or Phraortes (?), his father, an Arian influx +had taken place into the countries between the Caspian and the Halys. +In Armenia and Cappadocia during the flourishing period of Assyria, +Turanian tribes had been predominant. Between the middle and the end of +the seventh century these tribes appear to have yielded the supremacy to +Arians. In Armenia, the present language which is predominantly +Arian, ousted the former Turaman tongue which appears in the cuneiform +inscriptions of Van and the adjacent regions. In Cappadocia, the Moschi +and Tibareni had to yield their seats to a new race--the Katapatuka, who +were not only Arian but distinctly Medo-Persic, as is plain from their +proper names, and from the close connection of their royal house +with that of the kings of Persia. This spread of the Arians into the +countries lying between the Caspian and the Halys must have done much to +pave the way for Median supremacy over those regions. The weaker Arian +tribes of the north would have been proud of their southern brethren, to +whose arms the queen of Western Asia had been forced to yield, and +would have felt comparatively little repugnance in surrendering their +independence into the hands of a friendly and kindred people. + +Thus Cyaxares, in his triumphant progress to the north and the +north-west, made war, it is probable, chiefly upon the Scyths, or upon +them and the old Turanian inhabitants of the countries, while by +the Arians he was welcomed as a champion come to deliver them from +a grievous oppression. Ranging themselves under his standard, they +probably helped him to expel from Asia the barbarian hordes which had +now for many years tyrannized over them; and when the expulsion was +completed, gratitude or habit made them willing to continue in the +subject position which they had assumed in order to effect it. Cyaxares +within less than ten years from his capture of Nineveh had added to his +empire the fertile and valuable tracts of Armenia and Cappadocia--never +really subject to Assyria--and may perhaps have further mastered the +entire region between Armenia and the Caucasus and Euxine. + +The advance of their western frontier to the river Halys, which was +involved in the absorption of Cappadocia into the Empire, brought the +Medes into contact with a new power--a power which, like Media, had been +recently increasing in greatness, and which was not likely to submit to +a foreign yoke without a struggle. The Lydian kingdom was one of great +antiquity in this part of Asia. According to traditions current among +its people, it had been established more than seven hundred years at the +time when Cyaxares pushed his conquests to its borders. Three dynasties +of native kings--Atyadse, Heraclidse, and Mermnadae--had successively +held the throne during that period. The Lydians could repeat the names +of at least thirty monarchs who had borne sway in Sardis, their capital +city, since its foundation. They had never been conquered. In the old +times, indeed, Lydus, the son of Atys, had changed the name of the +people inhabiting the country from Maeonians to Lydians--a change which +to the keen sense of an historical critic implies a conquest of one race +by another. But to the people themselves this tradition conveyed no such +meaning; or, if it did to any, their self-complacency was not disturbed +thereby, since they would hug the notion that they belonged not to the +conquered race but to the conquerors. If a Ramcsos or a Sesostris had +ever penetrated to their country, he had met with a brave resistance, +and had left monuments indicating his respect for their courage. +Neither Babylon nor Assyria had ever given a king to the Lydians--on the +contrary, the Lydian tradition was, that they had themselves sent forth +Belus and Ninus from their own country to found dynasties and cities in +Mesopotamia. In a still more remote age they had seen their colonists +embark upon the western waters, and start for the distant Hesperia, +where they had arrived in safety, and had founded the great Etruscan +nation. On another occasion they had carried their arms beyond the +limits of Asia Minor, and had marched southward to the very extremity +of: Syria, where their general, Ascalus, had founded a great city and +called it after his name. + +Such were the Lydian traditions with respect to the more remote times. +Of their real history they seem to have known but little, and that +little did not extend further back than about two hundred years before +Cyaxares. Within this space it was certain that they had had a change +of dynasty, a change preceded by a long feud between their two greatest +houses, which were perhaps really two branches of the royal family. The +Heraclidae had grown jealous of the Mermnadae, and had treated them with +injustice; the Mormnadae had at first sought their safety in flight, +and afterwards, when they felt themselves strong enough, had returned, +murdered the Heraclide monarch, and placed their chief, Gyges, upon +the throne. With Gyges, who had commenced his reign about B.C. 700, the +prosperity of the Lydians had greatly increased, and they had begun to +assume an aggressive attitude towards their neighbors. Gyges' revenue +was so great that his wealth became proverbial, and he could afford to +spread his fame by sending from his superfluity to the distant temple +of Delphi presents of such magnificence that they were the admiration +of later ages. The relations of his predecessors with the Greeks of +the Asiatic coast had been friendly, Gyges changed this policy, and, +desirous of enlarging his seaboard, made war upon the Greek maritime +towns, attacking Miletus and Smyrna without result, but succeeding in +capturing the Ionic city of Colophon. He also picked a quarrel with +the inland town of Magnesia, and after many invasions of its territory +compelled it to submission. According to some, he made himself master +of the whole territory of the Troad, and the Milesians had to obtain his +permission before they could establish their colony of Abydos upon the +Hellespont. At any rate he was a rich and puissant monarch in the +eyes of the Greeks of Asia and the islands, who were never tired of +celebrating his wealth, his wars, and his romantic history. + +The shadow of calamity had, however, fallen upon Lydia towards the close +of Gyges' long reign. About thirty years before the Scythians from +the Steppe country crossed the Caucasus and fell upon Media, the same +barrier was passed by another groat horde of nomads. The Cimmerians, +probably a Celtic people, who had dwelt hitherto in the Tauric +Chersonese and the country adjoining upon it, pressed on by Scythic +invaders from the East, had sought a vent in this direction. Passing +the great mountain barrier either by the route of Mozdok--the Pylas +Caucasiae--or by some still more difficult track towards the Euxine, +they had entered Asia Minor by way of Cappadocia and had spread terror +and devastation in every direction. Gyges, alarmed at their advance, had +placed himself under the protection of Assyria, and had then confidently +given them battle, defeated them, and captured several of their chiefs. +It is uncertain whether the Assyrians gave him any material aid, but +evident that he ascribed his success to his alliance with them. In his +gratitude he sent an embassy to Asshur-bani-pal, king of Assyria, and +courted his favor by presents and by sending him his Cimmerian captives. +Later in his reign, however, he changed his policy, and, breaking with +Assyria, gave aid to the Egyptian rebel, Psammetichus, and helped him +to establish his independence. The result followed which was to be +expected. Assyria withdrew her protection; and Lydia was left to fight +her own battles when the great crisis came. Carrying all before them, +the fierce hordes swarmed in full force into the more western districts +of Asia Minor; Paphlagonia, Phrygia, Bithynia, Lydia, and Ionia were +overrun; Gyges, venturing on an engagement, perished; the frightened +inhabitants generally shut themselves up in their walled towns, and +hoped that the tide of invasion might sweep by them quickly and roll +elsewhere; but the Cimmerians, impatient and undisciplined as they +might be, could sometimes bring themselves to endure the weary work of a +siege, and they saw in the Lydian capital a prize well worth an effort. +The hordes besieged Sardis, and took it, except the citadel, which was +commandingly placed and defied all their attempts. A terrible scene of +carnage must have followed. How Lydia withstood the blow, and rapidly +recovered from it, is hard to understand; but it seems certain that +within a generation she was so far restored to vigor as to venture +on resuming her attacks upon the Greeks of the coast, which had been +suspended during her period of prostration. Sadyattes, the son of +Ardys, and grandson of Gyges, following the example of his father and +grandfather, made war upon Miletus; and Alyattes, his son and successor, +pursued the same policy of aggression. Besides pressing Miletus, he +besieged and took Smyrna, and ravaged the territory of Clazomenae. + +But the great work of Alyattes' reign, and the one which seems to have +had the most important consequences for Lydia, was the war which he +undertook for the purpose of expelling the Cimmerians from Asia Minor. +The hordes had been greatly weakened by time, by their losses in war, +and, probably by their excesses; they had long ceased to be formidable; +but they were still strong enough to be an annoyance. Alyattes is said +to have "driven them out of Asia," by which we can scarcely understand +less than that he expelled them from his own dominions and those of his +neighbors--or, in other words, from the countries which had been the +scenes of their chief ravages--Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Lydia, Phrygia, +and Cilicia. But, to do this, he must have entered into a league with +his neighbors, who must have consented to act under him for the purposes +of war, if they did not even admit the permanent hegemony of his +country. Alyattes' success appears to have been complete, or nearly so; +he cleared Asia Minor of the Cimmerians; and having thus conferred a +benefit on all the nations of the region and exhibited before their +eyes his great military capacity, if he had not actually constructed an +empire, he had at any rate done much to pave the way for one. + +Such was the political position in the regions west and south of the +Halys, when Cyaxares completed his absorption of Cappadocia, and looking +across the river that divided the Cappadocians from the Phrygians, saw +stretched before him a region of great fertile plains, which seemed to +invite an invader. A pretext for an attack was all that he wanted, +and this was soon forthcoming. A body of the nomad Scyths--probably +belonging to the great invasion, though Herodotus thought otherwise--had +taken service under Cyaxares, and for some time served him faithfully, +being employed chiefly as hunters. A cause of quarrel, however, arose +after a while; and the Scyths, disliking their position or distrusting +the intentions of their lords towards them, quitted the Median +territory, and, marching through a great part of Asia Minor, sought and +found a refuge with Alyattes, the Lydian king. Cyaxares, upon learning +their flight, sent an embassy to the court of Sardis to demand the +surrender of the fugitives; but the Lydian monarch met the demand with a +refusal, and, fully understanding the probable consequences, immediately +prepared for war. + +Though Lydia, compared to Media, was but a small state, yet her +resources were by no means inconsiderable. In fertility she surpassed +almost every other country of Asia Minor, which is altogether one of +the richest regions in the world. At this time she was producing large +quantities of gold, which was found in great abundance in the Pactolus, +and probably in the other small streams that flowed down on all sides +from the Tmolus mountain-chain. Her people were at once warlike and +ingenious. They had invented the art of coining money, and showed +considerable taste in their devices. [PLATE VII., Fig. 1], They claimed +also to have been the inventors of a number of games, which were common +to them with the Greeks. According to Herodotus, they were the first +who made a livelihood by shop-keeping. They were skilful in the use of +musical instruments, and had their own peculiar musical mode or style, +which was in much favor among the Greeks, though condemned as effeminate +by some of the philosophers. At the same time the Lydians were not +wanting in courage or manliness. They fought chiefly on horseback, and +were excellent riders, carrying long spears, which they managed with +great skill. Nicolas of Damascus tells us that even under the Heraclido +kings, they could muster for service cavalry to the number of 30,000. In +peace they pursued with ardor the sports of the field, and found in the +chase of the wild boar a pastime which called forth and exercised every +manly quality. Thus Lydia, even by herself, was no contemptible enemy; +though it can hardly be supposed that, without help from others, she +would have proved a match for the Great Median Empire. + +[Illustration: PLATE VII.] + +But such help as she needed was not wanting to her. The rapid strides +with which Media had advanced towards the west had no doubt alarmed the +numerous princes of Asia Minor, who must have felt that they had a power +to deal with as full of schemes of conquest as Assyria, and more capable +of carrying her designs into execution. It has been already observed +that the long course of Assyrian aggressions developed gradually among +the Asiatic tribes a tendency to unite in leagues for purposes of +resistance. The circumstances of the time called now imperatively +for such a league to be formed, unless the princes of Asia Minor were +content to have their several territories absorbed one after another +into the growing Median Empire. These princes appear to have seen their +danger. Cyaxares may perhaps have, declared war specially against the +Lydians, and have crossed the Halys professedly in order to chastise +them; but he could only reach Lydia through the territories of other +nations, which he was evidently intending to conquer on his way; and +it was thus apparent that he was activated, not by anger against a +particular power, but by a general design of extending his dominions in +this direction. A league seems therefore to have been determined on. We +have not indeed any positive evidence of its existence till the close of +the war; but the probabilities are wholly in favor of its having taken +effect from the first. Prudence would have dictated such a course; and +it seems almost implied in the fact that a successful resistance was +made to the Median attack from the very commencement. We may conclude +therefore that the princes of Asia Minor, having either met in conclave +or communicated by embassies, resolved to make common cause, if the +Medes crossed the Halys; and that, having already acted under Lydia in +the expulsion of the Cimmerians from their territories, they naturally +placed her at their head when they coalesced for the second time. + +Cyaxares on his part, was not content to bring against the confederates +merely the power of Media. He requested and obtained a contingent from +the Babylonian monarch, Nabopolassar, and may not improbably have had +the assistance of other allies also. With a vast army drawn from various +parts of inner Asia, he invaded the territory of the Western Powers, +and began his attempt at subjugation. We have no detailed account of +the war; but we learn from the general expressions of Herodotus that the +Median monarch met with a most stubborn resistance; numerous engagements +were fought with varied results; sometimes the Medes succeeded in +defeating their adversaries in pitched battles; but sometimes, and +apparently as often, the Lydians and their allies gained decided +victories over the Medes. It is noted that one of the engagements took +place by night, a rare occurrence in ancient (as in modern) times. The +war had continued six years, and the Medes had evidently made no serious +impression, when a remarkable circumstance brought it suddenly to +a termination. The two armies had once more met and were engaged in +conflict, when, in the midst of the struggle, an ominous darkness fell +upon the combatants and filled them with superstitious awe. The sun +was eclipsed, either totally or at any rate considerably, so that the +attention of the two armies was attracted to it; and, discontinuing the +fight, they stood to gaze at the phenomenon. In most parts of the +East such an occurrence is even now seen with dread--the ignorant mass +believe that the orb of day is actually being devoured or destroyed, +and that the end of all things is at hand--even the chiefs, who may have +some notion that the phenomenon is a recurrent one, do not understand +its cause, and participate in the alarm of their followers. On the +present occasion it is said that, amid the general fear, a desire for +reconciliation seized both armies. Of this spontaneous movement two +chiefs, the foremost of the allies on either side, took advantage. +Syennesis, king of Cilicia, the first known monarch of his name, on +the part of Lydia, and a prince whom Herodotus calls "Labynetus of +Babylon"--probably either Nabopolassar or Nebuchadnezzar--on the part +of Media, came forward to propose an immediate armistice; and, when the +proposal was accepted on either side, proceeded to the more difficult +task of arranging terms of peace between the contending parties. Since +nothing is said of the Scythians, who had been put forward as the +ostensible grounds of quarrel, we may presume that Alyattes retained +them. It is further clear that both he and his allies preserved +undiminished both their territories and their independence. The +territorial basis of the treaty was thus what in modern diplomatic +language is called the status quo; matters, in other words, returned to +the position in which they had stood before the war broke out. The only +difference was that Cyaxares gained a friend and an ally where he had +previously had a jealous enemy; since it was agreed that the two kings +of Media and Lydia should swear a friendship, and that, to cement the +alliance, Alyattes should give his daughter Aryenis in marriage to +Astyages, the son of Cyaxares. The marriage thus arranged took place +soon afterwards, while the oath of friendship was sworn at once. +According to the barbarous usages of the time and place, the two +monarchs, having met and repeated the words of the formula, punctured +their own arms, and then sealed their contract by each sucking from the +wound a portion of the other's blood. + +By this peace the three great monarchies of the time--the Median, the +Lydian, and the Babylonian--were placed on terms, not only of amity, +but of intimacy and (if the word may be used) of blood relationship. The +Crown Princes of the three kingdoms had become brothers. From the shores +of the Aegean to those of the Persian Gulf, Western Asia was now ruled +by interconnected dynasties, bound by treaties to respect each other's +rights, and perhaps to lend each other aid in important conjunctures, +and animated, it would seem, by a real spirit of mutual friendliness and +attachment. After more than five centuries of almost constant war and +ravage, after fifty years of fearful strife and convulsion, during +which the old monarchy of Assyria had gone down and a new Empire--the +Median--had risen up in its place, this part of Asia entered upon a +period of repose which stands out in strong contrast with the long term +of struggle. From the date of the peace between Alyattes and Cyaxares +(probably B.C. 610), for nearly half a century, the three kingdoms +of Media, Lydia, and Babylonia remained fast friends, pursuing their +separate courses without quarrel or collision, and thus giving to the +nations within their borders a rest and a refreshment which they must +have greatly needed and desired. + +In one quarter only was this rest for a short time disturbed. During the +troublous period the neighboring country of Egypt, which had recovered +its freedom, and witnessed a revival of its ancient prosperity, under +the Psamatik family, began once more to aspire to the possession of +those provinces which, being divided off from the rest of the Asiatic +continent by the impassable Syrian desert, seems politically to belong +to Africa almost more than to Asia. Psamatik I., the Psammetichus of +Herodotus, had commenced an aggressive war in this quarter, probably +about the time that Assyria was suffering from the Median and then +from the Scythian inroads. He had besieged for several years the strong +Philistine town of Ashdod, which commands the coast-route from Egypt +to Palestine, and was at this time a most important city. Despite a +resistance which would have wearied out any less pertinacious assailant, +he had persevered in his attempt, and had finally succeeded in taking +the place. He had thus obtained a firm footing in Syria; and his +successor was, able, starting from this vantage-ground, to overrun +and conquer the whole territory. About the year B.C. 608, Neco, son of +Psamatik I., having recently ascended the throne, invaded Palestine with +a large army, met and defeated Josiah, king of Judah, near Megiddo in +the great plain of Esdraelon, and, pressing forward through Syria to the +Euphrates, attacked and took Carchemish, the strong city which guarded +the ordinary passage of the river. Idumea, Palestine, Phoenicia, and +Syria submitted to him, and for three years he remained in undisturbed +possession of his conquest. Then, however, the Babylonians, who had +received these provinces at the division of the Assyrian Empire, began +to bestir themselves. Nebuchadnezzar marched to Carchemish, defeated the +army of Neco, recovered all the territory to the border of Egypt, and +even ravaged a portion of that country. It is probable that in this +expedition he was assisted by the Medes. At any rate, seven or eight +years afterwards, when the intrigues of Egypt had again created +disturbances in this quarter, and Jehoiakim, the Jewish king, broke +into open insurrection, the Median monarch sent a contingent, which +accompanied Nebuchadnezzar into Judaea, and assisted him to establish +his power firmly in South-Western Asia. + +This is the last act that we can ascribe to the great Median king. He +can scarcely have been much less than seventy years old at this time; +and his life was prolonged at the utmost three years longer. According +to Herodotus, he died B.C. 593, after a reign of exactly forty years, +leaving his crown to his son Astyages, whose marriage with a Lydian +princess was above related. + +We have no sufficient materials from which to draw out a complete +character of Cyaxares. He appears to have possessed great ambition, +considerable military ability, and a rare tenacity of purpose, which +gained him his chief successes. At the same time he was not wanting in +good sense, and could bring himself to withdraw from an enterprise, when +he had misjudged the fitting time for it, or greatly miscalculated its +difficulties. He was faithful to his friends, but thought treachery +allowable towards his enemies. He knew how to conquer, but not how to +organize, an empire; and, if we except his establishment of Magism, +as the religion of the state, we may say that he did nothing to +give permanency to the monarchy which he founded. He was a conqueror +altogether after the Asiatic model, able to wield the sword, but not to +guide the pen, to subdue his contemporaries to his will by his +personal ascendency over them, but not to influence posterity by the +establishment of a kingdom, or of institutions, on deep and stable +foundations. The Empire, which owed to him its foundation, was the most +shortlived of all the great Oriental monarchies, having begun and +ended within the narrow space of three score and ten years--the natural +lifetime of an individual. + +Astyages, who succeeded to the Median throne about B.C. 593, had neither +his father's enterprise nor his ability. Born to an empire, and bred +up in all the luxury of an Oriental Court, he seems to have been quite +content with the lot which fortune appeared to have assigned him, and to +have coveted no grander position. Tradition says that he was remarkably +handsome, cautious, and of an easy and generous temper. Although +the anecdotes related of his mode of life at Ecbatana by Herodotus, +Xenophon, and Nicolas of Damascus, seem to be for the most part +apocryphal, and at any rate come to us upon authority too weak to +entitle them to a place in history, we may perhaps gather from the +concurrent, descriptions of these three writers something of the general +character of the Court over which he presided. Its leading features do +not seem to have differed greatly from those of the Court of Assyria. +The monarch lived secluded, and could only be seen by those who asked +and obtained an audience. He was surrounded by guards and eunuchs, the +latter of whom held most of the offices near the royal person. The Court +was magnificent in its apparel, in its banquets, and in the number and +organization of its attendants. The courtiers wore long flowing robes +of many different colors, amongst which red and purple predominated, +and adorned their necks with chains or collars of gold, and their wrists +with bracelets of the same precious metal. Even the horses on which +they rode had sometimes golden bits to their bridles. One officer of the +Court was especially called "the King's Eye;" another had the privilege +of introducing strangers to him; a third was his cupbearer; a fourth his +messenger. Guards torch-bearers, serving-men, ushers, and sweepers, were +among the orders into which the lower sort of attendants were divided; +while among the courtiers of the highest rank was a privileged class +known as "the King's table-companions". The chief pastime in which +the Court indulged was hunting. Generally this took place in a park or +"paradise" near the capital; but sometimes the King and Court went out +on a grand hunt into the open country, where lions, leopards, bears, +wild boars, wild asses, antelopes, stags, and wild sheep abounded, +and, when the beasts had been driven by beaters into a confined space, +despatched them with arrows and javelins. + +Prominent at the Court, according to Herodotus, was the priestly caste +of the Magi. Held in the highest honor by both King and people, they +were in constant attendance, ready to expound omens or dreams, and +to give their advice on all matters of state policy. The religious +ceremonial was, as a matter of course, under their charge; and it is +probable that high state offices were often conferred upon them. Of all +classes of the people they were the only one that could feel they had +a real influence over the monarch, and might claim to share in his +sovereignty. + +The long reign of Astyages seems to have been almost undisturbed, until +just before its close, by wars or rebellions. Eusebius indeed relates +that he, and not Cyaxares, carried on the great Lydian contest; and +Moses of Chorene declares that he was engaged in a long struggle with +Tigranes, an Armenian king. But little credit can be attached to these +statements, the former of which contradicts Herodotus, while the latter +is wholly unsupported by any other writer. The character which Cyaxares +bore among the Greeks was evidently that of an unwarlike king. If he had +really carried his arms into the heart of Asia Minor, and threatened the +whole of that extensive region with subjugation, we can scarcely suppose +that he would have been considered so peaceful a ruler. Neither is +it easy to imagine that in that case no classical writer--not even +Ctesias--would have taxed Herodotus with an error that must have been +so flagrant. With respect to the war with Tigranes, it is just possible +that it may have a basis of truth; there may have been a revolt of +Armenia from Astyages under a certain Tigranes, followed by an attempt +at subjugation. But the slender authority of Moses is insufficient to +establish the truth of his story, which is internally improbable and +quite incompatible with the narrative of Herodotus. + +There are some grounds for believing that in one direction Astyages +succeeded in slightly extending the limits of his empire. But he owed +his success to prudent management, and not to courage or military skill. +On the north-eastern frontier, occupying the low country now known as +Talish and Ghilan, was a powerful tribe called Cadusians, probably of +Arian origin, which had hitherto maintained its independence. This would +not be surprising, if we could accept the statement of Diodorus that +they were able to bring into the field 200,000 men. But this account, +which probably came from Ctesias, and is wholly without corroboration +from other writers, has the air of a gross exaggeration; and we may +conclude from the general tenor of ancient history that the Cadusians +were more indebted to the strength of their country, than to either +their numbers or their prowess, for the freedom and independence which +they were still enjoying. It seems that they were at this time under the +government of a certain king, or chief, named Aphernes, or Onaphernes. +This ruler was, it appears, doubtful of his position, and, thinking it +could not be long maintained, made overtures of surrender to Astyages, +which were gladly entertained by that monarch. A secret treaty was +concluded to the satisfaction of both parties; and the Cadusians, it +would seem, passed under the Medes by this arrangement, without any +hostile struggle, though armed resistance on the part of the people, who +were ignorant of the intentions of their chieftain, was for some time +apprehended. + +The domestic relations of Astyages seem to have been unhappy. His +"marriage de convenance" with the Lydian princess Aryenis, if not wholly +unfruitful, at any rate brought him no son; and, as he grew to old +age, the absence of such support to the throne must have been felt very +sensibly, and have caused great uneasiness. The want of an heir perhaps +led him to contract those other marriages of which we hear in the +Armenian History of Moses--one with a certain Anusia, of whom nothing +more is known; and another with an Armenian princess, the loveliest of +her sex, Tigrania, sister of the Armenian king, Tigranes. The blessing +of male offspring was still, however, denied him; and it is even +doubtful whether he was really the father of any daughter or daughters. +Herodotus, and Xenophon, indeed give him a daughter Mandane, whom they +make the mother of Cyrus; and Ctesias, who denied in the most positive +terms the truth of this statement, gave him a daughter, Amytis, whom he +made the wife, first of Spitaces the Mede, and afterwards of Cyrus the +Persian. But these stories, which seem intended to gratify the vanity of +the Persians by tracing the descent of their kings to the great Median +conqueror, while at the same time they flattered the Medes by showing +them that the issue of their old monarchs was still seated on the Arian +throne, are entitled to little more credit than the narrative of the +Shahnameh, which declares that Iskander (Alexander) was the son of Darab +(Darius) and of a daughter of Failakus (Philip of Macedon). When an +oriental crown passes from one dynasty to another, however foreign and +unconnected, the natives are wont to invent a relationship between the +two houses, which both parties are commonly quite ready to accept; as +it suits the rising house to be provided with a royal ancestry, and it +pleases the fallen one and its partisans to see in the occupants of the +throne a branch of the ancient stock--a continuation of the legitimate +family. Tales therefore of the above-mentioned kind are, historically +speaking, valueless; and it must remain uncertain whether the second +Median monarch had any child at all, either male or female. + +Old age was now creeping upon the sonless king. If he was sixteen +or seventeen years old at the time of his contract of marriage with +Aryenis, he must have been nearly seventy in B.C. 558, when the revolt +occurred which terminated both his reign and his kingdom. It appears +that the Persian branch of the Arian race, which had made itself a home +in the country lying south and south-east of Media, between the 32nd +parallel and the Persian gulf, had acknowledged some subjection to +the Median kings during the time of their greatness. Dwelling in their +rugged mountains and high upland plains, they had however maintained the +simplicity of their primitive manners, and had mixed but little with +the Medes, being governed by their own native princes of the Achasmenian +house, the descendants, real or supposed, of a certain Achajmenes. These +princes were connected by marriage with the Cappadocian kings; and their +house was regarded as one of the noblest in Western Asia. What the exact +terms were upon which they stood with the Median monarch is uncertain. +Herodotus regards Persia as absorbed into Media at this time, and the +Achsemenidse as merely a good Persian family. Nicolas of Damascus makes +Persia a Median satrapy, of which Atradates, the father of Cyrus, is +satrap, Xenophon, on the contrary, not only gives the Achajmenidae their +royal rank, but seems to consider Persia as completely independent of +Media; Moses of Chorene takes the same view, regarding Cyrus as a great +and powerful sovereign during the reign of Astyages. The native records +lean towards the view of Xenophon and Moses. Darius declares that eight +of his race had been kings before himself, and makes no difference +between his own royalty and theirs. Cyrus calls himself in one +inscription "the son of Cambyses, the powerful king." It is certain +therefore that Persia continued to be ruled by her own native monarchs +during the whole of the Median period, and that Cyrus led the attack +upon Astyages as hereditary Persian king. The Persian records seem +rather to imply actual independence of Media; but as national vanity +would prompt to dissimulation in such a case, we may perhaps accord so +much weight to the statement of Herodotus, and to the general tradition +on the subject, as to believe that there was some kind of acknowledgment +of Median supremacy on the part of the Persian kings anterior to Cyrus, +though the acknowledgment may have been not much more than a formality +and have imposed no onerous obligations. The residence of Cyrus at the +Median Court, which is asserted in almost every narrative of his life +before he became king, inexplicable if Persia was independent, becomes +thoroughly intelligible on the supposition that she was a great Median +feudatory. In such cases the residence of the Crown Prince at the +capital of the suzerain is constantly desired, or even required by the +superior Power, which sees in the presence of the son and heir the best +security against disaffection or rebellion on the part of the father. + +It appears that Cyrus, while at the Median Court, observing the +unwarlike temper of the existing generation of the Medes, who had not +seen any actual service, and despising the personal character of the +monarch, who led a luxurious life, chiefly at Ecbatana, amid eunuchs, +concubines, and dancing-girls, resolved on raising the standard of +rebellion, and seeking at any rate to free his own country. It may be +suspected that the Persian prince was not actuated solely by political +motives. To earnest Zoroastrians, such as the Achgemenians are shown +to have been by their inscriptions, the yoke of a Power which had so +greatly corrupted, if it had not wholly laid aside, the worship of +Ormazd, must have been extremely distasteful; and Cyrus may have wished +by his rebellion as much to vindicate the honor of his religion--as to +obtain a loftier position for his nation. If the Magi occupied really +the position at the Median Court which Herodotus assigns to them--if +they "were held in high honor by the king, and shared in his +sovereignty"--if the priest-ridden monarch was perpetually dreaming and +perpetually referring his dreams to the Magian seers for exposition, and +then guiding his actions by the advice they tendered him, the religious +zeal of the young Zoroastrian may very naturally have been aroused, and +the contest into which he plunged may have been, in his eyes, not so +much a national struggle as a crusade against the infidels. It will be +found hereafter that religious fervor animated the Persians in most +of those wars by which they spread their dominion. We may suspect, +therefore, though it must be admitted we cannot prove, that a religious +motive was among those which led them to make their first efforts after +independence. + +According to the account of the struggle which is most circumstantial, +and on the whole most probable, the first difficulty which the would-be +rebel had to meet and vanquish was that of quitting the Court. Alleging +that his father was in weak health, and required his care, he requested +leave of absence for a short time; but his petition was refused on the +flattering ground that the Great King was too much attached to him to +lose sight of him even for a day. A second application, however, made +through a favorite eunuch after a certain interval of time, was more +successful; Cyrus received permission to absent himself from Court for +the next five months; whereupon, with a few attendants, he left Ecbatana +by night, and took the road leading to his native country. + +The next evening Astyages, enjoying himself as usual over his +wine, surrounded by a crowd of his concubines, singing-girls, and +dancing-girls, called on one of them for a song. The girl took her lyre +and sang as follows: "The lion had the wild boar in his power, but let +him depart to his own lair; in his lair he will wax in strength, and +will cause the lion a world of toil; till at length, although the +weaker, he will overcome the stronger." The words of the song greatly +disquieted the king, who had been already made aware that a Chaldaean +prophecy designated Cyrus as future king of the Persians. Repenting of +the indulgence which he had granted him, Astyages forthwith summoned an +officer into his presence, and ordered him to take a body of horsemen, +pursue the Persian prince, and bring him back, either alive or dead. +The officer obeyed, overtook Cyrus, and announced his errand; upon which +Cyrus expressed his perfect willingness to return, but proposed, that, +as it was late, they should defer their start till the next day. The +Medes consenting, Cyrus feasted them, and succeeded in making them +all drunk; then mounting his horse, he rode off at full speed with his +attendants, and reached a Persian outpost, where he had arranged with +his father that he should find a body of Persian troops. When the Medes +had slept off their drunkenness, and found their prisoner gone, they +pursued, and again overtaking Cyrus, who was now at the head of an armed +force, engaged him. They were, however, defeated with great loss, and +forced to retreat, while Cyrus, having beaten them off, made good his +escape into Persia. + +When Astyages heard what had happened, he was greatly vexed; and, +smiting his thigh, he exclaimed, "Ah! fool, thou knewest well that it +boots not to heap favors on the vile; yet didst thou suffer thyself to +be gulled by smooth words; and so thou hast brought upon thyself this +mischief. But even now he shall not get off scot-free." And instantly +he sent for his generals, and commanded them to collect his host, and +proceed to reduce Persia to obedience. Three thousand chariots, two +hundred thousand horse, and a million footmen (!) were soon brought +together; and with these Astyages in person invaded the revolted +province, and engaged the army which Cyrus and his father Cambyses +had collected for defence. This consisted of a hundred chariots, fifty +thousand horsemen, and three hundred thousand light-armed foot, who were +drawn up in in front of a fortified town near the frontier. The first +day's battle was long and bloody, terminating without any decisive +advantage to either side; but on the second day Astyages, making skilful +use of his superior numbers, gained a great victory. Having detached one +hundred thousand men with orders to make a circuit and get into the +rear of the town, he renewed the attack; and when the Persians were all +intent on the battle in their front, the troops detached fell on the +city and took it, almost before its defenders were aware. Cambyses, who +commanded in the town, was mortally wounded and fell into the enemy's +hands. The army in the field, finding itself between two fires, broke +and fled towards the interior, bent on defending Pasargadse, the +capital. Meanwhile Astyages, having given Cambyses honorable burial, +pressed on in pursuit. + +The country had now become rugged and difficult. Between Pasargadse and +the place where the two days' battle was fought lay a barrier of lofty +hills, only penetrated by a single narrow pass. On either side were two +smooth surfaces of rock, while the mountain towered above, lofty and +precipitous. The pass was guarded by ten thousand Persians. Recognizing +the impossibility of forcing it, Astyages again detached a body of +troops, who marched along the foot of the range till they found a place +where it could be ascended, when they climbed it and seized the heights +directly over the defile. The Persians upon this had to evacuate their +strong position, and to retire to a lower range of hills very near to +Pasargadge. Here again there was a two days' fight. On the first day +all the efforts of the Medes to ascend the range (which, though low, +was steep, and covered with thickets of wild olive) were fruitless. Their +enemy met them, not merely with the ordinary weapons, but with great +masses of stone, which they hurled down with crushing force upon their +ascending columns. On the second day, however, the resistance was weaker +or less effective Astyages had placed at the foot of the range, below +his attacking columns, a body of troops with orders to kill all who +refused to ascend, or who, having ascended, attempted to quit the +heights and return to the valley. Thus compelled to advance, his men +fought with desperation, and drove the Persians before them up the +slopes of the hill to its very summit, where the women and children +had been placed for the sake of security. There, however, the tide of +success turned. The taunts and upbraidings of their mothers and wives +restored the courage of the Persians; and, turning upon their foe, they +made a sudden furious charge. The Medes, astonished and overborne, were +driven headlong down the hill, and fell into such confusion that the +Persians slew sixty thousand of them. Still Astyages did not desist from +his attack. The authority whom we have been following here to a great +extent fails us, and we have only a few scattered notices from which to +reconstruct the closing scenes of the war. It would seem from these +that Astyages still maintained the offensive, and that there was a +fifth battle in the immediate neighborhood of Pasargadse, wherein he was +completely defeated by Cyrus, who routed the Median army, and pressing +upon them in their flight, took their camp. All the insignia of Median +royalty fell into his hands; and, amid the acclamations of his army, +he assumed them, and was saluted by his soldiers "King of Media and +Persia." Meanwhile Astyages had sought for safety in flight; the greater +part of his army had dispersed, and he was left with only a few friends, +who still adhered to his fortunes. Could he have reached Ecbatana, he +might have greatly prolonged the struggle; but his enemy pressed him +close; and, being compelled to an engagement, he not only suffered a +complete defeat, but was made prisoner by his fortunate adversary. +By this capture the Median monarchy was brought abruptly to an end. +Astyages had no son to take his place and continue the struggle. Even +had it been otherwise, the capture of the monarch would probably have +involved his people's submission. In the East the king is so identified +with his kingdom that the possession of the royal person is regarded as +conveying to the possessor all regal rights. Cyrus, apparently, had no +need even to besiege Ecbatana; the whole Median state, together with its +dependencies, at once submitted to him, on learning what had happened. +This ready submission was no doubt partly owing to the general +recognition of a close connection between Media and Persia, which made +the transfer of empire from the one to the other but slightly galling +to the subjected power, and a matter of complete indifference to the +dependent countries. Except in so far as religion was concerned, +the change from one Iranic race to the other would make scarcely a +perceptible difference to the subjects of either kingdom. The law of +the state would still be "the law of the Medes and Persians." Official +employments would be open to the people of both countries. Even the fame +and glory of empire would attain, in the minds of men, almost as much +to the one nation as the other. If Media descended from her preeminent +rank, it was to occupy a station only a little below the highest, and +one which left her a very distinct superiority over all the subject +races. + +If it be asked how Media, in her hour of peril, came to receive no +assistance from the great Powers with which she had made such close +alliances--Babylonia and Lydia--the answer would seem to be that Lydia +was too remote from the scene of strife to lend her effective aid, while +circumstances had occurred in Babylonia to detach that state from her +and render it unfriendly. The great king, Nebuchadnezzar, had he been +on the throne, would undoubtedly have come to the assistance of his +brother-in-law, when the fortune of war changed, and it became evident +that his crown was in danger. But Nebuchadnezzar had died in B.V. 561, +three years before the Persian revolt broke out. His son, Evil-Merodach, +who would probably have maintained his father's alliances, had survived +him but two years: he had been murdered in B.C. 559 by a brother-in-law, +Nergalsharezer or Neriglissar, who ascended the throne in that year and +reigned till B.C. 555. This prince was consequently on the throne at +the time of Astyages' need. As he had supplanted the house of +Nebuchadnezzar, he would naturally be on bad terms with that monarch's +Median connections; and we may suppose that he saw with pleasure the +fall of a power to which pretenders from the Nebuchadnezzar family would +have looked for support and countenance. + +In conclusion, a few words may be said on the general character of the +Median Empire, and the causes of its early extinction. + +The Median Empire was in extent and fertility of territory-equal if not +superior to the Assyrian. It stretched from Rhages and the Carmanian +desert on the east to the river Halys upon the west, a distance of +above twenty degrees, or about 1,300 miles. From north to south it +was comparatively narrow, being confined between the Black Sea, the +Caucasus, and the Caspian, on the one side, and the Euphrates and +Persian Gulf on the other. Its greatest width, which was towards the +east, was about nine, and its least, which was towards the west, was +about four degrees. Its area was probably not much short of 500,000 +square miles. Thus it was as large as Great Britain, France, Spain, and +Portugal put together. + +In fertility its various parts were very unequal. Portions of both +Medias, of Persia, of Armenia, Iberia, and Cappadocia, were rich and +productive; but in all these countries there was a large quantity of +barren mountain, and in Media Magna and Persia there were tracts of +desert. If we estimate the resources of Media from the data furnished by +Herodotus in his account of the Persian revenue, and compare them with +those of the Assyrian Empire, as indicated by the same document, we +shall find reason to conclude, that except during the few years when +Egypt was a province of Assyria, the resources of the Third exceeded +those of the Second Monarchy. + +The weakness of the Empire arose chiefly from its want of organization. +Nicolas of Damascus, indeed, in the long passage from which our account +of the struggle between Cyrus and Astyages has been taken, represents +the Median Empire as divided, like the Persian, into a number of +satrapies but there is no real ground for believing that any such +organization was practised in Median times, or to doubt that Darius +Hystaspis was the originator of the satrapial system. The Median Empire, +like the Assyrian, was a congeries of kingdoms, each ruled by its own +native prince, as is evident from the case of Persia, where Cambyses was +not satrap, but monarch. Such organization as was attempted appears to +have been clumsy in the extreme. The Medes (we are told) only claimed +direct suzerainty over the nations immediately upon their borders; +remoter tribes they placed under these, and looked to them to collect +and remit the tribute of the outlying countries. It is doubtful if they +called on the subject nations for any contingents of troops. We never +hear of their doing so. Probably, like the Assyrians, they made their +conquests with armies composed entirely of native soldiers, or of +those combined with such forces as were sent to their aid by princes in +alliance with them. + +The weakness arising from this lack of organization was increased by a +corruption of manners, which caused the Medes speedily to decline in +energy and warlike spirit. The conquest of a great and luxurious empire +by a hardy and simple race is followed, almost of necessity, by a +deterioration in the character of the conquerors, who lose the warlike +virtues, and too often do not replace them by the less splendid virtues +of peace. This tendency, which is fixed in the nature of things, admits +of being checked for a while, or rapidly developed, according to the +policy and character of the monarchs who happen to occupy the throne. +If the original conqueror is succeeded, by two or three ambitious and +energetic princes, who engage in important wars and labor to extend +their dominions at the expense of their neighbors, it will be some time +before the degeneracy becomes marked. If, on the other hand, a prince of +a quiet temper, self-indulgent, and studious of ease, come to the throne +within a short time of the original conquests, the deterioration will +be very rapid. In the present instance it happened that the immediate +successor of the first conqueror was of a peaceful disposition, +unambitious, and luxurious in his habits. During a reign which lasted +at least thirty-five years he abstained almost wholly from military +enterprises; and thus an entire generation of Medes grew up without +seeing actual service, which alone makes the soldier. At the same +time there was a general softening of manners. The luxury of the Court +corrupted the nobles, who from hardy mountain chieftains, simple if not +even savage in their dress and mode of life, became polite courtiers, +magnificent in their apparel, choice in their diet, and averse to all +unnecessary exertion. The example of the upper classes would tell on the +lower, though not perhaps to any very large extent. The ordinary Mede, +no doubt, lost something of his old daring and savagery; from disuse +he became inexpert in the management of arms; and he was thus no longer +greatly to be dreaded as a soldier. But he was really not very much less +brave, nor less capable of bearing hardships, than before; and it only +required a few years of training to enable him to recover himself and to +be once more as good a soldier as any in Asia. + +But in the affairs of nations, as in those of men, negligence often +proves fatal before it can be repaired. Cyrus saw his opportunity, +pressed his advantage, and established the supremacy of his nation, +before the unhappy effects of Astyages' peace policy could be removed. +He knew that his own Persians possessed the military spirit in its +fullest vigor; he felt that he himself had all the qualities of a +successful loader; he may have had faith in his cause, which, he would +view as the cause of Ormazd against Ahriman, of pure Religion against a +corrupt and debasing nature-worship. His revolt was sudden, unexpected, +and well-timed. He waited till Astyages was advanced in years, and so +disqualified for command; till the veterans of Cyaxares were almost all +in their graves; and till the Babylonian throne was occupied by a king +who was not likely to afford Astyages any aid. Ho may not at first have +aspired to do more than establish the independence of his own country. +But when the opportunity of effecting a transfer of empire offered +itself, he seized it promptly; rapidly repeating his blows, and allowing +his enemy no time to recover and renew the struggle. The substitution +of Persia for Media as the ruling power in Western Asia was due less to +general causes than to the personal character of two men. Had Astyages +been a prince of ordinary vigor, the military training of the Medes +would have been kept up; and in that case they might easily have hold +their own against all comers. Had their training been kept up, or had +Cyrus possessed no more than ordinary ambition and ability, either +he would not have thought of revolting, or he would have revolted +unsuccessfully. The fall of the Median Empire was due immediately to +the genius of the Persian Prince; but its ruin was prepared, and its +destruction was really caused, by the shortsightedness of the Median +monarch. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Seven Great Monarchies Of The +Ancient Eastern World, Vol 3. (of 7): Media, by George Rawlinson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES *** + +***** This file should be named 16163.txt or 16163.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/1/6/16163/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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(of 7): Media, by George Rawlinson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 3. (of 7): Media + The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, + Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian + or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations. + +Author: George Rawlinson + +Illustrator: George Rawlinson + +Release Date: July 1, 2005 [EBook #16163] +Last Updated: September 6, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES + </h1> + <p> + OF THE ANCIENT EASTERN WORLD; OR, THE HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AND ANTIQUITIES + OF CHALDAEA, ASSYRIA BABYLON, MEDIA, PERSIA, PARTHIA, AND SASSANIAN, OR + NEW PERSIAN EMPIRE. <b> BY </b> <b> GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A., </b> CAMDEN + PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD IN THREE VOLUMES. + VOLUME II. WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <h2> + CONTENTS + </h2> + <p><a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I.</a> DESCRIPTION OF THE + COUNTRY.</p> + + <p><a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II.</a> CLIMATE + AND PRODUCTIONS.</p> + + <p><a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III.</a> + CHARACTER, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.</p> + + <p><a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV.</a> RELIGION.</p> + + <p><a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V.</a> LANGUAGE AND WRITING.</p> + + <p><a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI.</a> CHRONOLOGY AND HISTORY.</p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + List of Illustrations + </h2> + <p> + <a href="#linkimage-0001"> Map </a><br /> <a href="#linkimage-0002"> + Plate I. </a><br /> <a href="#linkimage-0003"> Plate II. </a><br /> <a + href="#linkimage-0004"> Plate III. </a><br /> <a href="#linkimage-0005"> + Plate IV. </a><br /> <a href="#linkimage-0006"> Plate V. </a><br /> <a + href="#linkimage-0007"> Plate VI. </a><br /> <a href="#linkimage-0008"> + Plate VII. </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE THIRD MONARCHY. + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + MEDIA. + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="linkimage-0001" id="linkimage-0001"> + <!-- IMG --></a> <a href="images/map_vol2a.jpg">ENLARGE TO FULL SIZE</a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img alt="map_vol2b (129K)" src="images/map_vol2b.jpg" width="100%" /> + </div> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. + </h2> + <p> + Along the eastern flank of the great Mesopotamian lowland, curving round + it on the north, and stretching beyond it to the south and the south-east, + lies a vast elevated region, or highland, no portion of which appears to + be less than 3000 feet above the sea-level. This region may be divided, + broadly, into two tracts, one consisting of lofty mountainous ridges, + which form its outskirts on the north and on the west; the other, in the + main a high flat table-land, extending from the foot of the mountain + chains, southward to the Indian Ocean, and eastward to the country of the + Afghans. The western mountain-country consists, as has been already + observed, of six or seven parallel ridges, having a direction nearly from + the north-west to the south-east, enclosing between them, valleys of great + fertility, and well watered by a large number of plentiful and refreshing + streams. This district was known to the ancients as Zagros, while in + modern geography it bears the names of Kurdistan and Luristan. It has + always been inhabited by a multitude of warlike tribes, and has rarely + formed for any long period a portion of any settled monarchy. Full of + torrents, of deep ravines, or rocky summits, abrupt and almost + inaccessible; containing but few passes, and those narrow and easily + defensible; secure, moreover, owing to the rigor of its climate, from + hostile invasion during more than half the year; it has defied all + attempts to effect its permanent subjugation, whether made by Assyrians, + Persians, Greeks, Parthians, or Turks, and remains to this day as + independent of the great powers in its neighborhood as it was when the + Assyrian armies first penetrated its recesses. Nature seems to have + constructed it to be a nursery of hardy and vigorous men, a + stumbling-block to conquerors, a thorn in the side of every powerful + empire which arises in this part of the great eastern continent. + </p> + <p> + The northern mountain country—known to modern geographers as Eiburz—is + a tract of far less importance. It is not composed, like Zagros, of a + number of parallel chains, but consists of a single lofty ridge, furrowed + by ravines and valleys, from which spurs are thrown out, running in + general at right angles to its axis. Its width is comparatively slight; + and instead of giving birth to numerous large rivers, it forms only a + small number of insignificant streams, often dry in summer, which have + short courses, being soon absorbed either by the Caspian or the Desert. + Its most striking feature is the snowy peak of Demavend, which impends + over Teheran, and appears to be the highest summit in the part of Asia + west of the Himalayas. + </p> + <p> + The elevated plateau which stretches from the foot of those two mountain + regions to the south and east is, for the most part, a flat sandy desert, + incapable of sustaining more than a sparse and scanty population. The + northern and western portions are, however, less arid than the east and + south, being watered to some distance by the streams that descend from + Zagros and Elburz, and deriving fertility also from the spring rains. Some + of the rivers which flow from Zagros on this side are large and strong. + One, the Kizil-Uzen, reaches the Caspian. Another, the Zenderud, + fertilizes a large district near Isfahan. A third, the Bendamir, flows by + Persepolis and terminates in a sheet of water of some size—lake + Bakhtigan. A tract thus intervenes between the mountain regions and the + desert which, though it cannot be called fertile, is fairly productive, + and can support a large settled population. This forms the chief portion + of the region which the ancients called Media, as being the country + inhabited by the race on whose history we are about to enter. + </p> + <p> + Media, however, included, besides this, another tract of considerable size + and importance. At the north-western angle of the region above described, + in the corner whence the two great chains branch out to the south and to + the east, is a tract composed almost entirely of mountains, which the + Greeks called Atropatene, and which is now known as Azerbijan. This + district lies further to the north than the rest of Media, being in the + same parallels with the lower part of the Caspian Sea. It comprises the + entire basin of Lake Urumiyeh, together with the country intervening + between that basin and the high mountain chain which curves round the + south-western corner of the Caspian, It is a region generally somewhat + sterile, but containing a certain quantity of very, fertile territory, + more particularly in the Urumiyeh basin, and towards the mouth of the + river Araxes. + </p> + <p> + The boundaries of Media are given somewhat differently by different + writers, and no doubt they actually varied at different periods; but the + variations were not great, and the natural limits, on three sides at any + rate, may be laid down with tolerable precision. Towards the north the + boundary was at first the mountain chain closing in on that side the + Urumiyeh basin, after which it seems to have been held that the true limit + was the Araxes, to its entrance on the low country, and then the mountain + chain west and south of the Caspian. Westward, the line of demarcation may + be best regarded as, towards the south, running along the centre of the + Zagros region; and, above this, as formed by that continuation of the + Zagros chain which separates the Urumiyeh from the Van basin. Eastward, + the boundary was marked by the spur from the Elburz, across which lay the + pass known as the Pylse Caspise, and below this by the great salt desert, + whose western limit is nearly in the same longitude. Towards the south + there was no marked line or natural boundary; and it is difficult to say + with any exactness how much of the great plateau belonged to Media and how + much to Persia. Having regard, however, to the situation of Hamadan, + which, as the capital, should have been tolerably central, and to the + general account which historians and geographers give of the size of + Media, we may place the southern limit with much probability about the + line of the thirty-second parallel, which is nearly the present boundary + between Irak and Fars. + </p> + <p> + The shape of Media has been called a square; but it is rather a long + parallelogram, whose two principal sides face respectively the north-east + and the south-west, while the ends or shorter sides front to the + south-east and to the northwest. Its length in its greater direction is + about 600 miles, and its width about 250 miles. It must thus contain + nearly 150,000 square miles, an area considerably larger than that of + Assyria and Chaldaea put together, and quite sufficient to constitute a + state of the first class, even according to the ideas of modern Europe. It + is nearly one-fifth more than the area of the British Islands, and half as + much again as that of Prussia, or of peninsular Italy. It equals three + fourths of France, or three fifths of Germany. It has, moreover, the great + advantage of compactness, forming a single solid mass, with no straggling + or outlying portions; and it is strongly defended on almost every side by + natural barriers offering great difficulties to an invader. + </p> + <p> + In comparison with the countries which formed the seats of the two + monarchies already described, the general character of the Median + territory is undoubtedly one of sterility. The high table-land is + everywhere intersected by rocky ranges, spurs from Zagros, which have a + general direction from west to east, and separate the country into a + number of parallel broad valleys, or long plains, opening out into the + desert. The appearance of these ranges is almost everywhere bare, arid, + and forbidding. Above, they present to the eye huge masses of gray rock + piled one upon another; below, a slope of detritus, destitute of trees or + shrubs, and only occasionally nourishing a dry and scanty herbage. The + appearance of the plains is little superior; they are flat and without + undulations, composed in general of gravel or hard clay, and rarely + enlivened by any show of water; except for two months in the spring, they + exhibit to the eye a uniform brown expanse, almost treeless, which + impresses the traveller with a feeling of sadness and weariness. Even in + Azerbijan, which is one of the least arid portions of the territory, vast + tracks consist of open undulating downs, desolate and sterile, bearing + only a coarse withered grass and a few stunted bushes. + </p> + <p> + Still there are considerable exceptions to this general aspect of + desolation. In the worst parts of the region there is a time after the + spring rains when nature puts on a holiday dress, and the country becomes + gay and cheerful. The slopes at the base of the rocky ranges are tinged + with an emerald green: a richer vegetation springs up over the plains, + which are covered with a fine herbage or with a variety of crops; the + fruit trees which surround the villages burst out into the most luxuriant + blossom; the roses come into bloom, and their perfume everywhere fills the + air. For the two months of April and May the whole face of the country is + changed, and a lovely verdure replaces the ordinary dull sterility. + </p> + <p> + In a certain number of more favored spots beauty and fertility are found + during nearly the whole of the year. All round the shores of Lake + Urumiyeh, more especially in the rich plain of Miyandab at its southern + extremity, along the valleys of the Aras, the Kizil-uzen, and the Jaghetu, + in the great valley of Linjan, fertilized by irrigation from the Zenderud, + in the Zagros valleys, and in various other places, there is an excellent + soil which produces abundantly with very slight cultivation. + </p> + <p> + The general sterility of Media arises from the scantiness of the water + supply. It has but few rivers, and the streams that it possesses run for + the most part in deep and narrow valleys sunk below the general level of + the country, so that they cannot be applied at all widely to purposes of + irrigation. Moreover, some of them are, unfortunately, impregnated with + salt to such an extent that they are altogether useless for this purpose; + and indeed, instead of fertilizing, spread around them desolation and + barrenness. The only Median streams which are of sufficient importance to + require description are the Aras, the Kizil-Uzen, the Jaghetu, the Aji-Su + and the Zenderud, or river of Isfahan. + </p> + <p> + The Aras is only very partially a Median stream. It rises from several + sources in the mountain tract between Kars and Erzeroum, and runs with a + generally eastern direction through Armenia to the longitude of Mount + Ararat, where it crosses the fortieth parallel and begins to trend + southward, flowing along the eastern side of Ararat in a south-easterly + direction, nearly to the Julfa ferry on the high road from Erivan to + Tabriz. From this point it runs only a little south of east to long. 46° + 30’ E. from Greenwich, when it makes almost a right angle and runs + directly north-east to its junction with the Kur at Djavat. Soon after + this it curves to the south, and enters the Caspian by several mouths in + lat. 39° 10’ nearly. The Aras is a considerable stream almost from its + source. At Hassan-Kaleh, less than twenty miles from Erzeroum, where the + river is forded in several branches, the water reaches to the + saddle-girths. At Keupri-Kieui, not much lower, the stream is crossed by a + bridge of seven arches. At the Julfa ferry it is fifty yards wide, and + runs with a strong current. At Megree, thirty miles further down, its + width is eighty yards. In spring and early summer the stream receives + enormous accessions from the spring rains and the melting of the snows, + which produce floods that often cause great damage to the lands and + villages along the valley. Hence the difficulty of maintaining bridges + over the Aras, which was noted as early as the time of Augustus, and is + attested by the ruins of many such structures remaining along its course. + Still, there are at the present day at least three bridges over the stream—one, + which has been already mentioned, at Keupri-Kieui, another a little above + Nakshivan, and the third at Khudoperinski, a little below Megree. The + length of the Aras, including only main windings, is 500 miles. + </p> + <p> + The Kizil-Uzen, or (as it is called in the lower part of its course) the + Sefid-Rud, is a stream of less size than the Aras, but more important to + Media, within which lies almost the whole of its basin. It drains a tract + of 180 miles long by 150 broad before bursting through the Elburz mountain + chain, and descending upon the low country which skirts the Caspian. + Rising in Persian Kurdistan almost from the foot of Zagros, it runs in a + meandering course with a general direction of north-east through that + province into the district of Khamseh, where it suddenly sweeps round and + flows in a bold curve at the foot of lofty and precipitous rocks, first + northwest and then north, nearly to Miana, when it doubles back upon + itself, and turning the flank of the Zenjan range runs with a course + nearly south-east to Menjil, after which it resumes its original direction + of north-east, and, rushing down the pass of Budbar, crosses Ghilan to the + Caspian. Though its source is in direct distance no more than 320 miles + from its mouth, its entire length, owing to its numerous curves and + meanders, is estimated at 490 miles. It is a considerable stream, forded + with difficulty, even in the dry season, as high up as Karagul, and + crossed by a bridge of three wide arches before its junction with the + Garongu river near Miana. In spring and early summer it is an impetuous + torrent, and can only be forded within a short distance of its source. + </p> + <p> + The Jaghetu and the Aji-Su are the two chief rivers of the Urumiyeh basin. + The Jaghetu rises from the foot of the Zagros chain, at a very little + distance from the source of the Kizil-Uzen. It collects the streams from + the range of hills which divides the Kizil-Uzen basin from that of Lake + Urumiyeh, and flows in a tolerably straight course first north and then + north-west to the south-eastern shore of the lake. Side by side with it + for some distance flows the smaller stream of the Tatau, formed by + torrents from Zagros; and between them, towards their mouths, is the rich + plain of Miyandab, easily irrigated from the two streams, the level of + whose beds is above that of the plain, and abundantly productive even + under the present system of cultivation. The Aji-Su reaches the lake from + the north-east. It rises from Mount Sevilan, within sixty miles of the + Caspian, and flows with a course which is at first nearly due south, then + north-west, and finally south-west, past the city of Tabriz, to the + eastern shore of the lake, which it enters in lat. 37° 50’. The waters of + the Aji-Su are, unfortunately, salt, and it is therefore valueless for + purposes of irrigation. + </p> + <p> + The Zenderud or river of Isfahan rises from the eastern flank of the + Kuh-i-Zerd (Yellow Mountain), a portion of the Bakhti-yari chain, and, + receiving a number of tributaries from the same mountain district, flows + with a course which is generally east or somewhat north of east, past the + great city of Isfahan—so long the capital of Persia—into the + desert country beyond, where it is absorbed in irrigation. Its entire + course is perhaps not more than 120 or 130 miles; but running chiefly + through a plain region, and being naturally a stream of large size, it is + among the most valuable of the Median rivers, its waters being capable of + spreading fertility, by means of a proper arrangement of canals, over a + vast extent of country, and giving to this part of Iran a sylvan + character, scarcely found elsewhere on the plateau. + </p> + <p> + It will be observed that of these streams there is not one which reaches + the ocean. All the rivers of the great Iranic plateau terminate in lakes + or inland seas, or else lose themselves in the desert. In general the + thirsty sand absorbs, within a short distance of their source, the various + brooks and streams which flow south and east into the desert from the + northern and western mountain chains, without allowing them to collect + into rivers or to carry fertility far into the plain region. The the river + of Isfahan forms the only exception to this rule within the limits of the + ancient Media. All its other important streams, as has been seen, flow + either into the Caspian or into the great lake of Urumiyeh. + </p> + <p> + That lake itself now requires our attention. It is an oblong basin, + stretching in its greater direction from N.N.W. to S.S. E., a distance of + above eighty miles, with an average width of about twenty-five miles. On + its eastern side a remarkable peninsula, projecting far into its waters, + divides it into two portions of very unequal size—a northern and a + southern. + </p> + <p> + The southern one, which is the largest of the two, is diversified towards + its centre by a group of islands, some of which are of a considerable + size. The lake, like others in this part of Asia, is several thousand feet + above the sea level. Its waters are heavily impregnated with salt, + resembling those of the Dead Sea. No fish can live in them. When a storm + sweeps over their surface it only raises the waves a few feet; and no + sooner is it passed than they rapidly subside again into a deep, heavy, + death-like sleep. The lake is shallow, nowhere exceeding four fathoms, and + averaging about two fathoms—a depth which, however, is rarely + attained within two miles of the land. The water is pellucid. To the eye + it has the deep blue color of some of the northern Italian lakes, whence + it was called by the Armenians the Kapotan Zow or “Blue Sea.” + </p> + <p> + According to the Armenian geography, Media contained eleven districts; + Ptolemy makes the number eight; but the classical geographers in general + are contented with the twofold division already indicated, and recognized + at the constituent parts of Media only Atropatene (now Azerbijan) and + Media Magna, a tract which nearly corresponds with the two provinces of + Irak Ajemj and Ardelan. Of the minor subdivisions there are but two or + three which seem to deserve any special notice. One of these is Ehagiana, + or the tract skirting the Elburz Mountains from the vicinity of the + Kizil-Uzen (or Sefid-Eud) to the Caspian Gates, a long and narrow slip, + fairly productive, but excessively hot in summer, which took its name from + the important city of Rhages. Another is Nissea, a name which the Medes + seem to have carried with them from their early eastern abodes, and to + have applied to some high upland plains west of the main chain of Zagros, + which were peculiarly favorable to the breeding of horses. As Alexander + visited these pastures on his way from Susa to Ecbatana, they must + necessarily have lain to the south of the latter city. Most probably they + are to be identified with the modern plains of Kbawah and Alishtar, + between Behistun and Khorramabad, which are even now considered to afford + the best summer pasturage in Persia. + </p> + <p> + It is uncertain whether any of these divisions were known in the time of + the great Median Empire. They are not constituted in any case by marked + natural lines or features. On the whole it is perhaps most probable that + the main division—that into Media Magna and Media Atropatene—was + ancient, Astro-patene being the old home of the Medes, and Media Magna a + later conquest; but the early political geography of the country is too + obscure to justify us in laying down even this as certain. The minor + political divisions are still less distinguishable in the darkness of + those ancient times. + </p> + <p> + From the consideration of the districts which composed the Median + territory, we may pass to that of their principal cities, some of which + deservedly obtained a very great celebrity. Tho most important of all were + the two Ecbatanas—the northern and the southern—which seem to + have stood respectively in the position of metropolis to the northern and + the southern province. Next to these may be named Rhages, which was + probably from early times a very considerable place; while in the third + rank may be mentioned Bagistan—rather perhaps a palace than a town—Concobar, + Adrapan, Aspadan, Charax, Kudrus, Hyspaostes, Urakagabarna, etc. + </p> + <p> + The southern Ecbatana or Agbatana—which the Medes and Persians + themselves knew as Hagmatan—was situated, as we learn from Polybius + and Diodorus, on a plan at the foot of Mont Orontes, a little to the east + of the Zagros range. The notices of these authors, combined with those of + Eratosthenes, Isidore, Pliny, Arrian, and others, render it as nearly + certain as possible that the site was that of the modern town of Hamadan, + the name of which is clearly but a slight corruption of the true ancient + appellation. <a href="#linkimage-0002">[PLATE I., Fig. 2.]</a> Mount + Orontes is to be recognized in the modern Elwend or Erwend—a word + etymologically identical with <i>Oront-es</i>—which is a long and + lofty mountains standing out like a buttress from the Zagros range, with + which it is connected towards the north-west, while on every other side it + stands isolated, sweeping boldly down upon the flat country at its base. + Copious streams descend from the mountain on every side, more particularly + to the north-east, where the plain is covered with a carpet of the most + luxuriant verdure, diversified with rills, and ornamented with numerous + groves of large and handsome forest trees. It is here, on ground sloping + slightly away from the roots of the mountain, that the modern town, which + lies directly at its foot, is built. The ancient city, if we may believe + Diodorus, did not approach the mountain within a mile or a mile and a + half. At any rate, if it began where Hamadan now stands, it most certainly + extended very much further into the plain. We need not suppose indeed that + it had the circumference, or even half the circumference, which the + Sicilian romancer assigns to it, since his two hundred and fifty stades + would give a probable area of fifty square miles, more than double that of + London! Ecbatana is not likely to have been at its most flourishing period + a larger city than Nineveh; and we have already seen that Nineveh covered + a space, within the walls, of not more than 1800 English acres. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0002" id="linkimage-0002"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img src="images/plate001.jpg" width="100%" alt="Plate I. " /> + </div> + <p> + The character of the city and of its chief edifices has, unfortunately, to + be gathered almost entirely from unsatisfactory authorities. Hitherto it + has been found possible in these volumes to check and correct the + statements of ancient writers, which are almost always exaggerated, by an + appeal to the incontrovertible evidence of modern surveys and + explorations. But the Median capital has never yet attracted a scientific + expedition. The travellers by whom it has been visited have reported so + unfavorably of its character as a field of antiquarian research that + scarcely a spadeful of soil has been dug, either in the city or in its + vicinity, with a view to recover traces of the ancient buildings. Scarcely + any remains of antiquity are apparent. As the site has never been + deserted, and the town has thus been subjected for nearly twenty-two + centuries to the destructive ravages of foreign conquerors, and the still + more injurious plunderings of native builders, anxious to obtain materials + for new edifices at the least possible cost and trouble, the ancient + structures have everywhere disappeared from sight, and are not even + indicated by mounds of a sufficient size to attract the attention of + common observers. Scientific explorers have consequently been deterred + from turning their energies in this direction; more promising sites have + offered and still offer themselves; and it is as yet uncertain whether the + plan of the old town might not be traced and the position of its chief + edifices fixed by the means of careful researches conducted by fully + competent persons. In this dearth of modern materials we have to depend + entirely upon the classical writers, who are rarely trustworthy in their + descriptions or measurements, and who, in this instance, labor under the + peculiar disadvantage of being mere reporters of the accounts given by + others. + </p> + <p> + Ecbatana was chiefly celebrated for the magnificence of its palace, a + structure ascribed by Diodorus to Semiramis, but most probably constructed + originally by Cyaxares, and improved, enlarged, and embellished by the + Achaemenian monarchs. According to the judicious and moderate Polybius, + who prefaces his account by a protest against exaggeration and + over-coloring, the circumference of the building was seven stades, or 1420 + yards, somewhat more than four fifths of an English mile. This size, which + a little exceeds that of the palace mound at Susa, while it is in its turn + a little exceeded by the palatial platform at Persepolis, may well be + accepted as probably close to the truth. Judging, however, from the + analogy of the above-mentioned palaces, we must conclude that the area + thus assigned to the royal residence was far from being entirely covered + with buildings. One half of the space, perhaps more, would be occupied by + large open courts, paved probably with marble, surrounding the various + blocks of buildings and separating them from one another. The buildings + themselves may be conjectured to have resembled those of the Achaemenian + monarchs at Susa and Persepolis, with the exception, apparently, that the + pillars, which formed their most striking characteristic, were for the + most part of wood rather than o£ stone. Polybius distinguishes the pillars + into two classes, those of the main buildings, and those which skirted the + courts, from which it would appear that at Ecbatana the courts were + surrounded by colonnades, as they were commonly in Greek and Roman houses. + These wooden pillars, all either of cedar or of cypress, supported beams + of a similar material, which crossed each other at right angles, leaving + square spaces between, which were then filled in with woodwork. Above the + whole a roof was placed, sloping at an angle, and composed (as we are + told) of silver plates in the shape of tiles. The pillars, beams, and the + rest of the woodwork were likewise coated with thin laminse of the + precious metals, even gold being used for this purpose to a certain + extent. + </p> + <p> + Such seems to have been the character of the true ancient Median palace, + which served probably as a model to Darius and Xerxes when they designed + their great palatial edifices at the more southern capitals. In the + additions which the palace received under the Achaemenian kings, stone + pillars may have been introduced; and hence probably the broken shafts and + bases, so nearly resembling the Persepolitan, one of which Sir E. Ker + Porter saw in the immediate neighborhood of Hamadan on his visit to that + place in 1818. <a href="#linkimage-0002">[PLATE I., Fig. 1.]</a> But to + judge from the description of Polybius, an older and ruder style of + architecture prevailed in the main building, which depended for its effect + not on the beauty of architectural forms, but on the richness and + costliness of the material. A pillar architecture, so far as appears, + began in this part of Asia with the Medes, who, however, were content to + use the more readily obtained and more easily worked material of wood; + while the Persians afterwards conceived the idea of substituting for these + inartificial props the slender and elegant stone shafts which formed the + glory of their grand edifices. + </p> + <p> + At a short distance from the palace was the “Acra,” or citadel, an + artificial structure, if we may believe Polybius, and a place of very + remarkable strength. Here probably was the treasury, from which Darius + Codomanus carried off 7000 talents of silver, when he fled towards Bactria + for fear of Alexander. And here, too, may have been the Record Office, in + which were deposited the royal decrees and other public documents under + the earlier Persian kings. Some travellers are of opinion that a portion + of the ancient structure still exists; and there is certainly a ruin on + the outskirts of the modern town towards the south, which is known to the + natives as “the inner fortress,” and which may not improbably occupy some + portion of the site whereon the original citadel stood. But the remains of + building which now exist are certainly not of an earlier date than the era + of Parthian supremacy, and they can therefore throw no light on the + character of the old Median stronghold. It may be thought perhaps that the + description which Herodotus gives of the building called by him “the + palace of Deioces” should be here applied, and that by its means we might + obtain an exact notion of the original structure. But the account of this + author is wholly at variance with the natural features of the + neighborhood, where there is no such conical hill as he describes, but + only a plain surrounded by mountains. It seems, therefore, to be certain + that either his description is a pure myth, or that it applies to another + city, the Ecbatana of the northern province. It is doubtful whether the + Median capital was at any time surrounded with walls. Polybius expressly + declares that it was an unwalled place in his day and there is some reason + to suspect that it had always been in this condition. The Medes and + Persians appear to have been in general content to establish in each town + a fortified citadel or stronghold, round which the houses were clustered, + without superadding the further defence of a town wall. Ecbatana + accordingly seems never to have stood a siege. When the nation which held + it was defeated in the open field, the city (unlike Babylon and Nineveh) + submitted to the conqueror without a struggle. Thus the marvellous + description in the book of Judith, which is internally very improbable, + would appear to be entirely destitute of any, even the slightest, + foundation in fact. + </p> + <p> + The chief city of northern Media, which bore in later times the names of + Gaza, Gazaca, or Canzaca, is thought to have also been called Ecbatana, + and to have been occasionally mistaken by the Greeks for the southern or + real capital. The description of Herodotus, which is irreconcilably at + variance with the local features of the Hamadan site, accords sufficiently + with the existing remains of a considerable city in the province of + Azerbijan; and it seems certainly to have been a city in these parts which + was called by Moses of Chorene “the second Ecbatana, the seven-walled + town.” The peculiarity of this place was its situation on and about a + conical hill which sloped gently down from its summit to its base, and + allowed of the interposition of seven circuits of wall between the plain + and the hill’s crest. At the top of the hill, within the innermost circle + of the defences, were the Royal Palace and the treasuries; the sides of + the hill were occupied solely by the fortifications; and at the base, + outside the circuit of the outermost wall, were the domestic and other + buildings which constituted the town. According to the information + received by Herodotus, the battlements which crowned the walls were + variously colored. Those of the outer circle were white, of the next + black, of the third scarlet, of the fourth blue, of the fifth orange, of + the sixth silver, and of the seventh gold. A pleasing or at any rate a + striking effect was thus produced—the citadel, which towered above + the town, presenting to the eye seven distinct rows of colors. + </p> + <p> + If there was really a northern as well as a southern Ecbatana, and if the + account of Herodotus, which cannot possibly apply to the southern capital, + may be regarded as truly describing the great city of the north, we may + with much probability fix the site of the northern town at the modern + Takht-i-Suleiman, in the upper valley of the Saruk, a tributary of the + Jaghetu. <a href="#linkimage-0002">[PLATE I., Fig. 3.]</a> Here alone in + northern Media are there important ruins occupying such a position as that + which Herodotus describes. Near the head of a valley in which runs the + main branch of the Saruk, at the edge of the hills which skirt it to the + north, there stands a conical mound projecting into the vale and rising + above its surface to the height of 150 feet. The geological formation of + the mound is curious in the extreme. It seems to owe its origin entirely + to a small lake, the waters of which are so strongly impregnated with + calcareous matter that wherever they overflow they rapidly form a deposit + which is as hard and firm as natural rock. If the lake was originally on a + level with the valley, it would soon have formed incrustations round its + edge, which every casual or permanent overflow would have tended to raise; + and thus, in the course of ages, the entire hill may have been formed by a + mere accumulation of petrefactions. The formation would progress more or + less rapidly according to the tendency of the lake to overflow its bounds; + which tendency must have been strong until the water reached its present + natural level—the level, probably, of some other sheet of water in + the hills, with which it is connected by an underground siphon. The lake, + which is of an irregular shape, is about 300 paces in circumference. Its + water, notwithstanding the quantity of mineral matter held in solution, is + exquisitely clear, and not unpleasing to the taste. Formerly it was + believed by the natives to be unfathomable; but experiments made in 1837 + showed the depth to be no more than 156 feet. + </p> + <p> + The ruins which at present occupy this remarkable site consist of a strong + wall, guarded by numerous bastions and pierced by four gateways, which + runs round the brow of the hill in a slightly irregular ellipse, of some + interesting remains of buildings within this walled space, and of a few + insignificant traces of inferior edifices on the slope between the plain + and the summit. As it is not thought that any of these remains are of a + date anterior to the Sassanian kingdom, no description will be given of + them here. We are only concerned with the Median city, and that has + entirely disappeared. Of the seven walls, one alone is to be traced; and + even here the Median structure has perished, and been replaced by masonry + of a far later age. Excavations may hereafter bring, to light some + remnants of the original town, but at present research has done no more + than recover for us a forgotten site. + </p> + <p> + The Median city next in importance to the two Ecbatanas was Raga or + Rhages, near the Caspian Gates, almost at the extreme eastern limits of + the territory possessed by the Medes. + </p> + <p> + The great antiquity of this place is marked by its occurrence in the + Zendavesta among the primitive settlements of the Arians. Its celebrity + during the time of the Empire is indicated by the position which it + occupies in the romances of Tobit and Judith. It maintained its rank under + the Persians, and is mentioned by Darius Hystaspis as the scene of the + struggle which terminated the great Median revolt. The last Darius seems + to have sent thither his heavy baggage and the ladies of his court, when + he resolved to quit Ecbatana and fly eastward. It has been already noticed + that Rhages gave name to a district; and this district maybe certainly + identified with the long narrow tract of fertile territory intervening + between the Elburz mountain-range and the desert, from about Kasvin to + Khaar, or from long. 30° to 52° 30’. The exact site of the city of Rhages + within this territory is somewhat doubtful. All accounts place it near the + eastern extremity; and as there are in this direction ruins of a town + called Rhei or Rhey, it has been usual to assume that they positively fix + the locality. But similarity, or even identity, of name is an insufficient + proof of a site; and, in the present instance, there are grounds for + placing Rhages very much nearer to the Caspian Gates than the position of + Rhei. Arrian, whose accuracy is notorious, distinctly states that from the + Gates to Rhages was only a single day’s march, and that Alexander + accomplished the distance in that time. Now from Rhei to the Girduni + Surdurrah pass, which undoubtedly represents the Pylae Cacpise of Arrian, + is at least fifty miles, a distance which no army could accomplish in less + time than two days. Rhages consequently must have been considerably to the + east of Rhei, about half-way between it and the celebrated pass which it + was considered to guard. Its probable position is the modern Kaleh Erij, + near Veramin, about 23 miles from the commencement of the Surdurrah pass, + where there are considerable remains of an ancient town. + </p> + <p> + In the same neighborhood with Rhages, but closer to the Straits, perhaps + on the site now occupied by the ruins known as Uewanukif, or possibly even + nearer to the foot of the pass, was the Median city of Charax, a place not + to be confounded with the more celebrated city called Gharax Spasini, the + birthplace of Dionysius the geographer, which was on the Persian Gulf, at + the mouth of the Tigris. + </p> + <p> + The other Median cities, whose position can be determined with an approach + to certainty, were in the western portion of the country, in the range of + Zagros, or in the fertile tract between that range and the desert. The + most important of these are Bagistan, Adrapan, Concobar, and Aspadan. + </p> + <p> + Bagistan is described by Isidore as a “city situated on a hill, where + there was a pillar and a statue of Semiramis.” Diodorus has an account of + the arrival of Semiramis at the place, of her establishing a royal park or + paradise in the plain below the mountain, which was watered by an abundant + spring, of her smoothing the face of the rock where it descended + precipitously upon the low ground, and of her carving on the surface thus + obtained her own effigy, with an inscription in Assyrian characters. The + position assigned to Bagistan by both writers, and the description of + Diodorus, identify the place beyond a doubt with the now famous Behistun, + where the plain, the fountain, the precipitous rock, and the scarped + surface are still to be seen, through the supposed figure of Semiramis, + her pillar, and her inscription have disappeared. <a href="#linkimage-0003">[PLATE + II., Fig. 1.]</a> This remarkable spot, lying on the direct route between + Babylon and Ecbatana, and presenting the unusual combination of a copious + fountain, a rich plain, and a rock suitable for sculptures, must have + early attracted the attention of the great monarchs who marched their + armies through the Zagros range, as a place where they might conveniently + set up memorials of their exploits. The works of this kind ascribed by the + ancient writers to Semiramis were probably either Assyrian or Babylonian, + and (it is most likely) resembled the ordinary monuments which the kings + of Babylon and Nineveh delighted to erect in countries newly conquered. + The example set by the Mesopotamians was followed by their Arian + neighbors, when the supremacy passed into their hands; and the famous + mountain, invested by them with a sacred character, was made to subserve + and perpetuate their glory by receiving sculptures and inscriptions which + showed them to have become the lords of Asia. The practice did not even + stop here. When the Parthian kingdom of the Arsacidee had established + itself in these parts at the expense of the Seleucidse, the rock was once + more called upon to commemorate the warlike triumphs of a new race. + Gotarzes, the contemporary of the Emperor Claudius, after defeating his + rival Meherdates in the plain between Behistun and Kermanshah, inscribed + upon the mountain, which already bore the impress of the great monarchs of + Assyria and Persia, a record of his recent victory. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0003" id="linkimage-0003"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img src="images/plate002.jpg" width="100%" alt="Plate II. " /> + </div> + <p> + The name of Adrapan occurs only in Isidore, who places it between Bagistan + and Ecbatana, at the distance of twelve schoeni—36 Roman or 34 + British miles from the latter. It was, he says, the site of an ancient + palace belonging to Ecbatana, which Tigranes the Armenian had destroyed. + The name and situation sufficiently identify Adrapan with the modern + village of Arteman, which lies on the southern face of Elwend near its + base, and is well adapted for a royal residence. Here, during the severest + winter, when Hamadan and the surrounding country are buried in snow, a + warm and sunny climate is to be found; whilst in the summer a thousand + rills descending from Elwend diffuse around fertility and fragrance. + Groves of trees grow up in rich luxuriance from the well-irrigated soil, + whose thick foliage affords a welcome shelter from the heat of the noonday + sun. The climate, the gardens, and the manifold blessings of the place are + proverbial throughout Persia; and naturally caused the choice of the site + for a retired palace, to which the court of Ecbatana might adjourn when + either the summer heat and dust or the winter cold made residence in the + capital irksome. + </p> + <p> + In the neighborhood of Adrapan, on the road leading to Bagistan, stood + Concobar, which is undoubtedly the modern Kungawar, and perhaps the Chavon + of Diodorus. Here, according to the Sicilian historian, Semiramis built a + palace and laid out a paradise; and here, in the time of Isidore, was a + famous temple of Artemis. Colossal ruins crown the summit of the acclivity + on which the town of Kungawar stands, which may be the remains of this + latter building; but no trace has been found that can be regarded as + either Median or Assyrian. + </p> + <p> + The Median town of Aspadan, which is mentioned by no writer but Ptolemy, + would scarcely deserve notice here, if it were not for its modern + celebrity. Aspadan, corrupted into Isfahan, became the capital of Persia, + under the Sen kings, who rendered it one of the most magnificent cities of + Asia. It is uncertain whether it existed at all in the time of the great + Median empire. If so, it was, at best, an outlying town of little + consequence on the extreme southern confines of the territory, where it + abutted upon Persia proper. The district wherein it lay was inhabited by + the Median tribe of the Parastaceni. + </p> + <p> + Upon the whole it must be allowed that the towns of Media were few and of + no great account. The Medes did not love to congregate in large cities, + but preferred to scatter themselves in villages over their broad and + varied territory. The protection of walls, necessary for the inhabitants + of the low Mesopotamian regions, was not required by a people whose + country was full of natural fastnesses to which they could readily remove + on the approach of danger. Excepting the capital and the two important + cities of Gazaca and Rhages, the Median towns were insignificant. Even + those cities themselves were probably of moderate dimensions, and had + little of the architectural splendor which gives so peculiar an interest + to the towns of Mesopotamia. Their principal buildings were in a frail and + perishable material, unsuited to bear the ravages of time; they have + consequently altogether disappeared, and in the whole of Media modern + researches have failed to bring to light a single edifice which can be + assigned with any show of probability to the period of the Empire. + </p> + <p> + The plan adopted in former portions of this work makes it necessary, + before concluding this chapter, to glance briefly at the character of the + various countries and districts by which Media was bordered—the + Caspian district upon the north, Armenia upon the north-west, the Zagros + region and Assyria upon the west, Persia proper upon the south, and upon + the east Sagartia and Parthia. + </p> + <p> + North and north-east of the mountain range which under different names + skirts the southern shores of the Caspian Sea and curves round its + south-western corner, lies a narrow but important strip of territory—the + modern Ghilan and Mazanderan. <a href="#linkimage-0003">[PLATE II., Fig. + 2.]</a> This is a most fertile region, well watered and richly wooded, and + forms one of the most valuable portions of the modern kingdom of Persia. + At first it is a low flat tract of deep alluvial soil, but little raised + above the level of the Caspian; gradually however it rises into swelling + hills which form the supports of the high mountains that shut in this + sheltered region, a region only to be reached by a very few passes over or + through them. The mountains are clothed on this side nearly to their + summit with dwarf oaks, or with shrubs and brushwood; while, lower down, + their flanks are covered with forests of elms, cedars, chestnuts, beeches, + and cypress trees. The gardens and orchards of the natives are of the most + superb character; the vegetation is luxuriant; lemons, oranges, peaches, + pomegranates, besides other fruits, abound; rice, hemp, sugar-canes, + mulberries are cultivated with success; vines grow wild; and the valleys + are strewn with flowers of rare fragrance, among which may be noted the + rose, the honeysuckle, and the sweetbrier. Nature, however, with her usual + justice, has balanced these extraordinary advantages with peculiar + drawbacks; the tiger, unknown in any other part of Western Asia, here + lurks in the thickets, ready to spring at any moment on the unwary + traveller; inundations are frequent, and carry desolation far and wide; + the waters, which thus escape from the river beds, stagnate in marshes, + and during the summer and autumn heats pestilential exhalations arise, + which destroy the stranger, and bring even the acclimatized native to the + brink of the grave. The Persian monarch chooses the southern rather than + the northern side of the mountains for the site of his capital, preferring + the keen winter cold and dry summer heat of the high and almost waterless + plateau to the damp and stifling air of the low Caspian region. + </p> + <p> + The narrow tract of which this is a description can at no time have + sheltered a very numerous or powerful people. During the Median period, + and for many ages afterwards, it seems to have been inhabited by various + petty tribes of predatory habits—Cadusians, Mardi, Tapyri, etc.,—who + passed their time in petty quarrels among themselves, and in plundering + raids upon their great southern neighbor. Of these tribes the Cadusians + alone enjoyed any considerable reputation. They were celebrated for their + skill with the javelin—a skill probably represented by the modern + Persian use of the <i>djereed</i>. According to Diodorus, they were + engaged in frequent wars with the Median kings, and were able to bring + into the field a force of 200,000 men! Under the Persians they seem to + have been considered good soldiers, and to have sometimes made a struggle + for independence. But there is no real reason to believe that they were of + such strength as to have formed at any time a danger to the Median + kingdom, to which it is more probable that they generally acknowledged a + qualified subjection. + </p> + <p> + The great country of Armenia, which lay north-west and partly north of + Media, has been generally described in the first volume; but a few words + will be here added with respect to the more eastern portion, which + immediately bordered upon the Median territory. This consisted of two + outlying districts, separated from the rest of the country, the triangular + basin of Lake Van, and the tract between the Kur and Aras rivers—the + modern Karabagh and Erivan. The basin of Lake Van, surrounded by high + ranges, and forming the very heart of the mountain system of this part of + Asia, is an isolated region, a sort of natural citadel, where a strong + military power would be likely to establish itself. Accordingly it is + here, and here alone in all Armenia, that we find signs of the existence, + during the Assyrian and Median periods, of a great organized monarchy. + </p> + <p> + The Van inscriptions indicate to us a line of kings who bore sway in the + eastern Armenia—the true Ararat—and who were both in + civilization and in military strength far in advance of any of the other + princes who divided among them the Armenian territory. The Van monarchs + may have been at times formidable enemies of the Medes. They have left + traces of their dominion, not only on the tops of the mountain passes + which lead into the basin of Lake Urumiyeh, but even in the comparatively + low plain of Miyandab on the southern shore of that inland sea. It is + probable from this that they were at one time masters of a large portion + of Media Atropatene, and the very name of Urumiyeh, which still attaches + to the lake, may have been given to it from one of their tribes. In the + tract between the Kur and Aras, on the other hand, there is no sign of the + early existence of any formidable power. Here the mountains are + comparatively low, the soil is fertile, and the climate temperate. The + character of the region would lead its inhabitants to cultivate the arts + of peace rather than those of war, and would thus tend to prevent them + from being formidable or troublesome to their neighbors. + </p> + <p> + The Zagros region, which in the more ancient times separated between Media + and Assyria, being inhabited by a number of independent tribes, but which + was ultimately absorbed into the more powerful country, requires no notice + here, having been sufficiently described among the tracts by which Assyria + was bordered. At first a serviceable shield to the weak Arian tribes which + were establishing themselves along its eastern base upon the high plateau, + it gradually passed into their possession as they increased in strength, + and ultimately became a main nursery of their power, furnishing to their + armies vast numbers both of men and horses. The great horse pastures, from + which the Medes first and the Persians afterwards, supplied their numerous + and excellent cavalry, were in this quarter; and the troops which it + furnished—hardy mountaineers accustomed to brave the severity of a + most rigorous climate—must have been among the most effective of the + Median forces. + </p> + <p> + On the south Media was bounded by Persia proper—a tract which + corresponded nearly with the modern province of Farsistan. The complete + description of this territory, the original seat of the Persian nation, + belongs to a future volume of this work, which will contain an account of + the “Fifth Monarchy.” For the present it is sufficient to observe that the + Persian territory was for the most part a highland, very similar to Media, + from which it was divided by no strongly marked line or natural boundary. + The Persian mountains are a continuation of the Zagros chain, and Northern + Persia is a portion—the southern portion—of the same great + plateau, whose western and north-western skirts formed the great mass of + the Median territory. Thus upon this side Media was placed in the closest + connection with an important country, a country similar in character to + her own, where a hardy race was likely to grow up, with which she might + expect to have difficult contests. + </p> + <p> + Finally, towards the east lay the great salt desert, sparsely inhabited by + various nomadic races, among which the most important were the Cossseans + and the Sagartians. To the latter people Herodotus seems to assign almost + the whole of the sandy region, since he unites them with the Sarangians + and Thamanseans on the one hand, with the Utians and Mycians upon the + other. They were a wild race, probably of Arian origin, who hunted with + the lasso over the great desert mounted on horses, and could bring into + the field a force of eight or ten thousand men. Their country, a waste of + sand and gravel, in parts thickly encrusted with salt, was impassable to + an army, and formed a barrier which effectively protected Media along the + greater portion of her eastern frontier. Towards the extreme north-east + the Sagartians were replaced by the Cossseans and the Parthians, the + former probably the people of the Siah-Koh mountain, the latter the + inhabitants of the tract known now as the Atak, or “skirt,” which extends + along the southern flank of the Elburz range from the Caspian Gates nearly + to Herat, and is capable of sustaining a very considerable population. The + Cossseans were plunderers, from whose raids Media suffered constant + annoyance; but they were at no time of sufficient strength to cause any + serious fear. The Parthians, as we learn from the course of events, had in + them the materials of a mighty people; but the hour for their elevation + and expansion was not yet come, and the keenest observer of Median times + could scarcely have perceived in them the future lords of Western Asia. + From Parthia, moreover, Media was divided by the strong rocky spur which + runs out from the Elburz into the desert in long. 52° 10’ nearly, over + which is the narrow pass already mentioned as the Caspian Gates. Thus + Media on most sides was guarded by the strong natural barriers of seas, + mountains, and deserts lying open only on the south, where she adjoined + upon a kindred people. Her neighbors were for the most part weak in + numbers, though warlike. Armenia, however, to the north-west, Assyria to + the west, and Persia to the south, were all more or less formidable. A + prescient eye might have foreseen that the great struggles of Media would + be with these powers, and that if she attained imperial proportions it + must be by their subjugation or absorption. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. + </h2> + <p> + Media, like Assyria, is a country of such extent and variety that, in + order to give a correct description of its climate, we must divide it into + regions. Azerbijan, or Atropatene, the most northern portion, has a + climate altogether cooler than the rest of Media; while in the more + southern division of the country there is a marked difference between the + climate of the east and of the west, of the tracts lying on the high + plateau and skirting the Great Salt Desert, and of those contained within + or closely abutting upon the Zagros mountain range. The difference here is + due to the difference of physical conformation, which is as great as + possible, the broad mountainous plains about Kasvin, Koum, and Kashan, + divided from each other by low rocky ridges, offering the strongest + conceivable contrast to the perpetual alternations of mountain and valley, + precipitous height and deep wooded glen, which compose the greater part of + the Zagros region. + </p> + <p> + The climate of Azerbijan is temperate and pleasant, though perhaps + somewhat overwarm, in summer; while in winter it is bitterly severe, + colder than that of almost any other region in the same latitude. This + extreme rigor seems to be mainly owing to elevation, the very valleys and + valley plains of the tract being at a height of from 4000 to 5000 feet + above the sea level. Frost commonly sets in towards the end of November—or + at latest early in December; snow soon covers the ground to the depth of + several feet; the thermometer falls below zero; the sun shines brightly + except when from time to time fresh deposits of snow occur; but a keen and + strong wind usually prevails, which is represented as “cutting like a + sword,” and being a very “assassin of life.” Deaths from cold are of daily + occurrence; and it is impossible to travel without the greatest risk. + Whole companies or caravans occasionally perish beneath the drift, when + the wind is violent, especially if a heavy fall happen to coincide with + one of the frequent easterly gales. The severe weather commonly continues + till March, when travelling becomes possible, but the snow remains on much + of the ground till May, and on the mountains still longer. The spring, + which begins in April, is temperate and delightful; a sudden burst of + vegetation succeeds to the long winter lethargy; the air is fresh and + balmy, the sun pleasantly warm, the sky generally cloudless. In the month + of May the heat increases—thunder hangs in the air—and the + valleys are often close and sultry. Frequent showers occur, and the + hail-storms are sometimes so violent as to kill the cattle in the fields. + As the summer advances the heats increase, but the thermometer rarely + reaches 90° in the shade, and except in the narrow valleys the air is + never oppressive. The autumn is generally very fine. Foggy mornings are + common; but they are succeeded by bright pleasant days, without wind or + rain. On the whole the climate is pronounced healthy, though somewhat + trying to Europeans, who do not readily adapt themselves to a country + where the range of the thermometer is as much as 90° or 100°. In the part + of Media situated on the great plateau—the modern Irak Ajemi—in + which are the important towns of Teheran, Isfahan, Hamadan, Kashan, + Kasvin, and Koum. the climate is altogether warmer than in Azerbijan, the + summers being hotter, and the winters shorter and much less cold. Snow + indeed covers the ground for about three months, from early in December + till March; but the thermometer rarely shows more than ten or twelve + degrees of frost, and death from cold is uncommon. The spring sets in + about the beginning of March, and is at first somewhat cool, owing to the + prevalence of the <i>baude caucasan</i> or north wind,a which blows from + districts where the snow still lies. But after a little time the weather + becomes delicious; the orchards are a mass of blossom; the rose gardens + come into bloom; the cultivated lands are covered with springing crops; + the desert itself wears a light livery of green. Every sense is gratified; + the nightingale bursts out with a full gush of song; the air plays softly + upon the cheek, and comes loaded with fragrance. Too soon, however, this + charming time passes away, and the summer heats begin, in some places as + early as June 18 The thermometer at midday rises to 90 or 100 degrees. Hot + gusts blow from the desert, sometimes with great violence. The atmosphere + is described as choking; and in parts of the plateau it is usual for the + inhabitants to quit their towns almost in a body, and retire for several + months into the mountains. This extreme heat is, however, exceptional; in + most parts of the plateau the summer warmth is tempered by cool breezes + from the surrounding mountains, on which there is always a good deal of + snow. At Hamadan, which, though on the plain, is close to the mountains, + the thermometer seems scarcely ever to rise above 90°, and that degree of + heat is attained only for a few hours in the day. The mornings and + evenings are cool and refreshing; and altogether the climate quite + justifies the choice of the Persian monarchs, who selected Ecbatana for + their place of residence during the hottest portion of the year. Even at + Isfahan, which is on the edge of the desert, the heat is neither extreme + nor prolonged. The hot gusts which blow from the east and from the south + raise the temperature at times nearly to a hundred degrees; but these + oppressive winds alternate with cooler breezes from the west, often + accompanied by rain; and the average highest temperature during the day in + the hottest month, which is August, does not exceed 90°. + </p> + <p> + A peculiarity in the climate of the plateau which deserves to be noticed + is the extreme dryness of the atmosphere. In summer the rains which fall + are slight, and they are soon absorbed by the thirsty soil. There is a + little dew at nights, especially in the vicinity of the few streams; but + it disappears with the first hour of sunshine, and the air is left without + a particle of moisture. In winter the dryness is equally great; frost + taking the place of heat, with the same effect upon the atmosphere. + Unhealthy exhalations are thus avoided, and the salubrity of the climate + is increased; but the European will sometimes sigh for the soft, balmy + airs of his own land, which have come flying over the sea, and seem to + bring their wings still dank with the ocean spray. + </p> + <p> + Another peculiarity of this region, produced by the unequal rarefaction of + the air over its different portions, is the occurrence, especially in + spring and summer, of sudden gusts, hot or cold, which blow with great + violence. These gusts are sometimes accompanied with, whirlwinds, which + sweep the country in different directions, carrying away with them leaves, + branches, stubble, sand, and other light substances, and causing great + annoyance to the traveller. They occur chiefly in connection with a change + of wind, and are no doubt consequent on the meeting of two opposite + currents. Their violence, however, is moderate, compared with that of + tropical tornadoes, and it is not often that they do any considerable + damage to the crops over which they sweep. + </p> + <p> + One further characteristic of the flat region may be noticed. The intense + heat of the summer sun striking on the dry sand or the saline + efflorescence of the desert throws the air over them into such a state of + quivering undulation as produces the most wonderful and varying effects, + distorting the forms of objects, and rendering the most familiar strange + and hard to be recognized. A mud bank furrowed by the rain will exhibit + the appearance of a magnificent city, with columns, domes, minarets, and + pyramids; a few stunted bushes will be transformed into a forest of + stately trees; a distant mountain will, in the space of a minute, assume + first the appearance of a lofty peak, then swell out at the top, and + resemble a mighty mushroom, next split into several parts, and finally + settle down into a flat tableland. Occasionally, though not very often + that semblance of water is produced which Europeans are are apt to suppose + the usual effect of mirage. The images of objects are reflected at their + base in an inverted position; the desert seems converted into a vast lake; + and the thirsty traveller, advancing towards it, finds himself the victim + of an illusion, which is none the less successful because he has been a + thousand times forewarned of its deceptive power. + </p> + <p> + In the mountain range or Zagros and the tracts adjacent to it, the + climate, owing to the great differences of elevation, is more varied than + in the other parts of the ancient Media. Severe cold prevails in the + higher mountain regions for seven months out of the twelve, while during + the remaining five the heat is never more than moderate. In the low + valleys, on the contrary, and in other favored situations, the winters are + often milder than on the plateau; while in the summers, if the heat is not + greater, at any rate it is more oppressive. Owing to the abundance of the + streams and proximity of the melting snows, the air is moist; and the damp + heat, which stagnates in the valleys, broods fever and ague. Between these + extremes of climate and elevation, every variety is to be found; and, + except in winter, a few hours’ journey will almost always bring the + traveller into a temperate region. + </p> + <p> + In respect of natural productiveness, Media (as already observed) differs + exceedingly in different, and even in adjacent, districts. The rocky + ridges of the great plateau, destitute of all vegetable mold, are wholly + bare and arid, admitting not the slightest degree of cultivation. Many of + the mountains of Azerbijan, naked, rigid, and furrowed, may compare even + with these desert ranges for sterility. The higher parts of Zagros and + Elburz are sometimes of the same character; but more often they are + thickly clothed with forests, affording excellent timber and other + valuable commodities. In the Elburz pines are found near the summit, while + lower down there occur, first the wild almond and the dwarf oak, and then + the usual timber-trees of the country, the Oriental plane, the willow, the + poplar, and the walnut. The walnut grows to a large size both here and in + Azerbijan, but the poplar is the wood most commonly used for building + purposes. In Zagros, besides most of these trees, the ash and the + terebinth or turpentine-tree are common; the oak bears gall-nuts of a + large size; and the gum-tragacanth plant frequently clothes the + mountain-sides. The valleys of this region are full of magnificent + orchards, as are the low grounds and more sheltered nooks of Azerbijan. + The fruit-trees comprise, besides vines and mulberries, the apple, the + pear, the quince, the plum, the cherry, the almond, the nut, the chestnut, + the olive, the peach, the nectarine, and the apricot. + </p> + <p> + On the plains of the high plateau there is a great scarcity of vegetation. + Trees of a large size grow only in the few places which are well watered, + as in the neighborhood of Hamadan, Isfahan, and in a less degree of + Kashan. The principal tree is the Oriental plane, which flourishes + together with poplars and willows along the water-courses; cypresses also + grow freely; elms and cedars are found, and the orchards and gardens + contain not only the fruit-trees mentioned above, but also the jujube, the + cornel, the filbert, the medlar, the pistachio nut, the pomegranate, and + the fig. Away from the immediate vicinity of the rivers and the towns, not + a tree, scarcely a bush, is to be seen. The common thorn is indeed + tolerably abundant in a few places; but elsewhere the tamarisk and a few + other sapless shrubs are the only natural products of this bare and arid + region. + </p> + <p> + In remarkable contrast with the natural barrenness of this wide tract are + certain favored districts in Zagros and Azerbijan, where the herbage is + constant throughout the summer, and sometimes only too luxuriant. Such are + the rich and extensive grazing grounds of Khawah and Alishtar, near + Kermanshah, the pastures near Ojan and Marand, and the celebrated Chowal + Moghan or plain of Moghan, on the lower course of the Araxes river, where + the grass is said to grow sufficiently high to cover a man on horseback. + These, however, are rare exceptions to the general character of the + country, which is by nature unproductive, and scarcely deserving even of + the qualified encomium of Strabo. + </p> + <p> + Still Media, though deficient in natural products, is not ill adapted for + cultivation. The Zagros valleys and hillsides produce under a very rude + system of agriculture, besides the fruits already noticed, rice, wheat, + barley, millet, sesame, Indian corn, cotton, tobacco, mulberries, + cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and the castor-oilplant. In Azerbijan the + soil is almost all cultivable, and if ploughed and sown will bring good + crops of the ordinary kinds of grain. Even on the side of the desert, + where Nature has shown herself most niggardly, and may seem perhaps to + deserve the reproach of Cicero, that she behaves as a step mother to a man + rather than as a mother, a certain amount of care and scientific labor may + render considerable tracts fairly productive. The only want of this region + is water; and if the natural deficiency of this necessary fluid can be + anyhow supplied, all parts of the plateau will bear crops, except those + which form the actual Salt Desert. In modern, and still more in ancient + times, this fact has been clearly perceived, and an elaborate system of + artifical irrigation, suitable to the peculiar circumstances of the + country, has been very widely established. The system of <i>kanats</i>, as + they are called at the present day, aims at utilizing to the uttermost all + the small streams and rills which descend towards the desert from the + surrounding mountains, and at conveying as far as possible into the plain + the spring water, which is the indispensable condition of cultivation in a + country where—except for a few days in the spring and autumn—rain + scarcely ever falls. As the precious element would rapidly evaporate if + exposed to the rays of the summer sun, the Iranian husbandman carries his + conduit underground, laboriously tunnelling through the stiff argillaceous + soil, at a depth of many feet below the surface. The mode in which he + proceeds is as follows. At intervals along the line of his intended + conduit he first sinks shafts, which he then connects with one another by + galleries, seven or eight feet in height, giving his galleries a slight + incline, so that the water may run down them freely, and continuing them + till he reaches a point where he wishes to bring the water out upon the + surface of the plain. Here and there, at the foot of his shafts, he digs + wells, from which the fluid can readily be raised by means of a bucket and + a windlass; and he thus brings under cultivation a considerable belt of + land along the whole line of the <i>kanat</i>, as well as a large tract at + its termination. These conduits, on which the cultivation of the plateau + depends, were established at so remote a date that they were popularly + ascribed to the mythic Semiramis, the supposed wife of Ninus. It is + thought that in ancient times they were longer and more numerous than at + present, when they occur only occasionally, and seldom extend more than a + few miles from the base of the hills. + </p> + <p> + By help of the irrigation thus contrived, the great plateau of Iran will + produce good crops of grain, rice, wheat, barley, Indian corn, doura, + millet, and sesame. It will also bear cotton, tobacco, saffron, rhubarb, + madder, poppies which give a good opium, senna, and assafoetida. Its + garden vegetables are excellent, and include potatoes, cabbages, lentils, + kidney-beans, peas, turnips, carrots, spinach, beetroot, and cucumbers. + The variety of its fruit-trees has been already noticed. The flavor of + their produce is in general good, and in some cases surpassingly + excellent. No quinces are so fine as those of Isfahan, and no melons have + a more delicate flavor. The grapes of Kasvin are celebrated, and make a + remarkably good wine. + </p> + <p> + Among the flowers of the country must be noted, first of all, its roses, + which flourish in the most luxuriant abundance, and are of every variety + of hue. The size to which the tree will grow is extraordinary, standards + sometimes exceeding the height of fourteen or fifteen feet. Lilacs, + jasmines, and many other flowering shrubs are common in the gardens, while + among wild flowers may be noticed hollyhocks, lilies, tulips, crocuses, + anemones, lilies of the valley, fritillaries, gentians, primroses, + convolvuluses, chrysanthemums, heliotropes, pinks, water-lilies, + ranunculuses, jonquils, narcissuses, hyacinths, mallows, stocks, violets, + a fine campanula (Michauxia levigata), a mint (Nepeta longiflora), several + sages, salsolas, and fagonias. In many places the wild flowers during the + spring months cover the ground, painting it with a thousand dazzling or + delicate hues. + </p> + <p> + The mineral products of Media are numerous and valuable. Excellent stone + of many kinds abounds in almost every part of the country, the most + important and valuable being the famous Tabriz marble. This curious + substance appears to be a petrifaction formed by natural springs, which + deposit carbonate of lime in large quantities. It is found only in one + place, on the flanks of the hills, not far from the Urumiyeh lake. The + slabs are used for tombstones, for the skirting of rooms, and for the + pavements of baths and palaces; when cut thin they often take the place of + glass in windows, being semi-transparent. The marble is commonly of a pale + yellow color, but occasionally it is streaked with red, green, or + copper-colored veins. + </p> + <p> + In metals the country is thought to be rich, but no satisfactory + examination of it has been as yet made. Iron, copper, and native steel are + derived from mines actually at work; while Europeans have observed + indications of lead, arsenic, and antimony in Azerbijan, in Kurdistan, and + in the rocky ridges which intersect the desert. Tradition speaks of a time + when gold and silver were procured from mountains near Takht-i-Suleman, + and it is not unlikely that they may exist both there and in the Zagros + range. Quartz, the well-known matrix of the precious metal, abounds in + Kurdistan. + </p> + <p> + Of all the mineral products, none is more abundant than salt. On the side + of the desert, and again near Tabriz at the mouth of the Aji Su, are vast + plains which glisten with the substance, and yield it readily to all who + care to gather it up. Saline springs and streams are also numerous, from + which salt can be obtained by evaporation. But, besides these sources of + supply, rock salt is found in places, and this is largely quarried, and is + preferred by the natives. + </p> + <p> + Other important products of the earth are saltpetre, which is found in the + Elburz, and in Azerbijan; sulphur, which abounds in the same regions, and + likewise on the high plateau; alum, which is quarried near Tabriz; naphtha + and gypsum, which are found in Kurdistan; and talc, which exists in the + mountains near Koum, in the vicinity of Tabriz, and probably in other + places. + </p> + <p> + The chief wild animals which have been observed within the limits of the + ancient Media are the lion, the tiger, the leopard, the bear, the beaver, + the jackal, the wolf, the wild ass, the ibex or wild goat, the wild sheep, + the stag, the antelope, the wild boar, the fox, the hare, the rabbit, the + ferret, the rat, the jerboa, the porcupine, the mole, and the marmot. The + lion and tiger are exceedingly rare; they seem to be found only in + Azerbijan, and we may perhaps best account for their presence there by + considering that a few of these animals occasionally stray out of + Mazanderan, which is their only proper locality in this part of Asia. Of + all the beasts, the most abundant are the stag and the wild goat, which + are numerous in the Elburz, and in parts of Azerbijan, the wild boar, + which abounds both in Azerbijan, and in the country about Hamadan, and the + jackal, which is found everywhere. Bears flourish in Zagros, antelopes in + Azerbijan, in the Elburz, and on the plains near Sultaniyeh. The wild ass + is found only in the desert parts of the high plateau; the beaver only in + Lake Zeribar, near Sulefmaniyeh. + </p> + <p> + The Iranian wild ass differs in some respects from the Mesopotamian. His + skin is smooth, like that of a deer, and of a reddish color, the belly and + hinder parts partaking of a silvery gray; his head and ears are large and + somewhat clumsy; but his neck is fine, and his legs are beautifully + slender. His mane is short and black, and he has a black tuft at the end + of his tail, but no dark line runs along his back or crosses his + shoulders. The Persians call him the <i>gur-khur</i>, and chase him with + occasional success, regarding his flesh as a great delicacy. He appears to + be the <i>Asinus onager</i> of naturalists, a distinct species from the <i>Asinus + hemippus</i> of Mesopotamia, and the <i>Asinus hemionus</i> of Thibet and + Tartary. + </p> + <p> + It is doubtful whether some kind of wild cattle does not still inhabit the + more remote tracts of Kurdistan. The natives mention among the animals of + their country “the mountain ox;” and though it has been suggested that the + beast intended is the elk, it is perhaps as likely to be the Aurochs, + which seems certainly to have been a native of the adjacent country of + Mesopotamia in ancient times. At any rate, until Zagros has been + thoroughly explored by Europeans, it must remain uncertain what animal is + meant. Meanwhile we may be tolerably sure that, besides the species + enumerated, Mount Zagros contains within its folds some large and rare + ruminant. + </p> + <p> + Among the birds the most remarkable are the eagle, the bustard, the + pelican, the stork, the pheasant, several kinds of partridges, the quail, + the woodpecker, the bee-eater, the hoopoe, and the nightingale. Besides + these, doves and pigeons, both wild and tame, are common; as are swallows, + goldfinches, sparrows, larks, blackbirds, thrushes, linnets, magpies, + crows, hawks, falcons, teal, snipe, wild ducks, and many other kinds of + waterfowl. The most common partridge is a red-legged species (<i>Caccabis + chukar</i> of naturalists), which is unable to fly far, and is hunted + until it drops. Another kind, common both in Azerbijan and in the Elburz, + is the black-breasted partridge (<i>Perdix nigra</i>)—a bird not + known in many countries. Besides these, there is a small gray partridge in + the Zagros range, which the Kurds call seslca. The bee-eater (<i>Merops + Persicus</i>) is rare. It is a bird of passage, and only visits Media in + the autumn, preparatory to retreating into the warm district of Mazandoran + for the winter months. The hoopoe (<i>Upupa</i>) is probably still rarer, + since very few travellers mention it. The woodpecker is found in Zagros, + and is a beautiful bird, red and gray in color. + </p> + <p> + Media is, on the whole, but scantily provided with fish. Lake Urumiyeh + produces none, as its waters are so salt that they even destroy all the + river-fish which enter them. Salt streams, like the Aji Su, are equally + unproductive, and the fresh-water rivers of the plateau fall so low in + summer that fish cannot become numerous in them. Thus it is only in + Zagros, in Azerbijan, and in the Elburz, that the streams furnish any + considerable quantity. The kinds most common are barbel, carp, dace, + bleak, and gudgeon. In a comparatively few streams, more especially those + of Zagros, trout are found, which are handsome and of excellent quality. + The river of Isfahan produces a kind of crayfish, which is taken in the + bushes along its banks, and is very delicate eating. + </p> + <p> + It is remarkable that fish are caught not only in the open streams of + Media, but also in the <i>kanats</i> or underground conduits, from which + the light of day is very nearly excluded. They appear to be of one sort + only, viz., barbel, but are abundant, and often grow to a considerable + size. Chardin supposed them to be unfit for food; but a later observer + declares that, though of no great delicacy, they are “perfectly sweet and + wholesome.” + </p> + <p> + Of reptiles, the most common are snakes, lizards, and tortoises. In the + long grass of the Moghan district, on the lower course of the Araxes, the + snakes are so numerous and venomous that many parts of the plain are + thereby rendered impassable in the summer-time. A similar abundance of + this reptile near the western entrance of the Girduni Siyaluk pass induces + the natives to abstain from using it except in winter. Lizards of many + forms and hues disport themselves about the rocks and stones, some quite + small, others two feet or more in length. They are quite harmless, and + appear to be in general very tame. Land tortoises are also common in the + sandy regions. In Kurdistan there is a remarkable frog, with a smooth skin + and of an apple-green color, which lives chiefly in trees, roosting in + them at night, and during the day employing itself in catching flies and + locusts, which it strikes with its fore paw, as a cat strikes a bird or a + mouse. + </p> + <p> + Among insects, travellers chiefly notice the mosquito, which is in many + places a cruel torment; the centipede, which grows to an unusual size; the + locust, of which there is more than one variety; and the scorpion, whose + sting is sometimes fatal. + </p> + <p> + The destructive locust (the <i>Acridium peregrinum</i>, probably) comes + suddenly into Kurdistan and southern Media in clouds that obscure the air, + moving with a slow and steady flight and with a sound like that of heavy + rain, and settling in myriads on the fields, the gardens, the trees, the + terraces of the houses, and even the streets, which they sometimes cover + completely. Where they fall, vegetation presently disappears; the leaves, + and even the stems of the plants, are devoured; the labors of the + husbandman through many a weary month perish in a day; and the curse of + famine is brought upon the land which but now enjoyed the prospect of an + abundant harvest. It is true that the devourers are themselves devoured to + some extent by the poorer sort of people; but the compensation is slight + and temporary; in a few days, when all verdure is gone, either the swarms + move to fresh pastures, or they perish and cover the fields with their + dead bodies, while the desolation which they have created continues. <a + href="#linkimage-0004">[PLATE III., Fig. 2.]</a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0004" id="linkimage-0004"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img src="images/plate003.jpg" width="100%" alt="Plate III. " /> + </div> + <p> + Another kind of locust, observed by Mr. Rich in Kurdistan, is called by + the natives <i>shira-kulla</i>, a name seemingly identical with the <i>chargol</i> + of the Jews, and perhaps the best clue which we possess to the + identification of that species. Mr. Rich describes it as “a large insect, + about four inches long, with no wings, but a kind of sword projecting from + the tail. It bites,” he says, “pretty severely, but does no harm to the + cultivation.” We may recognize in this description a variety of the great + green grasshopper (<i>Locusta viridissima</i>), many species of which are + destitute of wings, or have wing-covers only, and those of a very small + size. + </p> + <p> + The scorpion of the country (<i>Scorpio crassicauda</i>) has been + represented as peculiarly venomous, more especially that which abounds in + the city and neighborhood of Kashan; but the most judicious observers deny + that there is any difference between the Kashan scorpion and that of other + parts of the plateau, while at the same time they maintain that if the + sting be properly treated, no danger need be apprehended from it. The + scorpion infests houses, hiding itself under cushions and coverlets, and + stings the moment it is pressed upon; some caution is thus requisite in + avoiding it; but it hurts no one unless molested, and many Europeans have + resided for years in the country without having ever been stung by it. <a + href="#linkimage-0004">[PLATE III., Fig. 3.]</a> + </p> + <p> + The domestic animals existing at present within the limits of the ancient + Media are the camel, the horse, the mule, the ass, the cow, the goat, the + sheep, the dog, the cat, and the buffalo. The camel is the ordinary beast + of burden in the flat country, and can carry an enormous weight. Three + kinds are employed—the Bactrian or two-humped camel, which is coarse + and low; the taller and lighter Arabian breed; and a cross between the + two, which is called <i>ner</i>, and is valued very highly. The ordinary + burden of the Arabian camel is from seven to eight hundredweight; while + the Bactrian variety is said to be capable of bearing a load nearly twice + as heavy. + </p> + <p> + Next to the camel, as a beast of burden, must be placed the mule the mules + of the country are small, but finely proportioned, and carry a + considerable weight. They travel thirty miles a day with ease, and are + preferred for journeys on which it is necessary to cross the mountains. + The ass is very inferior, and is only used by the poorer classes. + </p> + <p> + Two distinct breeds of horses are now found in Media, both of which seem + to be foreign—the Turkoman and the Arabian. The Turkoman is a large, + powerful, enduring animal, with long legs, a light body, and a big head. + The Arab is much smaller, but perfectly shaped, and sometimes not greatly + inferior to the very best produce of Nejd. A third breed is obtained by an + intermixture of those two, which is called the <i>bid-pai</i>, or “wind + footed,” and is the most prized of all. + </p> + <p> + The dogs are of various breeds, but the most esteemed is a large kind of + gray hound, which some suppose to have been introduced into this part of + Asia by the Macedonians, and which is chiefly employed in the chase of the + antelope. The animal is about the height of a full sized English + grayhound, but rather stouter; he is deep-chested, has long, smooth hair, + and the tail considerably feathered. His pace is inferior to that of our + grayhounds, but in strength and sagacity he far surpasses them. + </p> + <p> + We do not find many of the products of Media celebrated by ancient + writers. Of its animals, those which had the highest reputation were its + horses, distinguished into two breeds, an ordinary kind, of which Media + produced annually many thousands, and a kind of rare size and excellence, + known under the name of Nisaean. These last are celebrated by Herodotus, + Strabo, Arrian, Ammianus Marcellinus, Suidas, and others. They are said to + have been of a peculiar shape; and they were equally famous for size, + speed, and stoutness. Strabo remarks that they resemble the horses known + in his own time as Parthian; and this observation seems distinctly to + connect them with the Turkoman breed mentioned above, which is derived + exactly from the old Parthian country. In color they were often, if not + always, white. We have no representation on the monuments which we can + regard as certainly intended for a Nissean horse, but perhaps the figure + from Persepolis may be a Persian sketch of the animal. <a + href="#linkimage-0004">[PLATE III., Fig. 4.]</a> + </p> + <p> + The mules and small cattle (sheep and goats) were in sufficient repute to + be required, together with horses, in the annual tribute paid to the + Persian king. + </p> + <p> + Of vegetable products assigned to Media by ancient writers, the most + remarkable is the “Median apple,” or citron. Pliny says it was the sole + tree for which Media was famous, and that it would only grow there and in + Persia. Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Virgil, and other writers, celebrate + its wonderful qualities, distinctly assigning it to the same region. The + citron, however, will not grow in the country which has been here termed + Media. It flourishes only in the warm tract between Shiraz and the Persian + Gulf, and in the low sheltered region, south of the Caspian, the modern + Ghilan and Mazanderan. No doubt it was the inclusion of this latter region + within the limits of Media by many of the later geographers that gave to + this product of the Caspian country an appellation which is really a + misnomer. + </p> + <p> + Another product whereto Media gave name, and probably with more reason, + was a kind of clover or lucerne, which was said to have been introduced + into Greece by the Persians in the reign of Darius, and which was + afterwards cultivated largely in Italy. Strabo considers this plant to + have been the chief food of the Median horses, while Dioscorides assigns + it certain medicinal qualities. Clover is still cultivated, in the Elburz + region, but horses are now fed almost entirely on straw and barley. + </p> + <p> + Media was also famous for its silphium, or assafoetida, a plant which the + country still produces, though not in any large quantity. No drug was in + higher repute with the ancients for medicinal purposes; and though the + Median variety was a coarse kind, inferior in repute, not only to the + Cyrenaic, but also to the Parthian and the Syrian, it seems to have been + exported both to Greece and Borne, and to have been largely used by + druggists, however little esteemed by physicians. + </p> + <p> + The other vegetable products which Media furnished, or was believed to + furnish, to the ancient world, were bdellium, amomum, cardamomum, gum + tragacanth, wild-vine oil, and sagaponum, or the <i>Ferula persica</i>. Of + these, gum tragacanth is still largely produced, and is an important + article of commerce. Wild vines abound in Zagros and Elburz, but no oil is + at present made from them. Bdellium, if it is benzoin, amomum, and + cardamomum were perhaps rather imported through Media than the actual + produce of the country, which is too cold in the winter to grow any good + spices. + </p> + <p> + The mineral products of Media noted by the ancient writers are nitre, + salt, and certain gems, as emeralds, lapis lazuli, and the following + obscurer kinds, the zathene, the gassinades, and the narcissitis. The + nitre of Media is noticed by Pliny, who says it was procured in small + quantities, and was called “halmyraga.” It was found in certain + dry-looking glens, where the ground was white with it, and was obtained + there purer than in other places. Saltpetre is still derived from the + Elburz range, and also from Azerbijan. + </p> + <p> + The salt of Lake Urumiyeh is mentioned by Strabo, who says that it forms + naturally on the surface, which would imply a far more complete saturation + of the water than at present exists, even in the driest seasons. The gems + above mentioned are assigned to Media chiefly by Pliny. The Median + emeralds, according to him, were of the largest size; they varied + considerably, sometimes approaching to the character of the sapphire, in + which case they were apt to be veiny, and to have flaws in them. They were + far less esteemed than the emeralds of many other countries. The Median + lapis lazuli, on the other hand, was the best of its kind. It was of three + colors—light blue, dark blue, and purple. The golden specks, + however, with which it was sprinkled—really spots of yellow pyrites—rendered + it useless to the gem-engravers of Pliny’s time. The zathene, the + gassinades, and the narcissitis were gems of inferior value. As they have + not yet been identified with any known species, it will be unnecessary to + prolong the present chapter by a consideration of them. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. CHARACTER, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ARTS, ETC., OF THE PEOPLE. + </h2> + <p> + “Pugnatrix natio et formidanda.”—Amm. Marc, xxiii. 6. + </p> + <p> + The ethnic character of the Median people is at the present day scarcely a + matter of doubt. The close connection which all history, sacred and + profane, establishes between them and the Persians, the evidence of their + proper names and of their language, so far as it is known to us, together + with the express statements of Herodotus and Strabo, combine to prove that + they belonged to that branch of the human family known to us as the Arian + or Iranic, a leading subdivision of the great Indo-European race. The tie + of a common language, common manners and customs, and to a great extent a + common belief, united in ancient times all the dominant tribes of the + great plateau, extending even beyond the plateau in one direction to the + Jaxartes (Syhun) and in another to the Hyphasis (Sutlej). Persians, Medes, + Sagartians, Chorasmians, Bactrians, Sogdians, Hyrcanians, Sarangians, + Gandarians, and Sanskritic Indians belonged all to a single stock, + differing from one another probably not much more than now differ the + various subdivisions of the Teutonic or the Slavonic race. Between the + tribes at the two extremities of the Arian territory the divergence was no + doubt considerable; but between any two neighboring tribes the difference + was probably in most cases exceedingly slight. At any rate this was the + case towards the west, where the Medes and Persians, the two principal + sections of the Arian body in that quarter, are scarcely distinguishable + from one another in any of the features which constitute ethnic type. + </p> + <p> + The general physical character of the ancient Arian race is best gathered + from the sculptures of the Achsemenian kings, which exhibit to us a very + noble variety of the human species—a form tall, graceful, and + stately; a physiognomy handsome and pleasing, often somewhat resembling + the Greek; the forehead high and straight, the nose nearly in the same + line, long and well formed, sometimes markedly aquiline, the upper lip + short, commonly shaded by a moustache, the chin rounded and generally + covered with a curly beard. The hair evidently grew in great plenty, and + the race was proud of it. On the top of the head it was worn smooth, but + it was drawn back from the forehead and twisted into a row or two of crisp + curls, while at the same time it was arranged into a large mass of similar + small close ringlets at the back of the head and over the ears. <a + href="#linkimage-0005">[PLATE IV., Fig. 1.]</a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0005" id="linkimage-0005"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img src="images/plate004.jpg" width="100%" alt="Plate IV. " /> + </div> + <p> + Of the Median women we have no representations upon the sculptures; but we + are informed by Xenophon that they were remarkable for their stature and + their beauty. The same qualities were observable in the women of Persia, + as we learn from Plutarch, Ammianus Marcellinus, and others. The Arian + races seem in old times to have treated women with a certain chivalry, + which allowed the full development of their physical powers, and rendered + them specially attractive alike to their own husbands and to the men of + other nations. + </p> + <p> + The modern Persian is a very degenerate representative of the ancient + Arian stock. Slight and supple in person, with quick, glancing eyes, + delicate features, and a vivacious manner, he lacks the dignity and + strength, the calm repose and simple grace of the race from which he is + sprung, Fourteen centuries of subjection to despotic sway have left their + stamp upon his countenance and his frame, which, though still retaining + some traces of the original type, have been sadly weakened and lowered by + so long a term of subservience. Probably the wild Kurd or Lur of the + present day more nearly corresponds in physique to the ancient Mede than + do the softer inhabitants of the great plateau. + </p> + <p> + Among the moral characteristics of the Medes the one most obvious is their + bravery. “<i>Pugnatrix natio et formidanda</i>,” says Ammianus Marcellinus + in the fourth century of our era, summing up in a few words the general + judgment of Antiquity. Originally equal, if not superior, to their close + kindred, the Persians, they were throughout the whole period of Persian + supremacy only second to them in courage and warlike qualities. Mardonius, + when allowed to take his choice out of the entire host of Xerxes, selected + the Median troops in immediate succession to the Persians. Similarly, when + the time for battle came he kept the Medes near himself, giving them their + place in the line close to that of the Persian contingent. It was no doubt + on account of their valor, as Diodorus suggests, that the Medes were + chosen to make the first attack upon the Greek position at Thermopylae, + where, though unsuccessful, they evidently showed abundant courage. In the + earlier times, before riches and luxury had eaten out the strength of the + race, their valor and military prowess must have been even more + conspicuous. It was then especially that Media deserved to be called, as + she is in Scripture, “the mighty one of the heathen”—“the terrible + of the nations.” + </p> + <p> + Her valor, undoubtedly, was of the merciless kind. There was no + tenderness, no hesitancy about it. Not only did her armies “dash to + pieces” the fighting men of the nations opposed to her, allowing + apparently no quarter, but the women and the children suffered indignities + and cruelties at the hands of her savage warriors, which the pen + unwillingly records. The Median conquests were accompanied by the worst + atrocities which lust and hate combined are wont to commit when they + obtain their full swing. Neither the virtue of women nor the innocence of + children were a protection to them. The infant was slain before the very + eye of the parent. The sanctity of the hearth was invaded, and the matron + ravished beneath her own roof-tree. Spoil, it would seem, was disregarded + in comparison with insult and vengeance; and the brutal soldiery cared + little either for silver or gold, provided they could indulge freely in + that thirst for blood which man shares with the hyena and the tiger. + </p> + <p> + The habits of the Medes in the early part of their career were undoubtedly + simple and manly. It has been observed with justice that the same general + features have at all times distinguished the rise and fall of Oriental + kingdoms and dynasties. A brave and adventurous prince, at the head of a + population at once poor, warlike, and greedy, overruns a vast tract, and + acquires extensive dominion, while his successors, abandoning themselves + to sensuality and sloth, probably also to oppressive and irascible + dispositions, become in process of time victims to those same qualities in + another prince and people which had enabled their own predecessor to + establish their power. It was as being braver, simpler, and so stronger + than the Assyrians that the Medes were able to dispossess them of their + sovereignty over western Asia. But in this, as in most other cases of + conquest throughout the East, success was followed almost immediately by + degeneracy. As captive Greece captured her fierce conqueror, so the + subdued Assyrians began at once to corrupt their subduers. Without + condescending to a close imitation of Assyrian manners and customs, the + Medes proceeded directly after their conquest to relax the severity of + their old habits and to indulge in the delights of soft and luxurious + living. The historical romance of Xenophon presents us probably with a + true picture when it describes the strong contrast which existed towards + the close of the Median period between the luxury and magnificence which + prevailed at Ecbatana, and the primitive simplicity of Persia Proper, + where the old Arian habits, which had once been common to the two races, + were still maintained in all their original severity. Xenophon’s authority + in this work is, it must be admitted, weak, and little trust can be placed + in the historical accuracy of his details; but his general statement is + both in itself probable, and is also borne out to a considerable extent by + other authors. Herodotus and Strabo note the luxury of the Median dress, + while the latter author goes so far as to derive the whole of the later + Persian splendor from an imitation of Median practices. We must hold then + that towards the latter part of their empire the Medes became a + comparatively luxurious people, not indeed laying aside altogether their + manly habits, nor ceasing to be both brave men and good soldiers, but + adopting an amount of pomp and magnificence to which they were previously + strangers, affecting splendor in their dress and apparel, grandeur and + rich ornament in their buildings, variety in their banquets, and attaining + on the whole a degree of civilization not very greatly inferior to that of + the Assyrians. In taste and real refinement they seem indeed to have + fallen considerably below their teachers. A barbaric magnificence + predominated in their ornamentation over artistic effort, richness in the + material being preferred to skill in the manipulation. Literature, and + even letters, were very sparingly cultivated. But little originality was + developed. A stately dress, and a new style of architecture, are almost + the only inventions to which the Medes can lay claim. They were brave, + energetic, enterprising, fond of display, capable of appreciating to some + extent the advantages of civilized life; but they had little genius, and + the world is scarcely indebted to them for a single important addition to + the general stock of its ideas. + </p> + <p> + Of the Median customs in war we know but little. Herodotus tells us that + in the army of Xerxes the Medes were armed exactly as the Persians, + carrying on their heads a soft felt cap, on their bodies a sleeved tunic, + and on their legs trousers. Their offensive arms, he says, were the spear, + the bow, and the dagger. They had large wicker shields, and bore their + quivers suspended at their backs. Sometimes their tunic was made into a + coat of mail by the addition to it on the outside of a number of small + iron plates arranged so as to overlap each other, like the scales of a + fish. They served both on horseback and on foot, with the same equipment + in both cases. + </p> + <p> + There is no reason to doubt the correctness of this description of the + Median military dress under the early Persian kings. The only question is + how far the equipment was really the ancient warlike custom of the people. + It seems in some respects too elaborate to be the armature of a simple and + primitive race. We may reasonably suppose that at least the scale armor + and the unwieldy wicker shields (yeppa), which required to be rested on + the ground, were adopted at a somewhat late date from the Assyrians. At + any rate the original character of the Median armies, as set before us in + Scripture, and as indicated both by Strabo and Xenophon, is simpler than + the Herodotean description. The primitive Modes seem to have been a nation + of horse-archers. Trained from their early boyhood to a variety of + equestrian exercises, and well practised in the use of the bow, they + appear to have proceeded against their enemies with clouds of horse, + almost in Scythian fashion, and to have gained their victories chiefly by + the skill with which they shot their arrows as they advanced, retreated, + or manoeuvred about their foe. No doubt they also used the sword and the + spear. The employment of these weapons has been almost universal + throughout the East from a very remote antiquity, and there is some + mention of them in connection with the Medes and their kindred, the + Persians, in Scripture; but it is evident that the terror which the Medes + inspired arose mainly from their dexterity as archers. + </p> + <p> + No representation of weapons which can be distinctly recognized as Median + has come down to us. The general character of the military dress and of + the arms appears, probably in the Persepolitan sculptures; but as these + reliefs are in most cases representations, not of Medes, but of Persians, + and as they must be hereafter adduced in illustration of the military + customs of the latter people, only a very sparing use of them can be made + in the present chapter. It would seem that the bow employed was short, and + very much curved, and that, like the Assyrian it was usually carried in a + bow-case, which might either be slung at the back, or hung from the + girdle. <a href="#linkimage-0006">[PLATE V., Fig. 1.]</a> The arrows, + which were borne in a quiver slung behind the right shoulder, must have + been short, certainly not exceeding the length of three feet. The quiver + appears to have been round; it was covered at the top, and was fastened by + means of a flap and strap, which last passed over, a button. <a + href="#linkimage-0006">[PLATE V. Fig. 1.]</a> The Median spear or lance + was from six to seven feet in length. Its head was lozenge-shaped and + flattish, but strengthened by a bar or line down the middle. It is + uncertain whether the head was inserted into the top of the shaft, or + whether it did not rather terminate in a ring or socket into which the + upper end of the shaft was itself inserted. The shaft tapered gradually + from bottom to top, and terminated below in a knob or ball, which was + perhaps sometimes carved into the shape of some natural object. <a + href="#linkimage-0005">[PLATE IV., Fig. 2.]</a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0006" id="linkimage-0006"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img src="images/plate005.jpg" width="100%" alt="Plate V. " /> + </div> + <p> + The sword was short, being in fact little more than a dagger. It depended + at the right thigh from a belt which encircled the waist, and was further + secured by a strap attached to the bottom of the sheath, and passing round + the soldier’s right leg a little above the knee. + </p> + <p> + Median shields were probably either round or oval. The oval specimens bore + a resemblance to the shield of the Boeotians, having a small oval aperture + at either side, apparently for the sake of greater lightness. They were + strengthened at the centre by a circular boss or disk, ornamented with + knobs or circles. They would seem to have been made either of metal or + wood. <a href="#linkimage-0005">[PLATE IV., Fig. 3.]</a> + </p> + <p> + The favorite dress of the Medes in peace is well known to us from the + sculptures; there can be no reasonable doubt that the long flowing robe so + remarkable for its graceful folds, which is the garb of the kings, the + chief nobles, and the officers of the court in all the Persian + bas-reliefs, and which is seen also upon the darics and the gems, is the + famous “Median garment” of Herodotus, Xenophon, and Strabo. <a + href="#linkimage-0006">[PLATE V., Fig. 2.]</a> This garment fits the chest + and shoulders closely, but falls over the arms in two large loose sleeves, + open at the bottom. At the waist it is confined by a cincture. Below it is + remarkably full and ample, drooping in two clusters of perpendicular folds + at the two sides, and between these hanging in festoons like a curtain. It + extends down to the ankles, where it is met by a high shoe or low boot, + opening in front, and secured by buttons. <a href="#linkimage-0005">[PLATE + IV., Fig. 4.]</a> + </p> + <p> + These Median robes were of many colors. Sometimes they were purple, + sometimes scarlet, occasionally a dark gray, or a deep crimson. Procopius + says that they were made of silk, and this statement is confirmed to some + extent by Justin, who speaks of their transparency. It may be doubted, + however, whether the material was always the same; probably it varied with + the season, and also with the wealth of the wearer. + </p> + <p> + Besides this upper robe, which is the only garment shown in the + sculptures, the Medes wore as under garments a sleeved shirt or tunic of a + purple color, and embroidered drawers or trousers. They covered the head, + not only out of doors, but in their houses, wearing either felt caps like + the Persians, or a head-dress of a more elaborate character, which bore + the name of <i>tiara</i> or <i>cidaris</i>. This appears to have been, not + a turban, but rather a kind of high-crowned hat, either stiff or flexible, + made probably of felt or cloth, and dyed of different hues, according to + the fancy of the owner. <a href="#linkimage-0007">[PLATE VI., Fig. 1.]</a> + </p> + <p> + The Medes took a particular delight in the ornamentation of their persons. + According to Xenophon, they were acquainted with most of the expedients by + the help of which vanity attempts to conceal the ravages of time and to + create an artificial beauty. They employed cosmetics, which they rubbed + into the skin, for the sake of improving the complexion. They made use of + an abundance of false hair. Like many other Oriental nations, both ancient + and modern, they applied dyes to enhance the brilliancy of the eyes, and + give them a greater apparent size and softness. They were also fond of + wearing golden ornaments. Chains or collars of gold usually adorned their + nocks, bracelets of the same precious metal encircled their wrists, and + earrings were inserted into their ears. <a href="#linkimage-0007">[PLATE + VI., Fig. 2.]</a> Gold was also used in the caparisons of their horses, + the bit and other parts of the harness being often of this valuable + material. + </p> + <p> + We are told that the Medes were very luxurious at their banquets. Besides + plain meat and game of different kinds, with the ordinary accompaniments + of wine and bread, they were accustomed to place before their guests a + vast number of side-dishes, together with a great variety of sauces. They + ate with the hand, as is still the fashion in the East, and were + sufficiently refined to make use of napkins. Each guest had his own + dishes, and it was a mark of special honor to augment their number. Wine + was drunk both at the meal and afterwards, often in an undue quantity; and + the close of the feast was apt to be a scene of general turmoil and + confusion. At the Court it was customary for the king to receive his wine + at the hands of a cupbearer, who first tasted the draught, that the king + might be sure that it was not poisoned, and then presented it to his + master with much pomp and ceremony. + </p> + <p> + The whole ceremonial of the court seems to have been imposing. Under + ordinary circumstances the monarch kept himself secluded, and no one could + obtain admission to him unless he formally requested an audience, and was + introduced into the royal presence by the proper officer. On his admission + he prostrated himself upon the ground with the same signs of adoration + which were made on entering a temple. The king, surrounded by his + attendants, eunuchs, and others, maintained a haughty reserve, and the + stranger only beheld him from a distance. Business was transacted in a + great measure by writing. The monarch rarely quitted his palace, + contenting himself with such reports of the state of his empire as were + transmitted to him from time to time by his officers. + </p> + <p> + The chief amusement of the court, in which however the king rarely + partook, was hunting. Media always abounded in beasts of chase; and lions, + bears, leopards, wild boars, stags, gazelles, wild sheep, and wild asses + are mentioned among the animals hunted by the Median nobles. Of these the + first four were reckoned dangerous, the others harmless. It was customary + to pursue these animals on horseback, and to aim at them with the bow or + the javelin. We may gather a lively idea of some of these hunts from the + sculptures of the Parthians, who some centuries later inhabited the same + region. We see in these the rush of great troops of boars through marshes + dense with water-plants, the bands of beaters urging them on, the + sportsmen aiming at them with their bows, and the game falling transfixed + with two or three well-aimed shafts. Again we see herds of deer driven + within enclosures, and there slain by archers who shoot from horseback, + the monarch under his parasol looking on the while, pleased with the + dexterity of his servants. It is thus exactly that Xenophon portrays + Astyages as contemplating the sport of his courtiers, complacently viewing + their enjoyment, but taking no active part in the work himself. + </p> + <p> + Like other Oriental sovereigns, the Median monarch maintained a seraglio + of wives and concubines; and polygamy was commonly practised among the + more wealthy classes. Strabo speaks of a strange law as obtaining with + some of the Median tribes—a law which required that no man should be + content with fewer wives than five. It is very unlikely that such a burden + was really made obligatory on any: most probably five legitimate wives, + and no more, were allowed by the law referred to, just as four wives, and + no more, are lawful for Mohammedans. Polygamy, as usual, brought in its + train the cruel practice of castration; and the court swarmed with + eunuchs, chiefly foreigners purchased in their infancy. Towards the close + of the Empire this despicable class appears to have been all-powerful with + the monarch. + </p> + <p> + Thus the tide of corruption gradually advanced; and there is reason to + believe that both court and people had in a great measure laid aside the + hardy and simple customs of their forefathers, and become enervated + through luxury, when the revolt of the Persians came to test the quality + of their courage, and their ability to maintain their empire. It would be + improper in this place to anticipate the account of this struggle, which + must be reserved for the historical chapter; but the well-known result—the + speedy and complete success of the Persians—must be adduced among + the proofs of a rapid deterioration in the Median character between the + accession of Cyaxares and the capture—less than a century later—of + Astyages. + </p> + <p> + We have but little information with respect to the state of the arts among + the Medes. A barbaric magnificence characterized, as has been already + observed, their architecture, which differed from the Assyrian in being + dependent for its effect on groups of pillars rather than on painting or + sculpture. Still sculpture was, it is probable, practised to some extent + by the Medes, who, it is almost certain, conveyed on to the Persians those + modifications of Assyrian types which meet us everywhere in the remains of + the Achsemenian monarch? The carving of winged genii, of massive forms of + bulls and lions, of various grotesque monsters, and of certain clumsy + representations of actual life, imitated from the bas-reliefs of the + Assyrians, may be safely ascribed to the Medes; since, had they not + carried on the traditions of their predecessors, Persian art could not + have borne the resemblance that it does to Assyrian. But these first + mimetic efforts of the Arian race have almost wholly perished, and there + scarcely seems to remain more than a single fragment which can be assigned + on even plausible grounds to the Median period. A portion of a colossal + lion, greatly injured by time, is still to be seen at Hamadan, the site of + the great Median capital, which the best judges regard as anterior to the + Persian period, and as therefore most probably Median. It consists of the + head and body of the animal, from which the four legs and the tail have + been broken off, and measures between eleven and twelve feet from the + crown of the head to the point from which the tail sprang. By the position + of the head and what remains of the shoulders and thighs, it is evident + that the animal was represented in a sitting posture, with the fore legs + straight and the hind legs gathered up under it. To judge of the feeling + and general character of the sculpture is difficult, owing to the worn and + mutilated condition of the work; but we seem to trace in it the same air + of calm and serene majesty that characterizes the colossal bulls and lions + of Assyria, together with somewhat more of expression and of softness than + are seen in the productions of that people. Its posture, which is unlike + that of any Assyrian specimen, indicates a certain amount of originality + as belonging to the Median artists, while its colossal size seems to show + that the effect on the spectator was still to be produced, not so much by + expression, finish, or truth to nature, as by mere grandeur of dimension. + <a href="#linkimage-0007">[PLATE VI., Fig. 3.]</a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. RELIGION. + </h2> + <p> + The earliest form of the Median religion is to be found in those sections + of the Zendavesta which have been pronounced on internal evidence to be + the most ancient portions of that venerable compilation; as, for instance, + the first Fargard of the Vendidad, and the Gathas, or “Songs,” which occur + here and there in the Yacna, or Book on Sacrifice. In the Gathas, which + belong to a very remote era indeed, we seem to have the first beginnings + of the Religion. We may indeed go back by their aid to a time anterior to + themselves—a time when the Arian race was not yet separated into two + branches, and the Easterns and Westerns, the Indians and Iranians, had not + yet adopted the conflicting creeds of Zoroastrianism and Brahminism. At + that remote period we seem to see prevailing a polytheistic nature-worship—a + recognition of various divine beings, called indifferently Asuras (Ahuras) + or Devas, each independent of the rest, and all seemingly nature-powers + rather than persons, whereof the chief are Indra, Storm or Thunder; + Mithra, Sunlight; Aramati (Armaiti), Earth; Vayu, Wind; Agni, Fire; and + Soma (Homa), Intoxication. Worship is conducted by priests, who are called + <i>kavi</i>, “seers;” <i>karapani</i>, “sacriflcers,” or <i>ricikhs</i>, + “wise men.” It consists of hymns in honor of the gods; sacrifices, bloody + and unbloody, some’ portion of which is burnt upon an altar; and a + peculiar ceremony, called that of Soma, in which an intoxicating liquor is + offered to the gods, and then consumed by the priests, who drink till they + are drunken. + </p> + <p> + Such, in outline, is the earliest phase of Arian religion, and it is + common to both branches of the stock, and anterior to the rise of the + Iranic, Median, or Persian system. That system is a revolt from this + sensuous and superficial nature-worship. It begins with a distinct + recognition of spiritual intelligences—real persons—with whom + alone, and not with powers, religion is concerned. It divides these + intelligences into good and bad, pure and impure, benignant and + malevolent. To the former it applies the term <i>Asuras</i> (<i>Ahuras</i>), + “living” or “spiritual beings,” in a good sense; to the latter, the term + <i>Devas</i>, in a bad one. It regards the “powers” hitherto worshipped as + chiefly <i>Devas</i>; but it excepts from this unfavorable view a certain + number, and, recognizing them as <i>Asuras</i>, places them above the <i>Izeds</i>, + or “angels.” Thus far it has made two advances, each of great importance, + the substitution of real “persons” for “powers,” as objects of the + religious faculty, and the separation of the persons into good and bad, + pure and impure, righteous and wicked. But it does not stop here. It + proceeds to assert, in a certain sense, monotheism against polytheism. It + boldly declares that, at the head of the good intelligences, is a single + great Intelligence, Ahuro-Mazdao, the highest object of adoration, the + true Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the universe. This is its great + glory. It sets before the soul a single Being as the source of all good + and the proper object of the highest worship. Ahuro-Mazdao is “the creator + of life, the earthly and the spiritual;” “he has made the celestial + bodies, earth, water, and trees, all good creatures,” and “all good, true, + holy, pure, things.” He is “the Holy God, the Holiest, the essence of + truth, the father of all truth, the best being of all, the master of + purity.” He is supremely “happy,” possessing every blessing, “health, + wealth, virtue, wisdom, immortality.” From him comes all good to man; on + the pious and the righteous he bestows not only earthly advantages, but + precious spiritual gifts, truth, devotion, “the good mind,” and + everlasting happiness; and as he rewards the good, so he punishes the bad, + though this is an aspect in which he is but seldom represented. + </p> + <p> + It has been said that this conception of Ahura-mazda as the Supreme Being + is “<i>perfectly identical</i> with the notion of Elohim, or Jehovah, + which we find in the books of the Old Testament.” This is, no doubt, an + over-statement. Ahura-mazda is less spiritual and less awful than Jehovah. + He is less remote from the nature of man. The very ascription to him of + health (<i>haurvat</i>) is an indication that he is conceived of as + possessing a sort of physical nature. Lucidity and brilliancy are assigned + to him, not (as it would seem) in a mere metaphorical sense. Again, he is + so predominantly the author of good things, the source of blessing and + prosperity, that he could scarcely inspire his votaries with any feeling + of fear. Still, considering the general failure of unassisted reason to + mount up to the true notion of a spiritual God, this doctrine of the early + Arians is very remarkable; and its approximation to the truth sufficiently + explains at once the favorable light in which its professors are viewed by + the Jewish prophets, and the favorable opinion which they form of the + Jewish system. Evidently, the Jews and Arians, when they became known to + one another, recognized mutually the fact that they were worshippers of + the same great Being. Hence the favor of the Persians towards the Jews, + and the fidelity of the Jews towards the Persians. The Lord God of the + Jews being recognized as identical with Ormazd, a sympathetic feeling + united the peoples. The Jews, so impatient generally of a foreign yoke, + never revolted from the Persians; and the Persians, so intolerant, for the + most part, of religions other than their own, respected and protected + Judaism. + </p> + <p> + The sympathy was increased by the fact that the religion of Ormazd was + anti-idolatrous. In the early nature-worship idolatry had been allowed; + but the Iranic system pronounced against it from the first. No images of + Ahura-mazda, or of the Izeds, profaned the severe simplicity of an Iranic + temple. It was only after a long lapse of ages that, in connection with a + foreign worship, idolatry crept in. The old Zoroastrianism was in this + respect as pure as the religion of the Jews, and thus a double bond of + religious sympathy united the Hebrews and the Arians. + </p> + <p> + Under the supreme God, Ahura-mazda or Ormazd, the ancient Iranic system + placed (as has been already observed) a number of angels. Some of these, + as <i>Vohu-mano</i>, “the Good Mind;” <i>Mazda</i>, “the Wise” (?); and <i>Asha</i>, + “the True,” are scarcely distinguishable from attributes of the Divinity. + Armaiti, however, the genius of the Earth, and Sraosha or Serosh, an + angel, are very clearly and distinctly personified. Sraosha is Ormazd’s + messenger. He delivers revelations, shows men the paths of happiness, and + brings them the blessings which Ormazd has assigned to their share. + Another of his functions is to protect the true faith. He is called, in a + very special sense, “the friend of Ormazd,” and is employed by Ormazd not + only to distribute his gifts, but also to conduct to him the souls of the + faithful, when this life is over, and they enter on the celestial scene. + </p> + <p> + Armaiti is at once the genius of the Earth, and the goddess of Piety. The + early Ormazd worshippers were agriculturists, and viewed the cultivation + of the soil as a religious duty enjoined upon them by God. Hence they + connected the notion of piety with earth culture; and it was but a step + from this to make a single goddess preside over the two. It is as the + angel of Earth that Armaiti has most distinctly a personal character. She + is regarded as wandering from spot to spot, and laboring to convert + deserts and wildernesses into fruitful fields and gardens. She has the + agriculturist under her immediate protection, while she endeavors to + persuade the shepherd, who persists in the nomadic life, to give up his + old habits and commence the cultivation of the soil. She is of course the + giver of fertility, and rewards her votaries by bestowing upon them + abundant harvests. She alone causes all growth. In a certain cense she + pervades the whole material creation, mankind included, in whom she is + even sometimes said to “reside.” + </p> + <p> + Armaiti, further “tells men the everlasting laws, which no one may + abolish”—laws which she has learnt from converse with Ahura-mazda + himself. She is thus naturally the second object of worship to the old + Zoroastrian; and converts to the religion were required to profess their + faith in her in direct succession to Ahura-mazda. + </p> + <p> + From Armaiti must be carefully distinguished the <i>geus urva</i>, or + “soul of the earth”—a being who nearly resembles the “anima mundi” + of the Greek and Roman philosophers. This spirit dwells in the earth + itself, animating it as a man’s soul animates his body. In old times, when + man first began to plough the soil, <i>geus urva</i> cried aloud, thinking + that his life was threatened, and implored the assistance of the + archangels. They however were deaf to his entreaties (since Ormazd had + decreed that there should be cultivation), and left him to bear his pains + as he best could. It is to be hoped that in course of time he became + callous to them, and made the discovery that mere scratches, though they + may be painful, are not dangerous. + </p> + <p> + It is uncertain whether in the most ancient form of the Iranic worship the + cult of Mithra was included or no. On the one hand, the fact that Mithra + is common to both forms of the Arian creed—the Indian and Iranic—would + induce the belief that his worship was adopted from the first by the + Zoroastrians; on the other, the entire absence of all mention of Mithra + from the Gathas would lead us to the conclusion that in the time when they + were composed his cult had not yet begun. Perhaps we may distinguish + between two forms of early Iranic worship—one that of the more + intelligent and spiritual—the leaders of the secession—in + whose creed Mithra had no place; the other that of the great mass of + followers, a coarser and more material system, in which many points of the + old religion were retained, and among them the worship of the Sun-god. + This lower and more materialistic school of thought probably conveyed on + into the Iranic system other points also common to the Zendavosta with the + Vedas, as the recognition of Airyaman (Aryaman) as a genius presiding over + marriages, of Vitraha as a very high angel, and the like. + </p> + <p> + Vayu, “the Wind,” seems to have been regarded as a god from the first. He + appears, not only in the later portions of the Zenda vesta, like Mithra + and Aryaman, but in the Gathas themselves. His name is clearly identical + with that of the Vedic Wind-god, Vayu, and is apparently a sister form to + the ventus, or wind, of the more western Arians. The root is probably vi, + “to go,” which may be traced in vis, via, vado, venio, etc. + </p> + <p> + The ancient Iranians did not adopt into their system either Agni, “Fire” + (Lat. <i>ignis</i>), or Soma (Homa), “Intoxication.” Fire was indeed + retained for sacrifice; but it was regarded as a mere material agent, and + not as a mysterious Power, the proper object of prayer and worship. The + Soma worship, which formed a main element of the old religion, and which + was retained in Brahminism, was at the first altogether discarded by the + Zoroastrians; indeed, it seems to have been one of the main causes of that + disgust which split the Arian body in two, and gave rise to the new + religion. A ceremony in which it was implied that the intoxication of + their worshippers was pleasing to the gods, and not obscurely hinted that + they themselves indulged in similar excesses, was revolting to the + religious temper of those who made the Zoaroastrian reformation; and it is + plain from the Gathas that the new system was intended at first to be + entirely free from the pollution of so disgusting a practice. But the zeal + of religious reformers outgoes in most cases the strength and patience of + their people, whose spirit is too gross and earthly to keep pace with the + more lofty flights of the purer and higher intelligence. The Iranian + section of the Arians could not be weaned wholly from their beloved Soma + feasts; and the leaders of the movement were obliged to be content + ultimately with so far reforming and refining the ancient ceremony as to + render it comparatively innocuous. The portion of the rite which implied + that the gods themselves indulged in intoxication was omitted; and for the + intoxication of the priests was substituted a moderate use of the liquor, + which, instead of giving a religious sanction to drunkenness, merely + implied that the Soma juice was a good gift of God, one of the many + blessings for which men had to be thankful. + </p> + <p> + With respect to the evil spirits or intelligences, which, in the + Zoroastrian system, stood over against the good ones, the teaching of the + early reformers seems to have been less clear. The old divinities, except + where adopted into the new creed, were in a general way called Devas, + “fiends” or “devils,” in contrast with the Ahuras, or “gods.” These devas + were represented as many in number, as artful, malicious, deceivers and + injurers of mankind, more especially of the Zoroastrians or + Ormazd-worshippers, as inventors of spells and lovers of the intoxicating + Soma draught. Their leading characteristics were “destroying” and “lying.” + They were seldom or never called by distinct names. No account was given + of their creation, nor of the origin of their wickedness. No single + superior intelligence, no great Principle of Evil, was placed at their + head. Ahriman (Angro-mainyus) does not occur in the Gathas as a proper + name. Far less is there any graduated hierarchy of evil, surrounding a + Prince of Darkness, with a sort of court, antagonistic to the angelic host + of Ormazd, as in the latter portions of the Zendavesta and in the modern + Parsee system. + </p> + <p> + Thus Dualism proper, or a belief in two uncreated and independent + principles, one a principle of good and the other a principal of evil, was + no part of the original Zoroastrianism. At the same time we find, even in + the Gathas, the earliest portions of the Zondavesta, the germ out of which + Dualism sprung. The contrast between good and evil is strongly and sharply + marked in the Gathas; the writers continually harp upon it, their minds + are evidently struck with this sad antithesis which colors the whole moral + world to them; they see everywhere a struggle between right and wrong, + truth and falsehood, purity and impurity; apparently they are blind to the + evidence of harmony and agreement in the universe, discerning nothing + anywhere but strife, conflict, antagonism. Nor is this all. They go a step + further, and personify the two parties to the struggle. One is a “white” + or holy “Spirit” (<i>cpento mainyus</i>), and the other a “dark spirit” (<i>angro + mainyus</i>). But this personification is merely poetical or metaphorical, + not real. The “white spirit” is not Ahura-mazda, and the “dark spirit” is + not a hostile intelligence. Both resolve themselves on examination into + mere figures of speech—phantoms of poetic imagery—abstract + notions, clothed by language with an apparent, not a real, personality. + </p> + <p> + It was natural that, as time went on, Dualism should develop itself out of + the primitive Zoroastrianism. Language exercises a tyranny over thought, + and abstractions in the ancient world were ever becoming persons. The + Iranian mind, moreover, had been strack, when it first turned to + contemplate the world, with a certain antagonism; and, having once entered + this track, it would be compelled to go on, and seek to discover the + origin of the antagonism, the cause (or causes) to which it was to be + ascribed. Evil seemed most easily accounted for by the supposition of an + evil Person; and the continuance of an equal struggle, without advantage + to either side, which was what the Iranians thought they beheld in the + world that lay around them, appeared to them to imply the equality of that + evil Person with the Being whom they rightly regarded as the author of all + good. Thus Dualism had its birth. The Iranians came to believe in the + existence of two co-eternal and co-equal Persons, one good and the other + evil, between whom there had been from all eternity a perpetual and + never-ceasing conflict, and between whom the same conflict would continue + to rage through all coming time. + </p> + <p> + It is impossible to say how this development took place. We have evidence, + however, that at a period considerably anterior to the commencement of the + Median Empire, Dualism, not perhaps in its ultimate extravagant form, but + certainly in a very decided and positive shape, had already been thought + out and become the recognized creed of the Iranians. In the first Fargard, + or chapter, of the Vendidad—the historical chapter, in which are + traced the only movements of the Iranic peoples, and which from the + geographical point whereat it stops must belong to a time when the Arians + had not yet reached Media Magna—-the Dualistic belief clearly shows + itself. The term Angro-mainyus has now become a proper name, and + designates the great spirit of evil as definitely and determinately as + Ahura-mazda designates the good spirit. The antagonism between Ahura-mazda + and Angro-mainyus is depicted in the strongest colors; it is direct, + constant and successful. Whatever good work Ahura-mazda in his benevolence + creates, Angro-mainyus steps forward to mar and blast it. If Ahura-mazda + forms a “delicious spot” in a world previously desert and uninhabitable to + become the first home of his favorites, the Arians, Angro-mainyus ruins it + by sending into it a poisonous serpent, and at the same time rendering the + climate one of the bitterest severity. If Ahura-mazda provides, instead of + this blasted region, another charming habitation, “the second best of + regions and countries,” Angro-mainyus sends there the curse of murrain, + fatal to all cattle. To every land which Ahura-mazda creates for his + worshippers, Angro-mainyus immediately assigns some plague or other. War, + ravages, sickness, fever, poverty, hail, earthquakes, buzzing insects, + poisonous plants, unbelief, witchcraft, and other inexpiable sins, are + introduced by him into the various happy regions created without any such + drawbacks by the good spirit; and a world, which should have been “very + good,” is by these means converted into a scene of trial and suffering. + </p> + <p> + The Dualistic principle being thus fully adopted, and the world looked on + as the battle-ground between two independent and equal powers engaged in + perpetual strife, it was natural that the imagination should complete the + picture by ascribing to those superhuman rivals the circumstantials that + accompany a great struggle between human adversaries. The two kings + required, in the first place, to have their councils, which were + accordingly assigned them, and were respectively composed of six + councillors. The councillors of Ahura-mazda—called Amesha Spentas, + or “Immortal Saints,” afterwards corrupted into Amshashpands—wore + Vohu-mano (Bahman), Asha-va-hista (Ardibehesht), Khshathra-vairya + (Shahravar), Qpenta-Armaiti (Isfand-armat), Haurvatat (Khordad), and + Ameretat (Amerdat). Those of Angro-mainyus were Ako-mano, Indra, Qaurva, + Naonhaitya, and two others whose names are interpreted as “Darkness” and + “Poison.” + </p> + <p> + Vohu-mano (Bahman) means “the Good Mind.” Originally a mere attribute of + Ahura-mazda, Vohu-mano came to be considered, first as one of the high + angels attendant on him, and then formally as one of-his six councillors. + He had a distinct sphere or province assigned to him in Ahura-mazda’s + kingdom, which was the maintenance of life in animals and of goodness in + man. + </p> + <p> + Asha-vahista (Ardibehesht) means “the Highest Truth”—“Voritas + optima,” or rather perhaps “Veritas lucidissima.” He was the “Light” of + the universe, subtle, all-pervading, omnipresent. His special business was + to maintain the splendor of the various luminaries, and thereby to + preserve all those things whose existence and growth depend on light. + </p> + <p> + Khshathra-vairya (Shahravar), whose name means simply “possessions,” + “wealth,” was regarded as presiding over metals and as the dispenser of + riches. + </p> + <p> + Qoonta-Armaiti (Isfand-armat)—the “white or holy Ar-maiti,” + represented the Earth. She had from the first, as we have already seen, a + distinct position in the system of the Zoroastrians, where she was at once + the Earth goddess and the genius of piety. + </p> + <p> + Haurvatat (Khordad) means “health”—“sanitas”—and was + originally one of the great and precious gifts which Ahura-mazda possessed + himself and kindly bestowed on his creatures. When personification, and + the needs of the theology, had made Haurvatat an archangel, he, together + with Ameretat (Amerdat), “Immortality,” took the presidency of the + vegetable world, which it was the business of the pair to keep in good + condition. + </p> + <p> + In the council of Angro-mainyus, Ako-mano stands in direct antithesis to + Vohu-mano, as “the bad mind,” or more literally, “the naught mind”—for + the Zoroastrians, like Plato, regarded good and evil as identical with + reality and unreality. Ako-mano’s special sphere is the mind of man, where + he suggests evil thoughts and prompts to bad words and wicked deeds. He + holds the first place in the infernal council, as Vohu-mano does in the + heavenly one. + </p> + <p> + Indra, who holds the second place in the infernal council, is evidently + the Vedic god whom the Zoroastrians regarded as a powerful demon, and + therefore made one of Angro-mainyus’s chief councillors. He probably + retained his character as the god of the storm and of war, the destroyer + of crops and cities, the inspirer of armies and the wielder of the + thunder-bolt. The Zoroastrians, however, ascribed to him only destructive + actions; while the more logical Hindoos, observing that the same storm + which hurt the crops and struck down trees and buildings was also the + means of fertilizing the lands and purifying the air, viewed him under a + double aspect, as at once terrible in his wrath and the bestower of + numerous blessings. + </p> + <p> + Qaurva, who stands next to Indra, is thought to be the Hindoo Shiva, who + has the epithet qarva in one of the Vedas. But the late appearance of + Shiva in the Hindoo system makes this highly uncertain. + </p> + <p> + Naonhaitya, the fourth member of the infernal council, corresponds + apparently to the Vedic Nasatyas, a collective name given to the two + Aswins, the Dioscuri of Indian mythology. These were favorite gods of the + early Hindoos, to whose protection they very mainly ascribed their + prosperity. It was natural that the Iranians, in their aversion to their + Indian brethren, should give the Aswins a seat at Angro-mainyus’s + council-table; but it is curious that they should represent the twin + deities by only a single councillor. + </p> + <p> + Taric and Zaric, “Darkness” and “Poison,” the occupants of the fifth and + sixth places, are evidently personifications made for the occasion, to + complete the infernal council to its full complement of six members. + </p> + <p> + As the two Principles of Good and Evil have their respective councils, so + have they likewise their armies. The Good Spirit has created thousands of + angelic beings, who everywhere perform his will and fight on his side + against the Evil One; and the Evil One has equally on his part called into + being thousands of malignant spirits who are his emissaries in the world, + doing his work continually, and fighting his battles. These are the Devas + or Dives, so famous in Persian fairy mythology. They are “wicked, bad, + false, untrue, the originators of mischief, most baneful, destructive, the + basest of all beings.” The whole universe is full of them. They aim + primarily at destroying all the good creations of Ahura-mazda; but if + unable to destroy they content themselves with perverting and corrupting. + They dog the steps of men, tempting them to sin; and, as soon as sin, + obtaining a fearful power over them. + </p> + <p> + At the head of Ahura-mazda’s army is the angel Sraosha (Serosh). Serosh is + “the sincere, the beautiful, the victorious, the true, the master of + truth.” He protects the territories of the Iranians, wounds, and sometimes + even slays the demons, and is engaged in a perpetual struggle against + them, never slumbering night or day, but guarding the world with his drawn + sword, more particularly after sunset, when the demons have the greatest + power. + </p> + <p> + Angro-mainyus appears not to possess any such general-in-chief. Besides + the six councillors above mentioned, there are indeed various demons of + importance, as Drukhs, “destruction;” Aeshemo, “rapine;” Daivis, “deceit;” + Driwis, “poverty,” etc.; but no one of these seems to occupy a parallel + place in the evil world to that which is assigned to Serosh in the good. + Perhaps we have here a recognition of the anarchic character of evil, + whose attacks are like those of a huge undisciplined host—casual, + fitful, irregular—destitute wholly of that principle of law and + order which gives to the resisting power of good a great portion of its + efficacy. + </p> + <p> + To the belief in a spiritual world composed of all these various + intelligences—one half of whom were good, and the other half evil—the + early Zoroastrians added notions with respect to human duties and human + prospects far more enlightened than those which have usually prevailed + among heathen nations. In their system truth, purity, piety, and industry + were the virtues chiefly valued and inculcated. Evil was traced up to its + root in the heart of man; and it was distinctly taught that no virtue + deserved the name but such as was co-extensive with the whole sphere of + human activity, including the thought, as well as the word and deed. The + purity required was inward as well as outward, mental as well as bodily. + The industry was to be of a peculiar character. Man was placed upon the + earth to preserve the good creation; and this could only be done by + careful tilling of the soil, eradication of thorns and weeds, and + reclamation of the tracts over which Angro-mainyus had spread the curse of + barrenness. To cultivate the soil was thus a religious duty; the whole + community was required to be agricultural; and either as proprietor, as + farmer, or as laboring man, each Zoroastrian must “further the works of + life” by advancing tillage. Piety consisted in the acknowledgment of the + One True God, Ahura-mazda, and of his holy angels, the Amesha Spentas or + Amshashpands, in the frequent offering of prayers, praises, and + thanksgivings, in the recitation of hymns, the performance of the reformed + Soma ceremony, and the occasional sacrifice of animals. Of the hymns we + have abundant examples in the Gathas of the Zendavesta, and in the Yagna + haptanhaiti, or “Yaana of seven chapters,” which belongs to the second + period of the religion. A specimen from the latter source is subjoined + below. The Soma or Homa ceremony consisted in the extraction of the juice + of the Homa plant by the priests during the recitation of prayers, the + formal presentation of the liquid extracted to the sacrificial fire, the + consumption of a small portion of it by one of the officiating priests, + and the division of the remainder among the worshippers. As the juice was + drunk immediately after extraction and before fermentation had set in, it + was not intoxicating. The ceremony seems to have been regarded, in part, + as having a mystic force, securing the favor of heaven; in part, as + exerting a beneficial influence upon the body of the worshipper through + the curative power inherent in the Homa plant. + </p> + <p> + The sacrifices of the Zoroastrians were never human. The ordinary victim + was the horse; and we hear of occasions on which a single individual + sacrificed as many as ten of these animals. Mares seem to have been + regarded as the most pleasing offerings, probably on account of their + superior value; and if it was desired to draw down the special favor of + the Deity, those mares were selected which were already heavy in foal. + Oxen, sheep, and goats were probably also used as victims. A priest always + performed the sacrifice, slaying the animal, and showing the flesh to the + sacred fire by way of consecration, after which it was eaten at a solemn + feast by the priest and worshippers. + </p> + <p> + The Zoroastrians were devout believers in the immortality of the soul and + a conscious future existence. They taught that immediately after death the + souls of men, both good and bad, proceeded together along an appointed + path to “the bridge of the gatherer” (chinvatperetu). This was a narrow + road conducting to heaven or paradise, over which the souls of the pious + alone could pass, while the wicked fell from it into the gulf below, where + they found themselves in the place of punishment. The good soul was + assisted across the bridge by the angel Serosh—“the happy, + well-formed, swift, tall Serosh”—who met the weary wayfarer and + sustained his steps as he effected the difficult passage. The prayers of + his friends in this world were of much avail to the deceased, and greatly, + helped him on his journey. As he entered, the archangel Vohu-mano or + Bahman rose from his throne and greeted him with the words, “How happy art + thou who hast come here to us from the mortality to the immortality!” Then + the pious soul went joyfully onward to Ahura-mazda, to the immortal + saints, to the golden throne, to Paradise. As for the wicked, when they + fell into the gulf, they found themselves in outer darkness, in the + kingdom of Angro-mainyus, where they were forced to remain and to feed + upon poisoned banquets. + </p> + <p> + It is believed by some that the doctrine of the resurrection of the body + was also part of the Zoroastrian creed. Theopompus assigned this doctrine + to the Magi; and there is no reason to doubt that it was held by the + priestly caste of the Arian nations in his day. We find it plainly stated + in portions of the Zendavesta, which, if not among the earliest, are at + any rate of very considerable antiquity, as in the eighteenth chapter of + the Vendidad. It is argued that even in the Gathas there is an expression + used which shows the doctrine to have been already held when they were + composed; but the phrase adduced is so obscure that its true meaning must + be pronounced in the highest degree uncertain. The absence of any plain + allusion to the resurrection from the earlier portions of the sacred + volume is a strong argument against its having formed any part of the + original Arian creed—an argument which is far from outweighed by the + occurrence of a more possible reference to it in a single ambiguous + passage. + </p> + <p> + Around and about this nucleus of religious belief there grew up in course + of time a number of legends, some of which possess considerable interest. + Like other thoughtful races, the Iranians speculated upon the early + condition of mankind, and conceived a golden age, and a king then reigning + over a perfectly happy people, whom they called King Yima—Yima-khshaeta—the + modern Persian Jemshid. Yima, according to the legend, had dwelt + originally in Aryanem vaejo—the primitive seat of the Arians—and + had there reigned gloriously and peacefully for awhile; but the evils of + winter having come upon his country, he had removed from it with his + subjects, and had retired to a secluded spot where he and his people + enjoyed uninterrupted happiness. In this place was “neither overbearing + nor mean-spiritedness, neither stupidity nor violence, neither poverty nor + deceit, neither puniness nor deformity, neither huge teeth nor bodies + beyond the usual meassure.” The inhabitants suffered no defilement from + the evil spirit. They dwelt amid odoriferous trees and golden pillars; + their cattle were the largest, best, and most beautiful on the earth; they + were themselves a tall and beautiful race; their food was ambrosial, and + never failed them. No wonder that time sped fast with them, and that they, + not noting its night, thought often that what was really a year had been + no more than a single day. Yima was the great hero of the early Iranians. + His titles, besides “the king” (khshaeta), are “the brilliant,” “the + happy,” “the greatly wealthy,” “the leader of the peoples,” “the renowned + in Aryanem vaejo.” He is most probably identical with the Yama of the + Vedas, who was originally the first man, the progenitor of mankind and the + ruler of the blessed in Paradise, but who was afterwards transformed into + “the god of death, the inexorable judge of men’s doings, and the punisher + of the wicked.” + </p> + <p> + Next in importance to Yima among the heroes is Thraetona—the modern + Persian Feridun. He was born in Varena—which is perhaps Atropatene, + or Azerbijan—and was the son of a distinguished father, Athwyo. His + chief exploit was the destruction of Ajis-dahaka (Zohak), who is sometimes + represented as a cruel tyrant, the bitter enemy of the Iranian race, + sometimes as a monstrous dragon, with three mouths, three tails, six eyes, + and a thousand scaly rings, who threatened to ruin the whole of the good + creation. The traditional scene of the destruction was the mountain of + Demavend, the highest peak of the Elburz range south of the Caspian. + Thraetona, like Yima, appears to be also a Vedic hero. He may be + recognized in Traitana, who is said in the Rig-Veda to have slain a mighty + giant by severing his head from his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + A third heroic personage known in the early times was Keresaspa, of the + noble Sama family. He was the son of Thrita—a distinct personage + from Thraetona—and brother of Urvakh-shaya the Just and was bred up + in the arid country of Veh-keret (Khorassan). The “glory” which had rested + upon Yima so many years became his in his day. He was the mightiest among + the mighty, and was guarded from all danger by the fairy (pairika) + Enathaiti, who followed him whithersoever he went. He slew Qravara, the + queen and venomous serpent, who swallowed up men and horses. He killed + Gandarewa with the golden heel, and also Cnavidhaka, who had boasted that, + when he grew up, he would make the earth his wheel and heaven his chariot, + that he would carry off Ahura-mazda from heaven and Angro-mainyus from + hell, and yoke them both as horses to his car. Keresaspa appears as + Gershasp in the modern Persian legends, where, however, but little is said + of his exploits. In the Hindoo books he appears as Krigagva, the son of + Samyama, and is called king of Vaigali, or Bengal! + </p> + <p> + From these specimens the general character of the early Iranic legends + appears sufficiently. Without affording any very close resemblances in + particular cases, they present certain general features which are common + to the legendary lore of all the Western Arians. They are romantic tales, + not allegories; they relate with exaggerations the deeds of men, not the + processes of nature. Combining some beauty with a good deal that is + bizarre and grotesque, they are lively and graphic, but somewhat childish, + having in no case any deep meaning, and rarely teaching a moral lesson. In + their earliest shape they appear, so far as we can judge, to have been + brief, disconnected, and fragmentary. They owe the full and closely + interconnected form which they assume in the Shahna-meh and other modern + Persian writings, partly to a gradual accretion during the course of + centuries, partly to the inventive genius of Firdausi, who wove the + various and often isolated legends into a pseudo-history, and amplified + them at his own pleasure. How much of the substance of Firdausi’s poems + belongs to really primitive myth is uncertain. We find in the Zend texts + the names of Gayo-marathan, who corresponds to Kaiomars; of Haoshyanha, or + Hosheng; of Yima-shaeta, or Jemshid; of Ajisdahaka, or Zohak; of Athwya, + or Abtin; of Thraetona, or Feridun; of Keresaspa, or Gershasp; of Kava Uq, + or Kai Kavus; of Kava Hucrava, or Kai Khosroo; and of Kava Vistaspa, or + Gushtasp. But we have no mention of Tahomars; of Gava (or Gau) the + blacksmith; of Feridua’s sons, Selm, Tur, and Irij; of Zal, or Mino’chihr, + or Eustem; of Afrasiab, or Kai Kobad; of Sohrab, or Isfendiar. And of the + heroic names which actually occur in the Zendavesta, several, as + Gayo-marathan, Haoshyariha, Kava Uc, and Kava Hugrava, are met with only + in the later portions, which belong probably to about the fourth century + before our era. The only legends which we know to be primitive are those + above related, which are found in portions of the Zendavesta, whereto the + best critics ascribe a high antiquity. The negative argument is not, + however, conclusive; and it is quite possible that a very large proportion + of Firdausi’s tale may consist of ancient legends dressed up in a garb + comparatively modern. + </p> + <p> + Two phases of the early Iranic religion have been now briefly described; + the first a simple and highly spiritual creed, remarkable for its distinct + assertion of monotheism, its hatred of idolatry, and the strongly marked + antithesis which it maintained between good and evil; the second, a + natural corruption of the first, Dualistic, complicated by the importance + which it ascribed to angelic beings verging upon polytheism. It remains to + give an account of a third phase into which the religion passed in + consequence of an influence exercised upon it from without by an alien + system. + </p> + <p> + When the Iranic nations, cramped for space in the countries east and south + of the Caspian, began to push themselves further to the west, and then to + the south, they were brought into contact with various Scythic tribes + inhabiting the mountain regions of Armenia, Azerbijan, Kurdistan, and + Luristan, whose religion appears to have been Magism. It was here, in + these elevated tracts, where the mountains almost seem to reach the skies, + that the most venerated and ancient of the fire-temples were established, + some of which remain, seemingly in their primitive condition, at the + present day. <a href="#linkimage-0007">[PLATE VI., Fig. 4.]</a> Here + tradition placed the original seat of the fire-worship; and from hence + many taught that Zoroaster, whom they regarded as the founder of Magism, + had sprung. Magism was, essentially, the worship of the elements, the + recognition of fire, air, earth, and water as the only proper objects of + human reverence. The Magi held no personal gods, and therefore naturally + rejected temples, shrines, and images, as tending to encourage the notion + that gods existed of a like nature with man, i.e., possessing personality—living + and intelligent beings. Theirs was a nature worship, but a nature worship + of a very peculiar kind. They did not place gods over the different parts + of nature, like the Greeks; they did not even personify the powers of + nature, like the Hindoos; they paid their devotion to the actual material + things themselves. Fire, as the most subtle and ethereal principle, and + again as the most powerful agent, attracted their highest regards; and on + their fire-altars the sacred flame, generally said to have been kindled + from heaven, was kept burning uninterruptedly from year to year and from + age to age by bands of priests, whose special duty it was to see that the + sacred spark was never extinguished. To defile the altar by blowing the + flame with one’s breath was a capital offence; and to burn a corpse was + regarded as an act equally odious. When victims were offered to fire, + nothing but a small portion of the fat was consumed in the flame. Next to + fire, water was reverenced. Sacrifice was offered to rivers, lakes, and + fountains, the victim being brought near to them and then slain, while + great care was taken that no drop of their blood should touch the water + and pollute it. No refuse was allowed to be cast into a river, nor was it + even lawful to wash one’s hands in one. Reverence for earth was shown by + sacrifice, and by abstention from the usual mode of burying the dead. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0007" id="linkimage-0007"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img src="images/plate006.jpg" width="100%" alt="Plate VI. " /> + </div> + <p> + The Magian religion was of a highly sacerdotal type. No worshipper could + perform any religious act except by the intervention of a priest, or + Magus, who stood between him and the divinity as a Mediator. The Magus + prepared the victim and slew it, chanted the mystic strain which gave the + sacrifice all its force, poured on the ground the propitiatory libation of + oil, milk, and honey, held the bundle of thin tamarisk twigs—the + Zendic barsom (baregma)—the employment of which was essential to + every sacrificial ceremony. The Magi were a priest-caste, apparently + holding their office by hereditary succession. They claimed to possess, + not only a sacred and mediatorial character, but also supernatural + prophetic powers. They explained omens, expounded dreams, and by means of + a certain mysterious manipulation of the barsom, or bundle of twigs, + arrived at a knowledge of future events, which they communicated to the + pious inquirer. + </p> + <p> + With such pretensions it was natural that the caste should assume a lofty + air, a stately dress, and an entourage of ceremonial magnificence. Clad in + white robes, and bearing Upon their heads tall felt caps, with long + lappets at the sides, which concealed the jaw and even the lips, each with + his barsom in his hand, they marched in procession to their pynetheia, or + fire altars, and standing around them performed for an hour at a time + their magical incantations. The credulous multitude, impressed by sights + of this kind, and imposed on by the claims to supernatural power which the + Magi advanced, paid them a willing homage; the kings and chiefs consulted + them; and when the Arian tribes, pressing westward, came into contact with + the races professing the Magian religion, they found a sacerdotal caste + all-powerful in most of the Scythic nations. + </p> + <p> + The original spirit of Zoroastrianism was fierce and exclusive. The early + Iranians looked with contempt and hatred on the creed of their Indian + brethren; they abhorred idolatry; and were disinclined to tolerate any + religion except that which they had themselves worked out. But with the + lapse of ages this spirit became softened. Polytheistic creeds are far + less jealous than monotheism; and the development of Zoroastrianism had + been in a polytheistic direction. By the time that the Zoroastrians were + brought into contact with Magism, the first fervor of their religious zeal + had abated, and they were in that intermediate condition of religious + faith which at once impresses and is impressed, acts upon other systems, + and allows itself to be acted upon in return. The result which supervened + upon contact with Magism seems to have been a fusion, an absorption into + Zoroastrianism of all the chief points of the Magian belief, and all the + more remarkable of the Magian religious usages. This absorption appears to + have taken place in Media. It was there that the Arian tribes first + associated with themselves, and formally adopted into their body, the + priest-caste of the Magi, which thenceforth was recognized as one of the + six Median tribes. It is there that Magi are first found acting in the + capacity of Arian priests. According to all the accounts which have come + down to us, they soon acquired a predominating influence, which they no + doubt used to impress their own religious doctrines more and more upon the + nation at large, and to thrust into the background, so far as they dared, + the peculiar features of the old Arian belief. It is not necessary to + suppose that the Medes ever apostatized altogether from the worship of + Ormazd, or formally surrendered their Dualistic faith. But, practically, + the Magian doctrines and the Magian usages—elemental worship, + divination with the sacred rods, dream expounding, incantations at the + fire-altars, sacrifices whereat a Magus officiated—seem to have + prevailed; the new predominated over the old; backed by the power of an + organized hierarchy, Magism over-laid the primitive Arian creed, and, as + time went on, tended more and more to become the real religion of the + nation. + </p> + <p> + Among the religious customs introduced by the Magi into Media there are + one or two which seem to require especial notice. The attribution of a + sacred character to the four so-called elements—earth, air, fire and + water—renders it extremely difficult to know what is to be done with + the dead. They cannot be burnt, for that is a pollution of fire; or + buried, for that is a pollution of earth; or thrown into a river, for that + is a defilement of water. If they are deposited in sarcophagi, or exposed, + they really pollute the air; but in this case the guilt of the pollution, + it may be argued, does not rest on man, since the dead body is merely left + in the element in which nature placed it. The only mode of disposal which + completely avoids the defilement of every element is consumption of the + dead by living beings; and the worship of the elements leads on naturally + to this treatment of corpses. At present the Guebres, or Fire-worshippers, + the descendants of the ancient Persians, expose all their dead, with the + intention that they shall be devoured by birds of prey. In ancient times, + it appears certain that the Magi adopted this practice with respect to + their own dead; but, apparently, they did not insist upon having their + example followed universally by the laity. Probably a natural instinct + made the Arians averse to this coarse and revolting custom; and their + spiritual guides, compassionating their weakness, or fearful of losing + their own influence over them if they were too stiff in enforcing + compliance, winked at the employment by the people of an entirely + different practice. The dead bodies were first covered completely with a + coating of wax, and were then deposited in the ground. It was held, + probably, that the coating of wax prevented the pollution which would have + necessarily resulted had the earth come into direct contact with the + corpse. + </p> + <p> + The custom of divining by means of a number of rods appears to have been + purely Magian. There is no trace of it in the Gathas, in the Yagna + haptanhaiti, or in the older portions of the Vendidad. It was a Scythic + practice; and probably the best extant account of it is that which + Herodotus gives of the mode wherein it was managed by the Scyths of + Europe. “Scythia,” he says, “has an abundance of soothsayers, who foretell + the future by means of a number of willow wands. A large bundle of these + rods is brought and laid on the ground. The soothsayer unties the bundle, + and places each wand by itself, at the same time uttering his prophecy: + then, while he is still speaking, he gathers the rods together again, and + makes them up once more into a bundle.” A divine power seems to have been + regarded as resting in the wands; and they were supposed to be “consulted” + on the matter in hand, both severally and collectively. The bundle of + wands thus imbued with supernatural wisdom became naturally part of the + regular priestly costume, and was carried by the Magi on all occasions of + ceremony. The wands were of different lengths; and the number of wands in + the bundle varied. Sometimes there were three, sometimes five, sometimes + as many as seven or nine; but in every case, as it would seem, an odd + number. + </p> + <p> + Another implement which the priests commonly bore must be regarded, not as + Magian, but as Zoroastrian. This is the khrafgthraghna, or instrument for + killing bad animals, frogs, toads, snakes, mice, lizards, flies, etc., + which belonged to the bad creation, or that which derived its origin from + Angro-mainyus. These it was the general duty of all men, and the more + especial duty of the Zoroastrian priests, to put to death, whenever they + had the opportunity. The Magi, it appears, adopted this Arian usage, added + the khrafgthraghna to the barsom, and were so zealous in their performance + of the cruel work expected from them as to excite the attention, and even + draw upon themselves the rebuke, of foreigners. + </p> + <p> + A practice is assigned to the Magi by many classical and ecclesiastical + writers, which, if it were truly charged on them, would leave a very dark + stain on the character of their ethical system. It is said that they + allowed and even practised incest of the most horrible kind—such + incest as we are accustomed to associate with the names of Lot, OEdipus, + and Herod Agrippa. The charge seems to have been first made either by + Xanthus the Lydian, or by Ctesias. It was accepted, probably without much + inquiry, by the Greeks generally, and then by the Romans, was repeated by + writer after writer as a certain fact, and became finally a stock topic + with the early Christian apologists. Whether it had any real foundation in + fact is very uncertain. Herodotus, who collects with so much pains the + strange and unusual customs of the various nations whom he visits, is + evidently quite ignorant of any such monstrous practice. He regards the + Magian religion as established in Persia, yet he holds the incestuous + marriage of Cambyses with his sister to have been contrary to existing + Persian laws. At the still worst forms of incest of which the Magi and + those under their influence are accused, Herodotus does not even glance. + No doubt, if Xanthus Lydus really made the statement which Clemens of + Alexandria assigns to him, it is an important piece of evidence, though + scarcely sufficient to prove the Magi guilty. Xanthus was a man of little + judgment, apt to relate extravagant tales; and, as a Lydian, he may have + been disinclined to cast an aspersion on the religion of his country’s + oppressors. The passage in question, however, probably did not come from + Xanthus Lydus, but from a much later writer who assumed his name, as has + been well shown by a living critic. The true original author of the + accusation against the Magi and their co-religionists seems to have been + Ctesias, whose authority is far too weak to establish a charge + intrinsically so improbable. Its only historical foundation seems to have + been the fact that incestuous marriages were occasionally contracted by + the Persian kings; not, however, in consequence of any law, or religious + usage, but because in the plenitude of their power they could set all law + at defiance, and trample upon the most sacred principles of morality and + religion. + </p> + <p> + A minor charge preferred against the Magian morality by Xanthus, or rather + by the pseudo-Xanthus, has possibly a more solid foundation. “The Magi,” + this writer said, “hold their wives in common: at least they often marry + the wives of others with the free consent of their husbands.” This is + really to say that among the Magians divorce was over-facile; that wives + were often put away, merely with a view to their forming a fresh marriage, + by husbands who understood and approved of the transaction. Judging by the + existing practice of the Persians, we must admit that such laxity is in + accordance with Iranic notions on the subject of marriage—notions + far less strict than those which have commonly prevailed among civilized + nations. There is, however, no other evidence, besides this, that divorce + was very common where the Magian system prevailed; and the mere assertion + of the writer who personated Xanthus Lydus will scarcely justify us in + affixing even this stigma on the religion. + </p> + <p> + Upon the whole, Magism, though less elevated and less pure than the old + Zoroastrian creed, must be pronounced to have possessed a certain + loftiness and picturesqueness which suited it to become the religion of a + great and splendid monarchy. The mysterious fire-altars on the + mountain-tops, with their prestige of a remote antiquity—the + ever-burning flame believed to have been kindled from on high—the + worship in the open air under the blue canopy of heaven—the long + troops of Magians in their white robes, with their strange caps, and their + mystic wands—the frequent prayers—the abundant sacrifices—the + long incantations—the supposed prophetic powers of the priest-caste—all + this together constituted an imposing whole at once to the eye and to the + mind, and was calculated to give additional grandeur to the civil system + that should be allied with it. Pure Zoroastrianism was too spiritual to + coalesce readily with Oriental luxury and magnificence, or to lend + strength to a government based on the ordinary principles of Asiatic + despotism. Magism furnished a hierarchy to support the throne, and add + splendor and dignity to the court, while they overawed the subject-class + by their supposed possession of supernatural powers, and of the right of + mediating between heaven and man. It supplied a picturesque worship which + at once gratified the senses and excited the fancy It gave scope to man’s + passion for the marvellous by its incantations, its divining-rods, its + omen-reading, and its dream-expounding. It gratified the religious + scrupulosity which finds a pleasure in making to itself difficulties, by + the disallowance of a thousand natural acts, and the imposition of + numberless rules for external purity. At the same time it gave no offence + to the anti-idolatrous spirit in which the Arians had hitherto gloried, + but rather encouraged the iconoclasm which they always upheld and + practised. It thus blended easily with the previous creed of the people, + awaking no prejudices, clashing with no interests; winning its way by an + apparent meekness and unpresumingness, while it was quite prepared, when + the fitting time came, to be as fierce and exclusive as if it had never + worn the mask of humility and moderation. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. LANGUAGE AND WRITING. + </h2> + <p> + On the language of the ancient Medes a very few observations will be here + made. It has been noticed already that the Median form of speech was + closely allied to that of the Persians. The remark of Strabo quoted above, + and another remark which he cites from Nearchus, imply at once this fact, + and also the further fact of a dialectic difference between the two + tongues. Did we possess, as some imagine that we do, materials for tracing + out this diversity, it would be proper in the present place to enter fully + on the subject, and instead of contenting ourselves with asserting, or + even proving, the substantial oneness of the languages, it would be our + duty to proceed to the far more difficult and more complicated task of + comparing together the sister dialects, and noting their various + differences. The supposition that there exist means for such a comparison + is based upon a theory that in the language of the Zendavesta we have the + true speech of the ancient people of Media, while in the cuneiform + inscriptions of the Achasmenian kings it is beyond controversy that we + possess the ancient language of Persia. It becomes necessary, therefore, + to examine this theory, in order to justify our abstention from an inquiry + on which, if the theory were sound, we should be now called upon to enter. + </p> + <p> + The notion that the Zend language was the idiom of ancient Media + originated with Anquetil du Perron. He looked on Zoroaster as a native of + Azerbijan, contemporary with Darius Hystaspis. His opinion was embraced by + Kleuker, Herder, and Eask; and again, with certain modifications, by + Tychsen and Heeren. These latter writers even gave a more completely + Median character to the Zendavesta, by regarding it as composed in Media + Magna, during the reign of the great Cyaxares. The main foundation of + these views was the identification of Zoroastrianism with the Magian + fire-worship, which was really ancient in Azerbijan, and flourished in + Media under the great Median monarch. But we have seen that Magianism and + Zoroastrianism were originally entirely distinct, and that the Zendavesta + in all its earlier portions belongs wholly to the latter system. Nothing + therefore is proved concerning the Zend dialect by establishing a + connection between the Medes and Magism, which was a corrupting influence + thrown in upon Zoroastrianism long after the composition of the great bulk + of the sacred writings. + </p> + <p> + These writings themselves sufficiently indicate the place of their + composition. It was not Media, but Bactria, or at any rate the + north-eastern Iranic country, between the Bolor range and the Caspian. + This conclusion, which follows from a consideration of the various + geographical notices contained in the Zend books, had been accepted of + late years by all the more profound Zend scholars. Originated by Rhode, it + has also in its favor the names of Burnouf, Lassen, Westergaard, and Haug. + If then the Zend is to be regarded as really a local dialect, the idiom of + a particular branch of the Iranic people, there is far more reason for + considering it to be the ancient speech of Bactria than of any other Arian + country. Possibly the view is correct which recognizes two nearly-allied + dialects as existing side by side in Iran during its flourishing period—one + prevailing towards the west, the other towards the east—one + Medo-Persic, the other Sogdo-Bactrian—the former represented to us + by the cuneiform inscriptions, the latter by the Zend texts. Or it may be + closer to the truth to recognize in the Zendic and Achsemenian forms of + speech, not so much two contemporary idioms, as two stages of one and the + same language, which seems to be at present the opinion of the best + comparative philologists. In either case Media can claim no special + interest in Zend, which, if local, is Sogdo-Bactrian, and if not local is + no more closely connected with Media than with Persia. + </p> + <p> + It appears then that we do not at present possess any means of + distinguishing the shades of difference which separated the. Median from + the Persian speech. We have in fact no specimens of the former beyond a + certain number of words, and those chiefly proper names, whereas we know + the latter tolerably completely from the inscriptions. It is proposed + under the head of the “Fifth Monarchy” to consider at some length the + general character of the Persian language as exhibited to us in these + documents. From the discussion then to be raised may be gathered the + general character of the speech of the Medes. In the present place all + that will be attempted is to show how far the remnants left us of Median + speech bear out the statement that, substantially, one and the same tongue + was spoken by both peoples. + </p> + <p> + Many Median names are absolutely identical with Persian; e.g., + Ariobarzanes, Artabazus, Artaeus, Artembares, Harpagus, Arbaces, + Tiridates, etc. Others which are not absolutely identical approach to the + Persian form so closely as to be plainly mere variants, like Theodoras and + Theodosius, Adelbert and Ethelbert, Miriam, Mariam, and Mariamne. Of this + kind are Intaphres, another form of Intaphernes, Artynes, another form of + Artanes, Parmises, another form of Parmys, and the like. A third class, + neither identical with any known Persian names, nor so nearly approaching + to them as to be properly considered mere variants, are made up of known + Persian roots, and may be explained on exactly the same principles as + Persian names. Such are Ophernes, Sitraphernes, Mitraphernes, Megabernes, + Aspadas, Mazares, Tachmaspates, Xathrites, Spitaces, Spitamas, Ehambacas, + and others. In Ophernes, Sitra-phernes, Mitra-phernes, and Mega-bernes, + the second element is manifestly the pharna or frana which is found in + Arta-phernes and Inta-phernes (Vida-frana), an active participial form + from pri, to protect. The initial element in O-phernes represents the Zend + hu, Sans, su, Greek ev, as the same letter does in O-manes, O-martes, etc. + The Sitra of Sitra-phernes has been explained as probably Ichshatra, “the + crown,” which is similarly represented in the Safro-pates of Curtius, a + name standing to Sitra-phernes exactly as Arta-patas to Arta-phernes. In + Mega-bernes the first element is the well-known baga, “God,” under the + form commonly preferred by the Greeks; and the name is exactly equivalent + to Curtius’s Bagfo-phanes, which only differs from it by taking the + participle of pa, “to protect,” instead of the participle of pri, which + has the same meaning. In Aspa-das it is easy to recognize aspa, “horse” (a + common root in Persian names,) e.g., Aspa-thines, Aspa-mitras, Prex-aspes, + and the like, followed by the same element which terminates the name of + Oromaz-des, and which means either “knowing” or “giving.” Ma-zares + presents us with the root meh, “much” or “great,” which is found in the + name of the ilf-aspii, or “Big Horses,” a Persian tribe, followed by zara, + “gold,” which appears in Ctesias’s “Arto-awes,” and perhaps also in + Zoro-aster. In Tachmaspates, the first element is takhma, “strong,” a root + found in the Persian names Ar-tochmes and Tritan-taechmes, while the + second is the frequently used pati, “lord,” which occurs as the initial + element in Pak-zeithes,” Pafa-ramphes, etc., and as the terminal in + Pharna-jjates, Avio-peithes, and the like. In Xathrites we have clearly + khshatra (Zend khshathra), “crown” or “king,” with a participial suffix + -ita, corresponding to the Sanscrit participle in -it. Spita-ces and + Spita-mas contain the root spita, equivalent to spenta, “holy,” which is + found in Spitho-hates, Spita-mens, Spita-des, etc. This, in Spita-ces, is + followed by a guttural ending, which is either a diminutive corresponding + to the modern Persian -efc, or perhaps a suffixed article. In Spit-amas, + the suffix -mas is the common form of the superlative, and may be compared + with the Latin -mus in optimus, intimus, supremus, and the like. Ehambacas + contains the root rafno, “joy, pleasure,” which we find in Pati-ramphies, + followed by the guttural suffix. + </p> + <p> + There remains, finally, a class of Median names, containing roots not + found in any known names of Persians, but easily explicable from Zend, + Sanscrit, or other cognate tongues, and therefore not antagonistic to the + view that Median and Persian were two closely connected dialects. Such, + for instance, are the royal names mentioned by Herodotus, Deioces, + Phraortes, Astyages, and Cyaxares; and such also are the following, which + come to us from various sources; Amytis, Astibaras, Armamithres or + Harmamithres, Mandauces, Parsondas, Eama-tes, Susiscanes, Tithaous, and + Zanasanes. + </p> + <p> + In Deioces, or (as the Latins write it) Dejoces, there can be little doubt + that we have the name given as Djohak or Zohak in the Shahnameh and other + modern Persian writings, which is itself an abbreviation of the + Ajis-dahaka of the Zendavesta. Dahaka means in Zend “biting,” or “the + biter,” and is etymo-logically connected with the Greek. + </p> + <p> + Phraortes, which in old Persian was Fravartish, seems to be a mere variant + of the word which appears in the Zendavesta as fravashi, and designates + each man’s tutelary genius. The derivation is certainly from fra, and + probably from a root akin to the German wahren, French garder, English + “ward, watch,” etc. The meaning is “a protector.” + </p> + <p> + Cyaxares, the Persian form of which was “Uvakhshatara,” seems to be formed + from the two elements it or hu, “well, good,” and akhsha (Zend arsnd), + “the eye,” which is the final element of the name Cyavarswa in the + Zendavesta. Cyavarsna is “dark-eyed;” Uvakhsha (= Zend Huvarsna) would be + “beautiful-eyed.” Uvakhshatara appears to be the comparative of this + adjective, and would mean “more beautiful-eyed (than others).” + </p> + <p> + Astyages, which, according to Moses of Chorene, meant “a dragon” or + “serpent,” is almost certainly Ajis-dahaka, the full name whereof Dojoces + (or Zohak) is the abbreviation. It means “the biting snake,” from aji or + azi, “a snake” or “serpent,” and dahaka, “biting.” + </p> + <p> + Amytis is probably ama, “active, great,” with the ordinary feminine suffix + -iti, found in Armaiti, Khnathaiti, and the like. Astibaras is perhaps + “great of bone,” from Zend agta (Sans, asthi), “bone,” and bereza, “tall, + great.” Harmamithres, if that is the true reading, would be + “mountain-lover” (monticolus), from hardam, ace. of hara, “a mountain,” + and mithra or mitra, “fond of.” If, however, the name should be read as + Armamithres, the probable derivation will be from rama, ace. of raman, + “pleasure,” which is also the root of Rama-tea. Armamithres may then be + compared with Rheomithres, Siromitras, and Sysimithres, which are + respectively “fond of splendor,” “fond of beauty,” and “fond of light.” + Mandauces is perhaps “biting spirit—esprit mordant,” from mand, + “coeur, esprit,” and dahaka, “biting.” M Parsondas can scarcely be the + original form, from the occurrence in it of the nasal before the dental. + In the original it must have been Parsodas, which would mean “liberal, + much giving,” from pourus, “much,” and da, “to give.” Ramates, as already + observed, is from rama, “pleasure.” It is an adjectival form, like Datis, + and means probably “pleasant, agreeable.” Susiscanes may be explained as + “splendidus juvenis,” from quc, “splendere,” pres. part, cao-cat, and + kainin, “adolescens, juvenis.” Tithaeus is probably for Tathaeus, which + would be readily formed from tatka, “one who makes.” Finally, Zanasanes + may be referred to the root zan or jan, “to kill,” which is perhaps simply + followed by the common appellative suffix -ana. + </p> + <p> + From these names of persons we may pass to those of places in Media, which + equally admit of explanation from roots known to have existed either in + Zend or in old Persian. Of these, Ecbatana, Bagistana, and Aspadana may be + taken as convenient specimens. Ecbatana (or Agbatana), according to the + orthography of the older Greeks was in the native dialect Hagmatana, as + appears from the Behistun inscription. This form, Hagmatana, is in all + probability derived from the three words ham, “with” (Sans, sam, Latin + cum), gam, “to go” (Zend gd, Sans, ‘gam), and ctana (Mod. Pers. -stan) “a + place.” The initial ham has dropped the m and become ha, and cum becomes + co- in Latin; gam has become gma by metathesis; and gtan has passed into + -tan by phonetic corruption. Ha-gma-tana would be “the place for + assembly,” or for “coming together” (Lat. comitium); the place, i.e., + where the tribes met, and where, consequently, the capital grew up. + </p> + <p> + Bagistan, which was “a hill sacred to Jupiter” according to Diodorus, is + clearly a name corresponding to the Beth-el of the Hebrews and the + Allahabad of the Mahometans. It is simply “the house, or place, of God”—from + baga, “God,” and gtana, “place, abode,” the common modern Persian terminal + (compare Farsi-stan, Khuzi-stan, Afghani-stan, Belochi-stan, Hindu-stan, + etc.), which has here not suffered any corruption. + </p> + <p> + Aspadana contains certainly as its first element the root acpa, “horse.” + The suffix dan may perhaps be a corruption of ctana, analogous to that + which has produced Hama-dan from Hagma-ctan; or it may be a contracted + form of danhu, or dairihu, “a-province,” Aspadana having been originally + the name of a district where horses were bred, and having thence become + the name of its chief town. + </p> + <p> + The Median words known to us, other than names of persons or places, are + confined to some three or four. Herodotus tells us that the Median word + for “dog” was spaka; Xenophon implies, if he does not expressly state, + that the native name for the famous Median robe was candys; Nicolas of + Damascus informs us that the Median couriers were called Angari; and + Hesychius says that the artabe was a Median measure. The last-named writer + also states that artades and devas were Magian words, which perhaps + implies that they were common to the Medes with the Persians. Here, again, + the evidence, such as it is, favors a close connection between the + languages of Media and Persia. + </p> + <p> + That artabe and angarus were Persian words no less than Median, we have + the evidence of Herodotus. Artades, “just men” (according to Hesychhis), + is probably akin to ars, “true, just,” and may represent the ars-data, + “made just,” of the Zendavesta. Devas (Seven), which Hesychius translates + “the evil gods” is clearly the Zendic daiva, Mod. Pers. div. (Sans, deva, + Lat. divus). In candys we have most probably a formation from qan, “to + dress, to adorn.” Spaka is the Zendic cpa, with the Scythic guttural + suffix, of which the Medes were so fond, cpa itself being akin to the + Sanscrit cvan, and so to hvoov and canis. Thus we may connect all the few + words which are known as Median with forms contained in the Zend, which + was either the mother or the elder sister of the ancient Persian. + </p> + <p> + That the Medes were acquainted with the art of writing, and practised it—at + least from the time that they succeeded to the dominion of the Assyrians—scarcely + admits of a doubt. An illiterate nation, which conquers one in possession + of a literature, however it may despise learning and look down upon the + mere literary life, is almost sure to adopt writing to some extent on + account of its practical utility. It is true the Medes have left us no + written monuments; and we may fairly conclude from that fact that they + used writing sparingly; but besides the antecedent probability, there is + respectable evidence that letters were known to them, and that, at any + rate, their upper classes could both read and write their native tongue. + The story of the letter sent by Harpagus the Mede to Cyrus in the belly of + a hare, though probably apocryphal, is important as showing the belief of + Herodotus on the subject. The still more doubtful story of a despatch + written on parchment by a Median king, Artseus, and sent to Nanarus, a + provincial governor, related by Nicolas of Damascus, has a value, as + indicating that writer’s conviction that the Median monarchs habitually + conveyed their commands to their subordinates in a written form. With + these statements of profane writers agree certain notices which we find in + Scripture. Darius the Mode, shortly after the destruction of the Median + empire, “signs” a decree, which his chief nobles have presented to him in + writing. He also himself “writes” another decree addressed to his subjects + generally. In later times we find that there existed at the Persian court + a “book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia,” in which was + probably a work begun under the Median and continued under the Persian + sovereigns. + </p> + <p> + If then writing was practised by the Medes, it becomes interesting to + consider whence they obtained their knowledge of it, and what was the + system which they employed. Did they bring an alphabet with them from the + far East, or did they derive their first knowledge of letters from the + nations with whom they came into contact after their great migration? In + the latter case, did they adopt, with or without modifications, a foreign + system, or did they merely borrow the idea of written symbols from their + new neighbors, and set to work to invent for themselves an alphabet suited + to the genius of their own tongue? These are some of the questions which + present themselves to the mind as deserving of attention, when this + subject is brought before it. Unfortunately we possess but very scanty + data for determining, and can do little more than conjecture, the proper + answers to be given to them. + </p> + <p> + The early composition of certain portions of the Zendavesta, which has + been asserted in this work, may seem at first sight to imply the use of a + written character in Bactria and the adjacent countries at a very remote + era. But such a conclusion is not necessary. Nations have often had an + oral literature, existing only in the memories of men, and have handed + down such a literature from generation to generation, through a long + succession of ages. The sacred lore of Zoroaster may have been brought by + the Modes from the East-Caspian country in an unwritten shape, and may not + have been reduced to writing till many centuries later. On the whole it is + perhaps most probable that the Medes were unacquainted with letters when + they made their great migration, and that they acquired their first + knowledge of them from the races with whom they came into collision when + they settled along the Zagros chain. In these regions they were brought + into contact with at least two forms of written speech, one that of the + old Armenians, a Turanian dialect, the other that of the Assyrians, a + language of the Semitic type. These two nations used the same alphabetic + system, though their languages were utterly unlike; and it would + apparently have been the easiest plan for the new comers to have adopted + the established forms, and to have applied them, so far as was possible, + to the representation of their own speech. But the extreme complication of + a system which employed between three and four hundred written signs, and + composed signs sometimes of fourteen or fifteen wedges, seems to have + shocked the simplicity of the Medes, who recognized the fact that the + varieties of their articulations fell far short of this excessive + luxuriance. The Arian races, so far as appears, declined to follow the + example set them by the Turanians of Armenia, who had adopted the Assyrian + alphabet, and preferred to invent a new system for themselves, which they + determined to make far more simple. It is possible that they found an + example already set them. In Achaemenian times we observe two alphabets + used through Media and Persia, both of which are simpler than the + Assyrian: one is employed to express the Turanian dialect of the people + whom the Arians conquered and dispossessed; the other, to express the + tongue of the conquerors. It is possible—though we have no direct + evidence of the fact—that the Turanians of Zagros and the + neighborhood had already formed for themselves the alphabet which is found + in the second columns of the Achaemenian tablets, when the Arian invaders + conquered them. This alphabet, which in respect of complexity holds an + intermediate position between the luxuriance of the Assyrian and the + simplicity of the Medo-Persic system, would seem in all probability to + have intervened in order of time between the two. It consists of no more + than about a hundred characters, and these are for the most part far less + complicated than those of Assyria. If the Medes found this form of writing + already existing in Zagros when they arrived, it may have assisted to give + them the idea of making for themselves an alphabet so far on the old model + that the wedge should be the sole element used in the formation, of + letters, but otherwise wholly new, and much more simple than those + previously in use. + </p> + <p> + Discarding then the Assyrian notion of a syllabarium, with the enormous + complication which it involves, the Medes strove to reduce sounds to their + ultimate elements, and to represent these last alone by symbols. + Contenting themselves with the three main vowel sounds, a,i, and u, and + with one breathing, a simple h, they recognized twenty consonants, which + were the following, b,d,f,g,j,k,kh,m,n,n (sound doubtful), + p,r,s,sh,t,v,y,z,ch (as in much), and tr, an unnecessary compound. Had + they stopped here, their characters should have been but twenty-four, the + number which is found in Greek. To their ears, however, it would seem, + each consonant appeared to carry with it a short a, and as this, occurring + before i and u, produced the diphthongs ai and au, sounded nearly as e and + o, it seemed necessary, where a consonant was to be directly followed by + the sounds i or u, to have special forms to which the sound of a should + not attach. This system, carried out completely, would have raised the + forms of consonants to sixty, a multiplication that was feared as + inconvenient. In order to keep down the number, it seems to have been + resolved, that one form should suffice for the aspirated letters and the + sibilants (viz., h,kh; ch,ph or f,s,sh, and z), and also for b,y, and tr; + that two forms should suffice for the tenues, k,p,t, for the liquids n and + r, and for v; and consequently that the full number of three forms should + be limited to some three or four letters, as d, m, j, and perhaps g. The + result is that the known alphabet of the Persians, which is assumed here + to have been the invention of the Medes, consists of some thirty-six or + thirty-seven forms, which are really representative of no more than + twenty-three distinct sounds. + </p> + <p> + It appears then that, compared with the phonetic systems in vogue among + their neighbors, the alphabet of the Medes and Persians was marked by a + great simplicity. The forms of the letters were also very much simplified. + Instead of conglomerations of fifteen or sixteen wedges in a single + character, we have in the Medo-Persic letters a maximum of five wedges. + The most ordinary number is four, which is sometimes reduced to three or + even two. The direction of the wedges is uniformly either perpendicular or + horizontal, except of course in the case of the double wedge or + arrow-head, where the component elements are placed obliquely. The + arrow-head has but one position, the perpendicular, with the angle facing + towards the left hand. The only diagonal sign used is a simple wedge, + placed obliquely with the point towards the right, which is a mere mark of + separation between the words. + </p> + <p> + The direction of the writing was, as with the Arian nations generally, + from left to right. Words were frequently divided, and part carried on to + the next line. The characters were inscribed between straight lines drawn + from end to end of the tablet on which they were written. Like the Hebrew, + they often closely resembled one another, and a slight defect in the stone + will cause one to be mistaken for another. The resemblance is not between + letters of the same class or kind; on the contrary, it is often between + those which are most remote from one another. Thus g nearly resembles u; + ch is like d; tr like p; and so on: while k and kh, s and sh, p and ph (or + J) are forms quite dissimilar. + </p> + <p> + It is supposed that a cuneiform alphabet can never have been employed for + ordinary writing purposes, but must have been confined to documents of + some importance, which it was desirable to preserve, and which were + therefore either inscribed on stone, or impressed on moist clay afterwards + baked. A cursive character, it is therefore imagined, must always have + been in use, parallel with a cuneiform one; and as the Babylonians and + Assyrians are known to have used a character of this kind from a very high + antiquity, synchronously with their lapidary cuneiform, so it is supposed + that the Arian races must have possessed, besides the method which has + been described as a cursive system of writing. Of this, however, there is + at present no direct evidence. No cursive writing of the Arian nations at + this time, either Median or Persian, has been found; and it is therefore + uncertain what form of character they employed on common occasions. + </p> + <p> + The material used for ordinary purposes, according to Nicolas of Damascus + and Ctesias, was parchment. On this the kings wrote the despatches which + conveyed their orders to the officers who administered the government of + provinces; and on this were inscribed the memorials which each monarch was + careful to have composed giving an account of the chief events of his + reign. The cost of land carriage probably prevented papyrus from + superseding this material in Western Asia, as it did in Greece at a + tolerably early date. Clay, so much used for writing on both in Babylonia + and Assyria, appears never to have approved itself as a convenient + substance to the Iranians. For public documents the chisel and the rock, + for private the pen and the prepared skin, seem to have been preferred by + them; and in the earlier times, at any rate, they employed no other + materials. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. CHRONOLOGY AND HISTORY. + </h2> + <p> + Media . . . quam ante regnum Cyri superlovis et incrementa Persidos + legimus Asiae reginam totius.—Amm. Marc, xxiii. 6. + </p> + <p> + The origin of the Median nation is wrapt in a profound obscurity. + Following the traces which the Zendavesta offers, taking into + consideration its minute account of the earlier Arian migrations, its + entire omission of any mention of the Medes, and the undoubted fact that + it was nevertheless by the Medes and Persians that the document itself was + preserved and transmitted to us, we should be naturally led to suppose + that the race was one which in the earlier times of Arian development was + weak and insignificant, and that it first pushed itself into notice after + the ethnological portions of the Zendavesta were composed, which is + thought to have been about B.C. 1000. Quite in accordance with this view + is the further fact that in the native Assyrian annals, so far as they + have been, recovered, the Medes do not make their appearance till the + middle of the ninth century B.C., and when they appear are weak and + unimportant, only capable of opposing a very slight resistance to the + attacks of the Ninevite kings. The natural conclusion from these data + would appear to be that until about B.C. 850 the Median name was unknown + in the world, and that previously, if Medes existed at all, it was either + as a sub-tribe of some other Arian race, or at any rate as a tribe too + petty and insignificant to obtain mention either on the part of native or + of foreign historians. Such early insignificance and late development of + what ultimately becomes the dominant tribe of a race is no strange or + unprecedented phenomenon to the historical inquirer; on the contrary, it + is among the facts with which he is most familiar, and would admit of + ample illustration, were the point worth pursuing, alike from the history + of the ancient and the modern world. + </p> + <p> + But, against the conclusion to which we could not fail to be led by the + Arian and Assyrian records, which agree together so remarkably, two + startling notices in works of great authority but of a widely different + character have to be set. In the Toldoth Beni Noah, or “Book of the + Generation of the Sons of Noah,” which forms the tenth chapter of Genesis, + and which, if the work of Moses, was probably composed at least as early + as B.C. 1500, we find the Madai—a word elsewhere always signifying + “the Medes”—in the genealogy of the sons of Japhet. The word is + there conjoined with several other important ethnic titles, as Gomer, + Magog, Javan, Tubal, and Meshech; and there can be no reasonable doubt + that it is intended to designate the Median people. If so, the people must + have had already a separate and independent existence in the fifteenth + century B.C., and not only so, but they must have by that time attained so + much distinction as to be thought worthy of mention by a writer who was + only bent on affiliating the more important of the nations known to him. + </p> + <p> + The other notice is furnished by Berosus. That remarkable historian, in + his account of the early dynasties of his native Chaldaea, declared that, + at a date anterior to B.C. 2000, the Medes had conquered Babylon by a + sudden inroad, had established a monarchy there, and had held possession + of the city and neighboring territory for a period of 224 years. Eight + kings of their race had during that interval occupied the Babylonian + throne, It has been already observed that this narrative must represent a + fact. Berosus would not have gratuitously invented a foreign conquest of + his native land; nor would the earlier Babylonians, from whom he derived + his materials, have forged a tale which was so little flattering to their + national vanity. Some foreign conquest of Babylon must have taken place + about the period named; and it is certainly a most important fact that + Berosus should call the conquerors Medes. He may no doubt have been + mistaken about an event so ancient; he may have misread his authorities, + or he may have described as Medes a people of which he really knew nothing + except that they had issued from the tract which in his own time bore the + name of Media. But, while these axe mere possibilities, hypotheses to + which the mind resorts in order to escape a difficulty, the hard fact + remains that he has used the word; and this fact, coupled with the mention + of the Medes in the book of Genesis, does certainly raise a presumption of + no inconsiderable strength against, the view which it would be natural to + take if the Zendavesta and the Assyrian annals were our solo authorities + on the subject. It lends a substantial basis to the theories of those who + regard the Medes as one of the principal primeval races; who believe that + they were well known to the Semitic inhabitants of the Mesopotamian valley + as early as the twenty-third century before Christ—long ere Abraham + left Ur for Harran; and that they actually formed the dominant power in + Western Asia for more than two centuries, prior to the establishment of + the first Chaldaean kingdom. + </p> + <p> + And if there are thus distinct historical grounds for the notion of an + early Median development, there are not wanting these obscurer but to many + minds more satisfactory proofs wherewith comparative philology and + ethnology are wont to illustrate and confirm the darker passages of + ancient history. Recent linguistic research has clearly traced among the + Arba Lisun, or, “Four Tongues” of ancient Chaldaea, which are so often + mentioned on the ancient monuments, an Arian formation, such as would + naturally have been left in the country, if it had been occupied for some + considerable period by a dominant Arian power. The early Chaldaean + ideographs have often several distinct values; and when this is the case, + one of the powers is almost always an Arian name of the object + represented. Words like nir, “man”, ar, “river,” (compare the names Aras, + Araxes, Endanus, Rha, Rhodanus, etc., the Slavonic rika, “river,” etc.), + san, “sun,” (compare German Sonne, Slavonic solnce, English “sun,” Dutch + zon, etc.), are seemingly Arian roots; and the very term “Arian” (Ariya, + “noble”) is perhaps contained in the name of a primitive Chaldaean + monarch, “Arioch, king of Ellasar.” There is nothing perhaps in these + scattered traces of Arian influence in in Lower Mesopotamia at a remote + era that points very particularly to the Medes; but at any rate they + harmonize with the historical account that has reached us of early Arian + power in these parts, and it is important that they should not be ignored + when we are engaged in considering the degree of credence that is to be + awarded to the account in question. + </p> + <p> + Again, there are traces of a vast expansion, apparently at a very early + date, of the Median race, such as seems to imply that they must have been + a great nation in Western Asia long previously to the time of the Iranic + movements in Bactria and the adjoining regions. In the Matieni of Zagros + and Cappadocia, in the Sauro-matae (or Northern Medes) of the country + between the Palus Maeotis and the Caspian, in the Maetae or Maeotae of the + tract about the mouth of the Don, and in the Maedi of Thrace, we have + seemingly remnants of a great migratory host which, starting from the + mountains that overhang Mesopotamia, spread itself into the regions of the + north and the north-west at a time which does not admit of being + definitely stated, but which is clearly anti-historic. Whether these races + generally retained any tradition of their origin, we do not know; but a + tribe which in the time of Herodotus dwelt still further to the west than + even the Maedi—to wit, the Sigynnae, who occupied the tract between + the Adriatic and the Danube—had a very distinct belief in their + Median descent, a belief confirmed by the resemblance which their national + dress bore to that of the Medes. Herodotus, who relates these facts + concerning them, appends an expression of his astonishment at the + circumstance that emigrants from Media should have proceeded to such a + distance from their original home; how it had been brought about he could + not conceive. “Still,” he sagaciously remarks, “nothing is impossible in + the long lapse of ages.” + </p> + <p> + A further argument in favor of the early development of Median power, and + the great importance of the nation in Western Asia at a period anterior to + the ninth century, is derivable from the ancient legends of the Greeks, + which seem to have designated the Medes under the two eponyms of Medea and + Andromeda. These legends indeed do not admit of being dated with any + accuracy; but as they are of a primitive type, and probably older than + Homer, we cannot well assign them to an age later than b.c. 1000. Now they + connect the Median name with the two countries of Syria and Colchis, + countries remote from each other, and neither of them sufficiently near + the true Median territory to be held from it, unless at a time when the + Medes were in possession of something like an empire. And, even apart from + any inferences to be drawn from the localties which the Greek Myths + connect with the Medes, the very fact that the race was known to the + Greeks at this early date—long before the movements which brought + them into contact with the Assyrians—would seem to show that there + was some remote period—prior to the Assyrian domination—when + the fame of the Medes was great in the part of Asia known to the Hellenes, + and that they did not first attract Hellenic notice (as, but for the + Myths, we might have imagined) by the conquests of Cyaxarea. Thus, on the + whole it would appear that we must acknowledge two periods of Median + prosperity, separated from each other by a lengthy interval, one anterior + to the rise of the Cushite empire in Lower Babylonia, the other parallel + with the decline and subsequently to the fall of Assyria. + </p> + <p> + Of the first period it cannot be said that we possess any distinct + historical knowledge. The Median dynasty of Berosus at Babylon appears, by + recent discoveries, to have represented those Susianian monarchs who bore + sway there from B.C. 2286 to 2052. The early Median preponderance in + Western Asia, if it is a fact, must have been anterior to this, and is an + event which has only left traces in ethnological names and in mythological + speculations. + </p> + <p> + Our historical knowledge of the Medes as a nation commences in the latter + half of the ninth century before our era. Shalmaneser II.—probably + the “Shalman” of Hosea,—who reigned from B.C. 859 to B.C. 824—relates + that in his twenty-fourth year (B.C. 885), after having reduced to + subjection the Zimri, who held the Zagros mountain range immediately to + the east of Assyria, and received tribute from the Persians, he led an + expedition into Media and Arazias, where he took and destroyed a number of + the towns, slaying the men, and carrying off the spoil. He does not + mention any pitched battle; and indeed it would seem that he met with no + serious resistance. The Medes whom he attacks are evidently a weak and + insignificant people, whom he holds in small esteem, and regards as only + deserving of a hurried mention. They seem to occupy the tract now known as + Ardelan—a varied region containing several lofty ridges, with broad + plains lying between them. + </p> + <p> + It is remarkable that the time of this first contact of Media with Assyria—a + contact taking place when Assyria was in her prime, and Media was only + just emerging from a long period of weakness and obscurity—is almost + exactly that which Ctesias selects as a day of the great revolution + whereby the Empire of the East passed from the hands of the Shemites into + those of the Arians. The long residence of Otesias among the Persians, + gave him a bias toward that people, which even extended to their close + kin, the Medes. Bent on glorifying these two Arian races, he determined to + throw back the commencement of their empire to a period long anterior to + the true date; and, feeling specially anxious to cover up their early + humiliation, he assigned their most glorious conquests to the very + century, and almost to the very time, when they were in fact suffering + reverses at the hands of the people over whom he represented them as + triumphant. There was a boldness in the notion of thus inverting history + which almost deserved, and to a considerable extent obtained, success. The + “long chronology” of Ctesias kept its ground until recently, not indeed + meeting with universal acceptance, but on the whole predominating over the + “short chronology” of Herodotus; and it may be doubted whether anything + less than the discovery that the native records of Assyria entirely + contradicted Ctesias would have sufficed to drive from the field his + figment of early Median dominion. + </p> + <p> + The second occasion upon which we hear of the Medes in the Assyrian annals + is in the reign of Shalmanoser’s son and successor, Shamas-Vul. Here + again, as on the former occasion, the Assyrians were the aggressors. + Shamas-Vul invaded Media and Arazias in his third year, and committed + ravages similar to those of his father, wasting the country with fire and + sword, but not (it would seem) reducing the Medes to subjection, or even + attempting to occupy their territory. Again the attack is a mere raid, + which produces no permanent impression. + </p> + <p> + It is in the reign of the son and successor of Shamas-Vul that the Medes + appear for the first time to have made their submission and accepted the + position of Assyrian tributaries. A people which was unable to offer + effectual resistance when the Assyrian levies invaded their country, and + which had no means of retaliating upon their foe or making him suffer the + evils that he inflicted, was naturally tempted to save itself from + molestation by the payment of an annual tribute, so purchasing quiet at + the expense of honor and independence. Towards the close of the ninth + century B.C. the Medes seem to have followed the example set them very + much earlier by their kindred and neighbors, the Persians, and to have + made arrangements for an annual payment which should exempt their + territory from ravage. It is doubtful whether the arrangement was made by + the whole people. The Median tribes at this time hung so loosely together + that a policy adopted by one portion of them might be entirely repudiated + by another. Most probably the tribute was paid by those tribes only which + boarded on Zagros, and not by those further to the east or to the north, + into whose territories the Assyrian arms has not yet penetrated. + </p> + <p> + No further change in the condition of the Medes is known to have occurred + until about a hundred years later, when the Assyrians ceased to be content + with the semi-independent position which had been hitherto allowed them, + and determined on their more complete subjugation. The great Sargon, the + assailant of Egypt and conqueror of Babylon, towards the middle of his + reign, invaded Media with a large army, and having rapidly overrun the + country, seized several of the towns, and “annexed them to Assyria,” while + at the same time he also established in new situations a number of + fortified posts. The object was evidently to incorporate Media into the + empire; and the posts wore stations in which a standing army was placed, + to overawe the natives and prevent them from offering an effectual + resistance. With the same view deportation of the people on a large scale + seems to have been practised and the gaps thus made in the population were + filled up—wholly or in part—by the settlement in the Median + cities of Samaritan captives. On the country thus re-organized and + re-arranged a tribute of a new character was laid. In lieu of the money + payment hitherto exacted, the Medes were required to furnish annually to + the royal stud a number of horses. It is probable that Media was already + famous for the remarkable breed which is so celebrated in later times; and + that the horses now required of her by the Assyrians were to be of the + large and highly valued kind known as “Nisaean.” + </p> + <p> + The date of this subjugation is about B.C. 710. And here, if we compare + the Greek accounts of Median history with those far more authentic ones + which have reached us through the Assyrian contemporary records, we are + struck by a repetition of the same device which came under our notice more + than a century earlier—the device of covering up the nation’s + disgraces at a particular period by assigning to that very date certain + great and striking successes. As Ctesias’s revolt of the Medes under + Arbaces and conquest of Nineveh synchronizes nearly with the first known + ravages of Assyria within the territories of the Medes, so Herodotus’s + revolt of the same people and commencement of their monarchy under Deioces + falls almost exactly at the date when they entirely lose their + independence. As there is no reason to suspect Herodotus either of + partiality toward the Medes or of any wilful departure from the truth, we + must regard him as imposed upon by his informants, who were probably + either Medes or Persians. These mendacious patriots found little + difficulty in palming their false tale upon the simple Halicarnassian, + thereby at once extending the antiquity of their empire and concealing its + shame behind a halo of fictitious glory. + </p> + <p> + After their subjugation by Sargon the Medes of Media Magna appear to have + remained the faithful subjects of Assyria for sixty or seventy years. + During this period we find no notices of the great mass of the nation in + the Assyrian records: only here and there indications occur that Assyria + is stretching out her arms towards the more distant and outlying tribes, + especially those of Azerbijan, and compelling them to acknowledge her as + mistress. Sennacherib boasts that early in his reign, about B.C. 702, he + received an embassy from the remoter parts of Media—“parts of which + the kings his fathers had not even heard”—which brought him presents + in sign of submission, and patiently accepted his yoke. His son, + Esar-haddon, relates that, about his tenth year (B.C. 671) he invaded + Bikni or Bikan, a distant province of Media, “whereof the kings his + fathers had never heard the name;” and, attacking the cities of the region + one after another, forced them to acknowledge his authority. The country + was held by a number of independent chiefs, each bearing sway in his own + city and adjacent territory. These chiefs have unmistakably Arian names, + as Sitriparna or Sitraphernes, Eparna or Orphernes, Zanasana or Zanasanes, + and Eamatiya or Ramates. Esar-haddon says that, having entered the country + with his army, he seized two of the chiefs and carried them off to + Assyria, together with a vast spoil and numerous other captives. Hereupon + the remaining chiefs, alarmed for their safety, made their submission, + consenting to pay an annual tribute, and admitting Assyrian officers into + their territories, who watched, if they did not even control, the + government. + </p> + <p> + We are now approaching the time when Media seems to have been first + consolidated into a monarchy by the genius of an individual. Sober history + is forced to discard the shadowy forms of kings with which Greek writers + of more fancy than judgment have peopled the darkness that rests upon the + “origines” of the Medes. Arbaces, Maudaces, Sosarmus, Artycas, Arbianes, + Artseus, Deioces—Median monarchs, according to Ctesias or Herodotus, + during the space of time comprised within the years B.C. 875 and 655—have + to be dismissed by the modern writer without a word, since there is reason + to believe that they are mere creatures of the imagination, inventions of + unscrupulous romancers, not men who once walked the earth. The list of + Median kings in Ctesias, so far as it differs from the list in Herodotus, + seems to be a pure forgery—an extension of the period of the + monarchy by the conscious use of a system of duplication. Each king, or + period, in Herodotus occurs in the list of Ctesias twice—a + transparent device, clumsily cloaked by the cheap expedient of a liberal + invention of names. Even the list of Herodotus requires curtailment. His + Deioces, whose whole history reads more like romance than truth—the + organizer of a powerful monarchy in Media just at the time when Sargon was + building his fortified posts in the country and peopling with his + Israelite captives the old “cities of the Medes”—the prince who + reigned for above half a century in perfect peace with his neighbors, and + who, although contemporary with Sargon, Sennacherib, Esar-haddon, and + As-shur-bani-pal—all kings more or less connected with Media—is + never heard of in any of their annals, must be relegated to the historical + limbo in which repose so many “shades of mighty names;” and the Herodotean + list of Median kings must at any rate, be thus far reduced. Nothing is + more evident than that during the flourishing period of Assyria under the + great Sargonidae above named there was no grand Median kingdom upon the + eastern flank of the empire. Such a kingdom had certainly not been formed + up to B.C. 671, when Esar-haddon reduced the more distant Medes, finding + them still under the government of a number of petty chiefs. The earliest + time at which we can imagine the consolidation to have taken place + consistently with what we know of Assyria is about B.C. 760, or nearly + half a century later than the date given by Herodotus. + </p> + <p> + The cause of the sudden growth of Media in power about this period, and of + the consolidation which followed rapidly upon that growth, is to be + sought, apparently, in fresh migratory movements from the Arian + head-quarters, the countries east and south-east of the Caspian. The + Cyaxares who about the year B.C. 632 led an invading host of Medes against + Nineveh, was so well known to the Arian tribes of the north-east that, + when in the reign of Darius Hystaspis a Sagartian raised the standard of + revolt in that region he stated the ground of his claim to the Sagartian + throne to be descent from Cyaxares. This great chief, it is probable, + either alone, or in conjunction with his father (whom Herodotus calls + Phraortes), led a fresh emigration of Arians from the Bacterian and + Sagartian country to the regions directly east of the Zagros mountain + chain; and having thus vastly increased the strength of the Arian race in + that quarter, set himself to consolidate a mountain kingdom capable of + resisting the great monarchy of the plain. Accepted, it would seem, as + chief by the former Arian inhabitants of the tract, he proceeded to reduce + the scattered Scythic tribes which had hitherto held possession of the + high mountain region. The Zimri, Minni, Hupuska, etc., who divided among + them the country lying between Media Proper and Assyria, were attacked and + subdued without any great difficulty; and the conqueror, finding himself + thus at the head of a considerable kingdom, and no longer in any danger of + subjugation at the hands of Assyria, began to contemplate the audacious + enterprise of himself attacking the Great Power which had been for so many + hundred years the terror of Western Asia. The supineness of + Asshur-bani-pal, the Assyrian king, who must at this time have been + advanced in years, encouraged his aspirations; and about B.C. 634, when + that monarch had held the throne for thirty-four years, suddenly, without + warning, the Median troops debouched from the passes of Zagros, and spread + themselves over the rich country at its base, Alarmed by the nearness and + greatness of the peril, the Assyrian king aroused himself, and putting + himself at the head of his troops, marched out to confront the invader. A + great battle was fought, probably somewhere in Adiabene, in which the + Medes were completely defeated: their whole army was cut to pieces; and + the father of Cyaxares was among the slain. Such was the result of the + first Median expedition against Nineveh. The assailants had miscalculated + their strength. In their own mountain country, and so long as they should + be called upon to act only on the defensive, they might be right in + regarding themselves as a match for the Assyrians; but when they descended + into the plain, and allowed their enemy the opportunity of manoeuvering + and of using his war chariots, their inferiority was marked. Cyaxares, + now, if not previously, actual king, withdrew awhile from the war, and, + convinced that all the valor of his Medes would be unavailing without + discipline, set himself to organize the army on a new system, taking a + pattern from the enemy, who had long possessed some knowledge of tactics. + Hitherto, it would seem, each Median chief had brought into the field his + band of followers, some mounted, some on foot, foot and horse alike armed + variously as their means allowed them, some with bows and arrows, some + with spears, some perhaps with slings or darts; and the army had been + composed of a number of such bodies, each chief keeping his band close + about him. Cyaxares broke up these bands, and formed the soldiers who + composed them into distinct corps, according as they were horsemen or + footmen, archers, slingers, or lancers. He then, having completed his + arrangements at his ease, without disturbance (so far as appears) from the + Assyrians, felt himself strong enough to renew the war with a good + prospect of success. Collecting as large an army as he could, both from + his Arian and his Scythic subjects, he marched into Assyria, met the + troops of Asshur-bani-pal in the field, defeated them signally, and forced + them to take refuge behind the strong works which defended their capital. + He even ventured to follow up the flying foe and commence the siege of the + capital itself; but at this point he was suddenly checked in his career of + victory, and forced to assume a defensive attitude, by a danger of a novel + kind, which recalled him from Nineveh to his own country. + </p> + <p> + The vast tracts, chiefly consisting of grassy plains, which lie north of + the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian, and the Jaxartes Syhun river, + were inhabited in ancient times by a race or races known to the Asiatics + as Saka, “Scythians.” These people appear to have been allied ethnically + with many of the more southern races, as with the Parthians, the Iberians, + the Alarodians, the tribes of the Zagros chain, the Susianians, and + others. It is just possible that they may have taken an interest in the + warfare of their southern brethren, and that, when Cyaxares brought the + tribes of Zagros under his yoke, the Scyths of the north may have felt + resentment, or compassion, If this view seem too improbable, considering + the distance, the physical obstacles, and the little communication that + there was between nations in those early times, we must suppose that by a + mere coincidence it happened that the subjugation of the southern Scyths + by Cyaxares was followed within a few years by a great irruption of Scyths + from the trans-Caucasian region. In that case we shall have to regard the + invasion as a mere example of that ever-recurring law by which the poor + and hardy races of Upper Asia or Europe are from time to time directed + upon the effete kingdoms of the south, to shake, ravage, or overturn them, + as the case may be, and prevent them from stagnating into corruption. + </p> + <p> + The character of the Scythians, and the general nature of their ravages, + have been described in a former portion of this work. If they entered + Southern Asia, as seems probable, by the Daghestan route, they would then + have been able to pass on without much difficulty, through Georgia into + Azerbijan, and from Azerbijan into Media Magna, where the Medes had now + established their southern capital. Four roads lead from Azerbijan to + Hamadan or the Greater Ecbatana, one through Menjil and Kasvin, and across + the Caraghan Hills; a second through Miana, Zenjan, and the province of + Khamseh; a third by the valley of the Jaghetu, through Chukli and + Tikan-Teppeh; and a fourth through Sefer-Khaneh and Sennah. We cannot say + which of the four the invaders selected; but, as they were passing + southwards, they met the army of Cyaxares, which had quitted Nineveh on + the first news of their invasion, and had marched in hot haste to meet and + engage them. The two enemies were not ill-matched. Both were hardy and warlike, + both active and full of energy; with both the cavalry was the chief arm, + and the bow the weapon on which they depended mainly for victory. The + Medes were no doubt the better disciplined; they had a greater variety of + weapons and of soldiers; and individually they were probably more powerful + men than the Scythians; but these last had the advantage of numbers, of + reckless daring, and of tactics that it was difficult to encounter. + Moreover, the necessity of their situation in the midst of an enemy’s + country made it imperative on them to succeed, while their adversaries + might be defeated without any very grievous consequences. The Scytho had + not come into Asia to conquer so much as to ravage; defeat at their hands + involved damage rather than destruction; and the Medes must have felt + that, if they lost the battle, they might still hope to maintain a stout + defence behind the strong walls of some of their towns. The result was + such as might have been expected under these circumstances. Madyes, the + Scythian leader, obtained the victory, Cyaxares was defeated, and + compelled to make terms with the invader. Retaining his royal name, and + the actual government of his country, he admitted the suzerainty of the + Scyths, and agreed to pay them an annual tribute. Whether Media suffered + very seriously from their ravages, we cannot say. Neither its wealth nor + its fertility was such as to tempt marauders to remain in it very long. + The main complaint made against the Scythian conquerors is that, not + content with the fixed tribute which they had agreed to receive, and which + was paid them regularly, they levied contributions at their pleasure on + the various states under their sway, which were oppressed by repeated + exactions. The injuries suffered from their marauding habits form only a + subordinate charge against them, as though it had not been practically + felt to be so great a grievance. We can well imagine that the bulk of the + invaders would prefer the warmer and richer lands of Assyria, Mesopotamia, + and Syria; and that, pouring into them, they would leave the colder and + less wealthy Media comparatively free from ravage. + </p> + <p> + The condition of Media and the adjacent countries under the Scythians must + have nearly resembled that of almost the same regions under the Seljukian + Turks during the early times of their domination. The conquerors made no + fixed settlements, but pitched their tents in any portion of the territory + that they chose. Their horses and cattle were free to pasture on all lands + equally. They were recognized as the dominant race, were feared and + shunned, but did not greatly interfere with the bulk of their subjects. It + was impossible that they should occupy at any given time more than a + comparatively few spots in the wide tract which they had overrun and + subjugated; and, consequently, there was not much contact between them and + the peoples whom they had conquered. Such contact as there was must no + doubt have been galling and oppressive. The right of free pasture in the + lands of others is always irksome to those who have to endure it, and, + even where it is exercised with strict fairness, naturally leads to + quarrels. The barbarous Scythians are not likely to have cared very much + about fairness. They would press heavily upon the more fertile tracts, + paying over-frequent visits to such spots, and remaining in them till the + region was exhausted. The chiefs would not be able to restrain their + followers from acts of pillage; redress would be obtained with difficulty; + and sometimes even the chiefs themselves may have been sharers in the + injuries committed. The insolence, moreover, of a dominant race so coarse + and rude as the Scyths must have been very hard to bear; and we can well + understand that the various nations which had to endure the yoke must have + looked anxiously for an opportunity of shaking it off, and recovering + their independence. + </p> + <p> + Among these various nations, there was probably none that fretted and + winced under its subjection more than the Medes. Naturally brave and + high-spirited, with the love of independence inherent in mountaineers, and + with a well-grounded pride in their recent great successes, they must have + chafed daily and hourly at the ignominy of their position, the + postponement of their hopes, and the wrongs which they continually + suffered. At first it seemed necessary to endure. They had tried the + chances of a battle, and had been defeated in fair fight—what reason + was there to hope that, if they drew the sword again, they would be more + successful? Accordingly they remained quiet but, as time went on, and the + Scythians dispersed themselves continually over a wider and a wider space, + invading Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and again Armenia and + Cappadocia, everywhere plundering and marauding, conducting sieges, + fighting battles, losing men from the sword, from sickness, from excesses, + becoming weaker instead of stronger, as each year went by, owing to the + drain of constant wars—the Medes by degrees took heart. Not + trusting, however, entirely to the strength of their right arms, a trust + which had failed them once, they resolved to prepare the way for an + outbreak by a stratagem which they regarded as justifiable. Cyaxares and + his court invited a number of the Scythian chiefs to a grand banquet, and, + having induced them to drink till they were completely drunk, set upon + them when they were in this helpless condition, and remorselessly slew + them all. + </p> + <p> + This deed was the signal for a general revolt of the nation. The Medes + everywhere took arms, and, turning upon their conquerors, assailed them + with a fury the more terrible because it had been for years repressed. A + war followed, the duration and circumstances of which are unknown; for the + stories with which Ctesias enlivened this portion of his history can + scarcely be accepted as having any foundation in fact. According to him, + the Parthians made common cause with the Scythians on the occasion, and + the war lasted many years; numerous battles were fought with great loss to + both sides; and peace was finally concluded without either party having + gained the upper hand. The Scyths were commanded by a queen, Zarina or + Zarinsea, woman of rare beauty, and as brave as she was fair; who won the + hearts, when she could not resist the swords, of her adversaries. A + strangely romantic love-tale is told of this beauteous Amazon. It is not + at all clear what region Ctesias supposes her to govern. It has a capital + city, called Koxanace (a name entirely unknown to any other historian or + geographer), and it contains many other towns of which Zarina was the + foundress. Its chief architectural monument was the tomb of Zarina, a + triangular pyramid, six hundred feet high, and more than a mile round the + base, crowned by a colossal figure of the queen made of solid gold. But—to + leave these fables and return to fact—we can only say with certainty + that the result of the war was the complete defeat of the Scythians, who + not only lost their position of pre-eminence in Media and the adjacent + countries, but were driven across the Caucasus into their own proper + territory. Their expulsion was so complete that they scarcely left a trace + of their power or their presence in the geography or ethnography of the + country. One Palestine city only, as already observed, and one Armenian + province retained in their names a lingering memory of the great inroad + which but for them would have passed away without making any more + permanent mark on the region than a hurricane or a snowstorm. How long the + dominion of the Scyths endured is a matter of great uncertainty. It was no + doubt the belief of Herodotus that from their defeat of Cyaxares to his + treacherous murder of their chiefs was a period of exactly twenty-eight + years. During the whole of this space he regarded them as the undisputed + lords of Asia. It was not till the twenty-eight years were over that the + Medes were able, according to him, to renew their attacks on the + Assyrians, and once more to besiege Nineveh. But this chronology is open + to great objections. There is strong reason for believing that Nineveh + fell about B.C. 625 or 624; but according to the numbers of Herodotus the + fall would, at the earliest, have taken place in B.C. 602. There is great + unlikelihood that the Scyths, if they had maintained their rule for a + generation, should not have attracted some distinct notice from the Jewish + writers. Again, if twenty-eight out of the forty years assigned to + Cyaxares are to be regarded as years of inaction, all his great exploits, + his two sieges of Nineveh, his capture of that capital, his conquest of + the countries north and west of Media as far as the Halys, his six years’ + war in Asia Minor beyond that river, and his joint expedition with + Nebuchadnezzar into Syria, will have to be crowded most improbably into + the space of twelve years, two or three preceding and ten or nine + following the Scythian domination. These and other reasons lead to the + conclusion, which has the support of Eusebius, that the Scythian + domination was of much shorter duration than Herodotus imagined. It may + have been twenty-eight years from the original attack on Media to the + final expulsion of the last of the invaders from Asia—and this may + have been what the informants of Herodotus really intended—but it + cannot have been very long after the first attack before the Medes began + to recover themselves, to shake off the fear which had possessed them and + clear their territories of the invaders. If the invasion really took place + in the reign of Cyaxares, and not in the lifetime of his father, where + Eusebius places it, we must suppose that within eight years of its + occurrence Cyaxares found himself sufficiently strong, and his hands + sufficiently free, to resume his old projects, and for the second time to + march an army into Assyria. + </p> + <p> + The weakness of Assyria was such as to offer strong temptations to an + invader. As the famous inroad of the Gauls into Italy in the year of Rome + 365 paved the way for the Roman conquests in the peninsula by breaking the + power of the Etruscans, the Umbrians, and various other races, so the + Scythic incursion may have, really benefited, rather than injured, Media, + by weakening the great power to whose empire she aspired to succeed. The + exhaustion of Assyria’s resources at the time is remarkably illustrated by + the poverty and meanness of the palace which the last king, Saracus, built + for himself at Calah. She lay, apparently, at the mercy of the first bold + assailant, her prestige lost, her army dispirited or disorganized, her + defences injured, her high spirit broken and subdued. + </p> + <p> + Cyaxaros, ere proceeding to the attack, sent, it is probable, to make an + alliance with the Susianians and Chaldaeans. Susiana was the last country + which Assyria had conquered, and could remember the pleasures of + independence. Chaldaea, though it had been now for above half a century an + Assyrian fief, and had borne the yoke with scarcely a murmur during that + period, could never wholly forget its old glories, or the long resistance + which it had made before submitting to its northern neighbor. The + overtures of the Median monarch seem to have been favorably received; and + it was agreed that an army from the south should march up the Tigris and + threaten Assyria from that quarter, while Cyaxares led his Medes from the + east, through the passes of Zagros against the capital. Rumor soon + conveyed the tidings of his enemies’ intentions to the Assyrian monarch, + who immediately made such a disposition of the forces at his command as + seemed best calculated to meet the double danger which threatened him. + Selecting from among his generals the one in whom he placed most + confidence—a man named Nabopolassar, most probably an Assyrian—he + put him at the head of a portion of his troops, and sent him to Babylon to + resist the enemy who was advancing from the sea. The command of his main + army he reserved for himself, intending to undertake in person the defence + of his territory against the Medes. This plan of campaign was not badly + conceived; but it was frustrated by an unexpected calamity, Nabopolassar, + seeing his sovereign’s danger, and calculating astutely that he might gain + more by an opportune defection from a falling cause than he could look to + receive as the reward of fidelity, resolved to turn traitor and join the + enemies of Assyria. Accordingly he sent an embassy to Cyaxares, with + proposals for a close alliance to be cemented by a marriage. If the Median + monarch would give his daughter Amuhia (or Amyitis) to be the wife of his + son Nebuchadnezzar, the forces under his command should march against + Nineveh and assist Cyaxares to capture it. Such a proposition arriving at + such a time was not likely to meet with a refusal. Cyaxares gladly came + into the terms; the marriage took place; and Nabopolassar, who had now + practically assumed the sovereignty of Babylon, either led or sent a + Babylonian contingent to the aid of the Medes. + </p> + <p> + The siege of Nineveh by the combined Medes and Babylonians was narrated by + Ctesias at some length. He called the Assyrian king Sardanapalus, the + Median commander Arbaces, the Babylonian Belesis. Though he thus disguised + the real names, and threw back the event to a period a century and a half + earlier than its true date, there can be no doubt that he intended to + relate the last siege of the city, that which immediately preceded its + complete destruction. He told how the combined army, consisting of + Persians and Arabs as well as of Medes and Babylonians, and amounting to + four hundred thousand men, was twice defeated with great loss by the + Assyrian monarch, and compelled to take refuge in the Zagros chain—how + after losing a third battle it retreated to Babylonia—how it was + there joined by strong reinforcements from Bactria, surprised the Assyrian + camp by night, and drove the whole host in confusion to Nineveh—how + then, after two more victories, it advanced and invested the city, which + was well provisioned for a siege and strongly fortified. The siege, + Ctesias said, had lasted two full years, and the third year had commenced—success + seemed still far off—when an unusually rainy season so swelled the + waters of the Tigris that they burst into the city, sweeping away more + than two miles of the wall. This vast breach it was impossible to repair; + and the Assyrian monarch, seeing that further resistance was vain, brought + the struggle to an end by burning himself, with his concubines and eunuchs + and all his chief wealth, in his palace. + </p> + <p> + Such, in outline, was the story of Ctesias. If we except the extent of the + breach which the river is declared to have made, it contains no glaring + improbabilities. On the contrary, it is a narrative that hangs well + together, and that suits both the relations of the parties and the + localities. Moreover, it is confirmed in one or two points by authorities + of the highest order. Still, as Ctesias is a writer who delights in + fiction, and as it seems very unlikely that he would find a detailed + account of the siege, such as he has given us, in the Persian archives, + from whence he professed to derive his history, no confidence can be + placed in those points of his narrative which have not any further + sanction. All that we know on the subject of the last siege of Nineveh is + that it was conducted by a combined army of Medes and Babylonians, the + former commanded by Cyaxares, the latter by Nabopolassar or + Nebuchadnezzar, and that it was terminated, when all hope was lost, by the + suicide of the Assyrian monarch. The self-immolation of Saracus is related + by Abydenus, who almost certainly follows Berosus in this part of his + history. We may therefore accept it as a fact about which there ought to + be no question. Actuated by a feeling which has more than once caused a + vanquished monarch to die rather than fall into the power of his enemies, + Saracus made a funeral pyre of his ancestral palace, and lighted it with + his own hand. + </p> + <p> + One further point in the narrative of Ctesias we may suspect to contain a + true representation. Ctesias declared the cause of the capture to have + been the destruction of the city wall by an unexpected rise of the river. + Now, the prophet Nahum, in his announcement of the fate coming on Nineveh, + has a very remarkable expression, which seems most naturally to point to + some destruction of a portion of the fortifications by means of water. + After relating the steps that would be taken for the defence of the place, + he turns to remark on their fruitlessness, and says: “The gates of the + rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved; and Huzzab is led away + captive; she is led up, with her maidens, sighing as with the voice of + doves, smiting upon their breasts.” Now, we have already seen that at the + northwest angle of Nineveh there was a sluice or floodgate, intended + mainly to keep the water of the Khosrsu, which ordinarily filled the city + moat, from flowing off too rapidly into the Tigris, but probably intended + also to keep back the water of the Tigris, when that stream rose above its + common level. A sudden and great rise of the Tigris would necessarily + endanger this gate, and if it gave way beneath the pressure, a vast + torrent of water would rush up the moat along and against the northern + wall, which may have been undermined by its force, and have fallen in. The + stream would then pour into the city; and it may perhaps have reached the + palace platform, which being made of sun-dried bricks, and probably not + cased with stone inside the city, would begin to be “dissolved.” Such + seems the simplest and best interpretation of this passage, which, though + it is not historical, but only prophetical, must be regarded as giving an + importance that it would not otherwise have possessed to the statement of + Ctesias with regard to the part played by the Tigris in the destruction of + Nineveh. + </p> + <p> + The fall of the city was followed by a division of the spoil between the + two principal conquerors. While Cyaxares took to his own share the land of + the conquered people, Assyria Proper, and the countries dependent on + Assyria towards the north and north-west, Nabopolassar was allowed, not + merely Babylonia, Chaldaea, and Susiana, but the valley of the Euphrates + and the countries to which that valley conducted. Thus two considerable + empires arose at the same time cut of the ashes of Assyria—the + Babylonian towards the south and the south-west, stretching from Luristan + to the borders of Egypt, the Median towards the north, reaching from the + salt desert of Iran to Amanus and the Upper Euphrates. These empires were + established by mutual consent; they were connected together, not merely by + treaties, but by the ties of affinity which united their rulers; and, + instead of cherishing, as might have been expected, a mutual suspicion and + distrust, they seem to have really entertained the most friendly feelings + towards one another, and to have been ready on all emergencies to lend + each other important assistance. For once in the history of the world two + powerful monarchies were seen to stand side by side, not only without + collision, but without jealousy or rancor. Babylonia and Media were + content to share between them the empire of Western Asia: the world was, + they thought, wide enough for both; and so, though they could not but have + had in some respects conflicting interests, they remained close friends + and allies for more than half a century. + </p> + <p> + To the Median monarch the conquest of Assyria did not bring a time of + repose. Wandering bands of Scythians were still, it is probable, + committing ravages in many parts of Western Asia. The subjects of Assyria, + set free by her downfall, were likely to use the occasion for the + assertion of their independence, if they were not immediately shown that a + power of at least equal strength had taken her place, and was prepared to + claim her inheritance. War begets war; and the successes of Cyaxares up to + the present point in his career did but whet his appetite for power, and + stimulate him to attempt further conquests. In brief but pregnant words + Herodotus informs us that Cyaxares “subdued to himself all Asia above the + Halys.” How much he may include in this expression, it is impossible to + determine; but, <i>prime facie</i>, it would seem at least to imply that + he engaged in a series of wars with the various tribes and nations which + intervened between Media and Assyria on the one side and the river Halys + on the other, and that he succeeded in bringing them under his dominion. + The most important countries in this direction were Armenia and + Cappadocia. Armenia, strong in its lofty mountains, its deep gorges, and + its numerous rapid rivers—the head-streams of the Tigris, Euphrates, + Kur, and Aras—had for centuries resisted with unconquered spirit the + perpetual efforts of the Assyrian kings to bring it under their yoke, and + had only at last consented under the latest king but one to a mere nominal + allegiance. Cappadocia had not even been brought to this degree of + dependence. It had lain beyond the furthest limit whereto the Assyrian + arms had ever reached, and had not as yet come into collision with any of + the great powers of Asia. Other minor tribes in this region, neighbors of + the Armenians and Cappadocians, but more remote from Media, were the + Ibenans, the Colchians, the Moschi, the Tibareni, the Mares the Macrones, + and the Mosynoeci. Herodotus appears to have been of opinion that all + these tribes, or at any rate all but the Colchians, were at this time + brought under by Cyaxares who thus extended his dominions to the Caucasus + and the Black Sea upon the north, and upon the east to the Kizil Irmak or + Halys. + </p> + <p> + It is possible that the reduction of these countries under the Median yoke + was not so much a conquest as a voluntary submission of the inhabitants to + the power which alone seemed strong enough to save them from the hated + domination of the Scyths. According to Strabo, Armenia and Cappadocia were + the regions where the Scythic ravages had been most severely felt. + Cappadocia had been devastated from the mountains down to the coast; and + in Armenia the most fertile portion of the whole territory had been seized + and occupied by the invaders, from whom it thenceforth took the name of + Sacassene, the Armenians and Cappadocians may have found the yoke of the + Scyths so intolerable as to have gladly exchanged it for dependence on a + comparatively civilized people. In the neighboring territory of Asia Minor + a similar cause had recently exercised a unifying influence, the necessity + of combining to resist Cimmerian immigrants having tended to establish a + hegemony of Lydia over the various tribes which divided among them the + tract west of the Halys. It is evidently not improbable that the + sufferings endured at the hands of the Scyths may have disposed the + nations east of the river to adopt the same remedy and that, so soon as + Media had proved her strength, first by shaking herself free of the + Scythic invaders and then conquering Assyria. the tribes of these parts + accepted her as at once their mistress and their deliverer. + </p> + <p> + Another quite distinct cause may also have helped to bring about the + result above indicated. Parallel with the great Median migration from the + East under Cyaxares, or Phraortes (?), his father, an Arian influx had + taken place into the countries between the Caspian and the Halys. In + Armenia and Cappadocia during the flourishing period of Assyria, Turanian + tribes had been predominant. Between the middle and the end of the seventh + century these tribes appear to have yielded the supremacy to Arians. In + Armenia, the present language which is predominantly Arian, ousted the + former Turaman tongue which appears in the cuneiform inscriptions of Van + and the adjacent regions. In Cappadocia, the Moschi and Tibareni had to + yield their seats to a new race—the Katapatuka, who were not only + Arian but distinctly Medo-Persic, as is plain from their proper names, and + from the close connection of their royal house with that of the kings of + Persia. This spread of the Arians into the countries lying between the + Caspian and the Halys must have done much to pave the way for Median + supremacy over those regions. The weaker Arian tribes of the north would + have been proud of their southern brethren, to whose arms the queen of + Western Asia had been forced to yield, and would have felt comparatively + little repugnance in surrendering their independence into the hands of a + friendly and kindred people. + </p> + <p> + Thus Cyaxares, in his triumphant progress to the north and the north-west, + made war, it is probable, chiefly upon the Scyths, or upon them and the + old Turanian inhabitants of the countries, while by the Arians he was + welcomed as a champion come to deliver them from a grievous oppression. + Ranging themselves under his standard, they probably helped him to expel + from Asia the barbarian hordes which had now for many years tyrannized + over them; and when the expulsion was completed, gratitude or habit made + them willing to continue in the subject position which they had assumed in + order to effect it. Cyaxares within less than ten years from his capture + of Nineveh had added to his empire the fertile and valuable tracts of + Armenia and Cappadocia—never really subject to Assyria—and may + perhaps have further mastered the entire region between Armenia and the + Caucasus and Euxine. + </p> + <p> + The advance of their western frontier to the river Halys, which was + involved in the absorption of Cappadocia into the Empire, brought the + Medes into contact with a new power—a power which, like Media, had + been recently increasing in greatness, and which was not likely to submit + to a foreign yoke without a struggle. The Lydian kingdom was one of great + antiquity in this part of Asia. According to traditions current among its + people, it had been established more than seven hundred years at the time + when Cyaxares pushed his conquests to its borders. Three dynasties of + native kings—Atyadse, Heraclidse, and Mermnadae—had + successively held the throne during that period. The Lydians could repeat + the names of at least thirty monarchs who had borne sway in Sardis, their + capital city, since its foundation. They had never been conquered. In the + old times, indeed, Lydus, the son of Atys, had changed the name of the + people inhabiting the country from Maeonians to Lydians—a change + which to the keen sense of an historical critic implies a conquest of one + race by another. But to the people themselves this tradition conveyed no + such meaning; or, if it did to any, their self-complacency was not + disturbed thereby, since they would hug the notion that they belonged not + to the conquered race but to the conquerors. If a Ramcsos or a Sesostris + had ever penetrated to their country, he had met with a brave resistance, + and had left monuments indicating his respect for their courage. Neither + Babylon nor Assyria had ever given a king to the Lydians—on the + contrary, the Lydian tradition was, that they had themselves sent forth + Belus and Ninus from their own country to found dynasties and cities in + Mesopotamia. In a still more remote age they had seen their colonists + embark upon the western waters, and start for the distant Hesperia, where + they had arrived in safety, and had founded the great Etruscan nation. On + another occasion they had carried their arms beyond the limits of Asia + Minor, and had marched southward to the very extremity of: Syria, where + their general, Ascalus, had founded a great city and called it after his + name. + </p> + <p> + Such were the Lydian traditions with respect to the more remote times. Of + their real history they seem to have known but little, and that little did + not extend further back than about two hundred years before Cyaxares. + Within this space it was certain that they had had a change of dynasty, a + change preceded by a long feud between their two greatest houses, which + were perhaps really two branches of the royal family. The Heraclidae had + grown jealous of the Mermnadae, and had treated them with injustice; the + Mormnadae had at first sought their safety in flight, and afterwards, when + they felt themselves strong enough, had returned, murdered the Heraclide + monarch, and placed their chief, Gyges, upon the throne. With Gyges, who + had commenced his reign about B.C. 700, the prosperity of the Lydians had + greatly increased, and they had begun to assume an aggressive attitude + towards their neighbors. Gyges’ revenue was so great that his wealth + became proverbial, and he could afford to spread his fame by sending from + his superfluity to the distant temple of Delphi presents of such + magnificence that they were the admiration of later ages. The relations of + his predecessors with the Greeks of the Asiatic coast had been friendly, + Gyges changed this policy, and, desirous of enlarging his seaboard, made + war upon the Greek maritime towns, attacking Miletus and Smyrna without + result, but succeeding in capturing the Ionic city of Colophon. He also + picked a quarrel with the inland town of Magnesia, and after many + invasions of its territory compelled it to submission. According to some, + he made himself master of the whole territory of the Troad, and the + Milesians had to obtain his permission before they could establish their + colony of Abydos upon the Hellespont. At any rate he was a rich and + puissant monarch in the eyes of the Greeks of Asia and the islands, who + were never tired of celebrating his wealth, his wars, and his romantic + history. + </p> + <p> + The shadow of calamity had, however, fallen upon Lydia towards the close + of Gyges’ long reign. About thirty years before the Scythians from the + Steppe country crossed the Caucasus and fell upon Media, the same barrier + was passed by another groat horde of nomads. The Cimmerians, probably a + Celtic people, who had dwelt hitherto in the Tauric Chersonese and the + country adjoining upon it, pressed on by Scythic invaders from the East, + had sought a vent in this direction. Passing the great mountain barrier + either by the route of Mozdok—the Pylas Caucasiae—or by some + still more difficult track towards the Euxine, they had entered Asia Minor + by way of Cappadocia and had spread terror and devastation in every + direction. Gyges, alarmed at their advance, had placed himself under the + protection of Assyria, and had then confidently given them battle, + defeated them, and captured several of their chiefs. It is uncertain + whether the Assyrians gave him any material aid, but evident that he + ascribed his success to his alliance with them. In his gratitude he sent + an embassy to Asshur-bani-pal, king of Assyria, and courted his favor by + presents and by sending him his Cimmerian captives. Later in his reign, + however, he changed his policy, and, breaking with Assyria, gave aid to + the Egyptian rebel, Psammetichus, and helped him to establish his + independence. The result followed which was to be expected. Assyria + withdrew her protection; and Lydia was left to fight her own battles when + the great crisis came. Carrying all before them, the fierce hordes swarmed + in full force into the more western districts of Asia Minor; Paphlagonia, + Phrygia, Bithynia, Lydia, and Ionia were overrun; Gyges, venturing on an + engagement, perished; the frightened inhabitants generally shut themselves + up in their walled towns, and hoped that the tide of invasion might sweep + by them quickly and roll elsewhere; but the Cimmerians, impatient and + undisciplined as they might be, could sometimes bring themselves to endure + the weary work of a siege, and they saw in the Lydian capital a prize well + worth an effort. The hordes besieged Sardis, and took it, except the + citadel, which was commandingly placed and defied all their attempts. A + terrible scene of carnage must have followed. How Lydia withstood the + blow, and rapidly recovered from it, is hard to understand; but it seems + certain that within a generation she was so far restored to vigor as to + venture on resuming her attacks upon the Greeks of the coast, which had + been suspended during her period of prostration. Sadyattes, the son of + Ardys, and grandson of Gyges, following the example of his father and + grandfather, made war upon Miletus; and Alyattes, his son and successor, + pursued the same policy of aggression. Besides pressing Miletus, he + besieged and took Smyrna, and ravaged the territory of Clazomenae. + </p> + <p> + But the great work of Alyattes’ reign, and the one which seems to have had + the most important consequences for Lydia, was the war which he undertook + for the purpose of expelling the Cimmerians from Asia Minor. The hordes + had been greatly weakened by time, by their losses in war, and, probably + by their excesses; they had long ceased to be formidable; but they were + still strong enough to be an annoyance. Alyattes is said to have “driven + them out of Asia,” by which we can scarcely understand less than that he + expelled them from his own dominions and those of his neighbors—or, + in other words, from the countries which had been the scenes of their + chief ravages—Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Lydia, Phrygia, and Cilicia. + But, to do this, he must have entered into a league with his neighbors, + who must have consented to act under him for the purposes of war, if they + did not even admit the permanent hegemony of his country. Alyattes’ + success appears to have been complete, or nearly so; he cleared Asia Minor + of the Cimmerians; and having thus conferred a benefit on all the nations + of the region and exhibited before their eyes his great military capacity, + if he had not actually constructed an empire, he had at any rate done much + to pave the way for one. + </p> + <p> + Such was the political position in the regions west and south of the + Halys, when Cyaxares completed his absorption of Cappadocia, and looking + across the river that divided the Cappadocians from the Phrygians, saw + stretched before him a region of great fertile plains, which seemed to + invite an invader. A pretext for an attack was all that he wanted, and + this was soon forthcoming. A body of the nomad Scyths—probably + belonging to the great invasion, though Herodotus thought otherwise—had + taken service under Cyaxares, and for some time served him faithfully, + being employed chiefly as hunters. A cause of quarrel, however, arose + after a while; and the Scyths, disliking their position or distrusting the + intentions of their lords towards them, quitted the Median territory, and, + marching through a great part of Asia Minor, sought and found a refuge + with Alyattes, the Lydian king. Cyaxares, upon learning their flight, sent + an embassy to the court of Sardis to demand the surrender of the + fugitives; but the Lydian monarch met the demand with a refusal, and, + fully understanding the probable consequences, immediately prepared for + war. + </p> + <p> + Though Lydia, compared to Media, was but a small state, yet her resources + were by no means inconsiderable. In fertility she surpassed almost every + other country of Asia Minor, which is altogether one of the richest + regions in the world. At this time she was producing large quantities of + gold, which was found in great abundance in the Pactolus, and probably in + the other small streams that flowed down on all sides from the Tmolus + mountain-chain. Her people were at once warlike and ingenious. They had + invented the art of coining money, and showed considerable taste in their + devices. <a href="#linkimage-0008">[PLATE VII., Fig. 1]</a>, They claimed + also to have been the inventors of a number of games, which were common to + them with the Greeks. According to Herodotus, they were the first who made + a livelihood by shop-keeping. They were skilful in the use of musical + instruments, and had their own peculiar musical mode or style, which was + in much favor among the Greeks, though condemned as effeminate by some of + the philosophers. At the same time the Lydians were not wanting in courage + or manliness. They fought chiefly on horseback, and were excellent riders, + carrying long spears, which they managed with great skill. Nicolas of + Damascus tells us that even under the Heraclido kings, they could muster + for service cavalry to the number of 30,000. In peace they pursued with + ardor the sports of the field, and found in the chase of the wild boar a + pastime which called forth and exercised every manly quality. Thus Lydia, + even by herself, was no contemptible enemy; though it can hardly be + supposed that, without help from others, she would have proved a match for + the Great Median Empire. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0008" id="linkimage-0008"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img src="images/plate007.jpg" width="100%" alt="Plate VII. " /> + </div> + <p> + But such help as she needed was not wanting to her. The rapid strides with + which Media had advanced towards the west had no doubt alarmed the + numerous princes of Asia Minor, who must have felt that they had a power + to deal with as full of schemes of conquest as Assyria, and more capable + of carrying her designs into execution. It has been already observed that + the long course of Assyrian aggressions developed gradually among the + Asiatic tribes a tendency to unite in leagues for purposes of resistance. + The circumstances of the time called now imperatively for such a league to + be formed, unless the princes of Asia Minor were content to have their + several territories absorbed one after another into the growing Median + Empire. These princes appear to have seen their danger. Cyaxares may + perhaps have, declared war specially against the Lydians, and have crossed + the Halys professedly in order to chastise them; but he could only reach + Lydia through the territories of other nations, which he was evidently + intending to conquer on his way; and it was thus apparent that he was + activated, not by anger against a particular power, but by a general + design of extending his dominions in this direction. A league seems + therefore to have been determined on. We have not indeed any positive + evidence of its existence till the close of the war; but the probabilities + are wholly in favor of its having taken effect from the first. Prudence + would have dictated such a course; and it seems almost implied in the fact + that a successful resistance was made to the Median attack from the very + commencement. We may conclude therefore that the princes of Asia Minor, + having either met in conclave or communicated by embassies, resolved to + make common cause, if the Medes crossed the Halys; and that, having + already acted under Lydia in the expulsion of the Cimmerians from their + territories, they naturally placed her at their head when they coalesced + for the second time. + </p> + <p> + Cyaxares on his part, was not content to bring against the confederates + merely the power of Media. He requested and obtained a contingent from the + Babylonian monarch, Nabopolassar, and may not improbably have had the + assistance of other allies also. With a vast army drawn from various parts + of inner Asia, he invaded the territory of the Western Powers, and began + his attempt at subjugation. We have no detailed account of the war; but we + learn from the general expressions of Herodotus that the Median monarch + met with a most stubborn resistance; numerous engagements were fought with + varied results; sometimes the Medes succeeded in defeating their + adversaries in pitched battles; but sometimes, and apparently as often, + the Lydians and their allies gained decided victories over the Medes. It + is noted that one of the engagements took place by night, a rare + occurrence in ancient (as in modern) times. The war had continued six + years, and the Medes had evidently made no serious impression, when a + remarkable circumstance brought it suddenly to a termination. The two + armies had once more met and were engaged in conflict, when, in the midst + of the struggle, an ominous darkness fell upon the combatants and filled + them with superstitious awe. The sun was eclipsed, either totally or at + any rate considerably, so that the attention of the two armies was + attracted to it; and, discontinuing the fight, they stood to gaze at the + phenomenon. In most parts of the East such an occurrence is even now seen + with dread—the ignorant mass believe that the orb of day is actually + being devoured or destroyed, and that the end of all things is at hand—even + the chiefs, who may have some notion that the phenomenon is a recurrent + one, do not understand its cause, and participate in the alarm of their + followers. On the present occasion it is said that, amid the general fear, + a desire for reconciliation seized both armies. Of this spontaneous + movement two chiefs, the foremost of the allies on either side, took + advantage. Syennesis, king of Cilicia, the first known monarch of his + name, on the part of Lydia, and a prince whom Herodotus calls “Labynetus + of Babylon”—probably either Nabopolassar or Nebuchadnezzar—on + the part of Media, came forward to propose an immediate armistice; and, + when the proposal was accepted on either side, proceeded to the more + difficult task of arranging terms of peace between the contending parties. + Since nothing is said of the Scythians, who had been put forward as the + ostensible grounds of quarrel, we may presume that Alyattes retained them. + It is further clear that both he and his allies preserved undiminished + both their territories and their independence. The territorial basis of + the treaty was thus what in modern diplomatic language is called the + status quo; matters, in other words, returned to the position in which + they had stood before the war broke out. The only difference was that + Cyaxares gained a friend and an ally where he had previously had a jealous + enemy; since it was agreed that the two kings of Media and Lydia should + swear a friendship, and that, to cement the alliance, Alyattes should give + his daughter Aryenis in marriage to Astyages, the son of Cyaxares. The + marriage thus arranged took place soon afterwards, while the oath of + friendship was sworn at once. According to the barbarous usages of the + time and place, the two monarchs, having met and repeated the words of the + formula, punctured their own arms, and then sealed their contract by each + sucking from the wound a portion of the other’s blood. + </p> + <p> + By this peace the three great monarchies of the time—the Median, the + Lydian, and the Babylonian—were placed on terms, not only of amity, + but of intimacy and (if the word may be used) of blood relationship. The + Crown Princes of the three kingdoms had become brothers. From the shores + of the Aegean to those of the Persian Gulf, Western Asia was now ruled by + interconnected dynasties, bound by treaties to respect each other’s + rights, and perhaps to lend each other aid in important conjunctures, and + animated, it would seem, by a real spirit of mutual friendliness and + attachment. After more than five centuries of almost constant war and + ravage, after fifty years of fearful strife and convulsion, during which + the old monarchy of Assyria had gone down and a new Empire—the + Median—had risen up in its place, this part of Asia entered upon a + period of repose which stands out in strong contrast with the long term of + struggle. From the date of the peace between Alyattes and Cyaxares + (probably B.C. 610), for nearly half a century, the three kingdoms of + Media, Lydia, and Babylonia remained fast friends, pursuing their separate + courses without quarrel or collision, and thus giving to the nations + within their borders a rest and a refreshment which they must have greatly + needed and desired. + </p> + <p> + In one quarter only was this rest for a short time disturbed. During the + troublous period the neighboring country of Egypt, which had recovered its + freedom, and witnessed a revival of its ancient prosperity, under the + Psamatik family, began once more to aspire to the possession of those + provinces which, being divided off from the rest of the Asiatic continent + by the impassable Syrian desert, seems politically to belong to Africa + almost more than to Asia. Psamatik I., the Psammetichus of Herodotus, had + commenced an aggressive war in this quarter, probably about the time that + Assyria was suffering from the Median and then from the Scythian inroads. + He had besieged for several years the strong Philistine town of Ashdod, + which commands the coast-route from Egypt to Palestine, and was at this + time a most important city. Despite a resistance which would have wearied + out any less pertinacious assailant, he had persevered in his attempt, and + had finally succeeded in taking the place. He had thus obtained a firm + footing in Syria; and his successor was, able, starting from this + vantage-ground, to overrun and conquer the whole territory. About the year + B.C. 608, Neco, son of Psamatik I., having recently ascended the throne, + invaded Palestine with a large army, met and defeated Josiah, king of + Judah, near Megiddo in the great plain of Esdraelon, and, pressing forward + through Syria to the Euphrates, attacked and took Carchemish, the strong + city which guarded the ordinary passage of the river. Idumea, Palestine, + Phoenicia, and Syria submitted to him, and for three years he remained in + undisturbed possession of his conquest. Then, however, the Babylonians, + who had received these provinces at the division of the Assyrian Empire, + began to bestir themselves. Nebuchadnezzar marched to Carchemish, defeated + the army of Neco, recovered all the territory to the border of Egypt, and + even ravaged a portion of that country. It is probable that in this + expedition he was assisted by the Medes. At any rate, seven or eight years + afterwards, when the intrigues of Egypt had again created disturbances in + this quarter, and Jehoiakim, the Jewish king, broke into open + insurrection, the Median monarch sent a contingent, which accompanied + Nebuchadnezzar into Judaea, and assisted him to establish his power firmly + in South-Western Asia. + </p> + <p> + This is the last act that we can ascribe to the great Median king. He can + scarcely have been much less than seventy years old at this time; and his + life was prolonged at the utmost three years longer. According to + Herodotus, he died B.C. 593, after a reign of exactly forty years, leaving + his crown to his son Astyages, whose marriage with a Lydian princess was + above related. + </p> + <p> + We have no sufficient materials from which to draw out a complete + character of Cyaxares. He appears to have possessed great ambition, + considerable military ability, and a rare tenacity of purpose, which + gained him his chief successes. At the same time he was not wanting in + good sense, and could bring himself to withdraw from an enterprise, when + he had misjudged the fitting time for it, or greatly miscalculated its + difficulties. He was faithful to his friends, but thought treachery + allowable towards his enemies. He knew how to conquer, but not how to + organize, an empire; and, if we except his establishment of Magism, as the + religion of the state, we may say that he did nothing to give permanency + to the monarchy which he founded. He was a conqueror altogether after the + Asiatic model, able to wield the sword, but not to guide the pen, to + subdue his contemporaries to his will by his personal ascendency over + them, but not to influence posterity by the establishment of a kingdom, or + of institutions, on deep and stable foundations. The Empire, which owed to + him its foundation, was the most shortlived of all the great Oriental + monarchies, having begun and ended within the narrow space of three score + and ten years—the natural lifetime of an individual. + </p> + <p> + Astyages, who succeeded to the Median throne about B.C. 593, had neither + his father’s enterprise nor his ability. Born to an empire, and bred up in + all the luxury of an Oriental Court, he seems to have been quite content + with the lot which fortune appeared to have assigned him, and to have + coveted no grander position. Tradition says that he was remarkably + handsome, cautious, and of an easy and generous temper. Although the + anecdotes related of his mode of life at Ecbatana by Herodotus, Xenophon, + and Nicolas of Damascus, seem to be for the most part apocryphal, and at + any rate come to us upon authority too weak to entitle them to a place in + history, we may perhaps gather from the concurrent, descriptions of these + three writers something of the general character of the Court over which + he presided. Its leading features do not seem to have differed greatly + from those of the Court of Assyria. The monarch lived secluded, and could + only be seen by those who asked and obtained an audience. He was + surrounded by guards and eunuchs, the latter of whom held most of the + offices near the royal person. The Court was magnificent in its apparel, + in its banquets, and in the number and organization of its attendants. The + courtiers wore long flowing robes of many different colors, amongst which + red and purple predominated, and adorned their necks with chains or + collars of gold, and their wrists with bracelets of the same precious + metal. Even the horses on which they rode had sometimes golden bits to + their bridles. One officer of the Court was especially called “the King’s + Eye;” another had the privilege of introducing strangers to him; a third + was his cupbearer; a fourth his messenger. Guards torch-bearers, + serving-men, ushers, and sweepers, were among the orders into which the + lower sort of attendants were divided; while among the courtiers of the + highest rank was a privileged class known as “the King’s + table-companions”. The chief pastime in which the Court indulged was + hunting. Generally this took place in a park or “paradise” near the + capital; but sometimes the King and Court went out on a grand hunt into + the open country, where lions, leopards, bears, wild boars, wild asses, + antelopes, stags, and wild sheep abounded, and, when the beasts had been + driven by beaters into a confined space, despatched them with arrows and + javelins. + </p> + <p> + Prominent at the Court, according to Herodotus, was the priestly caste of + the Magi. Held in the highest honor by both King and people, they were in + constant attendance, ready to expound omens or dreams, and to give their + advice on all matters of state policy. The religious ceremonial was, as a + matter of course, under their charge; and it is probable that high state + offices were often conferred upon them. Of all classes of the people they + were the only one that could feel they had a real influence over the + monarch, and might claim to share in his sovereignty. + </p> + <p> + The long reign of Astyages seems to have been almost undisturbed, until + just before its close, by wars or rebellions. Eusebius indeed relates that + he, and not Cyaxares, carried on the great Lydian contest; and Moses of + Chorene declares that he was engaged in a long struggle with Tigranes, an + Armenian king. But little credit can be attached to these statements, the + former of which contradicts Herodotus, while the latter is wholly + unsupported by any other writer. The character which Cyaxares bore among + the Greeks was evidently that of an unwarlike king. If he had really + carried his arms into the heart of Asia Minor, and threatened the whole of + that extensive region with subjugation, we can scarcely suppose that he + would have been considered so peaceful a ruler. Neither is it easy to + imagine that in that case no classical writer—not even Ctesias—would + have taxed Herodotus with an error that must have been so flagrant. With + respect to the war with Tigranes, it is just possible that it may have a + basis of truth; there may have been a revolt of Armenia from Astyages + under a certain Tigranes, followed by an attempt at subjugation. But the + slender authority of Moses is insufficient to establish the truth of his + story, which is internally improbable and quite incompatible with the + narrative of Herodotus. + </p> + <p> + There are some grounds for believing that in one direction Astyages + succeeded in slightly extending the limits of his empire. But he owed his + success to prudent management, and not to courage or military skill. On + the north-eastern frontier, occupying the low country now known as Talish + and Ghilan, was a powerful tribe called Cadusians, probably of Arian + origin, which had hitherto maintained its independence. This would not be + surprising, if we could accept the statement of Diodorus that they were + able to bring into the field 200,000 men. But this account, which probably + came from Ctesias, and is wholly without corroboration from other writers, + has the air of a gross exaggeration; and we may conclude from the general + tenor of ancient history that the Cadusians were more indebted to the + strength of their country, than to either their numbers or their prowess, + for the freedom and independence which they were still enjoying. It seems + that they were at this time under the government of a certain king, or + chief, named Aphernes, or Onaphernes. This ruler was, it appears, doubtful + of his position, and, thinking it could not be long maintained, made + overtures of surrender to Astyages, which were gladly entertained by that + monarch. A secret treaty was concluded to the satisfaction of both + parties; and the Cadusians, it would seem, passed under the Medes by this + arrangement, without any hostile struggle, though armed resistance on the + part of the people, who were ignorant of the intentions of their + chieftain, was for some time apprehended. + </p> + <p> + The domestic relations of Astyages seem to have been unhappy. His + “marriage de convenance” with the Lydian princess Aryenis, if not wholly + unfruitful, at any rate brought him no son; and, as he grew to old age, + the absence of such support to the throne must have been felt very + sensibly, and have caused great uneasiness. The want of an heir perhaps + led him to contract those other marriages of which we hear in the Armenian + History of Moses—one with a certain Anusia, of whom nothing more is + known; and another with an Armenian princess, the loveliest of her sex, + Tigrania, sister of the Armenian king, Tigranes. The blessing of male + offspring was still, however, denied him; and it is even doubtful whether + he was really the father of any daughter or daughters. Herodotus, and + Xenophon, indeed give him a daughter Mandane, whom they make the mother of + Cyrus; and Ctesias, who denied in the most positive terms the truth of + this statement, gave him a daughter, Amytis, whom he made the wife, first + of Spitaces the Mede, and afterwards of Cyrus the Persian. But these + stories, which seem intended to gratify the vanity of the Persians by + tracing the descent of their kings to the great Median conqueror, while at + the same time they flattered the Medes by showing them that the issue of + their old monarchs was still seated on the Arian throne, are entitled to + little more credit than the narrative of the Shahnameh, which declares + that Iskander (Alexander) was the son of Darab (Darius) and of a daughter + of Failakus (Philip of Macedon). When an oriental crown passes from one + dynasty to another, however foreign and unconnected, the natives are wont + to invent a relationship between the two houses, which both parties are + commonly quite ready to accept; as it suits the rising house to be + provided with a royal ancestry, and it pleases the fallen one and its + partisans to see in the occupants of the throne a branch of the ancient + stock—a continuation of the legitimate family. Tales therefore of + the above-mentioned kind are, historically speaking, valueless; and it + must remain uncertain whether the second Median monarch had any child at + all, either male or female. + </p> + <p> + Old age was now creeping upon the sonless king. If he was sixteen or + seventeen years old at the time of his contract of marriage with Aryenis, + he must have been nearly seventy in B.C. 558, when the revolt occurred + which terminated both his reign and his kingdom. It appears that the + Persian branch of the Arian race, which had made itself a home in the + country lying south and south-east of Media, between the 32nd parallel and + the Persian gulf, had acknowledged some subjection to the Median kings + during the time of their greatness. Dwelling in their rugged mountains and + high upland plains, they had however maintained the simplicity of their + primitive manners, and had mixed but little with the Medes, being governed + by their own native princes of the Achasmenian house, the descendants, + real or supposed, of a certain Achajmenes. These princes were connected by + marriage with the Cappadocian kings; and their house was regarded as one + of the noblest in Western Asia. What the exact terms were upon which they + stood with the Median monarch is uncertain. Herodotus regards Persia as + absorbed into Media at this time, and the Achsemenidse as merely a good + Persian family. Nicolas of Damascus makes Persia a Median satrapy, of + which Atradates, the father of Cyrus, is satrap, Xenophon, on the + contrary, not only gives the Achajmenidae their royal rank, but seems to + consider Persia as completely independent of Media; Moses of Chorene takes + the same view, regarding Cyrus as a great and powerful sovereign during + the reign of Astyages. The native records lean towards the view of + Xenophon and Moses. Darius declares that eight of his race had been kings + before himself, and makes no difference between his own royalty and + theirs. Cyrus calls himself in one inscription “the son of Cambyses, the + powerful king.” It is certain therefore that Persia continued to be ruled + by her own native monarchs during the whole of the Median period, and that + Cyrus led the attack upon Astyages as hereditary Persian king. The Persian + records seem rather to imply actual independence of Media; but as national + vanity would prompt to dissimulation in such a case, we may perhaps accord + so much weight to the statement of Herodotus, and to the general tradition + on the subject, as to believe that there was some kind of acknowledgment + of Median supremacy on the part of the Persian kings anterior to Cyrus, + though the acknowledgment may have been not much more than a formality and + have imposed no onerous obligations. The residence of Cyrus at the Median + Court, which is asserted in almost every narrative of his life before he + became king, inexplicable if Persia was independent, becomes thoroughly + intelligible on the supposition that she was a great Median feudatory. In + such cases the residence of the Crown Prince at the capital of the + suzerain is constantly desired, or even required by the superior Power, + which sees in the presence of the son and heir the best security against + disaffection or rebellion on the part of the father. + </p> + <p> + It appears that Cyrus, while at the Median Court, observing the unwarlike + temper of the existing generation of the Medes, who had not seen any + actual service, and despising the personal character of the monarch, who + led a luxurious life, chiefly at Ecbatana, amid eunuchs, concubines, and + dancing-girls, resolved on raising the standard of rebellion, and seeking + at any rate to free his own country. It may be suspected that the Persian + prince was not actuated solely by political motives. To earnest + Zoroastrians, such as the Achgemenians are shown to have been by their + inscriptions, the yoke of a Power which had so greatly corrupted, if it + had not wholly laid aside, the worship of Ormazd, must have been extremely + distasteful; and Cyrus may have wished by his rebellion as much to + vindicate the honor of his religion—as to obtain a loftier position + for his nation. If the Magi occupied really the position at the Median + Court which Herodotus assigns to them—if they “were held in high + honor by the king, and shared in his sovereignty”—if the + priest-ridden monarch was perpetually dreaming and perpetually referring + his dreams to the Magian seers for exposition, and then guiding his + actions by the advice they tendered him, the religious zeal of the young + Zoroastrian may very naturally have been aroused, and the contest into + which he plunged may have been, in his eyes, not so much a national + struggle as a crusade against the infidels. It will be found hereafter + that religious fervor animated the Persians in most of those wars by which + they spread their dominion. We may suspect, therefore, though it must be + admitted we cannot prove, that a religious motive was among those which + led them to make their first efforts after independence. + </p> + <p> + According to the account of the struggle which is most circumstantial, and + on the whole most probable, the first difficulty which the would-be rebel + had to meet and vanquish was that of quitting the Court. Alleging that his + father was in weak health, and required his care, he requested leave of + absence for a short time; but his petition was refused on the flattering + ground that the Great King was too much attached to him to lose sight of + him even for a day. A second application, however, made through a favorite + eunuch after a certain interval of time, was more successful; Cyrus + received permission to absent himself from Court for the next five months; + whereupon, with a few attendants, he left Ecbatana by night, and took the + road leading to his native country. + </p> + <p> + The next evening Astyages, enjoying himself as usual over his wine, + surrounded by a crowd of his concubines, singing-girls, and dancing-girls, + called on one of them for a song. The girl took her lyre and sang as + follows: “The lion had the wild boar in his power, but let him depart to + his own lair; in his lair he will wax in strength, and will cause the lion + a world of toil; till at length, although the weaker, he will overcome the + stronger.” The words of the song greatly disquieted the king, who had been + already made aware that a Chaldaean prophecy designated Cyrus as future + king of the Persians. Repenting of the indulgence which he had granted + him, Astyages forthwith summoned an officer into his presence, and ordered + him to take a body of horsemen, pursue the Persian prince, and bring him + back, either alive or dead. The officer obeyed, overtook Cyrus, and + announced his errand; upon which Cyrus expressed his perfect willingness + to return, but proposed, that, as it was late, they should defer their + start till the next day. The Medes consenting, Cyrus feasted them, and + succeeded in making them all drunk; then mounting his horse, he rode off + at full speed with his attendants, and reached a Persian outpost, where he + had arranged with his father that he should find a body of Persian troops. + When the Medes had slept off their drunkenness, and found their prisoner + gone, they pursued, and again overtaking Cyrus, who was now at the head of + an armed force, engaged him. They were, however, defeated with great loss, + and forced to retreat, while Cyrus, having beaten them off, made good his + escape into Persia. + </p> + <p> + When Astyages heard what had happened, he was greatly vexed; and, smiting + his thigh, he exclaimed, “Ah! fool, thou knewest well that it boots not to + heap favors on the vile; yet didst thou suffer thyself to be gulled by + smooth words; and so thou hast brought upon thyself this mischief. But + even now he shall not get off scot-free.” And instantly he sent for his + generals, and commanded them to collect his host, and proceed to reduce + Persia to obedience. Three thousand chariots, two hundred thousand horse, + and a million footmen (!) were soon brought together; and with these + Astyages in person invaded the revolted province, and engaged the army + which Cyrus and his father Cambyses had collected for defence. This + consisted of a hundred chariots, fifty thousand horsemen, and three + hundred thousand light-armed foot, who were drawn up in in front of a + fortified town near the frontier. The first day’s battle was long and + bloody, terminating without any decisive advantage to either side; but on + the second day Astyages, making skilful use of his superior numbers, + gained a great victory. Having detached one hundred thousand men with + orders to make a circuit and get into the rear of the town, he renewed the + attack; and when the Persians were all intent on the battle in their + front, the troops detached fell on the city and took it, almost before its + defenders were aware. Cambyses, who commanded in the town, was mortally + wounded and fell into the enemy’s hands. The army in the field, finding + itself between two fires, broke and fled towards the interior, bent on + defending Pasargadse, the capital. Meanwhile Astyages, having given + Cambyses honorable burial, pressed on in pursuit. + </p> + <p> + The country had now become rugged and difficult. Between Pasargadse and + the place where the two days’ battle was fought lay a barrier of lofty + hills, only penetrated by a single narrow pass. On either side were two + smooth surfaces of rock, while the mountain towered above, lofty and + precipitous. The pass was guarded by ten thousand Persians. Recognizing + the impossibility of forcing it, Astyages again detached a body of troops, + who marched along the foot of the range till they found a place where it + could be ascended, when they climbed it and seized the heights directly + over the defile. The Persians upon this had to evacuate their strong + position, and to retire to a lower range of hills very near to Pasargadge. + Here again there was a two days’ fight. On the first day all the efforts + of the Medes to ascend the range (which, though low, was steep, and + covered with thickets of wild olive) were fruitless. Their enemy met them, + not merely with the ordinary weapons, but with great masses of stone, + which they hurled down with crushing force upon their ascending columns. + On the second day, however, the resistance was weaker or less effective + Astyages had placed at the foot of the range, below his attacking columns, + a body of troops with orders to kill all who refused to ascend, or who, + having ascended, attempted to quit the heights and return to the valley. + Thus compelled to advance, his men fought with desperation, and drove the + Persians before them up the slopes of the hill to its very summit, where + the women and children had been placed for the sake of security. There, + however, the tide of success turned. The taunts and upbraidings of their + mothers and wives restored the courage of the Persians; and, turning upon + their foe, they made a sudden furious charge. The Medes, astonished and + overborne, were driven headlong down the hill, and fell into such + confusion that the Persians slew sixty thousand of them. Still Astyages + did not desist from his attack. The authority whom we have been following + here to a great extent fails us, and we have only a few scattered notices + from which to reconstruct the closing scenes of the war. It would seem + from these that Astyages still maintained the offensive, and that there + was a fifth battle in the immediate neighborhood of Pasargadse, wherein he + was completely defeated by Cyrus, who routed the Median army, and pressing + upon them in their flight, took their camp. All the insignia of Median + royalty fell into his hands; and, amid the acclamations of his army, he + assumed them, and was saluted by his soldiers “King of Media and Persia.” + Meanwhile Astyages had sought for safety in flight; the greater part of + his army had dispersed, and he was left with only a few friends, who still + adhered to his fortunes. Could he have reached Ecbatana, he might have + greatly prolonged the struggle; but his enemy pressed him close; and, + being compelled to an engagement, he not only suffered a complete defeat, + but was made prisoner by his fortunate adversary. By this capture the + Median monarchy was brought abruptly to an end. Astyages had no son to + take his place and continue the struggle. Even had it been otherwise, the + capture of the monarch would probably have involved his people’s + submission. In the East the king is so identified with his kingdom that + the possession of the royal person is regarded as conveying to the + possessor all regal rights. Cyrus, apparently, had no need even to besiege + Ecbatana; the whole Median state, together with its dependencies, at once + submitted to him, on learning what had happened. This ready submission was + no doubt partly owing to the general recognition of a close connection + between Media and Persia, which made the transfer of empire from the one + to the other but slightly galling to the subjected power, and a matter of + complete indifference to the dependent countries. Except in so far as + religion was concerned, the change from one Iranic race to the other would + make scarcely a perceptible difference to the subjects of either kingdom. + The law of the state would still be “the law of the Medes and Persians.” + Official employments would be open to the people of both countries. Even + the fame and glory of empire would attain, in the minds of men, almost as + much to the one nation as the other. If Media descended from her + preeminent rank, it was to occupy a station only a little below the + highest, and one which left her a very distinct superiority over all the + subject races. + </p> + <p> + If it be asked how Media, in her hour of peril, came to receive no + assistance from the great Powers with which she had made such close + alliances—Babylonia and Lydia—the answer would seem to be that + Lydia was too remote from the scene of strife to lend her effective aid, + while circumstances had occurred in Babylonia to detach that state from + her and render it unfriendly. The great king, Nebuchadnezzar, had he been + on the throne, would undoubtedly have come to the assistance of his + brother-in-law, when the fortune of war changed, and it became evident + that his crown was in danger. But Nebuchadnezzar had died in B.V. 561, + three years before the Persian revolt broke out. His son, Evil-Merodach, + who would probably have maintained his father’s alliances, had survived + him but two years: he had been murdered in B.C. 559 by a brother-in-law, + Nergalsharezer or Neriglissar, who ascended the throne in that year and + reigned till B.C. 555. This prince was consequently on the throne at the + time of Astyages’ need. As he had supplanted the house of Nebuchadnezzar, + he would naturally be on bad terms with that monarch’s Median connections; + and we may suppose that he saw with pleasure the fall of a power to which + pretenders from the Nebuchadnezzar family would have looked for support + and countenance. + </p> + <p> + In conclusion, a few words may be said on the general character of the + Median Empire, and the causes of its early extinction. + </p> + <p> + The Median Empire was in extent and fertility of territory-equal if not + superior to the Assyrian. It stretched from Rhages and the Carmanian + desert on the east to the river Halys upon the west, a distance of above + twenty degrees, or about 1,300 miles. From north to south it was + comparatively narrow, being confined between the Black Sea, the Caucasus, + and the Caspian, on the one side, and the Euphrates and Persian Gulf on + the other. Its greatest width, which was towards the east, was about nine, + and its least, which was towards the west, was about four degrees. Its + area was probably not much short of 500,000 square miles. Thus it was as + large as Great Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal put together. + </p> + <p> + In fertility its various parts were very unequal. Portions of both Medias, + of Persia, of Armenia, Iberia, and Cappadocia, were rich and productive; + but in all these countries there was a large quantity of barren mountain, + and in Media Magna and Persia there were tracts of desert. If we estimate + the resources of Media from the data furnished by Herodotus in his account + of the Persian revenue, and compare them with those of the Assyrian + Empire, as indicated by the same document, we shall find reason to + conclude, that except during the few years when Egypt was a province of + Assyria, the resources of the Third exceeded those of the Second Monarchy. + </p> + <p> + The weakness of the Empire arose chiefly from its want of organization. + Nicolas of Damascus, indeed, in the long passage from which our account of + the struggle between Cyrus and Astyages has been taken, represents the + Median Empire as divided, like the Persian, into a number of satrapies but + there is no real ground for believing that any such organization was + practised in Median times, or to doubt that Darius Hystaspis was the + originator of the satrapial system. The Median Empire, like the Assyrian, + was a congeries of kingdoms, each ruled by its own native prince, as is + evident from the case of Persia, where Cambyses was not satrap, but + monarch. Such organization as was attempted appears to have been clumsy in + the extreme. The Medes (we are told) only claimed direct suzerainty over + the nations immediately upon their borders; remoter tribes they placed + under these, and looked to them to collect and remit the tribute of the + outlying countries. It is doubtful if they called on the subject nations + for any contingents of troops. We never hear of their doing so. Probably, + like the Assyrians, they made their conquests with armies composed + entirely of native soldiers, or of those combined with such forces as were + sent to their aid by princes in alliance with them. + </p> + <p> + The weakness arising from this lack of organization was increased by a + corruption of manners, which caused the Medes speedily to decline in + energy and warlike spirit. The conquest of a great and luxurious empire by + a hardy and simple race is followed, almost of necessity, by a + deterioration in the character of the conquerors, who lose the warlike + virtues, and too often do not replace them by the less splendid virtues of + peace. This tendency, which is fixed in the nature of things, admits of + being checked for a while, or rapidly developed, according to the policy + and character of the monarchs who happen to occupy the throne. If the + original conqueror is succeeded, by two or three ambitious and energetic + princes, who engage in important wars and labor to extend their dominions + at the expense of their neighbors, it will be some time before the + degeneracy becomes marked. If, on the other hand, a prince of a quiet + temper, self-indulgent, and studious of ease, come to the throne within a + short time of the original conquests, the deterioration will be very + rapid. In the present instance it happened that the immediate successor of + the first conqueror was of a peaceful disposition, unambitious, and + luxurious in his habits. During a reign which lasted at least thirty-five + years he abstained almost wholly from military enterprises; and thus an + entire generation of Medes grew up without seeing actual service, which + alone makes the soldier. At the same time there was a general softening of + manners. The luxury of the Court corrupted the nobles, who from hardy + mountain chieftains, simple if not even savage in their dress and mode of + life, became polite courtiers, magnificent in their apparel, choice in + their diet, and averse to all unnecessary exertion. The example of the + upper classes would tell on the lower, though not perhaps to any very + large extent. The ordinary Mede, no doubt, lost something of his old + daring and savagery; from disuse he became inexpert in the management of + arms; and he was thus no longer greatly to be dreaded as a soldier. But he + was really not very much less brave, nor less capable of bearing + hardships, than before; and it only required a few years of training to + enable him to recover himself and to be once more as good a soldier as any + in Asia. + </p> + <p> + But in the affairs of nations, as in those of men, negligence often proves + fatal before it can be repaired. Cyrus saw his opportunity, pressed his + advantage, and established the supremacy of his nation, before the unhappy + effects of Astyages’ peace policy could be removed. He knew that his own + Persians possessed the military spirit in its fullest vigor; he felt that + he himself had all the qualities of a successful loader; he may have had + faith in his cause, which, he would view as the cause of Ormazd against + Ahriman, of pure Religion against a corrupt and debasing nature-worship. + His revolt was sudden, unexpected, and well-timed. He waited till Astyages + was advanced in years, and so disqualified for command; till the veterans + of Cyaxares were almost all in their graves; and till the Babylonian + throne was occupied by a king who was not likely to afford Astyages any + aid. Ho may not at first have aspired to do more than establish the + independence of his own country. But when the opportunity of effecting a + transfer of empire offered itself, he seized it promptly; rapidly + repeating his blows, and allowing his enemy no time to recover and renew + the struggle. The substitution of Persia for Media as the ruling power in + Western Asia was due less to general causes than to the personal character + of two men. Had Astyages been a prince of ordinary vigor, the military + training of the Medes would have been kept up; and in that case they might + easily have hold their own against all comers. Had their training been + kept up, or had Cyrus possessed no more than ordinary ambition and + ability, either he would not have thought of revolting, or he would have + revolted unsuccessfully. The fall of the Median Empire was due immediately + to the genius of the Persian Prince; but its ruin was prepared, and its + destruction was really caused, by the shortsightedness of the Median + monarch. + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Seven Great Monarchies Of The +Ancient Eastern World, Vol 3. 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